Articles about Microsoft

When Microsoft introduced Windows 7 back in 2009, the software giant didn’t need to persuade customers to upgrade -- they leapt at the chance. Back then, upgrading to the latest and greatest version of Windows was a no brainer.

Fast forward to today, and Microsoft is in a very different position. Windows 10 is a huge improvement over its predecessor, Windows 8.x, and yet it’s struggling to gain market share. Figures from NetMarketShare, and Microsoft itself show adoption of the new OS has stalled. That’s got to be hugely frustrating for Microsoft, especially when you consider the number of tricks it has pulled to force users to upgrade.

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Microsoft has published its latest transparency report and, for the first time, disclosed the contents of a National Security Letter it received. In addition to the debut appearance of such a letter in the report, Microsoft also reveals that in the reported period in 2016 the number of FISA orders more than doubled compared to the previous period.

As with previous reports, Microsoft is not permitted -- for reasons best known to the US government -- to reveal precise numbers when talking about the number of official requests for data it has received. As such, we know that in the most recent reporting period, it received between 1,000 and 1,499 FISA orders, up from 0-499.

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You can't help but have noticed that Microsoft has started the rollout of Windows 10 Creators Update. After testing with Windows Insiders, the third big update to Windows 10 is finally making its way to the masses. But while Creators Update brings some pretty major changes to Windows 10, Windows Subsystem for Linux is not automatically updated.

The arrival of Bash/Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in Windows 10 Anniversary Update meant Ubuntu 14.04 support, but you can now manually update to gain Ubuntu 16.04 support in Creators Update. Microsoft says you need to perform one of two manual update methods: the recommended option of "Remove & Replace", or "Upgrade In-Place." Here's how to perform the update.

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For enterprises, datacenters are at the heart of operations. With Azure, Microsoft has a vested interest in encouraging enterprises to move these operations to the cloud, and it is with this in mind that the company has launched a cloud migration assessment tool.

The free tool has been designed to give enterprises a way to determine whether it would make sense -- and how much it would cost -- to move to a hybrid cloud solution.

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Much like Steam, Microsoft's Xbox One is to gain a "self-service refund" function. The idea is to make it easier to get a refund on games and other content that is not up to scratch, not what was expected, or simply not enjoyable.

Currently in testing with alpha users, the feature is due for a wider rollout, and will also make its way to Windows 10 users in the Windows Store. Of course, it is not going to be possible to get your money back on just anything, and there are few criteria that need to be met in order to qualify.

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The war over which web browser offers the best battery life to laptop users has been waging for some time. Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge have all been battling it out, and with the release of Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft thinks it's time to show off the improvements that have been made to its browser.

In Microsoft's own tests -- involving streaming video on a Surface Book -- Edge lasted for over three hours longer than Chrome, and nearly five hours longer than Firefox. These are figures that will almost certainly be disputed in further tests by Mozilla and Google, but for now, Microsoft is giving Edge its moment in the spotlight at the top of the performance pile: 77 percent longer battery life than Mozilla Firefox, and 35 percent longer than Google Chrome.

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Microsoft has released Windows 10 Creators Update and if you want to get your hands on the latest version of the operating system you can now download the ISO files straight from the software giant's website.

Microsoft has a dedicated landing page for Windows 10 ISO files, which lets you download both the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows 10 Creators Update N and Windows 10 Creators Update Single Language ISO files without messing around with the Media Creation Tool. However, if you click that link from a Windows device you will be redirected to the Media Creation Tool page. That's a bummer, but you can easily avoid that. Here's how.

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The Windows 10 Creators Update is rolling out to users from today. If you install it and encounter major problems, as some users have, you might want to go back to your previous version, and wait until the update is a bit less buggy.

If you been using Windows 10 for a while, you’ll probably know how to do this, although the process has changed slightly this time around.

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The Surface line of computers are absolutely wonderful. If you want one of the best experiences for running Windows 10, it is hard to beat Microsoft's self-made PCs. Heck, they recently beat Apple's iPad tablets in overall satisfaction. Not only can they serve as laptops and tablets, but desktops too. By connecting the Surface Dock to the Surface Pro 4, for instance, you can easily connect a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. The problem? That dock costs $199.99.

If the thought of shelling out two "Benjamins" for the dock gives you pause, I have great news. Starting today, Microsoft is giving away the Surface Dock when you purchase the Surface Pro 4! To get the deal, you must make the purchase from the Microsoft Store.

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Microsoft has just released its biggest update to Windows 10 yet. The Creators Update introduces lots of new features and general improvements, including new privacy and security options, Paint 3D, Night Light, Game Mode, Dynamic Lock, and more.

However, a big update like this requires a big download, and the files that Microsoft places on your system don’t get removed afterwards. In other words, the Creators Update could be responsible for taking a massive bite out of your free hard drive space -- tens of gigabytes in fact. Fortunately it’s easy enough to reclaim this.

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It should come as no surprise that some users -- myself included -- have experienced a problem with the new Windows 10 Creators Update changing existing app default choices back to Microsoft’s own bundled apps.

This, after all, was a problem that we saw previously after both the November and Anniversary Update rollouts.

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Windows 10 Creators Update is rolling out to all from today, but Microsoft is already working on the next big iteration of the new OS, codenamed Redstone 3.

Last week, the software giant pushed out the first build from the Redstone 3 branch, Build 16170, and while on the surface this doesn’t seem very exciting there’s a hidden menu in Settings which you can unlock.

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Windows 10 Creators Update is slowly rolling out to all users but the process may take a while. You can hurry it along, by following the instructions here, or there's another even better way.

If you can’t wait to try the new features, the good news is Microsoft has updated its Media Creation tool to include the update and you can use this to download Windows 10 now and create your own installation media on either a USB flash drive or DVD. This is particularly handy if you want to perform a clean install, or update multiple computers in quick succession.

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According to NetMarketShare, Windows Vista's usage share is now down to just 0.72 percent of the desktop OS market. In the real world, that's still quite a large number of people using Vista -- around 10 million or so -- although significantly fewer than those using XP. The ancient OS, which Microsoft stopped supporting in 2014, currently has 7.44 percent share, making it the third most popular version of Windows after 7 and 10. Yes, it's more popular than Windows 8.1 which has 6.66 percent share -- go figure.

Today, April 11 2017, is the day when Microsoft kills its extended support for Windows Vista. If you're still using that OS -- which was never very good even when it was new -- now is the time to really think about making the switch to a more modern operating system, such as Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (which now receives extended support only), Windows 8.1, or Windows 10. We all know which OS Microsoft would like you to choose.

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Pretty much since the launch of Windows 10 there have been complaints about ads and usage tracking in various forms. You might think that Microsoft would listen to complaints and consider removing ads from its operating system, but in fact more and more have been added.

We've looked at the various ads (or app suggestions, app tips and so on to use Microsoft's phraseology) that have cropped up over the last couple of years, but the release of Windows 10 Creators Update seems like a good time to revisit the topic. So here, once and for all, is how to kill all the ads (or whatever you want to call them) in Windows 10.

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