All posts tagged: Microsofts

I created a custom Windows 11 install that’s faster than Microsoft’s version

I created a custom Windows 11 install that’s faster than Microsoft’s version

Published by skeptic

I have an old laptop I refuse to part with. Not out of nostalgia, but because the hardware is still capable, and I don’t want to surrender to the temptation to junk a machine just because Microsoft’s system requirements say so. The problem is that every time I install a fresh copy of Windows 11 on it, the OS boots sluggishly, idles with a hungry RAM appetite, and arrives pre-stuffed with apps I have never once opened. This makes quickly removing bloatware from Windows 11 a mandatory post-installation chore. That frustration is what eventually led me to Tiny11 Builder, a free, open-source PowerShell script maintained by a developer known as NTDEV on GitHub. Related I just installed Windows 11 on a 10-year old PC — this method still works You don’t need to worry about Windows 11 hardware requirements with Rufus. Windows 11 comes with a lot of luggage didn’t pack Background processes, telemetry, and other uninvited houseguests Afam Onyimadu / MUO A default Windows 11 installation is a generous host. Perhaps too generous. Before …

Microsoft’s Windows 11 laptop deal for students comes with a 0 bonus – what’s included

Microsoft’s Windows 11 laptop deal for students comes with a $500 bonus – what’s included

Published by skeptic

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET Microsoft has a brand-new offer for college students: When you buy a new Windows 11 laptop (from Microsoft, Amazon, Best Buy, or Walmart), you’ll get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included, along with a customizable Xbox controller — a value of more than $500, free. You can choose a qualifying Windows PC from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Surface. (To help you choose, check out our tested picks for the best laptops overall, and the best Windows laptops.) Also: The best Windows laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed This Microsoft College Offer includes the following with your eligible PC purchase, for US students:  12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium: Access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, with CoPilot built in for AI assistance 12 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Access to a library of hundreds of games, including new games on day one like Forza Horizon 6 and Fable, that you can play on PC, Xbox, and more devices with unlimited cloud gaming. A …

Microsoft’s latest Windows update now confirms if your PC is Secure Boot-protected – how it works

Microsoft’s latest Windows update now confirms if your PC is Secure Boot-protected – how it works

Published by skeptic

Lance Whitney/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Windows will now tell you if Secure Boot is working properly. The new status indicates whether you have the latest Secure Boot updates. The April Windows update also patches a whopping 164 security flaws. Microsoft’s Secure Boot defends your Windows PC against dangerous bootkit malware. To keep your PC protected, the company has been racing to replace older Secure Boot certificates before they expire in June. But how do you know if your PC has received the newer certificates? Windows itself will now tell you. Arriving this week with the April Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 is a new visual clue and description to indicate the status of Secure Boot on your computer. The new information will tell you whether you’re protected with the latest certificates or still at risk. Here’s how this works. Also: How to check your Windows PC for expiring security certificates In Windows 11, go to Settings, select Privacy & security, choose …

Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess

Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess

Published by skeptic

Ed Bott / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Microsoft is making the Insider Program less complicated. Beta channel will be a more reliable preview of the next retail release. Other changes will allow testers to quickly enable/disable new features. Last month, Microsoft took official notice of its customers’ many complaints about Windows 11. Pavan Davaluri, the executive vice president who runs the Windows and Devices group, promised sweeping changes to Windows 11. Today, the company announced the first of those changes in a post authored by Alec Oot, who’s been the principal group product manager for the Windows Insider Program since January 2024. Those changes will streamline the Insider program, which has lost sight of its original goals in the past few years. (For a brief history of the program and what had gone wrong, see my post from last November: “The Windows Insider Program is a confusing mess.”) Also: If Microsoft really wants to fix Windows 11, it should do these …

Copilot is ‘for entertainment purposes only,’ according to Microsoft’s terms of use

Copilot is ‘for entertainment purposes only,’ according to Microsoft’s terms of use

