Free Republic

Microsoft made this totally stupid change to its Windows support policy. With no notice, older versions of Windows lose support on the latest PC hardware. Yep, that's right: You can't run Windows 7 or 8.1 on Skylake CPUs (or later). There's a woolly, limited get-out-of-jail-free card for a short while, but this is just the latest irritating Microsoft scheme to get everyone onto Windows 10. The way it's always been in the past is that enterprises could buy today's hardware, but put their current image on it, only upgrading when it made sense. But with this move, Microsoft changes everything...

So it looks like the Windows 10 launch was a big success if early adoption numbers are to be believed. The Register drops some data from StatCounter showing that Windows 10 already accounts for over 3.5% of desktop operating systems, up from just under 1.4% the week before. More interestingly, The Register says, “the biggest loser looks to be Windows 8.1, which dipped from 16.45 per cent share to 14.93 per cent,” while “Windows 7 went from 54.41per cent to 53.8 per cent and Windows 8 dropped from 3.6 percent to 3.46 percent.” Of course, Windows 10 has some key advantages going...

Microsoft has been on a roll lately. Office for iOS (and soon Android), free Windows licenses for small devices, universal Windows and Windows Phone apps, Siri rival Cortana, even a promise to eventually return the start menu before Windows 9. But when it comes to Windows 8, it seems the company has a permanently loaded pistol aimed squarely at its feet. So it fits that just one week on from the launch of “Windows 8.1 Update 1” (the smart upgrade mouse and keyboard users have long awaited) stupidity would strike once again. “Windows 8.1 Update is a cumulative update to...