The latest phish to go around arrives in your inbox as a Microsoft Azure Alert: This email is quite convincing. The sender’s address truly is from a Microsoft.com domain, so it is likely to skirt your spam filter. It uses real Microsoft graphics and links. The language is fairly clean. There’s a lot of truthiness … Read more
A lot of advanced Windows tweaks require the use of the Group Policy Editor tool. But Microsoft doesn’t include that in Home editions of Windows (which is most store-bought PCs these days). You don’t have to spend money on a Windows Upgrade. Here’s how to add the Group Policy Editor to any Windows computer for … Read more
I’m sorry for the clunky title, but this nasty business is hard to name. The Outlook Reappearing-Scam-Email Hack is really troublesome, and only seems to affect Microsoft-based email addresses (often ending in Outlook/Live/Hotmail.com). And that’s because the hackers are using some unique Microsoft weaknesses with this hijack. I can’t fully explain their techniques yet, but … Read more
PC users have used the Windows Notepad program for decades. It’s a barebones text editor that came out in the 80’s to help introduce user to the “computer mouse”. Over the years, it’s seen some modest tweaks and upgrades, but now I think Microsoft has gone too far. Their AI now appears inside of our … Read more
For all of 2025, there’s been a lot of concern about the future of Windows 10 and its updates. I’ve blogged about it a couple of times, and now people are finally getting to opt-in and keep their Win10 PCs safe for another year. And I must assure you — in most cases, it is … Read more
For anyone on a Windows 10 computer who also uses TurboTax Desktop software, I have some bad news for you. It looks like the TurboTax Desktop 2025 software will require Windows 11 to run. TurboTax Desktop (for tax year 2025) will refuse to install on a Windows 10 machine. So Windows 10 / TurboTax software … Read more
In January, I blogged about how Windows 10 computers really don’t need to be retired in October 2025. Microsoft will grant a reprieve (stay of execution?), even though Windows 10’s end-of-support date is 10/14/2025. If you missed my first post on this topic, you may want to check it out before we get into the … Read more
In 2025, Microsoft is pushing their “new” Outlook app on their PCs. It’s not going so well. The new Outlook for Windows app doesn’t work well with all email accounts, lacks critical features and shows built-in ads. Adoption rates are low. Users of the “classic” Outlook email client (born in 1997!) usually remain loyal and … Read more
Beginning with Windows 8, Microsoft reorganized their OS, so that you could change system settings through the Settings Panel. The Control Panel disappeared from the Start Menu, to encourage people to move on and get used to the new way of adjusting OS behavior. But the Windows’ Classic Control Panel is still there, always has … Read more
Publisher users, take note! Microsoft retires their beloved Publisher app in October 2026. If this affects you, here’s what to know and do in preparation: What You Will See Happen For now, absolutely nothing changes. If you have MS Publisher installed on your PC, it will work as expected up until October 2026. In October … Read more