Microsoft has blocked rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update on systems using Intel Integrated Graphics with specific driver versions. Apparently audio playback, when using a monitor connected to the IGP, will no longer work after the upgrade to October Update.

According to Microsoft, the underlying reason for the issue is that "Intel inadvertently released versions of its display driver [...] to OEMs that accidentally turned on unsupported features in Windows."

If you want to work around this, then check your Intel driver version using GPU-Z. If you see "24.20.100.6344" or "24.20.100.6345", just upgrade your graphics drivers and you should be good to go.

Sony's announcement of the Playstation team skipping E3 2019 took everyone by surprise aside from a few on Reddit who had paid attention to a thread created the day before. Reddit user RuthenicCookie seemed to know a lot more about Sony's plans for their popular game console for the next few years, as well as game titles supporting this current console generation and the next. Amidst a lot of the tasty rumor bits that should interest console gamers, something more relevant to us directly is the mention of the Playstation 5 to continue using AMD for processing power.

This is a logical move to just about everyone familiar with the industry, and Sony needed to up the CPU horsepower in particular to compete with the XBOX One X and offer a true 4K/60 FPS solution for gaming without framerate drops galore. As such, said redditor shared information saying that the current plans involve an 8-core Ryzen-based processor and an estimated console price point of $500. Sony may well share a teaser about the console next year, with retail availability expected in the holiday season 2020 (two years from now, thus). As such, developer kits are likely already ready meaning the specs are finalized as well. This may mean we will see either the first or second gen Ryzen APUs, and not Ryzen 2 as many may have hoped. No word yet on what Microsoft is cooking in their side of the kitchen, but incremental console updates means we may see a Ryzen 2-powered console sooner than later as well.

FIDO 2 has been making the rounds for a while as a hardware solution that replaces the dated usage of passwords. Via a hardware token, users with a FIDO 2-enabled drive are able to skip manual introduction of any authentication in both Windows (version 1809 and up) or any supporting website (with a browser that supports the FIDO 2/WebAuthn API. It basically creates a security key using cryptography, where the user only has to press a button on the security key to log into a website. Microsoft has partnered with Yubico for a while now on developing this security mechanism, and the company's FIDO 2 keys are now compatible with the OS.

Microsoft is working on the first major game console to lack physical game media, targeted at markets where downloaded content is prevalent. The console could be a variant of the existing Xbox One / Xbox One S, but will be slightly cheaper for lacking the roughly-$25 optical drive. For those stuck with physical copies of games, Microsoft could roll out a "disc-to-digital" programme that converts your physical disc ownership to a digital ownership.

The way "disc-to-digital" works is you take your physical games to a participating brick-and-mortar retailer, who will verify that the disc is authentic (you probably wouldn't need to provide proof of purchase). Once a disc is deemed authentic, the authorised retailer will keep the physical copy in exchange to adding the game to your Xbox account. To play the game, simply download it to your console's hard drive and play. You can also download to external USB storage devices if your hard drive runs out of space. For some regions, there could even be "mail-in" services. Microsoft could target very specific markets with the console, in which Internet access is both affordable and fast, and in which there already are many customers with large digital libraries. The company is unlikely to stop selling consoles with optical drives, but those will be slightly pricier.

Originally Microsoft shelved the Windows 10 October 2018 feature update after a data-destroying bug among other problems was detected just days after its initial rollout. Now with more than a month has passed they are finally re-releasing the update after having "thoroughly investigated and resolved" the issues, according to Microsoft's John Cable, director of Program Management for Windows Servicing and Delivery.

The decision to re-release the update was reached after the careful study of diagnostic data from millions of Windows Insiders showed no further evidence of data loss. Currently, the update is only available via media and manual updates, automatic updates will be coming later. This is because Microsoft is taking a slower more methodical approach to their updates. Taking more time for careful study of device health data in order to improve the overall user experience. This new approach will take problems like application incompatibility among other things into account in order to make sure future updates do not automatically install unless known issues have been resolved. This should help reduce the frequency of problems end users encounter.

