When it comes to PC backup, one size doesn’t fit all. Not only does the built-in backup functionality in Windows vary—sometimes wildly—from version to version, but users’ needs and wants vary. With that in mind, and guided by your feedback, I’d like to start thinking about—and then writing—a series about PC backup. Here’s where my…

As expected, Microsoft announced its latest smart phones, the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL, at its Mobile World Congress press conference this morning. Unfortunately, there were no major surprises during the event—let alone any other new phones, which was a bit surprising—though Microsoft did again confirm that there would be no more flagship Lumias…

Microsoft announced this week that the latest game in the critically-acclaimed Fable series of cooperative role-playing games will be free to play on Windows and Xbox One. As interesting, the game will let games on Windows and Xbox One play together, and it will support DirectX 12 when Windows 10 launches later this year. As…

With Windows Phone 8.1.1 and the Lumia Denim firmware update finally shipping to the Lumia 830, you may be wondering which Denim features you get and which you don’t on Microsoft’s “affordable flagship.” The good news? You get all the important stuff, and a nice performance bump as well. Of course, the most confusing thing…

As I understand the schedule, the Nokia Lumia 930 is the last Lumia flagship to be released until Windows 10 hits the streets in the second half of 2015. As such, it will have a year-long reign atop the market for Windows Phone handsets. Which is fine: the Lumia 930 isn’t just the greatest Windows…

HP hit a home run with its Stream 11 and Stream 13 laptops, so it’s no surprise that the PC maker is trying to extend this success with other product types. The HP Stream 7 is the firm’s entry-level tablet, and while it lacks the svelte form factor of competing mini-tablets, at less than $100,…

While the world has clearly moved on to HD video, many of us still have massive DVD collections and would like to make this content available digitally so that it can be enjoyed on mobile devices and streamed to screens around the home via Plex or similar solutions. So here’s how I rip DVD movies and…

If you’re lucky enough to own one of a select few, mostly high-end Lumia smart phones, and are further lucky enough to have been updated to the very latest system update—Windows Phone 8.1.1 plus the Lumia Denim firmware—then you are in for a treat in the form of a new version of the Lumia Camera…

When Microsoft purchased Acompli in December 2014, I knew the software giant had made a great choice: this stunning mobile app faithfully replicated the Microsoft Outlook experience on iPhone, iPad, and Android handsets and tablets. But now the transformation is official: Microsoft is rebranding Acompli as Outlook on those platforms, where it will eventually replace…

The Lumia Denim update enables you to download a new version of the Lumia camera app that includes some impressive new features, but only on certain phones.

Microsoft Band is powerful but confusing, and before you can even start tracking your activity there’s so much to learn. So here’s a quick rundown of the things you need to understand to use this new fitness tracker most effectively. The basics, if you will. Note: This article is excerpted from my free e-book, Microsoft…

Microsoft on Friday issued the latest Community Technical Preview release for Visual Studio 2015. CTP 5, as it’s called, is not a major update, but it adds new debugging and diagnostics, XAML language service, and ASP.NET 5 features, and various other changes since the last CTP from November 2014. Microsoft provides a complete list of…

In an unprecedented move, Microsoft has started providing detailed documentation about which issues were fixed in the latest Surface firmware updates. Now this is the kind of transparency we’ve been asking for. I just wrote about January’s firmware updates, which apply only to the Surface Pro, Pro 2 and Pro 3 models, and Surface RT or…

One of Microsoft’s most crucial cloud technologies is in flux as the software giant works to consolidate sync engines and clients across the multiple desktop and mobile platforms it supports. But make no mistake: OneDrive will emerge from this year better than ever, and it will work more consistently everywhere. Here’s how we get from…