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Microsoft will halt new Office features for Windows 10 in 2026

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft has quietly revealed that it will stop adding new features to Office apps (Microsoft 365) for Windows 10 users in August 2026. While security updates will remain in place for Office apps running on Windows 10 until October 2028, Microsoft will cut off new feature support gradually next year. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family users will stop getting new features on Wi

Lua beats MicroPython for serious embedded devs

Why Lua Beats MicroPython for Serious Embedded Devs In professional embedded projects, ranging from industrial automation to medical devices and commercial IoT products, developers increasingly favor high-level, lightweight, and easy-to-use environments. While MicroPython has earned praise for rapid prototyping and field deployments on microcontrollers, its active ecosystem is largely centered around hobbyist boards. It is important to note that Python’s greatest strength, its vast library eco

Microsoft Plans to Purge Passwords — Here's How to Protect Yours

Microsoft is moving closer to a password-free future, and if you're still using the Authenticator app to manage logins, big changes are coming fast. Starting Aug. 1, the app will no longer support passwords at all. This shift has already been in motion-new password creation was disabled in June, and autofill support was cut off in July. For years, Microsoft Authenticator was a go-to for managing both multi-factor authentication and saved passwords. But now, it's being refocused to support passk

The U.S. Is Testing Tiny Nuclear Reactors That Can Go Practically Anywhere

In contrast to other technological advances, the objective for next-generation nuclear reactors seems to be to scale down, not up—an initiative backed by the Department of Energy (DOE). Earlier this month, the DOE announced a conditional agreement made with private firms Westinghouse and Radiant to conduct the first reactor tests at its Demonstration on Microreactor Experiment (DOME) facility, located at Idaho National Laboratory. These experiments, featuring two trailer-sized microreactors, w

8 Foods With Microplastics Hidden in Them and How to Limit Your Consumption

It's official: Microplastics are in more than just fish. They seem to be in everything now, even mundane things like chewing gum. UCLA researchers found that microplastics are released directly into our mouths each time we chew a piece. In addition to that, a new study published in Chemistry for Life tested 10 chewing gum brands and found every single one contained microplastics. With something as common as chewing gum becoming a delivery system for microplastics, many people are concerned abou

New Windows 11 build adds self-healing “quick machine recovery” feature

Microsoft is adding a new recovery mode to Windows to help revive crashing PCs. Called quick machine recovery (QMR), this technology enables Windows 11 PCs to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE, also used by Windows install media and IT shops for various recovery and diagnostic purposes), connect to the Internet, and download Microsoft-provided fixes for "widespread boot issues" that could be keeping the PC from booting properly. Initially announced in late 2024 as part of the "W

Have Windows 11 upgrade questions? Here's everything you need to know - before you make the leap

Rustam Kaberov/Getty Images Windows 11 is about to celebrate its fourth anniversary and runs on hundreds of millions of PCs worldwide. When it debuted in 2021, the new version of Microsoft's flagship operating system was arguably an incremental change to Windows 10, with a fresh look and feel on top of core code that was practically identical to its predecessor. The more important change, it turned out, was a new set of hardware compatibility requirements that made many existing PCs ineligible

Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI Fight Is Bigger Than a Contract

I first learned about The Clause from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. During an interview with him in May 2023, I asked about the deal between Microsoft and OpenAI that granted his company exclusive access to the startup’s groundbreaking AI technology. I knew the contract had set a cap on how much profit Microsoft could make from the arrangement, and I asked him what would happen if and when that point was reached. The answer was a bit puzzling. “Fundamentally, their long-term idea is we get to su

Microsoft Outlook hit with hourslong outage

Microsoft 's Outlook email service malfunctioned for over 21 hours Wednesday and Thursday, prompting some people to post on social media about the inability to reach their virtual mailboxes. The issue began at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, according to a dashboard the software company maintains. It affected Outlook.com as well as Outlook mobile apps and desktop programs. At 12:21 ET on Thursday, the Microsoft 365 Status account posted that it was rolling out a fix. "Our configuration c

Windows 11 now uses JScript9Legacy engine for improved security

Microsoft announced that it has replaced the default scripting engine JScript with the newer and more secure JScript9Legacy on Windows 11 version 24H2 and later. The decision is driven by security concerns, as JScript9Legacy is expected to offer better protection against web threats, such as cross-site scripting (XSS), and also improved performance. "To provide a more secure experience, beginning with Windows 11, version 24H2, JScript9Legacy is enabled by default to handle all scripting proces

