• Article

The development of PowerToys continues, and this widely appreciated labor of love is gradually gaining more and more utilities. The latest instalment in the tool's story sees Microsoft releasing PowerToys v.0.37.0.

For now, this is primarily a bug fixing and improvement-introducing release, and some important changes have been made to some of the individual utilities. As of this release, PowerToys now requires at least Windows 10 version 1903 (because of future adoption of WinUI 3). While this requirement will not represent much of an issue for many people, the fact that the eagerly anticipated Video Conference Mute is missing is a disappointment.

You know what was funny? The excitement of iPhone users when Apple finally added home screen widget support to iOS. It was comical because Google had widget support on Android pretty much forever. In other words, the Apple faithful were getting all hot and bothered over what Android users considered "old hat."

But OK, it doesn't really matter which platform had widgets first -- both Android and iOS/iPadOS have them now. While there has long been a Pandora widget for Android, today, the music streaming company launches a new widget for Apple's mobile devices too -- as long as they are running iOS/iPadOS version 14.x.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that the Windows 10 May 2021 Update (21H1) was being prepared for release, with Windows Insiders in the Release Preview ring the first to be offered it.

Today, the software giant rolls out a new build to Insiders in the Dev Channel.

We looked last week at how government agencies are adapting to remote working, but a new report from ESET shows they are also facing a growing attack surface and greater challenges from APT groups and cybercriminals.

Many of the threats facing government have come from organized criminal groups, which have been increasingly willing to work together towards a common goal. Plus the line between cybercriminals and nation-state actors continues to blur.

The pandemic boost to digital transformation last year has brought security into the spotlight as companies have scrambled to shift almost their entire organization to remote operations.

It’s more important than ever for businesses to identify and fix risks that could leave them open to a data breach, which is why RedMonocle is adding new features to its SaaS platform aimed at helping CISOs and other security leaders anticipate threats in their technology security stack.

A new study carried out by IDC for cloud data management company Zerto reveals that modernizing data protection, including backup and disaster recovery, is an IT priority that is crucial to digital transformation for 90.8 percent of respondents.

It also shows that 94.7 percent have seen an impact to their work-from-home data protection as a result of COVID, and that 80 percent of new applications will be deployed in the cloud or at the edge.

Working with multiple monitors is great -- in theory. The extra space is obviously useful, as is the ability to use different screens to group together related apps, documents and windows.

Sadly, Windows 10's implementation of multi-monitor support is a little flawed, particularly when using DisplayPort. Many people with two or more screens will have experienced a problem that sees app windows being randomly rearranged, particularly after a system wakes from sleep. But this should be coming to an end as Microsoft is finally addressing the issue.

Microsoft has released a new "C" preview update for Windows 10 ahead of May's Patch Tuesday. With the optional KB5001391 update, anyone running Windows 10 2004 and Windows 10 20H2 can get the new News and Interests feature in the taskbar.

While there are no security fixes in this update, it is still well worth installing -- not just because of the new taskbar feature, but also because of the number of performance, stability and other non-security issues it addresses.

Linux distributions and silly names go together like peanut butter and jelly. For whatever reason, the maintainers of these operating systems seem to enjoy having fun with what they call them -- some argue it is childish. Hell, even Google -- a multi-billion dollar company -- once used sugary dessert names for the Linux-based Android operating system. I am glad the search giant stopped that nonsense.

One of the most well-known desktop Linux distributions to use funny names is Ubuntu. It famously uses the convention of an adjective and a lesser-known animal, each starting with the same letter. The letter is chosen sequentially by alphabet. For example, Ubuntu 21.04 uses the letter "H" -- "Hirsute Hippo".

Windows 10 Insiders have been testing out the May 2021 Update for a while now, but it won’t be long before the update gets made available to non-Insiders.

Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc says that Build 19043.928 is the final build for the May 2021 Update. It will be firstly offered to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel although they will need to request it.

While we would all like to think the ground beneath us is stationary, the truth is, this giant sphere we call Earth is constantly moving. Not only is our planet simultaneously rotating and moving around the sun, but sometimes the ground can shake and rumble more than we'd like too. This can happen when the tectonic plates move about too much. This friction is what we call an earthquake. We call it this because a layer of earth beneath us quite literally quakes.

These earthquakes aren't just scary -- they can be deadly too. Yes, people can be injured during these seismic events, including death. Earthquakes can even cause tsunamis, leading to drownings too. This is why it is so important to alert people when earthquakes happen. Thankfully, if you own an Android phone and live in either Greece or New Zealand, I have some good news -- Google is launching an earthquake alerts system in those two countries.

Long gone are the days where Apple was the sole manufacturer of elegant laptops. Quite frankly, Apple has become a bit stagnant with its designs. Truth be told, makers of Windows laptops (such as Samsung, HP, and Huawei) have met or exceeded Apple's MacBook looks. Best of all, these Windows notebooks are often much more affordable than Apple's offerings too. Not to mention, they typically have touch screens!

Today, Samsung unveils its newest Windows 10 laptops and not only are they thin and beautiful, but quite powerful too. You see, they are powered by 11th-generation Intel Core processors. There is the Galaxy Book Pro and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 -- the former is a traditional laptop, while the latter is a convertible.

Whether you view your organization as having an agile approach or not, in 2020, companies had no choice but to drastically change their way of working as the world rapidly pivoted to remote working. Organizations that had already embraced agile principles had the advantage of being able to adapt faster to the pandemic and meet the demands of their employees, who were suddenly all working from home.

Now, as we start to slowly emerge from multiple lockdowns and restrictions, one interesting side effect of COVID-19 is that it has lowered our collective tolerance for slow, overly bureaucratic processes. We all crave an agile approach, whatever our definition of agile might be.

The goal of digital transformation is to fundamentally change how B2B suppliers operate and deliver value to customers by creating a connected digital ecosystem. A change of this magnitude, however, is not without its challenges.

For one, in order to change a business’s value delivery model, the first step is understanding the value each customer is looking to receive -- something that is easier said than done when there is no formal way to document and collaborate around goals and objectives.

Linux is one of the most sought-after skills in the IT industry, with jobs involving Linux being increasingly in demand. Linux is by far the most popular operating system deployed in both public and private clouds; it is the processing power behind the majority of IoT and embedded devices. Do you use a mobile device that runs on Android? Even Android is a Linux distribution.

This Linux book is a practical guide that lets you explore the power of the Linux command-line interface. Starting with the history of Linux, you'll quickly progress to the Linux filesystem hierarchy and learn a variety of basic Linux commands.You'll then understand how to make use of the extensive Linux documentation and help tools.