How to access your Android phone from Windows 10 with Microsoft's Your Phone app

Your Phone app

Without a mobile operating system of its own, Microsoft is doing more for iOS and Android users than ever before. One example of this is the Your Phone app which makes it possible to view your Android phone's photos on your computer, as well as viewing and sending text messages from the comfort of Windows 10. Microsoft has also promised to enable an exciting-sounding app-mirroring feature.

As long as you have upgraded to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, you'll have the Your Phone app installed on your computer already. Here we take a look at this handy tool and show you how to get started with it.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18252 to the Skip Ahead and Fast rings

Windows-10 key

Yesterday, Microsoft made the Windows 10 October 2018 Update available to anyone who wants it, meaning there’s currently only one development build on the go.

Because of that, new builds on the 19H1 branch are now being pushed out to insiders on both the Skip Ahead and Fast rings. If you’ve yet to opt out of the Insider program or switch to the Slow ring, and your PC downloads and installs Build 18252, released today, you will need to roll it back and take appropriate action.

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Windows 10 October 2018 Update is available from today

Happy user

Microsoft is hosting a special event in New York City where it is taking the wraps off the next generation of Surface devices.

It’s not just about hardware though, as the tech giant has announced the next big feature update for Windows 10, the October 2018 Update, is now available to download.

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NetMarketShare shows Windows 10's share falling, Windows 7 rising

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Usage share monitoring service StatCounter saw Windows 10 overtake Windows 7 back in February, and its latest figures put the new operating system on 50.07 percent, well ahead of Windows 7 on 37.2 percent.

Rival monitoring service NetMarketShare disagrees however. While Windows 10 gained significant share in August, at Windows 7’s expense, the latest figures, for September, show a reversal of fortune.

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Accell launches Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station for Windows 10 and macOS

ACC-TB3-04

For a while, it was hard to find a decent Thunderbolt 3 docking station. Oh, there were plenty of USB-C docks, but believe me, other than sharing a connector type, they are nowhere near as good as TB3 variants. From my experience, USB-C models can be a bit problematic -- especially with macOS.

Nowadays, however, there are many Thunderbolt 3 docks on the market. Today, Accell -- a company known for selling quality products at affordable prices -- launches a TB3 dock that looks quite beautiful and futuristic. Rather than being a simple rectangle, it slopes downward on the front. This is not just for looks -- it is designed to prop up the laptop for better viewing and typing angles.

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Best Windows 10 apps this week

night Three-hundred-and-two 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.

The next feature update for Windows 10 is just around the corner. Windows 10 version 1809 may be released as early as October 2, 2018. Microsoft has not yet confirmed the date but most experts believe that the feature update will be released on that day.

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.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18247 to Skip Ahead Insiders

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is expected to arrive as early as next week, but for those people who are already looking forward to the following feature update, out next spring, Microsoft has a new build for you.

Build 18247, on the 19H1 branch, isn't the most exciting Skip Ahead build you'll ever encounter, as it doesn't contain any new features.

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Windows 10 now has its own exclusive Linux distro -- WLinux

WLinux logo

There are a number of Linux distros available for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), including Ubuntu, openSUSE Leap 42, Debian GNU/Linux, and Kali Linux.

However, these distros tend to lack development tools and contain unnecessary packages, such as systemd. WLinux is a new, open source Linux distribution based on Debian stable that has been specially optimized for WSL.

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Best Windows 10 apps this week

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Three-hundred-and-one 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 revealed the features that are deprecated or removed in Windows 10 version 1809, the October 2018 Update.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 October 2018 Update Build 17763 to the Fast ring

Windows-10 key

Three days ago, Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Build 17760 to Windows Insiders. This build for the forthcoming October 2018 Update (aka Redstone 5) was the first with "no known issues”, showing how close we're getting to the actual release.

Since then, however, the company has found and fixed a number of additional problems, and encountered a couple more which will be addressed in a subsequent build.

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Everything removed or deprecated in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update

sad list

Microsoft is introducing a number of new features in Windows 10 1809, aka the October 2018 Update, including a dark theme for File Explorer, a new screenshot tool, and clipboard, search, Notepad, and Edge improvements. Sadly what promised to be the big new feature, Sets, hasn't made it into the OS this time around.

With each new Windows 10 update, some existing features get dropped, or stop being actively developed. Here are all the features that have been removed or deprecated in this forthcoming release.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 October 2018 Update Build 17760 to the Fast ring, with no known issues

Windows-10 key

Microsoft is in the final stages of polishing up the next feature update for Windows 10. Insiders who were annoyed that the operating system interfered with the installation of Chrome and Firefox no longer need to worry as Microsoft has turned off this particular annoyance.

If you play Tencent games, you’ll be pleased to know that Microsoft now says the October 2018 Update will be fully compatible with them.

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Best Windows 10 apps this week

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Three-hundred 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 started to interrupt some third-party browser installations recently in the latest Insider version of Windows 10 but turned it off quickly after user outcry on the Internet.

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Microsoft quietly stops interfering with Chrome and Firefox installations on Windows 10

New Windows shrug

Yesterday I revealed how Microsoft was interrupting attempts to install Firefox or Chrome on Insider builds of Windows 10 with an advert for its own browser, Edge.

This boneheaded move, designed to get people to try Edge for more than just downloading another browser, was rightly met with fury here and across the internet, and Microsoft has now pulled the "advert", claiming it was just a test. But a test for what? To see how far it can push users?

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18237

Microsoft is busy polishing up the next big feature update of Windows 10, the October 2018 Update (aka Redstone 5), but is also working hard on the following update, codenamed 19H1.

This update, out next spring, isn’t hugely different from the current October 2018 Update release, but the latest build does add acrylic to the Windows sign-in screen.

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