Windows 10

What's that you say? There's a Windows 10 update that's causing problems? Get outta here! Just over a month ago, we wrote about KB4559309 -- the automatic update that gives everyone the Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge -- and complaints that it was causing systems to slow down.

Well it seems that it wasn't just a few isolated cases. Microsoft has now been hit with enough people complaining about performance issues and slow booting, that the company has been forced to launch an investigation. It is also asking for more feedback from anyone experiencing the slow-down problem or a general reduction in system performance.

The telemetry features that are built into Windows 10 have people falling into one of a few camps. There are those who don't even know what telemetry is, those who know but don’t care that Microsoft is gathering data from their computer, and those who know what it is and consider it to be a massive invasion of privacy.

For anyone who counts themselves in this last group, there are numerous settings, tools and techniques that can be used to block telemetry in Windows 10. One of the more ingenious is making use of the HOSTS file (used to resolve hostnames), but now Microsoft has updated its Defender tool so this is detected as a "severe" risk, specifically "SettingsModifier:Win32/HostsFileHijack".

Being a Windows Insider obviously carries some risks. You may install a build which doesn’t play at all nicely on your PC, resulting in features breaking, or worse. The plus side is you do get to try out cool new features before anyone else.

Recently Microsoft introduced an updated Start menu with theme-aware tiles, and an improved Alt-Tab experience which shows all open tabs from Microsoft Edge. Although you officially need to be an Insider to enjoy these, there is a sneaky workaround that will allow you to get them without having to join the program.

Microsoft is continuing its ongoing game of cat and mouse with itself, releasing updates to fix problems introduced by previous updates. The latest to be released is KB4568831 and it addresses a range of issues.

Among the fixes this particular update brings are issues with LTE connectivity in Windows 10 version 2004, problems with Bluetooth headsets, and issues with printing.

As recently promised, Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.20.0. This release sees the arrival of a new utility in the form of Color Picker for grabbing hex and RGB color values from anywhere on screen. There are other changes and fixes too.

There are now eight utilities available in PowerToys, and with this release Microsoft has made numerous improvements to those that were already in the collection. This includes adding SVG icon rendering to File Explorer, as well as improvements to Keyboard Manager.

It is only two months since Microsoft released Windows 10 May 2020 Update, and it has already earned itself an 11 percent share of the market, according to figures released by AdDuplex.

The uptake of Windows 10 version 2004 is by no means the fastest of any edition of Windows 10, but considering the number of problems that have emerged in this particular update, it's pretty good going.

Three-hundred-and-ninety-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's Windows 10 operating system turned five this week. Check out Wayne's look back at how it all started out and why things are not better than they are right now.

If you have tried to install the Windows cleanup utility CCleaner recently, you may have noticed that Microsoft Defender springs into action warning you that it is a potentially unwanted application (PUA).

This is not the first time Piriform CCleaner has got on the wrong side of Microsoft -- it was previously blocked from being mentioned in the Microsoft Community forums. The Avast-owned software has been popular with people seeking to tidy up and optimize Windows 10 for a number of years, so what's going on and why does Microsoft flag it up as a PUA?

It’s Windows 10’s 5th birthday, and to celebrate -- or just by happy coincidence -- Microsoft has released a new Insider build to the Dev Channel (what used to be the Fast ring).

Build 20180 enables all of the new features that were first mentioned in Build 20161, including theme-aware tiles on Start. Some of these features were only available to a sub-set of Insiders previously.

Five years ago today Windows 10 hit general availability and it’s fair to say the operating system has had a lot of low points in its first half-decade.

Offered free 'for the first year', (leading people to think it would turn into a subscription service after that point), take up wasn’t quite what Microsoft hoped for, so the company started forcing it onto users against their will. Let’s look at some of the more infamous moments Windows 10 users have had to endure.

Microsoft has released a key update to its Remote Desktop app for Android. The app, which allows for the remote use of computers running Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, Windows 8.1 and 8 Enterprise and Pro, Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate, and Windows Server versions newer, now features full support for Virtual Desktops.

The update also brings the Android app in line with the iOS and macOS version, so all three versions of the app now use the underlying RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) core engine. The latest version of the app also brings support for Android TV devices, but there's even more to look forward to.

There has been a spate of problematic updates from Microsoft in recent months, and the most recent feature update -- Windows 10 May 2020 Update -- has been no different. Because of issues with various systems, many people found that this major update was no available to them.

Now, thanks to the power of machine learning, Microsoft has started to push the update to more users.

For many people, the telemetry data collected by Windows 10 is an unacceptable invasion of privacy, and numerous tools have sprung up to give users control of just what information is collected and sent back to Microsoft. Now the Windows maker has a preview of a new tool for controlling Windows 10 telemetry data -- or diagnostic data as the company prefers to call it.

While Microsoft is eager for everyone to leave telemetry settings alone, its new tool gives some users a greater degree of control over things.

Earlier in the week, Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 build for Insiders on the Dev Channel, introducing quick access to tabs on pinned sites, the ability to reset UWP apps via PowerShell, and more.

Today, the software giant delivers a new build to those on the Beta Channel (what used to be the Slow ring), with the main new change affecting the Start menu, but there's a lot more than just that.

Three-hundred-and-ninety-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.

Some Windows 10 users noticed after the installation of a recent update for Windows 10 that certain applications, Notepad and Paint in particular, were no longer available on their system. Mark explains how these can be restored here.