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For PC builders and enthusiasts, these are quite exciting times. Hardware is faster than ever, making it possible to build some monstrously powerful computers. Solid state drives in particular have made storage blazing fast -- especially since NVMe began replacing the slower SATA drives.

Today, Toshiba unveils its latest NVMe solid state drive and it has some revolutionary technology on-board. You see, the "XG6," as it is called, is the first SSD to feature 96-Layer 3D Flash.

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Quantum computing is the future, and it has the potential to change everything. These new machines will be much more powerful than any "classic" computer available today. Quantum computers will be able to do calculations that we can only dream about today, potentially solving problems never thought solvable before. These powerful computers may even render current encryption methods obsolete.

Of course, hardware is just part of the equation. In order for quantum computers to truly change the world, we will need software written for them. Microsoft seems eager to get programmers on the quantum bandwagon, as today, it launches the open source Quantum Katas on GitHub. What exactly is it? It is essentially a project deigned to teach Q# programming for free.

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Earlier today we wrote about the sudden appearance of a new LibreOffice app in the Microsoft Store. There were a couple of peculiarities about the app -- not only was it made by an unknown developer, but it came with a price tag.

Now The Document Foundation -- the organization behind the LibreOffice office suite -- has spoken up to say that the app is not official and to point out that it is not getting any money from it.

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Tomorrow -- Tuesday, 24 July -- sees the release of Chrome 68. Many people will regard this as just another browser update, but the release sees an important change to the way Chrome handles unencrypted websites.

The new way in which non-HTTPS sites are handled means that Chrome is going to start throwing up warning messages whenever an insecure site is encountered -- a reversal of the way things have been up until now.

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What characterizes companies that do DevOps well compared to those that don't? A new study by Forrester for software testing company Tricentis aims to find out.

The research looked at 94 quality metrics that were classified into four categories. Key findings are that an understanding of business risk is the most important determining factor of DevOps and Agile maturity.

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As someone that is constantly on the move, I am very excited about the upcoming Surface Go. Yeah, an iPad with keyboard case is doable, but really, it is a poor experience. Apple still doesn't offer mouse or track pad support in iOS, which hinders productivity. Conversely, with Surface Go, you can use any Windows compatible hardware in addition to the official Type cover -- mice, keyboards, etc.

Currently, there are two consumer variants available for pre-order. Both have the same Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y processor, but the $399 model comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, while the $549 variant gives you 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Surprisingly, there is a third model currently being sold exclusively at Costco that should be quite attractive to some consumers.

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According to a new study, 80 percent of IT decision makers and IT security professionals believe software supply chain attacks have the potential to become one of the biggest cyber threats over the next three years.

The survey by Vanson Bourne for endpoint security company CrowdStrike  finds two-thirds of the surveyed organizations experienced a software supply chain attack in the past 12 months.

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iOS 6 made its debut six years ago, in 2012. It wasn’t the most ground-breaking version of Apple’s mobile operating system, focusing mostly on refining elements, although it did introduce a number of new features, including Apple Maps, Do Not Disturb, and Passbook (now called Wallet).

With iOS 12 due this fall, most people have long forgotten about iOS 6, but the 2018 Edition shows why it was good, and how adding 3D Touch can improve things significantly.

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Snapchat confirmed that it is closing down Snapcash next month. The peer-to-peer money transfer service is due to shut up shop on 30 August.

The closure was not officially announced by Snapchat initially, but references to "Snapcash deprecation" were spotted in the code of the Android app. The company has now confirmed that Snapcash is coming to an end after four years.

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LibreOffice is one of many free alternatives to Microsoft Office, and the open source office suite has now arrived in the Microsoft Store.

While many people will be pleased by the appearance of a Store version of the software, some will be disappointed to find that the app is not free. At least not at first glance. There's a $2.99 price tag attached to Libre Office, but this is not necessarily a reason to let this put you off.

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Facebook has severed ties with data analytics company Crimson Hexagon because of concerns about its links to the US government, Russia and Turkey.

In a move that has echoes of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has suspended the company and blocked it from accessing user data because of fears about how that data is used. Crimson Hexagon claims to have gathered more than one trillion pieces of data about social media users, and there are concerns that this data could be used for surveillance purposes.

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Twitter: you either love it or hate it. Even if you're a Twitter lover, there's probably plenty you dislike about it! People have complained about tweets being too short, and Twitter fixed this. People complained about not being verified, and Twitter (temporarily, at least) opened up verification to everyone. People have complained about not being about to edit tweets -- and Twitter has done nothing about it.

But that's not to say someone hasn't been working on a solution. Using a new Chrome extension, you can effectively gain the ability to edit your tweets and save yourself the embarrassment of a typo in your timeline.

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Is the Surface Go a powerful computer? No, compared to some other Windows 10 devices on the market, its specifications are rather meager. With that said, many consumers don't need a hardcore PC. In other words, for basic computer needs, such as word processing, web surfing, social media, and media consumption, the Surface Go is more than enough -- even with its $399 base configuration.

For those that crave portability over performance, the Surface Go should prove quite popular. I don't only see students embracing the low-cost tablet/laptop, but potentially, business executives too. Heck, any type of consumer may fall in love. To get the full Windows 10 experience in such a svelte and elegant package is very intriguing. Of course, Microsoft needs to convince consumers that they want/need it, and advertising is a great way to do so. With that in mind, the Windows-maker has posted ten new Surface Go videos on YouTube.

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Microsoft reported its Q4 earnings for the year, and the company posted extremely strong results helped in large parts by the performance of its cloud services and Surface business. The company far-exceeded analysts' predictions for this quarter, with revenue of $30.1 billion, net income of $8.8 billion and earnings per share of $1.14.

Microsoft's continued move to the cloud is paying off. Revenue in Intelligent Cloud increased by 23 percent to $9.6 billion, while Azure revenue growth rocketed by 89 percent, and Surface revenue went up by 25 percent as talk turns to the possibility of a Surface Phone.

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Google may have been slammed by Europe for using Android to dominate with its search engine, but this is not the only complaint that has been leveled at the company. Privacy-focused search rival DuckDuckGo has criticized Google for sending visitors to Duck.com to the Google search page.

Google owns Duck.com, but DuckDuckGo believes the company has been confusing users with the redirect. Now, following publicity of the issue, Google has relented and says it is introducing a new landing page that will give visitors to Duck.com the opportunity to jump to the DuckDuckGo search engine as well as other pages.

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