The Blog
Guides, analysis and licensing advice for Windows, Office, Visual Studio and more — from the Software Supplies team.
Updated June 2026 All three editions share the same core IDE. The differences are licensing terms and a handful of advanced tooling features exclusive to Enterprise. For most commercial developers the decision is binary: Community if you qualify, Professional if you don’t. Here’s exactly where the line sits and what Enterprise adds for the teams […]
Microsoft has released a fresh round of updates for Windows 11 testers, bringing improvements to both the operating system itself and the long-standing Paint application. The changes are currently rolling out through the Insider Preview programme, specifically to the Canary and Dev Channels, giving early adopters a first look at what may appear in future […]
Starting or running a small business in the UK today requires more than just a good idea. You need the right software infrastructure — tools that support compliance, productivity, financial management, communication, and growth. This guide outlines the essential software categories every UK small business should consider in 2026. 1. Website & E-commerce Platform Your […]
Windows Licensing OEM, Retail, Volume, MAK, KMS, digital licence, product key, hardware binding. Every one of these terms has a precise meaning. Confuse them and you end up with an activation failure, a key that works for six months then stops, or money spent on a licence type that doesn’t fit what you’re doing. This […]
If you’ve ever searched for a Windows or Office licence key online, you’ve probably seen wildly different prices — from £10 keys to full retail pricing. Naturally, the question follows: Is reselling Microsoft licence keys actually legal in the UK? The short answer: Yes — under specific legal conditions. The long answer is more nuanced, […]
When people research Microsoft Project Professional 2024, they often encounter conflicting advice. Some sources push cloud-first subscriptions, while others insist the desktop version is outdated. In reality, Project Professional 2024 continues to exist for a very specific reason: it solves problems that many modern, lightweight tools simply do not. If you already understand the features […]
How to balance privacy, cost, and performance when deploying AI outside SaaS platforms Introduction: why this decision matters now Large Language Models (LLMs) have moved from novelty to utility. The problem most businesses are now facing is not “Should we use AI?”, but “Where should it run, and what does that mean for our data?” […]