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Namecheap offers free web hosting and domain registration to Russian anti-war websites
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Namecheap is offering free anonymous domain registration and web hosting to all protest and anti-war websites in Russia or Belarus.

The domain registrar firm tweeted the free services will be available effective immediately in response to a call for nationwide war protests in Russia by Russian lawyer Alexei Navalny.

The news follows an earlier decision by Namecheap to terminate its Russian customers’ domain and web hosting services following the invasion of Ukraine – with the company’s initial deadline of March 6 extended by three further weeks. 

Free hosting for protest sites  

Namecheap said its decision to offer free domain and web hosting services is to help make it easier to share information online and take action against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company has previously also made exceptions for unique circumstances such as free press, information sources and essential health services.

READ MORE

 >Russia VPN demand sees huge rise following Ukraine invasion

>Intel and AMD reportedly pull chip sales to Russia

>GSMA confirms there will be no Russian Pavilion at MWC 2022 

A spokesperson from Namcheap told TechRadar Pro that the company has a substantial number of team members and colleagues in Ukraine who are currently being bombed and attacked by Russia. 

“In good conscience, we couldn’t standby and directly or indirectly support the Russian regime by doing business there any longer,” he added.

Russian and Belarusian customers who are standing up to their regime will have access to Nameheap’s customer service for more information.

“We all must do what we can to stop the war crimes that are being committed every day against the innocent people of Ukraine,” said Richard Kirkendall, Namecheap CEO. 

“Our hope is that by offering these services in an anonymous way, with no strings attached, that people within Russia that are currently under threat to not speak up against this war are able to organize and do so in a way that may minimize reprisals.”

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This Google update will help you free up much-needed space on your Android phone
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One of Google's most unsung apps is getting a useful upgrade that could help you clear out unwanted items from your Android phone.

As the name suggests, the Files by Google app governs all the files, apps and other items on your Android device, but can often provide a somewhat cluttered and even confusing experience.

However, an update to the app is adding a number of new search chip filters to help you quickly and easily find items that can be deleted to free up cloud storage space.

Files by Google update

Search chips essentially look to display possible results as a user is typing in the search bar, offering autofill suggestions and other possibilities for what it thinks they could be looking for.

Now, users will see new filters when accessing the “Browse” menu in Files by Google. For example, selecting Apps within this menu will now offer the chance to filter out into certain groups – currently “large apps”, “unused apps” and “Games” – with each list also displaying extra information such as the size of the app and when it was last updated.

The app allows multiple filters to be active at the same time, so you could, for example, quickly spot which games you've installed but have never actually played.

The tool appears to be active now, so users should look to update their Files by Google app as soon as possible to benefit.

Read more

> Google Docs will now practically write your documents for you

> Google Workspace update wants to bring all your work tools together

> It'll soon be easier to track down all your lost Google Workspace docs

The company has also recently introduced chip search filters to a number of its Google Workspace software tools, including Gmail and Google Drive, giving users a faster way to find the exact file they are hunting for.

Going forward, instead of just using keywords such as “marketing plan” or “sales report,” which may return results that are too broad, users can use search chips to surface more relevant results.

The results can be file types, such as a Google Doc, PDF or image, but also related to a specific person, location (such as in a shared drive or folder) or when a file was last modified.

Via AndroidPolice

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Microsoft 365 is swooping in to try and steal G Suite free customers
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Microsoft is making a bold attempt to steal G Suite users over to its own office software offering.

The company is offering a 60% discount on its Microsoft 365 platform to former G Suite customers unhappy that they will soon have to pay for Google's services.

Google revealed recently that it would be ending free subscriptions to G Suite services such as Docs, Sheets, Meet and Gmail, instead “upgrading” users to a paid subscription by May 1 2022.

In the market

“Organizations of all sizes rely on productivity and collaboration tools to get work done—they’re what keep business humming. If you’re a small business that’s relied on G Suite legacy free edition, we couldn’t help but notice you might be in the market for a new solution,” Jared Spataro, head of Microsoft 365 wrote in a blog post. 

“We’ve got news for you: today, you can get a 60 percent discount on a 12-month Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, or Business Premium subscription, along with the help you need to make the move.”

The offer is exclusive to current G Suite legacy free edition users who purchase a 12 month Microsoft 365 subscription by August 2, 2022. 

Businesses based in the US will also get one year of free support with Business Assist for Microsoft 365, the company's platform that aims to help small businesses migrate and get up to speed quickly.