CORSAIR , a world leader in PC gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced compatibility with the Microsoft Xbox One for CORSAIR wired and wireless keyboards and mice, following Microsoft's recent announcement of expanded peripheral support for the console. Now, players can take advantage of CORSAIR's award-winning gaming peripherals to play keyboard and mouse-enabled games on a whole new platform-Xbox One.

With the console's new compatibility with keyboards and mice, developers can now choose to add support for those devices to their games. The first announced Xbox One game titles to receive peripheral support include Fortnite, Warframe, and Minecraft, with many more games planned for future compatibility. Microsoft is focused on working with developers to ensure that these games are fun, fair, and properly balanced no matter how players decide to control them.

We don't know when, but it seems AMD will someday have support for DirectX Raytracing , a feature introduced by Microsoft on March 2018. David Wang, Senior Vice President of Engineering at AMD's Radeon Technologies Group, told so in an interview on the Japanese gaming website 4Gamer. Overclock3D confirmed the comments with the assistance of a Japanese speaker who helped to translate the interview without misunderstandings. It's important to clarify that what Wang said was "a personal view", not an official statement from AMD.

Nevertheless, this executive seems to be that "AMD will definitely respond to DXR", although right now the company is focused on improving its current CG production environment based on Radeon ProRenderer. Wang went further on his comments and told also that "the spread of Ray-Tracing's game will not go unless the GPU will be able to use Ray-Tracing in all ranges from low end to high end". Therefore he thinks that ray tracing technology will not become mainstream until there is support for all types of products, from low-end to high-end, but that doesn't mean that AMD won't offer that support gradually when it sees fit. And he seems to think it will be entirely appropriate at some point, and that's what's important.

As if the missing files bug with Windows 10 version 1809 was not enough, Microsoft has more on their plate to tackle with some reports coming from consumers that their Windows 10 Pro digital license was suddenly showing up as deactivated. This was reported by multiple Reddit users first, in an account that seemed to not be restricted to any specific region either. Indeed, many of the affected got further notices by the OS that the license was for Windows 10 Home instead, and that they had to now install that specific variant.

To their credit, Microsoft were quick to take notice of this obvious bug and one of their support team members went on to say that "Microsoft has just released an Emerging issue announcement about current activation issue related to Pro edition recently. This happens in Japan, Korea, American and many other countries. I am very sorry to inform you that there is a temporary issue with Microsoft's activation server at the moment and some customers might experience this issue where Windows is displayed as not activated. Our engineers are working tirelessly to resolve this issue and it is expected to be corrected within one to two business days." This was followed up by a statement from Jeff Jones, a senior director at the company, who went on to say "A limited number of customers experienced an activation issue that our engineers have now addressed. Affected customers will see resolution over the next 24 hours as the solution is applied automatically. In the meantime, they can continue to use Windows 10 Pro as usual."

If you happen to have this issue, try out the activation troubleshooter to see if the update was applied, and that should help resolve the bug.

System requirements for the upcoming Crackdown 3 have just been revealed, leading up to the games' release date of February 2019. That we're getting system requirements this close to release probably means that the game is in a good state of development and in the finishing stages of going gold. However, we have to remember that this title has had a checkered past: it's initial announcement in 2014 led to a 2015 reveal which showcased the power of integrating Microsoft's Azure servers for processing of in-engine destruction (20 times the available clout of an Xbox one console for online scenarios). At the time, a 2016 release date was pointed towards; this one slid towards November 2017 alongside the Xbox One X, with another delay to Q2/Q3 2018... And then delayed for the third time towards a February 2019 release.

Insomniac Games' Sunset Overdrive first released as an XBOX One exclusive in 2014, and it was generally met with positive feedback from critics and users alike who appreciated the art style and gameplay of the third-person shooter. This was arguably the developer's biggest attempt at an open world action adventure game before they set off working on this year's hit Spiderman game for the Sony PS4 platform. As with just about any Microsoft console title these days, however, this too appears to be coming to the PC sooner than later. The first hint at this came from a Korean Game Ratings and Administration Committee notice earlier in May, and today we got word of the ESRB having a listing for the game as filed for the PC platform.

