The Blog
Guides, analysis and licensing advice for Windows, Office, Visual Studio and more — from the Software Supplies team.
Microsoft Publisher stops working in two stages in October 2026, and which one applies to you depends entirely on how you got it. If Publisher came with a Microsoft 365 subscription, it has already gone: Microsoft removed it on 1 October 2026. If you own a one-time purchase copy, such as Office Professional Plus 2021, […]
2027 is the year Microsoft’s release pattern points to for the next perpetual version of Office, though nothing is announced yet. This page covers when it is likely to arrive, what it will probably contain, and how to tell a real announcement from rumour. It is based on how Microsoft handled the last two releases. […]
For almost every small or medium business in the UK, this isn’t really a choice between two products — because Windows 11 Enterprise isn’t a product you can buy. It’s a per-user subscription that sits on top of a Windows 11 Pro licence you already need, sold only through “Contact Sales,” with no box, no […]
Two different questions hide behind one Settings screen. “Is my Windows activated?” is one of them — Windows answers that in a single line. “Is my Windows genuine?” is a related but separate question, and most guides online never actually draw the distinction. This one does, and both take about two minutes to check. The […]
Remote Desktop lets you open your PC’s full desktop, files and apps from another device, anywhere with a network connection. There’s one condition that trips a lot of people up: only a Windows 11 Pro (or above) PC can be the one you connect to. Windows 11 Home can connect out to another machine, but […]
BitLocker on Windows 11 Pro encrypts your drive, so a lost or stolen laptop gives away nothing but the hardware. It is one of the clearest reasons to pay for Pro. But “Home can’t” is only half the story: Windows 11 Home encrypts drives too, automatically, on most modern PCs. What Home cannot do is […]
Almost certainly not. Windows 11 Pro for Workstations is a real edition with four real features, and Microsoft sells it for £339 — roughly nine times what a standard Windows 11 Pro licence costs. But every one of those four features depends on hardware that is not in an ordinary PC, and the one with […]