Google has not responded to the move yet, but Microsoft's bold action could pay off.

Many legacy G Suite users were left annoyed at Google's move, which will see the G Suite legacy free edition no longer available from July 1, 2022, with any users found not to have started paying after 60 days being locked out.

However a recent loophole could allow some non-business users a way out, with Google noting that anyone using G Suite legacy free edition for personal use and unwilling to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription could possibly continue their current subscription for a little longer.

Read more

> Google Workspace is getting a major upgrade to rival Microsoft 365

> Google Workspace Individual offers all you need to start and run a small business

> Google takes aim at Microsoft 365 with small but important update

Google says it will automatically upgrade free users from May 1 to “an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription” based on its analysis of the customer's usage and the features it thinks you'll need.

Google Workplace plans start at $ 6/user/month for its Business Starter option, with Business Standard ($ 12/user/month) and Business Plus ($ 18 /user/month) also on offer, providing an increasing level of services with the amount paid.

Google is offering a discount for twelve months, and won't start charging subscription fees until July 1, 2022. The company is also offering businesses who don't want to pay or upgrade the chance to export their data at no extra cost.

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The all-new version of Microsoft Defender Preview is available now, for free
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Microsoft appears to have jumped the gun and released the latest edition of its Windows 11 security tool onto the app store early.

The Microsoft Defender Preview app can be downloaded and used free of charge, but the company has already warned it will only be free during the preview period.

In addition to providing a basic security overview, Microsoft Defender Preview gives details of security alerts that have appeared on different devices. Perhaps the most valuable feature of the app is that it makes it possible to easily check the security of a device without the need, necessarily, to have physical access to it.

Microsoft Defender Preview

In many ways, Microsoft Defender Preview is more of a security dashboard than a security app in its own right. The store listing says that the app lets you “easily manage your online security in one centralized view”, and anyone wanting to make use of the app will have to sign into a Microsoft account.

Once signed in, the app makes it possible to view the security status of any and all devices linked to that account. This can include a number of personal devices, but also devices owned by family members. Precisely what you are able to see here will depend on the type of subscription you are using after the preview period comes to an end.

Microsoft Defender Preview

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Free – for now

It is worth reiterating the fact that once the preview period comes to an end – and Microsoft has not revealed quite when this will be – the app will no longer be free. 

The company points out: “No subscription is required for Microsoft Defender Preview. In the future, Microsoft Defender will require a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription”.

Some users have reported seeing a message informing them that “Microsoft Defender isn't currently available in your region”. But with no official word from Microsoft about availability, it is impossible to say which countries have failed to make the grade.

Via WindowsLatest

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There’s an all-new free version of Google Workspace for work
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Workers looking to experience a host of the most popular Google Workspace software can now try for free thanks to a new offering from the company.

The new Google Workspace Essentials plan provides access to the likes of Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and more as the company looks to offer its online collaboration tools to more businesses than ever before.

What's more, you don't even need a Gmail account to sign up – and it's absolutely free.

Free Google Workspace

“We’re rolling out a new version designed to help people bring the apps they know and love to use in their personal lives to their work life,” Kelly Waldher, Vice President of Marketing, Google Workspace, wrote in a blog post.

“The new Google Workspace Essentials Starter Edition is a no-cost solution for business users looking to enhance teamwork and unlock innovation with secure-by-design collaboration. With Essentials Starter, we’re making it easy for employees to choose their own productivity tools and bring modern collaboration to work.”

There are some caveats to the plan, as users will only get 15GB of cloud storage, down from the usual 30GB available with the basic Google Workspace Business Starter plan, which typically costs $ 6/user/month.

There's also obviously no access to Gmail either, but users will be able to hold Google Meet video conferences of up to 100 people for up to an hour, as well as access to Spaces, Google Chat, Sheets, Slides and Docs.

Read more

> Google Workspace is getting a major upgrade to rival Microsoft 365

> Google Workspace Individual offers all you need to start and run a small business

> Google takes aim at Microsoft 365 with small but important update

The news comes as something of a surprise, given Google had recently said it would be cutting down on users accessing Google Workspace for free.

The company announced that all G Suite legacy free edition users would soon be shifted over to a paid version of Google Workspace from July 1 in order to ensure they kept access to tools such as Gmail, Meet and Docs.

This had upset users who may have recently signed up for the software, particularly non-business users facing having to pay for the first time, with Google saying that anyone not signed up to a paid subscription by the July deadline faced being locked out.

