Software Contract Solutions

Windows 10X: Train wreck in slow motion – or the future of Windows?

Microsoft hasn’t said much about Windows 10X – and what it has spelled out so far leaves the company’s plans unclear. Is 10X the next version of Windows 10? Or a dead end? If you’re a resolute Windows watcher, you may have heard about Windows 10X, the new version of Windows Microsoft has been cooking … Read more

Ready or not, we’re on our way to the Windows Virtual Desktop

The pandemic has given the latest version of Microsoft’s desktop-as-a-service offering unstoppable momentum. Talk about timing. With the coronavirus forcing a telecommuting sea change — we went from corporate workers begging, usually unsuccessfully, to be allowed to work from home to businesses insisting that they do so — Microsoft released its latest and best desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) program, Windows … Read more

How to use Windows 10’s Quick Assist app for remote PC support

A remote access tool that’s built into Windows 10 makes it easy to help a colleague, friend or family member with their PC. A little-known app that comes with Windows 10, Quick Assist is a remote-access tool that connects two PCs over the internet so that a person at one PC can remotely control the … Read more

Microsoft Patch Alert: April 2020, another ‘wacky’ month

It’s been a wacky Windows patching month, with seemingly random bluescreen and Bluetooth bugs, a recurrence of the “disappearing data” temporary profile bug, and an elusive bug in v4 printer connection – all punctuated by an extraordinary (and welcome!) solicitation for help from Microsoft. The patching pace this month returned to normal: We had the … Read more

Delays, deals and drastic actions: Microsoft responds to the pandemic

Because it makes Windows and Office, two tech cornerstones of most modern corporations, Microsoft’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak matters a lot. Here’s a rundown of what’s changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has postponed the Tokyo Olympics, scrubbed all college sports and silenced presidential campaign rallies, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that the crisis has … Read more

Windows by the numbers: Windows 10 hits late wall, stalls

With support for Windows 7 ending in January, the push to upgrade to Windows 10 continues. But the pace of Win10 adoptions stalled in November. Microsoft customers last month pressed “pause” in their migrations from Windows 7 to Windows 10 as the adoption of the latter stalled for the first time since February. According to … Read more

Microsoft goes very small for Windows 10 1909’s ‘On’ switch

The latest version of Windows relies on an ‘enablement package’ to turn on features that transform Windows 10 1903 into 1909. Microsoft now calls that move a pilot program. Microsoft has trumpeted the smaller size of Windows 10 1909, the fall feature upgrade that broke the twice-annual mold the company used in 2017 and 2018. … Read more

5 hidden Windows 10 features you should be using

They may not get much press, but these powerful built-in Windows 10 tools can help you work smarter. If you’ve been using Windows 10 for a while, you probably know about Cortana and OneDrive. But there are other, powerful features built into Windows 10 that you might not know about or have thought to use. These tools … Read more

With a few exceptions, all’s clear to install Microsoft’s October patches

October started in the cellar, with a third-time attempt at patching the CVE-2019-1367 IE zero-day that nobody needed, but the situation has gradually improved. Get the October patches installed, but watch out for a handful of known cowpies. If you had automatic update turned on at the beginning of October, you got clobbered with a … Read more

Microsoft pitches free help for Windows 7-to-Windows 10 upgraders

With its FastTrack assistance program, the company will work with customers migrating from Windows 7, either Enterprise or Professional, or Windows 8.1 Enterprise or Professional, to Windows 10 Enterprise. Microsoft on Monday touted the assistance it will give organizations transitioning from the soon-to-be-expired Windows 7 to its successor, Windows 10. Dubbed “FastTrack Center Benefit,” a.k.a. … Read more