Microsoft

If you are a die-hard Microsoft fan, there is one designation that would probably put you over the moon -- MVP. Yeah, many people want to be considered a most valuable person, but not everyone gets the nod.

Today, the new queen of the Windows Insider program, Dona Sarkar, makes an exciting announcement. You see, there is a new category that will focus specifically on Microsoft's operating system -- 'Windows Insider MVP Program'.

When Evernote announced changes to its pricing structure this week, users were unhappy. As well as an increase to the price of paid-for accounts, new restrictions were also wheeled in for free accounts. It's no longer possible to sync data between more than two devices without coughing up a monthly fee, and this has people looking for alternatives.

A worthy competitor is Microsoft's OneNote and the company has a dedicated OneNote Importer tool that can be used to move all of your notes between services. Like OneNote, the importer is also free, and gives disgruntled Evernote users a way to sync between multiple devices and benefit from unrestricted uploads.

June and July are big months for Windows 10 upgrades as this should be when users who have yet to switch to the new OS scramble to do so before the free offer comes to an end on July 29.

The last minute rush, combined with Microsoft’s aggressive push -- including, of course, tricking unwitting users into upgrading -- should have made June a particularly bumper month for Windows 10 growth, but actually it dropped off a little compared with May.

The promotion of Windows 10 upgrade by Microsoft has certainly proved controversial, and it was only this week that users were given an easy way to decline the upgrade offer. With the 29 July deadline for free upgrades fast approaching, the clock is really ticking now, and Microsoft is giving Windows 10 one final push.

Window 7 and 8 users are being offered update KB3173040. Its sole purpose is to advertise the availability of Windows 10 and to remind people that time is running out. Given the criticism Microsoft's decision to promote the Windows 10 upgrade deadline with a full-screen notification is a little... odd.

Fourth of July is coming up this Monday, and tomorrow is Friday. This is significant in the business world, as many folks transform a three-day weekend into four by taking off the Friday before a holiday. In other words, it is a great way to get a mini-vacation while only sacrificing a single vacation day.

Apparently, Dona Sarkar and team are getting an early start on celebrating USA Independence. In anticipation of the extended weekend, she is setting off some fireworks -- figuratively speaking, that is. Today, Microsoft releases Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14379 for PC and Mobile to the fast ring.

As we approach the Fourth of July weekend, I begin thinking about independence. I am very proud of my forefathers for defeating the British -- our now-ally -- and creating our great nation, the USA.

With that said, there are other things from which you can declare independence -- such as Windows 10. Look, I think Microsoft's desktop operating system is pretty good, although I understand that some folks are fearful of spying and forced-upgrade behavior. If you want to be free from Microsoft and Windows, I have good news -- today, Linux Mint 18 is finally available. Will you download it and declare your independence?

When Microsoft first announced that Windows 10 would be free, it rather mangled the message by adding "for the first year" to the end of the statement. That immediately suggested that the operating system would be headed for a subscription model, just like Office 365. The software giant eventually clarified the situation, but the fear that one day Microsoft would start charging a yearly fee for its OS never quite went away in some people’s minds.

And now it looks as if those fears are set to be reignited, as a file found in the latest Windows Insider preview, Build 14376, hints that Windows 10 subscriptions are going to be a real thing.

Microsoft is expanding the availability of the top-tier Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book models, as today it introduces the 1TB versions of its hybrid devices in eight more markets. The software giant introduced Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book last year, in October, but did not bring all the storage configurations outside of US and Canada.

The new 10 markets where the 1TB Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are now available are Australia, Austria, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Microsoft says that interested buyers will be able to purchase these models from its online store but also authorized resellers and retail partners.

Microsoft partners are witnessing Office 365 technology updates, refreshes and changes outpacing their customers' ability to keep up with them.

This is according to a new study by customer experience specialist harmon.ie which surveyed more than 200 Microsoft partners worldwide. Thanks to the complexity and rate of change, partners are seeing new opportunities to step in and provide the much needed bridge to help companies keep up.

Just under two months ago, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 was on 300 million devices. That’s a sizeable number, achieved in around nine months.

Today, in officially announcing the launch date of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft says the number of devices running the OS has jumped to over 350 million.

Microsoft today introduces a pretty sweet back to school deal, giving students the option to save $300 with the purchase of a Surface device and an Xbox One console. Part of the bundle are three free extras, one of which is a wireless controller.

The promo is valid for all configurations of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, and starts at just $878. For the money, students get the base Surface Pro 4 and a 500GB Xbox One game bundle. The two devices are normally available to students for $809.10 and $279, respectively, when purchased separately.

Yesterday, Microsoft accidentally leaked the news that the eagerly awaited Windows 10 Anniversary Update is now set to arrive on August 2, and today the software giant confirms the news, along with details of what to expect from the update.

If you’re a Windows Insider, or have been following news of the various Insider Preview builds, you’ll know there’s a lot of new features and improvements in the update.

The much awaited Windows 10 Anniversary Update might not now be arriving until the start of August, but the Windows Insider previews continue to roll out at an impressive pace.

Today, Microsoft releases Build 14376 for both PC and Mobile to the Fast ring, and also pushes out Build 14372 to the Slow ring. Build 14376 contains over 1,800 fixes compared to the previous build released last week, which is quite some going.

Microsoft’s big Windows 10 Anniversary Update introduces a ton of new features and improvements to the new operating system, including a revamped Start menu, support for extensions in Edge, Windows Ink, and more.

Windows Insiders have been testing these new features for a while, and it’s looking very much as if the Anniversary Update will be a great improvement. The big update was set to be released on July 29, the same day as the free upgrade offer ended, but according to an accidental release from Microsoft, it seems as if the software giant is going to miss that window.

Microsoft has used every trick in the book to get Windows 7 and 8.1 users to upgrade to Windows 10. From making the new operating system free, and introducing an app to simplify the upgrade process, to fooling users into requesting an upgrade even if they really don’t want it.

The latest approach has been to change the behavior of the red corner X in the Get Windows 10 popup. People who clicked the button to close the message assumed they’d rejected the new OS, but had in fact sanctioned the upgrade. Microsoft even went so far as to remove the X in some cases, so people couldn’t even close the popup without agreeing to install the upgrade either immediately, or at a time arranged by Microsoft.