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.

AOL discontinues Dial-Up Internet and software

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

AOL announced the discontinuation of its dial-up Internet plan, AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, in a brief support page on its help website.

There, AOL writes:

AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans. As a result, on September 30, 2025 this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued.

From September 30, 2025 onward, AOL customers may no longer use dial-up Internet provided by the company. AOL is also discontinuing the accompanying applications, AOL Dialer and AOL Shield.

AOL says that the change does not impact any other benefits that users may have in their AOL plan, including AOL email. The company does not reveal the number of customers that are affected by the change.

Estimates suggest that about 150,000 US-Americans still use dial-up in 2025. Not all of them rely on AOL for Internet though, but those who do need to find a different dial-up Internet provider or different connection option, such as cable, fiber optic, wireless Internet, DSL, or Internet via satellite.

As for dial-up Internet, Microsoft still seems to offer dial-up access to the Internet. For about $180 per year, subscribers may sign up for MSN Dial-Up Internet access according to this page on the Microsoft website:

Subscribe to MSN Dial-up Internet Access and get Internet access and MSN Internet Software which includes: computer wide security software, advanced phishing filter technology, pop-up guard and multiple e-mail accounts.

Can you imagine using a connection that has a speed between 56 kbit/s and 128 kbit/s?

Firefox

Mozilla plans to drop support for very-old Android versions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to drop support for Android versions older than Android 8. Android 8 was released in 2017, which means that the move will affect users who use Firefox on mobile phones that are nearly a decade old or older.

Current mobile versions of Firefox require at least Android 5.0, which was released in 2014.

Mozilla announced the intention to raise the system requirements for Firefox on Android on the organization’s bug tracking website. And the organization has good reasons for wanting to drop support.

It allows Mozilla to “implement newer technologies” and prevents engineers from “being burdened by fixing bugs that only emerge on a small population of people using old devices”.

Also worth noting is that libraries that Mozilla is using are dropping support for Android 5, which causes additional problems for Mozilla.

With Android 15 (API 35) official release last Oct 15, 2024 (for Pixel devices), we should be considering bumping up the min Android OS version of the Firefox Mobile Browser up to Android 8 (API 26). Doing so allows us to implement newer technologies, and prevents us from being burdened by fixing bugs that only emerge on a small population of people using old devices. By bumping the min Android OS version, users on those devices will no longer receive app updates.

Additionally, we are increasingly finding that libraries we use are dropping support for obsolete versions like Android 5. This causes us big problems for ongoing maintenance of our apps.

Mozilla is not the only browser maker that bumped Android version requirements recently. Google dropped support for Android 7 and 8 recently with the launch of Chrome 139 for Android. Most Chromium-based browsers for Android are likely affected by the change going forward.

So, if you are still using an Android device that is no longer supported, and has not been for a few years at least, you may find yourself without a supported browser as well.

Will there be browsers that continue to support Android 8 or earlier? That remains to be seen. For now, both Vivaldi and Opera support Android 8, as will Firefox going forward.

Microsoft is killing off a highly rated mobile app, wants users to use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app instead

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft maintains a massive list of apps for the mobile operating systems Android and iOS. Microsoft Lens, one of the company’s highest-rated apps, is being discontinued. Microsoft announced the change in a message center note this week.

Microsoft Lens may be used to scan whiteboards and documents, including notes, receipts and more. It makes these readable digitally in PDF, Word, or Excel format, and supports printed and handwritten text.

The Android version has a rating of 4.8 out of 5.0 and more than 50 million downloads. The Apple version has also a 4.8 out of 5.0 rating, but less downloads and reviews.

The scanned data can be saved locally or uploaded to OneNote or OneDrive.

The timeline of the Microsoft Lens discontinuation:

  • Mid-September 2025: New installs on Google Play or the Apple App Store are no longer permitted.
  • Mid-November 2025: Microsoft will remove the apps from the respective stores.
  • Mid-December 2025: New scans can no longer be created.

Microsoft notes that existing scans will remain available in the MyScans folder that the application creates during installation.