Published by skeptic

AI skeptics aren’t the only ones warning users not to unthinkingly trust models’ outputs — that’s what the AI companies say themselves in their terms of service. Take Microsoft, which is currently focused on getting corporate customers to pay for Copilot. But it’s also been getting dinged on social media over Copilot’s terms of use, which appear to have been last updated on October 24, 2025. “Copilot is for entertainment purposes only,” the company warned. “It can make mistakes, and it may not work as intended. Don’t rely on Copilot for important advice. Use Copilot at your own risk.” A Microsoft spokesperson told PCMag that the company will be updating what they described as “legacy language.” “As the product has evolved, that language is no longer reflective of how Copilot is used today and will be altered with our next update,” the spokesperson said. Tom’s Hardware noted that Microsoft isn’t the only company using this kind of disclaimer for AI.  For example, both OpenAI and xAI caution users that they should not rely on their …

Mac users can now get Microsoft’s best tools for just each

Mac users can now get Microsoft’s best tools for just $10 each

Published by skeptic

TL;DR: Upgrade your Mac with a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac 2021, on sale now for $59.97 through April 12. If you want the best of both worlds, you can now get all the best Microsoft tools on your Mac with this Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac 2021 lifetime license. This edition comes with six powerful tools you’ll get access to forever, and now you can get them all for just $59.97 — just $10 each — until April 12. Mac users, listen up. You can now enjoy all the perks of Microsoft’s best tools, while still enjoying the power and comforts of your Apple device. This Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac 2021 lifetime license equips your Mac with six essentials, and lets you own them outright for just $10 each. Mashable Deals By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt …

Analyst Warns Against Using Microsoft’s Copilot AI on Friday Afternoons

Analyst Warns Against Using Microsoft’s Copilot AI on Friday Afternoons

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech As Microsoft has aggressively pushed its Copilot AI, it’s logged more than a few high-profile errors. Copilot has been found hallucinating police reports, exposing secure passwords, and digesting confidential emails — prompting security fears as its use in corporate and government settings becomes more common. Dennis Xu, a research analyst at the firm Gartner, went as far as to suggest that companies using Copilot should ban it on Friday afternoons, because by that late juncture in the week, workers might be too checked out to double check its work. According to the Register, that warning — half-joking but half-serious — came at a Gartner panel called “Mitigating the Top 5 Microsoft 365 Copilot Security Risks” held in Sydney, Australia this week. “Copilot makes over-shared documents more accessible,” Xu warned. “This is not a net new risk, but a known risk amplified by AI.” Per the Register, Xu spent 30 minutes talking about the five risks, 20 of which …

Why an up-and-coming indie developer is returning Microsoft’s money | Games

Why an up-and-coming indie developer is returning Microsoft’s money | Games

Published by Sam Flores

Video games are in a funding crisis. Investor money flowed freely during the pandemic gaming boom, but now the well has run dry. It is increasingly difficult, for indie developers especially, to get the capital to make games. It is extremely unusual, then, to hear of a developer returning an investor’s money. Yet that is what Speculative Agency, developers of All Will Rise, have just done. Last year, All Will Rise, a deck-building game about a team of activists fighting for the future of their oligarch-run city, received money from Microsoft as part of a developer acceleration programme. In late-2025, however, the team became aware of No Games for Genocide, a collective of developers, journalists, union organisers and others that came together as a result of Israeli assault on Gaza to protest against “material and commercial ties between the games industry and enabling genocide, war crimes, and the military industrial complex”. No Games for Genocide has urged the games industry and players to boycott Microsoft and Xbox because of the US tech giant’s ties to …

Copilot Health Is Microsoft’s Doctor-Built Spin on Medical AI

Copilot Health Is Microsoft’s Doctor-Built Spin on Medical AI

Published by skeptic

Microsoft is taking a major swing at health AI. The company announced on Thursday that it’s introducing Copilot Health, a new experience inside its chatbot that will bring together all your medical records and wearable data with an AI that’s designed to help you understand it all. “We are really on the cusp of building a true medical superintelligence,” said Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft AI CEO. “One that can learn everything about you, all of your health conditions, from your wearable data, your electronic health records, and use that to provide support and insights and intelligence at your fingertips.” A recent Microsoft survey found that mobile Copilot users ask the chatbot health-related queries more than for any other topic. Copilot Health was built to answer those questions. Microsoft’s health AI was fine-tuned by its in-house clinicians and an external panel of hundreds of clinicians in more than 24 countries. It uses the National Academy of Medicine’s framework for evaluating credible medical sources and information from Harvard Medical School via a 2025 licensing agreement. Copilot Health gives …