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Posts tagged "year"

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How much will it cost to keep Windows 10 alive next year? You’ll have to wait to find out
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Microsoft is keeping its cards close to its chest regarding how much consumers will need to pay if they want to keep Windows 10 support alive when it officially runs out in October 2025.

Windows Latest noticed that Microsoft penned a blog post detailing the options and costs for businesses looking to have extended support in terms of security updates being piped through into 2026 and potentially beyond.

This is nothing to do with consumers, however, although everyday users of Windows 10 will also have a choice to pay for extending security updates should they want to keep the OS after October 2025.

Microsoft has clarified that point in an update to the post, stating that: “The details and pricing structure outlined in this post apply to commercial organizations only.”

So when will we find out about the cost for consumers? We don’t know is the short answer – you’ll have to wait. Microsoft wrote: “Details will be shared at a later date for consumers on our consumer end of support page.”

Note that even with paying for extended support, this is just security patches you’ll be getting, and Microsoft won’t be developing or applying any new features to Windows 10.

Analysis: Should you pay for extended Windows 10 support?

Windows 10 Logo on Laptop

(Image credit: Shutterstock – Wachiwit)

To be fair to Microsoft, we are still a year and a half away from support expiring for Windows 10, so it’s not exactly a surprise that pricing options aren’t worked out fully yet. Although if Microsoft has managed to count the relevant beans and do the math for business customers, hopefully consumers won’t be left in the dark for too much longer. It's a little frustrating to see pricing for some customers, and not for others.

As to the wider issue of whether you want to pay for extended support for Windows 10, well, there are some folks in the unhappy position of not being able to upgrade to Windows 11 due to the hardware requirements. If you’re in that boat, then it might be worth exploring the options available to make your PC compatible and then migrate to Windows 11 – depending on what that entails.

If it’s a matter of adding a TPM (trusted platform module), that wouldn't be very expensive compared to the ongoing cost of subscribing (on a monthly or perhaps yearly basis) to post-support security updates for Windows 10. You could even pay a computer repair shop to help with the upgrade, as that’ll likely still work out cheaper than a support subscription in the longer run.

On the other hand, if you'll likely need to upgrade much of your PC to be able to install Windows 11, that would be more challenging (both financially and practically). For example, you may have an older unsupported CPU, which would likely requite a new motherboard or RAM. That being the case, staying on Windows 10 could make sense until you can afford a new Windows 11 PC – or indeed a Windows 12 device by that time, no doubt.

The other alternative is to shift away from Microsoft completely to one of the best Linux distros, which won’t cost you a penny – and you can always choose a distro that’s a fair bit like Windows in its interface. Although bear in mind that you’ll still face a lot of limitations using Linux rather than Windows.

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Microsoft confirms when WordPad will be tossed on the scrapheap – later this year with Windows 11 24H2
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It’s now official that when Windows 11’s big 24H2 update rolls around later this year, we’ll be saying farewell to WordPad.

This is no surprise, as we had already heard the death knell for the venerable default app, with Microsoft announcing WordPad was deprecated back in September 2023, and then it disappeared from preview builds of Windows 11 in January 2024. Back at the time, we were told future releases of Windows 11 would not include WordPad.

As Windows Latest spotted, we now have fresh info from Microsoft which represents concrete confirmation that the 24H2 update will be when WordPad is ditched from its desktop OS.

Microsoft tells us: “WordPad will be removed from all editions of Windows starting in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025.”

Windows Latest checked current preview builds of Windows 11 24H2, searching for WordPad in the Start menu, and its related files in various folders, finding that it has all been stripped out.

Analysis: WordPad down, Notepad on the up

In the past, Microsoft has made it clear that you won’t be able to somehow reinstall WordPad (and that the app won’t be present in new installations of Windows 11). So, you’re not going to be able to avoid losing WordPad when the 24H2 update rolls out to Windows 11 users, which should be around September 2024 (or maybe a bit later). As ever it’ll be a phased rollout so you might not get 24H2 straight away, anyway.

There is one obvious way to keep WordPad, mind you, and that’s not to take the 24H2 update when it’s released. You can stick on 23H2 at least for the length of time it’s supported, which will be until November 2025. After that (or even just before), Microsoft will start force upgrading PCs away from 23H2 (as without support and security updates, users are at risk from unpatched exploits).

