W10Privacy is a smarter Windows 10 telemetry blocker

If you’ve tried more than your share of Windows 10 telemetry blockers recently, then we know just how you feel, but wait -- W10Privacy is more interesting than most. No, really.

There’s a lengthy list of tweaks you can apply, for instance -- approaching 100 -- all neatly organized across several tabs: Privacy, Telemetry, Network, Services and more.

While the competition often leaves you uncertain what a particular option will do, W10Privacy has some very clear descriptions : "Do not let apps use my camera", "Do not let apps access my name, picture and other account into", and so on.

If that’s not enough, hovering the mouse over that action displays a tooltip with more information.

W10Privacy gives you quite fine control over some areas. There’s not just a vague "block telemetry" option: instead you can choose to "block IP addresses of known Microsoft telemetry servers" through either a firewall rule or your HOSTS file, in both full-strength and lightweight versions.

Each action is color-coded, too, as either green (safe to set), amber (check carefully) or red (don’t do this unless you’re really sure), reducing the chance that you’ll cause some major problems.

There are some useful bonus features, too, including the ability to uninstall most of the standard Windows apps.

The program does have various issues. There’s no way to disable/ enable a group of settings at once; there’s no "Cancel" option if you hit "Set changed settings" by mistake; the interface and general implementation need a lot of work.

Still, there’s nothing here that can’t be fixed, and W10Privacy’s explanations of what each tweak does are well worth having. It’s also small, portable and entirely free, so if you’re interested, just grab a copy and give it a try.

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PC makers tighten inventories, remain edgy about Windows 10

Even as PC business contracts for 14th straight quarter, Mac sales surge 16%

Skittish about the impact of Windows 10, including the free upgrade-from-Windows-7-and-8.1 offer, computer makers drew down inventories and sent PC shipments plummeting in the June quarter, IDC said today.

The quarter was among the worst ever for personal computers, according to the research firm, which estimated the year-over-year contraction at 11.8%. That decline was bested only twice before in the two decades that IDC has tracked shipments: in early 2013, when the January quarter was off 13% and the September quarter of 2001, which posted a decline of 12%.

OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) shipped approximately 66 million systems in the three months that ended June 30, IDC said, down from the 75 million during the same stretch in 2014.

The dramatic downturn was due to several factors, said IDC analyst Loren Loverde, who runs IDC's PC forecast team, including a tough comparative from last year as enterprises scrambled to replace obsolete Windows XP machines. The 2001 operating system was retired by Microsoft in April 2014.

But Windows 10 also played a part, Loverde contended. "We've heard from various parties, including ODMs [original device manufacturers], component makers and distributors, that they've reduced inventory as Windows 10 approached," he said.

Although the industry is more bullish about Windows 10 than its predecessor, Windows 8, that's not been reflected in larger shipments simply because OEMs aren't sure how the new OS will play out in the coming quarter or two. To safeguard against overstocking the channel, and to some extent preparing for the launch of Windows 10, OEMs played it conservative and tightened inventories by building fewer PCs.

"Although it's very difficult to quantify, I'd say that this inventory reduction is a little bit more dramatic than before Windows 8," said Loverde.

Three years ago, inventories surged as PC makers cranked out devices -- 85 million in the second quarter of 2012, 88 million in the third -- figuring that Windows 8 was going to be a big hit and juice sales. That didn't happen.

"There were a lot of [retail and distribution] customers buying additional inventory and promoting Windows 8," Loverde said. "The [negative] impact on inventory is more substantial this time, and everyone is taking a wait-and-see approach, thinking that they'll make decisions in the second half of the year."

Some of the nervousness on the part of computer makers revolves around the upgrade offer Microsoft will extend to all consumers and many businesses with existing PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Starting July 29, Microsoft will give those customers a free upgrade to Windows 10. The deal will expire a year later, on July 29, 2016.

Because Microsoft has never before offered a free upgrade of this magnitude, it's uncharted territory for Windows OEMs. A host of unknowns, ranging from whether the free upgrade will keep significant numbers on old hardware to the eventual reaction to the new OS, have made computer makers edgy about committing to fully packing the channel.

"It's even riskier when the market is declining," Loverde said of carrying large inventories.

And the PC business has been in decline, and will continue to contract.

IDC has held to its prediction that for 2015, global PC shipments will be down 6.2% from last year's 308 million, or to around 289 million. (That may change to an even more depressing number; Loverde said IDC had not yet adjusted the figure to account for the worse-than-expected second quarter.) In 2016, the industry will shrink by another 2%.

The brightest spot in the quarter's forecast was again Apple, which IDC had in the OEM fourth spot with shipments of 5.1 million Macs, a year-over-year jump of 16%. Other manufacturers in the top five -- Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer -- were pegged with declines of 8%, 10%, 9% and 27%, respectively.

