Microsoft

It’s been a couple of weeks since we last had a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build released to the Fast ring, but today the wait is over as new Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar has pushed the button to roll out Build 14361 for both PC and Mobile.

This new release includes new features, some improvements to existing features, and plenty of fixes. The release date for the big Windows 10 Anniversary Update is edging ever nearer, so the quest is on to fix as many problems as possible before then.

Microsoft is preparing to increase its commitment to the open-source Apache Spark big-data processing engine this week at the Spark Summit in San Francisco.

At the summit, officials from Microsoft will be offering further insight into its support for Spark with the company’s HDInsight, Cortana Intelligence Suite, Power BI and Microsoft R Server.

To help its users stay on task and manage their assignments more easily, Microsoft has just launched a new project management tool for teams using Office 365 called Planner.

The company initially released a preview of its new tool in December 2015 and now it will begin rolling it out worldwide to all Office 365 users including those using Office 365 Enterprise E1-E5, Business Essentials, Premium and even its Education subscription plan.

The first Surface tablets struggled to find an audience -- to put it politely -- but with Surface Pro 3 (and then Surface Pro 4) Microsoft finally got things right.

The company wants its range of slates to be a viable alternative to iPads for businesses and so has quietly introduced a membership plan that will allow firms to get the latest Surface devices, upgrade when available, and pay for things monthly.

To keep enterprise users happy, Windows 10 includes both Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer may be included for legacy support, but just like non-enterprise customers, Microsoft is keen to get everyone shifted across to Edge or at least ensure the two browsers work well together.

To help encourage this migration, Windows 10 Anniversary Update brings support for a number of new management policies in Microsoft's newest browser. There's a clear need to continue to support legacy line of business (LOB) applications, but Microsoft also wants to make management as easy as possible.

The world is becoming increasingly mobile first and businesses need to ensure that their data is protected however it’s accessed.

Mobile security specialist Lookout has announced that it's partnering with Microsoft to deliver integration of its Lookout Mobile Threat Protection with Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility Suite.

Windows 10 is a great operating system from a usability standpoint. Unfortunately, between the privacy issues and Microsoft's unethical upgrade tactics, more and more folks are turned off to it. Luckily, thanks to Linux, users don't have to tolerate the company's shady behavior.

If you want to switch to Linux, please know that while Ubuntu is a great operating system, it is not the only OS based on that kernel. Quite frankly, there are too many distributions, but I digress. Another fairly easy-to-use Linux-based operating system is Manjaro. For many folks leaving Windows, the default UI should be an inviting sight. Today, version 16.06 code-named "Daniella" becomes available for download. Will you format your Windows drive and join the Linux community?

Microsoft has announced the general availability of its SQL Server 2016 product, after releasing a preview build late last year. The offering comes with a couple of novelties, including the updateable in-memory column stores and advanced analytics through deep integration with R Services.

SQL Server 2016 also offers advanced analytics and machine learning models in the database, which Microsoft says will have a hundred-fold speed-up in time to insight, compared to similar deployments outside the database.

Microsoft won’t be building its own autonomous vehicle, but it will be present in the market, it was confirmed at a conference recently.

Speaking at the Converge Asia conference, Microsoft’s head of business development, Peggy Johnson, made these claims. Instead of building its own car, the company will team up with existing car makers and see to it that the devices get powered by Microsoft’s products.

If you’re unhappy with the way Microsoft is forcing Windows 10 onto people who really don’t want it (including plenty of people who don’t even know what it is), then you’re not alone.

A new Change.org petition is seeking supporters in order to have the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) investigate Microsoft for "malicious practices regarding Windows 10".

I worked in sales for some years and one of the first things you are taught is the art of the alternative close. That’s where the sales person offers someone a choice of two options, neither of which leads to "no". Here’s an example: "When is a good time to start your Windows 10 upgrade? At a preset date and time, or now?"

Microsoft’s increasingly aggressive tactics to get people to upgrade to Windows 10 are now legendary. The last trick the company pulled was to reverse the meaning of clicking the X on the nag screen. Instead of meaning, "go away and stop bothering me" it now means "yes, I want the upgrade". Or rather it did. For, according to The Register, Microsoft has now removed the X, leaving Windows 7 or 8.1 users with the choice of picking a date for an upgrade, or upgrading now. There’s no close button, no cancel option. Just reschedule or upgrade immediately.

Microsoft might have dropped support for Windows XP over two years ago, but the operating system remains hugely popular. According to the latest usage figures from NetMarketShare, it still has over 10 percent of the market.

There are numerous reasons why people might still opt to use the ancient OS, including the simplest of all -- because they like it, and it works for them -- but time has moved on considerably since XP first arrived in 2001, and the OS is missing a lot of features. Don’t worry though, you can bring XP up to date quickly and easily.

Windows 10’s Start menu offers live tiles that update every few seconds or so to display information like the latest news headlines and weather, and also a changing slideshow of photos.

Live tiles are viewed by many as a bit odd, because unless you switch to tablet mode, you only ever see them when you open the Start menu, and the menu has to stay open so you can watch the tiles update. Fortunately, if have no need for such things, this feature is easily disabled.

Leveraging on possible opportunities on identity systems, Microsoft is looking into building a blockchain-based identity system and it has recently sealed a partnership to further this goal.

The tech giant has made an open source collaboration with companies Blockstack Labs and ConsenSys for their current Bitcoin and Ethereum-based identity solutions, together with various developers globally.

Gabe Aul, long the face of the Windows Insider Program, is standing down from that particular leadership role to focus instead on his work at Engineering Systems Team in WDG. 18 months, 35 desktop builds and 22 mobile builds down the road, Aul has realized he's unable to give 100 percent to both roles.

The new head of the Insider program is Dona Sarkar who has been with Microsoft since the days of Vista. Having worked on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10, as well as HoloLens, the Windows Insider Program leadership role is one she says she has been "waiting for this job for 11 years" to get. With Windows 10 Anniversary Update due to launch in just a few weeks, she's being thrown in at the deep end.