Wayne Williams

Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev Channel have a new test flight to install today, and Build 23506 comes with a good number of fixes and improvements, as well as some new features.

Chief among the new additions is a passwordless experience with Windows Hello for Business (WHFB). This, Microsoft says, "provides organizations with a strong, phish-resistant credential, helping customers move to a passwordless future", and it's available to try now.

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Unity, the global leader in real-time 3D (RT3D) content creation and growth, has announced the launch of its beta program for visionOS, the operating system used in Apple's new mixed media headset. This program will allow Unity developers to create games and apps for Apple Vision Pro using Unity PolySpatial.

The integration of Unity PolySpatial with the Unity editor will allow creators to build experiences that run in visionOS, taking full advantage of the features offered by Vision Pro.

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Cybersecurity Threats, Malware Trends, and Strategies, Second Edition builds upon the success of the first edition that has helped so many aspiring CISOs, and cybersecurity professionals understand and develop effective data-driven cybersecurity strategies for their organizations.

In this edition, you’ll examine long-term trends in vulnerability disclosures and exploitation, regional differences in malware infections and the socio-economic factors that underpin them, and how ransomware evolved from an obscure threat to the most feared threat in cybersecurity.

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Written and edited by a team of experts in the field, this book reflects the most up-to-date and comprehensive current state of machine learning and data science for industry, government, and academia.

Machine learning (ML) and data science (DS) are very active topics with an extensive scope, both in terms of theory and applications. They have been established as an important emergent scientific field and paradigm driving research evolution in such disciplines as statistics, computing science and intelligence science, and practical transformation in such domains as science, engineering, the public sector, business, social science, and lifestyle. Simultaneously, their applications provide important challenges that can often be addressed only with innovative machine learning and data science algorithms.

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No person can ignore social media these days -- and no business can afford to ignore it either. Our lives are mediated through the flicker of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram -- and brands are increasingly interwoven with our online identities.

Even for the 90 percent of marketers who interact with social media regularly, its pace and scale can be confusing to the point of distraction. Social Media Marketing All-in-One For Dummies helps you take a step back, make sense of the noise, and get your brand voice heard over the babble -- in the way you want it to be.

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Although it only launched a couple of days ago, Meta's new Twitter rival Threads is already a big success. It's lacking some important features at the moment, although they are coming, and not all of its capabilities are obvious.

For example, it's not clear how to add a second account to Threads, or how to switch between accounts, but it is possible.

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Threads, Meta's Twitter alternative, is now live and already proving incredibly popular. It's very much a work in progress, with lots of features missing, but the developers are working hard at bringing these to the app.

One question I've seen asked quite a few times is how to add a second account to Threads, and it's definitely not as obvious as it could be. The process is easy enough though, just follow these steps.

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Three months ago, Microsoft announced the public preview of Windows 365 Frontline. If you're not familiar with it, Windows 365 is a service that allows users to stream Windows 10 and Windows 11 from the cloud to any device. Frontline is a special version for workers who only need a Cloud PC for a limited amount of time during a working day.

Unlike Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PCs, Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs remain in a powered-off state by default when they are not in use. Employees need to save their work at the end of their shift and then disconnect or sign out. Companies don't need to purchase a Cloud PC for every employee, rather, they only need enough Cloud PCs for the maximum number of active users at any given time.

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AdDuplex, the cross-promotion network targeted at Windows apps and games, has announced plans to shut down. The service allowed developers and publishers to promote apps for free by helping each other. That's not all it did though. Over the years, when BetaNews reported on usage share for Microsoft's various operating systems -- Windows 11 versus Windows 10, for example -- those share figures came from AdDuplex.

That is about to end however, as after more than 12 years, AdDuplex finds it is no longer able to continue.

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Although The Kodi Foundation is hard at work developing the next version of its popular home theater software, Kodi 21 'Omega', it is ensuring that users of the current 'Nexus' generation don't get forgotten.

Today the team announces the release of Kodi 20.2 and although it doesn't come with any real new features, you'll still want to install it.

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Yesterday, Microsoft made the first preview version of Copilot available for Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev Channel. This AI-powered feature appears as a docked sidebar on the right and lets users ask questions and perform actions, such as take a screenshot or turn on do not disturb.

Copilot is unquestionably the future of Microsoft's operating system, and will likely be a major part of Windows 12, but there are other AI tools on offer, including a modern take on Microsoft's ancient Office assistant, Clippit (more commonly called Clippy).

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Back in May, at its Build developer conference, Microsoft announced a new Copilot feature which is designed to bring the power of AI to Windows 11.

At the time, the company said that the feature would be made available in preview form in June, and today it finally arrives for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. To try it out, you will need to be running Build 23493 and Microsoft Edge version 115.0.1901.150 or higher.

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Working hard is a good thing, but sometimes you want to have a rest and recharge, and there's only so many trips to the toilet or the break room you can get away with in a day.

Luckily, there's a sneaky trick you can use to take a break at your desk without anyone minding, and that's to make it look as if your PC is running a particularly slow operating system update. We've all been there, right? The good news is you can use this with any OS version and not only that, but if you're feeling particularly evil, you can make it appear as if you've been hit by ransomware.

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Microsoft, like a lot of tech companies, believes that we’re finally edging closer to be able to say goodbye to passwords. The hope is that we will soon be able to use passkeys instead, which are more secure and harder to steal.

Today, the software giant rolls out Windows 11 Build 23486 to users in the Dev Channel and the big focus with this flight is on improving the passkey experience.

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This second edition book covers the new and exciting features of Microsoft Office 2021 for desktop and web apps, helping you broaden the skills from the previous edition.

Using real-world experiences, this book will guide you through practical examples that set off your thought process to boost productivity. To build new skills in each application, the book ensures that you gain a thorough understanding of new functions, such as PivotTables, Dashboards, and data manipulation methods in Excel.

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