Author: Martin Brinkmann

When I was young, I studied German, History and English at Essen University in Germany. I worked in computer support for several years at the time to help other computer users when they ran into issues. Writing started out as a passion project, as I wanted to help more users and not just the ones that I handled in support. This lead to the founding of Ghacks Technology News in 2005. First, as a side-project, but shortly thereafter as a full-time project as the site's popularity exploded. I sold Ghacks to Softonic some years ago, but stayed on as Editor. You can still read my articles on the site. I do publish on Betanews as well. In recent years, I started to write and publish technology books, including my latest book "Windows 11 From Beginner to Advanced", which is available on Amazon. I'm also a freelance writer for the German publisher Gamestar. Chipp.in is my newest project. I want to use it to talk about my book projects, sell my books directly, and write about technology, as this is what interests me.

PSA: If you use Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, new apps will be installed automatically starting next month

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Nothing is more exciting than new apps that do get installed automatically on your devices, right? That’s probably Microsoft’s official argument for starting to force-install new Microsoft 365 companion apps on Windows 11 devices from next month onward.

Microsoft confirmed the decision to Microsoft 365 administrators, but it has not informed regular customers of its Microsoft 365 service about it to my knowledge.

Here is what is going to happen: Starting in “early October 2025”, Microsoft will install the Companion apps People, Files, and Calendar on any Windows 11 device, provided that Microsoft 365 desktop client apps are installed.

Wonder what those do?

  • People app: Extends search functionality for contacts, option to send messages and start chats, use Copilot, view profile cards and availability.
  • File app: Find cloud and local files, preview file content, share with colleagues, filter using new filters, e.g., by activity, and use Copilot.
  • Calendar app: view agendas or days, open meeting details, find events, edit meetings, use Copilot.

These apps will appear in the Start menu by default. What they have in common is that they introduce even more Copilot AI functionality on the Windows system. The integration focuses on app-specific tasks, for instance to find out what a specific user is working on at the time or drafting a new message to catch up.

Microsoft gives system administrators options to disable the rollout. Means, the apps won’t get installed automatically on managed devices, if the administrator does not allow it.

Home users, on the other hand, are once again kept in the dark by Microsoft. Users may uninstall the apps after they have been installed, according to Microsoft.

While there is a chance that Microsoft is making last-minute changes to its plans, for instance by making the apps install manually only, nothing of the kind has been confirmed officially at this point.

Now You: what is your stance on auto-installing apps on your devices? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Search image with Google Lens

Firefox is getting visual search capabilities powered by Google Lens

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla is rolling out a new feature in recent versions of the Firefox web browser that introduces visual search functionality. This allows users to run visual searches by right-clicking on images.

Mozilla lists several main applications for the new feature on its Connect website.

  • Find similar products, places, or objects.
  • Copy, translate, or search text from images.
  • Get inspiration for learning, travel, or shopping.

Right-click on any image displayed in the browser and select the new “Search Image with Google Lens” option to start a new search.

The feature is limited to Firefox on the desktop currently and it is rolling out worldwide. Most Firefox users won’t see it right away, but it can be enabled via about:config.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
  2. Search for browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate.
  3. Click on the toggle icon to set the feature to True.
  4. Restart Firefox.

This enables the feature. You can test it by right-clicking on an image in Firefox and selecting the new Google Lens visual search option from the context menu.

Tip: you can turn off the feature at any time by setting the experimental flag to false in about:config. This removes the context menu entry in Firefox.

Here is what happens when you select the option: Firefox redirects the search request to the official Google Lens website. From there it is all Google and you should see similar images and information about the image among other things.

The feature addition will likely see mixed receptions. Some Firefox users may like the ability to run visual searches quicker through the browser’s context menu. Before that, they had to go save and upload the image to Google Lens manually or install a browser extension such as Search on Google Lens.

Others may dislike the additional entry in the context menu, for instance in fear or accidentally sending an image they view in the browser to Google Lens.

To be honest, it is unclear why Mozilla would introduce the feature natively in Firefox if an open source browser extension is already available

Now You: what is your take on this? Useful addition in Firefox or something that you have no use for?