Of course, by not getting the 24H2 update you’ll be missing out on a whole bunch of new features – so WordPad better be worth a lot to you. Windows 11 24H2 promises to be a major update, not just bringing in new functionality, but also changing the underpinnings of the OS with a new platform – Germanium, which ushers in performance and security benefits under the hood.

Furthermore, Notepad will remain in Windows 11, and Microsoft’s attitude to this is very different in that it’s still actively developing this lightweight text editing app. Notepad has been fleshed out beyond its traditional simplicity to add features such as spellcheck and autocorrect (plus an AI addition could be inbound in the form of Cowriter, even).

Perhaps all of this is happening exactly because WordPad is being dispensed with, so Notepad can be more readily tapped as a mini-Word alternative, as it were.

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Apple confirms the Vision Pro will get international launch this year
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The Apple Vision Pro VR headset has wowed many of those who have given it a whirl, but one major issue keeping the device out of people’s hands is availability – if you live outside the US and want to buy one, you’re out of luck. That’s set to change, though, with Tim Cook confirming that the headset will launch in at least one other country this year: China.

Apple has previously hinted at a wider Apple Vision Pro release coming in 2024, and while speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing over the weekend Tim Cook specifically mentioned China as one of the lucky countries that's set to get the headset before the end of the year.

Beyond confirming that a China release is on the cards, Cook didn’t reveal a specific release date or pricing: however, a Vision Pro release outside the US before June 2024 was hinted at by analysts earlier this year, and it's unlikely that China will be the only country where it's released. 

Is a worldwide Vision Pro release coming soon?

China, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the UK, among a few others, are regions where Apple is looking to hire a 'Briefing Experience Specialist' for the Vision Pro. When the job postings were spotted it was believed they hinted at where the wider Vision Pro release would begin, and Cook’s China confirmation suggests that this may indeed be the case.

As such, we wouldn’t be surprised if the UK and Australia (and the rest) saw an Apple Vision Pro release around the same time as China. As mentioned above, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously suggested Apple is likely to launch the Vision Pro outside of the US before WWDC – which is due in June – so we might only be a month or two away from seeing the Vision Pro in more people’s hands. 

If you're interested in picking up the Apple headset, we'd suggest first reading our Apple Vision Pro review to help you decide if the $ 3,500 device (around £2,800 / AU$ 5,350) is worth it for you.

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Here’s more proof Apple is going big with AI this year
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The fact that Apple is going to debut a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool in iOS 18 this year is probably one of the worst-kept secrets in tech at the moment. Now, another morsel has leaked out surrounding Apple’s future AI plans, and it could shed light on what sort of AI features Apple fans might soon get to experience.

As first reported by Bloomberg, earlier this year Apple bought Canadian startup DarwinAI, with dozens of the company’s workers joining Apple once the deal was completed. It’s thought that Apple made this move in an attempt to bolster its AI capabilities in the last few months before iOS 18 will be revealed, which is expected to happen at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

Bloomberg’s report says that DarwinAI “has developed AI technology for visually inspecting components during the manufacturing process.” One of its “core technologies,” however, is making AI faster and more efficient, and that could be the reason Apple chose to open its wallet. Apple intends its AI to run entirely on-device, presumably to protect your privacy by not sharing AI inputs with the cloud, and this would benefit from DarwinAI’s tech. After all, Apple won’t want its flagship AI features to result in sluggish iPhone performance.

Apple’s AI plans

Siri

(Image credit: Unsplash [Omid Armin])

This is apparently just the latest move Apple has made in the AI arena. Thanks to a series of leaks and statements from Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company is known to be making serious efforts to challenge AI market leaders like OpenAI and Microsoft.

For instance, it’s been widely reported that Apple will soon unveil its own generative AI tool, which has been dubbed Ajax and AppleGPT during its development process. This could give a major boost to Apple’s Siri assistant, which has long lagged behind competitors such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. As well as that, we could see generative AI tools debut in apps like Pages and Apple Music, rivaling products like Microsoft’s Copilot and Spotify’s AI DJ.

Tim Cook has dropped several hints regarding Apple’s plans, saying customers can expect to see a host of AI features “later this year.” The Apple chief has called AI a “huge opportunity” for his company and has said that Apple intends to “break new ground” in this area. When it comes to specifics, though, Cook has been far less forthcoming, presumably preferring to reveal all at WWDC.

It’s unknown whether Apple will have time to properly integrate DarwinAI’s tools into iOS 18 before it is announced to the world, but it seems certain it will make use of them over the coming months and years. It could be just one more piece of the AI puzzle that Apple is attempting to solve.

