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BornCity’s report that some Windows Server 2016 installations have not been offered updates since August 2025 landed as a practical alarm for administrators running aging on‑premises servers: several readers and community posts describe machines that stopped seeing cumulative updates and new servicing‑stack updates (SSUs) after July/August, showing “Your device is up to date” while newer KB packages were known to exist. This article summarizes the available evidence, verifies the relevant...

Microsoft’s internal review and recent operational changes confirm that the company found evidence supporting parts of a major investigative report alleging Israel’s Unit 8200 used Azure to store and analyze mass collections of Palestinian phone calls — a finding that has forced Microsoft to disable specific IMOD subscriptions and re-open a debate about corporate responsibility, cloud governance, and the limits of platform neutrality. Background The story began with a joint investigative...

Microsoft’s decision to make the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) option for Windows 10 truly free inside the European Economic Area (EEA) changes the calculus for millions of users facing an imminent end-of-support deadline — but it does not remove the operational, privacy, and migration trade-offs that come with staying on a legacy OS. The company’s concession follows sustained pressure from Euroconsumers and other consumer groups and alters enrollment mechanics for EEA residents...

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Microsoft’s decision to cut off parts of its Azure cloud and AI services to an Israeli military intelligence unit has already reshaped a debate that sits at the intersection of cloud computing, national security, corporate responsibility, and human rights. The move — announced to Microsoft employees by vice-chair and president Brad Smith and framed as enforcement of long-standing terms of service — follows investigative reporting that alleged Unit 8200 used Microsoft infrastructure to...

Microsoft’s abrupt move to cut specific Azure cloud and AI services to a unit inside Israel’s Ministry of Defense has ripped open a worst‑case scenario for the modern tech industry: commercial cloud infrastructure used at scale to ingest, store and algorithmically analyze intercepted civilian communications — and a civil‑society claim that those same systems helped guide a lethal strike on a north Gaza birthing clinic during an infant vaccination day. Background: what was revealed and what...

Windows 10 will not suddenly stop working the day after the headlines — but Microsoft’s support calendar is immovable: mainstream security, quality and feature updates for most Windows 10 editions stop on October 14, 2025, and the only Microsoft‑sanctioned way to get OS‑level patches after that date is the time‑boxed Extended Security Updates (ESU) program or a migration to a supported platform. Background / Overview Windows 10 shipped in 2015 and has been the dominant desktop OS for a...

Microsoft’s move away from a traditional VPN toward an identity-first Security Service Edge—branded internally as Global Secure Access (GSA) and externally as Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access—represents a major operational and architectural shift for large enterprises: it replaces broad, network-level trust with finely scoped, identity- and policy-driven access while folding secure web gateway (SWG), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and telemetry into a...

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite promise to rewrite the rules for Windows laptops by delivering a dramatic mix of raw single‑thread speed, expanded multi‑core throughput, and a leap in on‑device AI that aims to make Copilot+ and other agentic workflows truly local and responsive. Background / Overview Qualcomm used its Snapdragon Summit to introduce two PC‑focused SoCs: the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme. Both are built on a 3...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 24H2 servicing wave has introduced a disruptive compatibility regression: users report Blu‑ray, DVD and digital‑TV applications freezing, showing black screens or returning copyright/protection errors when attempting to play DRM‑protected content after installing the August preview (KB5064081) and the September cumulative rollup (KB5065426). Microsoft has acknowledged the regression and is staging a targeted remediation via the Release Preview channel while...

Microsoft’s decision to cut a set of Azure cloud and AI services to a unit within Israel’s Ministry of Defense marks an unusually public and consequential moment for the cloud industry — one that forces a confrontation between contract practice, corporate ethics, and the real-world consequences of infrastructure that can scale to “million‑call” surveillance systems. In a memo published on Microsoft’s On the Issues blog, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said the company “ceased and...

EaseUS has timed a practical, product‑focused push to help Windows 10 users protect data and move to Windows 11 before Microsoft’s October 14, 2025 end‑of‑support deadline, packaging its long‑standing utilities — EaseUS Todo Backup, EaseUS Partition Master, and EaseUS Todo PCTrans — into a single migration playbook aimed at minimizing downtime and reducing the risk of data loss. Background / Overview Microsoft’s lifecycle calendar is the hard fact driving urgency: Windows 10 reaches end of...

Microsoft has quietly recast Microsoft 365 Copilot from a single‑vendor productivity assistant into a deliberate multi‑model orchestration platform by adding Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4 as selectable engines in Copilot’s Researcher tool and Copilot Studio, a change that gives enterprises practical model choice while introducing new governance, compliance, and operational trade‑offs. Background Microsoft 365 Copilot launched as an embedded productivity layer across Word...

Microsoft has told the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD) that it has “ceased and disabled a set of services” after an internal review found evidence that some IMOD subscriptions used Microsoft Azure storage and AI services in ways that support elements of investigative reporting alleging large‑scale surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Background The action follows a high‑profile investigative series that reported an intelligence system operated by an Israeli military...

Systems Limited’s announcement that it has been named to the Microsoft AI Business Solutions Inner Circle for 2025–2026 is both a regional milestone and a practical signal to enterprise buyers: the Karachi‑headquartered systems integrator has secured a place among Microsoft’s top partners for AI‑centric business applications, earning the privileges that come with Inner Circle membership and reaffirming a multi‑year alliance with Microsoft across the Middle East, Africa and beyond...

Microsoft has ceased and disabled a set of Azure cloud and AI services supplied to a unit inside Israel’s Ministry of Defence after an internal review concluded there was evidence supporting elements of investigative reporting that alleged Microsoft technology was used to store and analyze mass collections of Palestinian phone-call data. Background In early August 2025 a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call reported that an Israeli military intelligence element...

Microsoft’s decision to cut off specific Azure cloud and AI services to a unit of Israel’s Ministry of Defense has crystallized a fraught intersection of corporate responsibility, national security partnerships, employee activism, and the technical realities of modern cloud infrastructure. Background In early August, a joint investigative report alleged that Israeli military intelligence had been storing and analyzing vast volumes of intercepted Palestinian phone calls using major cloud...

Microsoft’s late‑September change to the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program rewrites the rules for millions of users across Europe — but it also exposes a razor‑thin line between convenience and data‑control that every Windows 10 owner should understand before October’s deadline. Background / Overview Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 will reach its official end of support on October 14, 2025, and that consumer devices may receive one additional year of critical...

Microsoft has begun previewing an AI-powered organizational upgrade to the Photos app on Windows 11 that automatically sorts images into four focused categories—Screenshots, Receipts, Identity documents, and Notes—and is currently available for testing on Copilot+ PCs enrolled in the Windows Insider Program. Background Microsoft has steadily folded AI into core Windows experiences as part of its Copilot and Copilot+ PC initiatives, prioritizing locally accelerated inference on devices that...

Microsoft has moved to sever parts of the Israeli Ministry of Defence’s access to Azure cloud and certain AI services after an internal review found evidence supporting a joint investigation alleging that an elite Israeli military intelligence unit used Microsoft’s platform to collect, store and analyse vast quantities of Palestinian phone calls. Background Microsoft’s announcement follows an investigative series published by The Guardian together with +972 Magazine and Local Call that...