oem partnerships

When manufacturers once packed new Windows laptops with trial antivirus, toolbars, and a garden of “helpful” utilities, users learned a simple rule: uninstall first, ask questions later. The AI era is complicating that instinct. Recent reporting suggests PC makers — and a new generation of...

Amazon’s plan to bring Alexa to Windows 10 PCs in early 2018 reshaped conversations about where voice assistants belong — not just in speakers and phones, but on the primary computing surface millions of people use every day — and the rollout that followed exposed both the promise and the...

The tools and knobs you need to avoid a mid‑2026 Secure Boot disruption are now available — but this is not a “set it and forget it” operation. Organizations must inventory, pilot, coordinate with OEMs, and execute a staged rollout to ensure UEFI Secure Boot trust anchors are rotated to the 2023...

Windows 11 is quietly building an OS-level haptic layer that promises subtle, macOS-style vibrations for UI events — but only on devices that actually include haptic hardware, and on preview builds the feature remains gated, hidden and hardware-dependent. Background Microsoft’s Settings app in...

Microsoft has quietly pushed a Canary‑channel build that relabels Windows 11 as version 26H1 (build 28000) — but Microsoft is explicit: this is not the next broad feature update. Instead, 26H1 is a platform‑only, device‑targeted branch intended to enable support for “specific silicon,” and it...

Microsoft is pouring megabucks and marketing muscle into a narrative that Copilot+ PCs — Windows machines with on-device neural engines and specially tuned Windows subsystems — will remake personal and enterprise computing. The message is clear: these machines are faster than Macs, sip far less...

Windows 10 will stop receiving free security fixes on October 14, 2025 — and if your PC can’t take the free Windows 11 upgrade, you have five realistic paths forward: enroll in Extended Security Updates (ESU), buy or rent a new Windows 11 PC (including cloud PCs), perform an unsupported upgrade...

Microsoft has quietly remapped the Xbox (Guide) button on controllers when paired with Windows 11, turning a once-single shortcut into a three-state, controller-first multitasking tool: a quick tap still opens the Xbox Game Bar, a long press now opens Task View, and a continued sustained hold...

Microsoft is quietly turning the Xbox button on controllers into a small but consequential multitasking shortcut in Windows 11: a long press now opens Task View so gamers can switch between apps and games without leaving the controller, while a short press still opens the Game Bar and a...

Microsoft’s quiet tweak to the Xbox controller on Windows 11 — making a long press of the central Xbox button open Task View while preserving a tap for Game Bar and a sustained hold to power the controller off — is small in code but large in intent, signaling a deliberate push toward...

Microsoft’s latest Insider preview quietly repurposes the Xbox/Guide button into a three‑state system control: a short tap still summons the Game Bar, a long press now opens Task View, and a sustained hold continues to power the controller off — a small UX tweak that signals a deliberate push to...

Microsoft is testing a small but meaningful change in Windows 11 that lets the Xbox button on controllers do more: a long press will open Task View so gamers can quickly switch between apps and games, while a short press still opens the Game Bar and a sustained hold continues to power off the...

Microsoft has quietly begun remapping the Xbox controller’s central Guide button in recent Windows 11 Insider builds so that a short tap still opens the Game Bar, a long press now opens Task View, and a sustained hold continues to power the controller off — a small input-change that signals a...

Microsoft has quietly repurposed the Xbox button on gamepads when used with Windows 11 Insiders: a long press now opens Task View while a short press still launches the Game Bar, and a press-and-hold continues to power down the controller — a small but practical tweak rolling out to Dev and Beta...

Microsoft’s work to move Copilot and Azure AI out of the office and into the vehicle cabin has taken a concrete step through an expanded relationship with Cerence — a partnership that stitches together in‑car voice assistants, Azure OpenAI capabilities, and the emerging third‑party agent...

Microsoft’s long‑running experiment to make Android feel like an extension of the PC — rather than a separate device you constantly pick up — first promised native-like access to mobile apps on Windows 10, and over the years that promise evolved into a practical streaming model under the Your...

Microsoft has quietly confirmed that the new Windows 11 handheld-focused gaming enhancements — the Xbox full‑screen experience and associated handheld optimizations — will not be limited to the new ROG Xbox Ally family, and reporting now points to existing Windows handhelds, including the MSI...

Microsoft’s push into artificial intelligence is no longer an experiment — it’s a full-scale platform strategy that is reshaping productivity, enterprise operations, and the very architecture of the cloud, with the Copilot family, Azure AI services, GitHub Copilot, and a suite of industry...

Microsoft’s guidance on Windows Secure Boot key creation and management is a clear signal: organizations and advanced users must prepare now for a multi-year certificate rollover that touches firmware, OS variables, and update pipelines — and that preparation requires coordinated firmware...

Microsoft’s new handheld-first layer for Windows 11 — the full‑screen, Xbox‑centric “home app” experience shown on the ROG Xbox Ally family at Gamescom — is the clearest signal yet that Redmond intends to stop treating handheld gaming as an afterthought and start treating it as a first-class...