With Notepad being updated for Windows 11, what other apps could benefit?

More of Microsoft’s apps are slowly being updated to match the aesthetic of Windows 11, but three apps could also benefit from this upgrade.

Notepad is the latest to reap the benefits of Fluent Design, with re-arranged features, an updated look, and a dark mode option for when you decide to change your desktop theme to a darker shade.

Currently in testing in the Insider Build Dev Channel of Windows 11, where you can test features under development, it’s the most significant update of Notepad in years, similar to Paint’s update a few months ago.

However, with Notepad and soon a new Windows Media Player about to be released to everyone in a forthcoming update, we wondered what other applications could benefit from a similar refresh in Windows 11.

Our three picks

Weather

Windows 11 weather widget

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Users of iOS 15 have been treated to a redesigned weather app, which adapts to the state of the weather in your location. If it’s raining, droplets of water will bounce and land on the menus, while a ray of sunshine with lens flare will cover the whole layout on another day.

Seeing something similar in Windows 11 would be great, compared to the simple user interface we currently have. There’s a weather widget, but it feels as though there should be more to take advantage of the Fluent Design language of Windows 11.

Alongside this, notifications would be a great addition for when there’s rain scheduled, so you can prepare for an umbrella when you need to head out for some errands.

Pinball

Pinball3D running in Edge browser, in Windows 11

(Image credit: Microsoft)

While you can download games from the redesigned Microsoft Store, alongside Android apps that are about to arrive for Windows 11, there’s a distinct lack of built-in games available.

Windows XP, released in 2001, arrived with a built-in pinball game that allowed you to ramp up high scores to see how long you could last with three balls.

While we spoke about how the game has been rebuilt as a web app, we’d love to see a sequel or a remake come to Windows 11. Have it feature achievements and unique 2-player modes. Perhaps allow each player to control one flip action, while another controls part of the pinball table.

There’s plenty of potential here, and after twenty years, it’s time for a revival.

Windows Update

Windows 11 update showing as available

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Updating your PC can be frustrating, especially when an update doesn’t work properly. Going to the Settings app in Windows 11 is a slight improvement compared to Windows 10, mainly due to available updates being more visible, but there’s a lot more that can be done.

Easier ways of seeing which updates were installed and which failed would be a great first start, but the process of registering and de-registering for the Windows Insider Programme could go a long way.

This is where you can try out versions of Windows under development that have features not available to the wider public. This is how Notepad and the new Windows Media Player are currently being tested.

If you want to remove your PC from the Insider Programme, you’re required to wipe your PC, which isn’t an ideal solution. Apple does it better by removing your Mac or iOS from the beta program once a new update is officially released, leaving your data completely.

Instead, having the Insider Programme and Windows Update as one separate app, with a simplified user interface could be a big help to those who are anxious about updating their PCs, in fear of updates worsening their devices.

Updates with explainers on what they are and what they feature could help break down that anxiety and give a greater understanding of what an update can provide.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

MusicMatch makes it easy to share music between streaming services

If you've ever felt frustrated trying to open a shared link from a music streaming service you don't use, you're not alone. But sharing the next best Holly Humberstone song doesn't have to be difficult. A new app, launching today (December 12), is making it easier than ever to share and play your favorite tracks.

MusicMatch, developed by Patrick Hardy and Arthur Van Siclen, is a free app now available on iPhones running iOS 15. The app allows music lovers to open shared song links in either Spotify or Apple Music within the app. You can also play song links utilizing a Safari extension, without opening the MusicMatch app.

While the app sounds simple enough, we spoke to Hardy and Van Siclen to find out what motivated them to develop MusicMatch. Here's what we know about this new music app.

How to use MusicMatch

MusicMatch is free in the App store and available to download for devices running iOS 15. Copy your song, album, or artist link to your clipboard and then open the MusicMatch app. Select where the link will open, whether Apple Music or Spotify.

A Safari extension will provide the same convenience, but within the Safari web browser. To enable this, go to Settings > Safari > Extensions > MusicMatch > Enable All Websites > Enable MusicMatch.