Free Windows 10 ESU has a catch: it auto-expires every 60 days

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Many Windows 10 users are eying the Extended Security Updates program for the operating system to extend support by a year. Microsoft announced the program for home users for the first time, and while it decided to limit it to a single year, it may be enough to buy users some time or help them keep on using their trusted PCs.

Microsoft revealed that users had three options to join the ESU program on Windows 10:

  • Pay about $30 to receive updates for another year.
  • Pay with Microsoft Rewards points.
  • Enable the cloud backup functionality of Windows Backup.

While two of the three options do not require any money to change hand, you’d still have to either pay with accumulated points or allow Microsoft to transfer some files to the cloud.

Microsoft announced a new option this week. This one only for users from the EEA region, which includes all EU member states, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. Microsoft said that users from these countries could join ESU for Windows 10 without completing any of the three options that users from any other region in the world had at their disposal.

This sounded like a great deal on paper for users from the region. However, Microsoft has added another requirement. Users need to sign in with a Microsoft account regularly to stay subscribed.

Here are the details:

  • You need to sign in with a Microsoft account for an opportunity to join ESU and start receiving security updates after October 2025.
  • You need to do this every 60 days. Microsoft stops delivering ESU-updates to a machine, if no Microsoft account sign-in was recorded in that period.
  • Windows 10 users may rejoin ESU by signing in with a Microsoft account again.

This affects Windows 10 users who sign in with local accounts. They need to make sure that they sign in with a Microsoft account every other month to keep on getting the extended security updates.

Microsoft plans to end the program for home users on October 13, 2026. There is a slim possibility that Microsoft might get pressured into extending the program, at least in some regions, but I would not hold my breath.

Now You: Are you using PCs with Windows 10? What is your plan going forward?

Who would have thought? Customers of Samsung fridges are not happy about ads their smart fridges started to show

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Do fridges, toasters and other household appliances may come with “smart functionality” or wireless connectivity these days. In the case of some, TVs for instance, the functionality may also be used to display advertisement to users and collect data about users.

Samsung recently announced that its smart fridges would start showing ads. A software update introduced the feature and first reactions of customers are not exactly glowing.

The company introduced the change for some of its Family Hub refrigerators in the United States. This turned the screen of the device into a vehicle for ads. And who does not love ads, especially for items that cost thousands of Dollars?

Techspot reports that the update introduced new Terms of Service and a Privacy Notice that covers the addition of advertisement. Samsung’s smart fridge displays the ads on the fridge’s screen. It appears when the screen is idle, which likely means most of the time and only if users have selected certain themes, including weather, daily board, or color.

Users may enable certain themes to avoid ads for now. If the cover screen is set to art mode, which displays photos, then no ads are shown. A setting to fully disable ads is not provided, but users may block certain ads from reappearing.

You could disconnect the fridge from the network, but might not be able to use most of its functions in that case.

Samsung says that the advertisements “are designed to enhance value for owners”. I’m pretty certain that most owners would beg to differ.

Maybe next time, it would be better to buy a “dumb” fridge or other items, especially if the provided functionality is not adding value or has the chance of being turned into something that is highly annoying or invasive.

Disney is increasing Disney+ and Hulu plans again

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Ah, the wonderful world of streaming video. Just subscribe, download an application or visit a website, and start streaming your favorite shows and movies right away. The initial idea of replacing traditional cable TV with something better is turning out into something that seems to get worse by the year.

Disney announced another round of price increases. This time, it is for subscribers in the United States who have Disney+ or Hulu plans.

The most-basic Disney+ plan, Disney+ with ads, rises by $2 per month to $11.99 starting October 21, 2025. Disney+ Premium, the ad-free version, goes up by $3 to $18.99 per month in the United States.

Similarly, Hulu’s standalone plan with ads is getting a bump by $2 to $11.99 as well. However, Hulu’s premium plan remains at the $18.99 level, according to reports.

Considering that Disney started its streaming service with a price of $6 per month for an ad-free experience just a few years ago, it is a massive increase in that time.

Subscribers pay more than three times as much for an ad-free experience than when the service started. Disney increased the price of subscription plans in the US in October 2023 and October 2024 previously.