The game description can be read in the source link, which is NSFW in writing only, and everything points to a game release that does not appear to be nerfed in content thus far. We do not yet know if this is a straight port or more options are added in, and neither do we know whether this comes from the developer (who presumably are also busy handling post-game content for Spiderman) or delegated to someone else. All that can be said at this time is the release of Sunset Overdrive on the PC is now more of a matter of when and at what price point, rather than if at all.

You know that iPhone you bought? Or that home appliance? Or that tractor? They're not yours. Not completely, I mean, because if something breaks, you'll have to repair them through the official repair services of the hardware maker. You can try to repair them by yourself, but you'll probably have a lot of trouble doing it or even getting an unofficial technical service to do it. Oh, and until now it even wasn't legal for you to try. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung or John Deere have turned repair control into an art form. The DRM they impose on their products is becoming more and more complex, and there are lots of devices that are very complicated to open to try to repair.

Agencies like EFF have long been fighting for the so-called "right to repair" movement to try to fight these kinds of strategies, and these days those efforts have paid off. The Librarian of Congress and US Copyright Office have adopted "exemptions to the to the provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") that prohibits circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works". This means that from now on, users will be able to hack the software and fix the hardware on (some of) their devices in order to repair or maintain them. The new rules apply to smartphones, "home appliances" and "home systems", but they go beyond there and will allow users to repair cars, tractors and other motorized land vehicles (no boats or planes, though) by modifying their firmware.

Microsoft launched Xbox Game Pass in June 2017. This video game subscription service allows users to install and play Xbox games (not just Xbox One ones, there are titles from the Xbox 360 and even the original Xbox) , with over 230 games currently available, a number that is constantly growing. Often called 'The Netflix of video games', the service has been improving its offering, but now the project will go beyond it's initial focus. Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, announced during an investor meeting that Xbox Game Pass will come to PCs soon.

Nadella gave no further details, so we still don't know what games will be included on that service or the subscription price (currently $9.99/month), but the announcement is promising and another sign that the company is moving forward to expand their reach and, of course, their earnings. On the latest earnings release (FY19 Q1) Microsoft pointed out how gaming revenue "increased 44% with Xbox software and services revenue growth of 36% mainly from third-party title strength". This move could make that growth go even higher, and it joins other recent announcements that could improve Microsoft's role in this market.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year:

• Revenue was $29.1 billion and increased 19%
• Operating income was $10.0 billion and increased 29%
• Net income was $8.8 billion and increased 34%
• Diluted earnings per share was $1.14 and increased 36%

"We are off to a great start in fiscal 2019, a result of our innovation and the trust customers are placing in us to power their digital transformation," said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "We're excited to help our customers build the digital capability they need to thrive and grow, with a business model that is fundamentally aligned to their success."

Microsoft is working to reduce the performance impact of "Spectre" V2 security vulnerability software mitigation with its next major update to Windows 10. The major update that's scheduled for the first half of 2019, will feature the "Retpoline" mitigation enabled on the operating system's kernel by default. Retpoline will be enabled in addition something Microsoft's OS kernel developer Mehmet Iyigun calls "import optimization." Together, the two reduce the impact of Spectre V2 software mitigation to "noise-level" (i.e. that which can be discounted for random variation, or minimal).

Something changed forever in a little school in Seattle in the early 1970s. Paul Allen met Bill Gates there, and from that moment on the duo would work together to start Microsoft in 1975. Well, it wasn't Microsoft at that time, it was "Micro-Soft". Eight years later Allen would have to leave Microsoft after receiving a Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis. He kept his shares at Microsoft -Gates tried to buy out them at $5 per share-, a decision that allowed him to become a billionaire, an investor and a philanthropist.

