Short Takes Daily: What went on in the world of Microsoft in Wednesday, July 15, 2015?

Today in the news: the final Windows 10 Insider build begins rolling out today to all rings; Patch Tuesday has landed; and Microsoft has taken the wraps off the preview version of Office and stamped it ready for public consumption.

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ON OUR SITES:

This is it! Final Windows 10 Windows Insider Build Begins Rolling Out Today to All Rings — "Right now, Build 10240 of Windows 10 is rolling out to both Fast and Slow rings. Windows Insiders today are able to download and install what could end up as the RTM version of Windows 10. Microsoft isn't willing to put the RTM stamp on today's Build, but there's a couple pieces to this release that make it a good candidate."

Patch Tuesday: Installation Recommendations for July 2015 — "Microsoft this month has supplied 14 updates as part of its regular Patch Tuesday event. Five of these are rated as Critical. One of the updates, MS15-070, has already been reported to have an exploit in the wild. This update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Office."

Office for Windows 10 Apps Finalize Ahead of Windows 10 Release — "Microsoft has taken the wraps off the preview version of Office and stamped it ready for public consumption. Available today in the Windows 10 Store, users can download and start using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint."

Windows 10 Upgrade Help Available in Select Retail Outlets — "If you want to upgrade your own PC on July 29, there will be experts on hand in Microsoft Stores, Best Buy, Walmart, and Staples locations to offer upgrade help. Additionally, just by visiting one of these retailers you can belly-up to an "experience station" to try out Windows 10 to see if it's worth all the hubbub."

Gallery - WPC 2015 Day 3 Vision Keynote — "The Wednesday keynote included a run-down of the ways in which Microsoft is adjusting to meet the needs of customers all over the world — and some serious shade thrown at Google — and we've got all the sights and sounds here."

Q. Can I restore my saved Windows 7 disk image to my new Windows 8 PC? —  "I'm going to buy a new computer that will have Windows 8 installed. Can I restore my saved Win7 image to the new computer? Or do I have to reinstall all my programs, because it’s Windows 8?"

HP Hardware with Windows 10 Ready to Arrive on July 29 — "HP delivered its promise to supply PCs with Windows 10 pre-installed on July 29. Dell announced something similar just a couple days ago, after Microsoft suggested last week that no new hardware would be available when the Windows 10 upgrade was officially available."

Google Rolls Out Windows Server 2012 R2 Support to Its Compute Platform — "The day that Windows Server 2003 expired, Google was on tap to offer holdouts an opportunity to take advantage of its compute services for migrations. In preview for a number of months, Compute Engine now offers full Windows Server 2012 R2 support, releasing for General Availability."

FROM OTHER SITES …

Windows XP Security Just Got Worse Again — "Here’s another reason to upgrade that old Windows XP PC: Microsoft has now stopped providing antivirus signatures for the out-of-support operating system."

Office Mobile apps for Windows 10 will only require Office 365 on PCs and large tablets — Microsoft initially said that access would be free for mobile devices and today that is being cleared up once and for all. But you can't use these, free apps on a PC or large tablet to edit documents without an Office 365 subscription.

Microsoft's fan-focused Windows 10 launch events will be invite-only — To celebrate the new OS's launch, Microsoft will hold fan-focused events in Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, New Delhi, Dubai, Nairobi, Berlin, Johannesburg, Madrid, London, São Paulo, and New York City. 

Mary Jo Foley talks to Satya Nadella — Read the Q&A, which covers the mobile strategy, what's next for the HoloLens, and how he really feels about Windows Phone.

6 innovations from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference — Here are the cool, useful innovations that Microsoft and third-party developers showed off.

Microsoft releases universal keyboard for Android, iOS and Windows devices — The debut of the 5mm-thick keyboard is the company's play for cross-platform hardware, meant to complement Microsoft's push into cross-platform apps.