Windows 10’s Start menu offers live tiles that update every few seconds or so to display information like the latest news headlines and weather, and also a changing slideshow of photos.

Live tiles are viewed by many as a bit odd, because unless you switch to tablet mode, you only ever see them when you open the Start menu, and the menu has to stay open so you can watch the tiles update. Fortunately, if have no need for such things, this feature is easily disabled.

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Gabe Aul, long the face of the Windows Insider Program, is standing down from that particular leadership role to focus instead on his work at Engineering Systems Team in WDG. 18 months, 35 desktop builds and 22 mobile builds down the road, Aul has realized he's unable to give 100 percent to both roles.

The new head of the Insider program is Dona Sarkar who has been with Microsoft since the days of Vista. Having worked on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10, as well as HoloLens, the Windows Insider Program leadership role is one she says she has been "waiting for this job for 11 years" to get. With Windows 10 Anniversary Update due to launch in just a few weeks, she's being thrown in at the deep end.

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Microsoft is opening its HoloLens to a range of partners, the company announced at Computex today. This means that future VR headsets based on the HoloLens platform will come from a variety of manufacturers, and will be available in different forms, taking full advantage of Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

With a price tag of $3,000, the existing official HoloLens headset is out of the reach of many people, but in opening up the platform to partners, Microsoft says that cheaper price points should also be available. The company is also doing something interesting. One of the criticisms levelled at HoloLens is its limited field of vision. Partners will be able to build devices with wider fields of vision meaning that the official HoloLens will almost certainly not be the best.

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Last month, NetMarketShare’s initial desktop operating system usage share figures made it look as if Windows 10’s growth was badly stalling, gaining just 0.2 percentage points in April to put it on 14.35 percent. However, revised figures showed it had in fact gained 1.19 percentage points, and was sitting on 15.34 percent. That’s very much in keeping with the new operating system’s growth in previous months.

For May, Windows 10 really packed on the users, thanks in no small part to Microsoft going all out on forcing the operating system on to users of Windows 7 and 8.1. Let's give Microsoft a nice big slow handclap for the achievement.

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With online ad blocking becoming ever more popular, companies have to find new ways to push their products at people. With Windows 10 -- which is being aggressively pushed onto people -- Microsoft has found the perfect vehicle.

We've already seen ads in the Start menu and ads on the Lock Screen, but it doesn't end there. Windows Insiders are also treated to ads in one of the new features available in the preview builds -- the Windows Ink Workspace.

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A lot has been said about Windows 10, Microsoft's latest operating system. That's both good and bad because, while it's an improvement over the previous 8.x offering, the company is trying hard to foist the new OS upon users. Really hard. To the point that it has led to embarrassing high-profile situations.

Undaunted, the company continues with its strategy, but now one hardware maker is telling its users to say no to the nagging messages.

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Computex 2016 is in full-effect, and news from the event is coming fast and furiously. Windows 10 laptops are a big part of the announcements, and consumers have a lot to be happy about. Not only are many of the new machines thin and beautiful, but powerful too. Windows OEMs are finally understanding the wants of consumers, and delivering the notebooks they have long desired.

Today, Dell announces its new line of Inspiron laptops, and they look fabulous. Featuring Skylake processors and multiple chassis color options, consumers should be able to find a machine that both meets their needs and is uniquely them. The manufacturer has even produced what it calls the world's first 17-inch 2-in-1 laptop.

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Microsoft is like an annoying salesman who pitches a product you don’t want then refuses to leave you alone after getting a loud and clear "No". So, it keeps trying, again, and again, and again, hoping that you will finally make the "right" decision. It does not care why, when or how you do it, just as long as it gets you on the Windows 10 bandwagon.

This is the Microsoft of today, a company that risks being in the position of having what I consider to be the best Windows release yet and a user base alienated by its overly aggressive tactics. Desperate people do desperate things, I know, but this feels like a step too far in the wrong direction.

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You’re running Windows 10, enjoy browsing podcasts, but really don’t want to install the bulky iTunes? Grover Podcast is a free, easy-to-use Windows 10 app which covers all the podcast basics -- and more -- and just might have everything you need.

The app opens in a "My Podcasts" area, initially empty, but it doesn’t have to stay that way for long. In a click or two you can be entering feed URLs, or maybe importing an OPML file if you’re already managing podcasts elsewhere.

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Citrix and Microsoft announced recently that they will be expanding their partnership. More precisely, Citrix will use Microsoft’s Azure as its cloud.

Besides Azure, they will also integrate Citrix XenMobile and NetScaler into Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility Suite.

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There is no shortage of Surface competitors these days, as more and more manufacturers realize that there is huge potential for growth in the hybrid device market. Even Apple has entered this space, launching the iPad Pro last year to quickly establish itself as the sales leader. Can ASUS, with its new Transformer 3 devices which it just unveiled at Computex, have something to say in this market?

ASUS seems to understand what makes hybrid devices -- or ultraportables -- so appealing. The Transformer 3 Pro -- the top of the line model in the line -- features powerful hardware in a shell similar to a large tablet. It also has a keyboard, that is included in the box, and a screen big enough for every day use. On paper, it might be a better laptop replacement than Microsoft's Surface Pro 4.

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It may be among the best looking, smallest and lightest ultrabooks available today, but the MacBook hasn't quite taken consumers by storm. Fortunately, this means that there is room for competitors to make a splash, which is what ASUS is hoping to achieve with its new ZenBook 3.

The MacBook lacks the guts required for more demanding applications, but that looks to not be an issue for the ZenBook 3. The device will be available in a configuration featuring an Intel Core i7 processor, which should deliver a healthy performance boost over the Core m3 and Core m5 processors that the MacBook can be equipped with.

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If a discovery by a reddit user is anything to go by, Xbox One game streaming could be making its way to Windows 10 Mobile. The Xbox Beta app from the latest Fast Ring Insider Preview build appears to include references to streaming games from an Xbox One to a mobile device.

Reddit user, eric5949, noticed that a new 'Play from console' option has appeared on his handset. Microsoft has not said anything about this feature yet, but it's possible that it's something we could see later in the year in Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

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In days of yore, filenames in Windows were limited to the 8.3 format -- just eight characters for the filename, and three for the extension. With the arrival of Windows 95, Microsoft stripped away this limit and allowed for much longer names.

That said, the Windows file system still imposes some restrictions such as which characters can be used in filenames, and the overall length of paths. For some time the maximum path length has been 260 characters, but in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview, it is possible to use Group Policy or a registry hack to remove this limit.

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To say that Windows 10 has been controversial for Microsoft would be something of an understatement. The most recent cause for complaint has been a deceptive upgrade popup, described by many as a "nasty trick", which fooled users into installing the upgrade.

The company has since said that it will change the behavior of the upgrade notification, but this is not enough to silence hundreds of thousands of users in China. Microsoft stands accused of abusing its market position to force unwanted upgrades on people.

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