Windows applications Archives

Winsage

August 24, 2025

Why Microsoft defined the modern PC with Windows 95

Windows 95 was released on August 24, 1995, in the United States, and became a cultural phenomenon, supported by a significant advertising campaign featuring the Rolling Stones' song "Start Me Up." The operating system introduced the "Start" menu and was technically advanced for its time, despite some user interface challenges. Microsoft faced intense competition from IBM's OS/2 and the growing home PC market, which included the rise of gaming consoles. Windows 95 was made available for testing through a beta program, and its launch was backed by a 0 million advertising budget. The operating system included a "Plug & Play" feature, although it often led to crashes. Windows 95 relied on a DOS substructure and introduced DOS version 7.0, allowing better use of 32-bit processors. Microsoft also launched "The Microsoft Network" (MSN) alongside Windows 95, but Internet Explorer was only available in the additional "Plus!" package. By the end of 1995, Microsoft sold 40 million licenses for Windows 95, which continued to receive updates until 2001. The startup sound composed by Brian Eno was later added to the US Library of Congress in 2025.

Winsage

August 23, 2025

Microsoft’s Windows 10 support extension – lifeline or stay of execution?

Microsoft has extended security updates for Windows 10, allowing businesses more time to plan and manage migration without immediate disruptions. This extension helps IT teams mitigate short-term risks but may lead to complacency and delays in necessary upgrades. Organizations risk accumulating technical debt, becoming dependent on costly external partners, and missing out on innovations if they postpone migration. Maintaining outdated infrastructure can become more expensive than upgrading, and reliance on unsupported systems increases the risk of vendor lock-in. Continuous modernization is essential, and businesses should adopt strategies for migrating unsupported applications while ensuring operational continuity. The extension should be seen as a temporary measure rather than a permanent solution, emphasizing the need for ongoing modernization efforts.

Winsage

August 23, 2025

Legacy OneNote for Windows 10 app is retiring on October 14, 2025

On October 14, 2025, Microsoft will end support for "OneNote for Windows 10 (legacy)," which will then transition to read-only mode, preventing users from editing or synchronizing notes. Users are encouraged to migrate to the newer OneNote app for Windows 11 to maintain editing capabilities. To transition, users must sync their notebooks to a OneDrive account and can use an in-app migration feature. Microsoft is notifying users about this change through an in-app banner. The legacy app currently has a user rating of 4.6 in the Microsoft Store.

Winsage

August 22, 2025

Linux Fu: Windows Virtualization The Hard(ware) Way

The Linux community faces challenges when certain applications are only available on Windows, despite solutions like Wine and virtual machines. A new approach using hardware instead of virtualization has emerged. The author received a Surface Laptop 2 that was non-functional until the keyboard was removed, revealing it was operational. While transitioning Windows installations from VirtualBox to KVM, the author discovered WinApps, a script that allows Windows applications to run on a Linux desktop via a virtual machine. However, this setup caused performance issues due to constant disk activity. The author experimented with connecting WinApps to a physical Windows machine on the network, successfully running Windows software directly on their desktop. The setup required executing an installation script on the Windows machine and making registry changes to enable RDP applications. Minor hurdles included compatibility issues with a dual-monitor setup and user permission bugs. Ultimately, Microsoft Word ran smoothly on the author's KDE desktop, demonstrating the potential for utilizing older computers for occasional tasks.

Winsage

August 12, 2025

InstallAware Launches Setup Virtualization Technology “Project OS/3,” Running Windows Binaries Directly on Linux and macOS.

InstallAware Software has launched "Project OS/3," a solution that simplifies running Windows applications on Linux and macOS by using Wine. Users can install Wine through an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) setup wizard, eliminating the need for command-line interactions. The installation process is initiated with a single click, and once Wine is set up, "Project OS/3" injects the Windows application along with necessary files and registry keys into the Wine instance, ensuring the application is operational with original shortcuts recreated on the host system. Developers can provide a Windows setup file, and the tool will create a ready-to-run native code installation for both Linux and macOS, addressing compatibility issues typically encountered with Wine. The ease of use is facilitated by InstallAware Studio Admin's PackageAware setup capture technology and InstallAware Multi Platform's native code setup engines, which automatically retarget captured Windows installations onto designated Wine instances. "Project OS/3" also offers a graphical method for installing Wine, providing a quicker alternative for compatible setups. InstallAware Software, founded in 2003, specializes in cloud infrastructure and enterprise software deployment, and offers InstallAware 2025 for free for open-source projects, with paid editions available.

