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Been putting off that free Windows 11 or 10 upgrade? Windows 7 and 8 diehards need to move fast
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Microsoft just implemented something we never thought we’d see the software giant do – namely closing the loophole allowing for Windows 7 and 8 users to upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 at no cost.

We need to rewind time considerably to return to the start of this particular story, all the way back to when Windows 10 was first launched, and Windows 7 and 8 users were allowed a free upgrade to the new OS.

That freebie offer only lasted for a year after the launch of Windows 10, officially, but even after the deadline expired, it actually remained in place.

In short, anyone with a valid Windows 7 or 8 key could still upgrade their PC to Windows 10 just fine (and by extension, Windows 11 too, when that emerged – assuming the various additional system requirements were met including TPM).

Essentially, this was a loophole Microsoft never bothered to close – until now, because as Windows Central spotted, the company just made an official announcement that this unofficial upgrade path is now blocked (with a caveat).

The software giant said: “Microsoft’s free upgrade offer for Windows 10 / 11 ended July 29, 2016. The installation path to obtain the Windows 7 / 8 free upgrade is now removed as well. Upgrades to Windows 11 from Windows 10 are still free.”

However, as Windows Central points out, it’s important to note that technically, an upgrade is still possible as we write this. This change has just been applied with Windows 11 preview builds for now, but it will come through to the release version of the OS before long, no doubt.

So, if you do want to avail yourself of a free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8, you better move sharpish. It may even no longer be possible by the time you read this.

Analysis: An unexpected development

This is something we didn’t believe would ever happen, frankly, simply because the free upgrade has remained in place, on the sly, for so long. As Microsoft points out, the offer officially expired in mid-2016, over seven years ago – yes, seven years.

So, we just figured, like many others, that Microsoft was happy enough to let Windows 7 and 8 users continue to upgrade at no expense. Our presumption was that bolstered adoption figures for newer versions of Windows were to be welcomed. Apparently, this is no longer a concern for Microsoft (if it ever was – but we can’t imagine why the loophole remained open if it wasn’t).

Anyhow, as we observed above, act quickly if you have been holding off an upgrade, but intend to make the move. You may not have long at all left to pull the trigger.

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The Apple Vision Pro means Samsung’s own XR headset has been delayed
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The arrival of the Apple Vision Pro has apparently forced a delay in the launch of Samsung's own XR (Extended Reality) headset: the Samsung device is now expected to launch in mid-2024 or later, after having originally been slated for February 2024.

This comes from SBS Biz (via SamMobile), and the story seems to be that seeing the Vision Pro forced Samsung executives to rethink their own device. An upgrade to the display sharpness is one of the possible reasons given for the delay.

Clearly Samsung doesn't want to come out of the gate with a headset that's notably inferior to Apple's own product, even if it's also cheaper. The Vision Pro costs $ 3,499 (about £2,725 / AUS$ 5,230), and is expected to only be available in limited numbers for a while.

Details on exactly what the Samsung XR headset is going to offer are still thin on the ground at this stage, though it is believed to be running Google's Android software, and powered by a Qualcomm chipset of some description.

Choose your reality

All these different versions of reality can take some time to get used to. The XR (or Extended Reality) that Samsung prefers is actually referring to all the different types of related technology that we've seen to date.

Augmented reality (AR) is where digital objects are overlaid on top of the real world. Then there's virtual reality (VR), which refers to completely self-contained digital environments. Mixed reality (MR) generally means enhanced AR, where digital objects are aware of and interact with the physical world around them.

The Vision Pro is usually referred to as a mixed reality device, whereas the Meta Quest 3 is mostly concerned with virtual reality. Extended reality, or XR, is generally taken to mean a combination of AR, VR, and MR – though there's still a lot of confusion, as tech companies tend to all use these terms in different ways.

We'll have to wait and see what Samsung has been building and what it's capable of, but the extra time in development should mean a better device – and a more worthy competitor to the Vision Pro when it finally does see the light of day.

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Windows 11 SSD slowdown bug has been hanging around for months – and people are fed up
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Windows 11 continues to have a problem for some users whereby their SSD speeds are being seriously slowed down, and it’s still not clear what Microsoft might be doing about this issue.

Windows Latest highlights the ongoing stream of reports about SSD slowdowns which first began back in March 2023 (with update KB5023778).

