Redstone 3 will launch in September as Microsoft commits to twice-yearly feature releases for Windows 10

windows-10-redstone

We're already seeing preview builds of Windows 10 Redstone 3 creeping out after the launch of Windows 10 Creators Update, and we now know that the final release date is scheduled for September.

The revelation comes as Microsoft announces plans to align its feature releases of Windows and Office, primarily to make things easier for enterprise users. Releases will come in March and September, and the next big update for Windows 10 (i.e. Redstone 3) "will be targeted for September 2017."

Continue reading

Microsoft launches new Windows 10 Insider podcast, listen here

Headphones

In addition to rolling out new Windows 10 Insider Preview builds for both PC and Mobile, Microsoft has also launched a new audio podcast.

Explaining the move, Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar says: "Many of you have been asking for our team to share more about our future plans about the overall Windows Insider community. We want to be inclusive of all consumption styles, so we thought we would experiment with an audio podcast."

Continue reading

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 3 Build 16179 to the Fast ring, plus Build 15205 for Mobile

Windows-10 key

It’s only been five days since Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build to the Fast ring, but hot on the heels of Build 16176 comes Build 16179, the third release for the new Redstone 3 branch.

That’s not the only new build however, as there’s also a new one for Window 10 Mobile, Build 15205.

Continue reading

Need a product key for Windows 10 Creators Update? Just use an old one!

windows-10-dvd

Much was made of Microsoft's decision to offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade, and then withdrawing the free upgrade. If you've been holding off jumping from Windows 7 or Windows 8.x to Windows 10 because you find the cost off-putting, there's some good news.

If you download yourself a copy of Windows 10 Creators Update from Microsoft, you should find that when you are prompted for a product key the license code from Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 works just fine to activate your copy of the new operating system.

Continue reading

Microsoft introducing 'Power Throttling' to the next version of Windows 10

Throttle speed

The Windows 10 Creators Update is rolling out to users now, but Microsoft is working hard on the next big update to its operating system, and has already pushed out two new builds for Redstone 3 to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring.

The latest of these builds, 16176, includes a feature that Microsoft is calling "Power Throttling" (working name), which is designed to run "background work in a power-efficient manner", improving battery life significantly.

Continue reading

How to bypass Microsoft's next-gen processor update block on Windows 7 and 8.1

Yes success

As you probably know by now, Microsoft is blocking Windows Updates on Windows 7 and 8.1 systems powered by next-generation processors like Kaby Lake and Ryzen.

It’s yet another of Microsoft’s desperate efforts to get users to switch to Windows 10, and one that -- understandably -- hasn’t gone down well with users who don’t want to upgrade to the new operating system. Thankfully, there is now a workaround.

Continue reading

How to access Microsoft Edge's secret full screen mode

microsoft-edge-full-screen

If you're looking for distraction-free web browsing, it makes sense to switch to full screen mode. This is something that is very easy to achieve in the likes of Chrome, Opera and Firefox, but Windows 10 users who have opted to stick with Microsoft Edge don’t seem to have such a good deal.

But this is just a matter of appearances. Edge does have a secret full screen mode that you can access very easily. Quite why Microsoft chose not to advertise the feature is anyone's guess, but there you go!

Continue reading

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 3 Build 16176 to the Fast ring

Windows-10 key

The Creators Update is still rolling out to users globally, but Microsoft is hard at work on the next big update to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 3.

Today it rolls out the second PC build to Insiders on the Fast ring, which includes some changes to OneCore, the core that Windows 10 shares across devices. But that's not all.

Continue reading

The Windows 10 update conundrum [Q&A]

Question

Windows 10's growth seems to have stalled for the moment, despite the software giant's best (and worst) efforts to get consumers and businesses to upgrade.

I spoke to Charles Cho, senior Microsoft architect at PCM, Inc., about why this is, and why Microsoft is so desperate to get users to upgrade. He had some interesting insights on the update conundrum.

Continue reading

The desperate tricks Microsoft employs to force customers to upgrade to Windows 10

Angry man

When Microsoft introduced Windows 7 back in 2009, the software giant didn’t need to persuade customers to upgrade -- they leapt at the chance. Back then, upgrading to the latest and greatest version of Windows was a no brainer.

Fast forward to today, and Microsoft is in a very different position. Windows 10 is a huge improvement over its predecessor, Windows 8.x, and yet it’s struggling to gain market share. Figures from NetMarketShare, and Microsoft itself show adoption of the new OS has stalled. That’s got to be hugely frustrating for Microsoft, especially when you consider the number of tricks it has pulled to force users to upgrade.

Continue reading

Best Windows 10 apps this week

djay

Two-hundred-and-twenty-seven 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 Windows 10 Creators Update is available through Windows Update now. If you prefer an image on USB or DVD, check out Wayne's post on how to do so.

Continue reading

Windows 10 and Xbox One to gain 'self-service refunds'

refund-button

Much like Steam, Microsoft's Xbox One is to gain a "self-service refund" function. The idea is to make it easier to get a refund on games and other content that is not up to scratch, not what was expected, or simply not enjoyable.

Currently in testing with alpha users, the feature is due for a wider rollout, and will also make its way to Windows 10 users in the Windows Store. Of course, it is not going to be possible to get your money back on just anything, and there are few criteria that need to be met in order to qualify.

Continue reading

Microsoft shows off Edge's battery usage improvements in Windows 10 Creators Update

wxcu-edge-performance

The war over which web browser offers the best battery life to laptop users has been waging for some time. Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge have all been battling it out, and with the release of Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft thinks it's time to show off the improvements that have been made to its browser.

In Microsoft's own tests -- involving streaming video on a Surface Book -- Edge lasted for over three hours longer than Chrome, and nearly five hours longer than Firefox. These are figures that will almost certainly be disputed in further tests by Mozilla and Google, but for now, Microsoft is giving Edge its moment in the spotlight at the top of the performance pile: 77 percent longer battery life than Mozilla Firefox, and 35 percent longer than Google Chrome.

Continue reading

How to download Windows 10 Creators Update ISO files direct from Microsoft

Windows 10 Creators Update ISO files direct download

Microsoft has released Windows 10 Creators Update and if you want to get your hands on the latest version of the operating system you can now download the ISO files straight from the software giant's website.

Microsoft has a dedicated landing page for Windows 10 ISO files, which lets you download both the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows 10 Creators Update N and Windows 10 Creators Update Single Language ISO files without messing around with the Media Creation Tool. However, if you click that link from a Windows device you will be redirected to the Media Creation Tool page. That's a bummer, but you can easily avoid that. Here's how.

Continue reading

How to rollback and uninstall Windows 10 Creators Update

Windows relief

The Windows 10 Creators Update is rolling out to users from today. If you install it and encounter major problems, as some users have, you might want to go back to your previous version, and wait until the update is a bit less buggy.

If you been using Windows 10 for a while, you’ll probably know how to do this, although the process has changed slightly this time around.

Continue reading

Load More Articles