Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2023 i PCWorld

Mere days after Microsoft released the Moment 4 Update for Windows 11 users, adding numerous new features and improvements to Windows 11 version 22H2, the company also unleashed the huge annual Windows 11 2023 Update (also known as Windows 11 version 23H2). “Because Windows 11, version 23H2 shares the same code base and servicing branch as Windows 11, version 22H2, this feature update will be delivered via Windows Update (as with the monthly update process) to enable a quick installation,” Microsoft explained. WINDOWS 11 22H2 MOMENT 4 UPDATE VERSUS WINDOWS 11 23H2 Somewhat confusingly, Windows 11 users will receive most of the new features of Windows 11 version 23H2 with the Moment 4 Update for Windows 11 version 22H2, which is already available as a preview update via KB5031455. To…

We may not know how Microsoft will redesign Windows 12, but we do know how Microsoft is thinking about it: The company is putting AI first, to the point where Windows Copilot could be the new Start button. During the announcement of the rather shocking performance claims surrounding Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and its Oryon CPU, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon sat down for a pre-recorded video chat with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The two have worked closely together to enable Windows on Arm to run on Snapdragon-powered PCs, and now to spur the creation of software that takes advantage of the integration of neural processing units (NPUs) into modern computers. For Nadella and Microsoft, the centerpiece of AI is Copilot, which either runs on Windows or in various apps like…

One of the ways advertisers build a profile of you is based on your location—that is, your IP address. Whenever you visit a website or a service, it’s part of the information that gets passed along when you connect. But now Google wants to change how IP addresses are shared by Chrome, in order to better protect user privacy. Your browser can’t block requests for your IP address, unlike cookies. It’s a fundamental part of the way the internet works. Your internet service provider assigns you one for a reason—so that it knows where a connection request comes from, and where to send the resulting data. Every device at your location will be seen as that IP address, regardless of the internal IP addresses assigned by your router to your…

Microsoft’s most recent update to Windows 11, formally known as the Windows 11 2023 Update (23H2), is the most consequential update in some time. Of course, you probably think you know why: Windows Copilot, Microsoft’s first step in creating a Windows “AI PC.” But there’s as much under the hood and within updates to familiar applications like Paint that almost overshadows the rest. Microsoft began rolling out the Windows 11 2023 Update at the very end of October, and you should see it start to deploy on your PC in the coming weeks—if it’s not there already. Consider this a review of the new features, but also recommendations for those you should try. It’s important to note that Windows 11’s 2023 Update is a cumulative update, as well as one that…

Hide.me from Malaysia-based eVenture, is a VPN that might not have the name recognition of today’s most popular services, but it packs just as many features. It has slowly expanded its networks in recent years to encompass more locations and add more servers. Since our last review, Hide.me has added even more servers and almost doubled its country locations. It has also decreased the price on its longer-term subscriptions and added a few power user features. So, with all of these advances, let’s take another look and see where it stands in the current VPN market. FEATURES AND SERVICES Since our last review of Hide.me, it has changed up its interface quite a bit. Now when you open the application, you’re confronted with a dashboard that shows some relevant information…

If you ask Windows 11 users what bothers them most about Microsoft’s current operating system, the answers are usually similar. Only the order differs slightly. The inflexible taskbar: In Windows 11, the Start menu and icons in the taskbar are moved to the center by default and the customization options for the taskbar are limited. Annoying updates: Windows 11 requires a restart too often for updates. Microsoft has also removed the option of manually pausing or delaying updates. Missing functions: In Windows 11, Microsoft has removed some Windows 10 features—for example, Live Tiles, Timeline feature, Skype, and so on. Unwanted adverts: Windows 11 still—and even increasingly—displays ads in various places: for instance, in the Start menu, on the lock screen, or in Explorer. Annoying notifications: Windows 11’s notification function is…

Seeing how much information Google stores is both interesting and scary. YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Search, and Maps are just a few examples of all the Google services we use in our digital lives, day in and day out. As users, it’s easy to lose control of the information we’ve given up that Google has access to. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to find out what Google knows about you—using the Google Dashboard service. Here you can see exactly what you’ve done in different Google services and what information is stored. Here’s how to do it: 1. Go here. 2. Sign in with the Google account you are interested in. 3. Under the heading Recently used Google services, you’ll see what you’ve done recently, but you can also scroll down…

