The Blog
Guides, analysis and licensing advice for Windows, Office, Visual Studio and more — from the Software Supplies team.
If you have ever performed a clean install of Windows, you will know the pain. You spend time creating installation media, wiping your drive, and running through the setup process — only to sit through an hour or more of cumulative updates before the system is genuinely ready to use. It has been one of […]
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 Some sources push cloud-first subscriptions, while others insist the desktop version is outdated.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 […]