Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Mozilla has just released Firefox 93 and there is a big and controversial change to the address bar. Not content with making helpful suggestions from your browsing history as you type, Firefox Suggest now also includes "relevant suggestions" and "sponsored suggestions" from "trusted partners"; in other words, ads.

There are privacy concerns associated with making these suggestions. Mozilla may insist that it only deal with partners that meet its privacy standards for Firefox, but it still means that whatever is typed into the address bar is sent back to Mozilla and processed in order to deliver ads it hopes you will click on. The good news is that you can disable Firefox Suggest and hide ads in Firefox.

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The roll-out of Windows 11 is now in full swing, and various problems are starting to emerge. There is a list of known issues that Microsoft acknowledges, but there have also been reports of problems with memory usage, performance issues with AMD processors, and reduced gaming performance.

Two of Windows 11's security features -- namely Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) and Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI) security -- have been blamed for some of the performance issues. Here's how to disable VBS so you can see if you can earn yourself a speed boost..

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Research Vice President with analyst firm Gartner has said that Windows 11 could have been released as a feature update for Windows 10 rather than a whole new version of the operating system.

While Stephen Kleynhans praises the removal of Internet Explorer, the addition of Android support and welcomes what he describes as an "overdue facelift", he feels that releasing this as an upgrade rather than just an update is simple marketing by Microsoft. He also advises business and enterprise uses against rushing into adopting Windows 11 and predicts low usage numbers even by 2023.

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Reports are coming in about a strange bug in Windows 11 that results in the Windows 10 taskbar being displayed instead of the updated versions. The same issue was reported by Windows Insiders in the build up to the launch of Windows 11, and it seems that Microsoft has not been able to get things fixed.

In addition to problems with the old taskbar showing up, users are also reporting that the Start menu is not working. Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the problems, but workarounds have been uncovered.

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With Windows 11 now publicly available the time has come for problems to start surfacing. We have already had reports of reduced performance in games as well as File Explorer using large amounts of memory; now AMD has issued a warning that Windows 11 users with certain processors can expect reduced performance.

The chipmaker has provided information about "known performance impacts reported on Windows 11 when running compatible AMD processors on certain applications". Affected processors include Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9 and Threadripper (plus Pro variants), and the impact means that performance is reduced by as much as 15 percent.

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With performance problems, confusing system requirements, high memory usage, and other issues, the launch of Windows 11 has not been as smooth as many people would have hoped. In the build-up to the rollout of the operating system, Microsoft made much of the need for systems to have TPM 2.0 in order to qualify for an upgrade -- but then the company moved the goalposts.

Having previously said that installation on computers without TPM 2.0 would not be possible, Microsoft has since revealed an official workaround that makes it possible to install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware. This is a risk, however, and there is a stark warning that you could cause damage to your PC.

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With Windows 11 now available for more people to download and install, more and more problems are starting to emerge. We've already seen a short list of known issues, and users have already complained of high memory usage by File Explorer.

Another issue that is causing some annoyance is an apparent reduction in gaming performance under Windows 11.  The slowdown is measurable in benchmarks and has been blamed on the Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) and Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI) security features.

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The roll out of Windows 11 started yesterday, and while many people are eager to upgrade as soon as possible, there are plenty of others who want to hold off for a little while. The list of known issues acknowledged by Microsoft may be short, but users who have upgraded to Windows 11 are experiencing other problems.

One such issue sees File Explorer using huge amount of RAM. The problem is being blamed on a memory leak and was initially reported a couple of months ago -- but now more people have access to Windows 11, further reports are coming in confirming the issue.

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After months of waiting, Windows 11 is finally here. Microsoft has started the roll-out of the latest version of its operating system to people whose computers make the grade, but if you were hoping for perfection you are going to be disappointed.

Despite all of the testing with beta and developer builds, Windows 11 is still shipping with a number of known issues. Microsoft has shared details of these so you can weigh up whether they will affect you and whether you would like to upgrade to Windows 11 now or wait until things improve.

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Things have been a little quiet from Donald Trump since his presidency came to an end. The cessation of online rants was helped by Twitter slapping him with a permanent ban over concerns that his tweets were an incitement to violence.

Having attempted to launch his own social media platform as a replacement, Trump is now trying a new tactic. The former president has asked a federal judge in Florida to get Twitter to restore his @RealDonaldTrump account, claiming that he has been censored.

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We may be in the tail end of 2021, but Microsoft is on the verge of releasing the latest edition of the non-subscription version of its office suite bearing this year in its name. Microsoft Office 2021 is due for release on October 5, the same day as Windows 11, and will be available for Windows and macOS.

If you want Office without a subscription, you will have to be willing to pay upfront for Office 2021. Microsoft has now revealed that pricing starts at $150, but you could pay much more than this.

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Ahead of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released a preview of its KB5005611 update for Windows 10. The patch includes numerous fixes, such as addressing Outlook crashes and the unwanted appearance of "News and interests".

Available for Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2 and 21H1, this is a non-security update but it includes various quality improvements that make it worthy of attention.

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Starting next week, Microsoft will start to rollout Windows 11 to people with compatible computers that qualify for the free upgrade. While there have been numerous previous versions of the operating system for people to play with, it is not until October 5 or later that the vast majority of people will get to play with Windows 11.

And it is at this point that more people will become frustrated at some of the changes that Microsoft has implemented -- one of which means that it is no longer possible to move the taskbar from the bottom of the screen. But with an updated version of Stardock's Start 11 utility (which we've mentioned before) it will be possible to get around Microsoft's limitations and move the taskbar to a different position.

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The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have joined forces to publish guidelines design to help people make informed choices when selecting a VPN.

In the joint NSA-CISA information sheet, the organizations provide help and advice in a range of areas including not only choosing a reliable, trustworthy VPN, but also how to configure a VPN for maximum security and a reduced attack surface.

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Researchers from the Computer Science departments of Birmingham and Surrey Universities have discovered a way for hackers to make large, unauthorized payments from locked iPhones by exploiting the functionality of Apple Pay.

The academic researchers found that the attack works on Visa cards in Express Transit mode in an iPhone's wallet. They were able to make a contactless payment of £1,000 (around $1,350) without unlocking the iPhone being used. Despite having been reported to Apple a year ago, the issue remains unfixed.

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