Articles about Windows 10

Windows Subsystem For Linux has evolved hugely over the years, and with WSL2 things have become really impressive. But in order to enjoy everything the WSL2 has to offer, you have to have it installed, and this is something that Microsoft has acknowledged as being unnecessarily complicated.

So the company has done something about it. In the latest preview builds of Windows 11 and Windows 10, you do not need to jump through endless hoops to get WSL2 installed; a single command is now all it takes.

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Four-hundred-forty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft revealed this week that future Windows Server releases will all be Long-Term Service Channel releases. All releases will be supported for 10 years, with 5-years of mainstream updates and 5-years of extended support updates.

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It's time for Windows 10 users to gamble with another update. With the release of the KB5004296 update, Microsoft addresses a longstanding problem with game performance under Windows 10.

KB5004296 does not include any security fixes but the promise of boosting game performance is a major highlight. Microsoft says that the update "addresses an issue that prevents power plans and Game Mode from working as expected", pointing out that this has been causing "lower frame rates and reduced performance while gaming".

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Windows 10 is not a terrible operating systems. In fact, other than the extreme telemetry (spying), it is pretty good. With that said, the upcoming Windows 11 is very polarizing, featuring radical changes to the user interface. Not to mention, the system requirements will leave many still-capable computers unable to upgrade. These unfortunate computer owners will have to decide whether to continue using Windows 10 or buy a new Windows 11-compatible PC.

Thankfully, there is an arguably better option -- just switch to Linux! Yes, modern Linux-based operating systems are very well-supported and most will run great on aging hardware (unlike Windows 11). Linux Lite, which uses the Xfce desktop environment, is one of the best Linux distributions for Windows-switchers, as it is lightweight, modern, and familiar.

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Four-hundred-forty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft revealed this week that its DirectStorage API is coming to Windows 10 as well (not just Windows 11 as originally announced). The API improves game loading times on NVMe storage devices significantly.

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A local privilege escalation vulnerability has been discovered in Windows 10 that can used to gain access to otherwise inaccessible areas of the registry. In turn, this access makes it possible to discover passwords, obtain DPAPI decryption keys and more. The problem also affects Windows 11.

Dubbed HiveNightmare (because of the access it allows to registry hives), the zero-day vulnerability comes hot on the heels of the PrintNightmare security flaw. While no patch is currently available, Microsoft has provided details of a workaround in the meantime.

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Although much of the development focus at Microsoft is understandably on Windows 11 at the moment, work is still underway on polishing up the next feature update for Windows 10 -- 21H2 -- and getting it ready for release.

The latest new flight for this, Build 19044.1149 (KB5004296), is now available in the Release Preview Channel.

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Microsoft has eliminated one of the reasons for people to upgrade to Windows 11 later in the year. The company has revealed that DirectStorage -- the storage technology behind Xbox’s Velocity Architecture -- will also be available in Windows 10.

The launch of Windows 11 has already been mired in poor communication in relation to hardware requirements, and it's not clear if the apparent change of heart with DirectStorage in Windows 10 is down to continued weak messaging, or if the company has performed a U-turn based on feedback from disgruntled gamers. Either way, anyone choosing to stick with Windows 10 will benefit from DirectStorage, although it will be a lesser experience than in Windows 11.

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

Microsoft unveiled Windows 365, a cloud PC service that streams Windows 10 or Windows 11 systems to user devices (including Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS systems). Windows 365 is only available for Enterprise customers.

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When Windows 10 was announced back in 2014, Microsoft caused alarm bells to ring when it said the new operating system would be free "for the first year", and referring to it "as a service". That led to speculation that the software giant would start charging a monthly fee for Windows 10, much as it does for Office with Microsoft 365.

That never came to pass, but today at its Inspire 2021 conference Microsoft takes the wraps off Windows 365, a cloud-based Windows subscription service.

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Yesterday was Patch Tuesday, and as such Microsoft released updates to fix a batch of problems with Windows 10.

There are fixes for security issues as well as other niggles, including addressing the PrintNightmare vulnerability. KB5004237 is available for Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2 and 21H1, while KB5004245 is just for version 1909.

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

Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 21H2 later this year. If you intend to stay on Windows 10 for the time being, check out Sofia's article on the changes in the new Windows 10 feature update.

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We may not have an exact release date for Windows 10 21H2 -- and interest may be focused on Windows 11 at the moment -- but details about what we can expect from the update are starting to creep out.

When the Windows 10 October 2021 Update rolls out in a few months' time, it introduces a number of new features that will be of interest to anyone who is sticking with Windows 10 rather than jumping to Windows 11 -- whether through choice or necessity. Information about just what there is to look forward to has been spotted on Microsoft's own support pages.

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

Many PCs have failed the Windows 11 system compatibility check. Check out Nick's guide on making your PC compatible.

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People with iPhones or Android handsets are used to the idea of discounted apps in their respective app stores. While the same concept exists in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 apps, it is something that tends to get rather less attention.

But at the moment, there is an interesting PDF tool available completely free of charge. You will have to move quickly if you want to get PDF Manager for free though; this special offer is over in just a few days.

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