Windows 10 is now on one in four systems -- but can it catch Windows 7?
While Microsoft’s unconvincing numbers portray Windows 10 as an unstoppable operating system gobbling up market share, NetMarketShare’s monthly OS usage figures suggests things are going well for Windows 10, but that it will still be a long time before it starts to trouble Windows 7’s continuing dominance.
January proved to be a good month for the new OS, certainly better than December was at least.
LightBulb reduces eye strain by shifting screen gamma over time
LightBulb is a f.lux-like application which smoothly adjusts screen gamma to make colors seem warmer at night, reducing eye strain and making your PC more comfortable to use.
Install the program and it goes to work automatically, detecting your location, figuring out the sunrise and sunset time and updating your display color temperature to match.
EU mobile usage is about to get cheaper as roaming charges come to an end on 15 June
Plans to scrap mobile roaming charges in the EU have been a long time coming, but today the European Commission reveals the charges will finally come to an end on June 15 2017. EU negotiators have finally agreed on wholesale prices, something which is being described as the "last piece of the puzzle".
The cost of voice calls and text messages will be capped from this date, but there is a tapered reduction period for data charges. It is a step towards the creation of a Digital Single Market and the introduction of a "roam-like-at-home" will be welcomed by Europeans, although it's not yet clear if the arrangement will remain in place in the UK post-Brexit.
Dropbox introduces Smart Sync and Paper
Dropbox has announced "significant product updates", introducing Smart Sync (some of you might know it as Dropbox Infinite), and Paper.
The company says the introduction of Smart Sync and Paper will boost team productivity and improve collaborative processes, end-to-end. First up is the Smart Sync. Dropbox calls it an "industry first", cross-platform, on-demand cloud storage solution. It offers intuitive storage, allowing users to sync all the content from their computers to their Dropbox accounts.
Survey reveals the true cost of data breaches
More than a third of organizations that experienced a data breach in 2016 reported substantial customer, opportunity and revenue loss of more than 20 percent.
This is a key finding of the latest Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report which also shows that after attacks, 90 percent of these organizations are improving threat defense technologies and processes.
Take a sneaky peek at Microsoft's Project NEON look coming in Windows 10 Redstone 3
The latest builds of Windows 10 Creators Update are already starting to give us a glimpse of what we can expect to see in terms of design with Project NEON. Microsoft's latest design language emerged recently and a tweaking tool has been quick to adopt the look for itself.
Fans of the old-school TweakUI will love Interop Unlock Tools not only because of the tweaking and hackery it makes possible, but also because it makes use of the Project NEON APIs to give a taste of what we are likely to see a lot more of in the months to come.
Slack sets its sights on large enterprises
The Slack team collaboration tool has proved popular with many businesses since it first launched in 2013.
Now Slack is aiming to carry its success into larger organizations with the launch of Slack Enterprise Grid, offering the adaptability to create communication structures which mirror how teams already collaborate.
OnePlus 3T found to be cheating in benchmarks
Benchmarks are an important metric by which the performance of a given device can be measured. They provide a reliable means of determining whether one laptop, computer, phone or other device is faster than another -- at least that's the idea.
Tests performed by XDA Developers strongly suggest that OnePlus is using underhanded techniques to make the OnePlus 3T's Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 perform better in Qualcomm Trepn and Snapdragon Performance Visualizer tests. Analysis of results points to the fact that OnePlus is targeting benchmark apps by name, such as GeekBench, and is artificially boosting device performance when they are found to be running.
Logitech unveils revolutionary Spotlight Presentation Remote for PowerPoint, Keynote, and more
Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote presentations are often very boring, but unfortunately, they are a fact of life in the business world. If you have ever sat through a meeting that focused heavily on these slides, you have probably feigned interest and tried hard not to fall asleep. But why? Often, the data held on the screen is quite informative, but if the presenter is a bore, the presentation will suffer regardless. To make matters worse, with more and more employees working remotely, these presentations can be nothing more than slides with audio for some -- those not physically in the room with the presenter can have a lesser experience.
Logitech decided to take a look at the deficiencies of these PowerPoint presentations, with the goal of creating a tool to improve both presentations and the presenters. True, presentation remotes are one such tool that can help, but that segment was very stagnant. Today, Logitech unveils the fruits of its labor -- the Spotlight Presentation Remote. While the elegant device looks simplistic, you should not judge this book by its cover. It is a revolutionary tool for the business world that is chock full of goodness.
Microsoft is working hard to make Edge a great browser -- but is it too late?
Bundling Internet Explorer in Windows 95 was enough for Microsoft to win the "browser wars" and consign Netscape to history, but a lot has changed since then. Bundling Edge in Windows 10 has had negligible effect on Chrome and Firefox’s dominance. After a year and a half, Microsoft Edge still only has a little over 5 percent share, according to NetMarketShare.
It didn’t help that Edge was only partially baked when Windows 10 debuted. Why swap your existing browser for one missing core features and with a far-from intuitive interface? (How to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge quickly became one of my most viewed stories here). Microsoft is promising a wealth of new features for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 Creators Update, but will that be enough to persuade users to give the browser a second chance?
Google Chrome for Apple iOS is now open source
There is a curious phenomenon on iOS -- Google's apps are often better on Apple's mobile operating system than on Android. It is for this reason that users of the search-giant's services can be perfectly content using an iPhone or iPad.
Google Chrome is a very popular web browser on iOS, with many folks choosing it over Safari. I prefer Apple's own browser, but I digress. The Chrome browser is largely open source, as it is based on the Chromium project -- except for the iOS variant, that is. Today, for the first time ever, the iPhone and iPad version of the browser is open source too.
How to stop Windows 10 automatically rebooting after updates
Windows 10, like previous versions of Microsoft’s operating system, often needs to reboot to action an update, and will occasionally do so at the least appropriate moment -- as this pro-gamer can testify.
While Windows 10 updates are mandatory, you can control (to a degree) when they install, and more importantly if and when Windows 10 restarts afterwards.
StarTech launches USB-C Multi-Card Reader for photographers, videographers, and more
USB-C is lighting the world on fire. While Apple was not the first company to embrace the standard, its MacBook Pro is definitely a driving force in its increased popularity. There is a huge market nowadays for USB-C hubs and dongles. Heck, I just wrote about an all-new USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter from SCOSCHE.
Today, StarTech launches the USB-C Multi-Card Reader. This dongle is strictly for card-reading, offering compatibility with SD, micro SD, and CompactFlash. Many all-in-one Type-C dongles offer compatibility with SD and its micro variant, but CF is more of a rarity. StarTech is clearly targeting professional photographers, many of which still use CompactFlash.
SCOSCHE unveils USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter for MacBook Pro and other devices
While I am a regular Fedora Linux and Windows 10 user, I also want to be proficient in macOS. And so, last year, I bought a MacBook Pro. This is my first-ever laptop from Apple, and so far, I love it. The problem, however, is that it only has USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. For the most part, this is fine -- I rarely connect things physically in 2017. When I do have a need to connect a Type-A USB flash drive or HDMI monitor, however, I must turn to dongles.
There are an overwhelming number of USB-C dongles on the market nowadays, and today, SCOSCHE is delivering one more. Its all-new USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter isn't the most advanced such hub, but it should meet the needs of many for an affordable price.
2016's top malware threats show a shift in attack patterns
The methodology of malware and cyber attacks has shown a significant shift in 2016, according to the State of Malware report from Malwarebytes.
Although ransomware is the favorite attack method used against business, ad fraud malware is growing fast and poses a substantial threat to both consumers and businesses.
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