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(Continuing my series of pro-Windows articles... -dayglored) Happy birthday, Windows 10 Microsoft’s planning a big bash for Windows 10’s first birthday, and you’re the one receiving presents. On August 2, the company will push out the (boringly named) Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Windows 10 PCs, and the update’s chock-full of all sorts of new goodies for you to play with—some niche, some helpful, and all free. Windows Insiders who don’t mind living dangerously with unfinished software have been testing these new features in Windows 10 preview builds for months, and now it’s time for the Anniversary Update to hit...

Let’s not beat around the bush: Windows 10 is wonderful. It’s head-and-shoulders better than Windows 8.1, at least for traditional PC users. The fact that it banishes full-screen apps and the Metro Start screen, focusing instead on the tried-and-true desktop, should be reason enough to make PC purists smile. The massive Windows 10 Anniversary Update released on August 2, 2016, added even more features, functionality, and polish. The obvious desktop improvements are just the tip of the iceberg, though. If you’re fresh to Windows 10, these are the cool new features you’ll want to check out first.Editor’s note: This article...

A beginner's guide to installing and pushing a simple app to Windows 10 IoT Core running on a Raspberry Pi. Microsoft's ambition is for Windows 10 to run on every type of computing device, even the credit card-sized $35 Raspberry Pi board. The Pi doesn't run the same version of Windows 10 as a laptop does, but a far simpler, stripped-back release called Windows 10 IoT Core. This OS won't boot you into the traditional Windows desktop, but instead loads a bare bones menu from which you can set up the system, which can only run a single Universal Windows...

Microsoft is slamming the door on PC builders and upgraders who might have hoped to use the new Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Zen chips for Windows 7 or Windows 8 PCs. Sorry: Both chips are officially supported only by Microsoft’s Windows 10. Microsoft's mandate is discreet rather than secret. In January, the company tried to shorten its support lifecycle for Intel Skylake PCs running Windows 7 and 8, a policy the company subsequently abandoned after much outcry. But Microsoft’s statements have also consistently included a critical caveat: The latest generations of silicon—specifically Intel’s Kaby Lake chip, Qualcomm’s 8996, and...

Say hello to "Windows Update Delivery Optimization" Microsoft today updated the Windows 10 beta, switching on a controversial technology that commandeers users' upload bandwidth to shift some responsibility for updating from the company's own servers. Build 14915 was released earlier Wednesday to participants in the Windows Insider "Fast" track. The notable change highlighted by Dona Sarkar, the software engineer who acts as the public face of Insider, was the enabling of Windows 10's "Delivery Optimization" technology. Delivery Optimization, formally dubbed "Windows Update Delivery Optimization" (WUDO) by Microsoft, was part of Windows 10 from the get-go. But it was only switched...

Plugging a Kindle Paperwhite into a PC running Windows 10 with the Anniversary Update installed sparks a full system meltdown, it is claimed. Connecting the Amazon e-reader to a fully up-to-date W10 machine via USB triggers an immediate Blue Screen of Death, according to complaints on Microsoft's support forum. All the trouble started when people downloaded and installed the Anniversary Update, which arrived at the turn of the month. That's the same upgrade that has knackered millions of webcams and caused some systems to freeze up. The crash kicks off in the storage partition driver partmgr.sys, with a bugcheck code...

Microsoft's update for version 1607 doesn't fix two widespread problems with Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and it breaks PowerShell DSC operations Yesterday afternoon, Microsoft released KB 3176934 for those PCs running Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It's the fifth cumulative update for version 1607 (three were released before the product rolled out on Aug. 2) and brings the build number up to 14393.82. You can see the long list of official changes -- primarily bug fixes -- on the Windows 10 update history page. Anniversary Update customers also received an update to the "servicing stack" -- the subsystem within Windows 10...

Microsoft is coy about it in places, and estimates vary. (The time to make a Windows 10 recovery drive is before your PC dies. Grab a USB drive—you might need a big one!—and we'll show you how it's done...) Attila Balaton bought an 8GB USB key to create a Windows 10 Recovery Drive only to find out 16GB was required. Mea culpa: Answer Line was partly to blame, as my former colleague wrote that Microsoft suggests “at least a 4GB USB key.” It’s not his fault, though, as on this support page Microsoft says in order to create a Windows...

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update for PCs started rolling out more than two weeks ago. While many have been happy with the new features and improvements it brings, thousands of others are reportedly experiencing critical issues, that are rendering their machines unresponsive. The news of the OS causing system freezes broke out a couple of days after the rollout of the Anniversary Update began, and now a new report suggests that the update has caused another frustrating issue for users around the globe. Brad Sams on Thurrott.com reports that the Windows 10 Anniversary Update broke millions of webcams. He states...

We're a long way from the Start Menu now First, it scrapped the classic Start Menu and gave us Tiles. Now Microsoft has confirmed it really is working on yet another radical user interface update – one that will allow you to use your desktop Windows 10 PC with virtual reality headsets. The feature, due to arrive next year, is dubbed the Windows Holographic Shell. It is designed to work on any normal PC, not just high-end graphics rigs; the emphasis is on the fact that anyone with a half decent machine can use the new UI. The Holographic Shell...

