Most of the Skype-related news of late has been about Microsoft killing off Skype Classic and moving people to Skype 8 -- but now there's news about the web version of the communication tool. While there are a number of new features to explore -- including hi-def video calling, new notifications and call recording -- Microsoft has taken the decision to reduce the number of supported platforms.

The latest version of Skype for Web only works in Windows 10 and macOS 10.12 or newer, and only in the Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. Firefox and Opera users are left out in the cold, and anyone running Chrome OS or Linux will be disappointed to learn that their operating systems are no longer supported.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has long been a champion of closed source ideology -- it made its billions thanks to it. Historically, the company was against open source, publicly bad-mouthing projects like Linux.

Under Satya Nadella's leadership, however, Microsoft is a very different company. Not only does it support open source and Linux, it actually contributes open source code. In fact, Microsoft is one of the top contributors. Today, the Windows-maker announces that it is taking its commitment to open source ideology even further. How? By making its Windows Calculator program an open source project on GitHub. Yes, really.

Continue reading →

It's been a while since we heard much about Spectre, the speculative execution exploit that sent the security world into a frenzy. Cast your mind back a little while and you'll probably remember that the various fixes that were produced to mitigate against the exploits all had one thing in common -- they resulted in a performance hit.

To help address the reduced performance experienced on older AMD and Intel systems, a new mitigation technique called Retpoline was developed. This new Spectre patch is currently included in Insider builds of Windows 10, but you can install it and enable it right now -- regardless of whether you are signed up for the Insider program -- and enjoy a speed boost for your computer.

Continue reading →

The Windows Insider program is a mess. It used to be as an Insider you got to test just early versions of the next big OS feature update, but now -- depending on which ring you’re in -- you might be testing versions for the first Windows 10 update of 2020, due out over a year from now.

As if that’s not bad enough, Fast ring Insiders are currently receiving new builds at a rate of two a week -- which hardly provides enough time to install and test them -- while Slow ring Insiders get only very occasional updates. It’s no wonder some of Microsoft’s loyal legion of unpaid testers are confused.

Continue reading →

Not many Windows 10 users have upgraded to the October 2018 Update yet, but Microsoft is still hard at work on finishing the next big feature update, codenamed 19H1, which is due out next month.

New builds are coming out thick and fast, and today sees the release of Build 18351 to Fast ring Insiders.

Continue reading →

Quantum computing is not necessarily the future of computing, but it's certainly a future and an important part of technological advancement. All of the big players from the world of technology are understandably eager to be at the forefront of what's happening, and Microsoft is no different.

This week, the company formally launched the Microsoft Quantum Network, a coalition of partners with a shared vision. The goal is "sharing knowledge and collaborating with the best quantum innovators" with a view to helping the progression of quantum computing.

Continue reading →

It is a while since Microsoft discontinued its Band fitness tracker, but for the last two years owners have still be able to synchronize data collected through the wearable. But now the company has announced that it plans to close down the Microsoft Band apps and Microsoft Health Dashboard website.

The shutdown date has been set for May 31. On this date, Android, iOS and Windows Phone apps will vanish from their respective stores, and the services will be terminated. Users have a limited time to export their data, and to soften the blow, some Band owners will be eligible for a refund of up to $175.

Continue reading →

There are lots of ways to measure Windows share including StatCounter and Steam. Like most other tech sites, BetaNews has always focused on NetMarketShare, and at the start of the year the analyst firm finally reported that Windows 10 had overtaken its main rival, Windows 7 (a move that was a long time coming seeing as others had reported this happening months earlier).

In January, the new OS consolidated its lead, but in February things were far less rosy for Windows 10.

Continue reading →

The idea behind the Windows Insider program is members get to test out preview versions of forthcoming Windows 10 builds.

However, quite how much actual testing can get done when the builds are rolling out thick and fast is a matter for debate. Windows 10 Build 18348 is the second 19H1 build to be rolled out this week, and the fourth build in total, when you factor in Slow and Skip Ahead releases. If it's Microsoft's aim to confuse people, the software giant is doing a bang up job here.

Continue reading →

Red Hat, Microsoft, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services have joined forces to launch OperatorHub.io, a centralized repository to help the Kubernetes community find and share Operators.

Introduced by CoreOS back in 2016, Operators provide a way of packaging, deploying and managing Kubernetes applications. Until now, it was often difficult to find Operators, and this is the problem OperatorHub.io aims to address. On top of being a registry, the repository makes it easy to home in on curated Operators that are of a high standard.

Continue reading →

Being a Windows Insider can be very confusing these days. It used to be there was only one Windows 10 preview version to test -- the next feature update of the OS -- but now there are Skip Ahead flights rolling out which let users test versions of Windows 10 that won’t see the light of day for another year. Crazy.

On Tuesday Microsoft released Windows 10 19H1 Build 18346 to the Fast ring, and today we get Windows 10 20H1 Build 18845 for Skip Ahead Insiders. To access this build you will need to have opted in to Skip Ahead. That branch is now closed, but it's still possible to get access should you wish to. Follow the instructions here.

Continue reading →

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update has been a disaster for Microsoft. It caused all manner of problems for users, so much so that Microsoft had to pull it for a while, and even though the update has now been cleared for use on most systems, hardly any users have it.

The software giant will be hoping its follow up, Windows 10 19H1, due out in the spring, will be much more successful, and it has been rolling out new Insider builds at an accelerated rate this past week.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is currently working to finish the next big feature update for Windows 10, codenamed 19H1, which is due to begin rolling out in April.

The trouble is, most users still haven’t installed its predecessor, the often problematic October 2018 Update (aka Windows 10 1809).

Continue reading →

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. The 1990s are popular at the moment -- as the new 90s-set Captain Marvel movie shows -- and Windows 95 is suddenly making a comeback of sorts, partially fueled by people's interest in that decade.

If you’ve ever wondered what a modern version of the OS would look like, you can find out here, and you can now run an app version of the original Windows 95 on Windows 10, macOS and Linux. Own an iPhone? You can replace iOS 12 with iOS95 -- here's how.

Continue reading →

Having recently started public testing of Windows 10 20H1, Microsoft has a new build for Insiders on the Skip Ahead ring to try out.

Windows 10 20H1 Build 18841 is really just a bug-fixing build but it comes with a warning from Microsoft that: "As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some". If that whets your appetite, dive in!

Continue reading →