Articles about Microsoft

News of an enormous security bug affecting millions of processors can't have escaped your attention over the last 24 hours or so. While Intel goes into a panicked meltdown, desperately pointing out that there's another bug affecting other processors too, software fixes are starting to emerge.

macOS has already been patched, and fixes have started to roll out to numerous Linux distros as well. Now Microsoft has pushed out a rare, off-schedule emergency fix for Windows 10 users which should be automatically installed. Users of Windows 7 and Windows 8 will have to wait until next week for a patch.

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Microsoft officially called time on the free Windows 10 upgrade offer in 2016, but allowed anyone using assistive technologies to continue to upgrade to the new OS without paying a penny.

This offer worked on an honor system -- you weren’t required to provide any proof that you used assistive technologies in order to make use of the deal -- allowing anyone to continue to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Microsoft finally closed this loophole on December 31, 2017, except (whisper it) the site, and the deal, are still available.

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Depending on which analyst firm you believe, Windows 10 is either a whisker away from overtaking Windows 7 as the most popular desktop operating system, or still quite a distance off.

Steam’s monthly usage survey, which shows usage share from the gamers’ perspective, paints an entirely different picture however. It has consistently reported Windows 10 as the top operating system of choice, until recently, when Windows 7 roared into the top spot.

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While NetMarketShare’s monthly usage share figures show there to still be a fairly significant gap between Windows 7 and Windows 10 (in the older OS’s favor), rival analyst firm StatCounter has long reported the battle for the top spot to be much, much tighter.

So close is the race in fact, that in October it looked as if Windows 10 would easily pass Windows 7 at some point in the following month. Surprisingly, that didn’t happen, although the gap did narrow. It seemed all but guaranteed that Windows 10 would claim pole position in December, but incredibly it didn’t.

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NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month, and it has long shown Windows 10 to be lagging well behind Windows 7. However, tweaks to how the analyst firm records these numbers means the gap has closed recently.

The latest figures, for the final month of 2017, show Windows 10 growing and Windows 7 declining, but the difference in usage share hasn’t altered by much.

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Microsoft's Windows Phone was actually pretty terrible. While it had some redeeming qualities, the now-failed platform was quite deficient compared to iOS and Android. Only the absolute biggest Microsoft loyalists truly embraced it, and even they have mostly moved on. Yeah, other consumers bought Windows Phone devices, but likely just because some of the models were so damn inexpensive -- it was like purchasing a feature-phone. Hell, the NYPD famously regretted choosing Microsoft's mobile OS.

That's why it is surprising that The New York Times -- one of the most important news outlets in history -- is still supporting a Windows Phone app. Well, I should say it was supporting it. You see, in a rather unceremonious announcement, the company says it is ending support for that app.

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Kodi started life as XBMC (XBox Media Center) and was designed to run on Microsoft's original Xbox. The software has since then enjoyed a meteoric -- and somewhat controversial -- rise, and is now available for most platforms, including Windows, Mac, Android, and Linux.

One platform it was missing from was the latest generation of Microsoft's console, the Xbox One, but that oversight has finally been corrected. You can, from today, install Kodi on both that console and the Xbox One S. Although there is a catch.

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Microsoft releases two big feature updates a year for Windows 10. 2017 saw the arrival of the Creators Update in April, followed by the Fall Creators Update in October.

The Creators Update was a slow and at times problematic release. A quarter of Windows 10 users still didn’t have it by the time its successor rolled out. Thankfully, Microsoft seems to have learned some important lessons, and the Fall Creators Update is being installed at a much faster rate.

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It took Microsoft a month to get Windows 10 Insider Build 17063 ready for release, as some pesky bugs kept getting in the way. This is an important build for the software giant as it’s chock full of new features -- including Timeline and Sets -- as well as numerous improvements throughout.

However, despite all the time Microsoft put into getting the build ready for release, it seems some pretty nasty bugs slipped through the gaps, as Insiders are discovering.

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If you are a console gamer, Microsoft has a lot to offer with Xbox One right now. Of course, those that can afford it should pick up the godly Xbox One X -- a true 4K gaming machine. Don't have $500 to spend on an Xbox? Don't worry -- the Xbox One S can play the exact same games -- albeit at 1080p. With that said, the "S" variant can play 4K Blu-ray movies, however -- all at a fraction of the cost of the Xbox One X.

Today, Microsoft makes that price difference even more substantial. You see, for a mere $199, you can get an Xbox One S bundled with a free game! In other words, it costs less than half of an Xbox One X and comes with a game -- how can you beat that?

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It’s been a whopping four weeks since Microsoft flighted a new Windows 10 Insider build. Given the software giant normally rolls out new builds on a weekly basis, it’s been a long wait for Build 17063 to arrive, but a wait that’s definitely been worth it.

Microsoft said this was an important build, and one it wanted to get right. It’s easy to see why. There are new features, and big changes galore throughout.

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Microsoft has become one of the most relevant mobile developers by offering its best products and services to (virtually) everyone who owns a smartphone and tablet -- for free. Major apps like Word, Skype and Outlook are among the most popular titles in their respective categories on the two biggest platforms: Android and iOS.

Microsoft did not stop there though, as it also created new apps specifically tailored to attract new users on a platform. Microsoft Launcher is one of them, being designed as an alternative launcher for Android devices that ties in with the company's other products. And, believe it or not, users have responded really well to it.

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Microsoft has been bundling a password manager that features a dangerous flaw with some versions of Windows 10, a Google security researcher has revealed. Tavis Ormandy noticed that his copy of Windows 10 included Keeper, which he had previously found to be injecting privileged UI into pages.

The version that Microsoft was including with Windows 10 featured the same bug. What does this mean? In short, it allows any website to steal passwords from you.

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It's quite interesting to see just how far Microsoft has come since Satya Nadella became CEO. The company has gotten out of its comfort zone and made its products more appealing to a wider range of customers, embracing rival platforms and the open-source community. Having Visual Studio on Macs and tons of apps on Android and iOS is something that would have been unheard of only a few years ago.

The same goes for offering a subsystem for Linux or OpenSSH support on Windows 10. That last bit may not excite everyone, but it is especially useful for those who want to log in remotely on Linux devices -- which would have normally required third-party tools like PuTTY. Microsoft is not stopping there though, as it's taking things to the next level by adding a native OpenSSH client and server to Windows 10.

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The Xbox One X is the best gaming console on the market -- from a raw power perspective, that is. Despite having lesser specs, many people would argue that the Nintendo Switch is the superior machine. Why? Mario and Zelda. After all, when it comes to video games, content is king -- fun trumps frame rate. Not to mention, Microsoft's latest is wildly expensive at $500 while only working with a TV. The Switch costs less and doubles as a mobile console.

If you can't afford an Xbox One X, but really want one, I have good news. Microsoft is giving some of them away -- three to be exact. The company is running this contest as a way to promote Digital Gift Giving. To make this giveaway even sweeter, the prizes are the fairly rare "Project Scorpio Edition" variants. Best of all, entering is insanely easy.

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