It’s been a week since the WannaCrypt/WannaCry ransomware cyber attacks began, and the repercussions are still being felt. It became clear quite early on that the ransomware was hitting older Windows systems hard (Windows 10 wasn’t affected), with a lot of talk focusing on the number of at-risk Windows XP systems still in service.

But here’s the interesting thing. Most of the affected systems -- over 98 percent -- were actually running Windows 7.

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When the education-focused Windows 10 S was announced, many people were dubious that it could be a success. Limiting the operating system to apps from the Windows Store seems like a recipe for disaster. That opinion is understandable, as we have sort of been down this road before with Windows RT -- which failed. The concept can confuse users.

I was sort of hopeful for Windows 10 S when Microsoft made a shocking announcement at Build 2017 that it is bringing Linux distributions to the Windows Store. This gave the impression that students using the S variant of the OS would be able to tinker with Linux. Unfortunately, this is not the case as Microsoft will be blocking Linux on the new OS. In other words, not all apps in the store will be available for Windows 10 S.

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Panos Panay may have said that the Surface Pro 5 does not exist, but that certainly does not mean there's not a Surface Pro 4 successor. Microsoft has an event scheduled for Monday in Shanghai, and Panay himself has already indicated that it is Surface-related.

Ahead of the event, writer and serial leaker Evan Blass has revealed a number of images of the upcoming device which drops the numbering and is to be known simply as the Surface Pro.

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When Microsoft purchased LinkedIn back in December 2016, many predicted the eventual integration of Dynamics with the world’s primary professional social network. As well as being a valuable business networking tool, LinkedIn is just as useful for cold sales leads and recruitment prospects as it is for connecting people.

With Dynamics 365 designed to combine the company’s CRM and ERP services into a single cloud-based platform, the prospect of having access to nearly 500 million LinkedIn users could be more than enough to sway a new customer towards Microsoft. Dynamics 365 now has a clear advantage, but what impact will this have on the CRM software market when pitted against its competitors?

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Office 365 officially received a project management tool, called Planner, in June 2016, but it is not until today that Microsoft introduces an accompanying mobile app. And the platform of choice for the first Microsoft Planner app is iOS.

When Microsoft publicly launched Planner, the software giant said that there will be apps available for Windows and Android devices too, but there is no announcement regarding the support for the other two platforms. Hopefully, that will happen at some point in the near future.

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When Microsoft rolled out the previous Windows 10 Redstone 3 build to Insiders (Build 16193), it looked as if the new Story Remix feature was going to be included. However, it turns out the software giant had other plans, and only made it available to a select group of testers (of which I’m lucky enough to be one).

Microsoft says that the "large majority of Windows Insiders in the Fast ring should have Story Remix right now", however, and you can check by launching the Photos app which it’s part of. (If it's not there, and you want to try it, you can request access by sending an email to PhotosPreviewProgram@microsoft.com.) There’s no such confusion with this week’s new release, Build 16199, as everyone can try all of the new features today -- and there are quite few of those.

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As the world's leading productivity software, Microsoft Office plays an integral role in the daily lives of professionals.

Understanding how to quickly and accurately use Office 2016 can improve your productivity, and provide you with all the tools and knowledge you need to be successful. This ebook from Wiley usually retails for $20, but for a limited time BetaNews readers can get it free.

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Microsoft has entered into a five-year partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. As part of this agreement, the company will provide a grant of $5 million -- an unprecedented level of support from a private-sector organization.

The partnership goes beyond simply supporting the work of the UN Human Rights Office with money, however.

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Apple's macOS Sierra is a solid operating system. It is very mature and beautiful, not to mention, it is chock-full of user-focused features. Quite frankly, from a user experience perspective, it is probably the best OS by far. Still, there are other quality operating systems too, including Microsoft's excellent and always-improving Windows 10.

As great as macOS Sierra is, it is not perfect, meaning Apple is constantly looking to make it better. Today, the company releases the newest such version, 10.12.5. While not a revolutionary update by any means, it offers some important bug fixes and enhancements. The most interesting aspect of macOS Sierra 10.12.5 is improved Windows 10 Creators Update support for Boot Camp.

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If the WannaCrypt ransomware attack of the last few days has taught us anything it should be the importance of patching systems to guard against attack.

Yet a study released today suggests the message isn't getting through. The latest US country report from Flexera Software reveals the percentage of US PC users with unpatched Windows operating systems was 9.8 percent in Q1, 2017, up from 7.5 percent last quarter and 6.5 percent in Q1, 2016.

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I’ve certainly been highly critical of Microsoft in the past, particularly last year when the company began forcing Windows 10 on to users.

But in the past couple of days I have to admit that I’ve been impressed by the software giant’s response to the global WannaCrypt/WannaCry crisis, and not just in patching Windows XP.

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The "WannaCrypt" ransomware has proven to be a disaster globally. This malware will encrypt a user's files and then demand some Bitcoin ransom to decrypt them. While the amount being demanded is relatively low at $300 or $600, the scam can be modified for even larger amounts. Heck, even after the ransom is paid, there is no guarantee that the bad guys will follow through with the decryption, making it quite the gamble. As the ransomware has disrupted government agencies, medical services, and other critical computers, the ransom is being paid by some, as it can literally be the the difference between life and death -- surgeries and other procedures have been delayed.

While there are many directions in which you can point the finger of blame, Microsoft should absolutely not shoulder any of the responsibility. After all, the vulnerability that led to the disaster was patched back in March. It never even affected the most recent version of the operating system, Windows 10. The company has even since patched the archaic Windows XP! So who is to blame? Users and administrators that failed to keep their systems up to date are partially at fault. The biggest blame belongs to an unlikely party -- the US Government! You see, an agency of our own government -- the NSA -- knew about the exploit, and rather than alert Microsoft, it chose to stockpile it for intelligence purposes. Sadly, the exploit itself got leaked, and as a result, it landed into the hands of evildoers.

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Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP back in 2014, but today it releases one more security update for the ancient OS.

The software giant is taking this "highly unusual" step to fight back against the WannaCrypt ransomware cyber attacks that have so far hit nearly 100 countries around the world. And XP is not the only unsupported system receiving this patch.

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When Windows 10 arrived on the scene, much was made of the Metro (or Modern) look of the apps. This was Microsoft's design language of the time and now it's time to throw out the old and usher in the new. We've heard a bit about Project NEON in recent months, and this has now evolved in to the Fluent Design System.

This is the new design language for Windows, and it will be making an appearance in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update -- although you can already see glimpses of it in the Redstone 3 builds if you are a Windows Insider. Microsoft describes it as "an eloquent design system for a complex world," and introduces five main building blocks: Light, Depth, Motion, Material and Scale. But just what is it going to mean for the future of Windows 10?

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Two-hundred-and-thirty 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.

Microsoft revealed during the keynote speech at the Build 2017 developer conference that Windows 10 is installed on 500 million active devices, and that iTunes will make an appearance in the Windows Store later this year.

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