Starting in October, patches will be cumulative and Win7/8.1 customers will effectively cede control of their PCs to Microsoft Windows 7 and 8.1 have had a good run, but that's about to come to a close. According to new guidelines, Microsoft will start rolling out Windows 7 and 8.1 (as well as Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2) patches in undifferentiated monthly blobs. The patches will be cumulative, which eliminates the need to exercise judgment in selecting the patches you want. At the same time, though, the new approach severely hampers your ability to recover from bad patches --...

Windows 10 and the amount of data it collects via the Windows Store could prompt users to switch to Mac according to a new survey.The study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of security and privacy advice and comparison website Comparitech.com finds that 61 percent of the US public who regularly use Windows would at least consider switching to Mac. In the UK the figure is even higher at 67 percent, with 15 percent saying they would definitely consider swapping. Only 33 percent in the UK and 39 percent in the US say that they would not contemplate switching operating...

Microsoft is facing more legal trouble over its handling of Windows 10 upgrades. Microsoft is facing two more lawsuits over the company’s questionable Windows 10 upgrade tactics. Both suits are seeking class-action status. The first suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida. It alleges that Microsoft’s Windows 10 upgrade prompts “violated laws governing unsolicited electronic advertisements,” as reported by The Seattle Times. The suit also says Microsoft’s tactics are against the Federal Trade Commission’s rules on deceptive and unfair practices. The second suit was filed in June in Haifa, Israel alleging that Microsoft installed Windows 10 on users’...

France: Windows 10 collects 'excessive personal data', issues Microsoft with formal warning After accusations that Windows 10 collects too much data about users, France's National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) has order Microsoft to comply with the French Data Protection Act within three months. The company has been ordered to "stop collecting excessive data and tracking browsing by users without their consent". In addition to this, the chair of CNIL has notified Microsoft that it needs to take "satisfactory measures to ensure the security and confidentiality of user data". The notice comes after numerous complaints about Windows 10, and a series...

Microsoft has turned on a new set of Windows Tips that warn Windows 10 users that Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is draining their laptop’s battery. The solution, according to the notification, is to use Microsoft Edge. We reached out to Microsoft for clarification. “Microsoft Edge was designed exclusively for Windows 10 with features and functionality that enhance the browsing experience such as Cortana, easy sharing, reading, and researching,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “These Windows Tips notifications were created to provide people with quick, easy information that can help them enhance their Windows 10 experience, including information that can...

All that nagware hasn't worked When Windows 10 launched, Microsoft claimed it would have the new operating system on a billion devices by mid-2018. That isn't going to happen, however, Redmond has now admitted. For the past year, Microsoft has offered the new OS as a free upgrade for both desktop and mobile users (provided the phone can handle it in the latter case), and has been pushing it for Internet of Things makers. However, so far the OS is only on 350 million monthly active devices, and Redmond says it needs more time to hit ten figures. "We're pleased...

For months Microsoft has been describing Windows 10 “as a service” and now we know why. Microsoft is going to introduce a monthly subscription fee for Windows 10 usage… That cost will be $7 per user per month but the good news is it only applies to enterprises, for now. The new pricing tier will be called “Windows 10 Enterprise E3” and it means Windows has finally joined Office 365 and Azure as a subscription service. Of course the big question is now: How does this new subscription pricing affect the millions of consumers who upgraded to Windows 10 on...

Microsoft's bold claims about Edge turn out to be true. If you want to watch true 1080p content on Netflix over your PC, you need to use Microsoft’s Edge browser. On Wednesday, Microsoft claimed that its Edge browser was the only one of the big four browsers—which also includes Chrome, Firefox, and Opera—to offer 1080p resolution while playing Netflix content. A quick test of all four browsers by PCWorld proved this claim to be true, with the other three browsers capped at 720p. Why this matters: Microsoft’s been busy trying to rehabilitate the reputation of Edge, which suffered after the...

Microsoft says Windows 10 is fresh yet familiar, which is a nice way of saying it's a do-over for people who didn't like Windows 8. But what an impressive do-over it is. In fact, Windows 10 surpasses Apple's upcoming OS X El Capitan in some key areas, like multitasking and personal assistance. It's not that El Capitan isn't a worthy upgrade for Mac owners; it finally offers split-screen capability, along with revamped apps and performance improvements. Windows 10 offers PC users just a bit more. After using both the near-final version of Windows 10 and the public beta of El...

Microsoft has released build 14383 of Windows 10 Anniversary, for both PC and mobile, in preparation for its public launch on August 2nd 2016. Most "Insider" builds feature a watermark on the desktop, showing the version and build number, but that has gone in this build. "This is because we’re beginning to check in final code," said engineer Donar Sarkar in the announcement blog post, though we are promised more builds before release day. There are a bunch of fixes in this build but they are minor, as you would expect at this point in the release cycle. "We fixed...