Somehow though, subscriber counts are not going down. Disney reported 128 million subscribers by the end of June 2025, a number that has gone up by a few million subscribers in the year.

Like clockwork, streaming services increase the price of subscriptions regularly. Disney is not the only company that is squeezing money out of subscribers without really improving the service in significant ways.

The only option that subscribers have is to cancel their plans to make a statement. Less-costly options exist. From buying used DVD or Blu-Ray selectively and ensuring that you can play the media forever, to one-month per year subscriptions to watch all content that interests you in that time period, thus saving fees for the remaining eleven months.

Lastly, there is also abstinence to consider, especially with the quality of most movies and TV shows going downhill every year.

LANIPScanner

LANIPScanner: new Nirsoft tool to quickly scan network devices on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

LANIPScanner is a new free and portable network scanner for Windows by one of my favorite developers NirSoft. The main idea is simple: quickly scan which devices are connected to the same network as the Windows PC that you run the program on.

As is the case with all Nirsoft apps, it is a portable program that you can run right after you have extracted its archive. Windows may object — as usual – with its SmartScreen warning, which you can safely bypass to run the app.

From there, it is just the matter of clicking on the scan button to get the list of connected computers and devices.

Each device is listed with its IP addres and other information, including, if available, workgroup, device string, supported protocols, ping time and more.

The application supports several network protocols, which makes it versatile. It supports ICMP (ping), ARP, mDNS, DNS, NBNS, SSDP, ensuring that it can pick up a wide range of different devices that are connected.

The raw data of devices that respond to SSDP or mDNS protocols are also displayed in the lower pane of the application.

LANIPScanner comes with the usual assortment of Nirsoft features, including the option to generate reports and save the data to various formats.

Support-wise, it will run on Windows XP and all newer versions of Windows, including the latest version of Windows, Windows 11.

The new tool may look similarly to Nirsoft’s Wireless Network Watcher application on first glance, but there are differences. Notable ones include support for several different network protocols, recognition of devices on another subnet, if they respond to ping queries, and less reliance on a device’s MAC address for identification and features.

Closing Words

LANIPScanner is a lightweight network scanner for Windows that is easy to use. It returns a list of devices connected currently, which you may find useful for a number of purposes, including spotting devices that should not be connected.

Think smart TVs or other gadgets that may be connected, even though you might prefer them not to.

Now You: do you scan your networks regularly for devices? If so, which program(s )do you use for that?

Mozilla extends Firefox for Windows 7 support again and it may not be the last time either

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser continues to be supported on Windows 7 and older versions of Apple’s macOS operating systems, according to an update that Mozilla published on its website.

According to the update, Firefox ESR 115 support is extended until at least March 2026. Mozilla plans to evaluate the end of support again in March 2026 to determine whether it will extend support again.

Firefox is one of the few web browsers that continue to support Windows 7 and older macOS versions. Most browsers have ended support for the discontinued versions of Windows and macOS some time ago already.

Firefox ESR 115.33 will be released in February 2026. It could be the last version of that ESR branch, if Mozilla decides to end support then and there.

More than six percent of Firefox users use Windows 7. That is a large number, even with Firefox’s declining userbase.

Firefox 115 was released in 2023 initially. The Extended Support Release version of the browser is only supported with security and bug fix updates. New features are not introduced in the same ESR branch usually. The next major ESR release introduces the features that Mozilla released in stable Firefox in the meantime.

Since there is no upgrade for Firefox ESR 115 users, their version of the browser remains on the 2023 feature set. Means, features such as tab groups, vertical tabs and others are not available.

The consumer editions of Windows 7 are no longer supported by Microsoft. This means that the operating systems do not receive security updates anymore. Micro-patching service 0Patch continues to support the operating system, however.

Google is hunting YouTube Premium Family subscribers now that are not living in the same household

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Last month, Google confirmed that it is trying to end a loophole that allows YouTube Premium subscribers to subscribe for less. The idea was simple: instead of subscribing from a country where YouTube Premium costs an arm and a leg, you use a VPN or other means to subscribe from a country where it costs a tenth or less of the actual price.

