Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appears to have extended an olive branch to Windows users after several months of backlash over the direction of the operating system.

During the company’s Q3 earnings call, Nadella highlighted ongoing efforts to improve experiences for Windows, Xbox, Bing, and Edge users.

“When it comes to our consumer business, we are doing the foundational work required to win back fans and strengthen engagement across Windows, Xbox, Bing, and Edge,” he told listeners.

“In the near term, we are focused on fundamentals, prioritizing quality and serving our core users better”.

Nadella pointed to improvements the tech giant has already made on this front, including performance boosts for lower-memory devices, as well as a more “streamlined” Windows Update process.

He added that it has “brought back focus to core features and fundamentals that matter most to our customers”.

Nadella’s comments come in the wake of long-running concerns about the future of the Windows operating system, particularly on the topic of AI integration.

In November last year, Windows chief Pavan Davuluri sparked controversy after outlining plans to transform Windows into an “agentic OS”.

Davuluri’s X post suggested the company aimed to offer a “multi-modal” experience for users, with an array of AI features baked into the operating system.

The post sparked a fierce backlash among users, with some questioning why the tech giant was focusing so heavily on integrating AI features while other areas like performance and reliability were being overlooked.

The furore appears to have resonated with the company, and in March this year Davuluri detailed plans to dial back "unnecessary" Copilot features within the operating system.

In a blog post at the time, Davuluri said the company will only integrate AI where it’s “most meaningful”.

“You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted,” he wrote.

That same move by the company also marked efforts to improve feedback from users - the “largest update to Feedback Hub yet” - which aimed to make it easier to submit feedback.

A looming Windows overhaul?

Efforts to build on Davuluri’s March pledges appear to be accelerating, according to recent reports from Windows Central.

Citing sources close to the matter, the publication noted an internal project dubbed ‘Windows K2’ is already underway and working on sweeping upgrades to performance, reliability, and user experience.

These efforts won’t come in the form of a dedicated update, but instead will be intermittent improvements on a rolling basis.

Performance, in particular, is a key focus of the initiative. Company documents viewed by the publication suggest the tech giant is aware that performance has been a recurring pain point for users, specifically in applications such as File Explorer.

Elsewhere, UI improvements aim to deliver a smoother experience for Windows 11 users, according to Windows Central.

The report tracks with the key focus areas identified by Davuluri in his March blog post, which included goals to deliver a “faster and more dependable File Explorer” as well as taskbar customization and "more control over widgets and feed experiences".

Nadella touts strong Windows uptake

Elsewhere in the earnings call, Nadella hailed strong user growth on Windows 11 – an area in which the company has faced an uphill battle.

Figures touted by the Microsoft chief now put monthly active users at over 1.6 billion.

Windows 11 uptake has been sluggish since its launch in 2021, largely due to the huge popularity of its predecessor. Indeed, Windows 11 only overtook Windows 10 in popularity last year, nearly four years after its official release.

As ITPro reported at the time, figures from Statcounter showed the newer OS finally edged into the lead in mid-July.

Nadella’s comments came as Microsoft announced strong quarterly earnings. Chief financial officer (CFO) Amy Hood said the company “delivered results that exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share”.

Annual revenue run rate for Microsoft’s AI business surpassed $37 billion in the company’s third quarter, growing 123% year-over-year.

Business is also booming for Microsoft Cloud, Nadella noted, which exceeded $54 billion in revenue, marking a 29% increase year-over-year.

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With Windows 10 reaching end of life on 14 October, enterprises and consumers alike globally will be making the shift to Microsoft’s newer operating system.

While issues like security and device compatibility have become common recurring talking points, concerns have been rising about a looming torrent of e-waste, with thousands of tonnes of waste expected in the UK alone.

A key factor behind this is that many older devices aren’t capable of running the newer operating system, rendering them obsolete and bound for the scrapheap.

Based on metal recovery rates and the average weight of both laptops and desktop devices, analysis from Businesswaste.co.uk suggests the Windows 10 end of life transition could generate more than 12,805,100 kg of metals – equivalent to more than 8,000 cars.

Vital materials including copper, gold, silver, and other precious metals are all included in this mounting heap of waste, and the estimated recovery costs are eye–watering.

Materials such as gold, for example, have an estimated total value of over £1.6 billion while copper and silver have estimated values of £100 million and £33 million respectively.

Mark Hall, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, said the figures highlight the environmental impact this transition period could have and the crucial considerations facing enterprises moving to new device ranges.

“It’s essential that any obsolete devices do not enter general waste streams. This is against UK WEEE regulations, meaning it’s illegal, and it can be highly damaging to our environment,” he said.

“WEEE waste recycling is complex and requires expert handling. Some electronic equipment and appliances can contain hazardous materials and it’s vital these are separated.

“With the mass scale of e-waste likely to be generated by the Windows 10 shutdown, we’re urging the public and businesses to ensure any old devices are handled correctly to avoid an environmental catastrophe.”

The Windows 10 end of life e-waste conundrum

This research isn’t the first to highlight the e-waste problem associated with device refreshes or operating system upgrades.

Researchers at Canalys raised serious concerns about the issue in late 2023, nearly two years ahead of the end of life deadline.

Analysis from the consultancy showed up to 240 million PCs would be terminated as a result of the shift to Windows 11 – largely due to not meeting minimum system compatibility requirements.

Many of these, Canalys warned, would eventually end up in landfill.

“Their incompatibility with the latest supported version of Windows massively reduces their value for refurbishing and reselling,” Canalys said at the time.

“If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600 km taller than the moon.”

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Extended support for Windows 10 could cost enterprises billions according to new research, prompting questions over why many are still plugging away with the operating system.

Analysis by Nexthink, released just weeks before Microsoft cuts off support for Windows 10, found maintaining custom versions of the operating system could cost in excess of $7.3 billion globally.

While businesses can choose to pay for extended support, this will set them back $61 per device for the first year. That price then doubles every year, for a maximum of three years, further compounding costs.

Enterprises and consumers alike have been moving away from Windows 10, albeit slowly, Nexthink found. Researchers at the company observed a 33% decrease in Windows 10 devices between 19 May 2025 and 1 August.

Figures from Statcounter also show the operating system still holds a 43% market share, with Windows 11 only recently overtaking it in popularity.

Based on current trends, this means even by the 14 October deadline around 121 million devices would still be running the operating system globally.

Sticking with Windows 10 poses risks

With this in mind, Nexthink said organizations need to ramp up efforts to switch operating systems ahead of the deadline, as failing to do so puts them at risk of cyber threats like malware and ransomware.

From a productivity perspective, failing to upgrade also has a marked impact on business efficiency, Nexthink noted. Similarly, partial upgrades can create their own issues, causing friction across teams due to “inconsistent experiences” between the two operating systems.

Tim Flower, digital employee experience strategist at Nexthink, said shifting to a new operating system “shouldn’t feel like a disruption”.

“It should be an opportunity to improve how employees work every day,” he said.

“That means understanding how devices and applications perform before the migration, anticipating issues and problems, and taking steps to ensure migrations and upgrades run smoothly.

“The goal is to avoid productivity being interrupted by an IT event, and help organizations see clear benefits from their investment.

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A senior Microsoft executive has suggested future versions of Windows will mark a step change in how users interact with the operating system.

During a recent appearance on the Windows IT Pro podcast, Pavan Davuluri, head of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices business, hinted that the company's next operating system - perhaps Windows 12 - will offer users a more “multimodal” experience, drawing from on-device AI capabilities.

“I think one of the core constructs there [is] looking at the interface of Windows evolving, looking at the interface itself becoming more multimodal and more capable based on new interaction technologies that come to life,” he said.

“Whether that’s mouse and keyboard moving to pen and touch and so on. I think one of the transformational things that’s also happening for us is the fact that we now have these AI models that can run on-device.

“These are reasonably performant models running on-device. They in turn, bring a bunch of new capabilities and agencies to the platform and the device itself.”

In terms of what capabilities users might expect from this sharpened focus on AI in Windows, Davuluri said this deeper integration and fusion between the operating system and AI will help drive improved tool orchestration and edge capabilities.

“For us, the biggest priority, of course, is to be able to make sure as we evolve Copilot Plus PCs with these new capabilities, we’re able to have the Copilot in Windows, have the M365 Copilot, take advantage of these capabilities,” he added.

“We see value in the Windows operating system itself having intrinsic understanding of these new AI models that are running in them and taking advantage of new capabilities.”

Windows 12 will be a more interactive experience

The multimodality Davuluri touted for any upcoming operating system will be the linchpin for new interactive features, particularly in areas such as voice input.

It’s an area that not only appears to represent the next logical step in user interaction - especially given on-device natural language capabilities - but also from an accessibility standpoint, as host Christiaan Brinkhoff noted.

“I think we will see computing become more ambient, more pervasive, continue to span form factors, and certainly become more multi-modal in the arc of time,” Davuluri said.

“We started with the notion of a desktop and a keyboard and a mouse and a monitor. We've gone through several revolutions, several technology new paradigm shifts.

“I think experience diversity is the next space where we will continue to see voice becoming more important. So you'll be able to speak to your computer while writing, inking, interacting with another person, for example. You should be able to have the computer semantically understand your intent to interact with it.”

We’re going to be waiting a while for Windows 12

Speculation over when Microsoft will announce plans for Windows 12 has been mounting over the last 18 months, especially given the fact Windows 11 will be four years old in October.

Hopes of a pending reveal were dashed when the tech giant confirmed the next big update for Windows 11 in June, with 25H2 coming later this year.

This update is expected to coincide with the Windows 10 end of life deadline in October, which itself has been a long-running challenge for the tech giant.

Microsoft has embarked on a massive push to drive users to Windows 11 in recent years, with many unwilling to switch to the new operating system - largely due to the popularity of Windows 10.

Indeed, Windows 11 only recently overtook its predecessor in terms of global user count, highlighting the customer hesitancy Microsoft has faced.

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Microsoft has admitted yet another problem with its August update, this time in reset and recovery operations – serious enough to spark an out-of-band update.

The monthly update was issued last week with a set of security patches including one zero-day vulnerability. However, beyond security, the update batch also introduced new features and made minor improvements.

A series of bugs have since shown up in the days since the release, highlighting how updates can wreak their own havoc for administrators.

Immediately after the update was released, Microsoft noted that some Windows upgrades might fail; the issue has since been resolved, and the tech giant advises anyone still seeing the error to retry the upgrade process.

Users also reported that SSDs have disappeared from view in systems that have been recently updated, potentially leading to a loss of data.

Commenting on the issue, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "We're aware of these reports and are investigating with our partners."

User tribulations aren’t over yet, however, with Microsoft acknowledging another flaw - this time causing failures with reset and recovery tools.

Microsoft confirms reset and recovery flaw

This newest flaw hits specific versions of Windows that have run the August update when users attempt to reset or recover their device. The bug is triggered by running key recovery processes: Reset my PC, Fix problems using Windows Update, and RemoteWipe CSP.

"Microsoft has identified an issue where some attempts to reset or recover Windows devices might fail," Microsoft said in a support document.

"This issue is observed after installing the August 2025 Windows security update on some client versions of Windows."

The issue rears its head after installing the August 2025 Windows security update — KB5063875 — on client versions of Windows 10 and 11, but not server OSes nor Windows 11 24H2. (The full list can be founder here.)

That means anyone running the latest version of Windows isn't affected, but anyone still on Windows 10 may be — right at a time when Microsoft is trying to encourage people to upgrade their OS or their hardware to the newer system, and therefore need the reset and recovery functions.

What administrators need to know

Initially, users were told to avoid using reset and recovery until the issue was fixed.

Naturally, this might prove problematic as those are tools used to solve issues when something is wrong with a device, meaning some users may have been left without a functional PC - albeit temporarily.

However, the wait would have been short, as Microsoft fixed the problem in less than a day from when it announced the flaw.

Microsoft has since issued an out-of-band (OOB) update to address this particular fault, with the company recommending installing the new update instead of the original from last week for anyone using an affected device.

"If your organization uses the affected platforms and hasn’t yet deployed the August 2025 security update yet, we recommend you apply this OOB update instead," Microsoft said in a support document.

As admins will be well aware, this is hardly the first time Microsoft has had issues with Windows updates — just last month Microsoft mistakenly flagged a non-security update issue as being resolved, only for it to return.

The tech giant issues an apology to customers for “any inconvenience and confusion” the issue caused.

ITPro contacted Microsoft for comment on the latest fault, but has yet to hear back.

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The UK's National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) has urged organizations to upgrade to Windows 11 before the end of support deadline for Windows 10 hits in October.

In a blog post, the cybersecurity body pointed out there are significant security risks for those who do not choose to upgrade.

Beyond the difficulties linked to being out of a dedicated support period, out-of-date operating systems are prime targets for cyber criminals – and the NCSC said the risks simply aren’t worth it.

Take the IE 6-11 vulnerability from the end of support for Windows XP as an example.

Organizations have until October 2025 to update their devices and hardware before Windows 10 reaches end-of-life status. Despite Windows 11 being almost four years old, many have still not made the switch.

“While Windows 10 was released more than a decade ago, it is still used widely by enterprises and not upgrading is akin to incurring a debt at a high interest rate – with the threat of forced repayment at a future date,” NCSC chief technical officer, Ollie Whitehouse, warned.

“The NCSC implores any organisation that has not already migrated to a more modern system to do so to help address security vulnerabilities in your devices and ensure overall cyber resilience. This is essential as demonstrated by the requirement to maintain supported software in Cyber Essentials.”

What’s holding up the shift to Windows 11?

One reason for companies holding on to Windows 11 could be the necessary hardware requirements.

Requirements such as TPM 2.0, UEFI, and support for Secure Boot may mean upgrading to more modern laptops, which might be a cost headache in the short term.

However, the cost of a cyber incident might be far worse in the long run.

As part of its guidance, the NCSC also released updated configuration packs for Microsoft Windows, with selected group settings to make it easier to deploy.

The requirements have led to suggestions that it could lead to a global torrent of e-waste, with millions of devices scrapped.

Research from Canalys suggested that up to 240 million PCs around the world could be terminated as a result of the shift to Windows 11.

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Windows 11 has officially overtaken Windows 10 as Microsoft’s most popular operating system, nearly four years after its official release.

According to figures from Statcounter over the weekend, the operating system is now running on 51.77% of all Windows PCs, edging out its predecessor at 45.02%.

This marks a major milestone for the flagship operating system. When it launched in October 2021, user uptake was underwhelming to say the least. By the end of its first year, it had only recorded around 10% of all installations on Windows PCs.

Windows 11’s market share has been climbing in recent years, but not quite to the extent that the tech giant might have hoped. In 2023, for example, it had captured around 28% of all installations on Windows PCs, while 2024 saw that rise to 36%.

This progress was overshadowed by the continued popularity of Microsoft’s previous operating system, Windows 10.

Analysis from ControlUp last year showed that both businesses and consumers alike were lagging on Windows 11 migration, with over 82% of business devices still not running the operating system.

Windows 11 uptake comes at a critical time

The growing popularity of Windows 11 comes ahead of a critical period for users and enterprises globally. From 14th October this year, Windows 10 will reach its ‘end of life’ date, meaning the operating system will no longer receive security updates.

There are exemptions here, however. Microsoft will offer extended service updates (ESU) past the October deadline, but pricing has been a contentious topic.

Microsoft has been keen to emphasize the importance of switching to the new operating system ahead of this deadline, as it could leave users open to an array of potential security risks.

Cybersecurity experts also agree on the possibility of security issues. Speaking to ITPro earlier this year, Steve Prescott-Jones, UBDS Digital managed services director, said enterprises still working with Windows 10 past the deadline risk exposing themselves to malware, ransomware, and a variety of threats.

“Without these updates, businesses may also face operational inefficiencies and compliance challenges that could disrupt day-to-day activities,” he added.

But switching over isn’t quite as simple as it may seem. There are hardware compatibility considerations at play while many enterprises still have lingering concerns about botched migrations.

ControlUp’s analysis last year specifically highlighted this as a key factor behind sluggish enterprise uptake alongside device refresh considerations.

Looking for advice on how to make the switch to Windows 11? ITPro has you covered in our comprehensive migration guide.

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With the clock ticking down to the Windows 10 end of life (EOL) deadline in October, organizations are dragging their feet on Windows 11 migration – and leaving their devices vulnerable as a result.

New data from threat exposure management platform NordStellar shows that nearly six-in-ten systems affected by infostealers in December last year are still running Windows 10.

"The number of systems affected by infostealers closely mirrors the overall operational system market share — Windows 10 has been heavily targeted for years due to its popularity,” said Vakaris Noreika, a cybersecurity expert at NordStellar.

“However, it will have an even bigger target on its back in the wake of its end of life, which will eventually create new vulnerabilities.”

"Once an operational system reaches this deadline, it no longer receives any security updates, vulnerability patches, or support from the software creator. These vulnerabilities are widely known and often exploited — infostealers can be coded to target these weaknesses more efficiently, resulting in more effective attacks against outdated systems."

Sticking with Windows 10 could have dire consequences

While the Windows 11 adoption rate has been rising steadily since last November, time is running out. Microsoft has made no secret of the changeover, and has repeatedly urged enterprises and consumers alike to make the shift to the newer operating system.

