Running a pirated copy of Office could earn you a discount on a Microsoft 365 subscription
For fairly obvious reasons, Microsoft -- like other companies -- would much rather people did not pirate its software. The major concern for any software producer is the loss of income, and Microsoft has come up with a solution for people running pirated versions of Office.
Citing various benefits, including avoiding the risk of security issues, Microsoft is urging pirates to take out a Microsoft 365 subscription. To sweeten the deal, the company is offering a discount on the usual price.
Twitter acquires Slack rival Quill -- only to close it down
The big news at Twitter recently may have been the departure of Jack Dorsey, but incoming CEO Parag Agrawa has wasted little time in stamping his mark on the company.
After revamping its privacy policy, Twitter has now acquired Slack rival Quill. As a result of the acquisition, the messaging service has a very short future ahead of it. Users have just a few days to export their messages before Quill servers close down and all user data is deleted.
Windows 11 is dramatically reducing the performance of NVMe SSDs
If you have upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and noticed a reduction in the performance of your SSD, you are not alone. Since the launch of the operating system, online forums, Reddit and Microsoft's own support communities have seen increasing number of complaints about write speeds being significantly slower after upgrading.
What is key here is that the performance reduction is not just noticeable, it is also measurable. It would be easy to dismiss a handful of complaints about slowdown as being a matter of personal perception. But the observations and experiences of those complaining are borne out by benchmarks which show write speeds have been slashed.
Redesigned Notepad for Windows 11 now available to test
Windows 11 might be available to install now, but it’s very much a work in progress with many of the touted features not currently available.
If you’re a Windows Insider, you can from today try out the new and improved Notepad which sports a redesigned UI and offers a smart dark mode.
A path towards end-to-end automation
Customer service bots, digital payroll workflows, fleet management and lest we forget the clever programmer who famously automated his own job -- the uses for and adoption of automation continues to expand. In fact, the automation market is expected to reach $136.5 billion by 2026 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 percent according to Industry ARC’s Automation Market Report.
But as growth and excitement build, confusion in the market also abounds. After all, the word "automation" is so overused and broad that it’s no longer descriptive.
Can low-code app development increase your company's competitiveness?
Automation has taken over the job market. So much so that many people are convinced that their skills will eventually be rendered obsolete. Estimates show that around 85 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2025, a statistic that will undoubtedly concern skilled workers across various industries. But, while tech might seem to be a hindrance to job progression for many, automation is also expected to create close to 100 million tech jobs within the same period, allowing employers to offer opportunities they never previously thought about.
These new tech jobs include low-code and no-code app development for people without highly technical training or the strongest expertise. Innovative, easy-to-use technology allows existing workers to fill roles without forcing employers to look elsewhere for talent. Current employees can develop or refine their AI, computing, and mobile design skills. Companies can increase their competitive advantage by using resourceful, innovative methods to improve productivity by creating the next-gen worker and leveraging new technologies. But, how does low-code app development, in particular, improve a company’s competitiveness?
Employee burnout puts business security at risk
A new survey of 2,500 adults looks at how workforce burnout has opened businesses to attacks, with trends such as remote and hybrid work, the Great Resignation and worse behavior by cybersecurity professionals being the driving forces behind the threat.
The research, from password manager 1Password, finds that 84 percent of security professionals and 80 percent of other workers are feeling burned out, leading to serious backsliding around security protocols.
99 percent of enterprises struggle to deliver relevant search results
Companies are more than ever reliant on data, but siloed search deployments and a lack of organizational alignment on a strategy are among factors preventing truly relevant enterprise search results, according to a new study.
A survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Coveo Solutions shows that despite an increased investment in search over the past year by 85 percent of IT professionals, 99 percent of organizations still struggle to deliver relevant search results to their users.
IT pros see zero trust as a key element of security strategy
A new survey of over 1,000 IT security professionals finds that 75 percent of organizations recognize zero trust as being important to bolstering their overall cybersecurity posture.
However, the study conducted by Dimensional Research for One Identity also shows only 14 percent have fully implemented a zero trust solution. Another 39 percent of organizations have begun to address this need, and an additional 22 percent say they plan to implement zero trust over the course of the next year.
Quickly fix many of Windows 11's annoying problems
Windows 11 has the potential to be a great operating system, but it’s not there yet. That’s to be expected of course, as it was only released two months ago, and it took multiple feature updates before Windows 10 became the OS it should have been from the get-go.
Microsoft is rolling out bug fixes for Windows 11 and testing new features and improvements in its Insider builds, which all points towards a bright future. However, if you’re annoyed by the new OS as it is now, it’s easy to fix some of the more frustrating issues.
Ubuntu-based Freespire 8.0 Linux distribution focuses heavily on Google services
Guess what, folks? Freespire 8.0 is available to download immediately. This version of the Ubuntu-based operating system utilizes Linux kernel 5.4.0-91 LTS while using Xfce 4.16 as its desktop environment. This no-nonsense distribution is fairly lightweight and easy to use, making it a good choice for Linux newbies; particularly with aging (not obsolete) hardware.
Surprisingly, the developers have decided to focus heavily on Google with this release. This includes the search giant's services (Translate, News, etc.) and the Chrome browser. Apparently, this new focus is a result of reading user feedback. While this may scare some privacy-zealots away, it should make the operating system more appealing to the average home computer user. Let's be honest, shall we? Google services are rather essential for many people.
Four ways leveraging open source provides a strategic edge
Technical architecture designs are among the most critical decisions an organization can make, particularly for any that build industry-leading software or face a digital transformation. Poor tech stack choices result in an accumulation of technical debt and switching costs that continue to get worse long after the decisions have been made. The tools your organization selects must be embraced by teams across your entire software development lifecycle to reduce friction, drive efficiencies, and support complex workflows.
The ideal tech stack is interoperable, automated, and flexible enough to limit adverse effects on productivity and profitability. That’s a lot for engineering leaders to keep in mind, especially in today’s environments where the ultimate goal is to enable developers and other technical teams to operate with the right level of agility while keeping pace with rapid change.
The challenges of protecting industrial control systems [Q&A]
Industrial control systems are often critical to things like power and water supplies. In theory they should have the strongest protection available.
In practice, however, this isn't always the case. It's estimated that 91 percent of industrial companies are vulnerable to cyberattacks. So what can businesses do to protect themselves and to recover quickly if they do get attacked?
Microsoft reveals fix for Outlook search not working in Windows 11
Windows 11 has its fair share of problems, and it has also caused problems with other software that people have come to rely on. While it is somewhat understandable when third-party software is affected, the same cannot be said of Microsoft's own software.
The company has acknowledged an issue with Outlook for users who have upgraded to Windows. The problem Sees Outlook failing to return any search results, as well as the error message: "Search performance will be impacted because of a problem with how Outlook search is configured". Now Microsoft has revealed a fix.
Meet the three amigos of data: Governance, privacy and security
The three slices of the data pie -- data governance, data privacy and data security -- are often lumped together -- but although they naturally overlap, there are crucial differences that are important to understand.
Let’s slice up the pie. First, there’s data governance. You can think of it as the cornerstone; the thing that holds everything together. If you have the right data governance in place for all your data assets then it's much easier to apply the right privacy and security controls.
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