"Apple's a pretty unique company," said Loverde. "They've cultivated their market position and product portfolio, and, of course, their positioning is towards more affluent buyers who are not as price sensitive."

Loverde was convinced that some of the Mac's strong sales in the June quarter benefited from uncertainties about Windows 10 on the part of consumers.

Unclear, said Loverde, is how the Mac will fare if, as IDC and others believe, Apple introduces a larger iPad later this year, a tablet better geared to the productivity chores typically handled by personal computers.

"I think there will be some impact on Mac shipments, but Apple is always willing to cannibalize its own products," he said. "But the upside on tablets [generated by a larger iPad] and as a brand is bigger than the risk."

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Windows 10: Which classic Microsoft default apps should be killed?

Windows 10: Which classic Microsoft default apps should be killed?
Based on what we’ve seen in Microsoft’s Windows 10 preview editions, here’s our take on which classic apps should be kept and which should be killed when the final version of Windows 10 ships.

Windows 10
One of the most important features in Windows 10 will be the ability to run Windows Store apps in resizable windows on the desktop environment. This will also cause redundancy with many of the classic default apps that have come preinstalled on previous versions of Windows. Based on what we’ve seen in Microsoft’s Windows 10 preview editions, here’s our take on which classic apps should be kept and which should be killed when the final version of Windows 10 ships.

Classic Calculator: KEEP
Windows 10 will have a new Calculator app with a revamped GUI to accommodate for resizing it in the desktop environment. It will have the same functions as the one that comes with Windows 8/8.1 (standard and scientific calculating, a unit converter), and add a mode for programmer calculations. Yet it still won’t be as full-featured as the old desktop Calculator application, which additionally has a statistics mode, and some extra tools, like for date and mortgage calculation. This trusty desktop Calculator is in Windows 8/8.1, but hasn’t shown up in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview.

Notepad: KEEP
Most users who compose lines for the Windows command prompt appreciate the bare-bones and fast-running nature of this application. Sure, there are lots of third-party clones of Notepad that have more features, but if you really need such a thing, then you should be using a simple word processor anyway. Notepad has appeared in the Windows 10 Insider Preview, and it’ll probably be in the final release of the OS, which we think it should, as a callback to the history of Windows.

Paint: KEEP
Along with Notepad, this is the second classic Windows desktop application that we think should appear for the sake of tradition in the next Windows and versions beyond into infinity. (Microsoft added Fresh Paint to Windows 8/8.1, and it will probably return in Windows 10, but this painting app is really for touchscreens.) And, odd as this may sound, we hope Microsoft doesn’t change a thing at all about Paint: Its charm is its consistent lack of sophisticated features and simplicity throughout the years. Even though its tools are limited, the pixel art that talented people have managed to make with them have a retro appeal and cult following nowadays.

Silverlight: KILL
Microsoft’s streaming video technology never matched use numbers in the marketplace against Adobe’s Flash, but it was at one point the required plug-in for watching content protected by DRM on major sites, like Amazon and Netflix. Despite this, Microsoft no longer develops it and will cease support for it. Silverlight wasn’t pre-installed on Windows 8/8.1. What happened?

Over the last few years, there’s been a move away from relying on the closed, proprietary Flash and Silverlight, and, instead, using open formats to stream video. This includes an open standard for streaming DRM-locked video, which is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and even Internet Explorer.

Sound Recorder: KILL
This dead-simple desktop application has just one button to press to start and stop recording audio from your device’s mic. The app version of Sound Recorder works about as simply, and also includes a basic tool to edit your audio clips. Both versions of Sound Recorder come with Windows 8/8.1, and were also together in the early builds of Windows 10 Insider Preview, but the latest Insider Preview no longer has this old desktop application version.

Windows Fax and Scan: KILL
There’s an app named Scan in Windows 8/8.1 and the Windows 10 Insider Preview, it doesn’t do the same thing as this desktop app. Scan is for scanning in images from a scanner. Windows Fax and Scan is for sending and receiving faxes, and scanning in documents with your scanner to send out as faxes. It’s so old school that it requires your computer be plugged into a telephone line. Yes, that’s right: Your computer needs to have a dial-up modem. (To be fair, alternately, you can connect your computer to a fax server.) So, surely, Windows Fax and Scan will not return for Windows 10? We wouldn’t count against it. This application has shown up in the Windows 10 Insider Preview.

Windows Journal: KILL
Here’s a good example of a classic Windows desktop application that should be retired to let its better Windows Store app successor fully take over. The OneNote app effectively does the same things as Windows Journal, and more. OneNote has been preinstalled in the Windows 10 Insider Preview -- but so has Windows Journal. Windows Journal’s name perhaps failed to convey accurately what it was designed for: jotting down handwritten notes, and sketching doodles, with a digital pen. Although typed text can be entered onto a note, you do so by first adding a graphical element (a text box) and then typing. This application’s GUI also muddled perceptions of how you’re supposed to use it since it looks like one for a text editor.