The company recommends switching to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, saying that it offers similar functionality. However, Microsoft Lens was free to use and without any ads. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app on the other hand may show ads, as revealed on the mobile stores.

Bleeping Computer reports that Microsoft plans to add some of the missing functionality to the Copilot app.

Would you pay $20 per month to use a browser, or more?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When the Browser Company launched its Arc web browser, it was heralded by part of the media as the evolution that browsers needed. Then, the Browser Company announced that it would discontinue its browser to focus on another. This new browser, called Dia, would be an AI-browser first and foremost.

It was not really clear why, but the recent announcement of a Pro subscription plan could shed some light into the plans.

Dia, which is available in early testing for certain Mac devices only, is free to use. The AI parts have limits, however, and the newly announced Pro subscription unlocks unlimited access to the AI.

For $20 per month, users gain unlimited access. The first commercial subscription plan is just the beginning, as The Browser company plans to introduce additional plans that may cost between $5 and several hundred Dollars per month.

The price of a Pro subscription is just shy of the price of a ChatGPT Plus or Google AI Pro subscription. Granted, Dia appears to offer tighter integration in a browser.

Dia offers integration of a chatbot, but one feature that sets it apart from competing browsers currently is skills. These are shortcuts for repetitive tasks. It also supports cross-tab analysis and content synthesis. Is that enough to warrant a subscription? Only time will tell, but my initial take is that it will be very difficult for the company to turn a profit, unless it bakes something into the browser that is truly useful.

Now You: would you pay for a browser? What is your take on the $20 per month price of a subscription? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Microsoft Recall continues to record data that it should not

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When Microsoft announced Recall, the prime AI feature of its upcoming Copilot+ PC device type, it must have realized the flaws of Recall pretty quickly.

Recall consists of two parts. A screen capturing part that is taking snapshots of the computer screen every five seconds, and the AI that scans and analyzes the screenshots, so that the user may interact with it and retrieve information.

The AI can provide information for requests such as “what did I do on August 25, 2024”, “what car did I look at last month” or “give me an overview of the money that I spend online in the past three months”.

While that sounded useful to the ears of Microsoft executives, it sounded like a privacy nightmare to happen for security experts, rights advocates groups, system administrators and home Windows users.

The initial version lacked proper security mechanisms to protect the database against unauthorized access. To make matters worse, Microsoft designed the initial Copilot to be opt-out. This meant that the AI feature would run by default and take snapshots of user screens from the moment the system was started.

Microsoft apologized and promised to do better. It went back to the drawing board and announced an updated version of Recall some time later. And Microsoft did indeed address some of the major points of criticism. It made Recall opt-in and integrated protections that would prevent direct unauthorized access to a user’s database. Admittedly, Microsoft displays a screen during the initial setup of the system that informs users about Recall and can be used to enable it. It is easy enough to enable it in passing, for instance when you are in a hurry to start using the system for the first time.

Another problem with Recall is that its filters are not working all the time. Microsoft created filters to block screenshots from being taken under certain conditions. Launch a private browsing mode window and Recall will not capture it, according to Microsoft. The same is true for sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or passwords.

The Register tested the latest version of Recall and concluded that the filtering is “good, but not good enough”. Recall did not capture most of the screens and data that it should not, but the tester managed to get the feature to take snapshots of sensitive data with a little bit of trickery involved.

Another test tried to gain access to the Recall database. It could become a high value target for cybercriminals, considering that it contains much of a user’s activity online and offline. Even if there is no passwords or credit card numbers to be found, users may have activities recorded that they’d prefer to stay private; a treasure trove for ransomware gangs.

While Recall protects access with Windows Hello, it is not blocking access if remote desktop software is used. Authentication is still required though.

All in all, it is fair to say that Microsoft is making progress and that Recall continues to remain a work in progress. Unless you really, really have a valid use case for using Recall as a user, you probably might want to keep it off.