Google Workplace plans start at $ 6/user/month for its Business Starter option, with Business Standard ($ 12/user/month) and Business Plus ($ 18 /user/month) also on offer, providing an increasing level of services with the amount paid.

Google plans to automatically upgrade free users from May 1 to “an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription”, based on its analysis of the customer's usage and the features it thinks you'll need. The company is also offering businesses who don't want to pay or upgrade the chance to export their data at no extra cost.

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Microsoft is offering a new version of its most underappreciated productivity tool for free
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Microsoft wants to help us all feel a little more organized and ready for the day ahead, and it's offering a free experience of one of its least well-known productivity apps to do so.

The company has revealed users with a Microsoft account (MSA) can now try a new lightweight version of its Microsoft Lists app at no charge, to see just how it can help them.

Microsoft Lists is designed for small business and individual use, and the new preview version of the app looks to help provide a clear and straightforward view of all your important tasks in one single place.

Microsoft Lists preview

“It’s time to liberate yourself from coordination chaos,” Microsoft wrote in a blog post announcing the news. “Time to clear your brain space and get organized. In short, it’s time to try the Microsoft Lists – MSA Preview.”

Previously only available as part of a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, the company says the new preview app is designed around the core of the existing service, but also adds in a few new tools, including tabbed views, sharing from within a Person column, add images inline and more.

It believes Microsoft Lists can be helpful across a huge range of tasks, from business-focused tasks such as internal events planning, job applications and employee onboarding, to more home-oriented activities such as vacation planning or even recipe collecting.

The app allows users to share all their plans with co-workers, family or friends, and can be customized in a wide range of formats to give users exactly the view or approach they need.

Read more

> Microsoft Teams gets useful new Lists app

> Some special Microsoft 365 accounts will now receive stronger protection than the rest

> Microsoft 365 update will make sure no one is at a disadvantage

The company is offering 200,000 free trial accounts on a first-come, first-served basis, and you'll need a Microsoft account to sign up. During preview, users can try up to 50 lists, with up to 2,000 items/list, although there is also a 200MB limit for files, video, and image storage per list.

Customers planning to use Microsoft Lists with a business account and personal Microsoft account will need to switch between accounts to see each set of lists.

“We’re excited to see what sorts of information tracking goodness you create during preview, and how you share it all,” the company added.

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Windows 11 gets free speed boost with latest update
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Windows 11 has finally cured all of the serious problems with drive slowdown that have been plaguing some users for a good while now, according to a new report.

While these issues were supposedly fixed with the December cumulative update for Windows 11, as we reported at the time, even after that patch went out, some folks were still complaining about drive sluggishness.

However, Windows Latest reports that with the latest preview patch for Windows 11 – namely KB5008353 – the full fix is delivered, and all users should be happy, according to its own testing and other anecdotal evidence online. In the update notes, Microsoft states that it: “Addresses a performance regression issue that occurs when you enable the update sequence number (USN) journal.”

The USN journal is a log of changes to files on your drive, and so it could be tied into any remaining performance issues. A Reddit user speculates that this particular tweak is the key point, and observes: “I installed KB5008353 and my OS drive NVME random write speeds are almost 3.5x faster.”

Another user on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub stated: “Not only on NVME, even my SATA SSD is faster now. Earlier Windows 11 used to boot up slower than Windows 10.”

A further major issue whereby the colors on some HDR monitors were getting messed up has also been fixed with this patch.

Microsoft says the update addresses a “known issue that might prevent some image editing programs from rendering colors correctly on certain high dynamic range (HDR) displays.”

So, no more white looking like it’s yellow, or other visual glitches which could be seriously annoying in image editing apps.

KB5008353 is in testing right now, as a preview update, but will get its full release as the cumulative update for February (next week, in fact).

Analysis: A ‘drastic’ uplift in system performance all round

Obviously it’s a relief to see the drive speed bug finally addressed for good – we hope, anyway – because this can cut performance in half and has been a serious problem for some users. The cure for misbehaving colors on HDR monitors is also very welcome, of course, and that fix has come pretty quickly.

On the other hand, the wait for the drive performance issue to be remedied has been way too long, and it’s disappointing that the apparent cure from December 2021 seemingly didn’t work fully.

