If you're using a Windows 10 machine, you might want to consider disabling Cortana — at least on the Lock Screen — if you aren't planning to install the latest Windows updates for whatever reason. (And, generally, do you really need a smart assistant helping you out when your PC is locked?)

Microsoft has rebuilt the web version of Office, giving it a performance boost and updating the Ribbon to make it more streamlined. Now, instead of seeing everything on the Ribbon, you'll only have the most-used options visible, although you can easily display the full set of options when you need them. The changes are available on Word on office.com now, with Insiders getting the update on Outlook in a few weeks.

Amazon and Microsoft have been locked in a pitched battle in the enterprise. Their AWS and Azure cloud services have, respectively, been duking it out over corporate cloud infrastructure for a while. That's been a good thing for businesses as the power and flexibility on offer have improved while costs have fallen. Now Microsoft is preparing to go toe-to-toe with Amazon in a another market - the supermarket. They're planning to introduce their AI capability and other systems to make grocery shopping easier.

E3 2018 is here, and companies have already announced more games than you can shake a Joy-Con at. But what about consoles? The last few years have seen E3 inundated with either rumours or news about new consoles from the big three. This year's gaming expo has been a touch on the lighter side when it comes to hardware announcements, but still had an interesting reveal or two from the show's biggest players. Depending on your console of choice, that might be a good thing.

Microsoft has a bunch of deals on offer with most lasting till the end of the month. If you're after a new Xbox or games and accessories, or a new computer, now is a good time to pop over to the Microsoft Store to pick up a bargain.

If you're a gamer, E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo is your event of the year. If you're an obsessive gamer, you'll want to get up at ridiculous times in the morning and get all the gaming news as it happens. Here's how to watch E3 live and free in Australia.

We hear the same messages from large tech companies and security specialists all the time. Don't click on links from unknown and untrusted sources, and don't fall for over-the-phone scams. Many banks and other companies never send links in email in order to "train" us in being cyber smart.

But every now and then, companies do dumb things that leave us scratching our heads. Like what Microsoft did with a friend of mine earlier this week.

Microsoft has a bunch of discounts and extras on its store at the moment with some truly great deals on offer. Here's are five of the best deals available .

Microsoft Excel is packed with useful data management features that don't see a lot of use, like pivot tables, index and match, and conditional formatting. If you're just using excel to sum and chart columns, this graphic can show you some other tools to help you become the spreadsheet ninja you always wanted to be.

G'day! Here are some cracking deals for Lifehacker readers today including insane Surface Book pricing, video game discounts at Ozgameshop, another eBay sale and The Deal Box at Amazon looking good!

I confess, I've never really used Windows 10s Game Bar, because I'm probably the last person who should be broadcasting their gaming habits on an online service. I'm terrible at Fortnite, I min/max in Pillars of Eternity, and I play a lot of Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms -- not exactly the sexiest of titles to stream, unless you like watching me click on all the things.

If you've been trying to install the April Update to Windows 10 and have hit a road block there may be a good reason. Microsoft has stopped the software from installing to computers running Avast Antivirus after some people experienced a blank desktop with no icons. This follows issues with installations on Intel and Toshiba SSDs which Microsoft has issued a patch for.

Microsoft has made a bunch of announcements at their SharePoint Virtual Summit. The big change on the SharePoint side of things is Spaces - which give a virtual reality spin to how people interact with information stored in SharePoint. Artificial intelligence has been further integrated in to Office 365 with the ability to better understand what you were working on as well offer more information about images you use and an improved way of working with files in Microsoft Teams.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Dropbox, Google Drive, or whatever popular service you use to back files up to the cloud and keep them synchronised between your multiple desktops and laptops. However, data privacy is becoming a bigger deal and we wouldn't question you if you're ready to make the leap away from these kinds of services.

The Microsoft Surface has been a massive success. Although it might not have the biggest sales volumes, it defined the desktop-tablet computer product category and put the company on the map as a maker of premium hardware. But, at the same time, Apple's iPad has remained the leader in the 9-inch tablet space. That's set to change with a smaller, low cost Surface expected later this year.

Lifehacker AU is never one to shy away from doling out handy Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tips. Chances are you've had to deal in spreadsheets for as long as you've been able to rest your hands on a keyboard. Here's some Excel techniques that will come in handy for any one strapped to an office desk throughout the day.

If you wanted an exhaustive reference for all the command line tools and utilities available in Windows, "/h" was as good as it got. Well, that was until last month, when Microsoft published a whopping big PDF with information on every single terminal command the operating system has to offer.

The Microsoft Build event has ended and the company has revealed a lot of information that shows how Windows applications and services will evolve over the coming year or two. While there are always talk about long term strategy at events like this, it's pretty tricky to know what's coming up beyond a year or so. But there have been some interesting developments.

A couple of days ago, put up a list of five things I wish Apple would steal from Microsoft when it comes to their main personal computing operating system. Now it's time to turn the tables. Although both macOS and Windows are no very mature operating systems with over three decades of development, there's plenty of things that macOS has that could make Windows 10 better.