Since then, after every cumulative update for Windows 11, including the update for June, there have been folks complaining about performance being hampered with even the best SSDs.

That also includes the June preview (optional) update, which will become the July update a week tomorrow (July 11), and so is very likely to carry the problem.

Windows Latest points to a whole string of complaints on Reddit and Microsoft’s Feedback Hub for Windows 11 (as well as the tech site’s own forums).

Here’s one example of an affected user on Reddit: “Yes, I only encountered this issue after I installed the Moment 2 update [March update] before Moment 2 everything was fast and responsive. To this day none of the patches fixed the bug for me. Microsoft should really fix game-breaking bugs before working on releasing new features.”

With the latest preview update for June (that’ll become July’s update, as mentioned), another complaint runs like this: “Oh, so there actually is a storage bug going on? My NVME SSD has around 1200 MB/s sequential write speed right now, it should be up to 4400 MB/S. Read speeds are normal.”

Analysis: Let’s have some communication here, Microsoft

We have to agree with the Windows Latest report, as we’ve definitely noticed that with the notes for every patch release on Reddit, there’s an SSD complaint in there somewhere. Either someone new hit by the issue, or people asking if the slowdown gremlin has been fixed for other folks, as it hasn’t for them. Invariably, the answer is no, it hasn’t.

So, what’s Microsoft doing about this? We’ve not seen any official replies on those mentioned threads, and according to Windows Latest, Microsoft has confirmed it has received these bug reports, but hasn’t said anything further. That’s far from ideal, of course, even if this isn’t a hugely widespread problem (we’re not entirely sure of the scale of the numbers of those affected, but there are certainly a fair few folks out there complaining).

Needless to say, those in that particular boat are none too pleased, and are bemoaning Microsoft working on new features – and lauding the likes of DirectStorage for speeding up PC games and SSD loading speeds – while leaving a flaw like this apparently unaddressed over a period of months now.

Microsoft can surely do better, if not in delivering a fix for what seems to be a pretty clear problem at this point, then at least in letting us all know what’s going on. As of right now we don’t even know if this is on any priority lists for being investigated, let alone resolved.

If we had to guess, the drive slowdown problem may be tied to multiple issues – which is perhaps why new folks seemingly keep finding themselves affected down the line – and this is a messy one for Microsoft to untangle. It’d be nice to get an update on exactly what’s going on to tackle this, though, and hopefully we’ll see that soon enough.

Meanwhile, your only recourse if affected is to uninstall the update that caused the SSD to hit performance issues. But of course, that leaves you without the latest security fixes, which could be an even bigger problem ultimately, if you get unlucky.

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Windows XP activation has been cracked – for those desperate enough to still use it
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The activation algorithm for Windows XP has been cracked, so those stuck not being able to get the ancient operating system working can now do so – and yes, there are folks who still use this OS.

Granted, it’s a seriously slim – vanishingly so – niche of Windows users, and we’ll come back to that. For most of us, though, this is just a curiosity.

As The Register reports, the encryption algorithm for Windows XP product activation has been cracked and reimplemented, with the details provided via a tinyapps blog post.

This means anyone can now generate a valid product key to install and activate Windows XP offline.

Microsoft turned off the servers required to activate Windows XP long ago, so you can’t use a genuine old product key to activate the OS. Well, not online anyway, though from what we can see on Reddit, Microsoft still facilitated a product activation on the phone back in 2020 – and The Register reckons this way still works.

Analysis: Desperate times, desperate measures…

So, if you don’t want to get on the phone and try to persuade Microsoft to activate your Windows XP when you have a genuine product key that can’t be validated online anymore, you can simply do-it-yourself at home (or in the office) with no fuss.

Why would you ever want to use Windows XP, though? Yes, it was a much-loved operating system without a doubt, for many reasons – mainly that it was such a big step forward for performance, and the quality of the interface, over its predecessor – but it’s obviously ridiculously outdated at this point in time.

However, some people must remain on Windows XP due to legacy software or hardware that won’t work with any more modern Microsoft operating system. These are most likely businesses, who might, say, have eye-wateringly expensive machines that only work with software that runs on XP and hasn’t been updated in forever.