Windows 11

Windows 11 finally overtakes Windows 10 as the most popular desktop operating system

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft’s newest — if you consider four years new – has finally done it. It has passed Windows 10 as the most popular desktop operating system last month.

The consumer versions of Windows 10 have less than three months of support left. While you can extend that by a year, the end is inevitable at this point.

Statcounter reports that Windows 11 made a big jump to more than 53 percent usage share while Windows 10 dropped to a still respectable 43 percent share.

It appears that users are finally moving from Windows 10 to 11, either by upgrading compatible devices to the new version of Windows or by buying new PCs with Windows 11. There is also a third possibility. Since Statcounter does not reveal totals, Windows 10 devices could just have been taken offline by their respective owners or users.

Is the change in leadership the big win that Microsoft hoped Windows 11 would become? Or just born out of necessity, considering that Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 in a short while?

It seems likely that the trend will continue in the following months. Windows 10 will drop, Windows 11 will rise as a consequence.

It is interesting to note that Windows 10 managed to keep the lead until last month. Almost half of all desktop devices ran the operating system and users have started to migrate mere weeks before the official end of support.

In related news, Windows 7 still holds about 2 percent of the desktop market, more than two years after Microsoft ended the ESU program and more than five years since support ended officially.

Windows 8 and 8.1 are also listed, with a combined share of about 1 percent of the desktop market. May not sound like much, but if you assume more than 1 billion desktop PCs, you end up with 10 million Windows 8 and 8.1 devices still in use.

As far as desktop operating systems are concerned, Windows continues to have a commanding lead of more than 71 percent of the market. Unknown, meaning device with unidentifiable operating systems, macOS and Linux follow behind, each with less than 10 percent of the usage share.

Now You: do you run Windows on your devices or another operating system? Let me know in the comments below.

Google will keep some goo.gl links alive, after all – but it is messy

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced the deprecation of its link shortening service goo.gl almost seven years ago. Created in 2009, millions of Internet users have used the service to create shorter versions of links for sharing and archiving.

Back in 2018, Google disabled the option to create new links using the service, but did not touch existing links. Google revealed last year that it would delete all existing redirects by August 25th, 2025.

These plans have changed to a degree. Google announced that some links will continue to live on while other redirects will still be removed.

The company writes in an update on its The Keyword website:

While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.

We understand these links are embedded in countless documents, videos, posts and more, and we appreciate the input received.

Google realized, after six years (!) that some of the links were still used actively and that users who click on these links would not be very happy, if they suddenly stopped working.

The bad news is that Google won’t preserve all links. According to the post, links that show “This link will no longer work in the near future” when activated will stop working on August 25th. However, links that do not show the message will continue to work normally.

While that may make sense from Google’s point of view, it does not really help users or link creators much. You can only find out about a link when you click on it. If you do so right now, you either get the announcement about the links future or you won’t. Come August 25th, some links will stop working while others will continue to work.

To sum it up. The good news is that some links will continue to work after August 25, 2025. The bad news is that you do not really know which, especially after August 25. So, goo.gl links could still work when you click on them or they could return a not found error instead.

If you have used the link shortening service in the past, then you may want to modify these links, if you still have access to the site you posted the link on.

Google is testing floating ads on YouTube that overshadow part of the video

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you thought that the current state of the Internet and advertisement in general is at a threshold already, then you may be surprised that companies like Google, Meta, Netflix, or Amazon don’t really think so.

Google seems to be one of the main driving forces behind ads. The advertising company that also operates a search engine, browser, and the YouTube website, announced last month that YouTube Premium Lite users would soon start seeing more ads.

The brunt of ads, however, is reserved for users who do not pay Google to see less or no ads. A report on Tech Issues suggests that Google is pushing it again on YouTube.

The site mentions two reports by YouTube users. The first is about the missing skip button on YouTube, which Google started to hide as early as October 2024. Google displayed a skip button when ads played in the past, but this appears to have changed for some users. No skip button means that you have to sit through the entire ad or ads before you can start watching the video.

The second new type of ad may even be more annoying. Since users only accept a number of ads on the site, Google thought it a good idea to add floating ads to videos.

