Looking for Windows Wallpapers? Microsoft has a download site for them

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Wallpapers are a great way to customize your Windows PCs or any other device. Most devices come with a default set of wallpapers, but these are usually fairly limited.

On Windows, you get a few choices and may also download wallpapers from the Internet or the Microsoft Store.

A third option is provided by Microsoft’s official Design website. The Wallpapers section there hosts plenty of official Windows wallpapers and them some.

Want some examples? Microsoft Create, 10th Anniversary Windows Insider Program, Windows 11 Themes, Windows Dev Home, and a lot more.

The downloads contain just the wallpapers. Not all of them are for Windows apparently. When I downloaded the Design Week wallpaper package, I got smartphone wallpapers.

The tenth year anniversary of the Windows Insider program contained Windows wallpapers for regular and wide screen monitors.

There is no option to find out what each package contains. Microsoft does not provide any information on that. This is problematic, as you may be downloading packages that you cannot really use.

Many other wallpaper sites do that better, as they provide information about resolutions as well as filters to limit results to matching wallpapers.

Still, the site is free and interesting especially for users who saw a wallpaper in one of Microsoft’s presentations or teasers.

All in all, nice that Microsoft is offering these as free downloads for all users. You do not need a specific version of Windows to download these. If you run Linux, a Mac, or another device, you can download these as well.

What is your take on wallpapers? Download new ones regularly? Maybe even run software that downloads and sets wallpapers automatically? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Chrome

How to remove Google Lens from Chrome’s address bar

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you still use Google Chrome, then you may have noticed that the browser displays a Google Lens entry in the address bar. It is still rolling out I guess, but more and more installations get this.

With Google Lens integration, Chrome users may run searches for anything that they see on the page. So, activate Google Lens with a click or tap, and then draw around the element on the page that you want to know more about.

You can select text and run a search, but this is not really new, as you can do so easily already in all browsers. Lens lets you select anything though, which means that you can search for images or elements in images, and also text in images that you cannot select using basic text selection options in browsers.

Google Chrome with Google Lens visible in address bar.
Google Lens in the address bar of Google Chrome

Google Lens in Chrome depends on Google Search as the default search provider. It is also good to know that page data is transferred to Google whenever Lens is used in Chrome.

Some Chrome users will find Lens useful. Not for plain text, as you can do so already. Maybe for quick translating, but the core use is to search for anything that cannot be selected individually. So, a person in an image, text shown in videos or images, or any other element that is shown on the screen.

How to disable Google Lens in Chrome

Google Lens disable
Set Lens Overlay to Disabled to turn off Google Lens in Chrome

You can, at least temporarily, disable Google Lens in Chrome. Here is how this is done:

  1. Load chrome://flags/#enable-lens-overlay in the address bar.
  2. Set the status of Lens overlay to Disabled.
  3. Restart Google Chrome.

This disables the interface in Chrome.

Note: Experimental Flags like Lens Overlay may come and go at any time. It is possible that Google is going to remove the flag in a future version of Chrome. This would remove the option to disable Google Lens in Chrome, unless Google decides to integrate an option in the Chrome Settings.

What is your take on Google Lens in Chrome? Something that you would use, maybe if launched in a different browser. Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Firefox

Mozilla celebrates Firefox’s 20th birthday with a video that teases upcoming features.

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has published a video to celebrate the 20th birthday of its Firefox web browser. The video showcases some of the existing features of the web browser and also upcoming features.

As far as new features are concerned, there is none that has not been mentioned before. Still, it is a good opportunity to see these features in action in the video. It is only a minute in size.

Here is the list of features that Mozilla teases in the video:

  • New Firefox profile manager and profile customization options.
  • Improved sidebar customization options.
  • Creation and management of tab groups.

The two big upcoming features are support for tab groups and the improved profile manager. All Chromium-based browsers support tab groups already. They may be used to improve tab management.

I use tab groups to differentiate between different tasks for the most part. What I like is that I can collapse tab groups so that an entire group takes up little space in the browser’s address bar.

Yes, some prefer to use bookmarks or other means to keep an eye on tabs. That is perfectly fine as well. Tab groups do not take anything away from that, but they add an option for users who like them.

Firefox Profiles gets an upgrade

The second feature improves the accessibility of the profile manager in Firefox. While Firefox supported profiles for a very, very long time, it was never put right in front of the user like in Chrome or Chromium.

Again, not ever Firefox user uses profiles. One reason for that is likely that it is difficult to find out about profile support in first place. You can stumble upon profiles in Firefox or on the Web, but there is a good chance that many Firefox users do not know about this feature at all.

If done right, this could be an introduction to profiles for lots of Firefox users.

I have to admit that I do not use profiles. I see their use, but I switch between so many browsers that these browsers are somehow like different profiles that I use. But, some users will certainly find this helpful.

