microsoft

A consumer rights group has slammed Windows 10's privacy settings. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says Microsoft is unfairly linking privacy to security in its update system. The attack comes in a lengthy blog post by the EFF's Amul Kalia, ... published just after Microsoft released its Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It starts by recapping the numerous complaints about Microsoft using unfair measures to try to maximize the number of people upgrading to the system, including closing an on-screen window as consent for the installation. (Source: eff.org ) Data Transfer Is " ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed some Windows 10 computers may freeze up after the latest update. It says starting in Safe mode is one way to get round the problem while a permanent fix is developed. The problem comes with the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" ... (Build 14393.51), which is the recently-released biggest set of changes since Windows 10 was released. In previous editions of Windows, this significant update might be considered the equivalent of a Service Pack. According to Microsoft, the Anniversary Update problem only affects computers with a specific set-up, namely that the ... (view more)

Just days after the deadline for free upgrades to Windows 10 passed (July 29, 2016), the first Windows 10 loophole has emerged. Reports suggest that users with disabilities can still claim the free Windows 10 upgrade, but proving eligibility appears ... to be nothing more than an honor check. For most users, the deadline for the free Windows 10 upgrade offer has passed and attempting to download and install Windows 10 from Microsoft's website now brings up only an option to buy the system, which costs $120 for the standard Home edition. However, Microsoft also has a separate page for people ... (view more)

Microsoft is giving Windows 10 one last push before the free upgrade offer ends on July 29 for Windows 7 and 8 users. It comes through a full-screen pop-up message that could well irritate those who have chosen to give the new system a miss. The new ... message will appear for some, but not all users who have yet to upgrade. It takes up the full screen and is white text on a blue background. That's a curious choice, as that color scheme is traditionally associated with the Blue Screen of Death , particularly in full-screen use. (Source: theverge.com ) Upgrade Message Includes Apology The ... (view more)

Microsoft says it will backtrack on one of the most controversial elements of its campaign to push users towards Windows 10. It will no longer interpret clicking a close window button (the "X") as authorizing an installation of the new operating ... system. Since launching the system last year , Microsoft has been slowly ramping up its efforts to get people installing Windows 10. It's moved from the original position of having user actively seek out the system through a "pre-registration" tool to eventually reaching the point when Windows 10 was considered a recommended ... (view more)

Microsoft has agreed to pay $10,000 to a woman who says her computer was wrecked by an unwanted Windows 10 upgrade. The terms of the payment means there's no guarantee others in the same situation would prevail in court. Teri Goldstein says her ... computer automatically downloaded and attempted to install Windows 10 just days after it was released last July. If that's the case, that timeline certainly suggests some form of technical mistake as its only in recent months that Microsoft has stepped up its program of pushing the system out as an automatic update to many users. Broken ... (view more)

A newly-publicized take on a long-running scam involves on-screen messages that falsely appear to be from a user's Internet service provider. It's a trick with a variety of ways to profit from the customer. For many years, scammers have been calling ... people on the telephone claiming to work for Microsoft or other computer companies, saying the person receiving the call has a virus. The scammer will then usually try to get the victim to pay for bogus tech support services. While most people realize it's a scam, the idea is to call enough people so that even a small percentage of ... (view more)

Microsoft claims its Edge browser uses far less battery power on laptops than rivals such as Google Chrome. The claims come as it publishes details of further tweaks to the browser's power demands. To back up its claims, Microsoft has released the ... results of tests it carried out using its own Surface Book computer, along with data gathered remotely from Windows 10 computers. As with any such non-independent tests, it's always worth remembering that not only could the setup of the tests be designed in a way that favors Microsoft, but there's no way of knowing that Microsoft hasn ... (view more)

Microsoft has agreed to buy business networking site LinkedIn for $26 billion. Analysts are less than certain about what it plans to do with the site. For those not familiar, LinkedIn works a little like Facebook but is designed primarily for ... business rather than personal contacts. It has a reported 100 million active users that access the site at least once a month. That compares to reports of 1.65 billion active users for Facebook. One of the most popular uses is to find potential clients or employers through mutual contacts. It's also possible to "endorse" a contact for ... (view more)

A security firm says that laptops from five major PC manufacturers have inherent security flaws which make the systems open to attack the very first time they are used. The problem deals with the automatic update tools installed by the manufacturer. ... Duo Labs explored the pre-installed manufacturer software on laptops from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo. In total, they found 12 vulnerabilities which they described as being ridiculously simple to exploit. (Source: duo.com ) The software is what's officially known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) software, but commonly referred to ... (view more)