Failure to do so could have dire consequences, Noreika warned, with enterprises leaving themselves open to an array of threats.

"Migrating to a new operational system takes time — based on the current adoption rate, we estimate that approximately 30 to 40% of systems may still be running Windows 10 when it reaches end of life in October, creating a substantial attack surface for cyber criminals," said Noreika.

The situation may mirror that of Windows 7, which still had a 23% market share six months before its end of life - and 20% when the deadline hit. Even now, according to NordStellar, it holds a 2% market share and is still being targeted by infostealers.

Meanwhile, infostealers aren't the only risk for future Windows 10 users, with malware and new data exfiltration and exploitation techniques on the rise.

"Considering just how many enterprises might still be running Windows 10 after its end of life, there's a high possibility that we'll see a growth in various cybersecurity incidents if businesses continue to delay migration," said Noreika.

"Taking into account the financial and reputational losses that come with a data breach, delaying migration can be a decision that eventually costs the company millions of dollars and their client's trust, which will take years to regain."

Users seeking to continue with Windows 10 can fork out for extended security updates (ESU), which provide critical security updates for up to three years after the official EOL date.

But they don't come cheap, at $61 per device for the first year, doubling every year to $122 per device in year two and $244 in year three. Nor do they include ongoing technical support.

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Microsoft is finally rolling out its controversial Recall feature after months of delays sparked by security and privacy concerns.

Recall takes a screenshot every few seconds, saving the images in a protected folder to make it easier to find what you were working on even if you can't remember what application you were using. These snapshots can be searched for using AI that can interpret the images and read text.

Microsoft has spent months getting the feature ready for preview. Recall was first announced in May and expected weeks later, but a security and privacy backlash sparked weeks of delays.

Concerns centered on a lack of protection for the snapshotted pictures leaving sensitive material open to hackers, but also the potential for the tool to be used for employee monitoring and surveillance. Microsoft has since beefed up protections for privacy and security.

It's possible to pause Recall if you're using a sensitive website or working with confidential data, the company has confirmed.

Recall remains in preview rather than a full feature, but has been released via the Windows 11 developer channel, alongside other new AI-powered features including image generation and a tool called Click To Do.

Industry watchers suggested that the wider preview release of Recall meant it could start rolling out officially in the first quarter of next year, but given the many delays to date, it's difficult to predict.

Test Recall for yourself

Anyone keen to trial the AI-powered feature will require a Copilot+ PC. The preview now supports both Intel and AMD processors after previously working on just those running Snapdragon hardware.

To install the preview, you'll first need to register for Microsoft's Windows Insider program, and then use Windows Update to access the Dev Channel to get the latest build (26120.2510).

The full process is detailed on Microsoft's Windows blog, which notes you'll need Windows Hello, BitLocker, and Secure Boot enabled for Recall to work.

"When you open Recall, you can complete the first-run experience, which will ask you to opt-in to saving snapshots," the post notes. "If you don’t enable saving snapshots, Recall will not save any snapshots of your activity."

While this version of Recall is a preview, Microsoft has said it will not be collecting your snapshots for training or testing purposes.

"Microsoft can’t access the keys to view your encrypted data, so we can’t restore your snapshots if you remove Windows Hello or restore your snapshots if you need to reset your PC or move to a new PC," the post noted.

Long road to release

Microsoft first unveiled Recall in May as part of its push into AI with Copilot+ branded computers designed to make use of generative AI.

That quickly sparked concerns about security and privacy — and queries from the UK Information Commissioner's Office — leading to a quick u-turn from Microsoft, which delayed the feature by a few weeks in order to work on an opt-in system and additional security features.

That delay soon turned into months, with a mid-June release pushed back to October for members of the Insider programme and then again delayed until November — and that was in turn pushed back to this week.

Despite the furor, Microsoft chose to work on Recall rather than ditch the feature, and in October revealed Recall would be easily uninstalled if desired and would be off by default.

While Microsoft has been urging people to shift from Windows 10 to Windows 11 ahead of ending support for the older operating system, there's one thing it won't do - budge on key hardware requirements.

Microsoft has spent the year urging people to switch to the newer OS, trying everything from rolling out new features to full-page upgrade prompts. While the market share for Windows 11 has climbed from 27% of desktop Windows users a year ago to 35% last month, it still trails Windows 10 on 62%, according to StatCounter.

One leading complaint among users has been strict hardware requirements, which would require some people to have to shell out for a new PC despite having a perfectly functioning machine.

That's largely down to Microsoft requiring Windows 11 to be installed on PCs that feature a system called Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, which is designed to shore up security on PCs running Windows.

Microsoft has now stressed that it will not lower requirements, as some had hoped, around TPM 2.0, keeping it as a minimum hardware requirement.

In a blog post, Microsoft senior product manager Steven Hosking said: "TPM 2.0 is not just a recommendation — it’s a necessity for maintaining a secure and future-proof IT environment with Windows 11."

Some users had found a way to dodge the requirements and install Windows 11 on PCs without that system, but Microsoft has pushed back saying such machines will display a watermark on the screen labelling the OS as unsupported.

What is TPM 2.0 and why is it important for Windows 11?

Hosking explained that TPM is hardware dedicated to security, which houses encryption keys, certificates, passwords, and other sensitive data to keep it safe from unauthorized access. The system also manages cryptographic operations.

TPM 2.0 is an upgrade from the previous version, TPM 1.2, and includes built-in features like Secure Boot and Windows Hello for business to make sure only verified software can run. Beyond that, TPM 2.0 has more advanced encryption and key management, Hosking said.

"It’s true that its implementation might require a change for your organization," he says. "Yet it represents an important step toward more effectively countering today’s intricate security challenges."

Beyond supporting security features in Windows 11 such as BitLocker, he said, TPM 2.0 enables cryptographic algorithms, encryption keys, and certificates used by different industries.

By pairing it with identity protection, it can help companies shift to a Zero Trust setup. Plus, Hosking noted that TPM 2.0 helps future-proof Windows 11 amid the rise of cloud and server architecture.

"From supporting more intricate encryption algorithms to adding cryptographic functionality, TPM 2.0 is essential to counteracting present-day cyber risks," he added. "As such, you should not disable TPM checks on Windows 11 endpoints."

The post offers advice on how to check the TPM status of a device — but also advises companies to start planning to upgrade incompatible devices now, a cost that may be unwelcome to many.

Indeed, PC sales continued to slide, falling 1.3% in the third quarter versus the same period in 2023, according to Gartner.

Delta has made good on its promise to sue CrowdStrike after an update knocked the American airline's systems offline, costing as much as $500 million.

On July 19 2024, security company CrowdStrike rolled out an update to its Falcon detection system, but a flaw in the code crashed 8.5 million computers running Microsoft Windows, knocking banks, retailers, and airlines offline.

Delta subsequently canceled more than 7,000 flights, stranding 1.3 million customers, and quickly hired a lawyer, with CEO Ed Bastian saying the company had to "protect our shareholders… our customers, our employees" from the costs of the outage as well as damage to the company's reputation.

In a legal filing, Delta Air Lines said it is seeking compensation as well as punitive damages, pinning the blame for the "catastrophic" outage on CrowdStrike and claiming it "forced untested and faulty updates to its customers".

"If CrowdStrike had tested the faulty update on even one computer before deployment, the computer would have crashed," according to a document filed by Delta at Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia.

"Because the faulty update could not be removed remotely, CrowdStrike crippled Delta’s business and created immense delays for Delta customers."

Delta said the incident was caused by CrowdStrike putting profit above its own customers.

"CrowdStrike caused a global catastrophe because it cut corners, took shortcuts, and circumvented the very testing and certification processes it advertised, for its own benefit and profit," the lawsuit added.

CrowdStrike refutes Delta’s claims

CrowdStrike disputed the accusations, pointing out in a statement sent to journalists that Delta was hit harder than other companies, including rival American airlines — a point that is also being investigated by the US Transport Department.

"While we aimed to reach a business resolution that puts customers first, Delta has chosen a different path," CrowdStrike said in a statement.

"Delta’s claims are based on disproven misinformation, demonstrate a lack of understanding of how modern cybersecurity works, and reflect a desperate attempt to shift blame for its slow recovery away from its failure to modernize its antiquated IT infrastructure."

If the case goes to court, Delta faces a tough challenging proving CrowdStrike should pay damages, according to Dr. Ilia Kolochenko, CEO of ImmuniWeb and cybersecurity practice lead at Platt Law LLP.

"Based on publicly available information about the CrowdStrike incident, it would be an arduous task to prove negligence in this case," said Kolochenko.

"It will probably be a fierce battle of expert witnesses, who will make a lot of money arguing about the applicable standard of care, requisite to test updates of cybersecurity software. Having said this, the negligence claim – and especially punitive damages – rather seem to be a long shot with little to no chances to succeed."

However, Kolochenko believes it makes more sense for both sides to settle the case out of court, as it will be difficult for Delta to prove and CrowdStrike won't want to set a precedent of liability in such instances.

“If parties fail to settle at an early stage and the case is not dismissed, eventually arriving to the discovery stage of trial, new and grossly unfavorable evidence [may] turn up, eventually giving the negligence claim a chance."

What happened with the CrowdStrike outage?

The CrowdStrike outage began on the morning of July 19, 2024, with mass outages reported across a wide field of industries, including news media. Reports began in Australia and India and were quickly followed by the rest of the world as systems came online in the morning.

The incident was caused by an update that CrowdStrike pushed out that contained a memory issue. In the weeks that followed, CrowdStrike was criticized not just for missing the bug in its own quality assurance testing, but for rolling it out en masse rather than in stages.

Within five days, the vast majority of computers impacted by the outage were back online, but that required plenty of work from IT admins, as in some cases computers had to be manually restarted and rolled back to before the update, one by one.

Delta, for example, said it had to manually reset 40,000 servers.

Shortly after, lawsuits began to pile up for CrowdStrike— including from its own shareholders complaining they were misled about how software testing operated at the company, and that the failure hit share prices hard.

A further class action lawsuit was announced on behalf of smaller businesses impacted by the incident, while Delta also said at the time it was considering legal action.

CrowdStrike has apologized for the incident, but denied it failed to do the necessary testing and validation to avoid the bug.

Windows 10 end of life (EOL) is a year out, meaning the clock is ticking for businesses still to undergo a Windows 11 migration plan.

The aging operating system (OS) is still widely used, however, and a burden for IT departments looking to keep pace with advancing technology and changing device requirements.

With the deadline looming and most users cutting it fine, group director of sustainability and growth at Circular Computing Steve Haskew told ITPro how businesses should be preparing for the change.

Security should be top of mind, Haskew said. While Windows 10 won’t come to a complete halt next October, there will generally be no updates or patches for the OS.

This leaves those yet to migrate vulnerable, as IT teams will have to deal with more bugs and may be left open to cyber attacks, he added.

On the sustainability side, there’s also an e-waste concern, as those with hardware incapable of supporting Windows 11 will need to dispose of equipment. Last year, analysts warned that Windows 10 EOL could lead to a torrent of e-waste as up to 240 million PCs were left destined for the scrap heap.

As a first step, Haskew said, IT teams concerned about the migration process should check devices with Microsoft’s PC health tool to see if they are compatible and eligible for a free upgrade.

“If not, there are options - consider switching to different operating software like Google’s OS Flex, which can transform your old Windows-based device into a Chromebook,” he added.

Make it a priority to back up any files, he said, to avoid the risk of data loss during the migration process. In addition, businesses should responsibly recycle unwanted equipment.

“Contact the retailer you bought it from for options or consider donating it to charity,” he added.

Windows 10 remains pervasive 

Despite being launched nearly a decade ago, Haskew said, Windows 10 is still hugely popular and continues to have millions of users.

“This has led to a very long goodbye as Microsoft tries to prepare the ground for a smooth transition over to Windows 11, yet most PC users are still yet to make the move,” he added.

A study from earlier this year found that over three quarters (82%) of devices still aren’t running on Windows 11. Much of this hesitancy is due to wariness about the migration process, experts told ITPro at the time.

Try as it might, Microsoft can’t seem to push the needle. The firm has promoted Windows 11 on the back of its enhanced generative AI features, while also bumping up the price of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10.

According to Statcounter, though, Windows 10 still holds 62.79% of the market compared to the 33.37% of Windows 11.

Microsoft has further detailed how its Windows Recall tool will work, months after it delayed the roll-out of the snapshotting tool following a privacy and security backlash.

Windows Recall is part of the AI-powered Copilot+ system. The tool would, if enabled by a user, take screenshots every few seconds of everything happening on screen, saving the images in an encrypted file.

That would allow a user to search the images, rather than have to dig through files to find content they need or answer questions. Passwords would not be snapped by the system, and users could turn Recall off for a period of time or disable it for specific apps, Microsoft noted. The data would all be saved locally rather than in the cloud.

Microsoft has now said in a blog post that Recall will launch from November, detailed further security improvements, and confirmed it will allow users to easily uninstall the tool — whether that proves enough to encourage widespread acceptance of the AI tool remains to be seen.

To start, Recall will now be off by default and users must actively opt in to use it — though it may prove a challenge to say no to employers who require the snooping snapshots to be enabled. Plus, Microsoft is allowing Recall to be fully uninstalled from your PC, including the AI models that power the system.

On the privacy front, Recall will never collect images from private browsing sessions, and users can choose apps and websites to ignore, choose how long to keep Recall images, and delete a time range or all content from an app if it's accidentally collected.

Encryption and virtualization in Windows Recall

In addition to those options for users, Microsoft has also properly encrypted all sensitive aspects of Recall, including the collection of snapshots. To access the images, the computer must be authenticated with Windows Hello, using a fingerprint, facial recognition, or a PIN.

"Recall leverages Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security to authorize Recall-related operations," explained David Weston, Vice President Enterprise and OS Security, in the Microsoft post.

"This includes actions like changing Recall settings and run-time authorization of access to the Recall user interface (UI). Recall also protects against malware through rate-limiting and anti-hammering measures. Recall currently supports PIN as a fallback method only after Recall is configured, and this is to avoid data loss if a secure sensor is damaged."

Core to that is enclosing the snapshot system, search and images inside a virtualization-based security enclave (VBS Enclave).

"Within Recall, the services that operate on screenshots and associated data or perform decryption operations reside within a secure VBS Enclave," Weston said. "The only information that leaves the VBS Enclave is what is requested by the user when actively using Recall."

Accessing that sectioned off area requires credentials, he added. "This area acts like a locked box that can only be accessed after permission is granted by the user through Windows Hello," Weston said. "VBS Enclaves offer an isolation boundary from both kernel and administrative users."

Change enough?

Those security features sound like what should have been in place when Recall was first unveiled — but why weren’t they included? Weston said Microsoft saw Recall as a preview product with security still in development, and after the backlash moved up that work to include said features at launch.

"It’s not just about Recall, in my opinion we now have one of the strongest platforms for doing sensitive data processing on the edge and you can imagine there are lots of other things we can do with that,” Weston told The Verge.

“I think it made a lot of sense to pull forward some of the investments we were going to make and then make Recall the premier platform for that.”

Recall history

Microsoft first unveiled the Recall tool back in May, instantly sparking a backlash centered on privacy as well as security — despite the fact Recall was only intended to be made available on Copilot+ PCs and not rolled out to all Windows machines.

Security experts immediately criticized the tool, with one former Microsoft employee calling it a "new security nightmare", saying the feature fundamentally undermines Windows security.

The feature announcement also caught the attention of the UK data watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, which said at the time it was "making enquiries with Microsoft to understand the safeguards in place to protect user privacy."

The furor led Microsoft to delay the feature's availability. Recall was first supposed to be released in mid June, but that was delayed for further security testing and would be initially released as a preview via the Windows Insider Programme in the "coming weeks".

In August, that was pushed back to October; now, the tool won't be available until November.

Then, at the beginning of September, careful Windows watchers spotted an option to uninstall the tool in a preview version of the OS. However, Microsoft noted the setting's inclusion in the Windows Control Panel was a mistake.

The ICO last week said it had nothing to add on the looming Recall launch, but after the Microsoft news acknowledged the "series of changes" and said it would continue to assess the product before launch.

AI PCs are set to make up the majority of all computers sold by 2027, according to new research, with adoption rates expected to surge in the coming years.

The PC market has largely stalled in recent years, with manufacturers experiencing a severe drought in consumer and enterprise demand, though that looks set to change.

Research earlier this year predicted a slight increase in sales thanks to a looming Windows refresh as Windows 10 hits end of support next year as well as the rise of AI PCs.

Now, research by AltIndex.com using data from Statista and Canalys shows that six-in-ten of all PCs sold by 2027 will be AI PCs. That's three-times more than are expected to be sold this year.

This uptick will be driven by manufacturers pushing AI PCs as their top-of-the-line products, the study noted, as well as their utility in industries relying on edge computing.

"Many consumers and businesses also turn to AI PCs for enhanced productivity and to handle tasks like machine learning, data analysis, and creative work more efficiently," a post from AltIndex.com added.

"The rise of generative AI applications has also fueled demand for these devices. With more and more users searching for an AI-enhanced PC, their annual shipments will skyrocket in the following years."

The data suggested AI PCs would make up a fifth of total PC sales this year, tripling to 60% by 2027 and topping 205 million by 2028.

What is an AI PC and why are they all the rage?

