Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is rapidly replacing applications that were once hosted on-premises. There are compelling reasons for switching to SaaS. Costs are lower, there’s no in-house equipment or software to deal with, and no updates or patches to manage. Organizations are obviously aware of the advantages. Experts at Gartner estimate that SaaS global revenue will exceed $94 billion in 2019, up 18.5 percent over 2018. The outlook for future growth is even more promising, with projections that revenue will soar to $143.7 billion by 2022.

But the as-a-service model raises a critical issue facing organizations: compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory schemas that govern company data. Who owns the data and is responsible for compliance? What should customers expect from SaaS vendors?

Continue reading →

In a move that probably won’t come as a big surprise to many people, this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) -- the world’s largest mobile phone showcase -- has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.

MWC was due to be held in Barcelona on February 24-27, but over the past couple of weeks or so, many of the world's major tech firms have pulled out of the event, including BT, Cisco, Facebook, Amazon, Deutsche Telekom, Intel, LG, Sprint, and Vodafone.

Continue reading →

Today, Microsoft rolls out the latest Windows 10 Preview build to Insiders on the Fast ring.

Build 19564 includes some graphics settings improvements and updates the Windows Calendar app. In addition, when you install Build 19564.1000, you’ll be offered Build 19564.1005 (KB4541095) as a Cumulative Update via Windows Update. This is designed to help Microsoft test its servicing pipeline.

Continue reading →

The Windows 10 Start menu gives you easy access to all of your programs and important settings, and -- for now at least -- optional Live Tiles. The search box makes it easy to find what you’re looking for too... when it works.

But if you hanker for the days when Start menus were simpler, you might want to consider adding a Windows XP style menu to Windows 10.

Continue reading →

It’s fair to say that Avast has been engaging in some rather sketchy behavior over the past couple of years. These include a privacy controversy with CCleaner back in 2018, and then a couple of weeks ago it was revealed that Avast Free Antivirus was sending browser history to marketers.

After attempting to defend its data gathering and sharing practices, Avast finally apologized and shut down its marketing analytics subsidiary Jumpshot with immediate effect. But it seems that isn’t the end of the matter as far as the Czech authorities are concerned.

Continue reading →

If you were hoping that Samsung would be taking the wraps off its Galaxy S11 today, then you’re in for a surprise as the company has gone straight to the S20.

Its new flagship smartphone is available in three versions -- the Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra -- and as you’d expect they don’t come cheap, but you do get a lot for your money. As was the case with Apple’s new iPhones announced last year, Samsung’s new devices focus on the imaging side of things with an entirely new camera system, powered by AI and with Samsung’s biggest sensor yet.

Continue reading →

There are lots of tools available that let you customize Windows in a number of ways. See this Windows 98 themed version of Windows 10 for just one example of what’s possible.

Stardock produces some excellent, very affordable customization applications and today the company announces the next-generation version of its Windows sound scheme manager, SoundPackager 10.

Continue reading →

Microsoft Windows has evolved a lot over the years, and while there are still plenty of people who prefer Windows 7 over Windows 10, I can’t imagine there’s many users out there who truly hanker for the days of Windows 95 or 98.

But there are people who enjoy customizing Microsoft’s operating system, and a Redditor by the name of WunJZ has given his copy of Windows 10 an impressive Windows 98 makeover.

Continue reading →

Windows 10 users have had a tough time of it lately, with updates causing all manner of problems, as well as the search function stopping working for many people.

If you’re thinking now might be the time to look into an alternative operating system -- perhaps one based on Linux -- but you’re not quite ready to jump ship from Windows, then Windows 12 Lite, discovered by a redditor at their local computer fair, could be the OS you’re looking for.

Continue reading →

The last few Insider builds of Windows 10 haven’t been too exciting, with the focus primarily on fixing problems and making minor changes.

Build 19559.1000 for Windows Insiders in the Fast ring is no different, but it does address a number of stability issues.

Continue reading →

If you’ve tried to search for something in Windows 10 this morning you’ll likely have been greeted by an empty search window.

Type something in, and you’ll get no results. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the issue, but the problem seems to be caused by Bing’s new integration.

Continue reading →

Excel 2019 For Dummies has been updated to reflect the major changes and features made to Excel and covers everything you need to know to perform any spreadsheet task at hand.

It includes information on creating and editing worksheets, formatting cells, entering formulas, creating and editing charts, inserting graphs, designing database forms, adding database records, using seek-and-find options, printing, adding hyperlinks to worksheets, saving worksheets as web pages, adding existing worksheet data to an existing webpage, pivot tables, pivot charts, formulas and functions, Excel data analysis, sending worksheets via e-mail, and so much more.

Continue reading →

Another week, another new future Windows 10 build for Insiders to test.

Build 19555.1001 isn’t the most exciting of new releases, but if does offer a number of important fixes, including one that could result in the Start menu and apps not opening.

Continue reading →

Avast has been facing growing criticism following an investigation by Motherboard and PCMag that revealed the company’s free antivirus software was harvesting user data and selling it onto marketers.

In a bid to appease users, Avast published a blog post explaining why it was collecting user data, and announced that going forward this collection would be opt-in, but that the company would continue to sell the data via its analytics subsidiary Jumpshot. Throughout the post the security firm insisted that collected data was fully "de-identified", despite the fact that Motherboard and PCMag’s investigation showed how it could be linked back to an individual.

Continue reading →

Two days ago we reported how a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag discovered that Avast's free antivirus software was harvesting user data and selling it onto marketers in a way that could be linked back to an individual.

Following the inevitable backlash, Avast has responded, defending its data gathering and attempting to justify the practice of selling it on, while continuing to insist that the data is fully "de-identified".

Continue reading →