Software & Apps - Page 5

Installing a fresh version of Windows means installing a bunch of Microsoft apps and services that are typically quite useless or, at the very least, unnecessary. These apps and services are commonly referred to as "Windows bloatware," and manually removing each of them during or after Windows installation can be time-consuming and annoying. But what if there was a tool that could do it all for you in just a few clicks?

YouTuber and developer "TotallyNotK0," along with his team of developers at Raven, have created a new tool called "Talon" that's designed to streamline the removal process of all Windows bloatware. The new tool isn't ready for public release, but the above video demonstrates how it works and the effectiveness of removing unwanted software. The video shows users will need to turn off Windows Defender to run the software, and once it's run, users will be presented with the below screen asking, "What will you use this device for?" -- along with several options.

Users can select "Barebones, Gaming, Student, Professional, and Expert" versions of the automation, and each of these options removes the same amount of bloatware but is differentiated by the additional software Raven will install. For example, selecting "Gaming" will install the following applications: Discord, Steam, EA App, OBS, Spotify, and Emulation Station, along with removing any Windows bloatware. After selecting an option, Raven will begin the debloating process, and users can watch the removal of programs and software by pressing the Windows key and viewing their program list. After the process is complete, Raven will request that the PC conduct a restart.

Amidst the recent Tiktok fiasco, Bluesky and X are the latest platforms to throw their hat in the ring to replace the short-form streaming giant - releasing a series of new features in a bid to entice users to their platforms.

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We've seen this pattern before with Threads, where Meta quickly rolled out their own Twitter-like app with the hope of capitalizing on the instability following Elon Musk's acquisition of X, formerly Twitter. This strategy worked - for maybe a week. Until people eventually reverted back to platforms that were actually designed for this functionality.

Jimmy Donaldson, otherwise known as MrBeast, has announced he's submitted an offer to purchase the popular video posting platform TikTok, with the famed YouTube saying that he may soon become the platform's new CEO.

The announcement that he may become TikTok's new CEO comes only days after MrBeast posted a video with his lawyer claiming that he recently finished a business meeting with a "bunch of billionaires" about acquiring funding for the app. Now, MrBeast has posted a new video of him on a private jet, saying that he is about to submit his "final offer" for the platform and that if accepted, he could become the new CEO. As for what MrBeast is offering, TikTok owner ByteDance hasn't been disclosed, but Donaldson did say the offer was "crazy".

For those that don't know, TikTok was briefly banned across the US after the deadline was reached on the ultimatum given to ByteDance regarding the operation of the app in the US. The US government declared TikTok a threat to national security in April last year, citing the app's ties to the Chinese government and the risk for approximately 170 million Americans to have their data funneled to an adversarial nation.

TikTok has been thrown a lifeline by President Trump who signed an executive order on Monday that delays the banning of the popular app by two and a half months.

The ByteDance-owned video-sharing app has gone through quite a bit over the last week as millions of users began posting videos to the platform saying their goodbyes to viewers in preparation for TikTok's ban scheduled to take place on January 19. The ban came after a 270-day process where its owners, ByteDance, were given the ultimatum to sell the app to a US government-verified entity or have it removed from both app marketplaces and banned from Internet Service Provider (ISP) across the US.

A deal wasn't struck, and as a result, TikTok went dark for approximately 16 hours but quickly became available again a day before Trump was sworn into his Presidency as the former and now current president indicated he was going to sign an executive order extending the enforcement of the ban. That executive order has now been signed by Trump, which gives ByteDance an additional 75 days to reach a deal with the US government. Trump suggested the US could own 50% of TikTok, which would enable the US government to take a look under the hood of the app and monitor it for nefarious activity.

The United States government briefly banned the popular video-sharing app TikTok after the deadline given to TikTok's owner, ByteDance, was reached.

The banning of TikTok dates back to April last year when the US Senate enacted a new law that categorized TikTok as a national security threat. US lawmakers found TikTok to be a threat to the safety of millions of Americans due to its ties to the Chinese government and the potential for the data of approximately 170 million Americans to be funneled to a foreign, adversarial government.