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Apple says AI features are coming to your iPhone ‘later this year’ – here’s what to expect
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For the past year or two, the world has watched as a string of incredible artificial intelligence (AI) tools have appeared, and everyone has been wondering one thing: when will Apple join the party? Now, we finally have an answer.

On a recent earnings call (via The Verge), Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that AI tools are coming to the company’s devices as soon as “later this year.” Cook then added that “I think there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with generative AI.” While the Apple chief didn’t reveal any specifics, the small amount he did discuss has already been enough to get tongues wagging and for speculation to run riot.

It’s no surprise that Apple is working on generative AI tools – Cook admitted as much back in August 2023, when he explained that Apple has been developing its own generative AI “for years.” But the latest admission is the first time we’ve seen anyone put a launch date on things, even if it is a very rough date.

Given that this is a software update (and a big one at that), it seems likely that Apple has is its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in mind. The company will use this June event to unveil its upcoming operating systems and software upgrades (like iOS 18). And with its audience mostly comprised of developers, it makes sense for Apple to tease something like generative AI that could give devs a new tool in their iOS arsenal.

As well as that, industry analyst Jeff Pu has previously claimed that iOS 18 will be one of Apple’s biggest software updates ever precisely because of its inclusion of generative AI, so Cook’s statements seem to confirm Pu’s claim. That means there could be a lot to look forward to at WWDC – and some big new features coming to your iPhone.

What's en route?

The most likely upgrade that Cook is referring to is a rebooted version of Apple's Siri voice assistant. Bloomberg's reliable Apple commentator Mark Gurman recently predicted that iOS 18 will be “one of the biggest iOS updates – if not the biggest – in the company's history” and that this will be largely tied to a “big upgrade to Siri”.

According to another respected leaker Revegnus, Apple is building a proprietary LLM (large language model) to “completely revamp Siri into the ultimate virtual assistant”. It's about time – while Siri was impressive when it landed over a decade ago, it's since plateaued. So we can expect a much more conversational, and powerful, voice assistant by the end of 2024.

Close-up of the Siri interface

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Tada Images)

But what else might benefit from the generative AI that Apple's been working on? Messages, Apple Music and Pages are all expected to receive significant AI-based improvements later this year, with some of Apple's rivals recently giving us hints of what to expect. Google Messages will soon get added Bard powers for texting help, while Spotify has already shown that the future of streaming is AI-powered DJs.  

Lastly, there's photography and video, but it seems likely that Apple will tread more carefully than Samsung and Google here. The Galaxy S24 cameras are all about AI skills, which are something of a mixed bag. While Instant Slow-Mo (which generates extra frames of video to turn standard 4K/60p video into slow motion clips) is very clever and useful, Generative Edit opens the floodgates to digital fakery (even with its watermarks).

It'll be fascinating to see how Apple treads this line across all aspects of the iPhone. But one other key iPhone feature, privacy, could also put the brakes on Apple getting too carried away with generative AI… 

Why Apple is taking its time

Siri

(Image credit: Unsplash [Omid Armin])

Apple has been consistently criticized for not launching its own generative AI, especially as arch-rival Microsoft has been so decisive in spreading its Copilot AI to almost every aspect of Windows and its own apps.

But there’s a likely reason for Apple’s sluggishness, and it comes down to user privacy. Apple takes a strong stance on this, and often touts its devices’ privacy-protecting capabilities as one of their main benefits. AI tools are known to sweep up user data and have been known for their privacy compromises, so it’s no surprise that Apple has taken its time here, presumably to ensure its AI is as pro-privacy as possible.

As well as that, Apple doesn’t usually rush into a new market before it is ready, instead preferring to wait a little longer before blowing its rivals away with something it thinks is far superior. We saw that with the original iPhone, for example, and also with the Apple Vision Pro, and it seems that generative AI is just the latest thing to get this treatment from Apple.

Whether Apple’s own AI actually is better than the likes of ChatGPT and Copilot remains to be seen, but it looks like we’ll find out sooner rather than later.

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Windows 11 bug that made some users wrongly suspect they’d been hacked has finally been fixed – but it took Microsoft over a year
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Microsoft has fixed a bug in Windows 11 that has been hanging around forever, pretty much – or for over a year anyway.

In fact, as Windows Latest observes, it took Microsoft fifteen months to fix the problem with File Explorer whereby it would simply pop into the foreground with no warning.

