Articles about Microsoft

Microsoft has acquired Flipgrid, a social video discussion platform used in classrooms around the world. The acquisition strengthens Microsoft's educational offerings and helps it to better compete with rivals Google and Apple.

Flipgrid is used by million of students and teachers to collaborate on lessons, covering everything from Pre-K to PhD level. The acquisition is great news for schools: Microsoft is slashing the current price tag of $1,000, and making the service free just like Office 365 for Education.

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Windows 10 has long had a reputation for being a rather problematic operating system. Part of this is down to early versions famously spying on users, and Microsoft shoving it onto systems against the owners' wishes didn’t help either.

Rolling out major feature updates twice a year has led to numerous complaints and problems as well, with one of our most searched-for articles here being how to rollback an update.

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As recently noted by AdDuplex, the Windows 10 1803 rollout is progressing much more smoothly than all previous feature updates. AdDuplex’s figures suggest over 50 percent of Windows 10 users have already been offered the update, while Microsoft’s own numbers say 250 million machines have it. With close to 700 million Windows 10 systems, that’s just over 35 percent.

It’s certainly been a huge improvement over the famously slow and problematic Creators Update last year, and part of the reason this rollout has been so successful is down to Microsoft’s use of AI and Machine Learning.

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With the Windows April 2018 Update now available to all, it’s full steam ahead for Microsoft on the next big feature update, codenamed Redstone 5.

New builds are arriving on a weekly basis, and today sees the rollout of Build 17692 for Insiders on the Fast and Skip Ahead rings.

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Here at BetaNews, our 20th birthday cerebration is in full swing. We have several amazing giveaways running, including the Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System. But what if you don't need or want a mesh networking solution? What if you are a gamer that just wants a single router?

Enter the Linksys WRT32XB. Yes, we are giving away this hardcore Xbox One-optimized gaming router. Don't own Microsoft's gaming console? Don't worry. It will still function perfectly fine as a router for all of your non-gaming needs too. In other words, Xbox or not, you should enter the giveaway, as this router is a beast.

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Microsoft has announced that it's giving its flagship Office suite a makeover designed to deliver a balance of 'power and simplicity'.

The updates apply to Office.com and Office 365 and will be rolled out over the next few months, the company says it will 'test and learn' as it goes -- those of a cynical mind might see that as code for letting users find the bugs.

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Windows 95 was never much to look at, with its predominately grey, boxy design, but two decades ago it was revolutionary, introducing Windows users to the concept of a Start menu and taskbar for the first time, as well as rudimentary plug-and-play support.

Truth be told, it was never the greatest of operating systems (Windows 98 and XP both improved significantly on the foundations it laid down) but if it had a modern makeover, could we forgive its shortcomings? Feast your eyes on Windows 95 -- 2018 Edition, and decide for yourself.

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It’s fair to say Windows 10 hasn’t had the smoothest of rides. Users were slow to adopt it, and Microsoft’s response to this -- forcing the OS on to users against their will -- didn’t go down at all well. As you’d expect.

Windows 10 is now a pretty good operating system, and offers a number of welcome features, but it’s not without its problems, as consumer champion Which? has found.

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If you own an Xbox One, you know there are a lot of games available for the console. Hell, there are almost too many from which to choose -- a good problem, I suppose. Let's not forget all the DLC too! I personally feel overwhelmed by the number of games being announced these days, but I digress.

While the Xbox One consoles come with a good amount of drive space (500GB or 1TB), it can fill up very quickly. Thankfully, you can easily expand the storage using an external USB drive. For the best performance, a USB solid state drive is preferable to a mechanical hard drive. Today, Seagate announces the terribly named "Game Drive for Xbox SSD" which is, as you can guess, an external SSD for Xbox One. Of course, it will work with a PC too.

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There is a new remote installation feature available in the Microsoft Store on the web, making it possible to install apps on Windows 10 devices even if you are not currently using them.

Working much like the option found in Google Play that lets Android users push apps to any of the devices they have associated with their Google account, the new feature from Microsoft provides a similar ability with Windows 10 apps.

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It is no secret that Microsoft would like people to move away from the decades-old SMBv1 protocol -- the same protocol that was exploited by Wannacry. The company has been trying to encourage users to seek out an alternative or move to a more recent version for some time.

Now people are starting to discover that upgrading to Windows 10 April 2018 Update kills the protocol. Users have taken to forums to complain that the latest Windows 10 update disables SMBv1, and even goes as far as blocking it from being re-enabled.

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The world is crazy right now. We have a reality TV star in the White House, and day after day, there are unbelievable things being reported in the news. Sometimes I wonder if I am dreaming, but sadly, this is real life. Try as I might, I can't wake up.

You know what else is crazy? The Linux Foundation is officially endorsing Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub! OK, maybe that isn't so crazy nowadays, but if you could get in a time machine and go back, say, 10 years, and you told people that not only was Microsoft an official Linux Foundation Member, but the foundation was endorsing the Windows-maker's purchase of a massive repository that hosts millions of open source projects, you'd probably be put in an asylum.

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Microsoft continues to roll out new Windows 10 RS5 builds on a weekly basis. Build 17686 is available to Fast ring Insiders and those who have opted to Skip Ahead.

This build includes some privacy improvements, better localized settings, and updates for Windows Mixed Reality. It also includes a number of improvements, fixes, and known issues.

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Microsoft GVFS (Git Virtual File System) has attracted attention because it's a name that's already in use elsewhere -- and the company had refused to rename it.

Now, however, it seems that Microsoft may be bowing to pressure. The company says it has received a lot of feedback because of the existence of the GNOME GVfs project (Gnome Virtual File System) which has been around for much longer than its GVFS Git extension, and it is looking for suggestions for a new name.

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Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub has paid off for rival GitLab. Many GitHub users were unhappy at the Windows-maker's involvement and promptly jumped ship -- there were over 100,000 repositories imported in the 24 hours following the acquisition, and #movingtogitlab was trending on Twitter.

Looking to make itself even more attractive than just not being owned by Microsoft, GitLab has now made its premium Gold and Ultimate packages free to some users, specifically educational establishments and open source projects.

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