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Microsoft’s long-standing prescription that users should routinely change their Windows passwords has finally been exposed for what security researchers and standards bodies have long argued: a low-value, usability-damaging relic that produces more problems than protection. The change in Microsoft’s guidance — removing periodic password-expiration from the Windows security baselines — formalizes a shift already present in modern authentication thinking and aligns Windows advice with NIST and...

Win10 Spy Disabler is a tiny, no-frills portable utility that promises to “shut down Windows 10 telemetry” with a handful of clicks — and for many users in 2015–2019 it offered a fast, convenient route to privacy tweaks that would otherwise require hunting through Services, Scheduled Tasks and the Registry. The program still appears on download portals and review sites, but its age, the changing telemetry architecture in Windows, and the fact that Windows 10 reached end-of-support in October...

Microsoft has pushed the first Extended Security Updates (ESU) package for 2026 and confirmed what many administrators feared and some hoped for: a mandatory, high‑priority security rollout that fixes a large number of vulnerabilities and begins the phased replacement of Secure Boot certificates that begin expiring later this year. The update — included in the January cumulative servicing for supported Windows 10 builds — carries urgent changes that range from driver removals to firmware...

OneCommander has emerged as a clear favorite among modern Windows file managers, promising a fast, polished alternative to File Explorer with dual‑pane workflows, Miller columns, rich previews and a lightweight automation layer — and for many power users the productivity gains are obvious within minutes of use. Background OneCommander is a contemporary file manager built specifically for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It reimagines traditional dual‑pane paradigms by combining persistent tabs, a...

Microsoft has quietly begun the first wave of vendor-signed Windows updates for 2026 — an event that looks routine at first glance but carries outsized importance for two very different groups: Windows 10 holdouts who are running machines past the platform’s end-of-support date, and buyers (and makers) of the next generation of Copilot+ ARM laptops. What arrived in mid-January is both a security lifeline for Windows 10 users enrolled in Microsoft’s consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU)...

Grimoire of Domance arrived on Windows platforms as a compact, old‑school action‑platformer with a modern twist — and its achievement list has become an instant talking point for completionists who track progress across Xbox, Windows 10, and third‑party sites like Exophase. The game ships with a straightforward, completion‑focused achievements structure (31 achievements, 1,000 Gamerscore total) that mirrors the level‑by‑level design of the title, but the way those achievements are surfaced...

Microsoft has quietly added a dedicated Music section to the Windows Store as part of its long-running push to turn the Store into a single, unified shopping portal for apps, games, movies, TV and music — a move visible to Windows Insiders on recent preview builds and confirmed in Microsoft’s own Windows blog. Background Microsoft’s decision to fold music into the Store is the latest step in a strategy announced during the Windows 10 preview cycle: build one Store that scales across PCs...

Microsoft has confirmed that a recent Windows Update rollout produced an alarming but ultimately incorrect “end of support” banner in Settings that led some Windows 10 users — including those enrolled in Extended Security Updates (ESU) and customers running LTSC/IoT SKUs — to believe their PCs were suddenly orphaned, and the company says a server-side fix plus administrative rollback options are available to clear the message and restore certainty. Background / Overview In mid‑October and...

Microsoft’s January 13, 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11 (KB5073455) produced a configuration‑dependent regression that can leave Enterprise and IoT devices with System Guard Secure Launch enabled unable to power off or hibernate — instead the systems sometimes restart immediately after the shutdown/hibernate request, and Microsoft’s only immediate, documented workaround is a forced, command‑line shutdown until a permanent fix ships. Background / Overview The January Patch Tuesday...

OneCommander just made the case for itself as the best free file manager for Windows — and after testing its interface, workflows, and real-world quirks, the argument is persuasive: a modern UI, native dual‑pane tabs, a columns (Miller) view, fast previews, and simple automation deliver productivity gains that are obvious from the first 10 minutes of use. The enthusiasm behind recent writeups is well founded, but the decision to adopt OneCommander — especially as a replacement for File...

