Stories by Mark Hachman

Microsoft skips way, way ahead in new Windows 10 build

Microsoft is offering '20H1' builds of Windows 10 for testing. Yes, that's the build due in early 2020.

Zoho Office Suite taps AI to provide a free, powerful alternative to Office 365

Zoho has integrated its Zia AI into the latest version of the Zoho Office Suite, which provides sophisticated yet free alternatives to Microsoft's own Office apps.

Skype's cool, useful background-blurring feature goes live for the PC and Mac

Skype's new background-blurring feature draws attention away from the clutter and puts it back on you. It's easy and it's free.

Microsoft dismisses Office 2019 as old and dumb, promotes Office 365 subscriptions

Microsoft has come right out and said it: It would rather Office 2019 just went away, so that everyone would buy Office 365 subscriptions instead.

Google's Password Checkup plugin for Chrome can warn you if your password was stolen

When you log into a site, Google's Password Checkup plugin for Chrome will check whether your credentials have been compromised.

Microsoft uses AI to bring the Met's art collection to the web—and your Instagram

Micosoft's Azure services, including AI, have been applied to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in five hackathon projects.

Microsoft reportedly wants to use Xbox Live to support cross-platform games like Fortnite

Microsoft reportedly plans to announce an initiative in March to bring games on Android, iOS and Switch to its Xbox Live platform.

A second, massive Collections leak of 2.2 billion email addresses probably has your information

Remember the Collections #1 data breach about a week ago? Well, there's more: Collections #2 to #5 have leaked, bringing the estimated total of stolen email addresses online to 2.19 billion.

Intel starts slow, steady course away from the PC

Intel's seventh chief executive is something of a closed book. From what he's said, however, it appears that Bob Swan is choosing to stay the course.

Huawei Matebook 13 review: a powerful GPU and Whiskey Lake chip propel this compact notebook

Huawei's Matebook 13 combines Intel's latest Whiskey Lake Core chip and the power of a discrete GPU to deliver a high-performance yet compact 13-inch notebook that's priced right, too.

Microsoft's Surface sales soar to nearly $2 billion, though chip shortages are hurting

Microsoft reported healthy profits and revenue for its second fiscal quarter, fueled by unexpectedly high Surface demand that is pushing Windows to the side. But Windows could rebound if chipmakers would just make enough processors, execs said.

Recent antivirus tests are bad news for paid security suites

If you want a basic antivirus service to protect your PC, the December tests performed by AV-Test.org indicate that Windows' own Windows Defender can do the job without worry.

AMD and Nvidia's unsettled earnings suggest lower GPU prices could hang on

Though AMD reported healthy fourth-quarter profits and revenue, it pointed to a continued oversupply in the GPU market that implies that Nvidia and AMD graphics cards will remain cheap for for a month or two.

How to use Microsoft Word's Resume Assistant to look for a new job... on LinkedIn

Yes, the Resume Assistant within Microsoft Word will help you polish your resume, but it's more of a portal to LinkedIn's own job network.

Windows 10's April 2019 Update should be as straightforward as its name

Microsoft's next feature update appears to be officially named the Windows 10 April 2019 Update, reflecting the spit and polish Microsoft is emphasizing, as opposed to new features.