Articles about Microsoft

With virtually no fanfare, Microsoft has quietly launched the latest version of its datacenter management suite. Microsoft System Center 2022 is now generally available to cater for a range of IT environments, such as Windows Server, Azure Stack HCI and VMWare deployments.

The suite, which debuted back on 2008, includes System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), System Center Orchestrator (SCORCH), Service Manager (SM) and Data Protection Manager (DPM). But while Microsoft may be pushing System Center 2022 out of the door, it's fair to say that it is not yet complete.

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It has been a very long time coming, but Microsoft appears to have finally understood the value and importance of HTTPS. For reasons best known to the company, anyone looking to download updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog have had to do so via HTTP links -- but no longer.

In the last few days, Microsoft made a server-side change that means Microsoft Update Catalog downloads now use HTTPS connections. The switch to HTTPS affects everything from Windows 11 to Office, and everything in between.

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After -- although not necessarily because of -- endless complaints from Windows 11 users about the unnecessarily difficult process involved in changing the default web browser to something other than Edge, Microsoft finally gave in and simplified things.

But while the KB5011563 update means that the process is now much quicker and easier than it was, Microsoft has not gone far enough for many people. Among those voicing concern that the company is still putting obstacles in the way for users is Mozilla. The Firefox-maker says that Microsoft can do more to respect default browser choice on Windows.

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In a post on the Windows IT Pro Blog, Microsoft has provided what it describes as "an easy, go-to reference" for sysadmins to help them choose which Windows Update policies to put in place.

There is different advice for single-user devices, multi-user devices, education devices, kiosks, billboards, factory machines, and Microsoft Teams Room devices. Microsoft kicks off with a pretty simple suggestion: "The fewer policies, the better. Leverage the defaults!" That said, there are also lots of recommendations for different scenarios.

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With a warning that "IE11 data might not be accessible after upgrading to Windows 11", Microsoft has added a new compatibility hold to prevent some people from upgrading to the latest version of its operating system.

The issue affects Windows 11 version 21H2, and Microsoft has not given any indication of how many people might be impacted. It means that some Windows 10 users looking to upgrade to Windows 11 will simply not be offered the update until they have jumped through certain hops.

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Four-hundred-eighty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft launched a new driver blocking security feature to boost Windows security.

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Microsoft has released the latest update to its PowerToys utility collection, complete with a massive changelog. Taking the software up to version 0.57.0, the latest release makes numerous improvements to PowerToys Run as well as the ever-popular FancyZones.

With PowerToys v0.57.0, Microsoft has taken steps to address an issue with Outlook PDF previews. There are also updates for ColorPicker, Always on Top, Video Conference Mute and much more.

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Microsoft first launched Your Phone three years ago, allowing Android users to access their text messages and photos on a computer, as well as run Android apps and make and receive calls in Windows.

Today, the software giant announces the app has a new name, and a new interface with an updated design for Windows 11.

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After enjoying a couple of months of stellar usage growth which saw Windows 11 double its share, putting it on close to 20 percent of PCs, the new operating system had a nightmare March.

AdDuplex’s report for the current month -- still presented in the Ukraine flag colors of blue and yellow --  will make for shocking reading for Microsoft and for fans of the new operating system.

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Microsoft is giving Windows users an easy way to avoid drivers that are known to contain vulnerabilities, helping to improve security.

The company is adding a vulnerable driver blocklist option to Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) which will help to ensure that only trusted drivers can be installed. The new security measure is available to users of Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2016 on systems with hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) enabled, and Windows 10 in S Mode.

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Microsoft has made numerous missteps with Windows 11, but one that drew a lot of attention was the convoluted method involved in changing the default web browser. But following complaints and criticism, the company has backtracked and dramatically simplified the process.

The change was quietly introduced with the release of the KB5011563 update for Windows 11. This is currently an optional update, but the fact that Microsoft has now made it so much easier to set the default browser to something other than Edge is one very good reason to get it installed right now.

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Microsoft has released a new optional update for Windows 11 in the form of the KB5011563 preview. The update takes Windows 11 up to build 22000.593, and as well as fixing numerous problems with the operating system, it also introduces an important change to the way notifications work.

The KB5011563 update has previously been released to Windows Insiders, but now the preview version is available for anyone who wants it to install ahead of its full release this coming Patch Tuesday. Among the fixes included in this update are a patch for an issue that causes OneDrive to lose focus, and a speed boost for slow start times.

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Google has released an emergency patch for the Windows, macOS and Linux versions of Chrome after the discovery of a zero-day vulnerability that the company says is being actively exploited.

The security fix comes as Microsoft releases a patch of its own for the same vulnerability (CVE-2022-1096) in Edge, its Chromium-based browser. While neither company has given much detail about the problem, Google describes it as being of high severity.

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Four-hundred-eighty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft started to roll out a new search feature on Windows 10 and 11 devices that it calls Search Highlight.

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When we write about PowerToys, it is usually about new releases and the new features that have been added; but not always. For instance, Microsoft has issued a warning that the popular utilities collection may be causing problems for some people, specifically with previewing PDF files in Outlook.

If you have seen an error message that read "This file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it", Microsoft has a couple of solutions for you. One relates to Adobe Acrobat Reader and the other to PowerToys.

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