microsoft

Unconfirmed rumors suggest Windows 10 may be free of charge for people already on Windows 8.1. An announcement may be coming later this month to clarify the pricing structure. Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed that only people on Windows 7 or later ... will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 directly, while those users running Windows XP or Vista will need to carry out a fresh install. The pricing rumors stem from a report by the Softpedia website. It's generally considered credible, but is only citing its source on the pricing structure as "some people close to the matter." ... (view more)

Reports suggest Microsoft is working on a new web browser as an alternative to Internet Explorer. Both the scope and timescale of any changes have not yet been confirmed, but it's suggested the launch will coincide with the release of Windows 10. ... Most rumors reference two codenames for the project: Trident and Spartan. The two names refer to the same strategy: to make Microsoft's web browser better and easier to use on modern websites, while still being able to run web pages designed for legacy systems. Trident is the web browser engine which already exists and is part of Internet ... (view more)

Microsoft has released a Windows 10 Preparation Tool designed to integrate Windows 7 and 8 computers for testing Windows 10 more easily. The tool also coincides with a big update to Windows 10 Technical Preview which is due January next year, and ... will include many features that are most important to home computer users. (Source: winbeta.org ) Currently, Windows 10 is in its Technical Preview stage. That means many features are new and being tested by thousands of people, and the operating system itself is not fully functional. In all likelihood, the Technical Preview is full of bugs and has ... (view more)

Have you ever received a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to work for Microsoft's technical support department ? Late last week Microsoft announced that it had sued two technical support companies alleged to have infringed on several ... Microsoft trademarks. According to the firm, these companies called people at home offering support for non-existent problems with the Windows operating system. Microsoft says many people were tricked by the scheme and paid the scammers money for their assistance. Scammers Claim to Represent Microsoft "Defendants have utilized the Microsoft ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Bob T.' writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to reinstall Windows on my computer but I can't seem to find my Windows DVD anywhere. In fact, I'm not even sure if my computer came with an install disc. Should I download Windows from ... a torrent website? Can I use a DVD or USB drive to reinstall Windows? What do you suggest? " My Response: You can download a copy of MS Windows 7, 8, or 10 for free from Microsoft and install it from DVD or USB, though the steps for installing from USB are a little more involved for Windows 7. At the time of writing this ... (view more)

ProduKey 1.70 This simple and easy-to-use utility shows you the product ID and CD key for the version of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Exchange Server and SQL Server installed on your computer. This utility will be particularly ... useful if you lost this information and want to reinstall these programs on your PC. http://www.nirsoft.net/ Challenger 2.4.9 Challenger is state-of-the-art but completely free-to-use encryption software. Challenger is available to anyone but is optimized for people working in patent development, journalism, law, and upper level management. http://www. ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned that a recently released security update may be incompatible with test editions of Windows 10 and MS Office . The advice came from Gabe Aul, who is general manager of engineering for Windows. He posted a series of four messages ... on his Twitter account, rather than posting it onto Microsoft's official news blog. The messages read: "We just made a tough call after working through the night that I thought I should share with you. We have a security update going out today, and the installer fails on [Windows 10 build 9879 if Microsoft Office] is installed. Rather than ... (view more)

Earlier this year, a hack was discovered that would allow Windows XP users to continue receiving security updates , despite Microsoft no longer officially supporting the system . However, experts are now warning users that the hack guarantees ... neither security, nor stable computing. Windows XP: No More Security Updates Microsoft finally pulled the plug on Windows XP in April this year , including all future security updates. The problem is that many people still continue to use the operating system, despite significant security risks . The Windows Embedded hack essentially tricks Windows XP ... (view more)

Dell President Renee James says Windows 10's impact on the struggling PC market will be huge, with the release of Microsoft's next operating system (OS) leading to an estimated 600 million PC upgrades. James, who recently spoke at the Credit Suisse ... Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, says there are hundreds of millions of PCs out there that are four years old or older. James says that many of the owners of these aging PCs have been putting off an upgrade because they simply weren't wowed by Microsoft's last operating system, Windows 8. Microsoft Being " ... (view more)

Microsoft is facing a storm of protest over its decision to remove a popular feature from its OneDrive cloud storage service. The change is set to take shape when the company's next operating system, Windows 10 , is released next year. In Windows ... 8.1, OneDrive shows ' smart files ', otherwise known as ' placeholders ' stored on the cloud, but not available on a local device. If a user decides they want to view or edit that file and double click on it, OneDrive begins to download the file to local storage. The advantage of smart files is simple: they let users view the entire contents of ... (view more)