Articles about Microsoft

Microsoft has seemingly admitted defeat in the digital assistant wars, with CEO Satya Nadella saying he does not want to compete with Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant.

Rather than planning a Cortana-powered smart speaker or other device, Nadella has demoted Cortana, signaling that Microsoft wants to focus on bringing it to other platforms as a "skill". He believes users should be able to use Alexa or Google Assistant to call on the capabilities of Cortana through close integration.

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The Windows 10 October 2018 update, aka Windows 10 version 1809, aka the botched update that deleted user files, caused default app issues, broke Apple iCloud, Edge, and Windows Store apps, and introduced a bunch of other problems, is finally rolling out to all -- well most -- users.

The update was first released at the start of last October, but then pulled a few days later when the scale of its problems become noticed. It was re-released in November, with a bunch of new problems. Microsoft has been working to fix these, and last month made 1809 available to 'advanced users' -- that is users who know how to manually check for updates.

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New Windows 10 19H1 builds are coming thick and fast at the moment. With some builds the focus is just on fixing problems and making general improvements, but Insider Preview Build 18317 for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring is notable mainly because Search and Cortana are no longer linked.

Yes, that’s right -- instead of being part of the search bar, Cortana’s button now sits to the right of it.

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After five years of leaking information about unreleased builds of Windows, BuildFeed has shut up shop.

Over the weekend, the site posted a slew of build numbers including references to onecore and shell_devices_foldable. But there will be no more leaks coming from the BuildFeed. Citing "extensive internal pressures and external pressures", site founder Thomas Hounsell says that he has terminated his project with immediate effect.

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You've very probably been using Windows 10 for a long time now, but that doesn't mean that you've discovered everything it has to offer. The operating system is packed with features, but there are some that are hidden away to the extent that they could be considered secrets.

One such gem is the screen recording tool. What? You didn't know that Windows 10 could record videos of on-screen activity? You're not alone. The screen recorder is built into the Game bar and you may well not have seen it. If you've ever wondered how to make video of what you're doing in Windows, this is precisely the utility you need. Here's how to access and use it -- including details of a secret keyboard shortcut.

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It took until last month for Windows 10 to finally overtake Windows 7's usage share but the older OS remains hugely popular. Mainstream support for Windows 7 stopped in January 2015, but users have continued to receive security fixes and patches for known issues as part of Microsoft's extended support, which runs for five years. However, that's due to come to an end on January 14 2020, exactly one year from today.

The cessation of support could prove a nightmare for enterprises, as according to a new 'Death of Windows 7' report from content delivery firm, Kollective, as many as 43 percent of enterprises are still running Microsoft’s nine-year-old operating system.

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If you have upgraded to Windows 10 version 1903 -- or Windows 10 19H1 as you may know it -- you will find that a portion of your hard drive has been set aside thanks to the new "reserved storage" option.

Microsoft introduced this Storage Reserve (as it is also known) to "ensure proper performance and successful updates of your device", but not everyone is happy about it. You may be running low on disk space, or you just might like to remain in control of how your hard drive is used -- in which case, read on to find out how to disable reserved storage.

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We’re only nine days into 2019, and Microsoft is rolling out the second 19H1 build of the new year to Insiders on the Fast ring.

Build 18312 gives users access to the new 'reserved storage' feature which we covered yesterday. This reserves around 7GB of storage on Windows 10 systems to guarantee day-to-day smooth running, and also to ensure that large updates don't fail on systems with limited free space. To try it out though, you will need to run through this quest which will give you access to it in the next flight. If you run the quest before upgrading to this new build, you will get access to the feature when you do upgrade.

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Previous feature updates for Windows 10 tended to fail if you didn’t have enough free storage for the task. The onus was on users to free up the required space manually before the update could go ahead, but that’s about to change.

In the next big feature update, version 1903 (codenamed 19H1), due out in the spring, Windows 10 will automatically reserve enough space to ensure the update can complete without problems. This might be 7GB, but it could be more, "based on how you use your device".

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Since Microsoft bought GitHub last year there have been a few changes here and there, but the company has just announced something pretty major. While it previously cost $7 per month to create a private repository, now it is possible to create an unlimited number free of charge.

There is a slight caveat, of course. Private projects are limited to up to three collaborators before a charge is applicable. Microsoft has also announced a new service, GitHub Enterprise, which brings together Enterprise Cloud (previously known as GitHub Business Cloud) and Enterprise Server (previously, and confusingly, known as GitHub Enterprise).

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The next big feature update for Windows 10 will offer tweaked visuals, but most people probably won’t notice the difference. It’s all about evolution rather than revolution with Microsoft these days.

If you are hoping for a more modern Start menu then you’re going to have to look beyond Redmond for that, and a brand new concept shows us just what the tiled menu could look like.

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Microsoft Research is currently testing a new control panel which could enable users to manage the data the company collects about them.

Known as Project Bali, the tool is currently undergoing private beta testing. It promises to not only give users the option of managing and controlling the data collected about them, but also -- intriguingly -- the ability to monetize it.

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According to AdDuplex, the problematic October 2018 Update is currently on just 6.6 percent of all Windows 10 PCs. It’s doubled its share since November, but still pales in comparison to the April 2018 Update which is on 83.6 percent of systems.

Despite this, Microsoft is hard at work on the next big feature update, expected this spring, and has just rolled out the first build of 2019 for Insiders on the Fast ring.

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If you have enabled Windows 10's built-in administrator account, and upgrade from build 1803 to 1809 -- that is, the April 2018 Update to the October 2018 update -- you will find that a bug has been introduced that disables the account.

Microsoft says that it is aware of the problem, but the company does not plan on releasing a fix for it until the end of the month.

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It’s been a long time coming. While other analyst firms, such as StatCounter, have shown Windows 10 overtaking Windows 7 sometime ago, NetMarketShare has consistently shown the new OS to be lagging way behind the aging fan favorite.

In December though, NetMarketShare finally has Windows 10 taking pole position.

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