Redstone 3 will launch in September as Microsoft commits to twice-yearly feature releases for Windows 10

windows-10-redstone

We're already seeing preview builds of Windows 10 Redstone 3 creeping out after the launch of Windows 10 Creators Update, and we now know that the final release date is scheduled for September.

The revelation comes as Microsoft announces plans to align its feature releases of Windows and Office, primarily to make things easier for enterprise users. Releases will come in March and September, and the next big update for Windows 10 (i.e. Redstone 3) "will be targeted for September 2017."

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Microsoft and Rambus optimizing DRAM for cryogenic temperatures

snowflake keyboard

Rambus and Microsoft are working together on developing systems that optimize memory performance on cryogenic temperatures. This is the second time the two companies are teaming up, following the initial collaboration back in December 2015.

According to Rambus, the new partnership aims to "enhance memory capabilities, reduce energy consumption and improve overall system performance."

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Mozilla Firefox web browser may no longer be supported on your Linux computer

Sad girl Windows 10 laptop

Firefox is a wonderful open source web browser. As a result, it comes pre-loaded on many Linux-based operating systems, such as Ubuntu and Fedora. Yeah, some people choose to install Chromium or Chrome instead, but Mozilla's offering remains a staple in the Linux community.

Unfortunately, it has been revealed that the Firefox web browser will no longer be compatible with some computers running a Linux-based operating system. You see, Mozilla has dropped support for certain Intel and AMD processors.

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Malware backdoors still the biggest threat to enterprises

Backdoor button

New data from cloud security specialist Netskope shows that companies are still struggling to prevent network breaches and protect themselves at all points of entry.

Backdoors made up the bulk of cloud malware detections, at 37.1 percent, down from 43.2 percent last quarter but still the biggest single threat.

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Enterprises want mobile apps that can improve productivity

mobile cloud enterprise

Most businesses have adopted some kind of mobile strategy and the focus now is on the positives that mobility programs can deliver.

New research for mobile application management provider Apperian finds that 43 percent of respondents listed improved productivity as their primary goal of enterprise mobile apps -- a 20 percent jump over 2016.

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Google Chrome could soon include an ad blocker

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It's news that -- on the face of it -- makes very little sense; the Wall Street Journal reports that Google is going to include an ad-blocking feature in its Chrome web browser. For a company that makes so much money from advertising this seems like something of a strange move, but in the light of recent ad controversy, it could be sensible business.

Just last month a large number of big companies started to pull advertising from Google and YouTube after finding that their ads were appearing on sites hosting extremist material. This, coupled with the fact that there is a general backlash against advertising from consumers (hence Adblock Plus pushing its Acceptable Ads program), could explain why Google is keen to be seen to be doing something that will give uses a better ad experience with greater control.

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ShadowPlex delivers cost-effective deception technology

Deception

Deception technology intended to catch out attackers by deploying decoys that mimic business systems is gaining in popularity. The market for deception is expected to exceed $2 billion by 2021.

Threat defense specialist Acalvio Technology is launching a new product called ShadowPlex which offers the scale and depth of a dynamic deception environment, and integrated intelligence built on a cloud-first infrastructure that makes it easy and cost-effective to deploy.

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Privacy: How to stop Google Maps' Your Timeline tracking where you go

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We live in a dichotomous age in which we are more concerned about privacy than ever, while simultaneously handing over more and more personal information to the likes of Facebook and Google. With its Your Timeline feature, Google Maps provides us with a great way to keep track of the places we've visited, but it also means sharing a lot of very revealing data with Google.

You may well like the idea of being able to check to see which coffee shop you visited a year ago, or check how far you walked last Wednesday, but you may also like the idea of maintaining some grasp of your privacy. Here's how to disable Your Timeline in Google Maps and how to delete any records that have been saved already.

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Demand for IT contractors in UK is rising

it workers

Demand for IT contractors has strengthened over the past six months despite the uncertainty caused by the vote to leave the European Union. At first glance this seems counterintuitive.

Historically, contractors have been the first into and first out of a period of economic malaise or even just uncertainty. The fear was that the EU referendum result would send the jobs market into a tailspin, and that contractors would be first to feel the pain. They are, after all, a flexible resource and it is much more cost effective for organizations to divest themselves of contractors than employees. In the months leading up to the referendum last June, that is exactly what we saw. Demand for contractors weakened as organizations hesitated over their IT investments until some measure of clarity was achieved.

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What is dark data?

Warehouse huge room server

As a society, and as businesses, we used to have a good handle on our data. We knew what it was, where it was kept, and we used it in a very formal way, treating it as something very precious. You could argue that a lot of it was always "dark," as it was locked in files and accessed only by those with physical proximity as well as the permission to use it.

Within organizations, data processing used to rely on very structured, defined data sets, but the rise of social data, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and constantly connected devices has introduced a seemingly unlimited supply of unstructured data. It comes streaming in from multiple sources -- cloud data, device-driven data, social data, financial data, and everything in between...

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UK SMBs losing money filing taxes

SMB laptop

Almost half of all SMBs in the UK (49 percent) have lost money in the digital tax submission process, signaling that there is still a lot more work to be done before the Make Tax Digital initiative is completed successfully.

This is according to a new report by cloud accountancy software Pandle, which surveyed 1,000 UK SMBs. The report says that SMBs lost money despite feeling well-informed on the recent changes to the system.

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LaCie unveils Thunderbolt 3 '2big Dock' with up to 20TB of storage for Apple MacBook Pro

lacie-2big-dock-right-hi-res

The MacBook Pro is a wonderful laptop, but its lack of ports is a hardship for some. While you can leverage dongles and adapters, that is hardly elegant. Luckily, since Apple's laptop supports Thunderbolt 3, a compatible single-cable dock can transform it into a quality desktop experience.

Today, LaCie announces an absolutely genius such solution, called "2big Dock." This Neil Poulton-designed docking station offers DisplayPort for connecting a monitor (resolutions up to 4K UHD), plus the ability to charge the laptop using the same cable used for connectivity. It also has a USB Type-A port, Type-C port, plus full-sized SD and Compact Flash slots. The real magic is that it also doubles as a storage drive, offering large capacities of 12TB, 16TB or 20TB!

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Microsoft launches new Windows 10 Insider podcast, listen here

Headphones

In addition to rolling out new Windows 10 Insider Preview builds for both PC and Mobile, Microsoft has also launched a new audio podcast.

Explaining the move, Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar says: "Many of you have been asking for our team to share more about our future plans about the overall Windows Insider community. We want to be inclusive of all consumption styles, so we thought we would experiment with an audio podcast."

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 3 Build 16179 to the Fast ring, plus Build 15205 for Mobile

Windows-10 key

It’s only been five days since Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build to the Fast ring, but hot on the heels of Build 16176 comes Build 16179, the third release for the new Redstone 3 branch.

That’s not the only new build however, as there’s also a new one for Window 10 Mobile, Build 15205.

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Enterprises replacing data centers with hybrid clouds

Data center

Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, summed up on the concept of cloud computing very succinctly. "All it is, is a computer attached to a network." Ellison and Oracle have gone on to embrace both open source and cloud technologies including OpenStack, but the basic premise that it starts with a physical server and a network still holds true.

The server industry is going through massive change, driven in the main part by advances in open source software, networking and automation. The days of monolithic on-site server rooms filled with rack-space, and blinking lights and buzzing air-con, are gone. However, the alluring simplicity of this concept is not quite how it works in the real world.

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