Windows 10

If you have enabled Windows 10's built-in administrator account, and upgrade from build 1803 to 1809 -- that is, the April 2018 Update to the October 2018 update -- you will find that a bug has been introduced that disables the account.

Microsoft says that it is aware of the problem, but the company does not plan on releasing a fix for it until the end of the month.

It’s been a long time coming. While other analyst firms, such as StatCounter, have shown Windows 10 overtaking Windows 7 sometime ago, NetMarketShare has consistently shown the new OS to be lagging way behind the aging fan favorite.

In December though, NetMarketShare finally has Windows 10 taking pole position.

A security researcher has released proof-of-concept code for a zero-day exploit in Windows 10. The bug was revealed by SandboxEscaper, a researcher who has exposed Windows vulnerabilities in the past.

The latest bug makes it possible to overwrite files with arbitrary data, and while there are numerous criteria that must be met in order for the vulnerability to be exploited, it is still potentially serious. SandboxEscaper warned Microsoft about the problem on Christmas day, before publishing the PoC a couple of days later.

Three-hundred-and-fifteen in a series. 2018 was an eventful year for Microsoft, the Windows Store, and applications for Windows 10.

In this year's end part of the series, we will look back at apps and games released for Windows 10 in 2018.

Every year, millions of Americans get together with family on Christmas. Many adult kids return to a single parent's home to celebrate -- or a house shared by both parents if they beat the odds and aren't divorced. While there, if you know about tech, you may get asked to fix your mom or dad's computer. Be it malware or something else, this can be quite the frustrating task. Look, I know you are happy to help them, but you just want to relax and enjoy the holiday, right? How can you get the nightmare of fixing their Windows-based PC to stop? This Christmas, you should give them the gift of a stable and secure operating system that doesn't spy on them. Enter Linux.

Yes, a Linux distribution can stop this woe, giving your family member a more secure platform that is less susceptible to malware (and less likely to need your fixing). If they live in the web browser anyway, Windows is just a liability these days. What if I told you that there was a Linux distribution that you could loosely tie into the holiday? Well, candy canes are traditionally peppermint flavored, and wouldn't you know it, there is a new version of the excellent Peppermint OS out now! Called "9 Respin," it is a refresh of the previously released Peppermint OS 9 -- this time with many improvements and changes.

Three-hundred-and-fourteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft released the last Insider Build for the year; it introduced new features such as Windows Sandbox and Windows Defender Antivirus tampering protection.

It’s nearly Christmas, and Microsoft has rolled out a brand new build of Windows 10 19H1, the last of 2018, with plenty of exciting treats for users to try out.

Build 18305 for Fast ring insiders, introduces a number of improvements and new features, including a simplified Start layout and Windows Sandbox.

Although there are plenty of office suites available, including lots of free choices, Microsoft Office remains the one that most people use. Today, Microsoft rolls out a new app for Windows 10 called, simply, Office, which is designed to replace the existing My Office app.

The app itself is free and can be used with any Office 365 subscription, Office 2019, Office 2016, and Office Online -- the free web-based version of Office for consumers.

Microsoft has announced an upcoming security feature which it hopes will take the fear and risk out of running unknown software. Windows Sandbox is an isolated desktop environment which functions much like a virtual machine; any software installed to it is completely sandboxed from the host operating system.

Aimed at businesses, enterprises and security-conscious home users, Windows Sandbox will be part of Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise. It is not clear exactly when the feature will debut, but it could make an appearance in Windows 10 19H1 next year.

The many problems relating to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update are well known. Shortly after it was originally released, back in October, reports started to filter through that the OS update was deleting user files. Microsoft pulled the update, and then re-released a fixed version six weeks later, but additional problems surfaced.

Microsoft suggested at the time -- as it always does -- that users wait until offered the update before installing it, but now says that it is fully available to advanced users. But what is an 'advanced user' in this context?

Earlier in the year open-source software startup Whitewater Foundry brought WLinux to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Not content with creating the first native Linux distribution for WSL, the company has now gone a step further, targeting enterprise users with WLinux Enterprise.

Whitewater Foundry says that WLinux Enterprise is the first product to support the industry-standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Three-hundred-and-thirteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email.

Earlier this week we reported on how Windows 10 could be sharing your activity data even if you had told it not to.

In response Microsoft has released a statement from Marisa Rogers, privacy officer at its Windows and Devices Group.

Windows 10 is a very good operating system, but the October 2018 Update has left a bad taste in many users' mouths. It caused a multitude of problems, got pulled, and even after it was made available again, new issues surfaced. The April 2018 Update rolled out to users at lightning speed, but the October 2018 Update has only been installed on about 3 percent of systems to date. Ouch.

Microsoft has said previously that Windows 10 will be the "last version of Windows", but is it time to rethink that idea and give users an operating system that goes up to 11? Take a look and make up your own mind.

We all know that Windows 10 logs data about what you do on your PC. What you may not be aware of is that it still sends that information to Microsoft even if you have told it not to. Sneaky, huh?

People on Reddit have been discussing the issue and finding that even if the option to send data to the cloud is turned off it still shows in the online Privacy Dashboard.