In those cases, this crack could prove very useful, but clearly, anyone running Windows XP is exposing themselves to a whole lot of potential pain in terms of the vulnerabilities present in the OS. Which is why if you are in this boat, whatever you do, keep that Windows XP installation offline for obvious reasons.

Are you now wondering how many Windows XP users are still out there? According to the latest from analytics firm Statcounter, XP amounts to a 0.35% userbase out of all Windows versions (not all that far behind Windows 8, Microsoft’s most recently defunct OS which is on 1.28% as of April 2023).

Cracking rusty old Microsoft operating systems appears to be quite the trend at the moment. You may recall that Windows 95’s (relatively flimsy) activation was recently hacked, with a twist – ChatGPT was fooled into generating keys that worked with the OS (in a small number of cases).

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Microsoft is releasing the .NET update you’ve all been waiting for
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Although Microsoft's .NET open source framework only just celebrated its 20th birthday the company is now pushing ahead with a new version, .NET 7. 

In a blog post, Microsoft says it is releasing .NET 7 Preview 1 alongside ASP.NET Core Preview 1 and EF7 Preview 1.

“.NET 7 builds on the foundation established by .NET 6, which includes a unified set of base libraries, runtime, and SDK, a simplified development experience, and higher developer productivity,” says Microsoft's Jeremy Likness. “Major areas of focus for .NET 7 include improved support for cloud native scenarios, tools to make it easier to upgrade legacy projects, and simplifying the developer experience by making it easier to work with containers.” 

Open source forever and always 

If you use .NET for work (or pleasure), then it's worth reading the full blog for the details on what's new over .NET 6 as there's a lot. 

Some headline features is the addition of .NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI), and new tools to make it easier to build cloud-native apps by simplifying the setup and configuration necessary to implement secure authentication and authorization, and also improving the performance of application startup and runtime execution.

Developers will be able to easily and quickly upgrade their .NET 6 apps to the new platform, with Microsoft providing a range of support tools and services.

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>The love for open source software is showing no signs of slowing down

>Windows 11 will soon be closed off to anyone without internet

>Windows 11 Pro will soon force you to make a Microsoft account

After many years opposing open source, Microsoft is really leaning into making the space better. It's fair to say many developers were initially sceptical of Microsoft and it's commitment to making open source tools as the company, seeking to maintain its dominant position, opposed many developers and projects. 

But Microsoft's GitHub acquisition for $ 7.5 billion in 2018 helped the company turn a new page and win over sceptics. 

By maintaining .NET 7 – which is truly open source and cross-platform – so thoroughly (you could even say lovingly), Microsoft is doing its bit for the furtherance of computing.  

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Microsoft shares some good Windows 11 news we’ve all been waiting for
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If you were worried that you’d have to wait a while before Windows 11 gets any major new features, then Microsoft has just shared some good news, which means the new operating system will get updated and improved far more regularly than first thought.

Microsoft had initially said that it would be only releasing a single annual feature update for Windows 11 each year, which led some people to worry that they would have to wait 12 months for new features to come to their PCs.

However, as ZDNet has discovered, in a new blog post about the Windows Insider program, Microsoft states that: “We will deliver updates to features and experiences in builds from the Dev and Beta Channels by releasing Feature, Web, and Online Service Experience Packs on top of these builds too.”

This means there will be three ‘Experience Pack’ updates alongside the annual feature updates. Rather than bringing a range of features, bug fixes and security upgrades across the whole of the Windows 11 operating system, as a major feature update does, these new Experience Packs will focus on adding or expanding features for particular aspects of the operating system.

So, Online Service Experience Packs will focus on adding features related to how Windows 11 manages online services and accounts – such as changing or improving the ‘Your Microsoft Account’ settings page.

Web Experience Packs will add features to do with browsing the internet, as well as features within Windows 11 that use the internet to bring you news and information. ZDNet spoke to Microsoft, which clarified that “the Web Experience Pack is updated through the Microsoft Store (while the Feature Experience Packs and Online Service Packs will be updated through Windows Update). The Web Experience Pack will allow Microsoft to update things like the Widgets experience in Windows 11.”

Finally, Feature Experience Packs will contain more broader features, such as updates to legacy apps to make them feel more modern.

Analysis: Keep the improvements coming

These new Experience Packs will be released independently of the annual major operating system updates, and this is good news for several reasons.