While there's debate, the simple definition of an AI PC is one that features dedicated hardware to run AI systems.

Microsoft defines it as a PC running a neural processing unit (NPU), which imitates the brain's neural network structure to run AI applications and tasks more efficiently, while leaving your CPU and GPU to handle the rest of your computing.

AltIndex points to Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i — released last year — as the first "AI-enhanced PC", but notes that AI accelerators and other hardware have since been integrated into the designs of many more PC manufacturers.

To be clear, most laptops will be perfectly fine running the current generation of AI, such as using AI-based software or tools, or solutions like Microsoft Copilot — you don't need anything special to access ChatGPT, for example.

Indeed, Microsoft doesn't specify any hardware requirements to run Copilot 365 at the moment, though there are licensing and software that must be in place first.

So why is Microsoft offering PCs designed for AI? To run more advanced Copilot+ PCs "experiences" — which includes controversial Windows Recall, for example — a computer needs 256GB storage, 16GB RAM, and a compatible processor or system on a chip.

So far, this only includes the Snapdragon X Plus or the Snapdragon X Elite. Other AI PC chips could include AMD's Ryzen AI 300 or Intel's Lunar Lake while Apple is working on its own in-house hardware, according to AlphaSense.

"The Copilot+ PC features are more than just apps," Microsoft says on its website. "They are advanced AI capabilities that require a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with 40+ TOPS to work as intended. Without an NPU, these features, such as Paint Cocreator or all Windows Studio Effects, may not function properly or at all."

This all suggests that, going forward, such specs are what will become the minimum for running AI tools — and that means, assuming AI takes off, that ‘AI PCs’ will soon simply become PCs.

A flaw targeting Windows Update could rollback versions of the operating system so it's easier to attack, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft revealed the critical vulnerability in its September "Patch Tuesday" update, but it's a similar style of attack spotted by a researcher last month.

In August, SafeBreach security researcher Alon Leviev revealed a "downgrade" attack. Leviev was able to rollback Windows to a previous state, leaving it vulnerable to an exploit that had since been patched.

The flaw would allow attackers to undo patches on that version of the OS, leaving computers unprotected for known vulnerabilities Internet Explorer 11, Windows Media Player, and more — making it easier for hackers to attack.

Microsoft said that this specific flaw has not been seen in use in the wild, meaning it was patched before hackers managed to make use of the vulnerability.

"This specific vulnerability impacted the Windows update system in a way that security patches for some components were rolled back to a vulnerable state and will have remained in a vulnerable state since March 2024," Kevin Breen, Senior Director Threat Research at Immersive Labs, said to Help Net Security.

"Some of these components were known to be exploited in the wild in the past, meaning attackers could still exploit them despite Windows update saying it is fully patched," Breen added.

What you need to know about the Windows 10 flaw

Thankfully, this vulnerability only appears to impact specific versions of Windows 10 — so if you've upgraded to Windows 11, this doesn't affect you or your users. The impacted versions of Windows 10 (version 1507) reached end of life in 2017, though there are enterprise editions that are still supported, Microsoft noted.

"Microsoft is aware of a vulnerability in Servicing Stack that has rolled back the fixes for some vulnerabilities affecting Optional Components on Windows 10, version 1507 (initial version released July 2015)," the company said in a statement

"This means that an attacker could exploit these previously mitigated vulnerabilities on Windows 10… systems that have installed the Windows security update released on March 12, 2024 (KB5035858 OS Build 10240.20526) or other updates released until August 2024. All later versions of Windows 10 are not impacted by this vulnerability."

To fix the servicing stack flaw in affected versions of Windows 10, admins or users simply need to install the September 2024 Servicing stack update followed by the September 2024 Windows security update. Microsoft notes the updates must be run in that order.

Adam Barnett, lead software engineer at Rapid7, added that the flaw has a high severity rating, but stressed that only limited versions of Windows were impacted.

"Also, Microsoft notes that while at least some of the accidentally unpatched vulnerabilities were known to be exploited, they haven’t seen in-the-wild exploitation of [the flaw] itself, and the defect was discovered by Microsoft," he said.

"All in all, while there are certainly more than a few organisations out there still running Windows 10 1507, most admins can breathe a sigh of relief on this one, and then go back to worrying about everything else."

Downgrading protections

Barnett noted that the flaw sounded "eerily similar" to the flaw that Leviev unveiled at the Black Hat and DefCon security conferences last month, but added there was "not obviously any substantial connection between the two." Perhaps, he suggested, Microsoft is simply looking for similar flaws.

Indeed, at the time, Leviev called for increased awareness of downgrade attacks, saying he saw no existing mitigations from Microsoft, though the company issued patches immediately. Leviev also noted that other OS makers should be aware of this style of attack.

"I found several vulnerabilities that I used to develop Windows Downdate — a tool to take over the Windows Update process to craft fully undetectable, invisible, persistent, and irreversible downgrades on critical OS components — that allowed me to elevate privileges and bypass security features," Leviev said in a blog post at the time.

"As a result, I was able to make a fully patched Windows machine susceptible to thousands of past vulnerabilities, turning fixed vulnerabilities into zero-days and making the term “fully patched” meaningless on any Windows machine in the world."

Most businesses are lagging on Windows 11 migrations, with a study from ControlUp showing that over three-quarters (82%) of devices are still not running on the latest operating system (OS).

This is despite the impending Windows 10 end of life (EOL) slated for late 2025. Following this point, organizations can only pay for three years of updates before the OS is fully unsupported.

Fielding data from over 750,000 devices, the results of ControlUp’s study point to an evident anxiety about OS migration among businesses. 

“The clock is ticking for enterprises to adopt the more secure and capable Windows 11, yet many organizations are stuck, unsure about their environment’s readiness,” said Simon Townsend, field CTO at ControlUp. 

Organizations are being forced to re-evaluate their endpoint devices, added IDC research director Shannon Kalvar, and it has become “imperative” that businesses plan their move to next generation of operating systems.

Older devices may not be equipped to run Windows 11, which requires a 64-bit CPU, ‘Secure Boot’ capabilities, and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip to run.

Of the 82% of devices not yet upgraded, 88% of them are fully equipped for the upgrade. By comparison, just 11% need to be fully replaced to meet the demands of Windows 11 while 1% can be upgraded to meet the requirements before migration.

With the overwhelming majority of surveyed devices “ready for migration”, there are evidently other considerations for businesses when looking at Windows 11 migrations. 

Firms don’t want to repeat difficult migrations with Windows 11

Many businesses are “wary” of the Windows 11 upgrade because of the challenges they faced upgrading to Windows 10, according to Cloudhouse director Mark Gilliand. Cloudhouse is an enterprise Windows user and currently runs on Windows 11.

“The transition to Windows 10 was often lengthy and disruptive, particularly due to issues with legacy applications and compatibility,” Gilliand told ITPro. 

“Companies are wary of repeating this experience, with concerns over the cost, time, and potential operational impact of another upgrade,” he added.

One of the major obstacles, added Gilliand, is ensuring that commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and “home-grown” business applications will run on the new OS, which he noted is an “often-overlooked challenge” for businesses.

“Even if most vendors have certification for Windows 11, it may only be for the latest release. In-house applications will need testing and tweaking, triggering another round of quality assurance (QA),” Gilliand said.

The “serious challenge” comes when applications have no forward compatibility, he added, stranding business-critical operations on obsolete platforms and raising concerns around compliance.  

Microsoft is pushing back against reluctant businesses 

To incentivize end-user migration to Windows 11, Microsoft has tried to both persuade and coerce enterprises and businesses into making the switch.  

The firm tried to drive the change through the promise of an AI-enhanced Windows 11, with updated features for Copilot Preview for Windows 11 and new plugins for applications like Shopify and Klarna.

Following that move, Microsoft opted for a slightly more aggressive approach by ramping up the price of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for users who have not switched past the October 2025 deadline.  

Once the deadline has passed, businesses will have to pay $61 for the first year of updates, followed by $122 for the second year and $244 for the third. This is a significant markup from the Windows 7 ESU program. 

Extended updates for this OS only cost users $25 per device for the first year, followed by $50 for the second, and $100 for the third.

A new Windows vulnerability could be exploited by attackers to generate an unrecoverable inconsistency and repeatedly crash affected systems, researchers have warned.

Ricardo Narvaja, principal exploit writer at cybersecurity and automation software company Fortra, uncovered a vulnerability in the common log file system (CLFS.sys) driver of Windows.

Disclosed by Fortra on 12 August, CVE-2024-6768 is said to have been caused by improper validation of specified quantities in input data, leading to an unrecoverable inconsistency, which triggers the KeBugCheckEx function, resulting in the infamous blue screen of death.

A proof of concept (PoC) developed by Narvaja revealed that by crafting specific values within a .BLF file, the format of log files used by the Windows common log file system t, an unprivileged user could cause the target system to crash.

Despite only requiring low level account privileges and being listed as having a low attack complexity, CVE-2024-6768 is a medium severity security flaw rated a 6.8 on the CVSS, possibly due to a potential attacker requiring a local access in order to exploit it.

CVE-2024-6768 gives attackers “another tool in their post-compromise toolkit”

Tyler Reguly, associate director of security R&D at Fortra, told ITPro that due to fact  the attacker would already need access to the system to exploit it, this flaw is not the most dangerous to emerge recently, 

“To classify this vulnerability as dangerous would be a mistake. Not every vulnerability is world ending, but it is important that we still think about them and understand them. In this case, the attack vectors are limited as are the real-world use cases,” he explained.

“Since the attacker must have access to the system, we’re talking about an insider attack or someone who has already compromised your network, which means there’s a bigger risk that already exists. Next, we’re talking about crashing a system. There’s no code execution or privilege escalation associated with this; it is a straightforward denial of service. 

Reguly warned, however, that CVE-2024-6768 would be a handy addition to a hacker’s post-compromise toolkit. 

“Where the risk comes in is if someone wants to disrupt a multi-user environment or reboot a system where they don’t yet have increased privileges.,” he noted.

“This vulnerability doesn’t give an attacker the keys to the kingdom. Instead, it gives them another tool in their post-compromise toolkit – a self-recovering denial of service that essentially lets you reboot a system without permission to do so.”

Fortra’s blog warned the issue affects all versions of Windows, up to and including the latest versions of both Windows 10 and 11 with all updates applied.

Narvaja has made the functional PoC with sources as well as the crafted .BLF file available on Fortra’s GitHub for those looking to learn more about the vulnerability.

An overwhelming majority of IT leaders believe a significant portion of enterprise laptop devices will be pre-used within the next decade, according to new research.

In a poll conducted by Circular Computing at a recent summit, leaders from Microsoft, Dell, HP, Atos, Lenovo, and others specifically highlighted circulatory practices within the IT sector as a key focus in the coming years.

86% of respondents said pre-used laptops will account for one-fifth of enterprise hardware stocks by 2032 while a sizable minority (40%) believe this milestone will be hit by 2028.

Rod Neale, Founder and CEO of Circular Computing said the survey findings highlight a growing consensus around sustainable hardware use at enterprises globally.

“Our recent Summit was as much a rallying cry as it was an eye opener for those in the driving seat in our industry, who I hope now are starting to see remanufacturing as the new new – and a way to achieve circularity in the IT sector,” he said.

“Overall, the consensus is clear: pre-used tech will be the future for enterprises. The question is how quickly are we going to get there, and who gets the glory when we do?”

There are significant challenges ahead for enterprises looking to reduce the environmental impact of hardware, however. Respondents with a more pessimistic outlook with regard to adoption rates specifically pinpointed manufacturer practices as a key hurdle.

85% said that OEMs will be the “main barrier” to speed of adoption and could limit their ability to ramp up more sustainable hardware practices. Nearly two-thirds also urged end-users to drive faster adoption of pre-used devices by demanding suppliers provide these options.

Pushing manufacturers and suppliers to provide more sustainable hardware options also comes at a critical time, the study noted, with the IT industry now facing “one of its biggest sustainability tests yet” with the end of support for Windows 10.

In December 2023, analysts warned that Windows 10 end of life plans could spark a “torrent” of e-waste globally. A study from Canalys found that up to 240 million PCs could be terminated amidst the shift to Windows 11.

Canalys said the research highlighted the critical need for device manufacturers and software vendors such as Microsoft to “maximize products’ usable lifespans”.

Pre-used hardware “not to be sniffed at”

IT hardware takes up an awful lot of space at landfill, so pre-used laptops shouldn't be disregarded as an option. Those are the statements that should be front and center of every IT decision-maker and laptop manufacturer’s mind when they invest in new models.

E-waste is a problem that has never really been tackled by the IT industry, despite the lip service it continues to pay. ‘Sustainably built’ technology is not very sustainable if you launch something new two or three times a year. And we can’t really bemoan the customer here as there is pressure to keep up with the latest advancements, which is certainly the case for IT decision-makers.

Currently, there is a wave of new laptops fitted with AI-enabling processors and NPUs that are going to pull in customers who need those capabilities. However, value for money is still arguably the key metric for most IT decision-makers and an older machine can really reduce budgetary constraints.

Most businesses will reuse their hardware, anyway, and usually have a single laptop given to different employees over its time at the organization. Part of this is due to the turnaround of staff which can often be quicker than the turnaround of hardware.

However, laptops and PCs are better constructed, and software updates keep them relevant for much longer, so at some jobs, you’re very unlikely to get a brand new machine, anyway – unless you’re one of the executives.

Businesses looking to keep using Windows 10 past the approaching end of life (EOL) date will face steep costs, Microsoft has confirmed.

The firm clarified the cost of its extended service updates (ESU), which allow users access to critical security updates for up to three years past the Windows 10 EOL date, set for 14 October 2025.

ESU updates will require users to pay an annual fee which increases incrementally over the three year eligibility period. It will cost $61 per device for the first year, doubling every consecutive year to $122 per device in year two and $244 in year three.

They can only be purchased in yearly iterations, the tech giant noted, with year-one starting in November 2025. Importantly, if you decide to purchase the program in year two or three, you’ll have to pay cumulatively for the previous years.

There are exceptions to the fees. ESU is available for free for Windows 10 virtual machines (VMs) running in Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop, as well as for Windows 10 endpoints connecting to Windows 365 Cloud PCs.

No technical support is included in ESU, Microsoft said, though the firm will assist customers who encounter challenges related to the updates themselves. Windows 10 ESU are available in volume licensing now.

Windows 10 migration problems persist

Windows 10 EOL has not been a straightforward process so far, with a report from last summer showing that 82% devices are still not running on Windows 11 - partly due to enterprise anxiety about making the switch.

Companies are wary of repeating the transition to Windows 10, which was often time-consuming and disruptive, Cloudhouse director Mark Gilliand told ITPro at the time of the study.

There was also an indication that the EOL could create a huge volume of e-waste as millions of devices are condemned to the scrap heap, research from Canalys suggested at the end of 2023.

Businesses wary of the looming deadline should put security and sustainability front and center, Circular Computing’s Steve Haskew told ITPro in October.

They should also conduct an audit of device eligibility for Windows 11 and create backups of data.

The use of Linux as a desktop operating system has hit a new high, according to new data from Statcounter.

The open source operating system has appeared on just over 4% of desktops worldwide for the first time – up from just under 3% a year ago. It might not seem like much, but for a niche operating system like Linux it’s quite a big step.

So what’s driving this? Looking at the Statcounter data a little more closely, one reason for the overall rise is a big jump in the use of Linux in India – up from 8% in February last year to 15% last month.

Usage in the United States has also grown, albeit rather less dramatically from 2.5% a year ago to 3.85% last month.

Linux is free to install and can be a good way of reusing older hardware, and modern distributions are easier to work with than previously, all of which is perhaps fueling demand.

Measuring market share for operating systems is often a tricky business, and there are other sources that don’t show the same breakthrough. Gaming platform Steam reports for example that just 1.6% of the devices its customers are using are running Linux.

Data from the US government’s Digital Analytics Program shows that the Linux operating system is found on about 2.2% of the devices that access its official websites. 

But as over half of the devices going to these sites are mobile (57%), the actual proportion of PCs running Linux will be much higher - and probably more in line with the Statcounter data.

The Linux Foundation’s own research shows that the operating system is in fine health. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the companies it surveyed said they use it.

However, Linux is popular for everything from web servers to cloud computing – the desktop is one of its more niche uses.

Developers are one of the main groups that are still using desktop Linux – Stack Overflow’s 2023 developer survey found that 27% of developers used Ubuntu for personal and professional use, 16% said they used Windows Subsystem For Linux, and 8% said they used Debian.

There was a time when open source enthusiasts believed that desktop Linux could be a rival to Windows. However, a hugely fragmented marketplace (there are a lot of different flavors of Linux) plus the steep learning curve needed by the average user who wanted to install it, meant that challenge rather fizzled out.

That didn’t stop cries of ‘this is the year of the Linux desktop’ that lasted for a few years.

Linux is growing, but Windows can relax

As such, Microsoft can probably relax a little bit – even if the current rate of Linux growth was maintained it will still take decades for overturn Windows' market share.

In any case, the PC is now just one part of the overall computing market which encompasses smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices too.

In the broader computing ecosystem, open source is doing fine. Android – built on the Linux kernel – remains the world’s most popular operating system.

Windows 11 users are set for another batch of generative AI-flavored features as Microsoft looks to continue driving customers to the operating system. 

