Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

The writing has been on the wall for legacy Edge in Windows 10 for quite some time. Now, with the release of this month's updates for the operating system, Microsoft has finally pulled the trigger.

With the release of the KB5001330 and KB5001337 update for Windows 10, Microsoft has forcibly removed the old version of Edge and replaced it with the newer Chromium-based version of the browser.

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Another Patch Tuesday has rolled around, and this month sees Microsoft releasing a bumper crop of update for Windows 10. In all, April's updates address a total of 108 flaws, 19 of which are considered Critical.

Four of the critical flaws are Exchange vulnerabilities discovered by the NSA, and there are also fixes for no fewer than five zero days. The patches also include fixes for an incredible 89 Important issues.

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For power users looking to customize, personalize, optimize and control Windows 10, there are lots of tools available in the operating system. The problem is that they are spread out across multiple locations which can mean a lot of traveling back and forth.

Microsoft is changing this with the introduction of a new Windows Tools folder which brings together elements of the Control Panel, Administrative Tools and more.

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Apple's latest M1-based range of laptops and desktops has impressed many with the impressive speed boost over Intel chips. While many macOS fans have been eagerly waiting for their favorite apps to be ported across, others have been waiting to the arrival of Linux.

And with the launch of version 5.13 of the Linux kernel, this should become a reality. The hard work of developers means Linux support could be coming to M1 Apple devices as soon as June this year.

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That Google tracks internet usage is hardly news -- it how the company has operated for years, and it is central to its business model. But the search giant recently started testing a new technique for delivering targeted ads to people called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), and it's now enabled for millions of users by default.

While Google is insistent that FLoC is "privacy-preserving mechanism" and one that " enables ad selection without sharing the browsing behavior of individual users", the algorithm remains controversial for many. The cookie-free technique uses fingerprinting which the likes of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy groups have expressed great concern about. For anyone who would like to block Google's new tracking method, DuckDuckGo's Chrome extension is here to help.

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It is the end of an era: Logitech has announced that it will no longer produce its Harmony range of universal remotes. The company says, however, that the decision to discontinue production of the devices will not affect current owners, as support will continue.

No reason has been given for the decision, and the remaining stock of devices will remain on sale until the entire inventory is gone. Just don't expect any refunds or compensation.

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It has been a very, very long time coming, but Microsoft has finally decided to dole out some 64-bit loving to OneDrive.

The company has announced the availability of a public preview version of the 64-bit OneDrive sync client for Windows. For anyone running the 64-bit version of Window, making the switch makes complete sense thanks to improved performance and better handling of large files. The bad news for now is that there is no 64-bit ARM version available, only one for x64-based systems.

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When Donald Trump was removed from social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, the only real surprise was that it hadn't happened sooner. With the former president apparently planning to create his own social platforms, the story is far from over, and he sems likely to maintain an online presence.

But there is also the question about what to do with Trump's previous online content. One thing is certain – his tweets will not be appearing in the National Archives after Twitter denied NARA permission to resurrect deleted content from the suspended account.

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Microsoft has launched a preview version of its own distribution of Java, making it available for Windows, macOS and Linux. The company has named the release Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, and describes it as its "new way to collaborate and contribute to the Java ecosystem".

The company has made available Microsoft Build of OpenJDK binaries for Java 11, which are based on OpenJDK source code. Microsoft says it is looking to broaden and deepen its support for Java, "one of the most important programming languages used today".

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It seems like it has been a while since there was a new version of PowerToys for Windows 10, but Microsoft has now pushed out a new release in time for Easter.

We've now made it up to PowerToys v0.35.0, and while this is not a major upgrade from the previous version, it is still significant thanks not only to the number of bug fixes and improvements, but also the number of new features. FancyZones, PowerToys Run and Color Picker are among those gaining new options.

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When digital assistants are mentioned, it tends to be Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa that come to mind; it is only for real Microsoft diehards that Cortana features.

So it is little wonder that Microsoft has seen sense and decided to kill off some implementations of its own digital assistant. Cortana will still be found in Windows 10, but mobile users will find that it is no longer available for either iOS or Android.

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In an iOS support document, Apple reveals that it is planning to take steps to recalibrate the batteries of iPhone 11 handsets.

The move by the company comes after an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max bug led to inaccurate information being given about battery health. With a fix due to rollout later in the spring, Apple is advising people to hold off from taking their handsets in for repair until a software update allows for recalibration.

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For Microsoft, March was marred by a string of problematic Windows 10 updates that caused a series of problems with printing and more. As we reach the end of the month, the company has released an optional patch which it will almost certainly be hoping proves less problematic.

The optional KB5000842 update is available for Windows 10 version 2004, and Windows 10 20H2. This monthly "C" release preview update aims to address a number of issues with the operating systems including problems with dark screens and other monitor glitches, and as well as system crashes associated with OneDrive.

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Microsoft has released a new servicing stack update for Windows 10. The KB5001205 update is available for version 1909 of the operating system, and it addresses an issue with the Secure Boot feature.

The company says that the update fixes an issue that prevented another update installing. It also includes quality improvements to the servicing stack to help with the overall update experience in Windows 10.

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Whatever you use your computer for, the taskbar is something you interact with to some extent every day. It's a component that lies at the heart of Windows 10, and Microsoft is finally making a key change that will be welcomed by many users.

With the release of Windows 10 build 21343 the other day, we have already seen some of the visual changes Microsoft is bringing to Explorer. But in Windows 10 21H2, the company is also freeing the taskbar from the explorer.exe process into its own library. It's a move that means the Sun Valley update for Windows 10 should help to improve stability and eliminate problems with Explorer resulting in taskbar crashes, as is so often the case currently.

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