There are a bunch of important fixes in this preview update, in fact, and as well as those two major ones, there are solutions for some problems with File Explorer, including a fix for “some issues that affect File Explorer’s performance when you browse for files and select files,” and a “reliability issue that causes File Explorer and desktop context menus to stop working.”

A Reddit user in the above mentioned thread clarifies: “No more slight delays in opening context menus! Basically no more delays in anything. Even the start menu opens up instantly. This was one minor thing annoying me about W11, but now I think I’m finally content with 11.”

Another Redditor agrees: “There are multiple reports from Insiders that this update is a drastic increase in system responsiveness, I just installed it, can confirm that too.”

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Google could give free G Suite users a way out of paying for Workspace
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G Suite users upset at Google's recent move to make them pay for their office software could be in luck thanks to a potential loophole.

The company recently announced that all G Suite legacy free edition users would been shifted over to a paid version of Google Workspace in order to keep access to tools such as Gmail, Meet and Docs.

This had upset users who may have recently signed up for the software, particularly non-business users facing having to pay for the first time – but help could be at hand.

Free G Suite

Google had said the G Suite legacy free edition itself will no longer be available from July 1, 2022, with any users found not to have started paying after 60 days being locked out.

But a loophole spotted by Ars Technica writer Ron Amadeo means that non-business users could potentially get around the change. The site spotted that a section on the FAQ for the transition included a section for users that “use G Suite legacy free edition for personal use and don’t want to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription.”

This includes users who may have signed up to use the initial build of Workspace, known as Google Apps, when it was launched in 2006, but with a non-gmail.com email address. It may also include users who provided family or friends with Google accounts that have certain services still linked, but not the entire Workspace suite of tools.

“We understand some customers may not use their G Suite legacy free edition for business and may be interested in other options,” the company noted. 

Such non-business users with 10 or fewer users in their group are instructed to log into their administrator account to provide more information, meaning they may be able to continue with their current situation at least a little while longer.

Read more

> Google Workspace is getting a major upgrade to rival Microsoft 365

> Google Workspace Individual offers all you need to start and run a small business

> Google takes aim at Microsoft 365 with small but important update

Google had planned to automatically upgrade free users from May 1 to “an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription” based on its analysis of the customer's usage and the features it thinks you'll need.

Google Workplace plans start at $ 6/user/month for its Business Starter option, with Business Standard ($ 12/user/month) and Business Plus ($ 18 /user/month) also on offer, providing an increasing level of services with the amount paid.

Google is offering a discount for twelve months, and won't start charging subscription fees until July 1, 2022. The company is also offering businesses who don't want to pay or upgrade the chance to export their data at no extra cost.

Google rebranded G Suite as Workspace back in October 2020 in a bid to bring more structure to its myriad of apps and services.

Initially described as “the future of work”, the new platform looked to improve the interoperability of its various productivity services, blurring the lines between each product for a more fluid feel.

Via 9to5Google

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

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Bitdefender is ending its free antivirus
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Keeping your computer protected against the latest threats and viruses can be difficult especially as we now spend even more time online but with the right antivirus software, you can browse the web safely and securely.

While Bitdefender has a number of paid antivirus solutions to help users protect their PCs, the company also offers a free product called Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. However, in an email sent to its customers seen by TechRadar Pro, the company has revealed that it will soon end support for its free antivirus.

In the email, Bitdefender explained that immense changes in the security industry have upended many of its plans for product development and unfortunately, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is a casualty of these changes.

Beginning on January 1 of 2022, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition will officially be discontinued and will no longer be available for use.

Time for an upgrade

Although Bitdefender is discontinuing its free antivirus, the company says that it will continue to offer tech support for the product until June 30 of next year. This will give its customers more than enough time to install an alternative antivirus solution to keep their devices protected.

For those that want to continue using Bitdefender's silent “set-in-and-forget-it” style of antivirus protection, the company is running a promotion where it will upgrade the subscriptions of its free users to Bitdefender Total Security. 

Normally a one year subscription to the software costs £69.99 but Bitdefender will provide Free Edition users with a 5 device / 1 year subscription for just £8.98. However, this offer is only available to Free Edition users and will expire on December 31 of this year, so if you want to keep using Bitdefender to protect your PC, now is the time to claim it.

Alternatively, Microsoft Defender is another free antivirus software solution that comes built-in with every Windows PC though it doesn't include nearly as many features as Bitdefender Total Security like a VPN and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

We've also highlighted the best antivirus, best malware removal software and best endpoint protection software

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