Newsletter Archives

• You’ll be amazed to learn how Microsoft really makes dough

  Posted on July 1, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  If you think the sale of Windows software is Microsoft’s primary source of revenue, you’re in for a big surprise when you see the way the Redmond corporate giant actually earns money.

  As of the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2024, more than 56% of the company’s revenue — easily a majority — is generated by Microsoft’s cloud services, including Azure Server, Office cloud services, and other online income streams.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.27.0, 2024-07-01).

  Public Defender Azure, Cloud computing, Financial Performance, Gaming, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Newsletters, Office, Windows

• Continuing trends in computing — and your choices

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  BEN’S WORKSHOP

  

  By Ben Myers

  Let Windows 11 and other major trends be your guide to greater productivity, reliability, and security.

  Computer hardware and software continue their relentless advances — mostly progress, sometimes a hiccup. Paying attention to the various changes in our world of computing can save you time and money — and, after all, time is money. These trends may influence your near-term buying decisions, as our annual two-month Black Friday buying spree morphs into the January White Sale of unsold gear.

  These trends are the distillation of my experience based upon hundreds of computers making a stop in Ben’s Workshop along their way — whether from a factory or an auction house, as a trade-in, or simply for repair — and then into the hands of people using them or off to my convenient e-cycler.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).

  Ben's Workshop BitLocker, Enterprise computing, Gaming, HDDs, Home computing, Minimum Hardware Requirements, Newsletters, NVMe, Small Business computing, SSDs, Windows 11, Workstations

• How Xbox and Windows work together

  Posted on December 11, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Windows, Xbox, and the cloud are changing the shape of gaming. And maybe Windows itself.

  Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console is, at heart, a very specialized Windows PC built around a custom AMD processor and designed to be a living-room gaming and media platform. Because developers can use the same tools to build Xbox and Windows apps, it is as much a replacement for gaming capabilities of the discontinued Windows Media Center edition — with applications from most streaming providers, as it is a built-in Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) support.

  But there’s more to the relationship between the two platforms than that, with Microsoft starting to blur the boundaries between its two consumer platforms.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.50.0, 2023-12-11).

  Windows Cloud Gaming, Gaming, Newsletters, Remote Gaming, Stream Deck, Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox

• MS-DEFCON 4: Got 22H2?

  Posted on July 25, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.30.1 • 2023-07-25

  

  By Susan Bradley

  If you haven’t updated to Windows 10/11 22H2, now is a good time because I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

  This month’s updates have now settled down to the point that I don’t anticipate any issues for the vast majority of readers, nor have I seen any surprises in my testing on Windows 10 or Windows 11.

  22H2 is now my recommended version of Windows for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 for all editions and all types of users — with the single exception of gamers.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.30.1, 2023-07-25).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Gaming, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Windows, Windows 10 22H2, Windows 11 22H2, Yahoo Mail

• MS-DEFCON 4: Major April issue, but not from updates

  Posted on April 25, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.17.1 • 2023-04-25

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I’m ready to approve the April updates.

  Accordingly, I’ve lowered the MS-DEFCON level to 4. This is not to say there are not a few oddities out there, but they will not affect many users.

  Most of the unusual behavior in updates this month is due to slow changes that will lead to future enforcement changes.

  Microsoft has also pushed off the implementation of the mandatory, number-based, multifactor authentication for Microsoft 365 applications.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.17.1, 2023-04-25).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Active Directory, Alerts, Domain Controllers, Games, Gaming, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• Freeware Spotlight — Staying at home edition

  Posted on April 27, 2020 at 01:00 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  BEST UTILITIES

  By Deanna McElveen

  We’re certainly living in a different world right now — social-distancing with friends, co-workers, and others; social-bonding with family.

  Those of us still working are in many cases doing so from home — some with the added complication of kids. And then there’s the drain on our bank accounts. All of which make the community of open-source and freeware software development more important than ever.

  To help you get through the current trials and tribulations, here’s a compendium of utilities and apps, for both adults and kids, that might make your stay-at-home experience a bit easier.

  Here we go …

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.16.0 (2020-04-27).

  Best Utilities AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Calculators, Gaming, LibreOffice, TeamTalk, Video editing

• Freeware Spotlight — Win7 Games for Windows 10 and 8

  Posted on September 30, 2019 at 01:00 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  BEST UTILITIES

  By Deanna McElveen

  Moving from Win7 to Win10 is somewhat like moving to a new town. Sure, many of the big stores are in both places, but what about that favorite coffee shop?

  For Windows 7 users, migrating up can mean leaving behind some familiar versions of treasured games — good ol’ FreeCell, Hearts, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Mahjong, Minesweeper, and others — and wandering through the MS Store maze or the silliness of Win10’s “Solitaire Collection.”

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.35.0 (2019-09-30).

  Best Utilities AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Freecell, Gaming, Minesweeper, Pinball, Solitaire

• Freeware Spotlight — AppleWin

  Posted on May 27, 2019 at 04:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  By Deanna McElveen

  In every Freeware Spotlight column, I write about useful and free utilities that can help you work a little faster or make your work a little easier.

  But as this is Memorial Day, we’re not gonna focus on work! Today, it’s a bit of fun.

  Read the full story in the May 27, 2019, AskWoody Plus Newsletter (Issue 16.19.0).

  Digital Entertainment Apple II, Battleship, emulators, Gaming