Weekly Tech Insights: Issue 16
Table of Contents
Introduction
News
Windows
Linux / FreeBSD
Mobile
Browser
Privacy and Security
Software Updates
Gaming
Other
Articles
Skype may drain battery even though it is not used
Windows 11 Development: chaos is the name of the game
Software review of the Week
Links
Introduction
Microsoft released the final updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 last week. This week, Microsoft and Google released the last stable versions of their browsers for the two operating systems.
Microsoft Edge 109 and Google Chrome 109 are the last working versions for Windows 7 and 8.1. You can check out my report on what happens when you try to install unsupported versions of the browsers here.
Enjoy this week’s content, and if you have not already, feel free to subscribe below.
News
Windows
Running a Windows 11 virtual machine on Hyper-V likely results in the dreaded “This PC can’t run Windows 11” screen during installation. Read this Tech Community article that gives detailed instructions on running Windows 11 VM on Hyper-V.
Microsoft replaced the Network troubleshooter in recent Insider builds of Windows 11 with a new Get Help based experience.
The dialog targets the “30 most common connectivity issues” according to Microsoft.
Linux / FreeBSD
MX Linux 21.3 was released over the weekend. The Linux distribution is based on Debian 11.6 and uses Xfce 4.18. It is the third refresh of MX Linux 21 and consists of bugfixes, kernels and application updates.
Highlights include Debian 11.6, Xfce 4.18, menulibre menu editor and lots of updates and fixes.
Mobile
Microsoft Edge 110 improves the blocking of advertisement. Users of the browser, which is available as a preview at the time of writing, may hold down on the advertisement to display an option to block it.
Another Microsoft Edge 110 change impacts certificates in the browser. Previous versions used the operating system’s root store to verify certificates. Starting in Edge 110, Edge will include its own certificate trust list and certificate verifier.
Browser
Mozilla released Firefox 109.0 Stable and Firefox 102.7 ESR yesterday. Firefox 109 is the first stable version of Firefox that supports Manifest V3 extensions.
The release fixes 10 different security issues in the browser. The severity is high or lower, and there is no critical security issues.
Privacy and Security
A report suggests that MSI set the defaults for the Secure Boot feature of its Motherboards to "always execute”, which renders the security feature useless.
Secure Boot blocks unauthorized operating systems from starting up on a device. Setting the defaults to always execute allows anything to execute, even if the operating system is not trusted by Secure Boot.
MSI owners may want to check the defaults in the BIOS/UEFI to modify the Secure Boot preferences if set to Always Execute. Better options would be to Deny Execute, at least for Removable Media, Option ROM and Fixed Media, according to the report.
Researchers Could Track the GPS Location of All of California’s New Digital License Plates. The researchers gained access to an administrative Reviver account, the “sole company that sells the digital plates in California”.
Software Updates
Whipper is a Python audio CD ripper that focuses on accuracy instead of speed. It has been tested on Linux distributions only at the time and it is not offered as an official package yet. Installation instructions are found on the project’s GitHub website.
The CD ripper has a rich feature set that includes verifying rips using the AccurateRip database, using MusicBrainz for metadata, detection and ripping of non digitally silent Hidden Track One Audio, and more.
Key Decoder may be used to decode mechanical keys in a matter of seconds. It measures the biting of keys using their pictures.
Gaming
Other
Chips and Cheese published a detailed comparison of internal GPU cache setups. The comparison analyses caches of Intel, AMD and Apple hardware.
Apple announced new MacBook Pro and Mac mini devices yesterday. The new MacBook Pro is powered by the latest generation of Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max processors.
The new MacBook Pro starts at $1999 and is available starting January 24, 2023. The high-end model with 96GB of unified RAM, 8GB SSD Storage and a software package is available for $6998.98
MacBook Pro models, featuring the M2 Pro and M2 Mac, are available in 14-inch and 16-inch models.
The core improvement is performance according to Apple, but the company highlights that the device’s have “the best display ever in a laptop”.
You can check out the official page on Apple’s website here.
Articles
Skype may drain battery even though it is not used
I’m working on the second edition of my Windows 11 book right now and noticed something odd in the operating systems Power setting.
Skype drained 6% of the device’s power even though it was not in use.
Six percent over the course of the last 7 days is a lot of power usage for a program that was in use for less than one minute in the time.
I do not touch default apps usually, provided that they do not get into my way. The 6% is a major issue, however.
While there may be options in Skype or Windows to prevent the app from running in the background, most Windows 11 users, who do not use Skype, may remove the app from the system to be done with it once and for all.
Here is how that is accomplished:
Open Start and then the Settings app. You may also use Windows-I to open the Settings app, which may be faster.
Go to Apps > Installed Apps.
Type skype in the search field at the top.
Locate the Skype result and activate the three dots next to the size of the app.
Select the uninstall action from the context menu.
Select uninstall again in the uninstallation prompt window.
Skype is removed from the Windows 11 device and 6% battery is available for other tasks.
You may want to check the battery history for other offenders. Depending on installed apps, there may be more that use battery even though they should not.
Follow these steps to check the Battery History on Windows 11 devices:
Select Start and then Settings.
Go to System > Power & battery
Scroll down until you reach the “Battery usage per app” section on the page.