Now, Google confirmed that it is also investigating YouTube Premium Family subscriptions for misuse. Here, Google is going after subscribers who share a subscription with members who do not live in the same household.

For instance, when household members move out but continue to use the family’s YouTube Premium subscription at the new place. There have also been instances where access was shared between a group of friends or even resold.

Google is sending out emails to YouTube Premium subscribers reportedly, if it believes that the Family Plan is misused. The subscription is paused for those users, which means that they will see ads and do not get access to any of the other benefits that come with a YouTube Premium subscription.

A YouTube Premium Family subscription costs about $23 at the time of writing in the USA. This allows the subscriber to share the subscription with up to five family members. A single YouTube Premium subscription sets users back about $14 right now in the USA.

Six friends who would share a subscription would pay $4 per month for YouTube Premium effectively. That is still more expensive than a single subscription in some countries, but much cheaper than a regular subscription.

The scope of the investigation is unknown. Google could be testing the waters to analyze reactions of subscribers that it contacts. In the long run, however, it seems likely that Google plans to end all “get YouTube Premium for cheaper” loopholes.

Now You: Do you have a YouTube Premium subscription? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Proton Emergency Contact

Proton launches Emergency Access feature for paid accounts

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Proton AG has been quite busy lately. It launched Proton Authenticator, a free open-source two-factor authentication app, and the privacy-friendly AI Lumo in the past month.

Today, the company announced a new feature for paid members. Emergency Access is designed to provide a way into a user’s account under certain circumstances, such as injury or death.

Proton writes in a new blog post:

With our new Emergency Access feature, you can grant permission to trusted contacts to securely access your Proton Account after a set period of time, ensuring nothing important is lost if you’re unable to enter your account due to death or illness.

Proton users may select up to five trusted contacts who may access a user’s account either immediately or after a select wait time that they may set in advance. For this to work, the trusted contacts do need a Proton Account of their own.

When a trusted contact requests access, one of two things happens: if the user set up a wait time, they may approve or deny the request in that period. Once the wait time is over, the request is granted automatically and the trusted contact gains access to the entire account.

For instance, if you set the wait time to four weeks, you have four weeks to allow or deny the request.

Emergency access can be disabled at any time by the account owner. Furthermore, Proton notes that it is applying to the entire Proton account of the user and not just a single application.

Proton users may set up the feature under Recovery > Add emergency contact. There they may add email addresses of their trusted contacts. Proton notes that the emails need to be associated with a Proton account.

Trusted contacts may request emergency access under Settings > Recovery.

Now You: do you have set up emergency options for accounts that support it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

0Patch promises to keep Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 secure after official end of support

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows 10 is not the only Microsoft product that is reaching end of support in October 2025. Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 will also reach end of support in that month. The two Office products do not get an option for extended security updates, unlike Windows 10.

Windows 10 home users may extend support by a year only, through one of three options, but it is better than nothing. The best option is to run a free open source script, which makes the entire process effortless.

With Office 2016 and Office 2019, Microsoft made it clear that it won’t offer the same option. In other words: Come October 2025, both products will not receive future updates, at least not from Microsoft.

Microsoft suggests that customers either buy the latest Office 2024 application or subscribe to Microsoft 365 instead. This can be expensive. A standard edition license costs about $150, and it will run out of support in five years since its release. A Microsoft 365 subscription costs about $100 per year currently, but discounts are available from time to time. Businesses and Enterprises pay considerably more.

While both Office products will continue to work, they will be affected by security issues that Microsoft will only fix in newer versions of Office.

However, not all is lost. Micro-patching service 0Patch announced that it will add both Office products to the list of supported applications.

The company promises to deliver critical security updates for both Office versions for at least three years. Means, the worst critical issues will be fixed until at least October 2028.

An 0Patch subscription for consumers costs about $30 per year. Good news is that a subscription includes other Microsoft products, including Windows 10, version 22H2, as well.

So, if you run Windows 10 and either Office version, you get security updates for both products for the price of one.

Granted, there is also the option to switch to a free Office suite, such as LibreOffice, instead. It is free, but it may take a bit of adjusting and there is no 100% compatibility.