Winsage

August 12, 2025

Web Account Manager: The Foundational Enabler of Single Sign-On for Windows Applications within the Microsoft Identity Ecosystem

Organizations are adopting cloud-first strategies for digital identity management, particularly using Microsoft identity providers and implementing Zero Trust Architecture. Microsoft's Web Account Manager (WAM), introduced with Windows 10, is central to this transformation, enabling secure access and single sign-on (SSO) across applications like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Office 365, Teams, and OneDrive. WAM addresses fragmentation issues associated with traditional authentication methods by centralizing identity management and token handling, thus enhancing security and user experience. WAM mitigates fragmentation challenges by simplifying protocol integration, managing token lifecycle, and reducing operational overhead. It provides seamless SSO for end-users, simplifies integration for developers, and supports compliance and security for organizations. WAM features two primary APIs for token acquisition: GetTokenSilently and RequestToken, which facilitate secure token requests based on device states and application needs. Future enhancements will focus on improving token protection strategies.

Winsage

August 6, 2025

OpenAI’s New Open Models Accelerated Locally on NVIDIA GeForce RTX and RTX PRO GPUs

NVIDIA has partnered with OpenAI to enhance the gpt-oss models for NVIDIA GPUs, enabling rapid inference and supporting millions of users on NVIDIA RTX AI PCs. The gpt-oss-20b and gpt-oss-120b models, trained on NVIDIA H100 GPUs, feature open-weight reasoning and can handle context lengths of up to 131,072 tokens. Users can utilize these models through frameworks like Ollama, which provides a user-friendly interface for experimentation. The models are optimized for RTX GPUs and support applications such as web search and coding assistance. Developers can also access the models via Microsoft AI Foundry Local and other frameworks, with NVIDIA contributing to open-source projects to enhance performance.

Winsage

August 6, 2025

Microsoft’s 2030 Vision: AI Windows That Sees, Hears, and Anticipates

Microsoft envisions a future for Windows by 2030 where devices will have sensory capabilities, allowing them to see, hear, and engage in conversation. This shift towards "agentic" AI aims to transform the operating system into a proactive assistant that anticipates user needs. Recent advancements, such as Copilot Vision in Windows 11, exemplify this evolution by enabling real-time analysis of on-screen content. The integration of AI features, including Bing Chat, positions Windows 11 as the first operating system with a centralized AI assistant. Sensory AI will facilitate devices interpreting visual and auditory inputs, offering proactive suggestions based on user context. Microsoft is addressing privacy concerns through responsible AI frameworks while promoting a hybrid model where AI augments human capabilities. This evolution could redefine industries, with potential applications in healthcare and creative sectors.

Winsage

August 1, 2025

Microsoft is killing its ChromeOS competitor

Microsoft has decided to discontinue Windows 11 SE, a lightweight operating system introduced in 2021, aimed at low-cost laptops for educational environments. The company will cease all software updates for Windows 11 SE, with support officially ending in October 2026. The final update, version 24H2, will be the last released for this platform. Microsoft stated that it will not release a feature update after version 24H2 and recommends transitioning to a device that supports another edition of Windows 11 for continued support and security.

Winsage

August 1, 2025

The Microsoft Store on Windows 11 is actually great now — here’s why you should be using it in 2025

The Microsoft Store was launched as the "Windows Store" with Windows 8 in 2012, initially struggling to gain traction. It was rebranded as the "Microsoft Store" during the Windows 10 era and saw significant improvements with the launch of Windows 11 in 2021. The store now features a user-friendly interface, a diverse selection of applications, and allows legacy and desktop-class Windows applications without strict compliance requirements for developers. The app listings are responsive, and the homepage suggests apps based on user preferences. Popular applications available include Opera, Firefox, Adobe Creative Cloud, OBS Studio, and Paint.NET, although Google Chrome is not available. The Microsoft Store provides a safer environment for app discovery compared to web search engines and does not require a Microsoft Account for many downloads. Enhancements have also been made for Windows 10 users.