The European Commission is bumping up its efforts into an investigation into X, formerly Twitter, as the regulator has now officially requested the social media platform hand over its algorithm for evaluation.

The EU has demanded X provide it with internal documentation on the recommendation systems used across the website to serve users' content. The request states X will need to provide documentation on any recent changes by February 15, and to go along with that, the EU also has demanded access to X's commercial APIs "that allow direct fact-finding on content moderation and virality of accounts." Furthermore, the European Commission has requested X provide it with any documentation on recent changes to the content recommendation system and any planned changes between now and the end of 2025.

Notably, the European Commission says these demands fall under Digital Services Act (DSA) proceedings that were launched against it in December 2023, which, if found guilty, could result in mass penalties against X. The Commission was queried whether these new demands were in relation to Musk's recent political maneuverings throughout the EU and the UK, to which the Commission told The Register, "These are investigatory steps that we are taking to have access to additional information ... crucial for the Commission's enforcement work to understand and analyze risk stemming from X's recommender systems."

TikTok was officially banned by the US government yesterday, and as a result, the popular video-sharing app went dark for approximately 24 hours. But now it's back, and it's thanks to President Trump.

After being punted the responsibility of dealing with the debacle of the TikTok ban, the popular app is officially back and available to Americans once again. For those wondering why it was briefly banned in the first place, the US government in April last year deemed the app a national security threat for its ties to the Chinese government through its owner ByteDance and the potential for the data of approximately 170 million Americans being shared with a foreign adversary.

The ban was scheduled to come into effect on January 19, and hours before the deadline, the app went dark, as millions of users shared a message they received from the app which said it's currently working with the US government on its return. It appears that work has already been done, as TikTok has made its return, with the company writing on X:

TikTok across the United States has officially been banned, and with now millions of users unable to access the app, many are wondering if a VPN is a viable workaround to the block.

The TikTok ban came into effect seemingly early as thousands of users reported seeing a message display in their app that stated the app was no longer available in the US due to a new law that had been enacted. The law the message is referring to dates back to April last year when the Senate passed a bill that deemed TikTok a national security threat as the app was found to have ties to the Chinese government. The ban was predicated on protecting the data of the approximately 170 million Americans who use the app from being funneled to the Chinese government.

Now that the app has officially gone dark, many are wondering if there is a way to bypass the block and still use the app. The first thing that springs to mind is a VPN or a Virtual Private Network. In a nutshell, a VPN masks the IP address of a user, which is essentially an address linked to an internet connection so data can be correctly sent/received.

TikTok users across the United States have been locked out of the popular video-sharing platform hours before the deadline for the ban came into place.

The banning of TikTok dates back to April last year when the Senate passed a bill that deemed TikTok a national security threat as the app was found to have the ability to scrape the data of the 170 million Americans using the app. Lawmakers decided the app's predatory data-gathering techniques and the possibility of American data being shared with the Chinese government were enough to deem the app as a national security threat.

To remedy this problem, lawmakers gave TikTok owner ByteDance until January 19, 2025, to either sell the app to a US-based and government-approved buyer or have the app banned across both the App Store and Google Play Store. That deadline has now approached, and hours before it ticks over to January 19, users are reporting TikTok already being unavailable, with users receiving the message:

A new report has revealed Apple is preparing to fall on it sword after releasing an Apple Intelligence feature that has been caught producing incorrect information.

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A new report from the Washington Post claims Apple is preparing to disable its AI summaries generated for news and entertainment apps after the feature produced factually incorrect information several times. For those wondering what this feature does, Apple Intelligence users receive a notification summarizing the most popular news stories. The idea behind the feature is to provide users with a quick summary of the top headlines, which they can then engage with for further reading.

It was in April last year, the Senate passed a bill that deemed TikTok a threat to national security as its data scraping methods were found to be predatory and a risk to the American people.

