Richi Jennings

With new PC chips rapidly approaching, here’s a timely reminder about Windows 7 support: There isn’t any—at least not on Intel or AMD’s new silicon. Only Windows 10 is supported. Your downgrade rights were wrenched away, back in January…

Microsoft Excel causes problems in genetic research. That’s the claim of three researchers from an Australian institute, who discovered almost 20% of data sets contained errors introduced by Excel. The problem is Excel being “clever”—guessing the type of data it’s being asked to import. Unfortunately…

Microsoft Windows 10 comes under fire for privacy. The Electronic Frontier Foundation last week reopened the case against Redmond’s telemetry and personalization efforts. Despite acknowledging previous press stories were wildly incorrect, EFF paralegal staffer Amul Kalia argues his case with sincere passion…

Microsoft PowerShell on Linux and macOS—yes, it’s now open source. If you think the world’s gone mad, you might be right. For die-hard Linux-heads, it’s never going to replace Bash, Perl or Python. But for Microsoft-centric dev/ops types, it promises to be a wonderful widget in the toolbag. Especially as more workloads move to “the cloud.”

Microsoft to change how older Windows versions get patches. For better or worse, it’ll be more like the Windows 10 way. Next Patch Tuesday, prepare for a single rollup patch. This means you won’t be able to pick and choose the patches that work for you. And that’s good, because… um, reasons.

Microsoft Windows Secure Boot has a big problem. It’s no longer secure, and can’t be fixed—or so say a pair of security researchers who found the issue. Apparently, Microsoft created a secret backdoor, for internal QA use. But two Ring Of Lightning researchers uncovered the so-called “golden key.”

Microsoft HoloLens is now available to all. Redmond wants more businesses and developers to get going with its augmented-reality Windows headset. No longer do you need an invitation. And along with the latest build of Windows 10 come a container-load of new, enterprisey features. But it may (or may not) still cost $3000. In today’s IT Newspro, we mow the lawn like it’s 1992…

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air is a sleek Ultrabook for an amazing price. It also beats its Apple namesake in many respects. It’s smaller, lighter and faster. But it might be tricky to buy—outside of China, anyway. Oh, and you can custom-order a famous painting on the lid. Perhaps that’s appropriate, given Picasso’s famous quote. In today’s IT Newspro, good artists copy, great artists steal…

Microsoft Windows 10 gets its birthday build. But the Anniversary Edition isn’t just about pushing consumers to upgrade before Friday’s freebie deadline. It also brings loveliness for professional users. Enterprises large and small will see it working more smoothly, reliably and securely—according to Redmond. But not everything smells of roses. In today’s IT Newspro, we dig the dirt on “1607”. [Updated 3:41 am PT with more comment]