Yeah, I'm going to bang that drum again. We've talked endlessly about privacy and telemetry in Windows 10. Endlessly. It's brought up some interesting issues for debates, led to comparisons between Microsoft and Google, and lots and lots of lots of bile. A case in point is an article from dear, dear Mr Ed Bott over on ZDNet. Mr Bott refers, subtweet style, to my recent article about Microsoft recording how long people are using Windows 10.

He refers -- albeit indirectly -- to me (and writers like me who question Microsoft) as a "dedicated Microsoft hater" and a "clueless writer" peddling in clickbait. He suggests I'm not interested in facts; this despite the fact I have gone out of my way to garner such delights from Microsoft. Bott completely -- COMPLETELY -- misses the point. I can only hope he does so on purpose because otherwise he just sounds disingenuous and a bit stupid. The problem here is not that Microsoft is gathering data (as it is perfectly entitled to do so), but the lack of transparency surrounding it. Microsoft does nothing to help itself.

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Microsoft is doing its best to push its line of Surface products out there to businesses and students, even getting prominent placement in NFL games (though announcers still sometimes refer to them as iPads). The Surface Pro is on its 4th generation, but for those who don't need quite as much power, there's the Surface 3 which has a smaller screen and isn't as capable, but which costs a fraction of the price of its bigger siblings and still runs Windows 10.

It's perfect for education uses, which is why Western Sydney University in Australia is handing out 5,000 Surface 3 slates to its students.

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The first week of the New Year is out of the way and Windows Insiders are eagerly awaiting the first Windows 10 build of 2016. The waiting may be over soon, as Microsoft says that it should be just "a few more days" before testers' patience is rewarded.

It's only a few weeks since the Redstone branch of Windows 10 became public, and Microsoft's Gabe Aul suggests that a new build could be on the way next week. The Windows 10 team just needs time to recover from Christmas and the New Year, and then we should also start to see more frequent build releases.

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The Investigatory Powers Bill may only be in draft form at the moment, but the UK government has already come in for criticism for its plans. Today, scores of pieces of written evidence, both for and against the proposals, have been published, including input from the Reform Government Surveillance (RGS) coalition.

Five key members of the coalition are Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo. In their written evidence, the quintet of tech companies express their concerns about the draft bill, seek clarification from the UK government, and issue warnings about the implications of such a bill.

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It isn’t easy being huge as both Apple and Microsoft are starting to realize. Both companies are incredibly successful and I’m not here to say either is in real danger, but both are suffering major structural challenges that will hurt them in 2016. What’s key for these predictions is how they respond.

I’ll deal with Microsoft first because there the challenges and solutions are both clearer than they are with Apple. I’ve been very impressed with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella who I think hasn’t saved the company, because it didn’t need saving, but he’s a real improvement over Steve Ballmer. Nadella has done the best he can to get Microsoft in order and reinvigorated, not an easy job. His major remaining challenges involve Windows Phone and Windows 10.

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The Windows Insider program was designed to help anyone test driving preview builds of Windows 10 to provide feedback and help shape the future direction of the operating system. But what happens with all of the feedback that's submitted?

Microsoft is starting to publish a new series of articles to the Insider Hub that seek to assure people that their feedback is not just disappearing into a black hole. The 'Made by you' sees Microsoft providing feedback on feedback, and helps to give Insiders some reassurance that their input is valued. The first article is about how Windows 10 handles display scaling.

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While I've been running Windows 10 for what seems like forever now, a desktop computer sitting in my office running Windows 8.1 has been crying out for an upgrade for some time. Having had a problem-free upgrade on three other machines, I expected nothing out of the ordinary with this computer. I was wrong.

Initially I left Windows Update to do its thing, but this failed on countless occasions. The error message suggested that a problem with my internet connection had interrupted the download, but this seemed unlikely. After numerous attempts, I decided to opt for a USB-driven installation. This also failed, this time with error 0xc0000017: "There isn't enough memory available to create a ramdisk device". Thankfully, the problem can be fixed -- here's what you need to do.

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All good things must come to an end. But the same can be said about bad things, and many people will be pleased to hear the death knell sound for Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10. While Microsoft may be keen for people to use Edge or -- if they must -- Internet Explorer 11, not everyone feels the same.

