Содержание выпуска: 674 — Computeractive

Around this time I get envious of film and music magazine editors, who can fill their pages with end-of-year ‘best of’ lists. But then I realise we have something better. Our Snipca URLs give us a constantly updating tally of how often a link has been clicked. It’s a priceless insight into the software, apps and devices you love – and we can use it to compile our own list of the year’s most popular tools. Robert Irvine has studied the stats and in our Cover Feature guides you through your 20 most-downloaded programs of 2023. He reveals that you spent the year trying to improve Windows, remove junk, block adverts and stay anonymous online. Me too, actually. Every program is free – which reminds me that avoiding expensive rip-offs…

EE has launched three new TV boxes to replace BT TV, giving you access to terrestrial channels and streaming services, as well as Apple TV+ for the first time. Apple TV+ comes on a 4K box as part of your subscription. It has the EE TV app pre-installed, so you can watch live TV through your Apple TV (see main picture). The other two devices – called EE TV Box Pro (pictured below) and EE TV Box Mini – both contain the same live and on-demand TV apps, including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Discovery+. EE said that Disney+ will be added soon. The main difference between the boxes is that the Pro lets you record up to 600 hours, on four different channels simultaneously. The Mini…

The war between Israel and Hamas was the most searched-for news item on Google in 2023. Second was the implosion on the Titan submersible in June, which killed five people as they searched for the Titanic wreck. Third was the Turkey-Syria earthquake in February. Google revealed the results in its ‘Year of Search’ report for 2023, which are based on “search terms that had the highest spike this year when compared to the previous year”. The top searched-for person was American Footballer Damar Hamlin, who had a cardiac arrest during a game in January. He has since recovered and is playing again. Friends actor Matthew Perry was the most searched-for celebrity death, while Barbie topped film searches. You can see the top global searches by visiting www.snipca.com/48657. To narrow your…

Russian hackers have tricked celebrities into filming videos that they manipulated to look like the stars were praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Microsoft security report (www.snipca.com/48642). The videos were also edited to make it seem the celebrities were suggesting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a drug problem. Microsoft said the videos were from Cameo, a popular site where the public pay celebrities to send them personalised videos. It claims that the hackers persuaded celebrities to record a video that told ‘Vladimir’ to seek help for substance abuse. They were then edited to include emojis and links to make them look like official news clips or videos from the celebrities’ own social-media accounts. The videos aren’t available to watch publicly, but they are being widely shared on Russian…

I was selling an item on eBay that was listed as a straight sale for £95, rather than an auction. After it lapsed with no sale I chose eBay’s option to relist the item on what I presumed were the same conditions. I soon got a message from eBay saying it had been bought for just £28 plus postage and that the buyer had already paid. It seems that the relisting had defaulted to Auction status with a minimum of 99p. I certainly hadn’t consciously altered it, and assumed that relisting automatically applied the same original selling conditions. I phoned eBay and spoke to a very helpful customer-support agent, who couldn’t understand what had happened, but fully accepted the error and my explanation. They immediately reversed the transaction and refunded…

BurnAware Premium www.snipca.com/48702 Price: £30.16 per year or £90.56 lifetime licence Free trial: Seven days What you need: Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 BurnAware is one of the few remaining programs for creating your own CDs and DVDs, and recently released version 17.2. The disc-burning software offers free and paid-for editions, so you can download the one that best suits your needs. The Free edition of BurnAware can back up data and ISO files to disc, and burn audio and video content to CD, DVD and Blu-ray. It also lets you erase rewritable discs so you can use them again. However, it’s only available as a 32bit download, so you may find it slow on higher-specced PCs. BurnAware Premium is much more powerful and versatile, with a 64bit version…

I realise it’s embarrassing for organisations to be plagued by persistent technical problems, but that was no excuse for Reading Borough Council to advise people to disable HTTPS in their browser. It offered this dubious advice on X (formerly Twitter, www.snipca.com/48595) as a way of using its online planning application portal, which hadn’t been working properly for nearly a month. The same guidance appeared on a yellow banner if you visited the portal. It even told people to use Chrome rather than Safari because the latter doesn’t let you turn off HTTPS. The council did at least apologise for its “incorrect information” (www.snipca.com/48603), and the planning portal is now back online. But how many people followed its advice and then forgot to reactivate HTTPS? It’s a sorry episode that makes…

