Most popular stories of 2015: Microsoft

Jos

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Microsoft had a 'make it or break it' year in 2015 with the release of Windows 10. A few months later and we think it's safe to say they have made it. It's a freshly minted Microsoft with Satya Nadella at the helm and we have high hopes for the company in the near future. Surely, the new operating system dominated the scene, here are Microsoft's most popular stories of 2015...

#10 Windows 7 enters 'extended support' phase today, here's what you need to know

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Microsoft's Windows 7 crosses yet another threshold on its way to eventual irrelevance. As of January 13, 2015, it has exited mainstream support.

#9 Is Windows 10 Free? Yes, and No. An Explainer

In the run-up to the Windows 10 launch Microsoft sent mixed signals about who gets a free upgrade and who doesn't. This is an overview of the different upgrade paths.

#8 Microsoft says Edge browser will not support Silverlight

With Microsoft finally replacing Internet Explorer, a number of changes are being made to its replacement, even the Silverlight media player plugin will be left in the past too.

#7 Microsoft says no new version coming after Windows 10, only incremental updates

Microsoft confirms move away from big releases in favor of smaller incremental updates that continually evolve the OS, calls Windows 10 the last version of Windows.

#6 Microsoft is making Windows 10 an automatic update next year

As Windows 10 passes the 100 million install mark, Microsoft says the operating system will move from 'Optional' to 'Recommended Update' in Windows Update.

#5 Developers, Developers: Windows 10 as a unified platform, runs Android/iOS apps, Continuum & more

Microsoft's Build 2015 opening keynote set a clear tone for the 3-day conference by establishing that it's all about developers. This is Microsoft going back to its roots.

#4 New for Windows 10: free update for most, Spartan revealed, local game streaming, holograms and more

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Microsoft executives detail many of the things coming to the Windows platform accross different consumer, business and even prototype devices.

#3 Microsoft turns 40, Bill Gates writes anniversary letter to company's employees

Microsoft, one of the most significant companies in the history of computing, turned 40 years old in 2015. In celebration of the anniversary Bill Gates sent a letter to employees.

#2 Pirates are able to upgrade to genuine versions of Windows 10

User reports online say the upgrade path for pirates is granting fully activated copies of Windows 10 – complete with product keys to use for fresh installs.

#1 Follow these instructions to get 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage free for the next two years

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Microsoft announces a promotion in which they’re offering up 100GB of cloud storage space on OneDrive absolutely free. Here’s everything you need to know.

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I think the most exciting news around Microsoft were hardware related.

I agree. Win 10 is nice and makes hardware look much better, but the real stand-out moments for MS in 2015 were the new Surface Pro and Book. I wonder if they can do as good a job with the Surface Phone? Hope so as I still think their tiled OS is more innovative and usable than the tired old icons on iOS and Android. Its always the 'App Gap' that they fail with though! They need to shovel truck-loads of money at the top 100 app developers to ensure they bring out and support apps for Win10/Phone - get the ball rolling.
 
Windows 10 adoption has slowed to a crawl, Windows Mobile/Phone/whatever their calling it this month is dead as a doornail, Surface still isn't selling worth a darn, Windows 10 security nightmares are driving people to other platforms..if that's your measure of success, might want to think again. Microsoft makes 99% of its money from the enterprise, anyway. Their the new IBM.
 
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