MusicMatch on iOS 15

(Image credit: MusicMatch)

At this time, only links from Spotify that open in Apple Music will work with the Safari extension, but Hardy and Van Siclen are working on making Apple Music links work in Spotify on the web browser as well.

Where does MusicMatch fit on iOS?

As far as creating the app, Van Siclen handled the design and development of MusicMatch while Hardy focused on the integration of Spotify, Apple Music, and the Safari extension.

We asked them why they created the app in the first place.

“I’ve clicked so many Spotify links, found the song or artist name, then searched on Apple Music so many times. Every day.” Van Siclen explains.” Every time someone sends me a link I have to go through those steps. It’s onerous. I’m almost mad thinking about it now.” 

“Arthur and I have been sharing music with each other for years, but Arthur has always been on Apple Music and I've always preferred Spotify. We would go through the process looking up a track on the other's service then searching for that same content on another platform.” Hardy continues. “When Apple announced that Safari Extensions would be available on iOS 15, we realized that there was a pathway to make this process painless and automatic. We knew the pain first hand and were sure it would be useful to a lot of people who share music with their friends.”

MusicMatch iOS 15

(Image credit: MusicMatch)

While the app is a simple way of opening a music link, the two developers also discovered Safari Extensions on iOS 15 as another use-case for MusicMatch.

“When we heard about Safari Extensions coming to iOS we quickly identified this as an opportunity to solve this problem once and for all.” Van Siclen continues. “We made the Safari Extension, but understanding that extensions are kind of an esoteric, “pro” thing to set up, we decided to make the app fully functional itself. That was a good decision – my mom was able to use the app the first time she needed it.”

To macOS and beyond?

It’s only the first day of the app’s launch, but Hardy and Van Siclen aren’t stopping there. As you will see music links shared to you on other devices such as a Mac, there’s plenty of use cases where MusicMatch can help.

“Yes, we architected the app with cross-platform applications in mind,” Hardy explains. “We would love for MusicMatch to solve this problem no matter where customers are at. Our iOS app is just the start.” 

“MusicMatch will soon come to macOS as both an app and Safari Extension. It is built with SwiftUI and has great access to Apple’s modern cross-platform infrastructure.” Van Siclen adds.

Safari 15 in macOS 12 Monterey

(Image credit: Apple)

But if you only have an iPhone, the two devs have plans for a future update on iOS.

“We’re also excited to add support for Tidal, YouTube Music, Pandora, and the other popular streaming services.” Van Siclen continues. “The key goal we identified is to be reliable, so for the first few updates we are focused on ensuring MusicMatch does its job flawlessly for everyone.”

Finally, we wanted to know if Hardy and Van Siclen were big music users on iOS.

“Yes! I listen to jazz, and when we work together, we put on London Grammar, Javiera Mena, Kamasi Washington, and a lot of cross-genre artists.” Van Siclen explains.

“Music has always played an important role in our lives.” Hardy adds. “Sharing music that's inspiring, songs to practice on the guitar, or artists to learn from has always been at the core of a rich and connected life for us.”

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

The best Christmas Zoom backgrounds to help you get into the festive spirit

Many holiday celebrations will take place over video conference again this year, which means plenty of people will be on the hunt for an excellent Christmas Zoom background.

Whether you're attending a virtual office party, present exchange or Christmas dinner, a festive background will only add to proceedings.

To help make your virtual festivities feel a little more like the real deal, we’ve compiled a selection of Christmas Zoom backgrounds that are bound to get you in the holiday spirit.

How to use Zoom backgrounds

Before picking out a Christmas Zoom background, you’ll need to know how to configure custom backgrounds on the platform. Thankfully, the process is really simple.

First, ensure the Zoom backgrounds feature is enabled in your account settings. You can do this by accessing your account page via your web browser, navigating to Settings in the left-hand bar, clicking on In Meeting (Advanced) and toggling Virtual Backgrounds to on (the slider will turn blue once the feature has been activated).

To configure your Zoom background, log into the desktop application and click on the settings icon in the top right corner. Under the Virtual Background tab, you can choose from stock options, or upload an image or video via the + icon below the video feed.

Whichever background you select in the settings panel will automatically be applied when you next log into a video conference.