Clicking on a Google ad can be like gambling, except that there are no winners in the game. Land on a legitimate website, and you’ve fed the algorithm info about what ads to keep serving you. End up on a malicious webpage, and—well, you may have exposed your PC to danger…especially if you downloaded software from the phony site. We’ve issued this warning before, like when owners of AMD Radeon graphics cards were targets. Or when the crosshairs moved over to Bitwarden users. Now Malwarebytes, a well-known maker of anti-malware software, is reminding us to keep avoiding ads in search results. As reported by Bleeping Computer, the company has discovered a new trend—using unicode characters to make fake web addresses look real. Called homograph attacks, this tactic has been around for…

AMD’s powerhouse Threadripper chips are back for desktop PCs! Despite declaring the end of consumer Threadripper chips last generation, AMD has announced three new Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series chips, with up to 64 cores and 128 threads—and the option of installing a Pro-class Threadripper 700 WX series for a massive 96 cores and 192 threads, too. Take a deep breath, though. The underlying message is the same as when AMD released the Threadripper 3970X back in 2019: These chips are for those who live and breathe video editing and content creation, and are optimized for such. Nevertheless, they almost certainly represent the most powerful CPU you can buy on a desktop, and they’ll cost a ton. The key differences between the older workstation-class Threadripper 5000 series and these new 7000-class processors are…

Modern hearing aids are impressive little gadgets, seamlessly pairing with phones and tablets via Bluetooth Low Energy to give their users unfettered access to digital audio. Windows laptops and desktops have lagged behind in this area, but Microsoft is correcting that with the latest Windows 11 Insider build, 25977 Canary. While Windows has supported Bluetooth for over 20 years, it’s the Low Energy addition in May that makes the connection to high-end, long-lasting hearing aids possible. According to the Windows Insider blog post (spotted by The Verge), the Bluetooth LE support will come to “a growing market of devices in the coming months.” Whether your specific laptop or desktop supports it probably comes down to the specific Bluetooth radio included in the hardware—some generic Bluetooth chips support Low Energy mode…

AVG is best known for its excellent free antivirus software—so why pay a premium for the AVG Internet Security suite? In a word: convenience. With security software, the more you pay, the more comprehensive your protection becomes. That can be valuable if you find keeping up with online threats too overwhelming or time consuming. There’s something to be said for a program that can handle the major elements for you. And that’s what AVG Internet Security, the company’s entry-level version of its paid antivirus software, provides. By moving up to a paid subscription, you get additional features that keep you safer during your off days. No antivirus program is bulletproof, of course, but this one hits the major points while not overloading you with extras you won’t use. Whether it’s…

The Eero 6 is a whole-home mesh Wi-Fi system from the Amazon-owned home networking company. The original Eero made waves when it arrived, as it offered customers struggling with wireless not-spots in their home a simple and effective solution—multiple hubs providing blanket coverage while using the same network name. While lots of other networking devices have offered exactly the same service in recent years, Eero’s proprietary TrueMesh technology, which aims to redirect connections to devices as and when required, and the clean and user-friendly interfaces, not to mention attractive prices, made the first generation of Eero stand out. One thing that was missing was support for Wi-Fi 6, which is faster and offers more reliable Wi-Fi connections than the Eero’s Wi-Fi 5. As its name suggests, the Eero 6 addresses this.…

Google Chrome is not only the world’s most popular browser, it is also one of the most powerful. With each new version comes a number of new features that are easy to miss. We’ve put together 12 smart tips to make it faster and better. 1. PAUSE THE SITES Having many tabs open can slow down your computer and reduce battery life. Therefore, you can “pause” tabs that you’re not looking at. HOW? Press the three dots in the top right corner, select Settings > Performance, and switch on or off the Memory Saver mode. You go to “Always keep these sites active” to select sites that should never be paused. You can do this by clicking on Add and typing the web address. 2. SAVE THE BATTERY To save…

