microsoft-wallet

Microsoft breaks into contactless mobile payments with Wallet for Windows 10 Mobile Insiders

Apple has done it; Google has done it. Microsoft may be a little late to the party, but it's getting involved in the mobile payment game. Today the company releases Microsoft Wallet to Windows Insiders using Windows 10 Mobile build 14360 or higher.

Microsoft has teamed with MasterCard and Visa to provide a contactless payment solution that is -- for now -- available to Lumia 950, 950 XL and 650 users in the US. As well as making contactless payments, the app can also be used to store reward cards to reduce the amount of plastic you have to cart around with you.

Windows 10 fixed

Fix Windows 10 Start menu problems with Microsoft's new troubleshooter tool

Windows 10 is a good operating system, but it can be a little buggy at times. Hopefully the forthcoming Anniversary Update will fix a lot of these issues, although it’s equally possible it may introduce more bugs along with the raft of new features.

If you’ve been having problems with the Start menu in Windows 10 the good news is Microsoft has released a new troubleshooting tool which can identify and fix many issues automatically.

By Wayne Williams -
matebook01

Huawei MateBook 2-in-1 Windows 10 hybrid coming to USA on July 11, pre-order now!

Huawei is a very popular brand in China, but hardly a household name in the USA. Quite frankly, outside of in-the-know Android fans, you'd be hard pressed to find many Americans that know the name.

The company is looking to change this, however, in a very big way. Its MateBook 2-in-1 is finally coming to the USA. This elegant Windows 10 tablet/laptop hybrid has a very affordable starting price, and you can pre-order it starting today.

By Brian Fagioli -
Vampire

Google Chrome is a Windows 10 battery vampire, and Microsoft Edge is the garlic

Windows 10 is a great operating system, offering a solid user interface and advanced security. The default browser, however, is not so great. Don't get me wrong, Microsoft Edge has a lot of potential, but Chrome is arguably the superior browser for now.

Google's browser is not perfect on Windows 10, apparently, as according to Microsoft, it is a battery vampire. In other words, Chrome -- as well as Firefox and Opera -- will drain your battery faster than the default browser. Using Microsoft Edge is like garlic to these vampires, as it can help you reclaim precious battery life.

By Brian Fagioli -
Windows 10

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14366 now available on the Slow ring

With the planned release date for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update drawing ever nearer, Microsoft is hard at work squashing as many bugs as it can. Naturally, this means new builds released to Windows Insiders won’t offer any significant new features, but they will contain important fixes, general improvements and welcome performance boosts.

Yesterday, Microsoft released Build 14367 to the Fast ring, and today it follows that up by releasing that build's predecessor, 14366, to the Slow ring. It must be pretty stable as it only arrived on the Fast ring on Tuesday.

By Wayne Williams -
Windows-10 key

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14367 for PC and Mobile now available in the Fast ring

Holy cow, Microsoft. We are just a couple days removed from the release of build 14366 for PC and 14364 for Mobile, yet here we are with a fresh build. Apparently Dona Sarkar and the Windows team like to keep things moving swiftly on the Fast Ring, which makes a lot of sense given the name!

Today, Microsoft releases Build 14367 for both PC and Mobile. If you have OCD, the shared build number should bring you some serenity. As usual, there are both improvements and known issues. Sadly, the mobile "Kids Corner" feature for children is being killed, but that is probably a good thing.

By Brian Fagioli -
Windows relief

Microsoft's leaked Windows Refresh tool lets you start anew in Windows 10

Yesterday, something went horribly wrong with my PC leaving me with no option but to use the Windows 10 Reset option to wipe all my programs and start over. It was the first time I’d had to use it, and things went smoothly enough, even if it took forever to get everything setup again afterwards.

The ability to Reset Windows 10 -- re-installing the OS while keeping, or removing your personal files -- is a great idea (although admittedly not as good as being able to install Windows over the top of itself as you could with XP), and now Microsoft is spinning it off into a standalone tool.

By Wayne Williams -
multiple-hard-drives

Microsoft rolls out Windows Store update that allows you to choose install locations for apps

The advent of app stores has meant that software installation is very hands-off process these days. Select the app you want, hit install, and everything is taken care of for you. On one hand, this is great as it simplifies and accelerates things, but it also removes an element of control from the user.