For the best results, it’s important to ensure the video is bright and evenly lit. Your Christmas Zoom backgrounds won’t perform quite as well in partial darkness or glaring light, which can both result in unwelcome distortion.

Using a green screen backdrop is ideal, but impractical for many, and a plain background of any colour works perfectly well so long as your clothing isn’t the same color.

Christmas Zoom backgrounds

Thanks to a few generous elves, you're not short of options when it comes to selecting a Christmas Zoom background for your next video call.

Here’s a rundown of a few different selections you could choose from.

Zoom
On the Zoom website, you can find a curated list of virtual backgrounds of all varieties. Under the Seasonal section, you’ll find a range of suitably festive options.

Zoom

(Image credit: Zoom)

Hallmark
You’d bet your house on greetings card company Hallmark producing a fine selection of holiday-themed Zoom backgrounds – and the company has duly delivered.

Hallmark

(Image credit: Hallmark)

Unsplash
Image library Unsplash has a wide selection of wintery Zoom background options for you to choose from. You’re bound to find an option that suits you.

Unsplash

(Image credit: Unsplash / Annie Spratt)

Cookie Monster
Everyone’s favorite Sesame Street resident is also getting in on the act. This snap of Cookie Monster doing what he does best makes for an excellent Zoom background.

Cookie Monster

(Image credit: Sesame Workshop)

Christmas HQ
We can safely assume that the experts at Christmas HQ know plenty about cultivating holiday spirit. This classy selection of backgrounds is attractive, but not obnoxious.

Christmas HQ

(Image credit: Christmas HQ)

Frozen – The Musical
The Broadway rendition of hit movie Frozen has offered up a selection of icy Zoom backgrounds for “those of use working from our kingdoms of isolation”. That might not sound very Christmassy, but the backgrounds are rather striking all the same.

Frozen - The Musical

(Image credit: Frozen – The Musical)

Walt Disney World
Disney World has to be up there with one of the most festive places on earth, as demonstrated by this selection of Christmas Zoom backgrounds from WDW Magazine.

Walt Disney World

(Image credit: Walt Disney World)

The best webcams

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Windows 11 drive slowdown bug affects more users than thought – but a fix is coming

Windows 11 continues to run into trouble with drive speeds being seriously hampered, as more users are being affected by a previously flagged issue than was first thought – this isn’t just about NVMe SSDs it seems – but the better news is that Microsoft has a (hopefully imminent) fix in the pipeline.

Earlier this week, we reported on the problem with NVMe SSDs running over 50% slower in some cases with write speeds, but as noted, it turns out that this nasty storage flaw affects all disks, as Microsoft has recently admitted (as spotted by Windows Latest, which points out the problem has been observed across all sorts of online forums).

On November 22, Microsoft pushed out a cumulative update in preview, KB5007262, and under the listed fixes, a cure for this issue is present noting that it affects all types of storage medium.

Microsoft said that KB5007262 “addresses an issue that affects the performance of all disks (NVMe, SSD, hard disk) on Windows 11 by performing unnecessary actions each time a write operation occurs. This issue occurs only when the NTFS USN journal is enabled. Note, the USN journal is always enabled on the C: disk.”

As this is an optional (preview) update, you have to manually install it, and as with anything which is still officially in testing, it may also cause problems as well as solve them.

The best course of action at this point is likely to wait, because this preview update arrived a few weeks back now, and the full (finalized) cumulative update will be available for Windows 11 users on Patch Tuesday for this month, which is this coming Tuesday, December 14.


Analysis: A chance to turn over a new leaf squandered

This is another of those alarming bugs which have blighted Windows 11, and made it an unpleasant experience performance-wise for a number of users. It’s worrying to learn that it affects all types of SSDs and even hard disks as well, considering how much of a speed reduction can be caused by the problem, but at least we know that the resolution is (theoretically) just around the corner now.

Windows 11 has also witnessed a number of serious issues around performance on the desktop with File Explorer, and this is such a fundamental piece of the interface that it’s another very concerning facet of what seems to be misfiring QA (quality assurance) at Microsoft.