The tech giant unveiled plans to add a host of new AI-powered features to its Copilot Preview for Windows 11, including new plugins for easy access to applications such as OpenTable, Instacart, Shopify, Klarna, and Kayak.

From late March, Copilot in Windows will also offer a new set of skills which can be accessed by typing in a prompt to Copilot in Windows. Copilot will then perform the requested action and confirm once it has been completed.

The prompts are available for some settings, such as turn on/off battery saver or show battery information, and for some accessibility settings, allowing users to launch the screen magnifier or launch voice input.

These can also be used to access some device information such as to display the device IP address, or the empty recycle bin.

Microsoft also said it is rolling out new features including Generative Erase which allows users to select and remove unwanted objects when using the Photos app.

New ‘voice shortcuts’, which are custom commands to do things like pasting text, or opening folders, files, apps or URLs, will also be added, the company said. Voice commands can also be used across connected screens, making it easier to navigate between displays or move files and apps.

Windows 11 enterprise users are getting new features

For enterprise customers, Microsoft said it is simplifying the update management solution by combining the Windows Update for Business deployment service with Autopatch into a single update management solution.

Windows Autopatch will provide a single way for organizations to manage updates across Windows PCs, Microsoft 365 applications, Microsoft Edge, and Teams, the company said, and will use AI to program the necessary updates and reduce the impact on team productivity.

Some of the new features are available now via Windows Update and new apps available via Microsoft Store updates. Windows 11 PCs will get new the functionality at different times, as Microsoft is gradually rolling out some of these new features over the coming weeks via controlled feature rollout.

Most of these new Windows 11 features will be enabled by default in the March 2024 optional non-security preview release for all editions of Windows 11, versions 23H2 and 22H2.

Microsoft really wants you to switch to Windows 11

As well as these new features, Microsoft is trying to persuade Windows 10 users that it really is time to upgrade.

Starting with the April 2024 security update, Windows users working on non-managed cloud domain-joined and domain-joined business devices will see “invitation messages” about their free upgrades to Windows 11.

Microsoft said the invitation to upgrade to Windows 11 will appear after signing in and usually following a reboot. It will show on Windows 10 Pro and Pro Workstation devices that are eligible for Windows 11 but are not managed by IT departments.

Once prompted, users will be able to opt to get Windows 11, version 23H2 or stay in Windows 10 if they want to (the buttons for choosing the upgrade are in the middle of the screen while the ‘Keep Windows 10’ option is down and to the left.

Users who do want to upgrade can schedule when the Windows 11 upgrade should begin.

Windows 11 adoption seems to have been slower than the pace at which Windows 10 was taken up. It arrived in October 2021, but still only accounts for somewhere around 28% of the Windows PCs online according to Statcounter data, even if that is up significantly from 19% in February last year.

Windows 10 was launched back in July 2015, and is due to reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, is the final version of Windows 10.

Windows is getting its own version of the popular Linux sudo tool. Sudo for Windows is a new way for users to run elevated commands - as an administrator - directly from an unelevated console session on Windows, Microsoft said.

Sudo (‘su do’ or ‘superuser do’ depending on your point of view) is a tool that allows a system administrator to give users the ability to run commands as root or as another user, on a per-command basis. It’s a well-known and handy feature for Linux users but hasn’t been a part of Windows until now.

“Windows now has a built-in Sudo command. So you can run elevated tools directly from Terminal, without having to right-click and select ‘run as admin’ and start a new session. With this you can do file operations like deleting a protected file, invoking elevated commands, or opening up a new command shell,” Microsoft partner development manager Cory Hendrixson explained.

The new feature – for Windows at least – is coming with the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26052. Sudo for Windows isn’t available for Windows 10, but may be in the future, Microsoft said.

“It is an ergonomic and familiar solution for users who want to elevate a command without having to first open a new elevated console,” said Windows Developer Platform product manager Jordi Adoumie.

Adoumie also said Microsoft is going to open source the project on GitHub, and suggested anyone looking for extra functionality beyond that offered by sudo for Windows should look to Gerardo Grignoli’s gsudo, which has a number of additional features and configuration options and describes itself as ‘the missing piece in Windows’.

Getting started with Sudo for Windows

Microsoft said to enable Sudo for Windows, you have to navigate to the Settings > For Developers page in Windows Settings and toggle on the “Enable Sudo” option. 

Sudo for Windows currently supports three different configuration options. 

The configuration can be set from the Settings > For Developers menu or programmatically, using the command line.

The configuration options are:

In a new window (forceNewWindow)

The forceNewWindow configuration option is the default configuration option for Sudo for Windows. 

You can use sudo in this configuration to run the command in a new window. This is similar to the behavior of the runas /user:admin command.

Input closed (disableInput)

The disableInput configuration option will run the elevated process in the current window, but with the input handle closed. Microsoft said this means that the elevated process will not be able to receive input from the current console window. 

That is useful when you want to run a command as an administrator, but do not want to allow the command to receive input from the current console window.

Microsoft said this option provides some of the convenience of the inline configuration option while mitigating some of the associated security risks.

Inline (normal)

The normal configuration option is most similar to how sudo behaves on other operating systems, and will run the elevated process in the current window and the process will be able to receive input from the current console session.

“This configuration option provides the most convenience, but you should only choose this option if you are familiar with the associated security risks,” Microsoft said.

How to use Sudo for Windows

To use Sudo for Windows, add sudo to the front of the command you want to run as an administrator. For example, to run netstat -ab as an administrator, you would run sudo netstat -ab in your console window. 

Because sudo elevates the targeted process to run with administrator-level permission, a prompt will open asking you to verify that you want to continue.

What about the security risks?

Microsoft noted that there are some risks associated with running sudo in the Input closed (inputClosed) or Inline (normal) configurations. The inline configuration option runs the elevated process in the current window and the process is able to receive input from the current console session. 

An unelevated process can send input to the elevated process within the same console windows or get information from the output in the current windows in this configuration.

The inputClosed configuration option mitigates risk by closing the input handle.

It's also worth noting that Windows does have an existing runas command. While sudo allows you to quickly elevate a command as administrator from your current unelevated command line context, the runas command offers a way to run programs as any user, including administrator. Right now, the sudo command on Windows does not support running programs as other users.

“You should consider your particular use-case and plan to use the command that best meets your needs. You should also consider the security implications of running sudo in the inputClosed and normal modes,” Microsoft said.

“The default forceNewWindow configuration option is recommended unless you are familiar and comfortable with the risks associated with the other sudo configurations.”

A new dedicated Microsoft Copilot keyboard button will be added to a raft of PCs and laptops from Microsoft partners in the company’s latest push to drive adoption of its generative AI assistant.

Microsoft announced it will introduce the Copilot key to kick off 2024 as “the year of AI-powered Windows PCs”.  Bringing these changes to the hardware side of the Windows experience signals the company’s long term vision for its devices to be used in conjunction with AI tools.

The new Microsoft Copilot key also marks the first major change to Windows keyboards in almost 30 years. The Copilot button will replace the menu key next to the right hand side alt key on traditional Windows keyboards, and will provide users with instant access to Microsoft’s AI chatbot wherever they are in the operating system.

Microsoft hopes the inclusion of a dedicated hardware button for its flagship AI assistant will increase user adoption, allowing Copilot to be called up by users with a single key press and without having to switch out of their current task.

The keyboard alteration has received criticism from some non-English Windows users, for whom the alt gr key enabled them to use specific characters they needed for their native language.

As of the time of writing, Microsoft has not specified which manufacturers will be bringing the Copilot key to their keyboards. However, Yusuf Medhi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at the tech giant hinted that users can expect to see the Copilot key at CES.

“Over the coming days leading up to and at CES, you will start to see the Copilot key on many of the new Windows 11 PCs from our ecosystem partners, with availability beginning later this month through Spring, including on upcoming Surface devices,” the firm said in a statement last week.

The new Copilot key is not the first hardware change from Microsoft that embraces the upcoming era of AI computing, with the latest devices in its Surface lineup featuring dedicated Intel's Gen 3 Movidius 3700VC VPU AI Accelerator, such as its Surface Laptop Studio 2.

Microsoft Copilot is everywhere, and now it’s on your keyboard

Microsoft has accelerated efforts to integrate AI capabilities within its core products over the last year, on both the hardware and software side. The tech giant struck an early lead in the generative AI race in late 2022, and has continued to capitalize on the transformative potential of the technology. 

The firm’s Copilot tool is now available for users of Windows 11, Bing, and Microsoft 365, ensuring whatever users are doing with their Windows PC the Copilot icon will be somewhere within sight.

With a Copilot key set to feature on keyboards, it will be hard to avoid the AI assistant.

In November 2023, Microsoft also announced plans to integrate the chatbot in Windows 10 in a bid to capitalize on the OS’ considerable market share among enterprise customers.

Despite efforts to push customers to Windows 11 since its launch, Windows 10 has proved highly popular and continues to boast a larger market share than its newer counterpart. 

Analysts have warned Windows 10 end of life plans could spark a global torrent of e-waste, with millions of devices expected to be scrapped in the coming years. 

Research from Canalys shows that up to 240 million PCs globally could be terminated as a result of the shift over to Windows 11, raising critical questions about device refreshes and the responsibility of vendors to extend life cycles.

A key concern highlighted by Canalys was Microsoft’s current practices regarding Windows 11 device compatibility.

Minimum system requirements for installing Windows 11 on a PC mean users must have a processor of at least 1 GHz or faster along with a minimum of 4GB RAM. Storage requirements are also set to a minimum of 64GB.

Many of the devices set for scrapping after the Windows 10 support deadline, set for October 2025, won’t meet these requirements despite being in “good condition” and potentially recycled by enterprises.

The consultancy added that many of these 240 million devices will end up in landfill.

“Their incompatibility with the latest supported version of Windows massively reduces their value for refurbishing and reselling,” Canalys said.

“If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600 km taller than the moon.”

In the coming years, Canalys warned this could place significant strain on IT budgets, with many organizations tightening purse strings as a result of challenging economic conditions.

Vendors “have a responsibility to extend lifespans”

Canalys said its research highlights the critical need for device manufacturers and software vendors such as Microsoft to “maximize products’ usable lifespans”. 

The environmental impact of scrapping devices en-masse will be significant, the consultancy warned, and vendors should place a stronger focus on supporting circular economy goals.

“OEMs must embed durability, reparability, and recyclability into the design of their devices, and OS vendors must ensure these devices are usable and secure for as long as possible,” it said.

A lack of robust regulatory standards at present means there is no impetus for vendors to change practices in this regard, Canalys noted.

Windows 10 end of life security support has been extended

In December, Microsoft announced plans to provide extended security updates for Windows 10 until 2028, enabling users to continue to receive critical security patches past the official end-of-support deadline. 

To access this, however, users will be required to pay an as-of-yet unspecified fee.

Canalys welcomed the move as a positive step to extending lifespans, but noted these fees could prove prohibitive to some organizations with strained budgets.

“Though the provision of extended support can prolong the lifespans of Windows 11-ineligible PCs, the cost of these security updates will likely be a barrier for many users,” it warned. 

Pricing plans for Windows 7’s extended support scheme, for example, began at $25 per PC for the first year of support, but eventually quadrupled to $100 per device on an annual basis.

“If Microsoft pursues a similar pricing structure for Windows 10’s extended support, the more cost-effective option will be migration to newer, Windows 11-capable PCs – forcing older PCs onto the scrapheap.”

Microsoft has moved to make printing more secure with a new Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) in what the company said is one of the biggest changes to the Windows Print stack in more than 20 years. 

The move comes amid a period of continued threats to printers, with a recent report from Sharp revealing that printer-related security risks are still rife and that nearly one-fifth of firms have experienced a printer-related security breach.

The Windows print system has long been a target for attackers, as the Spooler requires high privileges and must load code from the network. Print bugs have been implicated in Stuxnet and Print Nightmare, and account for 9% of all Windows cases reported to MSRC, the firm said.

There's also an issue with driver compatibility, with some print drivers now incompatible with newer security mitigations, such as Control Flow Guard (CFG), Control Flow Enforcement Technology (CET), Arbitrary Code Guard (ACG), and others.

Microsoft has attempted to improve matters by encouraging users to switch to Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), when possible, and by recently ending servicing for the legacy v3 and v4 Windows printer drivers.

Windows Protected Print Mode: New improvements

Microsoft said WPP takes things further by blocking all third-party drivers altogether, while adding in a range of new security protections.

After analyzing past MSRC cases for Windows Print, it found that WPP mitigated over half of those vulnerabilities.

"Moving away from driver-based printing offers many benefits to users and allows Microsoft to make many meaningful improvements to our print system," said Microsoft security engineer Johnathan Norman.

"The existing driver-based system, established decades ago, depends on many third parties and Microsoft all playing their role, which has proven to be too slow for modern threats."

With WPP, privileges for the Print Spooler service have been restricted to decrease the attack surface, with a new Spooler Worker process having a restricted token that removes many privileges such as SeTcbPrivilege and SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege, and no longer running at SYSTEM IL.

While it does retain SeImpersonatePrivilege, Norman said the company plans to remove this when it can.

Control Flow Enforcement Technology hardware-based mitigation should help to mitigate Return Oriented Programming (ROP) based attacks, while child process creation will be blocked, preventing attackers from spawning a new process if they manage to get code execution in the Spooler.

Redirection Guard prevents many common path redirection attacks which often target the Print Spooler, while Arbitrary Code Guard prevents dynamic code generation within a process.

Point and Print will be prevented from installing third-party drivers, and WPP will make it clear to users when their traffic is encrypted and, when possible, encourage users to enable encryption.

Microsoft has reassured businesses it will run an extended security update (ESU) program to provide critical support for those still running Windows 10 after the operating system reaches end of life (EOL).

Windows 10 will reach end of support on 14 October 2025, at which point Microsoft will no longer provide devices with free bug fixes, security patches, or technical support.

This means organizations still running Windows 10 will have just under two years to upgrade their systems if they want to continue receiving new features and regular non-security updates.

For those unable to meet this deadline, Microsoft will provide an ESU program similar to that offered for Windows 7, where customers can pay to receive critical security updates for a further three years.

The ESU will be a yearly subscription and devices enrolled in the program will get monthly security updates throughout the three year period.

Windows 365 subscriptions will include ESUs for free, covering any Windows 10 devices that access Windows 365.

Customers running Windows 10 instances in Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 10 devices connected to a Windows 11 cloud PC, will also receive these updates at no additional cost.

Microsoft did not reveal how much this subscription would cost, but it is expected to be comparable to the pricing of the Windows 7 ESU program, which finished on January 10 and was available as an add on for Windows Enterprise customers for $25 per device for the first year, $50 for the second, and $100 for the third.

Windows 10 end of life: Why is Microsoft still clinging on?

The market share of desktop Windows versions currently sits at 68% of users still running Windows 10, with Windows 11 accounting for 27% of Windows desktop devices, according to Statcounter.

The 400 million monthly active users of Windows 11 is dwarfed by the 1 billion devices still running Windows 10.

The ESU program indicates Microsoft may not quite be ready to force the vast majority of users still using Windows 10 to upgrade to the latest operating system.

Microsoft’s recent decision to integrate its AI Copilot in Windows 10 also shows the tech giant recognizes the significant market share its previous OS enjoys, as well as its willingness to meet user demands for AI-powered features.

In some cases, however, the upgrade is not simply a question of moving on to a quicker, more efficient operating system. Windows 11’s system requirements are not compatible with some Windows 10 machines, complicating the process somewhat.

Companies will be able to extend security support for these devices for a further three years after the end of support in October 2025, but beyond this point it remains uncertain whether businesses will need to fork out to migrate to cloud-based systems or make significant hardware replacements.

Microsoft has announced Windows 11 users will be able to uninstall core applications in a bid to comply with EU regulations. 

The tech giant said several new changes to the operating system will allow users to essentially opt out and uninstall pre-packaged apps such as the Microsoft Edge browser.

Users will also be able to uninstall Bing Search from the Windows Search panel while an update to the OS’ Widgets Board will allow users to switch off the Microsoft News feed and advertisements.

The move is aimed at ensuring the company complies with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The changes will apply to all 27 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), Microsoft confirmed. The firm added that the changes will be “gradually rolling out to devices in Release Preview over the next couple weeks”.

Similar changes for Windows 10 users will also be available in the Release Preview Channel “at a later date”, Microsoft added.

“We’ll be updating Windows 10, version 22H2 and Windows 11, version 23H2 PCs in the EEA to be compliant by March 6th, 2024.”

Microsoft once again bows to EU pressure

Microsoft’s latest move follows a back-and-forth between the tech giant and EU regulators in recent months over business practices.

In August, Microsoft announced plans to unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 productivity suites for EU customers.

The move was aimed specifically at staving off regulatory scrutiny from EU lawmakers following the launch of an investigation into the bundling of Teams within its software suites.

Microsoft’s practices were the subject of an official complaint from Slack, lodged in 2020, that alleged the tech giant was “force installing” Teams for millions of customers, blocking its removal, and thus harming competition for rival software providers.

What is the Digital Markets Act?

The Digital Markets Act is a piece of sweeping EU legislation that aims to improve fairness and competition across the union’s digital economy.

The DMA has been billed as a key piece of legislation to ensure that large tech companies such as Meta, Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft are scrutinized for potentially anti-competitive practices.