What is your take on 20 years of Firefox and the features that Mozilla is teasing. Is this something you are looking forward to? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

PeaZip 10.0: new version of open source archive tool released

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When the makers of the archive tool Bandizip started to make changes that were disliked by part of the userbase, it was PeaZip among several other apps that users switched to.

The open source archiving software is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The developers have released version 10.0 recently; reason enough to take another look at it and highlight what is new and changed.

Also worth a consideration:

WinRAR 7.0 Final released: drops RAR 4 archive creation

PeaZip 10.0

The big new change in the new version is one that you may not notice right away. PeaZip launches with a redesigned graphical user interface. That is often cause for concern, but not with this release.

The developers highlight more icon sizes, updated themes, and “better organized menus” as the key elements.

Take a look at the two screenshots below. The first shows the PeaZip 9.x interface, the second the new interface in PeaZip 10.0.

PeaZip 9.x interface
PeaZip’s 9.x graphical user interface.
PeaZip 10
PeaZip 10.0 interface

As you can see, some of the icons have received a color upgrade, which may help differentiate between them better.

You can check out the theming options under Options > Settings > Themes.

There you find plenty of preferences to customize the look and feel. To name a few of those: set the main color, accents, contrast, spacing, colors of toolbars and more.

As far as other changes are concerned, here is what the developers reveal:

  • New options in the File Tools menu: save checksum / hash in GNU Coreutils compatible format., and search hash online for malware.
  • Updated the backends 7z and Pea to the latest version.
  • Supports a total of 234 file extensions as archives.

You can check out the full changelog here.

PeaZip, 7-Zip, or something different? Which archive software do you use mainly, and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Mullvad

Mullvad VPN adds protections against AI traffic analysis

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

One of the best things you can do to protect your data and privacy while online is to use a good VPN. Not all VPNs offer equally good protections; some even collect and sell user data.

Mullvad VPN is already offering some of the strongest privacy protections in the industry. This begins with options to buy access anonymously, but does not end there. You may also run Mullvad Browser, a hardened fork of the Firefox web browser.

Also great:

DNS Forge Review: privacy-friendly censorship-free DNS with ad-blocking

Mullvad announced a new protective feature against AI-based traffic analysis in May of this year. Defense against AI-guided Traffic Analysis (DAITA) is designed to protect user data against the growing thread of the use of AI to analyze traffic to identify patterns and users, even when VPNs are used.

This form of traffic analysis works in the following way according to Mullvad:

  • Whenever you visit a website or use a service on the Internet, network packets are transferred.
  • While ISPs and network listeners do not know the content of these packages, they do know a) the size of the packets, b) when and how often they are sent.
  • AI may identify websites, services, and even people you message based on network packages.

DAITA

DAITA is designed to protect against any form of network packet analysis to determine visited websites, services, or communication.

This is achieved in the following way (again according to Mullvad):

  • DAITA changes the size of all packets send over the VPN to be the same size.
  • Random background traffic is added to the communication.
  • Data pattern distortion by sending cover traffic between the client and the VPN server.

DAITA is available in Mullvad VPN for Android already. You need to enable ti manually under Settings > VPN Settings > DAITA.

Note that DAITA works with select servers, Mullvad lists Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, and New York, at the time.

Do you use a VPN service? If so, which and why this one? What is your take on Mullvad’s new privacy feature? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Opera One R2 interface

Opera One R2 launches with the promise that you can keep on using your classic extensions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Opera Software introduced several new features to development editions of its browsers in the past couple of months. I reviewed the new tab management and dynamic themes feature just recently.

Today, Opera Software announced the launch of Opera One R2, the next stable version of its web browser. This release is feature-packed, and it includes some good news for users who want to keep using their classic extensions.

The details:

  • Opera One R2 is available for all supported desktop platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac).
  • It introduces several new features, including dynamic themes and the tab management feature.

Existing users may select Opera Menu > Update & Recovery to download and install the update. New users may download the installer from the Opera website.

Opera One R2: the changes

Opera published a long post on the official blog that details all the changes of the new release. Most of it talks about AI, but there are also changes that are not AI related or at least locally processed instead of in the cloud.

Since I have reviewed one of the features already, I will summarize it quickly only in this article. You can check out the links at the top of the page for detailed reviews.

Dynamic Themes is a new option to customize the look and feel of the browser. They support more than just colors and setting a background image. You may use them to add music, animated backgrounds or change UI elements such as colors. They use the device’s GPU for “smooth rendering”.

Tip: you can reduce animations in the browser in the Settings > Features > User Interface section.