Microsoft’s January security rollup has produced an awkward aftershock: for a narrow but important set of Windows 11 devices, the latest patch is preventing machines from shutting down or entering hibernation and instead forcing an immediate restart. Background The problem is tied to the January 13, 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11, version 23H2, distributed as KB5073455 (OS build 22631.6491). The update is part of Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday security bundle and was published alongside...

Microsoft’s decision to publish ISO images for Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10130 while simultaneously withholding the build from the Slow ring exposed a tension at the heart of the Insider program: how to balance fast access and recovery options for advanced testers against the responsibility to protect less technical users from unstable code. The June 5, 2015 release of the official ISOs — paired with a slow-ring hold due to several known bugs — was a pragmatic but controversial move...

This week’s BetaNews roundup serves as a tight, practical distillation of what’s new and useful in the Microsoft Store — a clear “best of” list anchored by a couple of standouts (notably Tubecast Pro and Polarr Photo Editor), backed by a clutch of small utilities and a few platform-level items that matter to IT teams and power users. The column’s value is straightforward: fast discovery for everyday installs, plus early warning about SDK and firmware drops that can affect managed fleets...

Winslop’s arrival is the clearest sign yet that a sizable segment of the Windows community has stopped asking Microsoft to dial back AI in Windows 11 and has started building tactical tools to do it themselves. Background Windows 10 reached its official end of support on October 14, 2025, forcing a difficult migration choice for millions of users: upgrade hardware to meet Windows 11 requirements, accept a paid or conditional Extended Security Updates (ESU) path, or run unsupported systems...

Microsoft has begun to bury one of Teams’ most annoying legacy pains: the company is rolling its many Teams clients and fractured account experiences into a single, unified desktop app — and it’s pairing that consolidation with surgical engineering work to make calling and meetings less resource‑hungry on Windows devices. Background Microsoft Teams’ evolution has been a study in growth by accretion. What began as a single collaboration client quickly multiplied into distinct surfaces: the...

Microsoft’s sudden place at the center of headlines isn’t the result of a single watershed moment — it’s the product of several high‑visibility threads snapping into alignment: a fresh investor thesis built on AI monetization, a major restructuring with OpenAI, big model and on‑device AI announcements, public executive soundbites that went viral, and a high‑severity security disclosure that forced enterprises to reassess the new attack surface AI introduces. Together, these dynamics explain...

Microsoft just flipped the script again: AI everywhere, Xbox doubling down on subscriptions, Windows folding Copilot into the OS, and MSFT trading at headline-making levels — but beneath the hype there’s a straightforward strategic thesis and a set of concrete execution risks that every Windows user, gamer, and investor should understand. rview For most of its life Microsoft was the quiet backbone of business computing: Windows on the desktop, Office in the corporate suite, Azure quietly...

Microsoft’s January cumulative for Windows 11, KB5074109, intended to harden Secure Boot and fix NPU power-drain problems, has instead introduced a cluster of high-impact regressions — from intermittent black screens on GPU systems to Outlook POP freezes, Azure Virtual Desktop authentication failures, and broken desktop.ini localized names — forcing administrators and power users into cautious rollouts and emergency mitigations. Background / Overview KB5074109 is the January 13, 2026...

The January 13, 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11 (KB5074109) shipped important security and platform fixes — but early deployments have produced a cluster of regressions that range from intermittent black screens and wallpaper resets to Outlook Classic hangs for POP profiles, Azure Virtual Desktop authentication failures, and a puzzling File Explorer regression that ignores desktop.ini’s LocalizedResourceName entries. Background / Overview KB5074109 advances Windows 11 to OS builds...

Windows 11 updates that break a PC are maddening, but before you reach for a fresh install, there are three targeted, field‑tested fixes that resolve the vast majority of post‑update failures—and they’re exactly the steps recommended by troubleshooting guides and community responders who live through these scenarios daily. Background Windows updates come in different flavours—quality (monthly) updates, cumulative security patches, driver updates, and feature updates—and any one of these can...