As you probably heard, Microsoft's October update of Windows 10 was a bit of a disaster.  Sure, it updated your OS, but unfortunately for many users, it also deleted a variety of files. This prompted outrage from the company's massive user base.

Things would have been bad enough if the calamitous October update had been an isolated mis-step.

Given how unpopular ads are, you wouldn't think that Microsoft would be experimenting with ways of displaying more of them. Unfortunately, that's the direction the company is headed.

Currently, members of the Windows Insiders test group can see ad banners in both the Mail and Calendar apps.

Researchers have discovered a security flaw in MS Office 2016 and older versions that leave the door open to hackers who can take advantage of it to run malicious code on a target computer.

This latest hack exploits a flaw in the software's online video option, which allows users to embed a YouTube video via link inside the document.

Microsoft hasn't been terribly impressive lately when it comes to Windows 10 updates.  In fact, it's fair to say that they've been a complete mess.  Just recently, they've issued updates that have deleted user files and caused crashes after creating incompatibilities with keyboard drivers.

Microsoft is having problems, and those problems are spilling out onto the company's massive user base.  In a highly unusual move, the company pulled its latest Windows 10 update after receiving numerous complaints from users about missing files.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the company has had problems with updates to their OS.  Back in April, the company delayed a planned update because at the last minute, Blue Screen of Death issues were discovered.

Change is coming to the way Microsoft handles search across its ecosystem.  If you use the home edition of Office, you're not likely to notice, but if you use Office 365, the changes will be significant.

Here's what's happening:

First of all, the search bar will get bigger, taking a more prominent and visible place on your screen's real estate.

Windows 10 is far and away the fastest growing version of the OS in the company's history.  It recently hit an installation base of a staggering 700 million devices after about three years on the market.

Note that these installation figures include installs not just on PCs, but also on Surface Hubs, Xbox, HoloLenses and smartphones.

Microsoft is making some long overdue and welcome changes to Outlook to include the Windows and the Web-based version.

People who use either one will now see a "Coming Soon" option that allows users to toggle between the version they've got now, and the new and improved version with the changes.

Microsoft has been making two major Windows 10 releases every year, giving businesses 18 months before they need to move to the next update. This plan and schedule is part of the company's "Windows as a service" paradigm, designed to ensure that Windows 10 gets new features, as opposed to the company's former practice of a new Windows release every three years.

Researchers at McAfee have demonstrated a method that hackers could use to perform an end-run around Cortana and access data, run malicious code, or even change a locked computer's password.  In this case, however, the emphasis is on the word "could.