Mary Branscombe

Contributor

Mary (Twitter, Google+, website) started her career at Future Publishing, saw the AOL meltdown first hand the first time around when she ran the AOL UK computing channel, and she's been a freelance tech writer for over a decade. She's used every version of Windows and Office released, and every smartphone too, but she's still looking for the perfect tablet. Yes, she really does have USB earrings.

Articles by: Mary Branscombe

Windows 10

Windows 10 review

By Joe Osborne, Dan Grabham, Mary Branscombe published 11 October 21

Updated With the October 2020 Update, Windows 10 is better than it has ever been. Read on to find out why.

Microsoft is making a blockchain that’s fit for business

By Mary Branscombe published 26 August 17

Using secure silicon rather than pointless proof of work will give blockchain the scale, speed and control a business needs.

A closer look at Windows 10 S, Windows 10 on ARM and Windows 10 IoT

By Mary Branscombe published 3 June 17

Microsoft has split its strategy for modern, manageable Windows into multiple versions aimed at different problems.

Why Microsoft believes we’re on the threshold of quantum computing

By Mary Branscombe published 20 December 16

The dream of computers fast enough to crack every code and simulate the way nature works might come true soon.

Office 2016 review

By Mary Branscombe published 28 November 16

Updated It’s been just over a year since Office 2016 was launched – so what’s new?

Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac review

By Mary Branscombe published 16 November 16

Updated Microsoft has continued to work on the Mac suite over the past year, with impressive results.

Windows Server containers

Here is the 'cloud OS' that Microsoft built to run on your servers

By Mary Branscombe published 1 October 16

We look more closely at the various options Windows Server 2016 will offer your business.

Boxworks 2016

How Box's shift to an enterprise 'content platform' is becoming a reality

By Mary Branscombe published 9 September 16

The BoxWorks conference this week revealed some very illuminating insights.

Windows 7

Windows 7 review

By Mary Branscombe, Desire Athow published 2 September 16

Updated Here are the latest updates on Microsoft's most popular OS ever.

Windows 10

Why Microsoft won't hit 1 billion Windows 10 installs

By Mary Branscombe published 29 July 16

Windows 10 Week Backing away from its mainstream smartphone plans means Microsoft will miss its target.

Tesla K80

Azure VMs with real GPUs will deliver a massive power boost

By Mary Branscombe published 2 May 16

New GPU virtualisation features in Windows Server 2016 mean Azure is getting more powerful graphics and GPU computing options.

Windows Update

5 things you should know about Windows as a Service

By Mary Branscombe published 13 April 16

Updated With the incoming Anniversary Update, Windows as a Service is starting to deliver.

Windows Anniversary Update Cortana

Windows 10 Anniversary Update's big secret: It's called Windows as a Service

By Mary Branscombe published 12 April 16

Microsoft is setting the pace for Windows 10's evolution.

Power BI visualisations

Embedded Power BI Microsoft cloud apps could all turn into platforms

By Mary Branscombe published 8 April 16

Expect to see the tools from Microsoft's cloud analytics and visualisation service showing up in other firms' systems.

Windows XP

10 features that helped Windows XP achieve legendary status

By Mary Branscombe published 8 April 16

XP established the key features of modern Windows and we didn't want to let it go.

IoT suite devices

How Azure makes it easier to manage your IoT devices

By Mary Branscombe published 6 April 16

Imagine updating the firmware in every lightbulb in your business without knowing where they are…

Connector list

Office isn't just about documents – it'll help order your morning coffee

By Mary Branscombe published 4 April 16

Office wants to be the place you work with apps and services as well as documents.

Bing Home

Microsoft's Bing is experimenting on you

By Mary Branscombe published 2 April 16

Bing is experimenting on you constantly, says Redmond's Craig Miller – it's the way to win.

Linux in OMS

How Microsoft is serious about supporting Linux and cloud rivals with OMS

By Mary Branscombe published 30 March 16

Whether it's feature ideas or foundational technologies, Redmond doesn't have to invent everything anymore.

Azure Stack

Azure Stack isn't Microsoft backing away from public cloud

By Mary Branscombe published 25 March 16

Microsoft is still all-in on Azure, even though it's pouring resources into private, hybrid cloud.

Microsoft HQ

The reasons behind Microsoft's drive for open source

By Mary Branscombe published 22 March 16

Instead of being a 'cancer', open source is now a valuable tool for Microsoft.

Hybrid cloud

Why businesses should use hybrid cloud for their data

By Mary Branscombe published 15 March 16

Microsoft has plenty of interesting things to say about the benefits of hybrid cloud.

Microsoft Dynamics Power BI

Dynamics AX is switching to be a cloud service on Azure – or Azure Stack

By Mary Branscombe published 11 March 16

Dynamics AX is now a cloud service, integrating other Microsoft services like Power BI.

Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 review

By Mary Branscombe, Dan Grabham published 17 February 16

Updated The Start button returns, and with Update 1, users can boot straight to desktop. But this is still refinement over reinvention.

Cortana

Machine language: Computers are on the brink of mastering speech recognition

By Mary Branscombe published 27 January 16

Microsoft is open sourcing the deep learning tools it uses to build Cortana's speech recognition, which it hopes will match humans by 2019.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
View Archive

Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions: