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Microsoft gives Windows XP a partial reprieve -- to 2015

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 10:22pm CET par Brian Fagioli

While many of our young readers may associate Saturday Night Live with people like Andy Samburg, I remember a greater cast -- John Belushi, Jane Curtin and Bill Murray to name a few. One of my favorite sketches, was called "The Thing that Wouldn't Leave". In it, Murray and Curtin play a married couple, who want nothing more than for their guest, played by Belushi, to leave. The wife screams in agony as the guest keeps finding reasons to stay.

Well, sometimes true life imitates art, as Windows XP becomes "The Thing that Wouldn't Leave" for Microsoft. While the world has been preparing for XP's 2014 death, Microsoft today throws a curve-ball and announces a reprieve (at least partially).

According to the company's Threat Research and Response Blog, "Microsoft has announced the Windows XP end of support date of April 8, 2014. After this date, Windows XP will no longer be a supported operating system. To help organizations complete their migrations, Microsoft will continue to provide updates to our antimalware signatures and engine for Windows XP users through July 14, 2015".

So, while Microsoft will stop providing security patches and fixes for the ancient operating system on April 8 of this year, it will continue to provide malware definitions well into 2015. Sadly, this does muddy the waters a bit, regarding Microsoft's commitment to the death of XP.

Security experts may be quick to point out that this sends mixed messages to users. In other words, it may lull users into a false sense of security. By having updated malware definitions, but unpatched exploits, the user is not fully secure.

Microsoft admits this by saying, "our research shows that the effectiveness of antimalware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited. Running a well-protected solution starts with using modern software and hardware designed to help protect against today's threat landscape".

Overall, partial protection is better than no protection. Users that are too stubborn to update to a modern operating system, have no one to blame but themselves if anything bad happens. If anything, this is a good move for Microsoft in the press department. News stories about Microsoft leaving computer users unprotected from malware are at the very least, postponed until next year. After all, the company does not need any additional bad press right now.

Was this a good move by Microsoft, or does it send mixed messages? Tell me in the comments below.
HP Chromebook 11 returns to Google Play, Best Buy gets LTE version

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 10:00pm CET par Alan Buckingham

If you aren't familiar with the saga, the HP Chromebook 11 was greeted with much fanfare, only to be pulled from the Google Play store thanks to an overheating charger. This charger saga garnered more attention than actual incidents.

Google announced a new charger to replace the faulty model, rolling out free replacements to those who purchased the little laptop. Now, with a new charger firmly in place, the Android maker has returned the device to its Play Store.

It still sells for $279, as it had before the bit of controversy. In addition, Best Buy is also offering a version as well, though the retailer is offering LTE connectivity in its version of the notebook. That model retails for $379, setting you back an additional $100, but you will also need to pay for the LTE service if you want access when you are out of WiFi range.

The laptop sports an 11.6-inch screen, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. You can grab the HP Chromebook 11 in multiple colors, including blue, red, yellow and flat black.
FIFA 13 for Windows Phone 8 no longer exclusive to Nokia -- but there is a catch

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 9:57pm CET par Brian Fagioli

The BetaNews team is quite diverse, hailing from various places around the world. While this can lead to subtle nuances, such as extra U's in some words or unknown slang, a larger (playful) dispute is what is true Football. After all, in Europe, "football" is what we American's call soccer -- we view football as the NFL -- pig skin, helmets and pituitary cases.

With this in mind, EA did a smart thing by not putting the word "football" in the title of its soccer game, FIFA 2013. This causes neither side of the pond to feel alienated. However, there was a group that may have felt slighted -- non-Nokia Windows Phone 8 owners. Sadly, the game was an exclusive to the Finnish company's handsets, until today. Yes, more Windows Phone users have access to the game, but there is a catch.

"The game -- which costs $4.99 and requires at least 1GB of RAM -- does a great job of bringing the fast moves and heart-stopping goals of FIFA football (soccer to the rest of us) to Windows Phone 8. Sporting an average 4.5-star review score in the Store, the title features 30 leagues, 500 licensed teams, and more than 15,000 players in 32 authentic stadiums, so you’ll have no problems teaming up with your favorite stars on some of the world’s most famous football pitches", says Michael Stroh of Microsoft.

Unfortunately, you read that right; one faction of Windows Phone users will continue to be excluded -- 512MB handsets. While this is likely a good thing (no one wants to buy a laggy game), it is still a disappointment to the Windows Phone faithful that bought these budget devices.

If your Windows Phone 8 device does have 1GB of RAM, you can download it here. If you buy it, tell us how you like it in the comments.
Box gives 50 GB of free storage to iPhone and iPad users

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 8:03pm CET par Alan Buckingham

It seems to be a big day for cloud storage. Earlier Google added additional functionality to its Drive product. Now Box has an update of its own, though this new release is geared towards the mobile crowd, bringing more storage to those on iOS devices.

