When it comes to virus protection and securing Windows, the market for third-party antivirus solutions is shrinking. Microsoft claims that Microsoft Defender, which comes bundled with Windows, is actually sufficient as a security solution to protect against viruses and malware.
A quick note for readers responsible for securing Microsoft Azure cloud services. Microsoft has essentially released its entire Azure Sentinel (SIEM) toolkit as "open source." The Sentinel GitHub repository contains extensive documentation and over 1,000 pre-built threat detection rules. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
Microsoft has announced that deprecated TLS versions and endpoints for POP and IMAP in Exchange Online will no longer be supported starting in July 2026. This is because Microsoft plans to completely discontinue support for deprecated TLS versions (TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1) for POP3 and IMAP4 connections to Exchange Online. Exchange Online tenant administrators must take action and ensure that clients support at least TLS 1.2. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
The security update released for Windows 11 on April 14, 2026, has some undesirable side effects. Backups can no longer be mounted in Macrium Reflect 8 Free. I've also encountered this issue with other backup solutions like Acronis. The cause is that the April 2026 update blocks certain kernel drivers. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
A few days ago, in the German blog post Microsoft stellt GitHub Copilot ab Juni 2026 auf "Token-based" Billing um I mentioned a change to GitHub Copilot's billing model. At the time, this was still unofficial, but Microsoft has now announced the change on GitHub. The change will take effect on June 1, 2026. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
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A quick note for Windows 11 administrators working with Group Policy. Microsoft has updated the .admx template files (Administrative Templates, .admx) for Group Policy for Windows 11 25H2. These template files are also available for Windows Server 2025. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
That didn't quite go as planned: A Cloud Code Coding agent (Cursor) caused a database to be deleted by a company's infrastructure provider. At the same time, the backups were also deleted by the infrastructure provider because they had linked the backups to the database.
Microsoft has announced that it plans to refocus Windows 11 a bit more on reliability and user-friendliness. One of the features currently being tested with Insiders is improved control over update installation. You can postpone updates multiple times using a "calendar." Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
There has been an issue with Outlook.com for several hours now, affecting North America for certain and likely Europe as well. Regarding the outage: Users are experiencing intermittent difficulties logging in to the Outlook.com service, which is preventing them from accessing their mailboxes. Microsoft has confirmed the issues. In the U.S., there are thousands of outage reports on downdetector.com. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language]. Update: The outage should now be resolved.
Sony has introduced two changes to its PlayStation that may leave some players feeling miffed. For one, the chat feature will now require age verification. This means that minors playing multiplayer games who fall below a certain age threshold will no longer be able to participate in chats or use communication features. Another (apparently unannounced) change is likely to have even more serious consequences. Purchases of games are subject to a 30-day license validation period. Read details within my German blog post [use build-in translation to switch language].
MVP:
2013 – 2016
WIMVP:
2017 – 2020