Windows Media Player: KILL
At one time, Microsoft angled for this media player to be the main application in their grand vision of a Windows home media center. Now, it’s pretty much hidden under the Windows Accessories folder/group of Windows 8/8.1, which also comes with two apps for playing media. The simply named Music and Video also let users buy music, movies and TV shows as downloads or streams. The current Windows 10 Insider Preview includes new versions of these apps, called Music Preview and Video Preview. Since both apps will run under Windows 10 in resizable windows in the desktop environment, Microsoft should probably not include Windows Media Player in the final Windows 10 release.

WordPad: KEEP
Along with Notepad, WordPad is the other text editor that has been in recent versions of Windows including the Windows 10 Insider Preview. It’s a surprisingly capable, basic word processor. It has a decent font selection; line, paragraph and spacing adjustment; plus the ability to insert images into your document; and to save documents in RTF or Microsoft Office DOCX formats. It’s probably safe to assume that WordPad will be in Windows 10.

XPS Viewer: KILL
Like Silverlight, XPS was devised by Microsoft to compete against another Adobe format (this one being PDF), and, obviously, never achieved widespread adoption. Unlike Silverlight, Microsoft hasn’t officially stopped developing XPS, though they haven’t talked it in over six years. Both an application for viewing XPS documents (XPS Viewer) and a driver to print documents into the format (XPS Document Writer) come with Windows 8/8.1 and appear in the Windows 10 Insider Preview. We think it’s time that Microsoft quietly admit defeat and get rid of both things. When’s the last time, if ever, you’ve looked at an XPS document… or even knew what XPS was before reading this?

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Microsoft’s new Spartan browser for Windows 10

Here’s what sets Spartan apart from Internet Explorer.

Spartan
The most recent Windows 10 Technical Preview comes with Spartan, a web browser that will eventually replace Internet Explorer. It’s not an updated version of IE under a different name; it's a new browser that Microsoft built from scratch. Here's what sets Spartan apart from Internet Explorer.

New name
For the time being, the browser is officially referred to as Project Spartan, and "Spartan" may or may not be its final name when it’s released with Windows 10. Sure, unlike "Internet Explorer," the name doesn’t strongly imply that this program is for browsing the Internet, but neither do the names Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari. So we think "Spartan" sounds like it would fit in perfectly among its competitors.

Internet Explorer lives on
Microsoft's previous, and not much-loved browser will still be included in Windows 10, in case you need to visit sites or use web services that absolutely require it. This will probably apply mostly to enterprise users. The current Windows 10 Technical Preview doesn't list Internet Explorer on the desktop or taskbar. It's hidden under Windows Accessories in the Start Menu.

Spartan is the default
Spartan will be set as the default browser in Windows 10. This status can be changed by another browser, like Chrome or Firefox, to take over the role as the default. There isn’t a way to set Spartan back to default within its own settings. To do this you have to go to the new Windows 10 Settings app.

Spartan features Edge
rendering engine

Not only will Windows 10 come with two web browsers, each browser will use a different rendering engine. IE will still use Trident, while Spartan comes with the faster and more technologically up-to-date successor Edge. Originally, Microsoft considered stuffing both engines into their new browser, but elected not to, in order to better clarify the separation between the two browsers: IE would be sticking around for backward compatibility.

Spartan becomes Windows app
Is Microsoft's new browser a Windows app or desktop application? It appears to be the former. In Windows 10, users will interact with Windows apps on the desktop environment in resizable windows; the overall feel from using Spartan suggests it is such an app. It also shares the same design language as the other new, resizable Windows apps coming to Windows 10, such as the Store and Maps apps, as seen in its title bar and borderless frame.

Spartan has cleaner, simpler look
As its name implies, compared to IE, Spartan sports a cleaner looking UI with a borderless viewing pane and simpler graphical elements in the toolbar. This minimalism is also evident under its settings menu, which displays things in large text and isn't cluttered with several options. In a side-by-side matchup, Spartan’s GUI initially looks similar -- the main differences are that Spartan's has fewer colors and slightly larger toolbar icons, but its tabs are set over the toolbar, as opposed to the way IE does it by setting tabs within the toolbar. Spartan’s arrangement of tabs looks less confusing.

Spartan has link sharing feature
This is a minor feature, but one that isn’t in the latest IE. In Spartan, you can send a link directly to another Windows app, such as OneNote or the Reading List.

