Windows, Security & Privacy, Open Source and more
Windows users who want to look at the desktop may use the “show desktop” button to do so. Many users may not be aware that such a button exists on the taskbar. The main reason for that is that it is transparent. Hover the mouse cursor over the rightmost spot on the taskbar. You should…
Amazon Fire TV devices may show fullscreen video ads now when started. These advertise Amazon Prime Video content. Good news is that users may turn these off on their devices. The trailers play before users have had any interaction with the device, apart from turning it on. Amazon introduced the change on all current Fire…
Hundreds of million of Windows 10 devices will run out of support in 2025 with no option to upgrade to a new version of the operating system. Up until now, every version of Windows could be upgraded to a new version. All Windows versions reach end of support eventually. Microsoft stopped support for Windows 7…
I love Japan, Japanese culture and the Japanese people. It has probably something to do with my geeky-side and that many Japanese share this side. I tried to learn Japanese in the past, using online courses, local language courses and apps, but nothing really got me to the “I got it” moment. I have to…
Remember Cortana? Most may not remember the personal assistant that Microsoft baked into Windows. Even though it was rather mediocre, Cortana actually provided better Windows functionality than Microsoft’s new lovechild Windows Copilot. Included in Windows 10, Cortana was Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. It was a voice-activated tool designed to help users…
Microsoft introduced the Settings app in 2015 as a replacement for the Control Panel. The Control Panel is still available, but Microsoft moved some of its features to Settings in the years that followed. A recent addition is the Settings Home page. It is the new start page of the Settings app and lists a…
Optional Windows Updates fly under the radar on many Home systems. They come as different types. The most common is the monthly non-security preview update for Windows 10 and Windows 11. There are other optional updates, e.g., bug fixes, other non-security updates and also improvements. Up until recently, administrators had to search for optional updates…
You may have heard it a thousand times already, but here it comes again: protecting accounts with strong and unique passwords, and using a second form of authentication is essential to security. While the main focus seems to be on this recommendation, many guides fail to mention other essentials. One example: while strong passwords and…
Google launched an updated Titan Security Key last week. The new hardware key supports FIDO2, which means that it is compatible with a wide range of services. While you may use it exclusively for Google accounts, you can store up to 250 entries using it. Titan Security Key works similarly to other hardware keys, including…
What would you do, if you were in control of the world’s most used search engine and web browser, and also the world’s largest advertising company? Would you keep things strictly separate, even if it would mean leaving billions of Dollar on the table? Google’s control of advertising, to a large degree at least, and…