The leak started with some screenshots showing the next Windows version. This was followed by an ISO leak of Build 21996.1, which shows was we expect to be Windows 11. The folks at Neowin have looked over this leak and provided information about what we can expect in terms of the modern design and new features. In recent weeks I have expressed doubts that the changes we know Microsoft is making are enough to warrant a rebranding to Windows 11....

Yes, this is Sound Recorder that was once known as Voice Recorder. Microsoft is updating the name of the app alongside giving it a visual refresh. Available now in preview on the Dev Channel for Windows Insiders, the update is also on the Microsoft Store for public testing. This is all possible from Microsoft’s new way of updating Windows apps outside of normal updates. In other words, core apps on the OS get individual updates that are not tied to major Windows annual feature updates....

Windows Autopatch introduces automatic firmware, driver, app, and feature updates to customers. It is a managed service that links to Patch Tuesday but provides automatic patches when needed. This includes for Windows 10 and Windows 11 covering firmware and drivers, as well as Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Teams, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It reached preview for enterprise customers last month and will get a full launch in July. Over the months since the announcement, Microsoft has needed to explain the details of Windows Autopatch....

As Steam is a leading gaming platform, the survey is important because it provides an insight into hardware platforms across the gaming industry. Of course, it’s no surprise that Windows dominates the PC gaming world. Steam’s November 2019 survey shows Microsoft’s platform increased its market share by 0.26%, moving it to 96.28%. Interestingly, Windows 10 saw a slight drop in usage, dipping 2%. However, the platform still dominates Steam users’ hardware, with 74....

Of course, these kinds of decisions are not surprising when we look at the Windows phone market. Microsoft shipped $5 million worth of handsets during the last quarter. To put that in perspective, just two years ago Windows on mobile was viable enough to make $1.4 billion. Yes, it was still trailing far behind its rivals, but there was hope it could grow. Since then the platform has simply tanked....

WinX HD Video Converter has always been a strong, easy-to-use, feature-packed tool, and the latest version brings significant enhancements to performance. By leveraging the Intel Quick Sync video technologies, introduced in the 3rd Generation Core processors but enhanced in the 4th, 5th and 6th generations, it can speed up video conversion tasks up to 16 times. Also if you own a recent NVIDIA graphics card you can expect to see even faster conversions....

Home is the biggest improvement of the three, with has a heavy focus on personalization. It brings Microsoft’s Fluent Design System to the console, but it also lets users tweak what they see on it. You can now add ‘blocks’ to your homepage which can include things like Game Pass, Friend information, and news about a specific game. Users are also able to pin the games they care about straight to the home page, similar to applications on the Windows 10 Start menu....

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference, Kumar says crypto demand is playing no part in RDNA2 GPU shortages: “We do not prioritize our product or make them for the crypto folks is not for the gamers and that’s a high priority from that standpoint. What’s driven the growth, as you know, we had the Radeon 6000 Series high end GPUs introduced very competitive and that is driving the growth in the GPU space....

You can now download and test that variant yourself, though you’ll likely experience some frustrating bugs. WindowsBlogItalia is hosting ISO files for 32 and 64-bit versions, letting users poke around and see if it’s for them. By all accounts, Windows 10 Lean is looking like the version of Windows 10 we all want. It comes without bloatware like CandyCrush, the Xbox app, Paint, Photos, RegEdit or even a desktop background....

While remote has become a work choice for millions of people, the shift to creating a virtual office is anything but efficient. Zoom’s new virtual networking tools aim to streamline this process and overcome the challenges of seamlessly integrating a virtual office. Speaking about its plans with virtual networking, Zoom representative Robin Bunevich says the following: “With Zoom Events, organizations can foster a tighter sense of community between attendees and hosts, enabling them to connect, learn from one another, and expand their professional networks....

Most everyone is familiar with scam calls asking about car warranties or promising to offer the best extended car warranty. While this may be an obvious scam, other scams are not as easy to detect. Choosing a reputable company to do business with can be the difference between a positive experience and a negative one. It can also be the difference between getting what you paid for and being taken advantage of....

As such, we can assume that the creators have made millions, and utilized over 34,000 domain names to do so. Essentially, the perpetrators tricked advertisers into buying ad inventory through domain spoofing. Advertisers believed they were buying spots on The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and CNN, and the stats seemed great. That’s because the fraudsters were driving bot traffic to their fake URLs, meaning video ads got thousands of views....

In some ways, advertising makes the online world go around. Most websites and platforms use ads to monetize their content and services… from the smallest blog to multi-nationals like Facebook and Google. Consumers mostly accept some level of online advertising, but do not appreciate being bombarded by ads that target them specifically. Some sites are better at delivering ads than others, and users value being able to understand which ads they see and when they see them....

Indeed, Apple will take it a step further and bring console controller support across its devices. Yes, that even includes iOS products such as the iPhone and iPad. For Apple TV, Xbox One and PS4 controller support will be part of the company’s upcoming tvOS update. Navigating the digital TV box will become easier with controller support. As for iPhone and iPad support, Apple will introduce controller support through its iOS 13 update....

Chesnais has confirmed the company is “back in the hardware business”. Of course, Atari is not a name of today, but rather one from the distant gaming patch. The New York company was one of the trail blazers of the video game industry and was also among the hardest hit when that industry crashed in the early 1980s. Since then, Atari has been synonymous with false dawns. Since its halcyon days, gaming has changed and modern consoles are extremely advanced....

For the unfamiliar, tardigrades are some of the most resilient creatures on earth (and possibly the moon). The eight-legged micro-animals have ancestors as far as 530 million years ago. They have survived all five mass extinction events, can survive in temperatures above 150 Celcius, and can go without food or water for thirty years. Microsoft’s reference to the tardigrade outlines its goals for Azure to survive in several non-ideal conditions....

“Our cell phone-based approach has enabled us to ship augmented reality experiences to a significant number of users in a very short amount of time,” says Andrew Ng, chief scientist at Baidu, in a press release. “There is an appetite for this technology; we are seeing rapid adoption by our partners in a range of industries.” In a breathtaking experience, Baidu has showed off an AR tour of Beijing’s nine ancient city gates, which have been demolished or renovated beyond recognition....

The tech businessman turned philanthropist says he is giving away free copies of one of his favorite books of 2018. In fact, Bill Gates says he is giving away one free copy to all new graduates of US universities and colleges. The book in question is “Factfulness” and was written by Swedish statistician Hans Rosling. He died last year from pancreatic cancer, but the book was completed by his son Ola and daughter-in-law Anna....

Indeed, a new study points to the currency being influenced by public sentiment. Researchers found positive comments on social media were able to change the prospects of Bitcoin. Over the last four years, Bitcoin has enjoyed massive growth. In 2014 the value of a single bitcoin stood at around $400, but during last year it soared to over $15,000. Valuations have normalized since then, but a single coin is still work $6,000....

Azure Cognitive Services is a platform that allows developers to tap into APIs and add them to apps leverage speech, search, and other AI tools. Importantly, developers can tap into the service without needing to learn master machine learning abilities. Looking at the new features, Document Translation does exactly what it says in the tin. Users can translate documents without losing the format. This tool was first introduced in preview for Azure Translator back in February....