Windows 10 now installed on 1 Billion devices

It took a bit longer than Microsoft hoped for but there are now finally 1 billion installs of Windows 10 on PCs, XBox consoles, Hololens devices, and more. This comes at a time when support for the enduring yet outdated Windows 7 comes to a close and as Microsoft builds out its plan for the future of their OS.

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Pro Tip: Use Firefox to narrate website content to you

Voice is increasingly becoming a viable interface with voice assistants and speech synthesis improving with each generation. A lot of users will avoid reading long stories but they will watch a video and it is quite likely they will listen to a podcast. If you are a Firefox browser user, you can tap on the Reader Mode which strips formatting and focuses on text and some images. On the left-hand side of this mode is an option to invoke a narrator that will read the contents of the website to you.

Even if you're a content creator, it helps to try and 'hear' your posts to see if they are long winded. This also comes in handy if you're wearing headphones and are tired of reading (or are on your phone simultaneously). The voice and technology is quite good and a great option which should be on every browser.

Support for iPhone's HEIC image format coming soon to Windows 10

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple introduced a new image format with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. HEIC or High Efficiency Image Format creates smaller file sizes that use smarter compression so they are not as lossy as jpegs.Another advantage of HEIC is flexible data container that can accommodate live photos, bursts of photos, 3D scene data useful for special effects and audio

The problem is that they are not a standard format. As an iPhone X user who works on Windows 10, this means I need to add an extra step to convert my iPhone X photos to something I can work with (usually through an online image conversion service like HeictoJpg.

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Microsoft's Build Conference returns to Seattle on May 7

Microsoft's Build developer's conference returns to Seattle, Washington on May 7-9. Registration for developers opens on February 15, 2018. Build was usually held in the Bay Area but is now heading back to Microsoft's home state.

Expected to be discussed at Build are the upcoming versions of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, including Windows on ARM and hopefully a glimpse of some new hardware, possibly a sneak peak at the anticipated 'Andromeda' folding tablet with telephony device.