Ditching the default DNS service can boost performance, reliability and security. Any attentive business or home user will quickly change their internet service provider if availability is not up to scratch and yet few realise they can do exactly the same thing with the 'name servers' resolving the global Domain Name System. Doing this costs nothing and the benefits in terms of improved performance and security can be significant, yet few bother. Most users continue to take Domain Name System (DNS) for granted, unaware of the hidden bottlenecks of internet service provider (ISP) services and the potential for improvement.
How does a DNS service work? Put very simply, the job of DNS name servers is to resolve public web addresses or domains to their underlying TCP/IP addresses. This sounds like a straightforward process but there are a number of variables that affect performance. The most obvious of these is simply the round-trip time between the client device and the DNS server itself, which will depend on geographical proximity as well as response times from any other DNS infrastructure involved in a query. Even meaty name servers will not cache every possible website domain and have to look that up recursively by sending a query to a remote server. This is why visits to websites in remote countries sometimes take perceptibly longer for reasons that aren't (as many assume) to do with a slow web server on the other end of the request. Another problem is that DNS name servers can become congested due to heavy use at peak times or malicious DDoS attacks causing problems behind the scenes. DNS was designed to be resilient but under stress, it will still slow. ...read more on our Forum

Microsoft looks to be getting closer to delivering the rumored Windows 10 'multisession' remoting capability as part of a new Windows 10 Enterprise edition. In May, I heard talk that Microsoft was working on a new "multi-session" capability for Windows 10 that would allow users to provide remote desktop/app access to a small set of users from Windows 10 Enterprise, not Server. That functionality may be coming to fruition relatively soon. It looks like Microsoft will adding another new Windows 10 edition (commonly called an SKU) to its product line-up, possibly as of this fall's Windows 10 "Redstone 5" release. That new edition is currently listed as "Windows 10 Enterprise for Remote Sessions," according to a tweet from Tero Alhonen earlier this week. Alhonen, who found the listing while running a recent Windows 10 Redstone 5 Insider test build (Build 17713), tweeted a list of Windows 10 variants available for installation. Those options included Windows 10 Pro, Pro N, Education, Education N, Pro for Workstations, Pro N for Workstations and Windows 10 Enterprise for Remote Sessions. Learn more on OUR FORUM.

Earlier in the week, Microsoft released a new Windows 10 build 17728 for Fast Ring Insiders. The build came with the introduction of the company’s Your Phone app to the Insiders. The app allows you to interact with your phone from your PC, sending and receiving SMS messages, making phone calls and more. However, the company had not fully activated the feature with the previous build. Today, Microsoft is releasing a new Windows 10 build 17730 for Fast Ring Insiders which finally activates the feature on your Windows 10 PCs. The latest build confirms the activation of the Your Phone app for Windows Insiders. Today’s build activates the Your Phone app to iOS users as well but with limited features. iOS users will be able to link their phone to PC and surf the web on the phone. They will be able to send the webpage to the computer and pick it up from where they left off. Apart from surfing the web, Microsoft hasn’t added anything more for iOS users due to limitations of Apple. But we expect to see more features added in the coming days or weeks. Complete details posted on OUR FORUM.

Speaking to the Washington Post, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Modern Life and Devices team Yusuf Medhi revealed that the device has been designed so owners use it less and “waste less time.” Medhi claimed this design goal was reflected in the smaller size, making it “easier to use and put away“, the LTE chip which “is supposed to make it easy to hop on and off the Internet” and even the optional Alcantara fabric keyboard, which makes the “tech feel a little more comfortable, a little warmer and a little more human“. While Medhi did not touch on these other items, we assume the small screen to body ratio which makes the tablet less immersive is also there to make you use it less, and the use of battery-sucking Intel chips vs ARM chips forces you to switch off after a few hours of use, while the use of eMMC storage should make users of the cheapest model so frustrated they will soon stop browsing Facebook. Medhi said cleaning out his garage minus his phone was the source of his inspiration, saying of completing the work: “Looking back, I had almost never been prouder.” There's more posted on OUR FORUM.

Susan Bradley, an 18 year Microsoft MVP focused on Windows patching and patch management has sent an open letter to Microsoft executives Satya Nadella, Carlos Picoto, and Scott Guthrie about the frustration Windows 10 users have when dealing with installing new updates. This letter includes the results of a survey taken by over 1,000 consultants and over 800 consumers regarding their experience with Windows 10 updates. Being a Microsoft MVP in Consumer Security, I have known Susan for quite some time and can tell you that she is somewhat of a legend among those who regularly support Microsoft products.  When I saw her open letter mentioned at AskWoody.com and posted at ComputerWorld, I read through many of the survey comments and decided to reach out to her to find out more about why she wrote the letter. "It's due to increasing frustration with patching and patch management issues. We have the letter on OUR FORUM.