Additional cloud storage isn't all that's included, though. "We've overhauled our app to make it super-fast, simpler to use and more immersive. The result, we believe, is the best content viewing and collaboration experience available today for your iOS device".

To go along with that, there are new file preview capabilities covering more than 100 different file types, including PowerPoint, PDF and others. There's also a new sidebar, the ability to move and delete files in batch and a redesigned gallery.

The big part, though, is certainly the bonus free storage that comes along with this update. Customers will get 50 GB (though the usual 250 MB size limit per file still applies), which is certainly much more than other major services are offering, except Mega and MediaFire which also give the same capacity for free. You can download the new app right now.
Still running Windows 8.1 Preview? It's time to upgrade -- here's how

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 6:17pm CET par Wayne Williams

Yesterday, Wednesday 15 January, was the last day you could officially continue to run the preview versions of Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. From today, if you haven’t upgraded to the full version of the new OS, you’ll see a message telling you to "Reinstall Windows Now". Click the "Get Windows" button to start the upgrade.

You can ignore this warning and continue using the preview, but with a rather major inconvenience -- your PC will restart every two hours. If you’ve only installed Windows 8.1 Preview to test it out, and aren’t using it as your main OS, you may not view this as a massive problem.

Should you decide to upgrade to the full release, you’ll want to install all outstanding available updates for the OS first. Clicking the "Get Windows" button in the message is the easiest way to upgrade, but there are other options.

If you installed the Windows 8.1/Windows RT Preview through the Windows Store, you can upgrade to the final release through the store too. Just click here to open the page you need and start the process. You will need to reinstall all of your apps and desktop programs afterwards.

If you installed a volume license version of Windows 8.1 Preview, Microsoft recommends you install a fresh version of Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 8.1 Enterprise. The company says: "If you have to upgrade an existing machine, you can do so using volume license media. This can be done by manually running SETUP.EXE from the media, or can be automated by running setup.exe /auto:data". You will still need to reinstall all your software afterwards.

Finally, if you want a copy of the Windows 8.1 ISO for installing fresh on any PCs, you can follow the instructions for getting one, here. You will need a Windows 8 product key to get the ISO, and a Windows 8.1 key to install the OS (as you’ll be performing a fresh install, rather than an upgrade). You can of course also purchase Windows 8.1 as a download or DVD direct from Microsoft.

Photo Credit: Pixel-3D/Shutterstock
AV-Comparatives names Kaspersky as Product of the Year

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 6:01pm CET par Ian Barker

Independent testing organization AV-Comparatives has released its Anti-Virus Comparative Summary Report 2013.

This rounds up the results of the company's tests carried out over the past year on 22 consumer antivirus and internet security products.

Kaspersky Internet Security gets the company's Product of the Year Award, with Bitdefender as runner up. Seven other products, including a free program from Avast, received "Top Rated" designations. The researchers found Kaspersky's interface easy to use and were impressed by its additional functionality including hybrid protection from the cloud as well as on the device itself.

The other top rated products came from Avast, Avira, Bitdefender, BullGuard, ESET, Fortinet and F-Secure. Emsisoft Antimalware is given special recognition for achieving the Silver Award in the Real-World Protection Test in only its first year of testing.

Although it picks out these products as winners the report advises buyers, "If you plan to buy an anti-virus program, please visit the vendor’s website and evaluate their software by downloading a trial version, as there are many features and important considerations (e.g. compatibility, graphical user interface, ease of use, price, support etc) that you should evaluate for yourself." A checklist of key features is included as a table in the report.

You can read the full report as a PDF on the AV-Comparatives website. This includes reviews of all the winners and breaks down the results by different categories including false positives, malware removal and system impact.
EaseUS To Do Backup adds a backup and recovery option for Android devices

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 5:17pm CET par Nick Peers

EaseUS software has released EaseUS Todo Backup Free 6.5 and EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 6.5. The new release debuts one major new feature: the ability to back up and restore Android devices to the user’s PC.

Todo Backup combines file- and image-based backup and recovery with disk cloning and -- for paid-for users only -- snapshotting tools.

Version 6.5 adds a new option to the Backup tab in the form of Android backup, which is supported for devices running Android 2.3, or 4.0 or greater (including the recently released KitKat iteration).

Users can either connect their Android smartphone or tablet directly to their PC via USB cable (make sure USB debugging is switched on under Settings > Developer Options or Applications > Development) or via Wi-Fi.

Should users wish to be able to back up their Android devices wirelessly, they will need to scan in a QR code on their Android device (scroll down to the bottom of the page) that will direct them to a download of an apk file that will allow this functionality.

Once connected, users can back up the following items from their phone: contacts, messages, call logs, documents, music, photos and video. EaseUS Todo Backup 6.5 also supports restoring data back to a phone at a later date.