That isn’t a new thing, and we’ve got used to this state of affairs with Windows 10, sadly. But it’s something we hoped might be rectified, given that Windows 11 could have been a new leaf for the software giant – but Microsoft certainly hasn’t got off on the right foot here, bug-wise. Indeed, these performance problems with drives and the UI were in evidence before Windows 11 was even released, so it’s not like Microsoft hasn’t had some time to get things right.

Clearly, the drive issue was a thorny problem, and it’s better late than never with the fix – but we won’t stop banging the drum that Microsoft needs to do better when it comes to keeping its desktop operating systems in more bug-free shape than this.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Similarweb swoops in with free website-ranking API for Alexa.com customers

Following the news that Amazon is discontinuing its highly popular SEO tool Alexa.com, Similarweb has stepped up to provide its own solution.

The digital intelligence software company has announced the launch of a new free website-ranking API though this is just one of several steps it is taking to help Alexa.com customers ahead of the service being phased out in May 2022.

Alexa.com customers will also be able to instantly view Similarweb site ranking for free on the web. However, for the first time, Similarweb is launching a self-service offering based on its digital intelligence platform.

The company's new offering will be available worldwide in all markets through a simple credit card transaction.

SimilarWeb DigitalRank API

Similarweb is providing Alexa.com customers with a free trial that will provide them with unlimited access to Similarweb DigitalRank to see website performance in addition to Similarweb Digital Marketing and Research Intelligence premium solutions that will allow them to gain actionable insights that impact website traffic performance.

With these tools in hand, website owners will be able to get a real-time view of competitive activity across all digital marketing channels, understand which audiences are engaging with their competitor's websites, utilize real-time traffic share data, discover and prioritize SEO keyword opportunities, get audience demographic and behavioral information and more.

CEO and founder of Similarweb, Or Offer provided further insight on how these new offerings will allow the company to expand its reach further in a press release, saying:

“Similarweb has always been a leader in terms of the data our users get and the quality and accuracy our insights provide. Although it’s a bittersweet moment with the closing of Alexa.com, I’m excited for the opportunity it presents to expand our reach even further as we become the standard for digital rankings and global website intelligence.”

Interested users can sign up for a free trial here and view Similarweb's list of the top websites here.

We've also highlighted the best web hosting and best website builder

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Microsoft Teams update will let you flirt with the forbidden fruit

Microsoft is preparing an update for collaboration platform Teams that will help people make use of the full breadth of available features.

As per a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, Microsoft Teams will soon give users a way to petition admins for access to blocked apps and integrations.

“[The new feature will] enable users to discover Teams apps in the store and request approval from administrators,” the company explained.

The access request system is still currently under development, but is slated to roll out to all users by the end of next month.

Microsoft Teams apps

Since the start of the pandemic, the volume of third-party integrations available for platforms like Teams, Zoom and Slack has shot through the roof, affording users access to a wider range of functionality (e.g. cloud storage, CRM, calendaring etc.) from within a single client.

However, it’s not uncommon for administrators to limit the type or number of Microsoft Teams apps employees are allowed to install, in an effort to ensure neither security nor productivity is compromised.

But soon, if an employee feels a third-party application has been unduly banned, they will have a formal avenue through which they can request access.

This isn’t the only way Microsoft has attempted to augment the Teams app store in recent weeks, either. Last month, the company announced a new system to help identify the most useful and relevant apps on a user-by-user basis.

Once the update takes effect, users will benefit from intelligent recommendations and “a landing page optimized for ease of discoverability”. Microsoft also says it will rejig the app categories to make it simpler for people to find the services they are actively searching for, including those built and deployed by in-house developers.

Combined, the two updates should help reinforce the status of Teams as a central hub for working (a long-time goal of Microsoft’s), by ensuring users have access to all the functionality they need.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Retailers using WooCommerce are the next target for Magecart card skimmer attacks

Three new Magecart attacks are taking advantage of potential vulnerabilities in the WooCommerce ecommerce platform, experts have warned.

Discovered by RiskIQ, the vulnerabilities target retailers using third-party themes and tools to integrate into  WooCommerce pages that are particularly prone to Magecart risk.