As we mentioned earlier, it means that you don’t have to wait a year for new features to be added. While in our Windows 11 review we said there’s a lot to like about the new operating system, it’s still not perfect. By having a regular new features coming to the operating system, Windows 11 will continue to evolve, while feeling fresh and exciting.

There’s another benefit as well. Microsoft’s move to single annual major updates for Windows 11 (and Windows 10, which is getting the same treatment) is a welcome move in many respects. It should reduce the number of times a user gets bugged to download, install and restart their PC. It’s also no secret that Microsoft has having some pretty major issues with recent Windows 10 updates. By focusing on a single update, there’s a hope that Microsoft will be able to ensure these updates are much better built and tested, hopefully reducing any potential problems.

However, if Microsoft kept all of its updates to a single download once per year, that could lead to very large and complex updates. By separating features to their own updates, this will reduce the size of the annual update.

Adding new features to an operating system is also fraught with complexities, and this is where issues sometimes arise. If a new feature is added that doesn’t work as expected – or ends up breaking other parts of the operating system – it should hopefully be easier for Microsoft to identify and fix if it’s part of a smaller Experience Pack update, rather than causing issues in a major annual update (which will also inevitably lead to bad PR).

So, this is good news from Microsoft regarding Windows 11. Hopefully the days of major issues after updating Windows are behind us.

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This eagerly-awaited Microsoft Teams update has been delayed
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Fluent Design is Microsoft's design language that the company is rolling out to Windows 11 and other apps throughout the year. But Microsoft Teams is going to have to wait slightly longer for its own update for Fluent emojis.

The update was scheduled for November 2021, but it looks as though emoji, and other features, will be coming soon in a significant update for Teams users.

Its online collaboration platform is reaching its fifth year in 2022, with the pandemic being a significant part of its growth of 250 million users so far. However, with Skype still being maintained by Microsoft as well, the new features for Teams need to differentiate itself from being a good platform for businesses to an essential one.

A fluent delay of features

While Fluent design has been available for Windows 11 and Office 2022, it's also expanded to other apps, such as Paint, Calendar, and other apps by Microsoft.

However, Teams is scheduled to reap the benefits of Fluent design in February, alongside live transcripts of calls, better meeting options, and other features that are coming to the app in 2022.

Video filters were also delayed from August to March this year, where you can customize your appearance before joining a conference call.

Many of these features should prove useful to many, but it depends if some of these are further delayed so that the Fluent design can be finished for Teams in March.

Via MSPowerUser

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Microsoft Teams is finally getting the update you’ve all been waiting for
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Working together with others outside your organization in Microsoft Teams will soon be possible thanks to a new update to Microsoft's online collaboration tool.

Workgroups often extend beyond one's organization with employees connecting with multiple external stakeholders including customers, vendors and partners. However, up until now, users had to rely on different software or even personal apps to collaborate with them.

Not only does this require employees to use multiple apps which takes longer and can reduce their productivity, it also creates security risks for both workers and their companies.

For this reason, Microsoft is currently working on two updates that leverage Microsoft Teams Connect and the secure access capabilities of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to make cross-organizational collaboration easier for businesses.

Cross-organizational collaboration

The first update involves shared channels which allow individuals and teams across multiple organizations to work together in Microsoft Teams. When this feature becomes available in preview early next year, shared channels will appear within each Member's Teams tenant alongside other teams and channels. 

Users will also be able to schedule a shared channel meeting, use other Microsoft apps like Office and share each channel with up to 50 teams and as many organizations as they need.  Meanwhile, admins can use cross-tenant access settings in Azure AD to configure granular and differentiated trust relationships for external collaboration with different organizations.

Microsoft is also working on another update scheduled to rollout by the end of this year that will enable Teams users to chat with others outside their network including those using Teams personal accounts. They'll be able to invite any Teams user to chat using an email address or phone number while remaining within the security and compliance policies of their organization.

Cross-organizational collaboration is the Teams update many users have been waiting for as it will allow Microsoft's collaboration tool and video conferencing software to become a one-stop-shop for all of their business dealings both internally and externally.

Looking to improve your Microsoft Teams experience? Check out our roundups of the best business webcams, best headsets for conference calls and best video conferencing software

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