With an update to the Windows Store app in Windows 10, Microsoft is changing this. Building on the ability to move apps from one drive to another, Windows 10 Anniversary Edition will now ask where you would like to install larger apps -- a real boon for people with more than one hard drive.

Windows-10 key

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14366 and Mobile Build 14364 arrive on the Fast ring

With the planned release date for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update drawing ever nearer, Microsoft is hard at work squashing as many bugs as it can.

Naturally, this means new builds released to Windows Insiders won’t offer any significant new features, but they will contain important fixes, general improvements and welcome performance boosts.

By Wayne Williams -
ie11

Microsoft rolls out enterprise improvements to IE11 on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Since the launch of Microsoft Edge, numerous changes and updates have been made to Microsoft's latest web browser. The arrival of ad-blocking was a real crowd-pleaser, but Microsoft is mindful of the fact that many enterprise users are going to be sticking with Internet Explorer for some time yet.

Today the company announces that some of the enterprise-specific enhancements and tweaks made to the Windows 10 version of IE11 will also be making their way to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. In fact, the improvements are rolling out to more Windows 10 users as well. Changes made to Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10 version 1511 are also coming to version 1507 as part of the cumulative updates released today.

microsoft_logo_magnified

It's not just Windows 10 that has telemetry issues -- Microsoft has done the same with Visual Studio 2015 C++ compiler

An eagle-eyed Reddit user has noticed that code run through Visual Studio 2015 C++ compiler make calls to Microsoft's telemetry services. Microsoft has already upset a large number of people with the privacy and telemetry issues in Windows 10, and there is now a busy thread on Reddit discussing the company's thinking behind including this 'feature'.

Coders have expressed concerns that Microsoft appears to be inserting calls to its telemetry service into binaries as they are compiled. Calls to telemetry_main_invoke_trigger and telemetry_main_return_trigger raised a few eyebrows having been found in both debug and release versions of the software. The good news -- maybe -- is that telemetry can be disabled.

Frustrated developer

IDC: Windows 10 is hurting -- not helping -- the PC market

It’s not news that the PC market is in serious decline. We’ve been talking about the death of the PC here for more years than I care to remember, and the latest forecasts from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker don’t provide any relief either.

According to the analyst firm, worldwide PC shipments are forecast to decline by 7.3 percent year over year in 2016, with Windows 10 cited as one of the reasons behind the drop.

By Wayne Williams -
Update keyboard button

How to control when Windows 10 can automatically install updates

Windows 10 updates may add new features, beef up security, and refine the user experience, but they can also be a source of frustration if the operating system decides to automatically install them at the wrong moment. There are times when you really want to keep using your PC, and not let Windows 10 restart it to finish the job. Just ask this pro gamer who had a Twitch stream ruined right in the middle of a gaming session watched by 130,000 followers.

So what can you do? You may be tempted to disable automatic updates or Windows Update altogether, but that is obviously not ideal. However, you can control when Windows 10 can automatically install updates. Here is how you can configure it.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
Windows-10 key

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14361 for PC and Mobile now available in the Fast ring

It’s been a couple of weeks since we last had a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build released to the Fast ring, but today the wait is over as new Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar has pushed the button to roll out Build 14361 for both PC and Mobile.

This new release includes new features, some improvements to existing features, and plenty of fixes. The release date for the big Windows 10 Anniversary Update is edging ever nearer, so the quest is on to fix as many problems as possible before then.

By Wayne Williams -
Microsoft Edge

Windows 10 Anniversary Update to bring Enterprise-specific Edge management policies

To keep enterprise users happy, Windows 10 includes both Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer may be included for legacy support, but just like non-enterprise customers, Microsoft is keen to get everyone shifted across to Edge or at least ensure the two browsers work well together.

To help encourage this migration, Windows 10 Anniversary Update brings support for a number of new management policies in Microsoft's newest browser. There's a clear need to continue to support legacy line of business (LOB) applications, but Microsoft also wants to make management as easy as possible.

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