The ultimate Windows 11 upgrade guide: Everything you need to know

Rustam Kaberov/Getty Images Windows 11 is about to celebrate its fourth anniversary and runs on hundreds of millions of PCs worldwide. When it debuted in 2021, the new version of Microsoft's flagship operating system was arguably an incremental change to Windows 10, with a fresh look and feel on top of core code that was practically identical to its predecessor. The more important change, it turned out, was a new set of hardware compatibility requirements that made many existing PCs ineligible

Can't upgrade your Windows 10 PC? You have 5 options and 3 months to act - before EOS

wragg/Getty Images Have you decided what to do with your Windows 10 PCs when they reach their official end-of-support date three months from now? I can tell you with absolute certainty that Microsoft is not going to back down at the last minute and extend that deadline. But you do have options, including some new ways to continue getting security updates for an extra year, at no cost, thanks to an announcement Microsoft made in late June. Don't procrastinate, though: You'll need to take action

Don't Put Your Takeout Containers in the Microwave. Here's Why

When hunger and laziness coincide, reheating last night's leftovers in the microwave seems like a great idea. But if you reheat them in the plastic container they came in, you could be ingesting microplastics and harmful chemicals. But is plastic contamination as dangerous as experts say? All signs point to yes. Study after study has shown that the resulting chemical exposure of microplastics could pose significant health risks, and has been linked to increases in medical issues like infertilit

Insider Claims Microsoft Saved Half a Billion Dollars by Automating Low-Level Jobs

A Microsoft executive has made a bold — if dubious — claim: that the company has already saved hundreds of millions of dollars as it automates thousands of jobs formerly held by humans. As Bloomberg reports based on insider sources, Microsoft chief commercial officer Judson Althoff said during a recent employee presentation that the tech giant saved more than $500 million using AI in 2024 — and that's just at its call centers. Althoff's comments came just days after the company announced layof

Windows 11’s new Black Screen of Death is now rolling out

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft is now starting to change its Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to a newly designed black version. It’s the first major change to the BSOD since Microsoft added a sad face to the screen in Windows 8, and Microsoft is now removing that frowning face and QR code in favor of a more simplified black screen. The new BSOD is rolling out to Windows 11 Release Preview users today,

Microsoft Outlook hit with hours-long outage

Microsoft 's Outlook email service malfunctioned for several hours Wednesday and Thursday, prompting some people to post on social media about the inability to reach their virtual mailboxes. The issue began at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, according to a dashboard the software company maintains. It affected Outlook.com as well as Outlook mobile apps and desktop programs. At 12:21 ET the Microsoft 365 Status account posted that it was rolling out a fix. "Our configuration changes have e

Microsoft Outlook outage enters hours-long stretch with no resolution

Everybody’s working for the weekend, but Microsoft Outlook clocked out early. The mission-critical email service is facing a widespread, hours-long outage. Microsoft says the Outlook outage means mailbox access may be unavailable for Outlook.com, Outlook Mobile, and Outlook desktop apps. The company also says that it’s working on a fix. We’ve begun a broad expedited deployment of the configuration change across all affected infrastructure. We expect most impacted users will experience relief w

Microsoft Outlook goes down around the world - here's what we know

NurPhoto / Contributor/Getty If you're having trouble logging in to your email this morning, you're (probably) not fired. A massive outage is affecting Microsoft's Outlook service, leaving many people unable to access their email accounts. Also: How passkeys work: The complete guide to your inevitable passwordless future Reports of problems started shortly before 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, but surged just before 7 a.m. ET. As of 9 a.m., reports were still on the rise, indicating there was no resol

Microsoft shares $500M in AI savings internally days after cutting 9,000 jobs

Microsoft’s chief commercial officer Judson Althoff said during a presentation this week that AI tools are boosting productivity across sales, customer service, and software engineering, Bloomberg reports. Althoff noted AI has been so useful that Microsoft was able to save more than $500 million last year in its call center alone. The internal remarks come a week after Microsoft laid off more than 9,000 workers, the company’s third round of layoffs this year that put the total number of affecte

Microsoft Authenticator on iOS moves backups fully to iCloud

Microsoft is rolling out a new backup system in September for its Authenticator app on iOS, removing the requirement to use a Microsoft personal account to back up TOTP secrets and account names. Previously, the Microsoft Authenticator app required iOS users to sign in with a personal Microsoft Account to enable backups, regardless of whether they were using the app for personal or enterprise credentials. This created problems in enterprise environments where organizations often like to keep p