He invested in several companies and became a celebrated sports team owner. He purchased Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC, but he was also devoted to philanthropy, giving contributions worth more than $2 billion to several projects and organizations. He won all those battles and even beat cancer both in 1982 and in 2009. On October 1, 2018, Allen wrote on Twitter "Recently, I learned the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma I battled in 2009 has returned. I've begun treatment & my doctors are optimistic that I will see a good result. Appreciate the support I've received & count on it as I fight this challenge.". He finally didn't make it and died yesterday, October 15, 2018. RIP.

According to preliminary data published by Gartner, worldwide PC shipments totaled 67.2 million units in the third quarter of 2018, which marks a 0.1 percent increase from the third quarter of 2017. The study shows how the global market "has shown modest stability for two consecutive quarters" something quite impressive given that for some time now PC shipments have relentlessly decreased. Lenovo has surpassed HP and has secured the top spot driven by its joing venture with Fujitsu, says Gartner. Only those companies and Dell have managed to grow compared to the same quarter last year, while Acer, Asus, and Apple have reduced their shipments in this quarter.

Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at gartner, mentioned the possible impact of Intel problems in the short term: "the Intel CPU shortage could influence the PC market moving forward with price increases and changes to the vendor landscape. While this shortage will have some short-term impacts, Gartner does not see any lasting impact on overall PC demand." In fact, this analyst points out how Intel will prioritize high-end CPUs and business PCs CPUs, with AMD picking up if Intel cannot supply enough CPUs.

Steve Ballmer once said 'Linux is a cancer'. Times have changed a lot, and since Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft, Linux and Open Source have become really important for Redmond's company. Azure is based on Linux, for example, and this OS dominates the cloud platform with about half of Azure VMs being Linux ones). Running Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, SuSE or Fedora is also possible natively under Windows 10 through Windows Subsystem for Linux.

The company has made big strategic acquisitions, and Microsoft recently acquired Github, but that approach to Linux and Open Source goes further with the new announcement. Microsoft has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), a consortium that defines itself as a "shared defensive patent pool with the mission to protect Linux". With that move, Microsoft is bringing 60,000 patents to OIN that will be available royalty-free to anyone who joins the OIN community.

Microsoft has announced their xCloud initiative, a game streaming effort that looks to bridge the gap between local and stream-based gaming. xCloud is looking to bring true, platform-agnostic gaming with much lower bandwidth requirements due to a number of technologies being researched and worked on by Microsoft. Chief among these are low-latency networking, encoding, and decoding advances - all crucial parts of the puzzle for solving latency and poor image quality issues. xCloud aims to allow for "high-quality experiences at the lowest possible bitrates that work across the widest possible networks" - with 4G and 5G support. For now, the test version of xCloud only requires a minimum 10 Mbps connection, which is already very impressive in abstract - though of course it would require more info on the rendering specs being delivered to the recipient's system for deeper analysis.

One big takeaway here is that this xCloud initiative is fully powered by AMD's own hardware - as it should be. Using AMD custom hardware such as that found within Microsoft's Xbox consoles takes away the work and investment in building even more emulation capabilities on a server level, which would only add additional overhead to the streaming service. By using AMD's own custom hardware, Microsoft circumvents this issue - but entrenches itself even more on AMD's own product portfolio, both now and in the foreseeable future.

Reports are circling around the web regarding an imminently/closed deal between Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment, developers of Fallout: New Vegas and, more recently, the Pillars of Eternity series. Microsoft has been on a roll with its investment in games studios, bringing numerous big development houses (such as Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs) to their fold and putting together new internal studios (The Initiative, for one).

Should the deal go through, Obsidian Entertainment would bring a wealth of new RPG games development experience to the Microsoft Game Studios umbrella - with a specific focus on PC gaming. At the same time, Obsidian Entertainment themselves would have access to resources and tools that would otherwise never be available for them - and have we said this is Microsoft's coffers and resources we're talking about? Even though Phil Spencer is often seen as a magnanimous leader of Microsoft's entertainment division, Obsidian could find themselves working on some specific projects for Microsoft, instead of pursuing their own IPs/new IP ideas. Or that could not materialize at all, and the studio be given free reign (as much as there can be in these things) for their own creativity.

