Computers & the Internet News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Windows 10 Climbs to 70% Market Share Despite Being 9 Years Old
People are switching from Windows 11 to Windows 10, somehow.
By Josh Norem May 2, 2024

Windows 11 has been in a head-to-head battle with Windows 10 since it launched in late 2021. Microsoft hoped the newcomer OS would displace the ragged veteran by offering new features, a more modern interface, and quality-of-life improvements. However, not everyone is on board with the "upgrade." According to Statcounter's latest numbers, Windows 10 gained market share among Windows users in April, climbing past 70% for the first time since late 2023.

The market analysis firm's April numbers show Windows 10 climbing almost one percentage point to hit 70.1% market share for Windows users. At the same time, Windows 11's market share dipped slightly to 25.69%, indicating the Windows 10 increase came directly at the expense of Windows 11. As far as how that's possible since Windows 10 hasn't been included on a new PC in quite some time now, we've heard reports recently of a lot of refurbished PCs being dumped in retail channels with Windows 10. They're being sold for a song even with 16GB of memory and an SSD, making them tempting purchases for home or business users with basic needs.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/w ... -years-old

[firestar464]

Cybersecurity researchers spotlight a new ransomware threat – be careful where you upload files

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... r-AA1nYOTR

[weatheriscool]

Biden administration rolls out international cybersecurity plan

Source: Politico

05/06/2024 06:00 AM EDT

The Biden administration is rolling out a strategy Monday for how to build global cybersecurity cooperation, following years of stepped up threats from China, Russia and cybercriminals.

The State Department’s international cybersecurity strategy is the first articulated U.S. global cyber strategy in over a decade. If successful, it could elevate the U.S.’s role globally in countering cyber threats and creating global consensus on artificial intelligence, and position the U.S. against China in setting cybersecurity norms.

While the strategy will be formally unveiled by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on Monday afternoon, POLITICO was provided an early look at the document, which lays out four main areas of focus. These are promoting a secure digital ecosystem globally; upholding “rights-respecting” digital technology approaches with allied nations; building coalitions to counter malicious cyberattacks; and enhancing the cybersecurity resiliency of partner nations.

This final commitment includes a major focus on the State Department’s newly created Cyberspace and Digital Connectivity fund. The most recent round of federal appropriations signed into law by President Joe Biden gave the fund $50 million, intended to help allied nations enhance their cybersecurity. Before the fund’s creation, the U.S. gave one-time grants for this purpose to countries including Albania and Costa Rica following separate cyberattacks on government services in those nations.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/0 ... n-00156190

[Time_Traveller]

US revokes licences for sales of chips to Huawei

8 May 2024, 06:08 BST

The US government says it has revoked some licences that allowed US chip makers to export certain goods to Chinese technology giant Huawei.

The Department of Commerce did not specify which permits were cancelled but the move follows Huawei's release of an AI-enabled computer powered by a chip created by Intel.

American chip maker Intel declined to comment to a request for comment from BBC News. The BBC has also contacted Huawei and San Diego-based chip giant Qualcomm for responses to the announcement.

Since 2019, the US has restricted technology exports, such as computer chips, to Huawei, citing alleged ties to the Chinese military.

"We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei," the Commerce Department said in a statement on Tuesday, but did not give details of which permits had been withdrawn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgxwpql2e82o

[wjfox]

'Animal-centred internet' may be possible, scientists suggest

New research found that parrots preferred live video calls over recorded video messages - which may lay the foundations for an online world for animals, researchers said.

Thursday 2 May 2024 02:55, UK

An "animal-centred internet" - which could allow pets to interact with each other as well as humans - may be possible, scientists have suggested.

The findings come following a new study by researchers at the University of Glasgow found that parrots may prefer live chats with their friends over recorded messages - part of wider research that they said could pave the way for an online world for animals.

Scientists believe parrots prefer the video calls because they may be able to tell the difference between live chats and pre-recorded messages.

Lead author Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, from the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science, said the internet holds "a great deal of potential for giving animals agency to interact with each other in new ways".

https://news.sky.com/story/animal-centr ... t-13127000



PA

[firestar464]

nah I'm not getting my parrot hooked on skibidi parrot or trumpism

[weatheriscool]

Intel Announces Thunderbolt Share for PC-to-PC File and Device Sharing
Thunderbolt Share allows two PCs to be 'networked' together to share files, their screens, and connected devices.
By Josh Norem May 16, 2024

Intel has announced a new feature for Thunderbolt designed to make life easier for folks with both a laptop and a desktop (or just two different PCs they use frequently). Thunderbolt Share allows two PCs to be "networked" together via Thunderbolt to share files, their screens, and connected devices. Intel says this feature is now available to PC OEMs, who can license the technology for their prebuilt PCs, so DIY PC builders can't partake in the fun.

Thunderbolt Share lets two PCs be connected in several ways. Both can be connected with a physical Thunderbolt cable via a licensed Thunderbolt dock or with both PCs connected to a Thunderbolt display. For example, you'd have a laptop with a Thunderbolt 4 or 5 cable going from the laptop to a desktop PC, and then the PC connected to a monitor. You can then operate both computers on the same display with a mouse and keyboard, share files between them, and so forth. The connection between the computers is established via a new app that has to be downloaded onto both computers, but only one PC has to have a license for Thunderbolt Share.
Thunderbolt Share

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-webb-dist ... erger.html

[weatheriscool]

Toshiba Is Prepping Hard Drives With Capacity Beyond 30TB
The company will deploy both HAMR and MAMR to boost capacity beyond 30TB per drive in the coming years.
By Josh Norem May 16, 2024

Toshiba is firing a shot across the bows of both Seagate and Western Digital by declaring it has hard drives in its labs that are currently beyond 30TB thanks to the application of next-generation storage technologies. The company is currently working on hard drives with heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR), which it says will meet the growing needs of data centers and cloud providers when they arrive soon.

Toshiba states it has already demonstrated hard drives with capacities of 32TB with HAMR and 31TB with MAMR. The 32TB drive uses 10 disks with a capacity of 3.2TB per platter, which it says will be ready for sampling next year. That likely means they'll hit the enterprise market in 2026 and hopefully trickle down to consumers sometime after that. The 31TB drive uses 11 platters, which is the first time we can recall a single drive having more than 10 disks. Toshiba says both drives also use shingled magnetic recording (SMR) and improved signal processing to achieve these capacities.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/t ... eyond-30tb

[weatheriscool]

After 7-Year Hiatus, Western Digital Unveils 6TB 2.5-Inch Hard Drives
After all this time, the company has added an additional terabyte to its external drives.
By Josh Norem May 17, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/a ... ard-drives

It's been a while since the tech world heard about a brand-new 2.5-inch hard drive. The technology seemed to peter out at 5TB long ago, while the rise of SSDs made 2.5-inch hard drives a dead-end technology. That is apparently not the case, however, as Western Digital has unveiled a new batch of 6TB portable hard drives, which offer the highest capacity available in a portable storage device.

Western Digital's new 6TB 2.5-inch hard drive is being deployed across several of its product lines, spanning its own products and SanDisk drives, which it also owns. The new drive is now available in the company's MyPassport line, WD Black P10 Game Drive, and the SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE ArmorATD drives. What's especially notable about the 6TB version is that it's a bit taller than the 5TB drive, according to AnandTech. This likely means the company stuffed another platter into the drive instead of increasing the areal density of its existing platters.