Articles about Microsoft

The UK's decision to leave the European Union continues to hit the pockets of consumers. The latest victim of Brexit is Microsoft's Surface Book, with every model in the range hit with a £150 price hike.

While not a direct response to the Brexit vote itself, the resulting drop in the value of the pound has already seen many companies push up prices to compensate. We've already seen Apple increase the cost of apps in the UK by 25 percent, and Microsoft has already increased the price of enterprise software. Representing an 11 percent price jump, the new Surface Book price tag makes the already-expensive laptop even less attractive to would be buyers.

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While most of us are perfectly fine using a free email service, like Gmail or Outlook.com, Microsoft believes that there is an audience for its new Outlook.com Premium tier that offers an ad-free experience and access to extra features for $19.95 per year.

Outlook.com Premium can be considered the replacement for the Ad-free plan, the latter of which cost the same but only dropped the ads in exchange -- a high price to pay for what you can do for free with a simple browser plug-in. Outlook.com Premium, on the other hand, is way better value for money, and here's why.

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The modern Microsoft places more importance on the cloud than ever before, and this means addressing the security concerns that users might have. As part of this, the company has upgraded and redesigned its Trust Center, home to a wealth of security information.

Designed to provide "support and resources for information professionals, as well as the legal and compliance community," the Trust Center is also of interest to anyone concerned about security in general and those who want to know how Microsoft is complying with laws around the world.

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This Valentine's Day, you may have special plans, such as dinner and a movie with your significant other. If you are particularly romantic, you probably have jewelry, candy, or flowers planned too. If you are single, however, you may be planning to stay inside alone -- there is no shame in that, folks.

In 2017, there is something very exciting happening on February 14th -- tickets for Build will go on sale. If you aren't familiar, this is Microsoft's annual developer conference. Will you be buying tickets at noon ET this Valentine's Day?

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This week, Microsoft re-released the telemetry updates KB2952664 (for Windows 7) and KB2976978 (for Windows 8.1).

While we don’t know what these will do this time around (Microsoft’s description is giving little away), in the past they triggered a snooping Windows task called DoScheduledTelemetryRun, and were linked to the infamous GWX (Get Windows 10) campaign that forced OS upgrades on unwilling Windows 7 and 8.1 users.

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Cyber threats to enterprises aren't confined to the desktop, mobile systems are at risk too and businesses are looking for solutions that can combine security with ease of management.

Mobile threat defense company Skycure has announced that it's working with Microsoft to integrate its Skycure platform with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS).

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Microsoft released Insider Build 15031 for PC two days ago, and promised a build for Mobile would arrive by the end of the week.

The software giant is as good as its word, and Build 15031 is now available to install.

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If you want to know the current weather, you can simply gaze out a window. If you want to know the weather beyond the moment, however, there are many sources from where you can get it. Some folks will turn on the television or radio, but in the computer age, there are far more convenient ways, such as mobile apps and search engines.

One such search engine that can present you with the weather is Bing. Today, Microsoft is improving the weather functionality of its search engine by offering improved visuals. As you can see in the image above, it is much more pleasing than Google's. In addition, Bing is now offering ski resort snow reports for skiers and snowboarders.

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Voice assistants are changing the way consumers interact with their computers and devices. Services like Alexa and Siri are enabling people to use voice to ask questions and control home components, such as thermostats and lights. It really is an exceptional thing.

Microsoft's Cortana is also a great voice assistant, and since "she" is included in Windows 10, countless consumers already have access. Today, Microsoft announces that it is improving Cortana with a new feature called "Suggested Reminders". The assistant will scan your emails for dates and appointments, and then suggest reminders -- for times when maybe you forgot to do so yourself. Previously available to Windows Insiders, it is now an option for all Windows 10 users. There is one very big catch, however.

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Windows 10 Cloud, Microsoft's new (and likely free) operating system hasn't been officially announced yet, but the first build of it leaked over the weekend, giving people a chance to see what the successor to RT looks like.

In this early version, the answer is mostly just like Windows 10, albeit with one major difference -- Windows 10 Cloud can only run apps from the Windows Store, not Win32 programs. Or at least that used to be the case.

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Microsoft has been busy bug bashing this week, but has still found time to push out a new Insider Preview build to the Fast ring.

Build 15031 is for PC only (a Mobile Build is anticipated later this week), and introduces yet more new features to the forthcoming Creators Update, including Dynamic Lock.

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The problem of trolls and general rudeness is something that many people would like to change about social networks and online interaction in general. Twitter is trying to curb abusive behavior on its service, but Microsoft has a more interesting approach -- it wants people to embrace "digital civility" and to treat each other with respect and dignity online.

With this aim in mind, the software giant has created a Digital Civility Index -- a new measure of people’s safety online and exposure to risks.

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Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and I am so excited. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought chicken wings, fried mozzarella sticks, and seven-layer dip. By halftime, I will probably be in a food coma.

As a New Yorker and Jets fan, I don't have a horse in the race, but I do have a team that I am rooting for -- the Atlanta Falcons. Why? Because the Patriots have already won many championships, and quite frankly, New York and New England generally have a hardcore sports rivalry. Unfortunately for me and some others, according to Microsoft, Tom Brady and team will be victorious tonight.

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A US judge has ordered Google to comply with FBI search warrants which ask for customer emails that are stored outside of the US. This is in stark contrast to a recent case in which a federal appeal court ruling concluded that Microsoft did not need to comply with such orders.

The FBI issued a warrant in relation to a fraud case, and Google argued that because the emails in question were stored on foreign servers, the authorities should not be able to seize the data. However, Google has been told that transferring the emails to another server for investigation by the FBI does not constitute seizure, but conceded it was a potential invasion of privacy.

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Rumors have been swirling about Windows 10 Cloud for a while. The operating system is said to be a Chromebook-like version of Windows 10 -- the evolution of RT, really -- that only runs apps from the Windows Store.

Until now, there hasn’t really been any hard evidence of what the OS looks like, or how it behaves -- Microsoft hasn’t even announced it yet -- but that’s no longer the case, as both screenshots, and a usable build have surfaced on the web.

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