Microsoft has begun shipping an updated version of the dreaded October 2018 Update, that deleted some users' files. In a first phase, the new version of Windows 10 1809, using build number 17763.17 is now available to Windows Insiders. For users who already have October Update installed, a patch is available in the form of KB4464330.

Microsoft's John Cable, Director of Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery said: "We have fully investigated all reports of data loss, identified and fixed all known issues in the update, and conducted internal validation."The company also shed some light on what really happened when users lost their files:

Over the weekend Microsoft has stopped delivery of their latest Windows 10 October 2018 Update (Build 1809). Many user reported serious issues with the new version, with the biggest problem being the deletion of files in "My Documents". Some users have reportedly lost hundreds of Gigabytes of data, containing decades of their life's work. Another scary experience was that in an enterprise environment, where "My Documents" was mounted from a server, with shared subfolders, the update erased all the documents on the network server. Let's hope the affected people have backups. Reportedly copies on OneDrive aren't affected.

Other users are having issues with drivers not installing properly, or the system crashing during a driver install. Another Microsoft bulletin goes into detail that using an Intel Audio Device with the new update "may result in excessive processor demand and reduced battery lifemay result in excessive processor demand and reduced battery life".

Microsoft earlier this week released Windows 10 October 2018 (version 1809) update. You can either get it through Windows Update, and install it leaving your personal files and settings largely unchanged, or perform a clean install by making yourself an install media using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. PC Watch noticed something curious about getting the new Windows version through Windows Update on their notebook. The process was sapping too much power from the battery, and the update process is interrupted by an incompatible driver dialog (screenshot below).

Intel processors running with Gen 9.5 iGPUs enabled (that's 6th generation "Skylake" or later), expose an integrated audio controller to the operating system. This controller is responsible for digital audio output through the iGPU's HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, and is similar to the one NVIDIA and AMD integrate with their discrete GPUs. Users with driver version 10.25.0.3 or older for this controller, could run into problems when Windows Update is re-loading the drivers as part of the upgrade process. Intel has since released driver version 10.25.0.10 part of the latest Graphics Drivers 25.20.100.6323. If you're still on Windows 10 version 1803 and use your iGPU, it's recommended that you update your Intel graphics drivers before initiating Windows Update to version 1809.

Somewhat new on the inside, identical on the outside. That could well be the summary of Microsoft's renovation of its Surface product range yesterday. At a special event in New York, several company executives launched the new Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Studio 2.

The event didn't stop there: Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft's great operating system update, is now available for download, although the surprise of the event was the new Surface Headphones with noise cancellation and Cortana support.

Alongside refreshes galore to their Surface hardware lineup of laptops, all-in-one devices and convertible PCs, Microsoft did have a surprise announcement as part of their media event earlier today. This included a whole new product genre under the Surface brand in the form of headphones.

The new Surface headphones join the current trend of audiophile-rated wireless headphones, which sounds like a misnomer in itself, and comes with 13 levels of noise cancellation with 8 microphones for the process controlled via an adjustment dial as per Anandtech. This is an over-the-ear style headphones offering beam-forming for hands-free calling and Cortana support for when you want to use Microsoft's take on the virtual assistant. Pairing via Bluetooth and coming in the now-standard Surface gray color scheme, the Surface headphones are priced at $349 and will be available later this year.

Microsoft began rolling out Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) through its regular update channels. The update introduces several improvements to the operating system's user interface, expand on its Timeline features that let you pick up your work where you left off, and comes with a boatload of under the hood performance improvements relevant to PC enthusiasts and gamers. These include the latest update to DirectX that adds DirectX Ray-tracing API features (DXR), the latest version of WDDM, and native HDR standards management settings via Display Settings. To get it, simply make Windows check for updates.The change-log follows.