What's New

Microsoft introduced support for what it calls Start Menu Companions in a recent Windows 11 beta build. This feature adds a sidebar to the Start Menu that display information, for instance from widgets.

The last major overhaul of the Windows Start menu launched with the release of Windows 11. Microsoft removed several features of the Windows 10 Start menu, including support for live tiles and customization options. It did introduce the split design that shows pinned apps at the top and recommendations at the bottom.

Password cracking tools improve all the time. With AI entering the game, the time to brute force passwords has been reduced significantly already and continues to be reduced.

Password guidelines and rules have not changed all that much for users in the past ten or so years, however. Pick unique and strong, which means long and complex, passwords, and you are good to go.

Apple has launched a new iPad, the first one in over a year and a half. Let's take a look at what the iPad Pro has to offer.

The new iPad Pro comes in two sizes, an 11-inch display and a 13-inch display. Both models are powered by a brand-new chipset, the mighty Apple Silicon M4. This is surprising because the M3 chips were launched just 6 months ago.

Microsoft is testing new activation related restrictions on Windows 11 currently that affect the system's integrated Microsoft Edge browser.

Windows 11 can be installed without a product key. This leaves the operating system in an unactivated state. While the system works fine for the most part, it does display reminders and a watermark, and does prevent access to certain personalization options, such as setting wallpapers (there is a way around that).

Researchers from Leviathan Security have discovered a new vulnerability that affects virtual private networks (VPNs) on most platforms.

VPNs serve multiple purposes. They encrypt all traffic when connected to a VPN server to prevent eavesdropping and tampering. VPNs furthermore help users stay anonymous, as the VPNs IP address is revealed to websites and services.

Google has announced that it is streamlining the process of setting up 2-Step Verification (2SV) for user accounts. Users can now enable 2SV without adding a phone number.

Prior to this change, Google required users to provide their phone number, before they could set up a 2SV method. Now, when you go to your account settings and enroll into the verification method, you can skip the phone number if you want to use one of the other methods.

A clean installation of Windows 10 or Windows 11 may enable Bitlocker drive encryption automatically. The main system partition and all fixed drives will be encrypted in this case after the out-of-box experience.

Bitlocker protects data on the PC against unauthorized access by encrypting partitions and drives.

Mozilla confirmed a recaptcha issue in the organization's Firefox web browser yesterday evening.

Affected Firefox users see a spinning animation when they try to solve the captcha, which means that they are unable to do so. The result is that they cannot access the website or service. A workaround is available.

The issue affects all major versions of Firefox for Windows that are supported  by Mozilla as well as older versions. This includes Firefox 125, the current stable version of Firefox, the development versions 126 and 127, and also Firefox ESR 115.

Microsoft is celebrating World Password Day by announcing a new feature. All Microsoft consumer accounts now support Passkeys.

Microsoft has officially confirmed that it will not fix the KB5034441 0x80070643 error on Windows 10. Users ran into the error in January this year, when the company released the first set of security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Bitwarden has released a first public version of Bitwarden Authenticator, a two-factor authentication app for Android and iOS.

The app generates codes for services, which are then required to sign to accounts. This second step of authentication improves account security. Attackers would need access to the username and password, and the time-based code to gain access to the account.

Arc Browser, a Chromium-based browser, is now available for Windows. The browser was previously available as a waitlist-restricted beta version. If you added your name to the waitlist, but never received an invite, now is your chance to give it a try.

What you need to know about Arc Browser

Arc Browser is only available for Windows 11. You cannot install it on Windows 10 or any other version of Windows.

Netflix has started to ask basic plan customers to pick another plan to continue using the service without interruption. The streaming company has been at war with the Basic plan for some time.

Microsoft has announced that it is adding an offline mode to OneDrive on the web. The feature is only available for work and school users.

The Redmond company began updating OneDrive in October with new features, enhancements with a new UI design. The new offline mode is part of those plans, to allow users to access their files in web browsers, even while they do not have an internet connection.

Will every PC sold in 2030 be an AI PC? Analysts at Canalys predict that every PC sold by 2030 will have on-device AI capabilities.