Cortana is integrated into Spartan
Microsoft's personal digital assistant Cortana will come with Windows 10. It's similar to Apple's Siri or Google's Google Now, where, basically, you speak aloud a command or question and the technology will scour the Internet for your requested information, sometimes speaking out what it finds in a digital voice. Cortana's features are integrated into Spartan but, as of this writing, can be accessed only in the US versions of the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview, but Microsoft plans to expand its availability to other countries soon.

Spartan will likely support extensions
Firefox has add-on functionality, while Chrome refers to its equivalent feature as extensions. Under Spartan, add-ons appear to refer to plugins for running multimedia technologies, like Flash. It's been reported that Spartan’s final release will have extension support similar to Chrome, so developers will be able to write tools to enhance the usability of the browser.

Spartan has 'reading view' for smaller screens
Spartan can re-render certain pages to display only the main body of text and a related image, stripping out extraneous graphics and text from the original layout. This is meant to make an online article more legible and visually comfortable to read, especially on a tablet. To do this, you click the open-book icon to the right of the URL address bar. This function isn’t available when this icon is grayed-out: Not every page is able to be stripped down to its essentials. Spartan’s reading view tends to be available when you visit a page showing an article or blog entry, but not always.

Spartan integrates with Web Note drawing tool
This ballyhooed feature lets you draw right onto a page, doodling over it or jotting handwritten notes (if you are using a digital pen on a Windows 10 tablet). But technically what Web Note does is capture an image of a page, and then give you basic drawing and highlighting tools. You can also annotate the image with notes you type in, and copy the image of the page, or portions of it, so that you can paste it into a document or image that you’re editing in another program. Pages can be saved as a favorite (bookmark), added to the browser’s reading list, or forwarded to other Windows apps through Share.

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3 Windows 10 features that every admin should know

We don’t know exactly when Windows 10 will be released, but it’s a good idea for IT pros to start thinking now about deployment, training and security issues.

Windows 10 is on the horizon. While there is no confirmed ship date quite yet, there’s a good chance we’ll see the final OS this year -- possibly in the fall if Microsoft sticks to its normal release schedule.

To be prepared for any gotchas, it’s a good idea for IT admins to start thinking now about deployment, training and security issues.

1. Deployment and Management Strategy
One of the key enhancements in Windows 10 (which skips a version number from the current Windows 8) could be a godsend to IT admins. With any new Microsoft OS, deployment usually involves a so-called “wipe-and-load” process that essentially removes the existing OS and adds the new version.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is using a new in-place upgrade that retains user settings like desktop resolution or color scheme, but still fits within the management infrastructure for deploying the new release. It’s known as dynamic imaging and, with a new laptop or other device, it means IT can configure even brand-new devices without having to first do a wipe-and-load to meet corporate requirements.

It’s also worth noting that Microsoft says Windows 10 will have the same basic hardware requirements of both Windows 7 and Windows 8, and that there will be better integration between Active Directory and Azure Active Directory. For example, if a user signs in to Windows 10, he or she will also automatically sign in to the Windows Store and to Office 365 in the cloud.

2. Interface Changes
Of course, one of the most important changes in Windows 10 has to do with the interface, which will combine the Metro-style tiles more directly into the desktop. Users will see a new Start menu displaying the tiles that filled the entire screen in Windows 8. This could mean less user training, as users are likely already comfortable with the Start menu from Windows 7.

“Microsoft is trying to make the classic desktop and Metro interface coexist with each other. For Windows 8, at times it seemed like you were on two different computers, so Windows 10 will be more of a happy medium and bring a more cohesive user interface,” says ESET http://www.eset.com/ researcher Aryeh Goretsky. “The desktop experience will be better while using the desktop Win32 legacy apps. You will no longer be pushed behind the Metro interface.”

3. Security Features
“The biggest way in which Microsoft has addressed the needs of business users is that Windows 10 will provide built-in data loss prevention, often referred to as DLP,” says Benjamin Caudill, founder and principal consultant at Rhino Security Labs . “This means that sensitive documents can take care of themselves, so to speak. Once a file has been secured with Windows 10 DLP, it will ‘phone home’ before allowing anyone to open it. This means that even if an employee accidentally forwards sensitive documents, or if a thumb drive full of charts gets stolen, these files will not allow themselves to be opened.”

Goretsky adds, “Microsoft has basically declared passwords dead, so they are looking into other forms of two-factor authentication. Whether it be out-of-band with a cellphone text, biometric or picture mapping, we will see a non-password form of authentication.”

Goretsky says that other security improvements include more encryption throughout the entire OS, for both managed and unmanaged files. He says Microsoft will also sell a “locked-down” version of Windows 10 hardware, including laptops and tablets that only include software loaded from the Microsoft Store without the possibility to add additional software -- something a business might use to keep employees from loading software that could contain malware.

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