Microsoft confirms Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) sync is broken

Microsoft has confirmed a widespread issue in Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) that prevents organizations from syncing with Microsoft Update and deploying the latest Windows updates. Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is a Microsoft product that allows businesses to manage and distribute Windows updates to computers within their network. By default, WSUS synchronizes with Microsoft Update servers once a day, when it downloads the latest metadata on available Windows updates. Admins ca

Microsoft Patch Tuesday, July 2025 Edition

Microsoft today released updates to fix at least 137 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and supported software. None of the weaknesses addressed this month are known to be actively exploited, but 14 of the flaws earned Microsoft’s most-dire “critical” rating, meaning they could be exploited to seize control over vulnerable Windows PCs with little or no help from users. While not listed as critical, CVE-2025-49719 is a publicly disclosed information disclosure vulnerabilit

All digital Xbox games now carry standardized accessibility tags

Microsoft just announced that all digital games and experiences are now accompanied by clearly labeled and standardized accessibility tags . These Accessible Games Initiative tags are designed to "provide players with clear and consistent information about the accessibility features in video games." They are found on top of the store page. As you can see below, the game South of Midnight includes 13 accessibility features . Clicking "More" leads to a description of each. In this case, the game

OpenAI’s open language model is imminent

Microsoft’s complicated relationship with OpenAI is about to take an interesting turn. As the pair continue to renegotiate a contract to allow OpenAI to restructure into a for-profit company, OpenAI is preparing to release an open language AI model that could drive even more of a wedge between the two companies. Sources familiar with OpenAI’s plans tell me that CEO Sam Altman’s AI lab is readying an open-weight model that will debut as soon as next week with providers other than just OpenAI and

Ingram Micro starts restoring systems after ransomware attack

Ingram Micro has begun restoring systems and business services after suffering a massive SafePay ransomware attack right before the July 4th holiday. Last Thursday, IT distributor and services giant Ingram Micro suffered a global outage, with their website and ordering systems taken offline, and employees told to work from home. Saturday morning, BleepingComputer exclusively reported that a SafePay ransomware attack was behind the outage, with the company confirming a ransomware attack later t

How to get free Windows 10 security updates through October 2026: Two ways

MicroStockHub/Getty Images With just a few months remaining until the Windows 10 end-of-support date, Microsoft seems to have belatedly realized that owners of tens of millions of consumer PCs running Windows 10 aren't ready to replace their old computers, and they're also not about to fork over $30 for a one-year Extended Security Updates (ESU) subscription. So, at the end of June, just days before the end of its fiscal year, the company waved the white flag and announced new "free enrollment

Video Games Weekly: Every time this industry grows, it shrinks

Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget. Please enjoy — and I'll see you next week. In a 2024 interview wit

Microsoft Surface Laptop (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) Hits a Price That Makes Old Tags Look Silly Thanks to Prime Day

Happy Prime Day to all who celebrate. This week you can all sorts of excellent deals across every product category at Amazon from laptops to treadmills to food processors to other laptops. If that happens to be exactly what you’re in the market for, you should pay attention to this Microsoft Surface deal. This 2024 touchscreen laptop is part of this week of savings and you can chop off 34% from the price. It’s normally $1,200, but for a limited time you can grab it for just $790. That’s bring it

I love Microsoft’s new 12-inch Surface Pro and it’s $685 for Prime Day

is a deputy editor with 18 years of experience writing and editing product reviews, gadgets and business news. Previously, he was a deputy editor covering technology companies at CNBC. Microsoft’s new 12-inch Surface Pro is awesome, and at $115 off at Best Buy, it’s a fantastic deal to jump on during Amazon Prime Day. Both Amazon and Microsoft are selling it for $699.99. No matter where you buy it, you can use the discount to cover most of the cost of the $150 keyboard, which anyone who’s inter

Windows 11 KB5062553 & KB5062552 cumulative updates released

Microsoft has released Windows 11 KB5062553 and KB5062552 cumulative updates for versions 24H2 and 23H2 to fix security vulnerabilities and issues. Today's updates are mandatory as they contain the July 2025 Patch Tuesday security patches for vulnerabilities discovered in previous months. You can install today's update by going to Start > Settings > Windows Update and clicking on 'Check for Updates.' You can also manually download and install the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Wha