In other words, you might be busy working away at some task or other and File Explorer suddenly appears on top of all your other windows, for absolutely no reason.

An odd problem indeed, but we’re told that the cure is packaged up in the latest update for Windows 11. That’s the recently released cumulative update for December, also known as patch KB5033375.

Microsoft notes: “This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer windows. When you do not expect them, they appear in the foreground.”

The bug seems to happen randomly on affected PCs, and worse still, Windows Latest says that it can occur on a roughly hourly basis in some scenarios, which is way too regularly for our liking.

Analysis: False hacking suspicions

The thing about this bug is that it isn’t just a distraction or annoyance, but more than this, it may make some Windows 11 users wrongly suspect that they’ve been hacked. After all, your PC doing things of its own accord, when you’re not touching the keyboard or the mouse perhaps, is a sign of potential compromise – and certainly a freaky thing to experience if nothing else.

In this respect, the File Explorer bug may have caused some undue worry on the part of those experiencing it, who may have been running virus scans and all sorts of other carry-on, imagining that there could be a potential breach of security on their system somewhere.

It’s good that this is fixed, but it should never take more than a year for a problem to be banished from Windows 11. There have certainly been some relieved users we’ve seen on the likes of Reddit rejoicing that this gremlin in the works has finally been dealt with, while scratching their heads at just how long it took Microsoft to untangle this one.

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Strava’s Year in Sport is rolling out now – it’s like Spotify Wrapped for your activities
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It's not just the music streaming services that offer users an annual recap these days, because Strava has pushed out its own Year in Sport – a recap of everything you've been logging on the app throughout the course of 2023.

The caveat is that you have to be a paying subscriber to see your highlights for the entire year (prices start at $ 11.99 / £8.99 / AU$ 14.99). Full details of the recap are here (via 9to5Google), and you need to open up the Strava app for Android or iOS app to get to your recap. You can also scan this QR code.

“The Year In Sport summary is a highly personalized report for Strava athletes that highlights fun data insights, meaningful social engagements, and stand-out moments from this past year,” says Strava.

Strava has posted on Instagram to give you some idea of what you can expect from your Year in Sport: the total time you spent doing activities, for example, the total distance you covered, and more along those lines.

Year in Sport Awards 2023

Strava has also announced the winners of its Year in Sport Awards for 2023, recognition for the athletes, creators and clubs that have “stood out from the crowd and motivated us to keep moving” during the course of the year.

Those recognized include cyclist Demi Vollering, who triumphed at the Tour de France Femmes, the Ardennes classics, and the Dutch National Road Race Championships. Another female cyclist, Teniel Campbell, gets Trailblazer of the Year.

The fastest known time on Mont Blanc, logged by runner and 'skyracer' Hillary Gerardi, gets Activity of the Year 2023. According to Strava, it may never be bettered: 20 miles (32.6 kilometers) covered in 7 hours, 25 minutes, and 28 seconds.

There's also a nod to Strava user Frédéric de Lanouvelle and his daughter Mathilde in the Artist of the Year category: they drew a giant heart across France via their cycling activities, GPS, and the location recording tools inside Strava.

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Windows 11 24H2 reference spotted – does this mean no Windows 12 next year?
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While the rumor mill has been putting some stock in the idea that the next version of Microsoft’s operating system will be called Windows 12, and it’s expected to turn up next year, a little doubt has now sprung up around this.

Regular leaker @XenoPanther on X (formerly Twitter) was digging around in Windows (policy definitions, pretty dry stuff) and stumbled upon a reference to ‘Windows 11 24H2.’

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As the leaker notes, this could be a typo, as the references seem to skip from Windows 11 22H2 to 24H2, so maybe this is supposed to read 23H2?

If it is correct, though, it’s an early indication that the next version of Microsoft’s OS will be the 24H2 update for Windows 11 – rather than Windows 12 as rumored.

In other words, Windows 12 may not be coming next year, or at least that’s the conclusion some folks are rapidly drawing on social media thanks to this leak.

Analysis: Possible placeholder?

Putting the possibility that this is a mistake to one side – which it certainly could be – jumping to conclusions really is premature here. Even if it isn’t an error, a mere mention of Windows 11 24H2 could be a placeholder name for next year’s release, of course.

It is, however, at least a suggestion that Microsoft might not be going for a whole new version of Windows for next year after all.

That said, we’re not convinced of that by any means, as there have been quite strong signs that a next-gen Windows should be inbound in 2024. That includes most recently Taiwan’s The Commercial Times reporting on a new generation of Windows popping up in June of next year, and a bit further back, we witnessed an Intel exec talking about next-gen Windows for 2024.

