Microsoft employees use open letter to urge company not to get involved in JEDI military project
Last week, Google said that it had concerns about the use of AI in the US Department of Defense's JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) project, and as such it would not be bidding for the contract.
Now Microsoft employees have published an open letter expressing their concerns about JEDI, the secrecy it is shrouded in, and the potential for it to cause harm or human suffering. The letter has a simple message: "Microsoft, don't bid on JEDI".
Microsoft joins Open Invention Network and open sources its patent portfolio
Microsoft has joined the "largest patent non-aggression community in history", the Open Invention Network (OIN), effectively open-sourcing almost its entire patent portfolio.
The company has shown increasing warmth to the open source community in recent years, and this latest move means that other OIN members will have access to its patents -- with the exception of those relating to Windows and desktop applications. The OIN embraces -- as Microsoft has done of late -- Linux "as a key element of open source software".
Microsoft has bumped up the price of Windows 10 Home by nearly $20
You'd be forgiven for not having noticed, but Microsoft has quietly -- virtually silently, in fact -- increased the price of Windows 10 Home.
Previously available for $119.99, the operating system will now set you back $139 -- a $19.01 increase. While it's fair to say that the price increase of close to $20 won't affect too many people -- there are just a handful who don't either opt for an upgrade, or buy it pre-installed -- Microsoft did a great job of introducing the new price by stealth.
Microsoft fixes Windows 10 October 2018 Update data deletion issues, delivers new test version to Insiders
Yesterday was supposed to be the day when the Windows 10 October 2018 Update started to properly roll out to users, but due to a number of well publicized problems, most notably with the OS deleting user data, Microsoft was forced to change its plans.
It "paused" the update last week in order to investigate the problems, and now has an updated version of Windows 10 1809 ready for Windows Insiders to test and provide feedback on.
Windows Insiders reported the Windows 10 file deletion problem to Microsoft months ago
The purpose of the Windows Insider program is to let users test out pre-release versions of Windows 10 months in advance, so they can try out new features, and report problems.
In theory, this means when a new Windows 10 feature update rolls out to the public, all of the major bugs should have been squashed. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case, and occasionally really bad bugs -- like user personal data getting deleted by the update -- make it through the testing process. When something like this happens, it’s easy to think the issue simply failed to get picked up by Insiders, but actually that’s not the case.
Microsoft pulls the problematic Windows 10 October 2018 Update
Microsoft made its latest Windows 10 feature update available to download on Tuesday, and shortly afterwards the problems started. It didn’t play nicely with some Intel CPUs, Edge and Windows Store apps didn’t work for some users and, most damningly, the update was found to be deleting personal files.
In the face of so many problems, Microsoft had to do something, and it has. The update has been pulled.
Windows 10 October 2018 Update breaks Microsoft Edge and Windows Store apps for some users
Every time Microsoft rolls out a new Windows 10 feature update we hear of problems being encountered by early adopters, even though the update undergoes serious testing through the Windows Insider program.
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update only became officially available on Tuesday, and already it’s had to be blocked on certain Intel CPUs and, most damningly, it’s been found to be deleting user data (thankfully there’s a way to get the content back). Now it seems the new update is also causing problems with Microsoft Edge for some users.
People love Microsoft's Your Phone so much, it's the top trending Android app in the Google Play Store
Having abandoned its own mobile operating system, Microsoft is increasingly embracing Android and iOS and improving interoperability with Windows. A recent example of this is the Your Phone Companion app which makes it possible to send texts from your computer and easily access photos stored on your Android phone.
The ability to access and use a phone via Windows 10 has gone down very well -- as the interest in our story about the app showed. So well, in fact, that the Your Phone app is the number one trending app in the Google Play Store.
How to recover personal data lost by upgrading to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update
If you’ve recently updated your copy of Windows 10 to the very latest version -- the October 2018 Update -- you might have found that it wiped your documents, photos and other personal files.
If you’ve got a backup stored safely away, then the loss of your content won’t be so devastating, but if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world -- you might be able to recover the files removed by the upgrade.
Microsoft blocking the Windows 10 October 2018 Update on some newer Intel CPUs
Windows 10 feature updates rarely roll out without some issues, but the Windows 10 October 2018 Update seems to be having more than its fair share. While some users are complaining the update has deleted their personal files, others are finding the upgrade has been blocked due to an incompatibility with systems running 6th generation (Skylake) or newer Intel processors.
The problem relates to Intel Display Audio device drivers and according to Microsoft, installing the latest feature update can result in "excessive power demand and reduced battery life."
Windows 10 October 2018 Update deleting documents, photos and other user files
Although Windows 10 feature updates undergo a lot of testing via the Windows Insider program, it’s only once a new update gets released that any major unresolved problems come to light.
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is set to begin rolling out officially next week, but anyone can install it now via Windows Update, and of those who have, a growing number have reported that the upgrade has wiped their personal files.
The new Calculator app in the latest Windows 10 update is HUGE, but you can fix that
Five years ago, I wrote a story about how Windows 8.1's Calculator app summed up what was wrong with Microsoft's new OS. Windows 8.x was designed as a one-size-fits-all operating system, and apps were designed with little thought given to the different screen sizes they'd be viewed on.
The problem was, on a desktop PC with a large screen, the Windows Calculator was massive. Or, as I put it at the time, "bloody huge -- filling my screen with buttons the size of business cards." Fast forward to 2018, and Microsoft is at it again, this time in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18252 to the Skip Ahead and Fast rings
Yesterday, Microsoft made the Windows 10 October 2018 Update available to anyone who wants it, meaning there’s currently only one development build on the go.
Because of that, new builds on the 19H1 branch are now being pushed out to insiders on both the Skip Ahead and Fast rings. If you’ve yet to opt out of the Insider program or switch to the Slow ring, and your PC downloads and installs Build 18252, released today, you will need to roll it back and take appropriate action.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is an uninspired boring upgrade that still lacks USB-C
If you want a Windows 10 laptop, you can do much better than Microsoft's buggy Surface devices. Companies such as Dell, Lenovo, and HP make some excellent notebooks these days. I mean, look, Microsoft's homegrown computers aren't totally bad, but they are a bit overpriced and historically have had terrible bugs and driver issues. For a while, the much-respected Consumer Reports refused to recommend the computers -- something on which they've recently done a "180."
Today, with surprisingly little fanfare in New York City, Microsoft unveiled some new Surface devices, including the Surface Pro 6 -- a tablet with a floppy keyboard that needs to die already. The true star of the Surface line these days is the unimaginatively named Surface Laptop -- a surprisingly decent computer. Microsoft has upgraded the laptop's internals, given it a new color (black), and put the number 2 at the end of its name. Unfortunately, Surface Laptop 2 is a tragically boring upgrade -- very slight evolution instead of revolution.
Microsoft unveils the Surface Pro 6
Microsoft is holding a new hardware event today in New York City and has unveiled the latest generation of its tablet/laptop hybrid, the Surface Pro 6.
Microsoft’s iPad rival has come a long way since its debut back in 2012, when it was an unqualified flop. These days, it’s a true laptop alternative, and as you’d expect, the Surface Pro 6 is the most powerful version yet.
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