After much excited build up, Microsoft launched its latest Surface device yesterday -- the Surface Go. While many have suggested this is Microsoft's attempt to compete with Apple iPad, there's no getting away from the fact that this is a budget Surface, and compromises have been made.

If you're not sure whether this is the tablet for you, you may well start to seek out Surface Go reviews -- and you'll find that they are an incredibly mixed bag of opinions. It looks as though the Surface Go could be one of Microsoft's most divisive products ever. Is it "painfully slow" or "practically perfect"?

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NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month. Usually at least. It spent a few days auditing June’s figures last month, which caused a bit of a delay.

There’s no such lag for July’s figures though, which arrive on time and show Windows 10 continuing to cut into Windows 7's dominance.

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The second Windows 10 Redstone 5 Bug Bash is currently underway, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft rolling out Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17728 (RS5) to Insiders in the Fast ring.

This new build introduces a number of changes, improvements and fixes, and Microsoft also used this new flight to detail the forthcoming Your Phone app which will soon allow iOS and Android users to sync content from their phones to a Windows 10 PC.

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Windows 10 has always had a bad reputation for snooping on users. While that was a valid issue at the start, each new feature update has made changes to the privacy side of the operating system, and users now have much greater control over things.

When you perform a clean install of Windows 10, the operating system connects to a large number of sites for different purposes, including -- naturally enough -- to send and receive email, download apps and security updates, and so on. The sheer number of endpoints that the operating system connects to might surprise you however. It's a very, very long list.

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Although Panos Panay has dismissed rumors that Microsoft is working on a Surface Phone, we have already seen some evidence that the company is working on some form of "pocketable" folding Surface device codenamed Andromeda. Now a Microsoft patent has come to light that reveals more about the form this device could take.

The patent -- entitled "Three-way video calling on hinged multi-screen device" -- shows a foldable, dual screen device with multiple cameras. It bears a marked similarity to the renders we saw recently of the rumored foldable Surface device.

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Microsoft's Dona Sarkar has taken to Twitter to share Surface Go unboxing videos.

Due for release next week -- August 2, to be precise -- the Surface Go was revealed just a couple of weeks ago. Microsoft has already shared a few videos of its upcoming tablet on YouTube, but the new videos show Dona Sarkar and Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Insider team getting hands on.

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Two-hundred-and-ninety-three 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.

The first feature release of 2019 for Windows 10 will reduce the likelihood that update reboots interrupt work by using cloud infrastructure and new prediction algorithms.

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Microsoft has just released Microsoft released Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17723 and Redstone 6 (19H1) Build 18204 and one of the new features is a new system that avoids restarts at awkward times following the installation of an update.

This sounds great, and Microsoft says that people have complained about this very scenario. But is an artificial intelligence or machine learning powered system really what's needed? How about just leaving users in charge to choose when their computer restarts. There you go, Microsoft; I fixed that for you.

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There have been a number of sites and apps that have gained dark modes in the last year -- macOS and YouTube to name but two -- and Microsoft doesn't want to miss the trend. The company has heard the pleas of Outlook.com users and added a new Dark Mode option to its web-based email service.

The feature is one of the most frequently requested, and users got a preview of the new Dark Mode earlier in the month. Now it's rolling out to everyone, and Microsoft is using it as an excuse to try to push Outlook.com users to its Edge browser.

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It’s been a couple of weeks since Microsoft last rolled out a new Windows 10 Redstone 5 build to Insiders on the Fast ring, but today the wait is over. In addition to new RS5 Build 17723 the software giant also releases a new build for Insiders who have opted to join (or rejoin) the Skip Ahead ring.

Build 18204 is the first release on the 19H1 (Redstone 6) branch that will become the first feature update of 2019. Because these two builds have just split, they are largely the same -- as you might expect -- but this will change, going forward.

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Microsoft has announced that the Skip Ahead ring has been opened for people who want to get the first look at the Windows 10 Redstone 6.

Back with the release of Windows 10 build 17713, Microsoft announced it was "doing a complete reset of Skip Ahead". This is now complete, so you can sign up for the preview ring once again. Spaces are limited, so if you want to take part you're going to have to be quick -- once the maximum number of participants has been reached, Skip Ahead will close once again.

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Quantum computing is the future, and it has the potential to change everything. These new machines will be much more powerful than any "classic" computer available today. Quantum computers will be able to do calculations that we can only dream about today, potentially solving problems never thought solvable before. These powerful computers may even render current encryption methods obsolete.

Of course, hardware is just part of the equation. In order for quantum computers to truly change the world, we will need software written for them. Microsoft seems eager to get programmers on the quantum bandwagon, as today, it launches the open source Quantum Katas on GitHub. What exactly is it? It is essentially a project deigned to teach Q# programming for free.

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Earlier today we wrote about the sudden appearance of a new LibreOffice app in the Microsoft Store. There were a couple of peculiarities about the app -- not only was it made by an unknown developer, but it came with a price tag.

Now The Document Foundation -- the organization behind the LibreOffice office suite -- has spoken up to say that the app is not official and to point out that it is not getting any money from it.

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As someone that is constantly on the move, I am very excited about the upcoming Surface Go. Yeah, an iPad with keyboard case is doable, but really, it is a poor experience. Apple still doesn't offer mouse or track pad support in iOS, which hinders productivity. Conversely, with Surface Go, you can use any Windows compatible hardware in addition to the official Type cover -- mice, keyboards, etc.

Currently, there are two consumer variants available for pre-order. Both have the same Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y processor, but the $399 model comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, while the $549 variant gives you 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Surprisingly, there is a third model currently being sold exclusively at Costco that should be quite attractive to some consumers.

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LibreOffice is one of many free alternatives to Microsoft Office, and the open source office suite has now arrived in the Microsoft Store.

While many people will be pleased by the appearance of a Store version of the software, some will be disappointed to find that the app is not free. At least not at first glance. There's a $2.99 price tag attached to Libre Office, but this is not necessarily a reason to let this put you off.

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