Articles about Windows 10

Later this year, Microsoft is expected to refresh the look of Windows 10 and native apps, introducing a number of long-overdue visual improvements, including rounded corners and new colors. For many people, the changes likely won’t go far enough, but it’s too early to pass judgment just yet.

When Windows XP first arrived back in 2001 it really shook things up with its revolutionary design and playful color scheme. If you were wondering how it might look if it was released today, we have the answer.

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A few weeks ago, we wrote about a bug in Windows 10 which could lead to an NTFS drive being formatted simply by opening a folder. The issue affects the $i30 NTFS attribute, and it can be triggered in Explorer as well as web browsers.

Now Mozilla has released a key update to Firefox which prevents it from activating the bug. To be protected, you need to be running at least Firefox 85.0.1.

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Microsoft has acknowledged that two recent updates for Windows 10 are causing problems for users. People who have installed KB4598299 and KB4598301 are reporting BSoDs as well as app crashes.

The two updates (released Windows 10 versions 1909, 2004 and 20H2) were supposed to address issues in .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8, but they have -- as is increasingly common with Windows updates -- introduced new problems of their own.

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It is only a few days since Microsoft released PowerToys 0.31.1, but there is already a new version for you to install.

While there are no major changes in the latest release of the utility suite, does include important bug fixes. Microsoft detected issues with the FancyZones PowerToy, and deemed them significant enough to push out this patch release.

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Since adopting the Chromium engine, Microsoft Edge has come on in leaps and bounds. Much like Internet Explorer before it, the original version of the browser was much maligned, and now the time has come to retire it.

For some time, Microsoft has been trying to encourage hangers-on to migrate to the Chromium-based version of Edge, and now it's time for drastic action. In an upcoming update to Windows 10, the company is getting rid of legacy Edge once and for all.

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Microsoft has set out its plans for WinUI 3.0 which is due to ship later this year. Described as the "modern native UI platform of Windows", WinUI is the C++-based library of controls and Fluent styles that empowers developers to create a new breed of apps.

The company has shared details of the roadmap for WinUI, explaining how version 3.0 will expand into a full UX framework. It is part of Project Reunion which sees Microsoft bringing together a unified set of tools and APIs to make it easy to develop apps for different Windows 10 devices.

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Microsoft has changed the status of both Windows 10 version 2004 and version 1909, marking them as being ready for "broad deployment".

In the case of Windows 10 version 1909 (or Windows 10 November 2019 Update), the company says it is "designated ready for broad deployment for all users via Windows Update". For Windows 10 version 2004 (aka Windows 10 May 2020 Update), however, the status has been updated to indicate that it is merely "designated for broad deployment". And there is a reason for the difference between the two.

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Four-hundred-twenty-four 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.

The next feature update for Windows 10, version 21H1, may have a later release date than expected, as it could be released in May or June.

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Microsoft has released a new update for Windows 10, addressing various issues that have plagued users.

Although the KB4598291 update is an optional one, it fixes so many problems that many people are going to want to get it installed straight away. This particular update is only available for Windows 10 May 2020 Update (version 2004) and Windows 10 October 2020 Update (20H2).

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Microsoft has released a new version of its PowerToys utilities collection for Windows 10, bringing improvements to FancyZones and PowerToys Run. The latest update also includes numerous bug fixes.

Included among the new arrivals in PowerToys 0.31.1 are a new dark mode option and an enhanced interface for FancyZones.

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The next big update for Windows 10 is going to be Windows 10 21H1 -- although it should also have a slightly snappier name when it is released. But while previous xxH1 updates have reached users in May, this year it is looking like it could be a little later than expected.

Although Microsoft has said little official about the Windows 10 21H1 release, a developer writing on the Chromium Gerrit appears to have let something slip.

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Waiting for Microsoft to issue patches for bugs that have been discovered in its software can mean having to be very patient -- some updates just seem to take forever to appear. More than this, the bug fixes can introduce new problems of their own, so it's little wonder that third-party patching services such as 0patch have grown in popularity.

And once again, 0patch has managed to beat Microsoft in releasing a patch for a serious vulnerability. The company's latest patch addresses a local privilege escalation 0day in Windows Installer, and it's available well ahead of Microsoft's official fix.

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Four-hundred-twenty-three 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 published a workaround for the Conexant ISST audio driver issue in Windows 10 this week. There is also a third-party patch for the drive-corrupting Windows 10 issue.

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Last week, Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Build 21296 to Insiders on the Dev Channel, introducing improvements to the clipboard history and Storage Spaces, as well as a number of fixes and improvements.

Today, Windows 10 Build 21301 arrives on the Dev Channel and brings with it improvements to the touch keyboard design.

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A couple of week ago, we reported about a critical NTFS vulnerability that left hard drives open to corruption in Windows 10. Security researcher Jonas Lykkegaard revealed that opening a folder with a specially crafted name could wipe out the contents of a drive in an instant.

Microsoft is yet to produce a fix for the problem, but that doesn't mean no one else has. Third party patch-makers such as 0patch have already made names for themselves stepping in to produce updates either for unsupported versions of Windows, or simply beating Microsoft to the punch. Now it is the turn of developers from OSR who have released an unofficial workaround patch for the NTFS flaw.

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