Articles about Windows

Several months after announcing its intention to do so, Microsoft has official deprecated the NTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication protocol in Windows and Windows Server.

NTLM is now a very old protocol which has been superseded by the more secure and feature-rich Kerberos. It will still be possible to use NTLM until the next release of Windows and Windows Server, but Microsoft is keen for users to take action now.

Continue reading →

Computers and servers made up 92 percent of DDoS targets in 2013, compared to just eight percent for mobile devices. The split the previous year was 32 percent computers and 68 percent mobile. At the same time the DDoS attack count decreased 55 percent in 2023, but the average attack size grew 233 percent.

The latest DDoS trends report from Nexusguard also finds that shorter attacks lasting 90 minutes increased by 22 percent and made up 81 percent of all DDoS attacks.

Continue reading →

Despite Apple and Linux gaining ground in recent years Windows still commands over 50 percent of the endpoint desktop market.

This means that Windows device management is a key priority for enterprises. We spoke to Apu Pavithran, founder and CEO of Hexnode, to learn more about device management and how it can be used effectively.

Continue reading →

Today, Proton Mail has expanded its secure communication platform with the launch of a dedicated desktop app, which was previously released in beta. The new desktop app complements Proton Mail’s existing web and mobile applications, ensuring users can maintain their email privacy across all devices without being confined to a web browser.

Proton Mail aims to provide users with the ability to access their email in their preferred manner without compromising privacy. The new desktop app addresses the privacy concerns associated with using email services like Outlook, which shares data with numerous external partners, and the risks of accessing emails through browsers like Chrome, which can expose browsing history to advertisers or be exploited by malicious browser extensions.

Continue reading →

Bots have been around for a long time, but they're now much more sophisticated, capable of mimicking human behavior, evading detection, and perpetrating a wide range of malicious activities.

A new report from CHEQ shows that latest bots are able to scrape data without permission, inflate engagement metrics, commit fraud, and compromise the security and integrity of websites, mobile apps, and APIs.

Continue reading →

The Blue Screen of Death is so-called because it means that a critical error has occurred andy our current session in Windows has died. Ordinarily, this would necessitate -- at the very least -- a restart, but a new project highlighted by the makers of tiny11 could means that you have the option of crashing into Linux instead.

The project is known as BugCheck2Linux and it is a neat little software hack. It makes use of a software driver that can bee used to fire up RISC V emulator running Linux using a BugCheck callback. Could this be the solution to all of your Windows problems?

Continue reading →

In a move that will -- or at least should -- surprise very few people, Microsoft has announced that it is dropping Windows Mixed Reality. It will be removed from a future release of Windows.

Having already apparently given up on its HoloLens range, Microsoft appears to have come to the same conclusion that many reached some time ago: VR and augmented reality were phases that people have simply lost interest in. With the company now heavily invested in AI, it will no doubt be hoping that this is something that remains popular for rather longer.

Continue reading →

An APK teardown of Microsoft's Link to Windows app for Android (also known as Phone Link and Your Phone) shows that the company is working to bring a handy feature to handsets -- webcam functionality.

Code shows that Microsoft appears to be working on a feature to rival Apple's Continuity Camera, the feature that makes it possible to use an iPhone as a webcam in conjunction with a Mac. Now it seems that Android users are going to get a similar option under Windows.

Continue reading →

Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each month when Microsoft releases updates for Windows, has been with us for a long time now. In fact, Microsoft has been using the predictable schedule for releasing patches for no less than 20 years.

The emergence of Patch Tuesday -- a day anticipated for its bug-fixing and dreaded for its bug-introductions -- dates back to the days of Bill Gates and Windows Vista. In celebrating the incredible landmark of two decades of update releases on a reliable timetable, Microsoft has shared some of the history behind it and reiterated the importance of updating the operating system in this way.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has quietly announced plans to deprecate VBScript in "future releases of Windows". The company has not been more specific about the timeline than this, but there are some details about the deprecation process.

As part of a phased withdrawal, VBScript (Visual Basic Scripting Edition) was initially removed from Internet Explorer, and before being killed off in Windows completely, it will become an optional component. While a useful scripting language in its day, VBScript became something of an abused security nightmare, and has since been replaced by PowerShell.

Continue reading →

Drivers have long been the source of problems for Windows users, with security flaws, compatibility issues and other bugs blighting the experience of getting hardware to work as it should. Now Microsoft has announced plans that will shake up how drivers work in Windows.

The company has announced plans to not only end support for third-party printer drivers in Windows, but also to stop the provision of printer driver updates via Windows Update. The change is a significant one which Microsoft is phasing in over a number of years to reduce the potential negative impact for hardware manufacturer and users alike.

Continue reading →

Hot on the heels of a reminder about the end of support for Windows 11 21H2, Microsoft has reminded everyone that Windows will soon have TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 disabled.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) has been around for a number of years, with TLS 1.0 not only dating back to 1999, but having been superseded by far more secure versions. TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.2 are now very much the norm, so Microsoft is following others in the industry by dropping 1.0 and 1.1.

Continue reading →

It's always fun to try and run old games and apps on modern versions of Windows, if only to see if you can, and how they'll look.

If that's not challenging enough, you could consider trying to run a really old version of Windows on hardware it was never intended for, such as a MacBook Air.

Continue reading →

Google's innovative feature, Nearby Share, used by nearly 3 billion Android devices worldwide, has long made file sharing a breeze across smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks. Earlier this year, in a move to expand its reach, Google initiated a beta version of Nearby Share for Windows PCs.

The expanded capability of Nearby Share opened the doors to a new kind of hardware connectivity between Android devices and Windows PCs. The Nearby Share for Windows app, which was globally available for download as a beta, has already seen an installation count exceeding 1.7 million, showcasing its growing demand.

Continue reading →

Ah, it's that time again folks. Nitrux, the up-and-coming Linux distro, is back with its newest update, Nitrux 2.9.0 "nu." While Microsoft might still be stumbling around trying to recover from their latest Windows mishaps, Nitrux is already picking up the pace and setting new standards in the world of operating systems.

Unlike the cluttered and often confusing Windows Update system, the "nu" in Nitrux 2.9.0's codename refers to the new "Nitrux Update System Tool." And it's here to make your life easier. This isn't some random, untested, and buggy update tool Microsoft likes to force on its users. Nitrux's new utility is a focused, minimalist approach to system updates that does what it's supposed to do -- update your system and provide a backup option for rollbacks. No bloatware, no unnecessary complications, just a simple, efficient way to keep your system up to date.

Continue reading →