Articles about Microsoft

If you recall, two months ago we reported how Windows 11 growth was still glacially slow, as users appeared to be opting to stay with Windows 10, rather than upgrading to the new OS.

Although it didn’t report on Windows 11’s share last month, AdDuplex has returned with figures for June, and if you were expecting a sudden surge of upgrades, well we’ve some bad news for you -- and Microsoft.

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Last week's new Windows 11 flight for Insiders in the Dev Channel -- Build 25145 -- introduced a number of new features, including a OneDrive storage alert, subscription management in Settings, and a Local Administrator Password Solution ("LAPS").

Build 25151, released today, is much less exciting but does offer a set of fixes designed to improve the overall experience for users.

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Microsoft has released a preview of an update for Windows 10. It will receive a wider release next month, but it is available now for eager testers.

The KB5014666 update is a cumulative, non-security update. As well as fixing a number of bugs in Windows 10 versions 20H2, 21H1 and 21H2, the update also introduces a number of new printing features, as well as IP address auditing for incoming Windows Remote Management.

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Microsoft issuing updates for Windows that result in unwanted side effects is far from unknown, and it has happened once again.

With the release of the KB5014019 update for Windows 11, the KB5014021 update for Windows 10, and the KB5014023 update for Windows Server, Microsoft managed to introduce a problem that caused its own Edge browser to stop responding. Rather than issuing a fix, the company has instead opted to use a Known Issue Rollback (KIR) after acknowledging the problems.

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The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States. With more than half of states either implementing an immediate ban on abortions or intending to do so as soon as possible, there are serious concerns about women's health care. Large-scale protests continue across the country, but particularly in Washington DC.

While unable to help the majority of those affected by the ruling, many of the major technology companies have detailed the support they offer employees seeking abortion services. Among those to offer helps such as the reimbursement of travel expenses are Microsoft, Meta and Apple.

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The NSA might not be the first organization that you think of turning to for advice about how to secure your computer, but the agency has offered up various tips about how to use PowerShell to do just this.

In conjunction with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre (NZ NCSC) and the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK), the NSA has published a Cybersecurity Information Sheet. The document is entitled Keeping PowerShell: Security Measures to Use and Embrace, and it advises properly configuring and monitoring PowerShell, rather than removing or disabling it as is often recommended.

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It is the time of the month when Microsoft releases preview versions of the updates that will be released for Windows on the next Patch Tuesday. As such, the company has unleashed a non-security preview release (or "C" release) of the KB5014668 update for Windows 11.

The list of changes and fixes in this non-security update is pretty lengthy, but there are two major inclusions that are especially noteworthy. As well as addressing an issue that prevented some users from upgrading to Windows 11, there is also a fix for game crashes caused by the use of certain audio technology.

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Sometimes new Windows 11 builds released to the Dev Channel introduce new features, and other times the focus is just on fixing problems. Today’s new Insider release, Build 25145, comes with both a selection of new features and also some important fixes.

In particular, this release comes with a fix for an annoying problem that caused Surface Pro X devices to hit a black screen when attempting to resume from hibernation.

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Microsoft has publicly shared its Responsible AI Standard which includes its guidelines for building AI systems. The company says it is publishing the standard in order to "to share what we have learned, invite feedback from others, and contribute to the discussion about building better norms and practices around AI".

In addition to publishing the Responsible AI Standard, Microsoft has also announced that it is closing down some of the capabilities of its Azure Face facial recognition service. Features that are being retied include those that can be used to "infer emotional states and identity attributes such as gender, age, smile, facial hair, hair, and makeup".

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Microsoft has released two out-of-band updates, one for Windows 10 and one for Windows 11. The KB5016138 and KB5016139 updates address a problem caused by the June 2022 update released on the most recent Patch Tuesday.

The problem prevents some users from signing in with Azure Active Directory, with knock-on problems for various apps and services such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams and VPNs.

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Microsoft has long been accused of using Windows 11 -- and, for that matter, earlier versions of the operating system -- to spy on users by gathering telemetry. Accusations of invading privacy could also be levelled at many apps too, and Microsoft is introducing a new feature that places users in control.

Having apps secretly spying on users, or making use of cameras and microphones, is something that tends to be thought of in relation to mobile apps, but it can also be a problem on the desktop. With this in mind, Microsoft is testing a new Privacy Auditing feature that will make it possible to see which apps have been accessing such devices.

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June's Patch Tuesday update releases for Windows 11 have once gain proved to be problematic. Microsoft has acknowledged a new known issue with the operating system following the installation of the KB5014697 update.

The KB5014697 update was supposed to address a number of security flaws in Windows 11, but it also introduced connectivity issues for some users, Microsoft is currently investigating the problem which affects Windows 11's Wi-Fi hotspot feature.

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Microsoft has been working on a new security tool for a while now to help protect you and your family’s data and devices against online threats, such as malware and phishing attacks.

Three months ago it made a preview build of Microsoft Defender available for Windows Insiders to try out, and today it announces the tool's official availability for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers.

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After something of a quiet period, Microsoft released the first update in a while for PowerToys last week. Now the company has issued what it describes as a "patch release", taking the popular utility collection up to PowerToys v0.59.1.

As this is a patch release, there are no new tools to explore, and no major new additions. But the release remains significant thanks to the bugs it addresses -- including fixes for problems with FancyZones and PowerToys Run.

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Wednesday isn't typically the most exciting day of the week, unless you happen to be a Windows Insider in the Dev Channel, as that’s when -- provided everything goes according to plan -- Microsoft rolls out a new Windows 11 build.

Today’s release, Build 25140, comes with another good set of fixes designed to improve the overall Windows 11 experience. There are also ISOs available for this flight, which can downloaded here, that can be used for a clean install.

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