As a result, many consumers are potentially vulnerable to having credit card details stolen ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Magecart threat 

Further research by Barn2, a software company that specializes in WooCommerce products and WordPress, found that WooCommerce represents 29% of the top one million websites using ecommerce technologies. This exceeds five million active installs of the free plugin as of early 2021.

WooCommerce is notably popular because it is a free to use and easily customisable WordPress plugin

“WooCommerce users are often small and medium-sized businesses, sometimes considered the most vulnerable, as they lack resources for complex and highly-vetted third-party tools. As we've seen over the years, both small and large retailers can be the targets of Magecart skimming,” RiskIQ wrote in its blog post.

In a typical Magecart attack, threat actors use a vulnerability and weaknesses in an ecommerce platform to inject a malicious code that skims online payment forms to intercept the payment information of unsuspecting customers.

As these third-party tools integrate with thousands of websites, when one supplier is compromised, Magecart has effectively breached thousands of sites at once.

RiskIQ's detection of skimmers and other malware shows the innumerable ways threat actors gain access, deploy, and hide their tools on victim websites and advice site operations to regularly inspect their crontab commands for strange contents, ensure that access permissions are correct, and audit file access to it.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

The Final Fantasy VII Remake on PC is far too expensive

There comes a time where the principal in paying for a game overtakes your hype for the game.

That happened with Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade coming to PC. This is the enhanced port that came out earlier this year, and it was announced during The Game Awards last night. While I woke up with glee that it was finally confirmed, it quickly turned to disbelief once I discovered the price.

While Final Fantasy VIII will always be my favorite entry in the series, I was caught up in the hype of the remake of Final Fantasy VII when it was first announced in 2015.

The cheers at the Sony conference at E3 that year, alongside Shenmue 3 and The Last Guardian being showcased, made me excited for Final Fantasy again. But at a price of $ 70 / £70 for the PC version that has been leaked by the Epic Games Store, I'm waiting for the sale.

Final Fantasy VII Intergrade UK price on Epic Games Store

(Image credit: TechRadar)

A high price for Cloud gaming

It's been six years between the announcement of the remake at E3 and the PC port finally being made official.

While it was first released on PS4 in 2020 to great reviews, I was still holding out for it to either arrive on Game Pass or another storefront on PC eventually.

It took longer than I expected, but as soon as I saw the news, a wave of disappointment came crashing down around me.

On Amazon, you can buy the PS4 version for $ 35 / £25 right now, or the PS5 version that includes Intergrade for $ 58 / £40.

If you own the PS4 version but have a PS5, you can upgrade for free, but the DLC featuring Yuffie costs $ 19.99 / $ 14.99.

This still equals to roughly $ 55 / £40 for the same package as what's being offered for the upcoming PC port.

Final Fantasy VII REMAKE: Intergrade can be wishlisted on the Epic Games Store for now, but the price looks to be $ 70 / £75 when it releases on December 16.

Price of Final Fantasy VII Intergrade on Epic Games Store

(Image credit: Epic Games / Square Enix)

Nostalgia at a high gil

We've reached out to Square Enix for comment as to why the price is so high, but it feels like a slap in the face for nostalgia and fans of Final Fantasy VII.

This is especially the case when Epic co-founder and CEO Tim Sweeney stated in an interview, that the games offered on the Store would be cheaper than anywhere else.

There are many people out there who hold this particular entry of Final Fantasy close to their hearts. It's helped define careers and friendships since its release in 1997, with the story still talked about today through written media, podcasts, videos and more.

Paying almost double the price for the same game on PS4, on PC, especially when the original game from 24 years ago can be bought on Steam for $ 9.99 / £9.99, is a real shame.

I don't have a PlayStation so I can't play it anyway. But with this price, and for a game that's essentially part one of three, I'd rather wait for the eventual sale and play the original in the meantime.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Android games are coming to Windows 11 with Google Play

The Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley, wrapped up last night, and it came with a fair share of surprises.

Google was one of many companies to appear, announcing that Android apps from the Google Play Games store are coming to both Windows 11 and Windows 10 in 2022.

This is an effort being made by Google itself. While Microsoft has an agreement with Amazon to host Android apps from the Amazon App Store on the redesigned Microsoft Store in Windows 11, this is a different approach from Google.