These ‘gatekeeper’ organizations have been criticized for essentially creating walled gardens around products which limit consumers’ access to alternative platforms and services.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to integrate its AI Copilot in Windows 10 as part of a sweeping new update, according to reports. 

The decision to roll out its AI Copilot for Windows 10 users could prove vital in its push to boost adoption of the AI assistant. 

The move will see Windows 10 users given access to a Copilot button on the taskbar, enabling them to access the tool to support a range of tasks, according to Windows Central.

Copilot capabilities on Windows 10 are expected to be “roughly the same” as on Windows 11, the publication said. This will also include plugin compatibility across both versions of the operating system. 

Copilot officially rolled out on the operating system in November 2023 as part of the Windows 11 version 23H2 update. 

Sources told Windows Central the update is part of an effort to capitalize on the significant market share that Windows 10 still holds.  

The move could allow Microsoft to get more eyes on the AI Copilot by drawing on a far larger user base. At present, Windows 11 boasts around 400 million monthly active devices globally, whereas Windows 10 is still in use on around one billion devices. 

The resounding popularity of Windows 10 has proven difficult for Microsoft to overcome in its efforts to push users to the newer OS following its launch in October 2021. 

Sources told Windows Central that the move will also give Microsoft an “easier time selling developers on the idea that they should build plugins for Copilot” given it will be available to users of both operating systems.

Windows 10 AI Copilot looks to target enterprise users

Copilot represents billions of dollars of potential revenue for Microsoft. The firm has gone all in on AI throughout its stack to stay ahead of competitors, having spent billions supporting OpenAI in return for the use of the AI developer’s models. 

This bet has paid off, as customer anticipation for Copilot lifted Azure revenues in the firm’s Q1 2024, and Microsoft has leant ever more heavily into the importance of generative AI as a cornerstone of the new Windows experience.

The full release of the AI Assistant on Windows 11 was a moment for which the firm had spent a full year preparing, with gradual releases and teases of products across the Copilot range such as GitHub Copilot, as well as Bing and Edge Copilot.

It makes sense that Microsoft would want to provide the large number of users clinging onto Windows 10 a taste of what they are currently missing with Copilot for Windows 11. 

Because the processing for Copilot is fulfilled entirely in the cloud, there are no hardware requirements that would hold back even older Windows 10 machines from enjoying the benefits of the AI assistant.

Windows 10 is set to hit its end of life (EOL) in 2025, so between now and then the firm has a little over a year to convince users who might otherwise switch to MacOS or Linux that there are powerful reasons to stick with Windows in the form of Windows 11.

Microsoft could particularly target the Windows 10 Enterprise crowd, who could be swayed by the ease of use for Copilot in Windows and subsequently look into the more powerful features of Microsoft 365 Copilot for their business.

Questions around end of life support are being considered by figures at Microsoft, according to Windows Central. Internal discussions are ongoing over whether this could be extended if the roll-out of Copilot on the operating system proves popular. 

Microsoft has revealed that users will be able to choose when they remove final Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) features from their devices. 

In an update this week, the tech giant said that IE11 visual references, including IE11 icons on the start menu and taskbar, will not be removed automatically in a forthcoming Windows update. 

Microsoft told users previously that an update scheduled for 23 May would remove all visual references as part of a security release. 

The backtrack means that users will be able to “maintain control” over when visual references will be removed, placing greater flexibility for this process in the hands of users. 

“Based on customer feedback, IE11 visual references, such as the IE11 icons on the Start Menu and taskbar, will no longer be removed by Windows update as previously communicated,” the firm said. 

“Organizations will continue to maintain control over determining the timing to remove IE11 visual references from their devices, if they have not already done so, by using the Disable IE policy.”

Changes to “exceptional scenarios” for Edge redirects

As part of its announcement, Microsoft also confirmed that it plans to implement changes preventing scenarios where IE11 is still accessible to the Edge browser. 

The move, expected to be made “over the next coming months”, will be explained fully in upcoming Windows and Edge release notes, Microsoft said. 

“Changes will be made over the next coming months to redirect a small subset of exceptional scenarios where IE11 is still accessible to Edge,” the firm said in its update. 

“This ensures users access a supported and more secure Microsoft browser. Details will be available in the Windows and Microsoft Edge release notes.”

Microsoft’s Edge push

Internet Explorer 11 has been officially out of support since June 2022 and was permanently disabled in a security update in February this year. 

Microsoft has been intent on pushing Microsoft Edge, the successor browser to IE for several years now, framing Edge as a browser that offers a “faster, more secure, and more modern web experience”.

IE11 still remains supported for some selected OS versions, including: 

• Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU)
• Windows Server SAC (all versions)
• Windows 10 IoT Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) (all versions)
• Windows Server LTSC (all versions)
• Windows 10 client LTSC (all versions)
• Windows 10 China Government Edition

Microsoft has confirmed that the 22H2 version of Windows 10 will be the last to receive updates on the operating system ahead of going end of life (EOL) in 2025. 

In an advisory this week, Jason Leznek, Microsoft’s principal product manager for Windows Servicing and Delivery revealed that the 22H2 edition will be the “final version of Windows 10”. 

The move applies to all editions of Windows 10 22H2, including Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education, Pro Education, IoT Enterprise editions, and Pro for Workstations. 

Leznek confirmed that these editions will still receive security updates until the cut-off point in October 2025, when Windows 10 is expected to officially reach end of servicing. 

“The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10, and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date,” he said.

Organizations still using Windows 10 were also advised to upgrade devices to the 22H2 edition to ensure they continue receiving security updates. 

“If you and/or your organization must remain on Windows 10 for now, please update to Windows 10, version 22H2 to continue receiving monthly security update releases through October 14, 2025,” Leznek said. 

“See how you can quickly do this via a servicing enablement package in How to get the Windows 10 2022 Update.”

The announcement from Microsoft comes nearly eight years after the launch of Windows 10. 

The operating system, dubbed at the time as “the last version of Windows”, launched globally on 29 July 2015. 

Windows 10 remains by far one of the most popular operating systems for desktop users globally, boasting a 73.48% share of the Windows desktop operating system market, according to analysis from statcounter. 

Organizations urged to upgrade to Windows 11

In its advisory notice, Microsoft urged organizations and users to upgrade to Windows 11 in the wake of the announcement. 

“We highly encourage you to transition to Windows 11 now as there won’t be any additional Windows 10 feature updates,” Leznek wrote. 

The operating system officially launched in November 2021, but uptake of the OS has lagged due to the popularity of Windows 10. 

IT admins have reported issues with Dell workstations allocating excessive hard drive space, filling over 95% of disks and up to 100% in some cases. 

The bloating files related to system remediation and required manual fixes for fleets of machines.

One admin raised the issue in an online discussion that generated similar stories from others across the industry.

Those involved in the discussion agreed the issue stemmed from Windows System Protection and Restore having been incorrectly allocated 100% of disk space. 

Multiple users shared similar hard drive problems, and pre-installed Dell software emerged as the common factor among the pros.

“This past week I've suddenly had 5 laptops flagged for hard drive usage exceeding 95%,” one admin said.

“Turns out it was the same issue for every one. Something was up with the Windows System Protection and Restore settings. The disk space usage was set to 100% which in turn filled up the entire drive.”

"We have been unable to replicate the concerns posted online," Dell told ITPro.

"If customers or IT admins experience this scenario, please contact your local Dell technical support centre. To date, we have not received any customer inquiries on this topic."

To fix the problem, users can access the system control panel via the Windows Run command, delete all restore points, and reduce System Protection disk space allocation to a lower percentage. 

The top respondent within the discussion suggested the problem could lie with Dell’s SupportAssist Remediation software, and noted that deleting the restore points and uninstalling the application fixed the issue for them.

Dell’s official user guide for SupportAssist Remediation, also known as SupportAssist OS Recovery, states that it “provides a recovery environment that consists of tools to diagnose and troubleshoot issues that may occur before your computer boots to the operating system”.

SupportAssist is Dell’s automated system support software, housing a number of smaller programs for specific purposes such as data remediation and firmware updates.

Another user clarified that although they had experienced the same disk problems with Dell workstations, it was not a ubiquitous issue.

“It's worth noting we have probably had this happen on about 10-15 machines out of the 120-ish deployed,” they said.

Others said that if Dell SupportAssist Remediation is uninstalled, another piece of pre-installed software called Dell Command Update would automatically reinstall it a short time later.

As the SupportAssist Remediation is included in critical updates, those who wish to remove it permanently are required to change Dell Command Update’s settings to exclude the category ‘Application Software’.

In a 2021 thread, users in the Dell subreddit characterized Dell SupportAssist as “bloatware”, and claimed it is prone to introducing errors to devices.

In the past, the software has been criticized by multiple network administrators for automatically setting the netlogon service to “manual”, which can break group policies on domain-joined machines.

This article was updated to include a statement from Dell.

Microsoft’s April 2023 Patch Tuesday delivered not just the usual score of security fixes for Windows admins, but also a new feature that has attracted criticism from the IT community.

The Windows 11 22H2 KB5025239 cumulative update, among other fixes and features, delivers the new Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to IT teams managing both on-prem and cloud environments.

Microsoft LAPS manages and backs up local admin account passwords on Azure Active Directory-joined devices. 

It’s seen as one of the most secure ways to ensure unauthorized users aren’t able to access things they’re not supposed to.

The new LAPS is available for Windows 10&11 Pro, EDU, and Enterprise versions, as well as Windows Server 2022, Windows Server Core 2022, and Windows Server 2019.

LAPS for Azure AD is not yet available. It’s now bundled into Microsoft Entra - the name given to Microsoft’s identity and access products that can be managed through a single portal.

The Azure AD version of LAPS is expected to go from private to public preview “later this quarter,” said Jay Simmons, development lead at Microsoft, and will deliver new features such as password encryption, password histories, an emulation mode, and automatic rotation.

“Windows LAPS is a huge improvement in virtually every area beyond Legacy LAPS,” he added.

Online IT admin communities have not greeted the news as warmly as expected.

The main issue among these communities relates to concerns over how to migrate. 

The new LAPS feature has been released but Microsoft has not supplied the community with any documentation detailing how to complete the migration.

Some professionals have already encountered issues where the new LAPS has stopped working due to nuances in the migration process. 

The prevailing advice is to stop deploying the legacy LAPS MSI immediately after the April Patch Tuesday update is applied. 

Failure to do so reportedly breaks the new LAPS and prevents legacy LAPS from updating passwords.

“You need to update documentation and guidance very soon,” one user told Simmons in an online discussion.

“I hate spending my day discovering something that is about to hit 100,000 of our machines doesn't have guidance, and we have to action something,” they added.

“If migration docs aren’t available yet, [why] was this released,” another asked. “This tells me that documentation, upgrades, and coexistence, were not given any priority - which is bloody shocking but given how Microsoft pushes stuff out the last few years, I suppose it really shouldn’t be any more.”

Simmons responded to users by saying that he “should have been better prepared” to allay the global community’s concerns.

“New Windows LAPS has been designed to be an almost entirely opt-in feature, using a separate brand new GPO policy and separate brand new AD schema attributes, which – at least to my Microsofty-mind – mostly mitigates the risk of applying the patches to existing environments,” he said.

“But regardless yes we should have preemptively called this out in the post so as to not scare folks.”

Error-strewn Patch Tuesday releases are becoming something of a commonality from Microsoft, with the monthly updates often presenting major issues for IT teams.

Most recently in last month’s March Patch Tuesday updates, IT admins complained about a variety of problems after installing patches for an Outlook zero day.

Windows 10 users were hit with the infamous blue screen of death after installing December’s updates, and around a year earlier IT admins were forced to ignore the security fixes for a month as a result of the rampant issues reported by the community.

April 2023 Patch Tuesday Summary

Microsoft’s April 2023 Patch Tuesday brought fixes for 97 total security vulnerabilities including seven critical-rated flaws and one zero day that’s been actively exploited by a ransomware group.

Tracked as CVE-2023-28252, the privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) Driver grants SYSTEM-level privileges if successfully exploited.

Kaspersky identified exploit attempts dating back to February 2023 that it said were very similar to other types of exploits it had been tracking. 

The team investigated and discovered that it was a zero day affecting different versions of Windows, including Windows 11.

The Nokoyama group is described as “sophisticated” and used a newer version of its ransomware payload, which has historically been a rebranded version of JSWorm. Now written in C with encrypted strings.

In previous attacks, Nokoyama has also deployed the Cobalt Strike penetration testing tool to evade antivirus products, and a custom modular backdoor called Pipemagic in other attacks.

Kaspersky said it believes “CVE-2023-28252 could have been easily discovered with the help of fuzzing” - a technique that sees automated injections of invalid or unexpected inputs into a target system to reveal security vulnerabilities.

It said that the clfs.sys driver extensively uses try/catch blocks to handle exceptions, so code continues to execute as if no errors were thrown. 

Kaspersky’s analysis showed that a possible access violation that follows after the vulnerability is triggered was masked by one of these exception handlers, and because there was no crash, fuzzers were most likely ‘finding’ the vulnerability but not reporting it as a potential issue.

April 2023 Patch Tuesday breakdown

This month’s 97 security fixes slightly exceeded March’s total of 83, with the overall count not including the 17 Microsoft Edge issues patched on 6 April.

All seven of the critical-severity vulnerabilities were remote code execution (RCE) flaws.

The two most serious of which, CVE-2023-21554 and CVE-2023-28250, affecting Microsoft Message Queuing and Windows Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) respectively, both scored a near-maximum 9.8/10 on the CVSS v3 severity scale.

Four RCEs were also found in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Publisher, and were exploitable by opening malicious documents.

All four were categorized under “exploitation less likely” by Microsoft. This classification is designated to vulnerabilities for which attackers would either have difficulty writing the code, require expertise and/or sophisticated timing, or would experience varied results when testing the vulnerable target.

These flaws are also not recently exploited in the wild but given the potential impact of successful abuse, the vulnerability warrants an update regardless.

The full breakdown of the vulnerabilities’ types can be found below:

• 45 remote code execution
• 20 elevation of privilege
• 10 information disclosure
• 9 denial of service
• 7 security feature bypass
• 6 spoofing

Microsoft's full dashboard of the month’s updates can be found on its website.

Windows 10 users have reported a broken Microsoft 365 trial offer which prevents access to the desktop until credit card details are entered.

On booting up, some Windows 10 devices have shown a full-screen offer for a trial version of Microsoft 365, the tech giant’s suite of productivity apps.

Buttons at the bottom of the screen read ‘Use for free’ and ‘No thanks’, but each leads to a screen prompting users to enter credit card details.

One Reddit user posted an example of the issue on the platform's Windows 10 community, noting that they had to put in their credit card details to gain access to their desktop and cancel afterwards to prevent being charged recurring payments.

No other buttons on the window enabled the user to skip entering payment details.

Microsoft 365 costs between £4.50 and £16.60 per month for businesses. It is unclear whether the nature of this bug enables it to appear on devices that are already subscribed to a plan with the suite, which could decide the likelihood of it being recreated on business laptops.

Another user posted a similar bug on a subreddit designed to highlight bad user interface (UI) design. Their full-screen offer advertised 50% off Microsoft 365 Family, and identically to the other post pressing ‘No thanks’ took them to the payment details screen.

The offer is meant to be shown in the Windows out of box experience (OOBE), which users see when a device is first turned on after purchase or immediately following a Windows 10 factory reset.

As the bug has not been addressed by Microsoft, it is not clear if it is the result of an erroneous update or a flaw with the individual users' machines.

One Reddit user asked for the name of the device's original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

"Looks like a bug in their OOBE - e.g. strings got swapped in their translations," wrote one individual.

"Not a [Microsoft] problem - though I'm sure if it gets into the right channels could mean a big fine for the OEM."

IT Pro has approached Microsoft for more information.

Microsoft has warned that some Windows 10 users may encounter the infamous ‘blue screen of death’ (BSOD) after installing its latest 'Patch Tuesday' security updates.

In an update on the Windows Health Dashboard, the company revealed that the blue screen issue could affect selected users who downloaded the KB5021233 update in this month’s recent raft of security fixes.

KB5021233 was initially intended to resolve an issue affecting the Camera app after users reported that the app stops responding when memory is low.

The issue has so far affected users operating several different versions of Windows 10, the firm revealed, including 22H2, 21H2, 21H1, and 20H2.

Impacted users have been met with the BSOD and error code 0xc000021a upon startup, and have been unable to access devices.

“After installing KB5021233, there might be a mismatch between the file versions of hidparse.sys in c:/windows/system32 and c:/windows/system32/drivers (assuming Windows is installed to your C: drive), which might cause signature validation to fail when cleanup occurs,” Microsoft confirmed in its update over the weekend.

How to fix the issue

Microsoft revealed it is currently “working on a resolution” for the issue and said it will provide an update in an upcoming release.

However, for users currently affected by the problem, the firm offered a temporary workaround using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

“To mitigate this issue on devices already experiencing it, you will need to use Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE),” Microsoft said.

