Windows 10 news recap: won’t hit 1 billion by 2018, new firmware updates, devices and more

Jack Wilkinson

Welcome back to our weekly “Windows 10 news recap” series where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s latest operating system. Let’s get started.

Microsoft releases a firmware update for its Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 devices

In preparation of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft has released a firmware update for both its Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 devices. It brings new drivers and fixes that resolve many issues that customers were experiencing, from the touchpad to the audio. With these updates, the devices should be much more stable.

Windows 10 won’t hit its 1 billion devices target by 2018

Microsoft had envisioned hitting 1 billion devices running Windows 10 by 2018, however, in an updated announcement, the company has backtracked, saying that it no longer expects to reach that target as its mobile division has not been its focus this year, leading to less devices than they had anticipated running Windows 10.

NVIDIA releases new drivers for Windows 10, bringing Ansel support and VR improvements

For people running an NVIDIA GeForce GPU, the company has released new Game Ready drivers for its GPUs on Windows 10, which adds Ansel support and brings improvements for Virtual Reality, as well as bringing further performance enhancements for newly-released games and upcoming games.

Intel also releases new GPU driver updates for Windows 10

Following from NVIDIA releasing updates for its GPUs on Windows 10, Intel is also following suit with updates that resolve several graphics issues across Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 devices.

Microsoft will upgrade your laptop to Windows 10 for free or give you a free Dell Inspiron 15

In its continued efforts to get customers to upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft is now making a bet with customers. You can take your compatible laptop into a Microsoft Store and they’ll upgrade it to Windows 10 free. If something goes wrong, they’ll give you a Dell Inspiron 15 for free.

The Chuwi Vi10 Plus adds to the growing Windows 10 2-in-1s

With the Windows 10 2-in-1 market seeing exponential growth, from both enterprises and consumers, the Chuwi Vi10 Plus will be adding another option to the mix, with it competing in the same arena as the Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Roku arrives in the UK, Canada and Mexico on Windows 10

For those Roku users out there, its Windows 10 app is now open to users in the UK, Canada and Mexico, allowing a few more markets access to 3000 channels and over 300,000 movies.

Forrester Consulting believes Windows 10 cuts costs across various areas

A study ran by Forrester Consulting has found that Windows 10 cuts costs in a few areas of business, including IT, security and productivity, which shows how Windows 10 can help businesses and push them to upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system.

Huawei MateBook Windows 2-in-1 now available in the US

Huawei has made its MateBook Windows 10 2-in-1 available for purchase in the United States from the Microsoft Store, Amazon and Newegg, with prices starting at $699.

Tencent’s WeChat app for Windows 10 appears in the Windows Store

The new WeChat app for Windows 10 has appeared in the Windows Store, however, it appears to be lacking support for Windows 10 Mobile so far, with no word on when, or if, it will be made available for Microsoft’s mobile platform.

For builds and updates this week, we’ve seen quite a few:

That’s all for Windows 10 this week. Let us know how you’re feeling ahead of the Anniversary Update in the comments below!