The example given by a user on Reddit shows a small banner overlay on the video screen that promotes a seemingly unrelated channel on the site. To make matters worse, there does not appear to be an easy way to close that banner. Apparently, you need to click on the three-dots first before you can hide it again.

So, if you do use a content blocker, then there is a good chance that a rules update will hide this new form of advertisement on YouTube. However, depending on how you access YouTube, you may not be able to run a content blocker. For instance, if you use the official YouTube app, you can’t block ads that it displays easily. You can check out my guide on blocking most ads on Android for starters.

Now You: how do you handle ads on sites like YouTube? Do you block them? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11 is removing an option to bypass Microsoft account and internet during setup

Windows 11, version 23H2: Support ends this year as well

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

While Windows 10’s official end of support later this year is the big Windows-topic of 2025, an earlier version of Windows 11 is also put to rest by Microsoft on the same day.

Windows 11, version 23H2, released almost two years ago, will reach end of support in November 2025 shortly after Windows 10 reaches its end of support.

To be clear, the end of support affects the Home and Pro editions of the operating systems only. Microsoft supports Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 for two years (24 months), while Enterprise and Education editions get an extra year of support.

So, if you have not upgraded a Windows 11, version 23H2 Home or Pro device to version 24H2 yet, you may want to consider doing so to keep it supported.

Systems that meet the official system requirements should get the upgrade offer in Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates. Potential upgrade blockers could prevent the upgrade offer via Windows Update, but only a few confirmed issues remain.

If the upgrade to version 24H2 is not offered, you could try Microsoft’s official Installation Assistant. It can start the upgrade, even if it is not offered via Windows Update.

If that fails as well, your best bet is to use third-party tools like Rufus or FlyOobe (formerly known as Flyby11), which can also be used to bypass most of the system requirements of Windows 11.

Here is the list of Windows versions and editions, and their upcoming end of support later this year.

  • Windows 10, version 22H2 (latest) — Home and Pro : October 14, 2025.
  • Windows 11, version 22H2 — Enterprise and Education: October 14, 2025
  • Windows 11, version 23H3 — Home and Pro: November 11, 2025

Now You: do you run any of these? Let us know in the comments below.

Windows-11-Upgrader Flyby11 renamed to FlyOobe: new features in the pipeline

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

He has done it again. The developer of several useful open source tools, Belim, has changed the name of another of his applications. The useful open source Windows-11-Upgrader Flyby11 is now known as FlyOobe.

The program itself makes it easier to upgrade Windows 10 systems to Windows 11, especially if the computer does not meet major system requirements of Windows 11. While you can bypass most requirements manually, using FlyOobe simplifies the process significantly as it requires just a few clicks to start the upgrade.

The new name reflects the nature of the program better, according to the developer. Thankfully, that is not all that is new. The latest version includes a few changes already, like improved upgrade logic or automatic compatibility checks before selection of the ISO.

Here is the full changelog:

Improved upgrade logic for bypassing Windows 11 requirements
Automatic compatibility checks before ISO selection
New hybrid UI with dark main window and a light sidebar. Drop a comment: full dark, back to light, or keep the hybrid look?
More intelligent handling of setups with and without Internet
Hundreds of fixes, cleanups, and refinements under the hood
Clippy was killed. Again.
The old FAQ was removed (a new one will appear in the repo soon)
Localizations are currently offline because they no longer fit with the core features. I still need to figure out how to move forward with this

More interesting than that is what is coming next. The developer is working in integrating ISO preparations and bypass patching directly from ISO images into the application.

Means, it is future proofing the program to make sure that it continues to work, even when Microsoft decides to disable the existing bypass options.

With Windows 10 going out of support in two months, it will be interesting to see if the downloads of tools like this will explode. While users may be able to sign up for extended security updates, this is delaying the death by just a year. Enough time for some, but there will be millions of perfectly working Windows 10 PCs in October 2026 that could be used for years or even decades, if their owners would get some help migrating to Windows 11 or Linux, or another option.