The firm outlined the following steps for affected users:

1. Enter Windows Recovery Environment. If your device has not automatically started up into WinRE, please see Entry points into WinRE.
2. Select 'Troubleshoot'
3. Select the 'Start recovery, troubleshooting, and diagnostic tools button
4. Select 'Advanced Options'
5. Select 'Command Prompt' and wait for your device to restart, if needed.
6. Your device should restart to a Command Prompt window. You might need to sign into your device with your password before getting to the Command Prompt window
7. Run the following command (Important: If Windows is not installed to C:\windows you will need to modify the command to your environment): xcopy C:\windows\system32\drivers\hidparse.sys C:\windows\\system32\hidparse.sys
8. Once the previous command completes, type: exit
9. Select 'Continue'

After following these steps, Microsoft said Windows should now startup “as expected” for users. The firm also warned users against finding alternative workarounds.

“It is not recommended to follow any other workaround than those recommended above. We do not recommend deleting the hidparse.sys from your Windows\System32 folder,” the company said.

Patch Tuesday

This particular issue comes as a result of Microsoft’s recent Patch Tuesday update, issued on 13 December.

As part of the update, Microsoft patched a number of critical vulnerabilities along with fixes for two critical zero-day vulnerabilities.

49 vulnerabilities were disclosed in the bulletin last week. Six were rated as ‘critical’ while another was identified as having been actively exploited in the wild.

The exploited bug, tracked as CVE-2022-44698, was found to affect Windows SmartScreen and enabled threat actors to bypass Mark of the Web (MOTW) protocols.

There was a time when Microsoft insisted that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. That didn’t age particularly well when Windows 11 dropped late last year, but at least it’s a free upgrade to those still beavering away with Windows 10.

And, as freebies go, it’s hard to fault. A new UI, enhanced security, better built-in software and support for Android apps are all on the table for those willing to take the time to upgrade.

But is your PC up to the task of running Windows 11? Thankfully, Microsoft has a quick and easy way of finding out, so you don’t waste a whole afternoon upgrading, only to have to downgrade again. Here’s how to check if your PC is compatible with Windows 11.

How to check if your PC is compatible with Windows 11

All Windows 10 PCs and laptops are eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but not all will be capable of running it. Thankfully, Microsoft has published a tool allowing you to quickly and easily check whether your device is eligible.

1. Head to Microsoft’s Windows 11 page and scroll down to the section labelled “Check for compatibility.” Click “Download PC Health Check App.”

2. Double click the installer, agree to the Licence Agreement, and click “Install”.

3. Leave “Open Windows PC Health Check” ticked and press “Finish.”

4. Right at the top of the new window, you’ll see a blue box titled “Introducing Windows 11.” Press the button labelled “Check now”.

5. All being well, in a few seconds you’ll see this screen. Yes, it’s a little odd that Microsoft says the OS is “coming soon” when it's been out for nearly a year, but you can proceed with the upgrade in confidence - assuming you do, in fact, want to try the new software out.

Why isn’t my PC compatible with Windows 11?

After running the compatibility checker, you may find that your device is not in fact currently capable of supporting the new OS. Don’t panic, however; it might well be an easy fix. Click “Learn More” and find out exactly why your PC isn’t qualified for Windows 11.

One requirement, for example, is that for its beefed-up security, Windows 11 needs your motherboard to have a TPM 2.0 (“Trusted Platform Module”) chip. This has been a part of PC motherboards since October 2014, so there’s a good chance you have it — it might just not be enabled. Ours wasn’t when we first took the test and failed, but enabling it quickly changed Microsoft’s mind and we were good to go.

The slight difficulty is that every motherboard manufacturer has a slightly different method for enabling it. All the same, the instructions will be something like this:

1. Shut down your computer and turn it back on.
2. On the boot up splash screen, press the key that brings up the BIOS. This varies depending on your manufacturer, but it will say somewhere on screen (it’s often F2, F9 or DEL).
3. Once you are in the BIOS, look for a security section and scan for the TPM acronym. If you find it’s disabled, enable it.
4. While you’re there, check that Secure Boot Mode — something Windows 11 also requires — is enabled.
5. Save, exit and try the PC Health Check again.

Even if your motherboard doesn't have native TPM 2.0, you may be able to buy a plug-in module to add the capability. Check your board's specs to see if there's a spare slot for a TPM 2.0 chip; if so, the manufacturer probably sells the corresponding module for a small fee. Do note, however, that this almost certainly won't be an option for laptops.

Your problem, of course, might be specs based. If your PC just isn’t fast enough and you can’t upgrade, it may be time to check our list of the best Windows laptops, many of which already come with Windows 11.

But if that’s not an option, don’t lose hope — Microsoft has signalled it’s looking at ways of reducing the minimum requirements, so if you narrowly miss out, you might still be eligible eventually.

Microsoft Windows 11 is here, and the company's updated operating system is promising a range of new features and design tweaks aimed at modernising the user experience. As with pretty much all major software revisions, however, there will inevitably be those who prefer the comfortable familiarity of the existing software they've gotten to know over the last several years.

Windows 10 will be retired in October 2025, at which point the OS will cease to be officially supported. While users are advised to upgrade to the latest version of Windows as soon as reasonably possible, you still have a few years before it becomes a safety issue, and many will likely cling to their current OS until that point.

But what if you've already upgraded to Windows 11, and decided that it’s not for you? Thankfully, Microsoft allows you to change your mind, and rolling back to Windows 10 is quick and easy - as long as you don't wait around too long.

Microsoft gives you a pretty small window to make the choice to revert back to Windows 10 — just ten days. After that, you can still downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10, but you may decide that it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and you’ll just learn to love the upgrade instead. You can, after all, make Windows 11 feel a lot more like Windows 10 if you like.

If the clock is ticking on your decision window, here’s how to downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

How to downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10 within your first ten days

If you’ve only just made the upgrade to Windows 11 and decided it’s not for you, the journey back to Windows 10 is pretty straightforward. Just be aware that any changes you’ve made to Windows in the intervening time — from settings tweaks to installed software — won’t carry over.

1. Press the Start button, and then select the Settings icon in your pinned apps. If you can’t see it there, just type “Settings” in the search box at the top, and click the familiar cog icon when it appears.

2. You’ll find yourself automatically in the ‘System’ submenu. Scroll down to near the bottom of the list, and click “Recovery”.

3. Click “Go back” — it’s the third option down on the list.

4. To its credit, Microsoft won’t try to guilt you into staying, but you can give some honest feedback if you like. Otherwise, just tick a random box and press “Next”.

5. As a last-ditch attempt to convince you not to execute a roll-back, Microsoft advises that installing the latest Windows 11 updates may fix any issues that are prompting you to go back to the previous version. If you’re still sure you wish to proceed, just press “No, thanks”.

6. Almost there! Microsoft will warn you that anything you’ve changed won’t carry over. It also advises you to back up files — these shouldn’t be impacted, but you can never be too careful. Press “Next” when ready.

7. The system will then remind you that you'll need to know the password you used to sign in to your previous Windows 10 installation in order to log back in once the roll-back is complete. Got it? Press “Next” again.

8. At the final confirmation page, press “Go back to Windows 10” and the downgrade process will begin. Make sure not to turn off your PC, and if you’re on a laptop, make sure it’s plugged in.

How to downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10 if you’ve missed the roll-back period

If you’ve gone longer than ten days with Windows 11, Microsoft assumes you’re happy with your choice, and closes this particular door, blacking the option out instead:

But what if you’re not? Well, there are two more options for downgrading from Windows 11 to Windows 10, but they’re pretty dramatic, and you may just decide to stick with what you have instead.

If you’re comfortable with command prompts, you could try this Microsoft command line tool, which lets you amend the number of days for which the downgrade window remains open. Once amended, just follow the same steps as above.

If that feels too much like black magic, the alternative is a fresh installation of Windows 10, which is very much the nuclear option. Be sure to back up all your files and then download Windows 10 from Microsoft, and install it to a USB stick in the usual manner.

Once you're on Windows 10, you will want to get the most out of the operating system. A good place to start is to migrate away from your slower hard drive and install Windows 10 on an SSD instead. We've put together a handy guide on how to move Windows 10 from an HDD to an SSD, which includes a handful of steps on how to protect your data in the process.

Beyond that, it's worth taking a look at our guide to speeding up Windows 10 for a host of other clever tricks you can use to get the most out of the ageing operating system.

Microsoft has officially started rolling out Windows 11 as a free upgrade to eligible devices, as well as shipping it preinstalled with new machines. The upgraded OS includes a number of key benefits for users, and with much of the DNA between Windows 10 and Windows 11 shared, it’s hardly surprising that the two operating systems feel instantly familiar.

For the most part, starting off in Windows 11 should be a doddle for veterans of Microsoft’s software, just as the company intended. However, there are some ways in which it feels that Microsoft has deliberately made Windows 11 different for the sake of it, and none of these are more obvious than the arbitrary relocation of the Start Menu from the bottom left-hand corner to the middle of the taskbar.

Fortunately, putting that right takes less than a minute if you know where to look. Here’s how to move the Start Menu in Windows 11 to where it belongs, as well as a few other tips to make the new OS feel more familiar to those who are missing Windows 10.

How to move the Start Menu in Windows 11 to where it belongs

Putting the Start menu and taskbar in the middle of the screen does make a certain amount of sense from a design perspective; it makes it more of a central focus, and may make it more convenient to access on larger displays. On the other hand, long-time Windows users will likely feel more at home with its original positioning in the left-hand corner of the screen, so it's a good job Windows 11 allows you to switch it back without any hassle.

1. Press the Start button, from its current home in the middle of the taskbar, and then select “Settings.” If you can’t see it for any reason, type “settings” in the search box, and then click the cog icon when it appears.

2. Select “Personalisation” from the list of categories on the left-hand side.

3. Click “Taskbar” from the menu that appears on the right. It’s the seventh option down.

4. Select “Taskbar behaviours” — it’s the last option in the list.

5. Click the dropdown next to the words “Taskbar alignment” and change “Centre” to “Left”. Sadly there’s no option to go crazy and move it out to the right.

How to disable Windows 11's new icons

Microsoft has made the new taskbar quite a bit more cluttered, pushing Search, Task view, Widgets and Chat onto unsuspecting upgraders. While this may potentially be convenient for some, for those that like to keep a large number of apps pinned to their taskbar, this could quickly get frustrating. It’s very easy to get rid of these, thankfully.

1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above.

2. At the top of the page you’ll see a list of “Taskbar items.” Flick the toggle on each from ‘on’ to ‘off’ for a less cluttered interface.

How to replace the original Windows 10 wallpaper

The original default wallpaper that shipped with Windows 10 was an eye-catching piece of photographic art which underlined the software's new, modern sensibilities, and while it's not quite as iconic as Windows XP's 'Bliss' wallpaper, it had a distinct charm.

Sadly, Windows 11 comes with a new default background, and the old Windows 10 wallpaper isn't included as an option by default. As with all modern operating systems, however, you can install your own custom wallpapers - and if you want to put the original Windows 10 one back, you can download it from here, and reset it as your desktop background in Windows 11's personalisation menu.

How to bring back the original windows 10 Start Menu design

Another element that's different in the latest version of Windows is the start menu itself, which ditches many of the design elements and interactions available in Windows 10 and earlier. This is another thing that old-school Microsoft fans may wish to restore to its previous look and feel.

The bad news is that this isn’t something Microsoft lets you do directly within Windows 11. The good news is that you can sidestep this with a few bits of software — though you’ll have to pay if you want flawless results.

One option is Open Shell Menu, which brings back the classic Start Menu layout. It’s open source and free to use, but it can be a bit fiddly, and the general consensus is that it doesn’t always work flawlessly. If you want a bit more stability, or a few extra features not offered by Open Shell, you may be better off paying a one-off fee for an alternative. Start All Back and Start 11 will both cost you around $5 and offer a similar feature set.

Over the years, wireless technology has continued to develop to the point it’s now very common to find, both in the home and the workplace. Cables are yesterday’s news, with everything from headphones to keyboards taking part in the wireless revolution.

Enter the magic of Bluetooth, the short-range wireless technology standard compatible with most devices and software, including Windows 10. It can be used for all kinds of things, from exchanging files or creating a network, to connecting smartphones and wireless headphones to your PC. In the workplace, you’ll probably have seen it used to connect keyboards or mice to your machine.

However, if you’ve got a new Bluetooth device and are itching to get it set up fast on your laptop or PC, perhaps taken from our list of best Windows laptops, there’s nothing worse than not being able to locate the setting in the operating system.

How to turn on Bluetooth in Windows 10

The good news is that it’s fairly straightforward to turn Bluetooth on or off in Windows 10.

1. First, select the start button and navigate to Settings.
2. Here you will see a listing for Devices; click on this, and there will be an option for “Bluetooth & other devices”.
3. Once you’ve opened this up, you’ll be able to switch the Bluetooth toggle on or off.

Alternatively, you can turn Bluetooth on or off from the Action Centre, which is located next to the time and date on your taskbar. Simply select the action centre, click on Bluetooth, and then that should turn on the function. Be aware, however, that if Bluetooth is turned off, it might appear as Not connected.

If you want to add this Bluetooth shortcut to your action centre, click on start, then Settings and find System. From here, look for Notifications & actions and then click on Quick actions. In this part of settings, you should be able to click on Add or remove quick actions and then turn on Bluetooth.

How to pair a Bluetooth device in Windows 10

Once you’ve turned Bluetooth on, you can now pair a number of devices to your PC or laptop, including audio devices or keyboards.

1. First, turn on your Bluetooth audio device and make sure it’s discoverable. Check your device's instructions to see how to make it discoverable if you’re unsure how to.
2. On your PC, click the start menu, then Settings, and navigate to Devices
3. From here, click on Bluetooth & other devices
4. Click Add Bluetooth or other device, before finally clicking on Bluetooth

Once this has been selected, you should be able to choose your device from the list on the screen and follow any additional instructions if they appear, before selecting Done.

Once you’ve done this, the good news is that your Bluetooth device and PC will normally automatically connect to each other anytime the two devices are in range of each other and Bluetooth is turned on. You can also use a handy shortcut (Win+K) to open up the Connect sidebar, allowing you to manually connect to (or disconnect from) previously paired devices.

How to pair a Bluetooth printer or scanner in Windows 10

If you want to pair a Bluetooth printer or scanner to your PC or laptop, the steps involved are slightly different to how you would normally pair a Bluetooth device to Windows 10.

1. First, turn on your Bluetooth printer or scanner and make it discoverable. Once again, if you’re unsure how to do this, check your device’s instructions or visit the manufacturer's website.
2. Navigate to the Start Menu, then Settings, and find Devices
3. From here, select Printers & scanners
4. Click on Add a printer or scanner
5. Let your device search for nearby printers, then choose the one you want to use and select Add device, making sure to confirm the connection on the printer or scanner if requested.

Once you’ve topped up your printer with some ink or toner, you should be good to start using it and printing to your heart’s content.

How to diagnose potential Bluetooth problems in Windows 10

Are you running into problems while using Bluetooth on Windows 10? Here’s a selection of troubleshooting steps you can try. We also have a much broader list of the most common Windows 10 problems and most common Windows 11 problems, if the issue isn't covered below.

Check your product information

If you’ve set up a new device and still find that Bluetooth isn’t working, it’s a good idea to double check the product specifications to ensure that it does, in fact, have Bluetooth capabilities. Not all devices have Bluetooth functionality so it’s always worth checking this first.

Make sure Bluetooth is turned on

Perhaps the most obvious thing to check is that Bluetooth is actually turned on. You'll be able to see whether it is on, and connected to a device, by simply opening up the Action Centre in the bottom right of the desktop window. If the Bluetooth tile is lit up blue, but you see “Not connected”, this means Bluetooth is switched on but isn’t currently paired to any devices. If it is greyed out, it means Bluetooth is switched off.

You can also check Bluetooth is turned on by going to settings, Devices, Bluetooth & other devices, and see if it’s turned on here. Additionally, if you are using a laptop with a physical Bluetooth switch on its body, then make sure this is turned on.

Check your Bluetooth device

The problem could be with the device you’re trying to connect to your Windows PC or laptop. Make sure it’s turned on, charged, or has fresh batteries, and is physically located near the PC you want to connect to.

Once you’ve done this, try turning it off, waiting a few seconds, and then turning it on again. If you find that your device is unresponsive or slow to respond, then make sure it isn’t too close to any other USB devices that are plugged into a USB 3.0 port. Unshielded USB devices can occasionally interfere with Bluetooth connection.

Check your PC

The problem could be with your PC, instead of the device you want to connect to it. On the PC or laptop you want to connect to, make sure Airplane Mode is off. Select Start, Settings, Network & Internet, and then find Airplane mode. Make sure this is switched off. Alternatively, you will be able to find the Airplane Mode tile in the Action Centre.

You can also try turning Bluetooth on and off again, by locating it through the steps above before switching it off, waiting a few seconds, and then switching it on again.

Lastly, you can also try removing the device you’ve added and then add it again. Select start, Settings, Devices, and then Bluetooth & other devices. Here, select the device you’re experiencing issues with and select Remove device, before confirming by hitting Yes. To pair the device to your PC again, follow the steps above.

What workplace devices use Bluetooth?

You might be surprised by the amount of devices that use Bluetooth nowadays. The good news is that many of them can be used in the workplace as well, and all can be connected using the above steps.

Keyboards and mice

Wireless business keyboards and mice are a common sight in most offices, given the flexibility they provide. The great thing about Bluetooth keyboards and mice is that they will still work even if you are some distance away from your PC or laptop, which is useful if you're giving a presentation or you have an unusual setup, such as a standing desk.

