Short Takes Daily: What went on in the world of Microsoft on Monday, July 27, 2015

Today in the news: We've got five things you should do to customize your machine after your Windows upgrade, plus all the details on how to avoid having update KB3074681 bollix your system.

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On our sites ...

Top 5 areas to update and customize after your Windows 10 upgrade — Once your upgrade to Windows 10 is complete, you will arrive in the new OS ready to go with your compatible apps, programs and all of your files waiting for you. Take these five steps for a better Windows 10 experience.

Patch for crashing on Windows 10 after update KB3074681 released to Insiders — The Windows team went to work addressing the issue and just a short while ago released KB3074683 on Windows Update to replace the faulty patch KB3074681.

Mandatory updates on Windows 10 — Whether you agree with mandatory updates or not the course of events this weekend relating to the issues caused by KB3074681 worked exactly to plan.

Windows 10 Update KB3074681 causing crashes for users — Don't worry: We've got the workaround.

Microsoft Acknowledges New Issues with Windows Media Center Switchover — The switch to Rovi as a provider brings Windows Media Center in line with the Xbox One. The Xbox One uses Rovi to provide channel guide listings. One can assume that Microsoft expects to promote the Xbox One experience. Microsoft has promised a Windows Media Center replacement sometime in the future and this might possibly be the beginnings of that promise fulfilled.

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And on other sites ...

5 Windows 10 can do that Apple OS X can't -- From scribbling on Web pages to searching via voice command, a quick rundown of the more user-friendly features in the new OS.

Hugh McLeod documented Microsoft via a series of cartoons and noted "Microsoft is super successful BECAUSE of its hardcore freak culture of smart, talented, out-there people, not in spite of it,” while warning that going forward, the company needs to ensure that no one loses their freak. -- see his entire gallery here.

Apple, Microsoft and Google promise to do their part against climate change -- "On Monday, more than a dozen large companies announced a new partnership with the White House to expand renewable energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions and water use."

Find out what's new in Microsoft Excel 2016 for Mac — From new PivotTable slicers to the ability to print straight to a PDF file and share spreadsheets, there are a lot of improvements aimed at large-scale data processing.

So, you want to try Microsoft Cortana on Android? Here's how -- The end result? Cortana does a decent job with the minimal tasks it can perform. What can Cortana do?