This will be its own app, enabling users with a Google Play account to download their Android games without having to purchase them again. They can also resume where they left off in a game on their Windows device.

How will the app work?

Google was light on the details during The Game Awards, but the company did explain to The Verge that this will be available in Windows 10 and above.

If you’re playing a game on your Pixel 6 Pro for example, and you decide to switch to your Windows device, you can carry on your progress through this new app from Google.

“Starting in 2022, players will be able to experience their favorite Google Play games on more devices: seamlessly switching between a phone, tablet, Chromebook, and soon, Windows PCs,” Greg Hartrell, Product Director of Games on Android and Google Play explained in a statement. “This Google-built product brings the best of Google Play Games to more laptops and desktops, and we are thrilled to expand our platform for players to enjoy their favorite Android games even more. We’ll have more to share soon!”

It’s a surprising move, but one that’s always seemed inevitable ever since the Amazon App Store was announced to be coming to the Microsoft Store in Windows 11.


Analysis: It’s happening sooner than we expected

We have said before that it would be a matter of time before Google would be interested in bringing Android apps to Windows, but it’s much sooner than we were expecting from the company.

Granted, this is just games from the Google Play Store for now, but it could be the start of other categories of apps eventually arriving on Windows.

With Amazon apps already in testing on the Windows Insider developer channel, where you can test out features in development for Windows, it did seem that Google was the odd one out in this partnership. There were already unofficial efforts where you could run your Android apps in Windows 11.

Google Play Games could make an impact on Windows, but that depends on whether the most popular games will be available. On the Google Play Store, games such as Candy Crush, Coin Master, and Monopoly constantly appear on the charts, so it’ll be important to see these arrive in this new app for Windows.

It won’t be a stretch to see games such as Minecraft appear on the app as well, as it’s owned by Microsoft, but it does depend on whether developers want their games to appear on the app as well.

As with other storefronts that users can visit on their Windows devices, such as Steam and Epic Games Store, it may be a challenge to showcase to users what the benefits of having Google Play Games on Windows will be. Some may think it is just another store that will clog up their PC.

However, being able to resume your progress in Candy Crush may be a tempting feature for some. This effort could encourage Google to not only bring more games to this app but other categories from the Google Play Store in time as well.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Bitdefender, addio all’antivirus gratuito

Proteggere il computer dalle più moderne minacce e virus può essere difficile, in particolar modo adesso che trascorriamo ancora più tempo online, ma grazie a uno dei migliori antivirus, possiamo navigare con un maggiore grado di sicurezza.

E sebbene Bitdefender offra un certo numero di soluzioni a pagamento nell'ambito degli antivirus, l'azienda offre da sempre anche un prodotto noto come Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. Tuttavia, attraverso un'e-mail inviata dai propri clienti e rilevata anche da TechRadar Pro, la società ha svelato che cesserà a breve il supporto per il proprio antivirus gratuito.

Nel messaggio, Bitdefender spiega che gli enormi cambiamenti nel settore della sicurezza hanno stravolto molti dei piani dell'azienda nell'ambito dello sviluppo prodotti e, purtroppo, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition è una delle vittime di questi sconvolgimenti.

A partire dal 1° gennaio 2022, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition sarà ufficialmente terminato e non sarà più disponibile né utilizzabile.

Tempo di upgrade

Sebbene Bitdefender abbia deciso di terminare il proprio antivirus gratuito, continuerà a offrire il supporto tecnico per il prodotto fino al 30 giugno 2022. In questo modo, i clienti avranno tempo di installare una soluzione alternativa e continuare a proteggere i propri dispositivi.

Per chi apprezza la “silenziosità” degli antivirus Bitdefender, l'azienda ha lanciato una promozione dedicata agli utenti Free per l'upgrade a Bitdefender Total Security

Dunque chi proviene da Free Edition potrà ottenere 1 anno di abbonamento per 5 dispositivi a poco meno di 10 euro. L'offerta è valida solo per gli utenti Free e scade il 31 dicembre 2021-

In alternativa, Microsoft Defender è una soluzione gratuita e integrata nei PC Windows, sebbene non includa una VPN e le app mobili Android e iOS come nel caso di Bitdefender Total Security.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More