Additionally, if you’re working at your desk, you won’t have to worry about untidy cable management, and many Bluetooth devices even allow for rapid switching between multiple paired devices.

Headphones, earphones, and headsets

Once again, no cables means you have a lot more flexibility with how you work. By connecting to your laptop or PC’s audio via Bluetooth, it means that you can get up and move around without having to touch your headphones.

The audio, like music or a video call with a colleague, will keep playing as long as you’re in range of your PC or laptop - and, depending on the model you're using, this can be quite some distance.

You can also connect these to your smartphone to make your commute a lot easier, or rock out in the kitchen if you’re working from home.

Bluetooth printers

Gone are the days of having to physically connect your laptop or PC to a printer when you’re in desperate need of a document. Instead, you can pair it and print immediately, without having to get up from your chair.

This can be extremely useful if your printer is located outside of your home office, such as in another room or even a cupboard. It also makes it much easier to share a single printer among an entire household or office without having to run cables everywhere.

Although it's certainly possible to use Bluetooth with your printer, this functionality has largely been replaced by Wi-Fi printing, both at home and in the office.

While increasing digitisation of our workloads might have brought the dream of the paperless office closer than ever to reality, the fact remains that printing out physical documents is still something that most of us will need to do every so often.

Having a shortcut to your printer can save time, especially when you need to manage your print queue or hardware settings on a regular basis, and don’t want the hassle of selecting your printer through options menus each and every time you do so. Thankfully, creating a shortcut to your printer in Windows 10 is a relatively smooth and straightforward process.

First, open your control panel by pressing the start button and searching ‘control panel’, then clicking on the control panel application.

Next, under ‘Hardware and Sound’ select ‘View devices and printers’. Once this is open, right click on your printer of choice and select ‘create shortcut’. You will be prompted with an option to create a desktop shortcut: select ‘yes’.

Once this is complete, you should have a shortcut for your printer right on your desktop, from which you can check the print tray and access its settings at any time. In the print tray, one can see all documents currently sent to the printer, as well as cancel documents from printing and reorder the print queue.

If you would like to rename the shortcut, simply right click on the icon and select ‘Rename’, or alternatively click twice on the name it has and then enter your own (not a double click — click on the name to select it, and then a second or two later click again to highlight the text itself).

For ease of access, the printer shortcut can also be added to the taskbar. To do this, simply right click on your newly created printer shortcut and select the option ‘add to taskbar’.

Additionally, the printer shortcut you created does not have to stay on your desktop. The icon, like any program shortcut, can be moved or copied to any folder on your computer. One way to do this is to open windows explorer and navigate to the folder of your choice.

Next, move Windows Explorer so that the shortcut is not obscured behind it on the desktop (this may require pressing the maximise button to make explorer a smaller window, if you have it in full screen). Then simply drag the shortcut from the desktop into the folder of your choice.

Alternatively, you can click once on the printer shortcut to select it, and use the keyboard shortcut Control + C to add the printer shortcut to the clipboard. Then, navigate to the folder of your choice and press Control + V on your keyboard to paste it into the folder.

When it comes to running a business of any size, having a robust IT platform is essential if you hope to maximise productivity.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system underpins many organisation’s IT operations and offers a number of features and tools to help drive day-to-day business tasks. The platform has found the sweet spot between retaining the familiarity of previous Windows iterations, and the successful addition of modern features.

The OS offers three main versions: Home, Pro, and Enterprise. Choosing between these can be a little confusing as there are many overlapping features, but choosing the right one will provide the foundations for a fruitful and secure IT setup.

We take a look below at the key features that each one provides and how they stack up against each other to help you make the right call for your business.

How Windows 10 licencing works

Windows Home users that decide that the Pro version is more suited to their business needs can simply upgrade from their current version at any time.

However, while Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro are distinct variations of the OS, Windows 10 Enterprise is effectively an additional licence that builds upon the Pro version to make it more suitable to larger organisations. In order to utilise this add-on, you must first have an active Windows 10 Pro licence.

To confuse things further, there are two Enterprise subscription options available – E3 and E5 – and they essentially pack in more advanced security features and functionality across the IT ecosystem. With E3, for example, Windows 10 Enterprise can be deployed on up to five devices per user covered by the licence.

With these Enterprise licences, Microsoft says its aim is to provide small- and medium-sized businesses with flexible access to Windows 10 Enterprise features, which are unavailable in the Pro version.

Windows 10 Security features

With the ever-increasing risk of malicious software attacks, security is perhaps the most important element for a business when deciding on which operating system to implement.

Windows 10 Home edition covers the basics suitable for individual users and even some small businesses - including features such as Windows Hello, device encryption, firewall and network protection, and more.

Windows 10 Pro, which is geared more towards business use, offers more on top of that, throwing in BitLocker device disk encryption, which helps protect key business information – including when devices may be lost or stolen. It also offers Windows Information Protection (WIP) for defence against potential data theft across enterprise apps, Assigned Access 8.1, as well as Windows Hello for Business.

Windows 10 Enterprise Edition includes all the features above but with additional perks to further help mid-to-large size IT teams and organisations. Ultimately, this version has been designed to protect multiple endpoints, as well as enable centralised efficient software deployment, principally through its ‘Guard’ branded tools.

One such tool is Credential Guard, which leverages features such as Secure Boot and virtualisation to protect important data, only allowing access to privileged users. It’s a handy business tool as it blocks malicious software from accessing sensitive information through use of virtualisation-based isolation, helping to prevent credential theft attacks such as Pass-the-Hash and Pass-the-Ticket.

It does this by safeguarding NTLM password hashes, Kerberos Ticket Granting Tickets, as well as sensitive domain credentials stored by applications.

To complement Credential Guard, Windows 10 Enterprise also offers Device Guard, a group of hardware and software features that work together to allow only trusted apps to run on a device.

Usually, applications are trusted unless security software actively blocks them. Device Guard essentially flips this logic on its head with a zero-trust approach, and restricts Windows 10 only allowing apps to run that have been authorised by the business’ code integrity policies.

Enterprises can implement and manage Device Guard easily through Group Policy settings, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, Windows PowerShell, and Microsoft InTune.

Additionally, with the Enterprise E5 licence, businesses can also leverage Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, an endpoint security platform design to help tackle and prevent advanced threats across user devices.

Below is a selection of the key security features found with each version of Windows 10.

Windows 10 Productivity tools

In terms of productivity features, all three of these Windows 10 versions largely offer the same range of applications and tools, including Microsoft Search in Windows 10, the Microsoft Edge browser, Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant, and access to OneDrive cloud storage options.

There’s also the familiar Microsoft 365 family of productivity apps – which include the likes of Word, Excel and PowerPoint – as well as Microsoft Whiteboard, OneNote, and Windows Ink.

With Microsoft 365, Home and single users can either create a free Microsoft account or sign in with an existing one to get started. For businesses, Microsoft offers three subscription plans:

• Business Basic (£4.50 user/month)
• Business Standard (£9.40 user/month)
• Business Premium (£16.60 user/month)

With the latter, you get the whole package, including advanced security and device management features not present with the Basic and Standard subscriptions.

For those that just require the apps, there’s also Microsoft 365 Apps for business at a cost of £7.90 user/month, providing desktop versions of the classic Office apps, file storage with 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage, and cross-device availability for up to five devices per user.

As Microsoft 365 is delivered as a service, these tools are available across all versions of Windows 10, with Enterprise editions of the operating system naturally allowing for greater centralised control of app visibility for its end users.

Elsewhere, Windows 10 Enterprise users also get access to SMB Direct for transferring large amounts of data with minimal CPU usage, as well as persistent memory for the most demanding apps and data.

Windows 10 Management tools

Alongside security, deployment of software and updates is a crucial part of running a successful IT department. Naturally, this is where the Pro and Enterprise versions come into their own, offering a host of features that are not present on the Home edition.

Both of these versions offer an array of management and deployment tools, which include Mobile Device Management, shared PC mode, Windows Hello Management, a kiosk mode, and more.

With the Enterprise licences, businesses also get access to a number of other features to help manage their IT landscape. These include Application Virtualization (App-V), which is designed to make applications available to end users without installing that software directly on their device.

There’s also User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) for capturing user-customised Windows settings and storing them on a centrally managed network file share, while the Managed User Experience helps customise a Windows device user’s interface to restrict it to a certain task – particularly ideal for training purposes.

Windows 10 Design and navigation

All three of these Windows 10 versions offer a design that’s at once familiar to the end user and an improvement over older iterations of Microsoft’s operating system. The customisable Start Menu and taskbar offer quick access to applications either via alphabetical listing or a quick search feature.

Those familiar with previous Windows versions will feel comfortable navigating the file system, control panel and all the usual options. For IT professionals, security and deployment features are robust and easy to deploy for those with the know-how, thanks to the plethora of tools available.

The cross-device connectivity is also fluent and intuitive, allowing for easy access to files and tools whether signed in to a laptop, desktop, tablet, or mobile, and regardless of the OS variant that’s running.

In terms of installing OS and system updates, the businesses-orientated editions of Windows 10 can utilise the Windows Update for Business service, which allows updates to be deployed from a central console.

Essentially, though, if users can find their way around one version of Windows 10, they’ll have little trouble navigating other versions thanks to the platform’s familiar design and uniformity. There’s very little difference between Home, Pro, and Enterprise in terms of design.

Instead, the key differences are found in the management tools available and security functionality offered by the licence in play - making those elements of greater importance for businesses.

Windows 10 Home vs Pro vs Enterprise

As its name suggests, Windows 10 Home is a great option for sole or home use, offering crucial security features to protect personal data or private work information. If you run a small, self-employed business, its features can help you get the most from your day-to-day activities.

Windows 10 Pro ramps things up and its more advanced selection of features and tools make it better suited to helping small- and medium-sized businesses. Security is placed at the forefront of its functionality to ensure data is protected and users can get the most from their productivity apps.

For larger organisations that require more robust and intricate security across a greater number of endpoints, Windows 10 Enterprise subscription options represent the best way of keeping business and personal data secure and ensuring the safe deployment of key software and updates.

Additionally, users who are considering upgrading to Windows 11 should be aware that Microsoft has also introduced Windows 11 Home and Pro to its new operating system. Since Windows 10 is being developed alongside Windows 11 until October 2024, there's no rush to currently change. Despite this, when the time comes, businesses will have to choose between Windows 11 Home vs Pro depending on their teams' needs.

Microsoft has published a list of 25 group policies in Windows 10 and Windows 11 that admins should disable in order to improve overall software performance.

The article, posted to the Windows IT Pro Blog, has been met with anger among the admin crowd as most of the policies are related to effective update management - a sore topic of late given Microsoft's bungling of recent Windows patches.

Author of the blog post, Aria Carley, senior program manager at Microsoft, said the legacy group policies are a result of numerous changes to Windows over the years and, since Windows 10 version 1511 was released in 2015, the way notifications, update behaviours, installations, and restarts have all changed considerably.

"We have also worked to evolve and simplify the controls needed to support these improved experiences, and identify which older policies have become irrelevant or replaced with a better option," said Carley. "As a result, the Windows update policy set contains policies that no longer have any impact; that don’t work as described on devices running Windows 10, version 20H2 or later; or that work but not as well as the policies that were added to accomplish a similar experience in a much better way."

Though the cleanup of legacy policies was designed to simplify things for Windows admins, the community has expressed concern that it may do the opposite, according to complaints posted to Reddit.

Complaints largely revolve around the 'instability' of Windows following update releases, the increasing complexities involved with managing Windows environments in businesses, and applying updates easily.

"Oh great and most [policies] are patching related," one user wrote. "As if controlling patches for Windows 10 wasn't enough of a pain in the ass already..."

One user also drew attention to the conflicting information provided by Microsoft on the matter. The 25 group policies that Microsoft recommends should be disabled are thought to conflict with the settings in Microsoft's own Windows Update Baseline Toolkit.

"I checked, and frustratingly, many of the recommended settings from Aria's article conflict with the settings from Microsoft's own Windows Update Baseline Toolkit," one user wrote.

According to Microsoft, this toolkit provides a set of tools that allow admins to download, test, edit, and store Microsoft-recommended policy configurations for optimal deployment and device management.

Microsoft has made it especially easy for Windows 11 admins to check which policies should be disabled by adding a sub-folder in the 'Windows Update' directory named 'Legacy Policies', which should only contain the group policies that need to be switched off.

Microsoft said applying the recommendations will lead to better control of Windows environments and admins will encounter fewer unexpected behaviours. "At the end of the day, it is best to leverage the default experience," said Carley. "Not only do defaults provide the best experience, they are also the most effective at keeping devices up to date."

There's a saying that the best antivirus product is the one you actually have installed. That's the approach Microsoft has taken: its Defender security system is integrated into every installation of Windows 10 and 11, ensuring a baseline level of protection across the whole operating system.

Defender isn't just widespread - it's effective. Every Windows computer with an internet connection automatically downloads the latest signatures and recognition algorithms on a daily basis, meaning newly identified threats can be very quickly shut down.

And we can't argue with the results. In the most recent tests by AV-Comparatives.org, Defender successfully blocked 99.96% of malware samples; AV-Test.org reported that, during January and February 2022, the software scored a perfect 100% against both known threats and brand-new zero-day attacks.

Defender doesn't operate in a vacuum, however. It's one part of the wider Windows Security app, which includes ransomware protection, reputation-based assessment, firewall management and even parental controls, to prevent kids from inadvertently accessing dangerous or inappropriate content.

Perhaps because all of this is plumbed into Windows at a low level, it has very little effect on system performance. AV-Test.org found that Windows Security slowed down web performance by a mere 5% on a standard PC, compared to browsing with protection disabled. For comparison, Avast One Essential had a 17% impact, while AVG had a massive 28% penalty.

Windows Security also had a minimal impact on application launch speed, incurring a 6% slowdown while Avast and AVG both hit 12%. Defender does seem to scan applications more rigorously when they're first installed: here Windows Security was 14% slower, compared to 9% for Avast and 16% for Avira Free. That's a smart way of doing things, though, since you might launch an application every day, but you're only going to install it once.

Our biggest issue with Microsoft Defender is to do with usability. The whole Windows Security app is a mess, with nine different pages of buttons and links to hunt through. Everyday functions rub shoulders with obscure technical features such as CPU extensions, and ransomware protection is bafflingly turned off by default. That might be to protect users from its impenetrable interface though, which requires you to dig deep into the advanced security settings to approve applications.

Then again, that might not matter - because one of the biggest benefits of Windows Security is that business users don't need to manage it for themselves. Using either group policies or Windows Intune, organisations can control every aspect of user security, ensuring protections are enabled, current and appropriate for the needs of the business and the individual.

That might not appeal to small businesses wanting to minimise their management commitment. In some scenarios, it will make more sense for staff to use a free consumer-grade antivirus solution. In a larger organisation, however, the benefits of central administration will surely outweigh any individual security features: for them, the best antivirus really is the one that's already installed.

Cyber criminals are testing out a proof-of-concept malware that targets a zero-day escalation of privilege exploit in the Microsoft Windows Installer.

The flaw, which enables hackers with a limited user account to elevate their privileges to become an administrator, affects every version of Microsoft Windows, including fully patched Windows 11 and Server 2022.

Malware samples have already been detected in the wild that are attempting to take advantage of this vulnerability, according to a blog post by security researchers at Cisco Talos.

It was security researcher Abdelhamid Naceri who initially discovered this elevation of privilege vulnerability and worked with Microsoft to address it. Microsoft then released an update that was intended to fix CVE-2021-41379 on 9 November as part of its monthly security update.

However, the patch failed to fix the vulnerability, and Naceri published a proof-of-concept exploit code on GitHub on 22 Nov that still works despite the fixes implemented by Microsoft.

“The code Naceri released leverages the discretionary access control list (DACL) for Microsoft Edge Elevation Service to replace any executable file on the system with an MSI file, allowing an attacker to run code as an administrator,” said Jaeson Schultz, technical leader for Cisco's Talos Security Intelligence & Research Group.

According to a posting by Naceri on GitHub, the technique may not work on every installation, because windows installations, such as server 2016 and 2019, may not have the elevation service.

“I deliberately left the code which take over file open, so any file specified in the first argument will be taken over with the condition that SYSTEM account must have access to it and the file mustn't be in use. So you can elevate your privileges yourself,” he said.

Naceri added that the best workaround available at the time of writing this is to wait for Microsoft to release a security patch, due to the complexity of this vulnerability.

“Any attempt to patch the binary directly will break windows installer. So you better wait and see how Microsoft will screw the patch again,” he said.

A new phishing campaign is abusing an app feature in Windows 10 to spread the BazarLoader malware.

The campaign’s discovery came when employees started receiving the malware-laden emails, according to security researchers at Sophos.

One email appeared to be sent by a "Sophos Main Manager Assistant” called "Adam Williams.” In the email, the person demanded to know why the recipient hadn't responded to a customer's complaint, which appeared as a PDF link in the email.

However, if a victim clicked on the link, it downloaded and installed the BazarLoader malware. Researchers said this malware was delivered by abusing a novel mechanism, the Windows 10 apps installer process.

