Computer News

Paul Thurrott – Update on Windows 10 Field Guide
In his post Paul describes the problems of trying to deliver his Windows books to the public.
Among his issues are (my take):
– People want everything for free. Only a tiny fraction of people are willing to pay…anything.
– Related to above, people steal his guides.
– 99% of people do not give feedback.
– Finding the perfect payment / delivery system is near impossible.
– Life happens and messes with your schedule.

All I can say to all that Paul is, “Ditto”.

Ghacks – Comparison of Windows 10 Privacy tools
Earlier this week I made mention of programs (and scripts) that help you tweak Win10 privacy settings.
Ghacks has a comparison of such programs.
Please note it is a “comparison” and not a “review”. This means he shows what they do, not the effects, and not recommendations.

Program Updates
Firefox 40.0.2
iTunes 12.2.2
VirtualBox 5.0.2

Hope y’all have a great weekend!

Ars Technica – Even when told not to, Windows 10 just can’t stop talking to Microsoft

Windows 10 uses the Internet a lot to support many of its features. The operating system also sports numerous knobs to twiddle that are supposed to disable most of these features and the potentially privacy-compromising connections that go with them.
Unfortunately for privacy advocates, these controls don’t appear to be sufficient to completely prevent the operating system from going online and communicating with Microsoft’s servers.

Ed Bott – Microsoft quietly rewrites its activation rules for Windows 10

Windows activation is alive and well in Windows 10. Microsoft doesn’t like to talk about the inner workings of its anti-piracy software, but it’s clear from testing that Windows 10 included a major change in the way activation works.

New Nvidia Drivers
Download

Just in time for the preview of Ashes of the Singularity, this new GeForce Game Ready driver ensures you’ll have the best possible gaming experience.
Windows 10 Fixed Issues
There were no fixed issues reported for this release.
Windows 8.1/Windows 8/Windows 7/Windows Vista Fixed Issues
There were no fixed issues reported for this release.

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready 353.62 WHQL Drivers
“NVIDIA has been working closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows 10 and DirectX 12. Coinciding with the arrival of Windows 10, this Game Ready driver includes the latest tweaks, bug fixes, and optimizations to ensure you have the best possible gaming experience.”

AMD Catalyst 15.7.1 Drivers
-Windows 10 Support -​Virtual Super Resolution ​-Frame Rate Target Control​​ -AMD FreeSync and AMD CrossFire Support -Performance Optimizations​

Google Chrome Updated (supposedly)
“The stable channel has been updated to 44.0.2403.125 for Windows, Mac and Linux.”
Download or update from within the program.
It isn’t showing up for me.
If you check the comments at the above link, others have the same issue.
*edit 1510hrs – Now showing up.

Debunked: Your SSD won’t lose data if left unplugged after all

CCleaner 5.06
CCleaner’s monthly update is out.
Download
Version History
***Pay attention during install. May attempt to install unwanted programs.

Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 43.0.2357.81 for Windows, Mac and Linux.”
Lots of complaints about this release in the comments (see link above).
Download or update from within the program.