With the likes of Firefox, Opera, and Chrome available, it might seem like madness that anyone would like to stick with an ancient version of Internet Explorer instead, but choice is everything. A patch that is due to be delivered to Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, and Internet Explorer 10 in the coming day will introduce a nag screen that will pester users into upgrading. If you're happy with your decision to stick with an older version of IE, here's a hack to banish the pestering.

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In less than a week, Microsoft will only offer support for Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge. As of Tuesday 12 January, Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 will die. The aging browsers will receive one more update, and then will be consigned to the trash.

Tuesday is the day that older versions of IE reach the end of their support cycles, and Microsoft is keen for everyone to move to either Microsoft Edge or -- for the diehards -- Internet Explorer 11. If you have not already made the switch (or jumped to Chrome or Firefox), one more patch, KB3123303, will pester you into upgrading.

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Many people decry Samsung's design choices for copying Apple. As much as I love Samsung products -- the company makes great phones, washing machines, televisions and more -- I cannot defend against those claims. With that said, if you are going to borrow design philosophies from any company, Apple is a good choice.

Today, Samsung announces the Galaxy TabPro S -- a large tablet that is reminiscent of both Apple's iPad Pro and Microsoft's Surface line. The company had previously released the Galaxy Tab Pro, but that large tablet ran Android and was a dud with consumers. This time, the "S" variant runs full Windows 10, like the Surface, but with no kickstand and a keyboard a bit more like the iPad Pro in its connectivity. Obviously, the trackpad and key-type is more Microsoft than Apple. Regardless of design inspiration, it looks like a winner.

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It may be time for the Consumer Electronics Show, but Microsoft no longer maintains a presence at the big event. The days of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer keynotes are long gone now. That does not mean the company has nothing to announce, though.

Today Larry Hryb, also known as Major Nelson and the head of Xbox Live, is unveiling a set of new bundles for the gaming console.

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The various privacy concerns surrounding Windows 10 have received a lot of coverage in the media, but it seems that there are ever more secrets coming to light. The Threshold 2 Update did nothing to curtail privacy invasion, and the latest Windows 10 installation figures show that Microsoft is also monitoring how long people are using the operating system.

This might seem like a slightly strange statistic for Microsoft to keep track of, but the company knows how long, collectively, Windows 10 has been running on computers around the world. To have reached this figure (11 billion hours in December, apparently) Microsoft must have been logging individuals' usage times. Intrigued, we contacted Microsoft to find out what on earth is going on.

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NetMarketShare’s latest desktop usage figures suggest that Windows 10 now has nearly 10 percent of the market. And that translates to over 200 million devices, according to the latest figures released today by Microsoft.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, Windows and Devices Group, says "there are more than 200 million monthly active devices around the world running Windows 10" and he reports some other interesting adoption figures about the new OS, which will surprise a lot of people.

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Acer is a company that historically makes value-focused computers and accessories. What does this mean? Well, its products offer acceptable performance at affordable prices. While some manufacturers put the emphasis on chassis materials or elegance, Acer often opts for cheap-feeling plastic. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing -- it gives consumers a choice as to how they spend their money.

Today, however, Acer announces a premium Skylake Core M-powered Windows 10 laptop -- the Aspire Switch 12 S. On this 2-in-1 notebook, Acer is opting for an anodized aluminum chassis, with integrated 2x2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi antenna. Even the hinge has been updated from prior "Switch" models, with a more aesthetically pleasing design and zinc-alloy charging connectors. Beauty is more than skin deep here, however, as Acer has packed a whole bunch of awesomeness inside too.

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Software vulnerabilities are a daily event it seems, but some systems just have more of them. When we think of this a couple of names usually spring to mind -- Flash and Java. However, according to the new list being published by CVE Details, they aren't quite at the top, nor is Microsoft's oft-maligned operating system.

Basing its numbers on "distinct" vulnerabilities, the security firm has released its top 50 naughty list of 2015. Leading the way was, in fact, Apple, which claimed the top two spots -- Mac OS X with a number of 384 vulnerabilities, closely followed by iPhone OS (or iOS as most people like to call it) with 375.

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