It might not get the same kind of attention as Google and Apple, but Microsoft is still one of the biggest and most powerful tech companies operating today. It runs Azure, one of the biggest cloud computing services, and maintains Windows 11 and the whole Office suite of software. It also makes plenty of Surface hardware and has a whole slew of gaming products, including the Xbox Series X. But the company is ever expanding — building new hardware, acquiring new game studios, and making sure that even if Microsoft doesn’t run your phone, it can touch plenty of the apps on it.
A new speed test tool is coming to your taskbar.
Bad actors could use the flaw to remotely load and execute malicious files on a victim’s computer.
The Extended Support Release for Firefox version 115, the last version available on Windows 7 and 8, will no longer receive security updates after this month, Neowin reports. The loss of support comes three years after Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 and 8 in 2023.
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman seems to think AI will be ready to replace most white-collar work within two years — presumably not including his own, of course. He also claimed more of Microsoft’s own AI models are due this year.
“White-collar work, where you’re sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person — most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months.”
Across the industry, workers describe a ‘fear-based culture’ and pressure to ‘fall in line.‘
The issue appears to be mostly affecting users on the West Coast, but certain services that rely on Azure, including the Microsoft Store, are experiencing outages and slowdowns after a data center suffered a partial power loss. Microsoft’s Azure Status Page is updating regularly:
Starting at 08:00 UTC on 07 February 2026, a subset of customers using Azure services in the West US region may experience intermittent service unavailability or delays in monitoring and log data for some resources hosted in the affected datacenter areas. Impacted customers may observe degraded performance or delayed telemetry as services continue to recover.
The so-called Epstein files appear to show how Steven Sinofsky negotiated a $14 million payout from Microsoft.
The leaders of US businesses are more scared than he thought:
I was at a conference where they said, how many of you are afraid to speak out? And only like four people raised their hands and I said, wow, this is even worse than I thought. People are afraid to speak out about being afraid to speak out. I mean, because everybody in the room should have raised their hand. Are you kidding?
[Financial Times]
Microsoft has confirmed that the boot failures with its January 2026 Windows 11 update are limited to “commercial” PCs and happened due to the December 2025 update failing to install and PCs being left in an “improper state.” It’s now investigating why PCs managed to get into this state in the first place. Microsoft’s first Windows 11 update of 2026 has been a mess.
The data centers will be built on land that used to be owned by Foxconn.
Microsoft is releasing Windows App Development CLI (winapp) in public preview today. The open-source utility is aimed at Windows app developers, to make it easier to work across multiple frameworks and toolchains. Microsoft says it’s perfect for any developer “wanting native Windows features or targeting Windows.” And don’t worry, no matter how many times you say winapp, it won’t whip the llama’s ass.
Microsoft is switching its F1 allegiances from Alpine to Mercedes-AMG for the 2026 season. A new multi-year partnership will see Mercedes-AMG use Microsoft technologies for race team operations, and plaster the Microsoft logo in prominent positions on the 2026 Mercedes-AMG F1 car and on racing suits. There’s a big technical shake up for the 2026 season, with all-new chassis, power units, and fuel regulations.
Leaders of the village approved plans for the data centers on Wednesday, FOX6 News Milwaukee reports, and the Mount Pleasant Village Board could give final approval “as soon as Monday night.” The data centers would go on land formerly owned by Foxconn.
[FOX6 News Milwaukee]
Microsoft also said that “more than 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with these PCs,” now, after a rocky journey for ARM gaming support on PC.
Other new Xbox app updates, like the new Game Save Sync Indicator and Handheld Compatibility Program labeling, also seem to be well-timed ahead of a possible Qualcomm PC gaming handheld launch in March.
