
Windows 11 now available for all compatible devices according to Microsoft
The release version of Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system is now available for all compatible devices according to Microsoft. The designation for broad deployment is an important milestone, as it is used by organizations to determine the readiness of the operating system for broader deployment on devices.
The Windows release health dashboard for Windows 11 version 21H2 reveals the status change.
Current status as of May 17, 2022 (PT)
Windows 11 is designated for broad deployment.
The origi
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Ghacks Deals: The Advanced Cyber Security Career Advancement Bundle
The Advanced Cyber Security Career Advancement Bundle is a comprehensive course bundle that includes 6 certification prep courses for industry standard certifications.
Here is what is included:
CISA Certification
Gain expertise in the acquisition, development, testing & implementation of information systems
Learn the guidelines, standards, & best practices of protecting them
Understand the information system audit process & how to adequately protect it
CompTIA Cloud Essentials
Show your co
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Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 introduces a search bar on the desktop
Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 to users in the Dev Channel. It introduces a search bar on the desktop
What's new in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120
The Redmond company is calling it a "lightweight interactive content". Why not call it what it is, that is a desktop widget. You will need to reboot the computer after installing the update to trigger the search bar. Users can paste a URL in it, or type in their query to perform a web search via Bing (via Micros
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Mozilla expects to launch extensions Manifest V3 support in Firefox in late 2022
Mozilla plans to introduce support for the extensions Manifest V3 in the organization's Firefox web browser in late 2022. Preview versions are already available in development editions of the web browser.
While Mozilla plans to introduce support for Manifest V3 in Firefox, it won't remove support for APIs that are essential to privacy extensions. Content blockers and other privacy extensions will continue to function in Firefox as before, provided that developers continue to support them.
Manif
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Google forces Total Commander developer to remove the ability to install APKs on Android devices
Total Commander for Android no longer allows you to install APKs that you downloaded. The popular file manager boasts a cult following among the PC and Android users.
Total Commander for Android removes the ability to install APKs
Here's what happened. Christian Ghisler, the developer of Total Commander, has revealed that Google sent him a warning that his app would be removed from the Play Store within 7 days unless he modified his app. What was the offense? The app was reportedly not complian
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FairEmail developer calls it quits and pulls apps from Google Play
The developer of the open source email client FairEmail pulled all of his applications from Google Play and announced that he would stop development.
FairEmail was a popular email client for Google's Android operating system that was free to use. It was privacy-friendly, had no limitations in regards to email accounts that users could set up in the app, supported unified inbox, conversation threading, two-way synchronizing, support for OpenPGP, and a lot more.
Marcel Bokhorst, the developer of
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Thunderbird 102: support for multiple active spell checking dictionaries
The open source email client Thunderbird will soon support multiple active spell checking dictionaries. Planned for Thunderbird 102, the feature enables users to have Thunderbird check for spelling mistakes using multiple dictionaries when composing messages.
Thunderbird users who speak multiple languages may have had spell checking difficulties in the past. Current versions of the email client support one active language only at a time, and that meant that users either had to switch languages
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Skiff Mail is a new end-to-end encrypted email service, but should you use it?
Skiff Mail has been launched to the public, it is a new end-to-end encrypted email service provider. The company says that it focuses on protecting the privacy of its users.
The service is Web3 native, you can visit this page to sign up for a free personal account.
Though Skiff Mail's blog post says that users get 10GB of free cloud storage space for signing up for a personal account, the Pricing page which you can access from the settings shows that you only have 1GB of space. Email isn't the
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`Good News: non-business legacy Google G Suite customers may keep their accounts after all
Google revealed plans to shut down the G Suite legacy free edition in January 2022. The company gave customers only two options at the time: sign-up for a paid plan to continue using Google services and their custom emails, or migrate to another service.
Customers who used the account to make purchases using Google services, e.g., Android apps, music or media, would lose access to their purchases if they would not migrate to Google Workspaces.
It appears that Google has had a change of heart so
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Vector Graphics Editor Inkscape 1.2 is now available
Inkscape is an open source cross-platform vector graphics editor. Inkscape 1.2, released on May 16, 2022, is the first major release of 2022. It includes a large number of changes, including multi-page support, batch exports, performance improvements and more.
Inkscape 1.2
Inkscape 1.2 is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS devices. The program is free and open source. Windows users may run into SmartScreen warnings when they run the installer; this is a false positive, likely because the e
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Ghacks Deals: The Coding From Scratch Bootcamp Bundle
The Coding From Scratch Bootcamp Bundle includes four courses that teach you Python, Java, Tailwind CSS and Sass. Access to the courses is set to lifetime, and the entire bundle is available for just $24.99.
Here is the list of included courses.
The Complete Python Masterclass 2022: Learn Python From Scratch -- Take Yourself One Step Close Towards Becoming a Professional Python Developer
The Complete Java Masterclass: Learn Java From Scratch -- Gain Essential Skills to Apply for Junior Java De
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Apple's new rule allows app subscriptions to be auto-renewed at higher prices without informing the user
Apple's new App Store rule may not be welcome amongst users. The company has decided to allow app subscriptions to be auto-renewed without requesting the user's permission.
There are many apps that require a subscription, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, are just a few of the popular examples. Apple currently requires the user to opt in to any changes made to the subscriptions. When a user does not opt in to the new price, the subscription gets cancelled.
