Latest Technology News

The release of the KB5015814 update for Windows 11 earlier this week was supposed to fix problems with PowerShell as well as addressing security issues. But as has become disturbingly common, there have also been unwanted side effects for those who jumped on the update and installed it as soon as it was offered up.

Some users are experiencing problems with the Start menu, with complaints indicating that the menu is being interrupted by an app opening and closing. There are also complaints about errors appearing after a failed installation of the KB5015814 update -- specifically error codes 0x8000ffff, 0x8007007e and 0x80073701.

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Four-hundred-ninety-nine 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.

Could Microsoft be switching from a one feature update per year release cycle to a three year cycle with frequent feature drops? That's the big rumor at the moment.

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It's a rare cybersecurity product these days that doesn't claim to have some form of AI capability. But exactly what benefits does AI deliver? And is there a risk of an arms race as threat actors also turn to the technology?

We spoke to Corey Nachreiner, CSO at WatchGuard Technologies, to find out more about the role of AI in cybersecurity.

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You have ideas. You have projects and initiatives that you want to make a reality. But let's face it -- unless you can get others to work with you, those ideas aren't going anywhere.

Your ability to capture people's hearts and minds is the key to getting results. In his engaging style, author Simon Dowling will show you not just how to get heard, but how to create true buy-in around your ideas and initiatives -- dealing with pushback along the way and turning talk into action.

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The rise in cyber incidents is set to continue on its meteoric trajectory over the next decade. Ransomware attacks on a business, consumer, or a device are anticipated to take place every two seconds by 2031 -- a worrying escalation from every 11 seconds in 2021. And by 2025, damages are projected to reach a staggering $15 trillion annually, up from $3 trillion in 2015, according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

At the same time, users demand better performance and user experience year-after-year, and the subsequently increased threat landscape poses real challenges in connectivity and data security. 'Insider threat' also poses a considerable risk, with 80 percent of breaches involving privileged credentials misuse or abuse and malicious insider activity from recent employees.

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The introduction of the cloud has brought a lot of change to the world. A big one for enterprises is that it’s no longer a necessity to guard data on-premises. Most organizations today rely on a hybrid approach to hosting their applications, with an average of three or more different clouds driving various applications in their infrastructures.

While the cloud has delivered plenty of benefits to these businesses and transformed the way they think about data and security, they’re not all properly managing and securing applications across the enterprise.

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The top three priorities for IT professionals are improving IT security overall (52 percent), increasing IT productivity through automation (33 percent), and migrating to the cloud (32 percent), according to a new report.

A survey of almost 2,000 IT pros from Kaseya also reveals the main three challenges are cybersecurity and data protection (49 percent), insufficient IT budgets and resources to meet demands (29 percent), and legacy systems that hamper growth and innovation (21 percent).

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Yesterday, Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel and two new versions of the popular Camera and Media Player apps.

The main new feature introduced into Media Player (version 11.2206.30.0) is support for CD ripping, because, yes, that’s apparently still a thing.

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Netflix has previously confirmed plans to introduce an ad-supported tier that would provide a lower cost subscription entry point. Details have been somewhat lacking, but it has just been announced that Microsoft is partnering with the streaming video service as it introduces cheaper plans.

The company has signed a deal with Netflix, with the streaming giant describing Microsoft as "our global advertising technology and sales partner".

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Word-guessing game Wordle took the world by storm, so it was little surprise when it was snapped up by a big name -- the New York Times. There were promises that the game would not be changed and that it would remain free, and players raised a collective eyebrow skeptically.

Anyone playing the game in the last few days will probably have noticed something. While the NYT is not going back on the promises it made, players are being encouraged to create a New York Times account. The carrot being dangled as an incentive is the ability to have game statistics synchronized between devices.

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It is only a week since Microsoft released PowerToys v0.60.0, complete with various changes, fixes and additions -- many of which were focused on Windows 11. Now the company has pushed out the PowerToys v0.60.1 update with a handful of important fixes.

Microsoft describes this as a patch release, but this almost makes it seem unimportant when that is very much not the case. It addresses compatibility issues that existed with PowerRename and ImageResizer in Windows 11, as well as fixing context menu problems and crashes.

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Wednesday is the day of the week when Microsoft typically releases new Windows 11 builds for Insiders on the Dev Channel, but Build 25158 with notification badging for Widgets isn’t the only new release from the software giant today.

Microsoft has another treat for Windows Insiders on the Dev Channel to play with -- a Camera app refresh and a Media Player update.

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There was no new Windows 11 build for Insiders on the Dev Channel last week, but it’s business as usual again from today.  

The latest flight, Build 25158, comes with notification badges for Widgets, as well as a load of fixes and improvements.

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System76's "Launch" keyboard has been wildly popular with the Linux community thanks to its open source firmware, ability to be customized, and excellent build quality (it's made in the USA). Many people love the "split" spacebar too. Even though System76 is a Linux-focused company, its keyboard is obviously compatible with Windows and macOS as well.

The Launch keyboard uses a USB-C connector to interface with the host computer, but you can utilize either a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to USB-A cable to connect it -- depending on what ports you have available. Launch even serves double-duty as a USB hub, allowing you to plug USB devices directly into it. And yes, the keyboard features RGB lighting too.

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Risk-based strategies are most successful in preventing security breaches, according to a new study from Skybox Security.

Of companies taking a risk-based approach 48 percent suffered no breaches, 50 percent were top performers in time to mitigate issues, and 46 percent top performers in response time.

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