Note carefully, though, that no one actually mentions Windows 12 as the name – instead, less specific terms like 'next-gen Windows' are employed.

It’s likely even Microsoft itself hasn’t decided on the final name yet, and so calling the next version Windows 11 24H2 could be a placeholder for next-gen Windows – which might end up being named Windows 12 – as much as it is a possible sign that Windows 11 will stick around for another year and another annual update.

We’ve previously bet on a future version of Windows being renamed due to its strong focus on AI (Windows Copilot, perhaps, even though Microsoft already used that name, or Windows AI even?). Whenever AI hits big-time for the OS, Microsoft will rename it accordingly to reflect that, we reckon – although in fairness, from the speed of Copilot development so far, that probably won’t be next year.

Via Windows Latest

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Report: Google delays its biggest AI launch of the year, but it’s still coming soon
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Google has delayed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events that were set to showcase the company’s Gemini generative AI tool, according to The Information. If true, it's another blow to Google’s efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.

As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event was due to take place just days from now, with the first one kicking off next week. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently taken the decision to push it back to January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the of the decision.”

The reason for the delay? Google was not confident that Gemini was able to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to ensure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it’s clearly not quite there yet.

The events – due to be held in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google’s most important product launch of the year” owing to how keen Google is to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That means that delaying them could be a sizable blow to Google, even if they do ultimately take place in early 2024.

In ChatGPT’s shadow

Google on a smartphone

(Image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)

Despite their imminent dates, Google hadn’t done much promotion for the events (perhaps due to concerns over Gemini’s abilities). In the end, that meant the company managed to avoid an embarrassing retraction or cancellation of already-announced events.

Yet Google isn’t likely to be very happy with the situation. The delay demonstrates how much the company is struggling to get on level terms with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and engineering abilities. It’s also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to delay its Gemini events.

It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly had a major breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool is supposedly able to solve problems it has not been trained on, something that AI has traditionally found difficult, thereby ramping up the pressure on Google to hit back.

Google is likely to weave Gemini’s AI capabilities into its other products, such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company’s apps. Just don’t expect to see these changes until early next year.

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Report: OpenAI’s GPT App store won’t arrive this year
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The hits keep on coming at OpenAI. After dismissing CEO and Co-Founder Sam Altman, inviting him back, and reinstating him as CEO just a few days ago, the ChatGPT developer is apparently pulling back, at least temporarily, on its plans for a GPT Store.

Earlier this month during the first OpenAI Dev Day, Altman introduced the concept of “GPTs”, basically custom versions of the ChatGPT generative AI model. These bespoke versions would use custom data and therefore do what you wanted them to do. They'd be less generally smart, like the current ChatGPT that turned 1 this week, and much more specifically smart to your needs. Perhaps the most exciting part of this announcement was that you'd be able to post and buy these custom GPTs in an online GPT Store.

Now, Axios is reporting based on a developer memo it obtained that OpenAI is pressing pause on the GPT Store launch at least until early 2024. In the memo, according to the report, OpenAI wrote, “While we had expected to release it this month, a few unexpected things have been keeping us busy!“

That comment, if real, might be a nod toward the tumult that consumed OpenAI over the last two weeks.

A new beginning

Of course, all that is in the past now. On November 29, Altman posted a message on the company blog praising his team and even holding out an olive branch to former board member and computer scientist Ilya Sutskever who may have promoted the fire drill that prompted Altman's removal.

“I love and respect Ilya, I think he's a guiding light of the field and a gem of a human being. I harbor zero ill will towards him,” wrote Altman on Wednesday.

Perhaps notably, Altman made no mention of “GPTs” or the GPT store in his post. Instead, he focused significant attention on AI safety, writing the company has three immediate priorities and listing this as the first: “Advancing our research plan and further investing in our full-stack safety efforts, which have always been critical to our work.”

There's no indication in the reported memo that OpenAI is pausing GPTs work or really any part of its march toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), of which Altman writes, “One of the most important things for the team that builds AGI safely is the ability to handle stressful and uncertain situations, and maintain good judgment throughout.”

Assuming this pause memo is real, the delay to early 2024 is just a matter of a few months. Knowing OpenAI and the rapid development pace of ChatGPT and the large language model (LLM) powering it, the delay could shrink to weeks.

All told, it's back to AI business for OpenAI.

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