Chipp.in Tech News and Reviews
Windows, Security & Privacy, Open Source and more
This is a review of WingetUI, an open source program for Windows that many users will find useful. I wrote an article on the package manager winget for Windows yesterday on Ghacks. It is an integrated command line tool in newer versions of Windows to uninstall, install or update programs. WingetUI takes the capabilities of…
Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) changes printing on Windows significantly. The main idea is to improve security and make printing convenient. Modern printers work automatically under WPP so that third-party printer drivers are no longer required. There are downsides, especially when it comes to printers that don’t support the functionality. Another downside is that printer…
Windows 10, the operating system that barely anyone loved when it first came out, is supported until October 2025 by Microsoft. The operating system is still widely used with a commanding lead over Windows 11. Statcounter, for example, lists Windows 10’s usage share at about 68% and Windows 11’s at just 26% as of November…
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…
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…
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…
O&O AppBuster is a free application by O&O Software GMBH. The program enables Windows 10 and 11 users to uninstall apps that Microsoft does not want users to remove from the system. While some apps are critical components of Windows, the same can’t be said for all locked apps. Apps like Photos, Phone Link, Game…
Environment Variables are an essential part of the Windows operating system. The variables are mostly useful for command line usage and also in scripts. As an example: when you type a program name on the command line, e.g., notepad.exe, Windows searches the variables to find the application. System environment variables determine locations for certain folders…
O&O ShutUp10++ is a free tool for Microsoft’s Windows operating system to improve privacy. Designed initially for Windows 10, the program is now also available for Windows 11. While its main focus is on blocking the operating system’s data hunger, it is also a helpful tool for managing other Windows settings. First, the basics. You…
Spacedrive is an open source cross-platform file explorer that is powered by a virtual distributed filesystem written in Rust. Note: the software is alpha at this point. It may contain bugs and issues, and its main purpose is testing at this stage. I experienced some hangs and issues during the test. All modern operating systems…