Articles about Microsoft

Microsoft has announced plans to acquire Semantic Machines, a startup based in Berkley, California, that specializes in conversational artificial intelligence.

The acquisition makes a great deal of sense because of Microsoft's desire to push Cortana forward, and the general increased interest in voice-powered digital assistants and chatbots -- and products such as Google Duplex. The Semantic Machines team includes members who have worked on Siri and with speech-recognition firm Nuance.

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Last week saw the release of Windows 10 RS5 Build 17666 to Insiders on the Fast and Skip Ahead rings. It was a very impressive build, with a number of big new features, including a dark theme for File Explorer, acrylic in Sets, Cloud Clipboard, and more.

Today Microsoft rolls out Build 17672, with a big new change to security.

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Not wanting to be outdone by Apple, Microsoft is reportedly planning to release a low-cost Surface tablet later this year.

Said to measure 10 inches and with a price tag of around $400, the budget Surface will retain the familiar kickstand found on its Pro sibling, and will compete directly with the iPad. This is not a re-run of the Surface RT, as full-blown Windows will be supported.

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If you have an Intel SSD installed, there's a chance that you won't be able to upgrade to Windows 10 April 2018 Update for the time being.

Computers with Intel SSD 600p Series or Intel SSD Pro 6000p Series ended up crashing after the installation of the most recent major update to Windows 10, but users have been able to roll back their system to a usable state. To prevent further problems Microsoft has opted to block the April 2018 Update to such systems.

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There are now two versions of Ubuntu available to download from the Microsoft Store. Adding to the existing Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04 has also now arrived.

The addition comes just weeks after the official launch of Ubuntu 18.04, and it gives Windows 10 users the option of working with the new LTS (long term support) build of Ubuntu. The older version remains supported for the time being as well.

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Earlier today, I needed to get Skype onto my iPhone X to receive an overseas call. So I hauled over to the App Store, like any sensible iOS user would do. I was shocked—absolutely floored—to see an advert for Google Duo taking up about half the screen, and appearing above Skype.

You got to ask how many people end up downloading the upper one instead. I don't often go to the App Store and wonder: How long has been this kind of aggressive placement?

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Microsoft’s original Surface Hub was plagued with manufacturing problems and delays. The giant wall-mounted Surface, aimed at businesses, was first announced in 2015, with an estimated shipping date of July 1.

That date came and went, and Microsoft announced that it would instead arrive January 2016, but then missed that deadline as well, and threw in a price hike for good measure. The product eventually started shipping to businesses in March 2016. Now, just over two years later, a new generation of Surface Hub is being announced. Want to get one for your business? Predictably it’s not going to be available anytime soon.

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If you have a Surface Pro 4, you might be one of the unlucky tablet owners to suffer from a flickering screen -- a problem predictably dubbed "flickergate". Unable to come up with a fix, Microsoft has opened up a replacement program that means that those affected by the problem will be able to get a new Surface Pro 4 free of charge.

Microsoft says that it has been unable to produce a patch to address the issue, and is therefore simply going to offer replacements to people. What's not clear is why it has taken the company so long to do something; Surface 4 owners have been complaining about screen flicker since the tablet launched back in 2015.

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Despite Microsoft ending support for Windows XP back in 2014, it’s still in use around the world. The latest usage figures from NetMarketShare give the vintage OS a decent 6.13 percent share of the market, and it’s still to be found in many businesses.

The OS first appeared 17 years ago and the final service pack (SP3) came out a decade ago. Compared to Windows 10, XP now looks incredibly dated, and lacks many of the modern features we take for granted. But what if Microsoft updated it?

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Two-hundred-and-eighty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft announced recently that it will increase the revenue share for Windows app developers to up to 95 percent.

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There's bad news for iPhone users who were previously excited about Microsoft's upcoming Your Phone app. Revealed at Build 2018 earlier this week, this new Windows 10 app will provide a way to connect your phone to your computer and then view notifications, send texts and copy files from within Windows 10.

But some of this functionality will be Android-only. Microsoft says that it needs to work with Apple to get some features up and running, including being able to respond to iPhone text messages via Windows 10. But how likely is this cooperation?

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With Redstone 4 builds of Windows 10, the new features and changes came to users quite gradually. That’s certainly not the case with Redstone 5 releases. The latest build rolling out to Insiders on the Fast ring and Skip Ahead today is the perfect case in point.

Build 17666 (it's a beast of a build, so the number is apt) is chock full of exciting new features that you really won’t want to wait to get your hands on, including Cloud Clipboard, a dark theme for File Explorer, major improvements to Sets, the ability to search Bing in Notepad and much, much more.

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For many people, keyboard shortcuts are essential to using a computer, and over time they become hardwired into muscle memory. You've probably become used to the way Alt-Tab can be used to switch between running apps, but Microsoft plans to change the way this particular shortcut works.

At Build, the company revealed that the next Insider build of Windows 10 will not only let you Alt-Tab between running programs, but also browser tabs. It's something that's being introduced as part of Sets, and it's likely to divide opinion.

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If you are a PC gamer, there are many ways to gain an edge -- such as upgrading components and accessories. A new GPU and mouse, for instance, can make a big difference. With console gaming you are much more limited -- you can't upgrade the CPU, GPU, or RAM. Some argue that is a good thing, as it levels the playing field, while others say a lack of upgradeability is a negative.

If you are an Xbox One gamer, however, there is a new piece of hardware that could give you an edge when playing online -- the Linksys WRT32XB 802.11ac wireless router. If you aren't familiar, this is a variant of the company's WRT32X gaming router where the firmware has been optimized for Xbox One (plus PCs using Killer networking). Linksys says it can detect Xbox traffic and reduce peak ping by up to 65 percent, and ultimately, reduce lag. If you are dubious of that claim, please know that Microsoft has certified this router as a part of the "Designed for Xbox" program. Today, the Linksys WRT32XB finally becomes available for purchase.

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It’s that time of year again. Microsoft is kicking off its annual Build developer conference in Seattle today, May 7, starting with its opening keynote this morning (a second keynote is happening tomorrow).

Last year at Build Microsoft announced the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, new mixed reality headsets and controllers, and 'Project Emma', a wearable for Parkinson's disease sufferers. So what can we expect this year?

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