Tab improvements

Opera One R2's Split Tab feature
Opera One R2’s Split Tab feature

While Opera has not introduced support for the new AI-powered tab management feature in Opera One R2, it does introduce the following new features:

  • Split Screen – This enables you to display two tabs side by side to display two sites at once. This is not a unique feature, as browsers such as Vivaldi or Edge supported this for a well.
  • Tab Traces — a memory for the five recently used tabs. Opera adds an underscore to these tabs so that you may identify them quickly from a list of tabs open in the browser.

AI features

Asking Opera's AI Aria to identify an image
Asking Opera’s AI Aria to identify an image

A few AI features are now also available for stable Opera One users.

  • Image generation — Use AI to generate images. The process is started from the AI command bar or sidebar chat in Opera. Limit is 5 images per day for anonymous users and 30 per day for Opera account users.
  • Image understanding — Aria may provide information about images that you upload to the AI.

Other new features

There is more!

  • Control music and video from the sidebar – You may now control playback of media from Opera One’s sidebar. Pause or skip media using the feature. You may also add your “preferred streaming service” to the sidebar.
  • Detachable videos and video calls
  • Multithreaded Compositor – Manages the rendering of the user interface efficiently.
  • Support for Manifest V2 extensions remains – Opera announced plans to support Manifest V2 extensions independently of other browsers.

Now you: what is your take on these features? Anything that you find interesting or would make you switch to Opera? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Google Messages: new protections may cause issues for some

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced a range of new security features for its messaging app and service Google Messages.

Google says that the service is used by more than 1 billion users per day and that it filters out 2 billion suspicious messages each month already.

Good to know: the improvements roll out over time and some are currently available for Beta users in select markets. Others will be launching later this year or next year.

Here is what is getting improved:

  • Better protections against scam messages, starting with package delivery and job scams.
  • Improved protections against potentially dangerous links.
  • Option to turn off messages from unknown international phone numbers.
  • Option to turn on Sensitive Content Warning to blur images that may contain nudity.
  • Verification option to confirm the recipient or sender of messages. (next year).

Some of these may require additional explanations.

Google Messages gets improved message and link scanning protections. The first “will automatically move the message into your spam folder” or display a warning. Google says that it is using on-device algorithms to identify scams, which means that the information never leaves the device by default.

Issue: False positives may move legitimate messages into the spam folder. If you are waiting for such a message, but have not received it, you may want to check the spam to make sure it was not improperly classified as a scam by Google.

For links, Google is using two classifications.

  • Links from unknown senders display a warning.
  • Links from suspicious senders blocked automatically.

Controls to turn off messages from unknown senders sounds like a good idea. It is, for most users. It may be problematic if you receive messages regularly from users from other countries.

Issue: If you travel a lot, you may receive messages regularly. If you enable this feature, you may want to check the “Spam & blocked” folder, as they are moved there automatically when the feature is enabled.

Closing Words

Most users will benefit from the new features and options. While it may take months or even longer for them to roll out to all Android users who use Google Messages, they will arrive eventually.

For some users, these protective features may introduce issues, as some legitimate messages or message attempts will be moved to spam or blocked outright.

Now you: what is your take on the new functionality? Do you use Google Messages at all, or do you prefer a different kind of messaging system? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11: Enhance Pointer Precision explained

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows 11 and previous versions use the mouse feature Enhance Pointer Precision by default. This guide helps you understand what the feature does and why, in some cases, it may be better turned off.

What is Enhance Pointer Precision? Put simply, it is designed to improve the accuracy of slow mouse moves.

Maybe you have tried to target a very specific pixel on the screen. Say, a smaller than usual scrollbar, a button or link that is tiny, or anything else that needs precise movements.

Enhance Pointer Precision makes “the pointer work more accurately when you’re moving the mouse slowly” according to Microsoft.

While that may be useful in some cases, it can introduce problems in certain apps or games. Take first-person shooter games as an example. You need to be precise in them, but mouse movement is often rapid.

If you do not want Windows 11 to apply its pointer precision algorithm in those cases, you may turn it off.

Turning off Enhance Pointer Precision

You may toggle the mouse preference in the Settings app. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Launch the Settings app from it.
    • Tip: you may use the shortcut Windows-I to launch the Settings app.
  3. Go to Bluetooth & devices > Mouse.
  4. Set Enhance Pointer Precision to Off to disable the feature.

Chance is, you may not see a difference right away. It depends on several factors, including the mouse and its movement.

Tip: you may want to test the change. If you ran into issues with the mouse in certain apps or games, launch those and start tests.

You can undo the change at any time by setting the preference to On again.

Registry offers more control

You may also modify the relevant settings in the Windows Registry. While most users may not need to do so, it is offering more options.

Here is an overview of the available keys:

  • MouseThreshold1 — If mouse movement exceeds this value, cursor speed is doubled.
  • MouseThreshold2 – If mouse movement exceeds this value, cursor speed is quadrupled.
  • MouseSpeed — The speed of the mouse cursor.

