NetMarketShare's audited figures show Windows 10 closing in on Windows 7
NetMarketShare reports on the state of the desktop operating system market on the first day of each month, and it has long shown Windows 10 to be lagging behind Windows 7. This is in stark contrast to the figures from rival analyst firm StatCounter which famously had Windows 10 overtaking its predecessor way back in January.
This time around NetMarketShare took a few days extra to present its numbers for June, but after an audit, in which the figures changed considerably, they are finally available and make for interesting reading.
How to stop your private Gmail messages being read by third parties
When Gmail first launched back in 2004, people were concerned about it because Google was scanning incoming messages in order to be able to present users with relevant, personalized adverts based on the email content.
The feature was finally dropped a year ago, in a move welcomed by privacy advocates, but it turns out employees of third-party app developers may well have been reading your private messages.
SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD: Excellent performance at a good price point [Review]
The easiest and best way to speed up a slow computer is to replace its HDD with an SSD. This will deliver a huge performance boost, and can make an old PC feel brand new. If you’re after the best speeds and your computer has a compatible PCIe-based M.2 slot, then a NVMe solid state drive is what you should you be looking for as they are significantly faster than SATA models.
That said, SATA remains the dominant interface for connecting a SSD to your PC, and for most consumers the performance improvement it provides will be perfectly acceptable -- certainly much quicker than you’d get from a mechanical drive. We took SanDisk’s Ultra 3D SATA SSD for a spin to see how it fared.
Win a 2TB diskAshur PRO2 hardware encrypted hard drive #BetaNews20
Throughout June, to celebrate BetaNews’ 20th birthday, we have been giving away some incredible prizes and while the month is drawing to a close now, we still have more giveaways for you enter.
The diskAshur Pro 2 range of portable USB hard drives from iStorage makes it easy to keep your personal files and folders private thanks to the integrated PIN authenticated XTS-AES 256-bit hardware encryption. Unlocking the drive is just a matter of tapping your PIN into the keypad and pressing the unlock button. To secure it again, just press the lock button, or eject the drive.
Avast is ruining CCleaner -- malware, bundled software, popup ads... what's next?
Security software firm Avast acquired Piriform -- the maker of several popular system utilities, including CCleaner -- last year. Things didn’t go too well from the off however, as shortly afterwards, it was revealed that CCleaner had been hacked and a dangerously modified version had been available to download for a number of weeks.
Avast was quick to point out Piriform’s IT systems were breached before it acquired the company, but it was still in charge when the infected build was released. That sort of thing is very unfortunate -- and even more embarrassing given the business Avast is in -- but it could be forgiven. Unfortunately, since then Avast seems to be working hard to alienate CCleaner’s devoted userbase.
Amazon's new Show Mode turns a Fire tablet into a slimmed-down Echo Show -- for free
Amazon is always looking for new ways to get its Alexa digital assistant into more homes. It’s rolled out a variety of Echo products over the years, most recently the Fire TV Cube, and Echo Dot Kids Edition.
A year ago, the company introduced the Echo Show, an Alexa powered device with a built-in 7-inch touchscreen. Today, the retail giant announces a free software update to turn an existing Fire tablet into a slimmed down Show, and there’s a new optional charging dock to complete the experience too.
Amazon introduces its largest and fastest tablet for kids
Amazon’s Fire tablets have been a big success for the company, with the Kids Editions proving very popular with parents. As well as offering age-appropriate content, they come with a kid proof case which makes them much harder to break than regular tablets.
Today the retail giant introduces a new model to the range. The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is its largest kid friendly device to date, and for a price that’s very reasonable.
Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows 10's game-changing Sets feature -- for now
The next big feature update of Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 5, has been shaping up nicely, with lots of great improvements and new additions.
The highlight of this future update is unquestionably Sets, a tab-based feature that’s designed to let you access related web pages, research documents, files, and applications in one location. Sets was originally planned to be part of the April 2018 Update alongside Timeline, but Microsoft needed a little more time to get things right, and so pushed it back. Sadly it now looks as if it won’t make it into the following feature update either.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17704 with lots of changes and improvements
It’s been a couple of weeks since Microsoft last rolled out a new Windows 10 Redstone 5 build for Insiders, but today the wait for an update is over.
Build 17704, for those on the Fast ring and Skip Ahead, includes a number of big improvements and changes.
Win a Neato Botvac D7 Connected Robot Vacuum from Wellbots #BetaNews20
Some people are worried about the prospects of robots taking over their jobs, but there are some tasks around the home that you would relish a robot doing for you -- such as vacuuming.
Robot vacuum cleaners are fantastic time-saving gadgets, and thanks to Wellbots you can win a Neato Botvac D7 Connected Robot Vacuum for your home as part of BetaNews' ongoing 20th birthday giveaway celebrations.
Would you swap Android or iOS for Microsoft Windows 95 Mobile?
We’ve written a lot recently about 2018 editions of past Windows operating systems, including Windows 7, XP and even Windows 95.
Microsoft Windows 95 Mobile imagines what the 23-year-old OS would look like if it was running on a modern smartphone today, and while its creator firmly has his tongue in cheek here, I have to say it has a certain retro-appeal to it.
New, stable test version of Kodi 18 Leia now available, Beta 'soon'
Fans of Kodi know that there’s a new version of the open source home theater software in development. Kodi 18 Leia introduces a number of big changes, including an overhaul for the Music and Live TV sections.
For Windows users there’s a dedicated 64-bit build, Android owners can populate the screen with content using a feature called Smartplaylists, and there have also been numerous changes for Linux.
How to protect Kodi from cryptojacking
Cryptojacking might not be as terrifying a threat as ransomware, but it’s a major annoyance that’s becoming more and more prevalent. If you’re not familiar, the attack essentially uses other people’s systems to mine cryptocurrency, usually without their consent.
When a cryptocurrency miner is running, your system will experience slowdowns and maybe crashes. The miner will eat up system resources, interfering with tasks like streaming video.
You can now download 5K wallpapers from the '2018 Editions' of Windows 7, XP and more
As you’ll know if you’re a frequent visitor to BetaNews, YouTuber Kamer Kaan Avdan has been creating some fantastic concept videos for various operating systems of the future, including Windows 11, iOS 12 and Android 9.0.
Most recently though, it’s his modernizing of Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows 95 which have really caught people's attention. If you’ve watched any of his videos, and thought how cool it would be to actually run one of those operating systems, the bad news is they remain purely concepts for now. However, you can customize your existing OS with some wallpapers from his most popular creations.
How to get macOS Mojave's Dynamic Desktop on Windows 10
At its recent WWDC, Apple revealed the latest version of macOS -- Mojave. The OS update introduces a number of new features, including a dark theme and desktop Stacks. One of the more interesting additions is Dynamic Desktop which cleverly cycles through a set of 16 images of the desert taken at different times of the day.
If you like the idea of this, but are on Windows 10, the good news is it’s now possible to get the feature on your OS, and for free.
Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 30 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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