The researchers said the phishing campaign sends victims to a website sporting the Adobe logo to look more legitimate. The text on the page asks victims to click on a link to preview the alleged PDF.

“But there’s something amiss with this link: Instead of being prefixed with the expected https:// the link instead begins with what was (for me, at least) an unfamiliar ms-appinstaller: prefix,” said SophosLabs Principal Researcher Andrew Brandt.

"In the course of running through an actual infection I realized that this construction of a URL triggers the browser [in my case, Microsoft's Edge browser on Windows 10], to invoke a tool used by the Windows Store application, called AppInstaller.exe, to download and run whatever's on the other end of that link," he added.

This link points to a 482-byte text file named Adobe.appinstaller. The contents of that file are just plain text, in XML format, that points to a URL where a larger file containing the malware, named Adobe_1.7.0.0_x64.appbundle, was located.

The malicious appinstaller indicates the .appxbundle was digitally signed by a UK-based company calling itself Systems Accounting Limited. This certificate was issued several months ago, and Sophos contacted Sectigo to alert it about this abuse of the certificate it issued.

Victims then get asked to allow an "Adobe PDF Component” install. If this is allowed, Bazarloader is installed.

“Malware that comes in AppX packages is novel, but now that the process has been demonstrated, it’s likely to be here to stay. These apps are supposed to be digitally signed with certificates, but it doesn’t appear that there’s any mechanism to make a sanity check between what’s on the certificate and the code it’s supposed to certify,” said Brandt.

Microsoft has introduced a Windows 10 and 11 feature that allows administrators to select which devices connect to endpoints. The layered Group Policy feature will make it easier for organizations to block specific types of USB devices using combined whitelisting and blacklisting.

This feature governs any device, whether internal or external, including USB drives. Administrators can define an allow list, which specifies whitelisted and blacklisted devices by their device identifiers. Windows systems categorize devices by class, device ID, and instance ID.

In the past, Microsoft used a simple combination of an allow policy and a prevent policy, with the latter taking precedence over the former. This rigid approach made it harder to update permissions when new devices entered the market, Microsoft said.

The new layering feature uses a hierarchical list of these identifiers that it examines in order, with higher identifiers taking precedence. This makes it easier to ban all devices of a particular class while making specific exceptions for devices in that class with certain hardware IDs.

The hierarchical layers allow admins to be as exclusive as they wish when defining which devices can connect to Windows endpoints. For example, locking out all USB devices other than those provided by their company. They could also block all USB devices from being installed while allowing all other devices to connect to a Windows endpoint.

"With this new policy, you don’t need to know different device classes to prevent USB classes only from being installed," said Microsoft in a blog post announcing the feature. "The new policy allows you to focus scripts on USB classes and be confident that no other class is going to be blocked unless specified by the IT admin."

More effective device blocking could prevent the spread of malware via malicious USB devices. It could also make it more difficult for people to copy data from work computers that could later be lost, causing compliance problems.

Layered Group Policy capabilities are available as part of the optional "C" client release, which is the company's non-security preview release. It will become more widely available on August 10 with the August 2021 Update Tuesday release. Windows 11 will also support the feature, Microsoft said.

Microsoft has suspended its Windows 365 trial just a day after launch due to heavy demand.

In a tweet, the company said it was experiencing "significant demand" for the service, which offers easy-access virtual desktops in the cloud accessible via a browser or Microsoft's Remote Desktop application. It added it reached capacity for Windows 365 trials.

This morning, Scott Manchester, director of program management for Windows 365, added that the company saw an "unbelievable response." People should still sign up for the service to be notified when it resumes, he added.

Microsoft announced Windows 365 on July 14 and took it live Monday, August 2, providing an easy way for smaller businesses to access virtual Windows desktops in the cloud. The service runs on a virtual machine Microsoft calls a Cloud PC, which is available in various configurations up to eight cores with 32GB of RAM.

Windows 365’s Business Edition is configurable using a self-service portal, and the Enterprise Edition is configurable using Microsoft's Endpoint Manager tool. The latter also features integrations with Azure Active Directory and Defender for Endpoint.

Microsoft already offers a desktop as a service (DaaS) option in Azure Virtual Desktop, which the company used to call Windows Virtual Desktop. However, Microsoft sells this on a consumption-based pricing model, plus it’s more complex to administer. Windows 365 is available for a flat monthly fee.

Initial reactions to the service were mixed. "I've just had it for a day but it's already been useful," tweeted one user in response to Manchester. "Full coding on my iPad."

Another user was less impressed. "Is this why my Cloud PC refuses to reset? I've been waiting 30 hours for it to reset and no one from support has answered me," they said.

It's still early days for Windows 365, which will receive more features over time. Microsoft promised support for offline working, along with potential GPU options for Cloud PC power users.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will end support for Windows 10 in 2025, which could be another sign that Windows 11 is on its way.

In a notice on its website, spotted by Thurrott, the tech giant has officially stated that the end of support date for Windows 10 Home and Pro is October 14, 2025. This means that, from this date, Microsoft will not be providing technical support, software updates or security updates or fixes for Windows 10.

While the notice suggests that this end of life date applies to Windows 10 Home and Pro, a clarification on the page states that it will also apply to Windows 10 Pro Education and Pro for Workstations too.

This confirmation from Microsoft could suggest that Windows 11 will be rolled out soon, especially since the company is holding a virtual event next week on the future of the operating system, called “What’s next for Windows”. In a teaser for the event, which takes place on 24 June, light shining through the Windows logo is displaying a number “11” in the shadow on the floor.

Moreover, last week, Microsoft published an 11 minute video on its Windows YouTube account titled “Windows | Startup Sounds – Slo-fi Remix”, which included a mix of the sounds from its previous operating systems as an advertisement for the event next week.

“Soon we will share one of the most significant updates to Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators. I’ve been self-hosting it over the past several months, and I’m incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows,” Nadella had said in his keynote at the Microsoft Build 2021 event.

Although Windows 11 is expected imminently, Microsoft continues to roll out updates for Windows 10. In April, Microsoft introduced a new Windows 10 taskbar which brought a new variety of ways to personalise users’ devices. The taskbar allows users to navigate through personalised information, collated from news, weather, and stock reports. The company opted to introduce it to customers over several weeks in a phased approach.

Furthermore, in May, businesses were able to update their Windows 10 systems with version 21H1, also called the May 2021 Update, which allowed them to experience features such as improved security, remote access and quality of experience.

All PC users can look forward to using Microsoft’s new Windows 10 taskbar, bringing along a variety of new ways to personalise their device, following a decision to roll out the changes to a wider audience.

The taskbar, which has been available to Windows Insiders since early 2021, allows users to navigate through personalised information, collated from news, weather, and stock reports.

This feature will begin rolling out to customers over the next several weeks, as the company opts for a “phased and measured approach” for its introduction.

The “snackable” content is all available through the taskbar and doesn’t require any apps to be opened to access it. Users can also save stories for later or share them too.

You can also adjust which information cards are available and make changes to how weather updates are displayed. For example, if you’re not interested in any of the weather, finance, sports or traffic information cards, you can simply turn the icon corresponding to a specific card off.

There’s also a feature called the “interest manager” where users can directly indicate the topics they are interested in, or choose the content sources from the Windows “content ecosystem” they want to see.

Last month, Microsoft introduced new capabilities on its Power Platform suite of robotic process automation (RPA) tools, such as automation across Windows 10 apps and low code programming. The Power Automate Desktop, available to all Windows 10 users at no extra cost, gives RPA functionality to automate tasks across any application.

Furthermore, it was reported last year that the tech giant might be working on a new piece of software to run Android apps on Windows 10. The name of the project was Project Latte and was thought to allow Android apps to run on Microsoft’s operating system with little or no code changes.

After sixteen major releases, you might think there’s not much left to be added to Parallels Desktop – and for the vast majority of Mac users who are still using Intel CPUs, there isn’t. For them, this update to the popular virtualisation software tidies up a few bugs and adds support for the latest version of the Linux kernel, but that’s largely it. Overall it’s not even consequential enough to warrant a full ticking up of the version number.

Yet arguably, this is the most significant release of Parallels Desktop since it first appeared in 2006. Just as version one unlocked the potential of Apple’s then-recent switch to the Intel architecture, this one breaks new ground by allowing you to install and run Windows 10 on Apple Silicon.

It’s an enticing prospect, but not quite as straightforward as it sounds. It would be a huge technical challenge to get a standard x86 build of Windows 10 running on Apple’s ARM-based M1 chip, and Parallels doesn’t attempt it. Rather, the focus is on Microsoft’s own port of Windows 10 for ARM processors. With Parallels Desktop, you can now run Windows on ARM (WoA) in a VM on the M1 platform – and since the OS itself includes an Intel translation layer, it opens the door to running a huge range of Windows apps on the latest Macs.

The catch is that while Parallels Desktop may be ready for WoA, the OS itself is still a work in progress. Early versions have trickled out on a handful of lightweight laptops – notably Microsoft’s own Surface Pro X – but the only way to get an installer for your Mac is via the free Windows Insider programme, which means you can expect beta-quality code with no guarantees of performance or stability.

Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Setup

Virtualisation can be a complicated business, but Parallels makes it pretty painless. Once you’ve installed the Parallels Desktop app on an M1-powered Mac, it prompts you to pick a guest OS, with helpful links to ready-to-roll images for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Debian 10.7, Fedora Workstation 33-1.2, and Kali Linux 2021.1. This is a nice spread of options to have, but we doubt many people are really buying Parallels to run Linux, especially inside a host OS that’s already built on UNIX.

Happily, installing Windows is almost as easy. Microsoft provides the WoA installer in the form of a VHDX image file, which you can simply drag onto the Parallels window and boot to kick off the installation. There’s nothing to customise on the OS side; accept the default settings in Parallels and you’ll be looking at a Windows 10 desktop in no more than ten minutes.

Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Compatibility and features

Once you’ve got past the thrill of seeing Windows boot up on your Mac desktop, the experience is pretty anticlimactic. WoA looks and feels exactly like regular Windows 10, and it works like it too: initial releases were limited to running 32-bit code, but that restriction is now gone, and we were able to install and use a whole stack of industry-standard apps and tools with zero fuss, including Chrome, Office, Photoshop, 7-Zip and Zoom. We’re not saying it necessarily makes sense to run these apps in Parallels, but they illustrate how broadly Windows on ARM can stand in for the x86 edition.

Anything in the Microsoft Store ought to work too, since WoA fully implements the UWP framework, and any other required resources should come bundled into the installation package. In fact, when we tried to set up the Dropbox client, the regular installer detected a platform error and smartly directed me to install the Store edition instead, which worked perfectly.

As usual with VMs, Windows appears as a desktop in a window, but with a click you can enable Parallels’ signature Coherence mode. This lets Windows applications float freely among your Mac windows, and puts their icons in the Dock alongside native apps. Your personal folders in Windows are mapped directly to their Mac equivalents, helping to smooth out cross-platform workflows, and you can even copy and paste text and images between Windows apps and Mac ones.

This being a virtual machine, you can also take snapshots of your Windows system whenever you like, and roll back to previous states at will. This could be useful if you just need to use Windows from time to time to accomplish a specific task, and don’t want to worry about unwanted cruft or malware accumulating over time.

Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Hitches and hurdles

Parallels makes a good go of integrating Windows apps into the Mac environment, but some dissonance is unavoidable. For example, apps from different platforms have their window controls at opposite corners, and the modifier keys on the standard Mac keyboard are in a different order to Windows, which tends to mess with our brain. We don’t see that there’s a better solution, but it’s not ideal.

And while WoA works remarkably well with modern apps, older software is more hit and miss. For example, we normally use an ageing edition of MAGIX Sound Forge 11 for our everyday audio editing tasks; this works perfectly well on our “real” Windows 10 desktop, but it refused to install in WoA, complaining that a DLL couldn’t be registered. We tried to roll back further to version 9, but this demanded the .NET Framework 2.0, and our attempts to install it were rewarded only with error codes.

The connecting together of the Mac and Windows file systems can confuse some apps too. Macrium Reflect couldn’t handle the fact that our Desktop folder wasn’t located on a real hard disk and crashed at the very start of the installation. On that note, anything that requires bespoke hardware drivers is likely to struggle too.

This sort of thing matters, because one of the most common use cases for virtualisation is to keep alive legacy software that’s not supported on the new OS. It’s not at all surprising if apps from the XP or Windows 7 era don’t work on this whole new architecture, but it is a shame.

And don’t forget that the OS is, at present, an Insider release. This means it receives large, frequent updates, sometimes on a daily basis. It’s possible that new builds will progressively make more apps and devices work in WoA, but they may also unpredictably change and even break things.

Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Performance

By default, Parallels Desktop allocates two of the M1’s eight processor cores to your virtual WoA machine, along with 3GB of RAM. You can raise it to a maximum of four CPU cores and 8GB of RAM – or higher if you’ve sprung for a Pro subscription – but doing so inevitably leaves fewer resources for macOS. However you slice it, it’s not exactly a recipe for peak performance.

On top of that, most of the programs you’re currently likely to want to run in Windows are going to have to go through Intel emulation, and this drags performance down enormously. We used Parallels Desktop to run our standard benchmark suite on WoA on an 8GB Mac Mini, and while we were pleased to see that the tools installed and ran without a hiccup, it was hard to be delighted about the eventual score of just 23 – a long way off the 223 achieved by the same hardware using ARM-native video tools in macOS. Even if you give Windows four cores to play with, performance only scales linearly to an overall score of 45.

Still, this doesn’t make WoA unusable at all. Performance is about on par with a lightweight Windows laptop from 2015, and while we wouldn’t want to do everything in that environment, it’s perfectly fine for the odd individual task. Since the Windows system itself is running natively on ARM, the whole caboodle feels more responsive than you’d expect anyway – and there’s surely scope to improve translation performance in future builds.

Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Verdict

Barely six months after the M1 processor was unveiled to the world, Parallels Desktop 16.5 gives it a whole new dimension of potential. For that, it feels absurdly cheap, with the standard edition costing a flat £80. Alternatively, you can sign up for a rolling subscription, but at £70 per year it’s not an obviously great deal. As we’ve mentioned, there’s also a subscription-only Pro edition for £80 a year, which lets you virtualise up to 32 cores and 128GB of RAM as well as adding some advanced developer features, and a business edition at the same price which focuses on centralised deployment and management.

The fly in the ointment is WoA itself. It’s expressly a work-in-progress OS with unpredictable app compatibility – and so far Microsoft hasn’t made any real commitment to its future. In two years’ time it could be a thriving companion to the Intel build, or it could be an abandoned experiment.

For now, therefore, we can say only that Parallels Desktop 16.5 is an impressive proof of concept, and a fun and useful tool for tinkerers. Whether it becomes a true landmark release is down to Microsoft. Parallels deserves praise for what it’s put together, but we’d recommend you wait for the OS to at least reach a first stable public release before you invest in the idea of Windows on Apple Silicon.

It's safe to assume that you will, at some point, be hacked. However, if you're using Microsoft's popular operating system, there is a way to encrypt files and folders in Windows 10 – rendering it useless to anyone that does get hold of it.

By using encryption, users can convert their sensitive data into a code of jumbled numbers, which can lower the risk of infiltration, theft and subsequent fraud.

Windows 10's built in encryption tool is relatively easy to use and. once configured, will place a lock symbol on the file or folder - signifying that a password is required to access its contents.

There are a few points to remember here. Firstly, an encrypted file can lose its encryption when transmitted via a network or email. You need to extract the contents of a compressed file or folder before you encrypt it. The tool doesn't necessarily protect files from being deleted and you should always backup encrypted data and store it offline.

How to encrypt files and folders in Windows 10

There are a number of ways to encrypt files and folders in Windows 10. For the purpose of this guide, we will be covering the following tools:

• Windows encrypted file system (EFS)
• BitLocker

Note: The PC owner can access an EFS-encrypted file locally, but the files will remain inaccessible for all other user accounts. You may also use a DVD or portable hard disk to backup your encryption key.

The next section will cover BitLocker – a full-disk encryption solution that enables you to encrypt an entire hard drive at once. When combined with a PC’s trusted platform module (TPM), BitLocker can provide advanced security features, including hardware-level encryption. Your computer needs a TPM chip version of 1.2 or later to support BitLocker.

To check if your computer has a TPM chip: Press the Windows key + X, click Device Manager, then Security Devices. Look for the 'Trusted Platform Module' drop down and open it up to see the version number.

Like EFS-based encryption, you now have a few options to save a recovery key to regain access to your files if you lose or forget your password. Here’s is a list of options available:

• Save to your Microsoft account
• Save to a USB flash drive
• Save to a file
• Print the recovery

Upon reboot, BitLocker will prompt you to enter your encryption password to unlock the drive. Type the password and press “Enter.” You can verify BitLocker is turned on by looking for a padlock icon on your encrypted drive’s thumbnail.

BitLocker doesn’t support dynamic disc encryption. Decryption may take a while, depending on the size of your encrypted drive. However, you can continue using your computer during the encryption.

A security system is only as strong as its weakest point, which is why it helps to take small but decisive steps toward data encryption.

BitLocker can protect PCs’ operating systems against offline attacks, and EFS offers additional file-level encryption for security separation between multiple users of the same computer. You can also combine protections by choosing to use EFS to encrypt files on a BitLocker-protected drive.