Tim Sweeney: Microsoft is trying to kill Steam with Windows 10
Microsoft is on a mission to destroy Steam with Windows 10. At least that is what Tim Sweeney, co-founder of Epic Games believes. He says that Microsoft's love of UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps means that Win32 apps are gradually being driven to extinction.
In an interview with Edge magazine, Sweeney says that he predicts Microsoft will release patches for Windows 10 over the next few years that will render Steam "progressively worse and more broken".
Dona Sarkar opens up voting for official Microsoft Windows Insider t-shirt design
The "new" Microsoft led by folks like Satya Nadella, Dona Sarkar, and Panos Panay is very different than prior regimes. The company in its current form listens intently to users, while being increasingly transparent regarding Windows and other software.
One of the biggest examples of Microsoft's customer-first focus is the Windows Insider program. This allows any user to experience early builds of the operating system, while providing valuable feedback. Windows 10 is truly influenced by its own users. To celebrate the program, Microsoft ran a contest to design an official team t-shirt. Today, Dona Sarkar announces the finalists and opens up voting.
Microsoft makes Cortana unkillable in Windows 10 Anniversary Update -- but you can disable her
We’re only a few days away from the global roll out of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and Microsoft is busy squashing the last few bugs before its prime-time release.
There are lots of changes in the update, including a more usable Start menu, Windows Ink, an updated Windows Defender, and an improved Cortana you can’t turn off. Wait, what?
Microsoft boosts the intelligence of Office with Zoom for PowerPoint, Focused Inbox for Outlook, and more
Microsoft today announced a series of updates for its Office apps which help to make the suite more intelligent than ever. There's a strong focus on workflow and efficiency, and things kick off with the Researcher tool. This provides context-sensitive research materials that can be accessed from within Word and quickly added to a document complete with properly formatted citations.
Microsoft says that Researcher will continue to expand to include "sources like national science and health centers, well-known encyclopedias, history databases and more". But this is far from being the only new tool to be added in the latest monthly update.
There's only a few days left to get Windows 10 for free -- this is why you should upgrade
I’ve been very critical of the sneaky tricks Microsoft has been pulling to try to get users to upgrade to Windows 10. In my opinion, all that’s done is annoy a lot of customers, and tarnish the name of what is actually a very good operating system.
If you haven’t yet upgraded to Windows 10, and you’re on Windows 7 or 8.1, don’t let Microsoft’s stupid tactics turn you away from the new OS. There’s only a few days remaining to get Windows 10 for free, and you really should seize the opportunity -- even if you intend to stick with your current OS for a while longer. These are the reasons why I think you should upgrade:
Prior to Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft slashes Surface Pro 4 and Xbox One prices
The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is on the horizon, and many fans of Microsoft's desktop operating system are excited. It's not hard to see why -- this is the best version of Windows ever, and it's about to get better at no extra charge.
Prior to the much-anticipated update, however, Microsoft is slashing prices on two of its most popular Windows 10 devices -- the Surface Pro 4 and Xbox One. While not all models are getting the discount, budget hunters should be excited.
Windows 10 telemetry will be used to drive enterprise upgrades with Upgrade Analytics
Rightly or wrongly, telemetry in Windows 10 has been roundly and soundly criticized. But while the feature may be a privacy concern for some, Microsoft says that it is using the data gathered to provide advice to would-be Windows 10 users about driver and application readiness.
This is something that is aimed at enterprise users for whom Microsoft recognizes that certain apps are mission-critical for businesses. This is why the company has launched Upgrade Analytics to "provide customers with insights which allow them to [...] mitigate potential problems".
Microsoft patches Windows 10 Anniversary Update Preview Build 14393
It’s generally considered that the newly released Windows 10 Build 14393 is the Anniversary Update as Microsoft not only hasn’t rolled out any new builds since that one arrived on Monday (and they were coming thick and fast previously), but it’s just released a patch for that build.
The cumulative update for PC and Mobile mops up some more problems, and bumps the OS preview up to 14393.3.
Capture and explore network traffic with Microsoft Message Analyzer
Microsoft Message Analyzer is an expert-oriented tool for capturing, displaying and analyzing network traffic, file activity, Windows Events and device activities on Windows 7 or later systems.
This data may be filtered and presented in grids, charts, graphs, timelines and more. While the program is aimed at developers and system admins, if you’re comfortable with tools like Sysinternals Process Monitor then you could also find it handy.
Microsoft responds to allegations that Windows 10 collects 'excessive personal data'
Yesterday France's National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) slapped a formal order on Microsoft to comply with data protection laws after it found Windows 10 was collecting "excessive data" about users. The company has been given three months to meet the demands or it will face fines.
Microsoft has now responded, saying it is happy to work with the CNIL to work towards an acceptable solution. Interestingly, while not denying the allegations set against it, the company does nothing to defend the amount of data collected by Windows 10, and also fails to address the privacy concerns it raises.
France: Windows 10 collects 'excessive personal data', issues Microsoft with formal warning
After accusations that Windows 10 collects too much data about users, France's National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) has order Microsoft to comply with the French Data Protection Act within three months. The company has been ordered to "stop collecting excessive data and tracking browsing by users without their consent".
In addition to this, the chair of CNIL has notified Microsoft that it needs to take "satisfactory measures to ensure the security and confidentiality of user data". The notice comes after numerous complaints about Windows 10, and a series of investigations by French authorities which revealed a number of failings on Microsoft's part.
Microsoft is killing Skype for Windows Phone -- a final slap in its fans' faces
Windows Phone was a terrible experiment that never got off the ground. Microsoft's mobile operating system was never popular with developers, nor did many consumers care about it. With that said, some of the company's most loyal fans did embrace it, however. Not to mention, due to low prices, a small number of unknowing budget-hunters bought the much maligned phones too.
Fast forward to today, and Microsoft has moved on to Windows 10 Mobile. Sadly, its newest mobile push is not doing well either, but I digress. As a final slap in the face to users that own Windows Phones that cannot be upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft is killing Skype support for the platform.
The clock is ticking for free Windows 10 upgrades and Microsoft is having one last nag
When it comes to encouraging people to take advantage of the free upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft has not been shy about pushing things -- some would say a little too much. But now the clock really is ticking. The deadline for free upgrades of July 29 is fast approaching, and Microsoft has one final bit of nagging up its sleeve.
With just nine days to go, an update has been pushed out to GWX which drives home the fact that time is running out. To add a bit of an incentive -- you could call it fearmongering -- there's a great big countdown clock to prod Windows 7 and 8.x users into action.
Microsoft changes how it reports Windows 10 numbers, no longer chasing a billion devices
We know that Windows 10 is on upwards of 350 million systems now, because Microsoft told us three weeks ago.
The last time Microsoft released any numbers before that, was two months previous when the new OS was on 300 million devices. The problem with how Microsoft announces these new milestones, isn’t just that it’s infrequent, but also that it refers to devices, not users -- and includes PCs, tablets, and mobile phones not yet sold. That’s useful when you’re aiming for a particular target -- 1 billion devices -- but not so useful when that target becomes unrealistic and it looks like you’re failing.
Microsoft Stream lets businesses securely manage and share videos
Microsoft has announced a new video service called Stream that will enable businesses of all sizes to securely manage and share videos.
From today on, any user with a business email address will be able to sign up for the preview of the new service in seconds. With Stream they can then begin to upload, share and tag videos from their organization. It will also be simple to discover relevant videos since the company will employ machine learning to help users find trending videos and will also give them the ability to search by hashtag, most liked videos or other key search terms.
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