Microsoft announced that the end-of-support date for Exchange Server 2010 continues to be moved from January 14, 2020 (within 24 hours when Windows 7 is projected to go dark) to October 13, 2020.

Windows 7 won't be getting any extension for its end-of-support date, so no updates would be shipped after January 14, 2020.

The reason for the extension, Microsoft says, is that many customers are unlikely to reach the deadline and upgrade their systems before January. Consequently, the company wants to give these people more time to move to a newer platform before killing off security updates.

"Our resolve for meeting the evolving needs of our customers is as strong as ever, and that we recognize discontinuing support for a product that has been as popular and reliable as Exchange Server 2010 is definitely an adjustment," Greg Taylor, Director of Product Marketing - Exchange Server/Online, says.

"We also know that a number of you are in the midst of upgrades to some newer form of Exchange Server on-premises, or more transformative migrations to the cloud with Office 365 and Exchange Online. With this thought, we are extending end of support to October 13th 2020 to give Exchange Server 2010 customers more time to complete their migrations. This extension also aligns with the end of support for Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010."

Recommended alternatives

Once the new end-of-support date is reached, Microsoft would no longer release bug fixes and security patches for Exchange Server 2010. Technical support would be terminated as well.

Microsoft obviously recommends people to result in the change to Exchange On the internet and Office 365.

"If you migrate fully to Office 365 you actually don't need to worry about 'big bang' version upgrades anymore. You just have to have a smaller number of on-premises servers up to date, and you're good," Taylor explains.

Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019 are the on-premises alternative to Exchange Server 2010.

Microsoft has released new ISO images for Windows 10, and this time they are for that spring of 2020 feature update currently referred to as 20H1.

The updated ISOs allow for the clean install of Windows 10 build 18990, a release that Microsoft pushed to Fast ring insiders at the end of September.

You will find three different versions of those ISOs that you can download from Microsoft's insider page, namely the standard build, enterprise, and Home China. All are on the said page alongside ISO images for Windows 10 build 18363.

What's new in Windows 10 build 18990

These ISO images may be used to clean-install the operating system and start from scratch, that is something very handy for users who're part of the Windows Insider program and need to reset their devices.

Simultaneously, they may be used for testing a specific build in closed environment like a virtual machine within an anticipation of the public debut of Windows 10 20H1.

So far as build 18990 is worried, it comes with automatic restart choice for UWP apps, in addition to WSL improvements and a more polished cloud support for resetting your personal computer without physical recovery media.

"In accessory for registered desktop apps, when you opt into this setting, the majority of open UWP apps are now also automatically restarted as well! To lessen sign-in time, UWP apps are restarted minimized, in a suspended state, giving Windows and other apps more resources to get going," Microsoft explained when it rolled out this preview build of Windows 10.

Windows 10 20H1 is projected to be finalized early in the year of 2020, and according to Microsoft's typical schedule, this will take place in March to then be listed as version 2003. The rollout to production devices could begin in April or May exactly the same year.

Windows 10X is Microsoft's new operating-system specifically produced for dual-screen devices like Surface Neo, and despite being based on Windows 10, it arrives with a number of changes specifically designed to help it to adjust to this new product category.

One of them is the Start menu, which has been substantially redesigned to create more sense on a device just like a dual-screen computer.

The beginning menu, which is a lot more like a home screen that gives access for your essential shortcuts, no more features live tiles, and this is something which has been rumored might happen on full Windows 10 too.

Live tiles are viewed to become a less popular feature, with Microsoft's usage data showing that dwindling people actually rely on them within the Start menu. So giving up on these live tiles seems to be the next thing to complete moving forward, albeit a confirmation in this regard does not exist at this time.

New Start button

The simplified Start menu in Windows 10X is dependant on two different sections: the one at the top, which teaches you 15 apps and websites with a button to "show all," and the one at the end that displays recently accessed and "recommended" files.

The Start button is not put into the low left corner, but has a new Fluent design icon that is centered. The beginning menu shows up on screens if needed, as Surface Neo (and all sorts of other dual-screen devices) will be permitted to run two apps alongside on several displays because of Windows 10X.

For the moment, however, it's important to realize that the demo Microsoft presented in the Surface event isn't the ultimate version of Windows 10X, so further refinements, including for the Start menu, could still be made.

Windows 10X should really go survive dual-screen devices within the holidays of 2020.

Out of the box, Windows 10 has a handful of themes certain to suit most tastes for individuals who want to change their default background. For people who need a bit more customization, you could download themes in the Microsoft Store, which come with an easy install file that turns customizing your desktop right into a mostly plug-and-play endeavor.

You will find third-party options too, although the options we tried were bugging, and some originated from sources that looked less-than-legitimate. For now, we'll stick with the tried-and-true approach to installing custom desktop themes in the Microsoft store.

1. Right click the Start menu and select Settings.

2. Choose Personalization in the Windows Settings menu.

3. Around the left, select Themes from the sidebar.

4. Under Apply a Theme, click the link to obtain more themes within the store.

5. Decide on a theme, and click to spread out a pop-up to download it.

6. Click on the Get button and wait as the theme downloads.

7. Choose Launch to load the theme in to the Use a Theme menu.

8. Click the theme to apply.

Windows 10 version 1903, or Windows 10 May 2019 Update, is officially "ready for broad deployment," with Microsoft now recommending commercial people to update their devices as soon as possible.

Marking a Windows 10 feature update as ready for broad deployment is a key milestone for each release because it pretty much means that enterprises can safely install it by themselves device fleets.

Despite the thorough testing that can take place before the debut of Windows 10 feature updates, also with the aid of Windows insiders, these often end up experiencing pretty much critical issues, a few of which are later addressed with cumulative updates shipped each month.