The Senate gave ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, an ultimatum: either sell the popular app to a US government-approved entity and remain in the country or face a sweeping ban across both Android and iOS app marketplaces. ByteDance was given 270 to decide what it wants to do, and now, as we are approaching the deadline of January 19, the Biden administration has somewhat backpedaled on its decision, with a White House official speaking to ABC News and saying, "Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership."

Adding, "Given the timing of when it goes into effect over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement." Notably, during Trump's first presidency, the former and now soon-to-be president called for the ban of TikTok, but recently, Trump has changed his tune, saying he will try and keep TikTok available in the US. However, neither Trump nor his administration has outlined a plan for exactly how that will happen.

Microsoft has been not-so-subtly warning Windows 10 users that support for the world's most popular operating system will be coming to an end this year, and now the Redmond company has written via a new blog post that support severance will include Office applications such as Word, Powerpoint, etc.

Microsoft will be officially ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, and following that date, Windows 10 users will be faced with a difficult decision: upgrade their system OS to Windows 11, which may require a hardware upgrade, or pay the $30 a year for continued security updates. Alternatively, Windows 10 users can do nothing at all and run the risk of their machine exponentially becoming more vulnerable to attacks. Despite Microsoft's continued efforts of trying to entice Windows 10 users to migrate to Windows 11, the now 10-year-old operating system still accounts for more than 60% of the total operating systems on PCs.

In yet another attempt to push Windows 10 users to Redmond's latest operating system, Microsoft has taken to its blog post to remind users, "Microsoft 365 Apps will no longer be supported after October 14, 2025, on Windows 10 devices." Adding, "To use Microsoft 365 Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11." For those wondering if this means Office applications will stop working completely post-October 14, 2025 - they won't, but over time, the performance and reliability of the applications could falter.

If you're on Windows 10, and don't care for Microsoft's new Outlook app - well, you are out of luck sadly, as the software giant is now forcing this software onto its older OS.

As Bleeping Computer spotted, just as happened with Windows 11, those on Windows 10 will automatically get the New Outlook app.

This will happen with the next cumulative update for Windows 10 - either preview, or the full release of said update.

Windows 10 is scheduled to lose support in October this year, which will force millions of users around the world into deciding whether to upgrade to Windows 11, or pay for continued Windows 10 security updates every year -- or, of course, run the risk of their machine exponentially becoming more vulnerable to attacks.

To remind users Windows 10 is on the chopping block when it comes to support Microsoft has decided to roll out a full-screen pop-up ad that warns Windows 10 users support for the operating system is soon coming to an end, but, unfortunately, some Windows 10 users are reporting this pop-up ad is causing their machine to crash. A recent report by WindowsLatest details the error message that users are finding after seeing the upgrade reminder pop-up, which reads, "Reusable UX Interaction Manager is not responding".

According to the publication the Reusable UX Interaction Manager (RUXIM) is system process responsible for managing prompts and pop-ups across different applications and situations. The RUXIM is used to maintain a consistent user experience with pop-ups such as the one presented after the full-screen ad for Windows 11 crashed, but more interestingly, RUXIM is also associated with Windows update. TechSpot reports RUXIM helps deploy and schedule Windows updates, which is ironic considering RUXIM appears to need an update itself to correctly display an advertisement for Windows 11.

Microsoft has pushed out another stark reminder that support for the world's most popular operating system will be ending this year, and that users of that operating system will need to upgrade to Redmond's latest OS to continue getting critical security updates.

Microsoft has taken to its website with a new blog post by Microsoft EVP and consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi, who explained that Windows 11 is "available at a time when the world needs it most," which references the looming October 14, 2025 date that will mark the end of support for Windows 10. Users still running the now 10-year-old OS will be faced with a choice of no longer receiving critical security updates that will result in their machine becoming exponentially more vulnerable to attacks, or pay the $30 a year to continue to receive Windows 10 security updates.