Apple claims that this has led
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Trackers may collect data that you type even before hitting submit
Many websites come with web forms, for example, to sign-in to an account, create a new account, leave a public comment or contact the website owner. What most Internet users may not know is that data that is typed on sites may be collected by third-party trackers, even before the data is sent.
source Leaky Forms
A research team from KU Leuven, Radboud University and University of Lausanne, analyzed the data collecting of third-party trackers on the top 100K global websites. Results have been pub
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Nvidia releases security update for out-of-support GPUs
Nvidia published a security bulletin on May 16, 2022 in which it informs customers about a new software security update for the Nvidia GPU display driver. The update patches security issues in earlier driver versions that can lead to "denial of service, information disclosure, or data tampering".
While it is common for companies to release security updates for their software applications and drivers, it is uncommon to receive updates for products that are not supported anymore.
In this particul
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1.5 million apps on Google and Apple's app stores may be removed for not being updated in 2 years
A few weeks ago, Apple began warning developers that they would be removing apps that haven't been updated in a long time, from the App Store. The Cupertino company is not alone in doing this, Google does the same for outdated apps on its Play Store.
A report by an analyst firm, Pixalate (via CNET), reveals that 84% of the apps which were downloaded over 100 million times from the stores, were those that had received updates in the past six months.
So, this raises the question. There are over 5
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DottedSign is a powerful E-Signature solution for individuals and organizations
DottedSign is a versatile E-Signature solution for the web and mobile devices that is available for individuals and organizations alike. It is a comprehensive E-Signature solution that enables home users and professionals to sign documents, collect signatures from others, and manage the signing process across different platforms.
Signing documents electronically should not be more complicated than signing documents with pen and paper. In fact, E-Signatures offer several advantages over their ...
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Microsoft's replaces bundled Quick Assist app with Microsoft Store version
Quick Assist is a remote assistance application that is part of Microsoft's Windows 10 and 11 operating systems. Up until now, Quick Assist was available to all users to get remote assistance, e.g., to resolve issues that users experience while working on Windows machines.
Users may launch the interface by searching for Quick Assist or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Win+Q; the new app supports the keyboard shortcut just like the old version of Quick Assist.
Starting on May 23, 2022, that v
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First look at Portmaster, an open source cross-platform network monitor
Portmaster is a free open source cross-platform network activity monitor that is available in an early version for Windows and the Linux distributions Ubuntu and Fedora.
Portmaster combines traditional network activity monitoring with additional features, such as the option to enforce the use of secure DNS or the automatic blocking of advertisement, trackers and malicious hosts using filter lists, which are commonly used by ad-blockers.
Portmaster is free to use, which usually leads to the ques
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Thunderbird's donation-drive revenue rose 21% in 2021
The Thunderbird team published the financial report of 2021 for the Thunderbird project last month. Revenue rose by 21% in 2021 to $2.796 million when compared to the $2.3 million the project earned in 2020.
source: Thunderbird
Thunderbird is part of MZLA Technologies Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation. The entire project receives its funding almost entirely from donations.
Donations rose from $700K in 2017 to now $2.7 million in 2021. In 2021 alone, donations rose by a
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Firefox 100.0.1 released with improved Windows process isolation
Mozilla Firefox 100.0.1 is a small bug fix release that addresses issues in the browser's Picture-in-Picture mode and improves process isolation on Windows devices.
Mozilla planned to release the new version on May 11, 2022 initially but the release has been delayed. It is unclear why it was delayed at this point, but it is expected soon.
Mozilla Firefox 100.0.1
The main change in Firefox 100.0.1 improves Firefox's security sandbox on Windows devices. Mozilla notes that the sandbox is blocking
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How to use compact.exe to free up disk space on Windows
Microsoft introduced new options for the command line tool compact.exe in the Windows 10 operating system. It allows users to compress folders on the system using new algorithms to free up disk space.
Unlike many other compression solutions, compact promises to have little impact on performance when the files need to be loaded by the system. Files are compressed without changing the file extension or location. Decompression happens during runtime, and most modern systems should not break a sweat
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How to bypass the Microsoft Account requirement during Windows setup
Every few years, Microsoft is making it more difficult to create a local account during setup of the Windows operating system.
The company announced in February 2022 that new setups and first runs of Pro versions of Windows 11 would require a Microsoft account. It did not take long for workarounds to become available, but many users may be unaware of these bypass options.
Some users may prefer Microsoft accounts, as they offer some advantages, including data syncing through the OneDrive service
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Microsoft Secure Network is now available as a limited preview in Edge Canary
We reported about Microsoft Secure Network a few weeks ago, when it was spotted on the company's support website. The free VPN has officially entered a limited access preview in Edge Canary.
Microsoft announced the news on its Edge Insider blog, and highlighted its importance.
What is Microsoft Secure Network?
According to Microsoft, the VPN is meant to protect the privacy of users when they connect to public Wi-Fi networks, aka hotspots, that are available at airports, libraries, hotels, coffe
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All you need to know about PlayStation Plus subscription changes
If you are looking to get yourself a PlayStation Plus subscription and save a little bit of money while you are at it, check out the Eneba marketplace! This place is home to various digital gaming products which includes gaming subscriptions, video games, DLCs, in-game currencies, gift cards, and loads more! The prices here are significantly lower when compared to those you find while shopping directly via your console or platform, while the delivery of your purchase is just as fast. This is a g
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CCleaner 6.0 launches with new Performance Optimizer tool
Piriform released CCleaner 6.0, a new major milestone for the system optimizer, this week to the public. The new version is available as a feature-limited free version and a professional version.
CCleaner is a popular tool for Windows to free up storage space occupied by leftover files or temporary files. Piriform extended the program's functionality in recent years, but most of the added features are reserved to the professional version
The main feature addition of CCleaner 6.0 is a new tool c
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