All the important Microsoft news stories for June 4, 2016

News
By Seth Brodeur
last updated

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A lot can happen in a week. Seven days might not seem like much, but it can be an eternity in the tech news cycle.

Between Windows news, hardware and software developments and Microsoft's fast-paced movements throughout the technology landscape, it's never easy to keep your hand on the pulse of technology. Not to mention everything that's going on right here at Windows Central!

Every week we're going to compile the biggest stories into one post, so you never fall behind – In Case You Missed It (ICYMI).

Windows

Windows

Windows 10 saw its share of the PC market rocket up by three percentage points in May over the month before. The OS now owns 17.43% of the market compared to 14.35% in April, putting it in second place behind Windows 7, which still dominates at 48.57%.

And the latest numbers from Steam show that more gamers now use Windows 10 than Windows 7.

Microsoft pushed out Windows 10 PC build 10586.338 for Insiders in the Release Preview ring this week, which includes a long list of fixes and improvements to Cortana, Edge, Internet Explorer 11, Groove Music, and more. This update was for PC and Mobile phones.

Microsoft showed off a new trick at their Computex keynote address, when they unlocked a Windows 10 computer by scanning a fingerprint on a wearable device.

The functionality is already built into Cortana and will only expand with the Windows Hello Companion Device Framework, which will allow third-party companies to connect their devices to Microsoft's platform.

Other notable items:

Microsoft

Microsoft

We saw some personnel changes over at Microsoft this week. The head of their Indian mobile division left to join HMD Global, the company who recently partnered with Nokia and Foxconn to begin manufacturing phones under the Nokia brand name.

Also, Gabriel Aul, beloved chief of the Windows Insider Program, stepped down so he could focus more on his primary role with the Engineering Systems team. Aul is passing the torch to Dona Sarkar, who has been around since the days of Windows Vista and recently worked on HoloLens.

The HoloLens Development Edition received its first major update, which brought a slew of changes and improvements to the augmented reality headset. Windows Central went hands-on to give you the skinny on the update.

Microsoft also started sending out invites to preview the next Xbox One update. Current Preview members who submitted the most feedback were the first to get invites for the update, which will likely prepare the console for the big Anniversary Update that is planned for later this year. We'll have more on that update likely next week, so stay tuned.

Other notable items:

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

One of the largest tech shows took place this week in Taipei, Taiwan: Computex 2016. We have a team on the ground and you can see all of our hands-on coverage of new PCs, laptops, and accessories on our main Computex 2016 page.

Samsung announced that they have begun production on their new PM971-NVMe solid state drive, which is only about the size of a coin and weighs in at one gram. The drive will go on sale later this month and will come in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities.

Intel unveiled their Broadwell-E processor, their first 10-core desktop CPU. The cream of the Broadwell-E crop is the Core i7-6950X Extreme Edition, which will retail for $1723.

The company also introduced their 7th generation Kaby Lake processors, due out later this year. The chips will be featured in ASUS' upcoming Transformer 3 Pro and Transformer 3, as well as the Project Pyramid Flipper, the 2-in-1 tablet being developed by Finnish startup Eve.

A Delaware court ruled that the 2013 buyout of Dell by founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners was underpriced by 22%. As a result, the company may have to pay out $36 million on top of the original $24.9 billion, unless they appeal the decision.

We here at Windows Central kicked off our "Windows 10 Gems " series this week, starting with the Misfit fitness tracker and apps, followed by organizer app Todoist, and the world-building game Roblox.

Other notable items:

Share your thoughts on this past week of news! And we'll be back again next week to do it all over again.

Seth Brodeur
Seth Brodeur