The two threshold values need to be higher than the value of MouseSpeed.

Here is how you change those values

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type regedit.exe and press the Enter-key.
  3. Confirm the security prompt by selecting Yes.
  4. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse.
  5. Double-click on MouseSpeed, MouseThreshold1, and MouseThreshold2 respectively to change the values.
  6. To turn Enhance Pointer Precision off, set all values to 0.
    • To enable the feature again, set the values to 1, 6, and 10.

Tip: you can experiment with different values to see if the adjusted parameters work for your use cases.

WinDirStat Interface

WinDirStat: a new version is out 19 years after its last stable release

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you have been using Windows computers for at least 2 decades, you may still remember the open source app WinDirStat.

WinDirstat, in a nutshell, visualizes disk usage and supports cleanup operations. Programs like it, or my current favorite WizTree, are helpful in detecting large files and folders.

The programs are useful especially when it comes to cleaning up disk space. If your disk space is running low, these programs may help you find large files or lots of smaller files that you do not need anymore.

Something like a downloaded Windows ISO image or a 4K test movie for example.

19 years later: a new version is released

A new version of the open source tool is now available. While WinDirStat 2.0.1 has been released 19 years after the previous version, it did not took 19 years to develop the new version.

A new developer offered to help last year and the new version is the result of the involvement.

As you can imagine, the new version had a lot of catching up to do. The official changelog reflects that. There is now an official native 64-bit version and a native ARM version. The installer is now using MSI, and compatibility with all recent and not so recent versions of Windows is guaranteed.

Next to these architectural changes, there are plenty of functional changes.

Here is a short list of important improvements:

  • Multiple items can now be selected, e.g. for cleaning or moving.
  • Scan results can be exported as CSV files.
  • Full Explorer context menu now available.
  • Support for long file names.
  • Duplicate file finder supports file hashes now.
  • Improved resolution scaling.

Note: I encountered an issue while running the program. It reported a total disk size of 202.1 TB on the main drive of the laptop I ran it on. This drive has an actual size of just 1 TB. It only reported the physical size incorrectly. The logical size was correctly displayed.

The program is easy to use. While it does not scan drives as fast as WizTree, it does so reasonably fast.

The main interface uses three panes. The first displays folders and files, the second file extensions, and the third a visual representation of the space.

You can use the options menu to hide some of the panes. A click on a folder expands it and shows subfolders and files that it contains. Each folder is listed with its size and number of files.

It is relatively easy to spot large folders and files. The program lacks an option to display the largest files though, which may make the process a bit cumbersome.

You may delete files right away or use the cleanup menu, which offers various options.

Closing Words

It is good to see that WinDirStat has been revived from the dead. While I still prefer WizTree, as it is faster and has better functionality, it is a solid alternative.

Do you use disk space analyzers? If so, which is your favorite and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11 24H2: Firmware update addresses crash issue for Western Digital and Sandisk SSD

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

News about BlueScreen crashes on Western Digital or Sandisk SSD systems broke shortly after Microsoft’s release of Windows 11, version 24H2.

Affected user systems crashed regularly after the upgrade to the new version of Windows 11. Users started to collect information about the issue and even suggested a fix that involved making an edit to the Registry.

Microsoft, in the meantime, added an upgrade block for systems with affected hardware. This block prevents the upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 via Windows Update.

The block did not help users who upgraded already. Some downgraded their systems to resolve the issue, others applied the Registry fix.

Firmware Update

Western Digital and SanDisk have released a firmware update for affected storage devices that resolves the issue.

A page on the official SanDisk support website provides the details.

Note: it is recommended to back up important data before you apply firmware updates to storage devices. A BlueScreen crash during the process could corrupt the device and make the data unreadable.

In a nutshell:

  1. Download the Wester Digital Dashboard software using the provided links on the website.
  2. Run the downloaded application.
  3. Select the install button to install the application on the device.
  4. Keep “launch dashboard” checked and activate the finish button.
  5. Select the Tools section.
  6. Click on Update Firmware and then on proceed.
  7. Activate shutdown now at the end of the process.
  8. Power the computer on again.

The new firmware is now installed on the device and the crashes should be a thing of the past.

Affected Western Digital and SanDisk devices

The following Solid State Drives are affected by the issue:

NameModel Number Starting WithUpdated Firmware Version
WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBBDL0020BNC, WDS200T3X0E731130WD
WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD 2TBWDBDNH0020BBK, WDS200T3X0G731130WD
WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBWMY0020BBL, WDS200T3B0E281050WD
WD Blue SN5000 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBS3F0020BNC, WDS200T4B0E291020WD
SanDisk Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 2TBSDSSDX3N-2T00