How to make Project Spartan the default browser in Windows 10

Projectspartan logo

The latest Windows 10 release, Build 10049, comes with Microsoft’s new browser, Project Spartan. The software giant describes the new app as being built for the modern web, with a design that’s "streamlined and puts the focus on the page, not the browser". My colleague Mark Wilson, has a different view, describing it as "fat, chunky, and devoid of style and features".

While you can launch Project Spartan directly from the Start menu, Internet Explorer remains the default web browser in the new build. You can easily change this behavior though.

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Uber forays into auto-rickshaw services, introduces UberAUTO in India

uberAUTO India

Uber, the popular mobile-app-based transportation network, today announces its foray into the auto-rickshaw aggregation space. Called UberAUTO, the San Francisco-headquartered company is debuting it at Delhi. With UberAUTO, folks in India’s capital city will be able to book tickets via a swipe on their phone. This is the first time Uber has brought auto-rickshaws -- a transportation medium widely popular in India -- onto its platform.

The announcement comes a week after Uber was spotted testing a new auto-rickshaw aggregation service in Delhi. Users will be able to take a ride and pay the driver through the in-app UberAUTO option. As of today, it is a cash-only service. This also makes Delhi the first city where Uber is accepting direct paper cash as a mode of payment.

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Listen to your wrist -- Pandora comes to Apple Watch

Apple Watch Pandora

On a day when Apple Watch is once again in the news, more information is becoming available about what you can expect from this latest fashion statement for your wrist. The success or failure rides largely on apps, as it does with phone and tablet platforms. Now Apple has one more to boast about for its launch, as Pandora steps forward.

Pandora has a history of being there for Apple, as it was ready for launches of both iPhone and iPad. This time around will be no different -- when you pick up that watch later this month Pandora will be waiting for you.

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SysCloud launches security and backup solution for Google Apps

Domain Security

Placing your data in the cloud doesn't mean that you remove the need to properly protect it. For Google Apps users, New York-based SysCloud is launching a comprehensive security and backup solution in the form of SysCloud 360.

In addition to offering Google Apps security and protection in a single interface, the system features real-time backup and compliance capabilities.

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Apple has brand loyalty that most companies can only dream of

Apple wins

The iPhone 6 release in September of last year marked yet another successful product launch for Apple. Both the regular and "Plus" models combined exceeded 4 million pre-orders within 24 hours and sales of more than 10 million units in the first three days following release. Both were Apple records.

Considering that the regular iPhone 6 retailed for $649 at launch and the Plus model for $749, it would seem fair to assume that such premium-level prices would be reflected in premium specifications. After all, the iPhone 6 comes in at slightly more expensive than Samsung’s Galaxy S5 which was released a few months previous.

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Botnets and how they're linked to corporate data breaches

botnet

Data breaches that result in the loss of large volumes of information continue to make the headlines. One of the ways companies can guard against attack is by understanding what makes them vulnerable.

Security ratings firm BitSight has performed an analysis of the risk factors that make up its BitSight Security Ratings against publicly disclosed data breaches. What emerges from its study is the important role which botnets play in attacks.

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Could old video games eventually disappear altogether?

Duke Nukem

One of the many great things about the internet is it preserves the past. If you want to read about something that happened years ago, you can find that news story somewhere on the web. Photos posted over time are available online, and historical content is regularly digitized and made available to view.

If you want to revisit your youth and play old video games, the internet can help here too. You can find ROMs to play on emulators, browse 'abandonware' sites, and even play games directly on the web thanks to the likes the Internet Archive. However, companies that preserve old video games are often on shaky ground legally, with the Entertainment Software Association (the trade body that represents the major game publishers) firmly against the practice of restoring the functionality of old games -- making them playable on other systems, for example -- if they are no longer supported by the original publisher.

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IBM sets new record for tape storage -- and why you should care

IBM mag tape

If you began your IT career in the 1980s or before you probably have fond memories of spooling up half-inch, nine-track magnetic tapes. You'd be forgiven for thinking that in the age of affordable large capacity hard disks and SSDs tape storage was now firmly confined to the past, but not so.

IBM scientists working with FUJIFILM of Japan, have demonstrated a recording density of 123 billion bits per square inch on tape, the equivalent of a palm-sized 220 TB tape cartridge.

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Imperva brings network layer DDoS protection to smaller enterprises

Firewall

Enterprise data can be put at risk from DDoS attacks, but whilst larger businesses have the resources to guard against these attacks smaller ones sometimes struggle.

Security company Imperva is committed to protecting data for all sizes of business with the release of its latest Imperva Incapsula cloud-based application delivery service.

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ZOTAC announces Intel Broadwell-powered ZBOX M-series mini-PCs

master_zbox-mi522nano_3-std

Mini computers are wonderful for many reasons, but one of the most notable is a small footprint. While some people have large homes and rooms, others are very limited in space. If you live in a small apartment, for example, you may only have room for a small desk; a mini-PC will save space and may even be VESA mountable to your monitor. The small size also makes them ideal in a living room -- both large and small -- as they can easily be hidden away.

Today, ZOTAC announces upgrades to its ZBOX M-series line of mini-PCs. Featuring new Broadwell Core i3 and i5 processors, they will make awesome workstations or HTPCs.

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Facebook Messenger unofficially available as OS X app

Facebook Messenger Mac

Those of you who simply want to chat with your Facebook friends can now access Messenger through its own dedicated site. The interface is similar to that of the Android, iOS and Windows Phone mobile apps, and there is even support for desktop notifications, so you won't miss any of your friends' important messages.

However, because you have to access Messenger through a site, you have to keep a tab open in your favorite browser. But if you're using a Mac you can also try this new unofficial OS X app, which effectively turns the site into a dedicated client.

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Easily fix PC boot problems with Boot Repair Disk

BootRepair200-175

If your PC won’t boot properly then running Startup Repair from the Windows DVD will fix many common problems.

But if you can’t find your disc, or you never had one, or you run Startup Repair and it just doesn’t work, then you should take a look at Boot Repair Disk.

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First major update to Windows 10, 'Redstone', reportedly coming next year

work in progress

Windows 10 -- the forthcoming operating system for desktop, mobile, gaming console, and IoT devices -- will hit the shelves this summer. While there is still some time left for it, according to a new report by Neowin’s Brad Sams, the Redmond-based software giant has already started to work on the "next Windows update". Codenamed "Redstone", it is the first major update to Windows 10 and will be released in 2016, ZDNET’s Mary Jo Foley confirms, citing her sources.

We don’t know what exactly this update will add to the operating system, but one thing is pretty evident: Microsoft is gearing up its update cycle. The company is now providing major updates to its operating system on a yearly basis, while also providing security patches on the second Tuesday of every month.

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Ad-free version of YouTube on the way -- for a price

youtube big

Google is on the verge of launching an ad-free option for YouTube users. An email sent out to 'YouTube Partners' (or content creators) reveals that the company has plans to unveil a paid-for version of the video service that enables viewers to avoid the irritation of ads.

For content creators, YouTube says the plans offer a new way to pull in the cash: "we'll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue". While there is yet to be an official public announcement, the news comes just days after Google came in for criticism for showing "unfair and deceptive" ads in its YouTube Kids app.

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LG 'Split Screen' software disables UAC

ProcessExplorer

Back in January we wrote about the malware "Easy Disk Drive Repair", and how we first realized that something was wrong when it blatantly turned off UAC on launch.

It seems it isn’t only malware which weakens system security in this way, unfortunately. Blogger Christopher Bachner has reported that LG’s "Split Screen" software (a split screen display manager) appears to do the very same thing.

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