Despite Microsoft's marketing speak such as Windows 11 being available at a time "when the world needs it most," it's been long reported by myself and numerous other publications that Windows 11 adoption rate will not hit Microsoft's desired mark by the time October 14 rolls around. For example, Windows 10 is still currently on more than 60% of all PCs. In fact, over the last two months Windows 10 user base increased to 62.7% while Windows 11 fell to 34.1%. However, looking at the Steam Survey data, Windows 11 is in the lead with a 55% marketshare, while Windows 10 holds 42%.

With the new year having arrived, the prospect of Windows 10 support running out has become more concrete - it happens in October 2025 - and that has prompted ESET to issue a warning not to hang around in mulling your upgrade path from Microsoft's older OS.

The Slovakian security firm - which makes a popular antivirus app, and other security software besides - penned a blog post on the urgency to move away from Windows 10, as spotted by Neowin.

Thorsten Urbanski, Director of Marketing and Communication at ESET DACH (based in Essen, Germany), tells us:

Is it time for some good news about Windows 11 24H2, finally? No, it isn't sadly, instead we've got further tales of woe about fresh bugs in the 24H2 update.

There are two new critters which are skittering about in the works of Windows 11 24H2, as highlighted by Microsoft in its release health status dashboard for the OS.

The first glitch is with the Auto HDR feature, and when it's switched on, those running 24H2 may find the colors in games are messed up (with "certain display configurations" Microsoft advises).

The latest version of GPU-Z has just dropped with v2.61.0 adding support for Intel's new Arc B580 and B570 "Battlemage" graphics cards, as well as preliminary support for AMD's new RDNA 4-based Navi 48 GPU. You can download GPU-Z 2.61.0 here.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.61.0 is also the first version of the software to support detection of Qualcomm Adreno 540, 630, 640, and 642L with the team noting that "GPU-Z is an x86 application, although you can run it on Windows on Arm platforms, where the operating system's emulation allows GPU-Z to detect the underlying hardware".

Not only do we have Battlemage and RDNA 4 GPU support, the team has added support for the integrated GPUs of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, NVIDIA H100 80 GB HBM3, A4000H, A800 40 GB Active, RTX 5880 Ada, and Tesla K40st. There's also new PCI vendor detection for ONIX, the new Intel Arc board partner, as well as Shangke.

It was in April of this year that the Senate passed a bill that banned TikTok from operating in the United States, as the software powering the application is now considered to be controlled by an adversary nation, China.

The new legislation that was passed deems TikTok a national security risk as the app has the ability to scrape the data of 170 million Americans, which could then be shared with China's government. According to lawmakers, the app having a China-owned parent company, ByteDance, along with its potential to spread misinformation in the US, has made it a dangerous piece of software. The US government is requiring ByteDance to sell its share of TikTok to an entity the US government is satisfied with or face a ban across both app marketplaces (App Store - iOS and Android - Google Play Store).

The US government has given ByteDance until January 19 to sell its share of TikTok or be forced to shut the app down across the US, which the Chinese company said at the time of the legislative decision wasn't enough time. ByteDance filed a temporary injunction to pause TikTok's US ban, but the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has found its claims "unwarranted," meaning the initial deadline of January 19 still holds. Notably, ByteDance can still file an appeal with the Supreme Court, which, if that court rules in ByteDance's favor, could prevent the TikTok ban.

Apple has announced the debut of iOS 18.2, an expansion of Apple Intelligence that arrived in a barebones form in late October.

For those that don't know, Apple will be rolling out Apple Intelligence features in stages, with iOS 18.1 being the first in a long process of slowly familiarizing users with a new suite of AI-powered features. In iOS 18.1, users were introduced to several new features, such as Writing Tools, an overhauled Siri, the Photos App becoming intelligent, the Clean Up tool, and other prioritization features.

iOS 18.2 is an expansion of iOS 18.1, with improvements being made in some of the previously announced features, such as the Photos app becoming even smarter, proofread, rewrite, and summarise text being added to Writing Tools, and ChatGPT being integrated into Siri. There are also other additions in iOS 18.2 that warrant being highlighted, and below, you will find a brief explanation of each.