Due to the risk of bugs, all combined with the time needed to upgrade an entire fleet of Windows 10 devices to a new version of the operating system, many enterprises decide to simply wait for number of months after a feature update gets the go-ahead.

The "ready for broad deployment" tag virtually means that Microsoft has resolved the majority of bugs striking the operating-system, essentially telling businesses that they are able to now go to installing Windows 10 version 1903 on their devices.

"Windows 10, version 1903 (the May 2019 Update) is designated ready for broad deployment for all users via Windows Update," Microsoft says.

"As devices running the Home, Pro, and Pro for Workstation editions of Windows 10, version 1803 (the April 2018 Update) will reach end of service on November 12, 2019, we are broadly updating these units, as well as those running earlier versions of Windows 10 which are past end and services information, to keep these devices both supported and receiving monthly updates. If you're not offered the Windows 10, version 1903 feature update, please check below for known issues and safeguard holds that could affect your device."

Windows 10 version 1903 being marked as ready for broad deployment comes just in the proper time for Microsoft because of two different reasons.

As the company says in its announcement, November will witness the demise of Windows 10 version 1803, or Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Because Microsoft only props up two newest Windows 10 versions of Home, Pro, and Pro for Workstations SKUs, finalizing the rollout of the latest feature update is critical in order to allow all devices to upgrade.

Once Windows 10 version 1803 is pulled, users can upgrade to Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 Update) and Windows 10 version 1903 (May 2019 Update).

Furthermore, Microsoft will finalize the introduction of another feature update for Windows 10, currently known as 19H2 - this can be a mention of the its release date, because the update ought to be complete within the other half of 2019; based on Microsoft's typical schedule, this update is prepared in September and then pushed to devices beginning with October.

Just because a new feature update is simply nearby, Microsoft needs to complete the rollout of the previous stable release, and marking it as ready for broad deployment is one essential part of this direction. Not doing this would only result in more fragmentation within the Windows 10 ecosystem, which is certainly something which Microsoft doesn't need.

Despite being flagged as ready for broad deployment, Windows 10 May 2019 Update still isn't available for all devices. Microsoft has some upgrade blocks in place to avoid the update from being installed on devices where certain issues can be experienced, and until resolving these errors, the update wouldn't be provided on Windows Update.

Users who want to ignore these upgrade blocks can install Windows 10 version 1903 using the Media Creation Tool or even the dedicated ISOs that also allow for a clean install.

As well as the optional cumulative updates for Windows 10 that Microsoft released earlier today, the software giant also shipped new monthly rollup previews for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

The new updates, which are also offered as optional via Windows Update so that as a manual download in the Microsoft Update Catalog, come with rather small changelogs, bringing just one and two changes, respectively.

To begin with, it's the Windows 7 monthly rollup preview which is labeled KB4516048.

This update includes just one fix that's aimed at software produced by Toshiba. According to the official changelog (which you'll find around the page linked above):

"Addresses an issue that may cause an error when opening or while using Toshiba Qosmio AV Center. You may also get an error in case Log associated with cryptnet.dll."

Windows 8.1 improvements

Second of all, Windows 8.1 devices are provided with monthly rollup preview KB4516041.

This time around, there's two changes, one of these concerns an insect hitting Ie. According to Microsoft, Internet Explorer 11 didn't launch on Windows 8.1 RT devices after installing update KB4516067, so this rollup is supposed to fix the error and restore the standard behavior on devices running this OS. However, given it's aimed at RT systems, there's an opportunity the amount of users influenced by this glitch is incredibly low.

And 2nd, the same update fixes a problem striking the LSASS service, as Microsoft explains:

"Addresses an element that may cause the neighborhood Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) to prevent working with an "0xc0000005" error."

The improvements during these monthly rollup previews is going to be area of the stable updates shipped to users on October 8 included in the next Patch Tuesday cycle. At that time, the updates will be offered automatically through Windows Update.

Wish the desktop icons in Windows 10 were bigger so you could stop squinting their way or they'd be simpler to tap on a touch screen laptop? Or do you wish they were smaller therefore the shortcuts didn't take up as much space in your laptop's screen? Never fear, we have a list of short steps regarding how to change the icon size in Windows 10.

How you can Change the Size of Desktop Icons in Windows 10

1. Right-click on an empty space around the desktop.

2. Select View from the contextual menu.

3. Select either Large icons, Medium icons, or Small icons. The default is medium icons.

On my laptop with a native 1600 by 900 pixels display, the large option looks huge, the little dimensions are not big enough, and the medium size looks perfect (as Goldilocks would say). Your mileage might vary based on your screen's display resolution. Changing the size of the icons around the desktop doesn't modify the size the icons elsewhere in Windows 10, but there are methods you can change those too.

How to Alter the Size of the Taskbar Icons

If you wish to alter the size of the icons in your taskbar, there is a different setting for that, that will also change the size of text, apps, along with other items across Windows 10.

1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.

2. Select Display settings from the contextual menu.

3. Slowly move the slider under "Change how big text, apps, and other items" to 100%, 125%, 150%, or 175%.

4. Hit Apply at the end from the settings window. Windows might ask you to log out and log back in for a more consistent experience.

This will not only result in the icons within the taskbar a bit larger, but it will even make text bigger in apps like Microsoft Edge and Calendar, as well as in Windows 10 notification windows.

How to Change the Size Icons in File Explorer

If you want larger or smaller icons or thumbnails in particular folders, you are able to change those found on the fly in File Explorer.

Just head to your folder location and employ your mouse's scroll wheel to zoom in or out, effectively switching the vista between Windows 10's large icons, medium icons, small icons, list, details, tiles, and content views.

Although File Explorer will remember your last setting when you open this folder again, this can be a folder-specific setting, so you will need to adjust each folder you'll want different icon and text sizes for.