Gamers often want to keep an eye on their computer’s resources. But it’s also practical when working with performance-hungry programs, such as graphics applications or video editing, to see immediately whether the working memory is sufficient and how the CPU is being used. Windows offers a corresponding display for this purpose, but you’ll need to know where to look. First, open Settings in the Windows Start menu and click on Gaming in the left column. On the right side, go to Xbox Game Bar and make sure that the switch for “Open Xbox Game Bar with this button on the controller” is set to On. You can then close the Setting app. Press the key combination Win-G to open the Game Bar. Click on the Performance icon to open the…

Qualcomm and its Snapdragon chips are officially back inside the PC. Today, Qualcomm formally launched the Snapdragon X Elite, the flagship platform of its Snapdragon X family that leverages its Oryon CPU core, and promises to double the performance of some of the most popular 13th-gen Core chips from AMD and Intel. Sound familiar? It should. Qualcomm promised the same with its earlier Snapdragon 8-series chips, and really didn’t deliver. But after buying chip designer Nuvia in 2021, Qualcomm is trying again, hoping that its superpowered Arm chips can once again make Windows on Arm PCs a competitor to conventional X86 PCs when they launch in mid-2024. And it’s talking up some big numbers to prove it. Qualcomm sees Oryon first going into PCs (as the engine of the Snapdragon…

YouTube has declared war on ad blockers, and the internet is in an uproar. On one side, Reddit’s edgelords declare that if you can’t watch YouTube without adverts, they will never use YouTube again. On the other side, the corporate apologists are screaming that nothing is free and that if you want to avoid advertising, you should just pay for a premium plan. In the middle, I sit anxiously, and only want to watch cat videos without ads that are longer than the clips themselves. I fully understand why people want to use ad blockers to watch YouTube. Have you tried it without them? It’s absolutely unbearable. Watching ads before and during clips that are only a few minutes long is terrible. But I also understand that YouTube cannot be run…

A new generation of refreshed Raptor Lake processors has arrived. After months of rumors and leaks—and an official announcement just the day before launch—Intel’s latest batch of desktop CPUs take their place as the 14th generation in the Core lineup. You can catch up on the specs and speeds in our comprehensive coverage of the unveiling, but the basics are straightforward. Six new chips have launched, with two variants each of unlocked Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5 parts. (As usual, the main K set comes with integrated graphics, while the KF set lacks them.) The $599 Core i9-14900K leads the pack, followed by the $419 Core i7-14700K and $329 Core i5-14600K. They primarily offer small upticks in clock speed over 13th gen, with the flagship CPU now able to reach…

Mechanical keyboards are my favorite bit of PC accessory tech, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for balking at some of their prices. A “gaming” board from a major brand starts at about $100, and more premium examples can stretch toward $300 or beyond. The sky’s the limit for custom or boutique builds, but your options for budget designs from reliable vendors are pretty limited. Keychron is ready to buck that trend with the new C series. The C3 Pro collects a smattering of Keychron’s best features with a teeny-tiny price, just $35. For that you get single-color backlighting, internal foam and a gasket mount, a choice of linear or tactile switches, and, perhaps most crucially, programming options with QMK and VIA. It’s a very different beast from the keyboards that…

Staying safe online doesn’t mean having to learn coding or anything exotic. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security recently published a brochure entitled “Using the internet safely” that contains 10 helpful security tips you should keep in mind while surfing the internet to protect yourself from fraud and computer viruses. The basic information is handy indeed, but we’ve expanded on these tips with recommendations on specific tools and security settings you can use to stay safe online. ALWAYS KEEP WINDOWS, BROWSERS, AND APPS UP TO DATE Tip 1: “Set up your web browser securely and keep it up to date. Browser extensions should be disabled or uninstalled if necessary.” Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox check for available updates every time they are started and install them automatically. This applies…

The first sign that something’s wrong is almost always the same. Friends and business contacts complain that they’re receiving mail with advertisements from you. Dozens of notifications from mailer daemons accumulate in your inbox, claiming that your mail cannot be delivered. Either the addresses of the recipients were misspelled or they did not exist. Or perhaps you received a message from your mail provider saying that someone has changed your personal data. Now your alarm bells should be ringing, as it’s possible that your mail account has been hacked. A Trojan virus that spied on the access data to your account and sent it to a criminal hacker via the internet, or a hardware keylogger on the USB port that records your keystrokes and mouse movements—one of these may be…