The only other change in this latest release are a number of unspecified bug fixes that EaseUS describes will "improve product quality". EaseUS Todo Backup Free 6.5 is available as a free-for-personal-use download for PCs running Windows XP or later; EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 6.5 is available as a free trial download -- the full version can currently be purchased for $39.
Wise Disk Cleaner 8 gains revamped interface, new configuration options

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 5:03pm CET par Nick Peers

WiseCleaner software has unveiled Wise Disk Cleaner Free 8.03, a major new update of its Windows disk cleaning and defrag tool. Version 8’s most notable improvement is a revamped user interface that’s less cluttered and easier to follow than previous versions.

Version 8 also adds a new module that ensures all future updates -- which tend to be delivered at least once a month -- are installed automatically, plus promises customized configuration options via a user-created INI file.

The most noticeable new feature in version 8 is the revamped user interface. Like IObit’s recent Smart Defrag 3.0 release, it retains the basic layout of the previous version while implementing a more minimalist, flatter theme that fits in with the Modern UI and stripped back desktop found in Windows 8 and 8.1.

Version 8 also adds support for creating a customized configuration file that allows advanced users to manually specify areas of their system -- including files, folders and Registry entries -- they wish to clean. Once created, the customized option will appear in the "Useless files in computer" list for manually selecting.

The feature has attracted some criticism from the userbase because it’s potentially dangerous, but as it requires advanced knowledge to even set up -- see this forum post -- it’s likely to be ignored by most users.

Other changes in version 8 include support for automatic updates -- these are configured via the program’s main settings dialog and are configured weekly by default (users can switch to daily or monthly checks, or disable the feature completely from here).

The update also promises "optimized cleaning categorization" and includes auto-matching the program’s language to that of the system when initially installed.

Version 8 spent a month in beta, and was released just 11 days after version 7.99 saw the light of day, which was primarily a bug fix release.

Wise Disk Cleaner Free 8.03 is available now as a freeware download for PCs running Windows XP or later.
Google Drive update adds an activity stream

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 2:42pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Cloud storage has become the norm these days, with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple all offering services. It's even built right into Windows 8.1 and Office 2013, and many other apps are adding various integrations.

Now Google is announcing an update to Drive, which brings new, and much needed functionality to its offering. The service allows for easy collaboration on projects, but until now, it was difficult to track the various changes being made.

Google is adding an activity stream to solve that issue. "When you open Drive, click the ⓘ button in the top right corner and the activity stream will appear, showing you who has taken action on files and folders in My Drive. You’ll see a rundown of what your team has been doing, such as editing and commenting on notes, adding a new spreadsheet, renaming a presentation, and more", says Google's Ian Gunn.

This solves one of the larger problems with using Drive for collaboration on projects. The launch will take place gradually over the next week.
Uncover every detail of your PC’s hardware with RWEverything

Publié: janvier 15, 2014, 2:13pm CET par Mike Williams

If you need to find out more about your PC then you’ll probably turn to a system information tool. That will then access various low-level technical details about your computer, pick out the most important, and try to present them in a readable and accessible way.

Usually this works very well, but sometimes your chosen tool may strip out too much information, or perhaps miss the data you need altogether. And that’s when you might want to turn to RWEverything, a powerful program which doesn’t try to second guess what you might want to know: it just gives you absolutely everything, often in its most raw and basic form.

If you’re interested in RAM, for example, just click the SPD button, then the Summary tab. RWEverything interrogates your memory’s Serial Presence Detect (SPD) tables and tells you everything you need to know: RAM type, size, speed, part number, even memory timings. The presentation isn’t exactly straightforward -- it’s mostly hex figures -- but text summaries still provide enough data to be helpful.

Clicking the ATA/ATAPI button provides similar details about your connected drives. You’ll see a drive model name, serial number, size, firmware revision and speed, along with useful information about its features. (If you’re curious whether a drive supports S.M.A.R.T., say, you’ll find the information here.)

The USB report can be even more interesting, as it doesn’t just tell you about your USB hubs and ports, but it also delivers a vast amount of information about any connected devices. Even PC experts won’t understand most of it, so don’t expect too much -- you will be scrolling past all kinds of incomprehensible acronyms and raw hex data -- but there are enough nuggets to be helpful. We plugged in a smartphone and RWEverything gave us its model name, manufacturer, serial number, and technical details on its various capabilities (imaging, the modem and more).

If you really know what you’re doing then there’s plenty more here, with in-depth reports on your monitor, PCI devices, SMBIOS structures, ACPI tables and so on.

RWEverything goes even further, though, enabling you to write to devices as well as read them. This isn’t something you can do without making some effort; typically you’ll have to double-click a character in the hex view, enter another value and click "Done". But it is still possible, and if you get this wrong then you could physically damage your system, so pay close attention and don’t carry out any action with RWEverything unless you’re completely sure that it’s safe.