Each app is displayed with its total power usage in percent, starting with the app that used the most.
Select Background under “Sort by” to sort the listing by apps that used the most power while running in the background.
Note that some applications can’t be removed; this is the case for System, Windows Explorer, and several other default apps of the system.
Other apps may allow you to change background permissions. This is done either from the battery history page with a click on the three dots icons next to an app, or by going to installed apps, selecting the three dots icon and then modify.
Locate the “background apps permissions” on the page and select “never” to block it from running in the background.
Windows 11 Development: chaos is the name of the game
When Microsoft announced that it would release a single feature update per year for its new Windows 11 operating system, one could hear a sigh of relief from many system administrators and also Home users.
The previous strategy of releasing two feature updates per year backfired, as it put a lot of strain on Microsoft but also administrators and users. The gain was not worth talking about usually, as the first feature update of the year did not really include many new features or improvements.
Many customers made the decision to skip the release entirely to focus on the second feature update release entirely. Considering that the second feature update releases were supported for longer, it was the right decision for many.
Windows 10 and 11 get one feature update per year now, but instead of giving administrators more air to breath, Microsoft introduced a chaotic note to the entire development process.
Windows 11 Development today
Administrators and home users who are interested in future versions of the Windows 11 operating system have three development channels at their disposal: Release Preview, Beta and Developer.
Up until recently, these channels marked different stages in development, with Release Preview closest to the next Stable release of the operating system and Developer furthest away from it.
One could expect to test new features and changes in Developer first, before they made their way to Beta and Release Preview builds. The approach mimics browser development, were features move from Canary and Nightly builds to Dev, Beta and Stable.
This logical approach to development has been replaced with a chaotic one. Features do not wander from Dev to Beta anymore all the time. Instead, they may launch in Beta or Developer builds. This would not be too problematic, as it is quite easy to test these different versions of Windows.
Even more problematic than that is that Microsoft decided to release certain features only to part of the population. These A-B tests serve a purpose for Microsoft, as the company may monitor changes more efficiently. For users, it means that they may never get the chance to test a particular feature, as it may never be unrolled to their installations before the next release.
The A-B testing is not new, as Microsoft used it during Windows 10 development and also early Windows 11 development as well.
German journalist Martin Geuß put it this way on his Dr. Windows website:
If you currently want to set up two Windows 11 systems identically, it is almost impossible or it is pure coincidence whether this succeeds or not, because two systems on the exact same version can still look different; the decision is made by Microsoft's feature wheel of fortune, which you virtually turn with every reboot.
Take the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Beta channel builds, released on January 5, 2023, as an example.
There is build Build 22623.1095, which includes the new features, and Build 22621.1095, which does not include them. The features are rolling out over time as well, which means that they can’t be tested right away.
Even the changelog itself that Microsoft provides is confusing, as it mixes changes for either one of the builds and for both builds in a single article.
Some features, like the new OneDrive design, has made their ways onto stable systems immediately, bypassing development builds.
ViVeTool has become one of the most important tools for administrators and tech writers. It is an open source tool that may be used to enable or disable features in Windows. It can be used to enable features, if a feature is not enabled by default.
Moments Updates
Moments updates are feature drops that Microsoft plans to release regularly. The first Moments update was released just a month after the release of the first feature update for Windows 11, the Windows 11 2022 Update. It brought tabs to File Explorer and several other changes, most of which were minor.
Microsoft plans to release two Moments updates for Windows 11 in the first half of 2023, and like more in the second half. Updates for Windows 11 may also include new features; these are often not enabled for the entire population, similar to how features in development versions are not enabled for all installations right away.
Microsoft could introduce policies to give administrators control over Moments updates and the features that they introduce.
Closing Words
Development, testing and deployment of Windows 11 and updates has become chaotic. Features may or may not be included in development builds or release builds, and there is no direct way to enable certain features, at least in test builds.
ViVeTool comes to the rescue in many cases, which is a good thing. Microsoft should consider adding official switches for features in development builds, to give all testers options to enable those.
Windows 10 will certainly keep its attractiveness as most, if not all, upcoming updates and feature updates for the operating system will be maintenance and security related only.
The operating system is supported until October 2025. Windows 12 might already be available by that time, but Microsoft is, for obvious reasons, tight-lipped when it comes to a potential Windows 11 successor.
Software review of the Week
FanControl is an open source program for Windows to control fans. Most PCs use fans for the cooling of individual components, e.g., the graphics card or power supply unit, or to entire device.
FanControl scans for supported fans during first start and walks the user through the process. It supports multiple temperature sources, e.g., the motherboard, CPU or GPU, and may use these to control fans appropriately. Plugins are available to add support for additional devices.
One of the main applications of FanControl is the controlling of the fan speed. Fans make noise when they run, and the faster the run the louder they become. Manual controls or steps may reduce the noise that fans make, ideally without impacting heat generation on the device.
FFanControl is a useful program for noise sensitive users and users who want more control over fans of their devices.
Links
Interactive Music Theory Cheat Sheet: Keys, Scales, Chords, Notes & Intervals.
Yet another keyboard post, or, introducing ErgoNICE. Describes how one engineer build a custom split mechanical keyboard.