Best Windows apps this week
Six-hundred-forty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft has open-sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which, in theory, should improve Linux on Windows in the long run.
AI lowers the barrier to entry for cybercriminals
We all know that businesses are facing a raft of more sophisticated cyberthreats, partly driven by AI. We also know that there can be an impact beyond the financial in terms of damage to reputation and loss of customers.
A new report from cyber insurance specialist Hiscox reveals that 67 percent of organizations report increase in attacks and 34 percent of firms have compromised cybersecurity measures due to lack of expertise in managing emerging tech risks.
Preventing cybersecurity stagnation through breach containment
There’s a famous quote by Einstein which reads: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
In cybersecurity, this saying has never been more fitting. We’ve seen years of increased investment, a figure Gartner estimates will reach $212 billion this year, yet the cost of breaches continues to rise, reaching $4.8 million in 2024. That’s 10 percent higher than 2023, according to IBM.
Java at 30: What's next for the world's most enduring programming language? [Q&A]
As Java marks its 30th anniversary on May 23rd, it's a powerful reminder that few technologies have had the longevity -- or the impact -- of a language first launched in 1995.
Today, Java continues to underpin much of modern software development, from cloud-native systems to enterprise-scale applications.
To mark this milestone, we caught up with Dewan Ahmed, principal developer advocate at Harness. Dewan, whose work focuses on empowering DevOps and engineering teams to deliver reliable, efficient, and secure software. He has seen first-hand just how much Java has changed over the past decade.
WhatsApp makes Voice Chats available to groups of any size
WhatsApp has announced the expansion of its Voice Chat feature for groups. The live audio feature is something that was well-received when it first appeared in the chat app, so the wider rollout makes a lot of sense. There is a twist, however.
While the feature is now available to more users than before, the expansion is not like most feature expansions.
You can now get a verified account on Bluesky
A few weeks after announcing plans for a different approach to account verification, X rival Bluesky has quietly launched the feature.
The decentralized social media platform has now started to open up verification to users. While any individuals or organizations can apply for verification or, indeed, to become a Trusted Verifier, it is certainly not the case that all applications will be successful.
Microsoft is finally bringing GIF support to Snipping Tool in Windows 11
The Snipping Tool app has proved itself to be one of the most useful and impressive utilities to be found in Windows 11. Microsoft has slowly worked to create something genuinely impressive; there have been some omissions, however.
One such oversight is the lack of support for creating GIFs, but this is about to change. The option of saving screen recordings as animated GIFs is overdue and extremely welcome.
Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3.7.8 update brings Plasma 6, better battery controls, and Legion Go S support
Valve has officially pushed SteamOS 3.7.8 to the Stable channel, and it’s a hefty one. After months of development in the beta lane, the refreshed version of the Arch-based operating system is finally ready for primetime. This release brings a number of notable enhancements to Steam Deck users and expands support for a growing family of AMD-powered handheld gaming PCs, including Lenovo’s awesome new Legion Go S.
One of the more welcomed changes is the jump to the Linux 6.11 kernel and Mesa graphics stack update, helping to squeeze out more performance and compatibility with newer hardware. But perhaps more impactful for everyday users is the switch to KDE Plasma 6.2.5 in desktop mode, marking a major visual and functional upgrade over the older Plasma 5 environment. This should make the Steam Deck’s desktop experience feel far more modern and snappy.
TCL FLIP 4 5G flip phone helps you escape smartphone overload
Are you tired of staring at screens all day? Looking to unplug, unwind, and maybe even spend more time enjoying real life? Well, TCL thinks it has just the solution with its newly released FLIP 4 5G. This back-to-basics phone delivers just enough functionality to keep you connected without dragging you into an endless scroll.
Old-school flip phones are clearly making a comeback, and it’s not just about nostalgia. You see, a growing number of people are ditching smartphones in favor of simpler devices that reduce distractions. The FLIP 4 5G fits right into that trend, offering a modern take on the classic clamshell design, complete with 5G connectivity, a long-lasting battery, and essential features like calling, texting, music playback, and even access to some basic Google apps.
Mozilla is shutting down Pocket
In a surprising move that will frustrate longtime fans, Mozilla has announced it will shut down Pocket on July 8, 2025. The once-popular “read-it-later” service, which helped users save and organize web content for later reading, will no longer function as normal after that date. While existing users can continue saving and reading articles until July, the service will switch to export-only mode afterward, with all user data permanently deleted on October 8.
Mozilla, which acquired Pocket in 2017, says it’s closing the platform due to changes in how people browse and consume content. The company wants to focus its resources on tools that better align with modern online habits. Despite shutting Pocket down, Mozilla will continue offering curated content through other channels like Firefox’s New Tab experience and a newly branded email newsletter.
PNY microSD Express card brings fast storage to Nintendo Switch 2
PNY has released a new microSD Express Flash Memory Card, and it is designed for portable gaming. In particular, this card is targeting the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.
This new card uses PCIe Gen3 x1 microSD Express technology to deliver read speeds of up to 890MB/s and write speeds reaching 750MB/s. That makes it potentially more than four times faster than older UHS-I cards, which could make a difference when it comes to downloading games or reducing load times.
Why non-human identities are a security priority
Non-human identities (NHIs) -- such as service accounts, tokens, API keys, and workloads -- are exploding in volume, now outnumbering humans 50 to one, but they remain under-observed, under-protected, and dangerously over-privileged.
New data from identity security platform Silverfort shows 40 percent of cloud NHIs do not have an owner. These accounts are often excluded from proper lifecycle management, leaving them unobserved, unprotected, and open to abuse.
Big tech's privacy paradox: Why regulatory alignment is now a technical imperative
The integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp represents a fascinating case study in how technical capabilities can undermine strategic positioning.
WhatsApp’s success was built on a simple technical promise -- end-to-end encryption that creates a secure communication channel. Yet, the introduction of an AI chatbot that explicitly warns users against sharing sensitive information exposes a fundamental architectural contradiction that has broader implications for the tech industry.
New tool helps organizations ignore CVEs
Ignoring vulnerabilities and exposures may not seem like a good idea, but conventional strategies rely heavily on vulnerability severity (CVSS) and exploitability indicators (EPSS), which ignore whether vulnerabilities are exploitable or already mitigated by existing defenses in a specific organization.
More than 40,000 new CVEs were disclosed in 2024, of which 61 percent were labeled as high or critical, but they won't all be a risk to every business. A new tool from Picus Security allows security teams to verify the exploitability of vulnerabilities and determine which pose real-world risks based on their unique environments.
DDoS and IP transit: Why integration is the smart choice for modern connectivity
As Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks grow in both frequency and sophistication, organizations are being forced to re-evaluate their defensive strategies. Gone are the days when a standalone DDoS mitigation service tacked onto your infrastructure was enough for peace of mind.
The current threat landscape demands faster response times, simplified operations, and coordinated protection. A rising trend is the integration of DDoS mitigation directly with IP transit from a single provider.
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