Microsoft has announced that from October 31st 2016, PC manufacturers won’t be able to sell new computers sporting the ageing Windows 7 or 8.1 operating systems. Instead, they’ll have to come pre-installed with Windows 10.
The files needed to install Windows 10 are being automatically downloaded to Windows 7 and 8.1 users by Windows Update—even if users have no intention of upgrading.
Upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7 is not quite as seamless as the move from Windows 8.1, but it’s close. You get to keep your applications and settings, and the process is simple and leaves you almost no chance to accidentally delete all your apps and data.
All around the world, Windows users are discovering a new icon in their notification trays—an offer to reserve a free copy of Windows 10. Sounds too good to be true, yes? Except Windows 10 actually is a free upgrade, and this really does appear to be the way you’ll get it.
Sometimes you need to get into a computer without knowing the password. Perhaps you've forgotten yours, or perhaps you're up to no good. Either way, it's actually pretty easy to do, provided your victim hasn't taken the necessary precautions. Click one of the links below to find out how to do it on either a Windows PC …
HP is bringing back Windows 7 "by popular demand"—it's not clear from whom—and making it pretty difficult to buy a computer with Windows 8. Who needs the future when you've got the very recent past?
Given the United States' intolerance for copyright infringement and the piraters that propagate it, you'd think Uncle Sam would be a little more keen on making sure that his men were playing by the book themselves. As it turns out, a whole mess of computers running unlicensed, illegal copies of Windows 7 belong to…
Greasy fingers are the bane of touchscreens, obscuring the display behind snail trails of oil and streaks of grime. Forget that mess. Leap Motion has promised hands-free PC navigation for months now, and after some hands-on time we can confirm that the future is here, and it's amazing.
If you have a PC with Windows 8 but miss Windows 7, there's no need to downgrade. Following a few simple steps, you can make Microsoft's current operating system look and feel almost identical to its predecessor. Here's how to bring back the Start menu and the attractive aero glass theme how to hide other Windows 8…
Windows 7 users are finally getting Internet Explorer 10. They'll be auto-upgraded in a few weeks, but you can go ahead and download the updated browser starting today.
An EU antitrust commission is charging Microsoft: it didn't offer browser choices in Win7. Fines to be decided. [Europa]
Just like with the iPad, the OnLive Desktop service—which provides remote access to a server-powered version of Windows 7—is now available for Android Tablets for the same five bucks a month.
If it doesn't have "8" or "Phone" after it, nobody thinks or cares about Windows anymore. But let's not forget that Microsoft is still selling a gargantuan tower of operating systems every second—and it matches everything else combined.
Apple's Magic Mouse is two years old. It attempted to merge two interfaces—touch and mousing—in a meaningful way by hybridizing a capacitive touch surface and a mouse. It's pretty good. Microsoft's Touch Mouse is like that, but for Windows 7. And actually designed for human hands to hold it.
During Microsoft TechEd 2011 in New Zealand, Microsoft showed off something verrrry interesting: a Quad-Core Windows Slate. Reports are unsure if it runs Windows 7 or Windows 8 but more info is supposed to be revealed soon.
Here's something that shouldn't exist: the Fujitsu F-07C smartphone, which is really not smart at all, as it runs a full version of Windows 7. Not Windows Phone 7. Windows 7. On a 4-inch screen. Can this be reversed?
Ballmer knows the fastest way to get people talking about Microsoft is if he slags off the competition, which is exactly what he did yesterday. Boasting, he compared 350m sold PCs in the last year with their rival selling just 20m.
Keyboard shortcuts are the essence of PC productivity. While newbs slowly mouse around their screens in search of buttons to click, seasoned tech vets hammer through a day's work with ease thanks to a wealth of arcane hotkey combos that knock out useful tasks in seconds. Of course, every PC user knows a few handy…
It's cool, I understand that old people have trouble understanding new technology (*cough* Senator Grassley *cough*). But, when it's your job to understand and make BINDING LEGAL RULINGS on technology, you have to at least know the difference between OSX and Windows 7. Looks like Northern Calfornia district judge…
Whoever's idea it was, it looks like it was a good one. 350 million licenses for Windows 7 have been sold in just 18 months. The platform's numbers have continued to climb after reaching 240 million sales in its first year and 300 million back in January. By contrast, Windows Vista sold just 180 million licenses over…