TABLET | £149 from Amazon www.snipca.com/48636 The Honor Pad X9 is one of the cheapest tablets around, but you’d be hard-pressed to see that on first impressions. There’s not a hint of plastic in the casing, just a metallic unibody shell. It’s slim and light at 6.9mm thick and 499g, and while the thicker bezels and overall design tell you that this isn’t Samsung’s top-of-the-range Galaxy Tab S9 (£759 from www.snipca.com/47493), it’s still a decent device. “A tablet that makes sensible trade-offs to keep the price down” First off, you won’t find much wrong with the screen. True, the 11.5in panel size and 2000x1200-pixel resolution means you don’t get the sharpness of some rivals. However, it’s still punchy, with a maximum brightness level of 462cd/m2 and better colour reproduction (98…

SPEAKER ❘ £190 from K&B Audio www.snipca.com/48608 The Edifier QD35 is described by its manufacturer as a tabletop speaker, which just means you could plug it into your PC or simply leave it on your kitchen worktop or living-room side table, to play radio broadcasts, music or anything else you want to stream from a Bluetooth-connected device. At the front, the unit is transparent, and has RGB lights embedded into its design. It has a 35W charger built in, an RGB clock, and offers several connection methods. When you have them switched on, the RGB lighting and illuminated piping inside look phenomenal – in fact, unlike any speaker we’ve seen before. The lights have a wide range of customisable presets, accessible via its smartphone app, but you can also create your…

LAPTOP Huawei MateBook 16s 2023 £1,100 from www.snipca.com/47772 Tested Issue 669 In all our years of testing no laptop has ever performed Windows tasks as quickly as this. This breathtaking speed is down to the powerful Intel Core i9 processor. It also has a sharp 16in screen, 16GB RAM and long battery life. ALTERNATIVE Honor MagicBook X 16 2023 Also has a 16in screen and is great value, though it’s not especially fast. £450 from www.snipca.com/47868 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 £759 from www.snipca.com/47493 Tested Issue 667 With a much brighter screen than our previous favourite – the Galaxy Tab S8 – this is perfect for watching TV. It also has a faster processor, so tasks feel smoother, even with several windows open. It’s a great buy at its full…

ANDROID & iOS Hide locked WhatsApp chats with a secret code One of the most useful features WhatsApp introduced in 2023 was Chat Lock. As we explained in Issue 659 (page 44), this lets you hide your private conversations from nosy parkers by moving them to a secure folder. This can only be accessed using the password or biometric method (such as your face or fingerprint) that you use to unlock your phone. The ‘Locked chats’ folder appears at the top of the Chats tab and is easily revealed by swiping down. To make things more secure, WhatsApp now lets you hide the folder, so it can only be viewed by entering a secret code. This is different to your phone’s passcode, so it gives your locked chats extra protection…

Whatever your club is about, having a shared calendar that all club members can access is a great way to promote important events. There are plenty of different calendar apps for you to try – and most are free. But so many people already have a Google account that it makes sense to use its calendar – as we’ll explain here. Get yourself ready by logging in at http://calendar.google.com. Add contacts and set permissions First, scroll down the left of the screen until you find ‘Other calendars’. Click the plus (+) icon next to it, then select ‘Create new calendar’ from the menu. Now give your calendar a name (1 in our screenshot below) and a description 2, and also set the time zone 3. Hit the blue ‘Create calendar’…

In the second half of 2023, many popular services increased their subscription prices, including Apple Music and Apple TV+, Deezer, Disney+, Netflix and Spotify. Sadly, this wallet-stretching trend looks set to continue into 2024. For example, existing YouTube Premium users who thought they’d dodged August’s price hike for new sign-ups – to £12.99 per month – will now pay the same amount. Here we reveal the price rises to watch out for in 2024, and how to avoid them. Evernote’s new restrictions Following our news story in Issue 673 (page 9), Evernote has confirmed that all users on its Free plan will now be limited to one notebook and 50 notes (www.snipca.com/48654). If you need more, you’ll have to upgrade to an Evernote Personal plan, which costs £8.99 per month…

How do I add Notepad++ to my right-click menu? Q I’m keen to try Notepad++ (www.snipca.com/48402) as recommended by Rob Sedgwick (Issue 673, page 41). He mentions that you can add it to your right-click menu, and there’s a screenshot proving it. But I can’t work out how to do this. I use Windows 11. Can you help? Bob Earle A The option shown in Issue 673’s screenshot is ‘Edit with Notepad’, and that definitely appears when you right-click a file. So, instead, we think you’re having trouble finding the ‘Open with Notepad++’ option – and it’s probably because you’re one of the many users confused by Microsoft’s decision in Windows 11 to show a smaller menu when you right-click. To see ‘Open with Notepad++’, you first need to click…

Plans to let you switch broadband quickly with just ‘one touch’ have been delayed yet again. A system to let you switch easily between cable networks, such as between BT Openreach and Virgin Media, was due to be introduced on 14 March. But the One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo, https://totsco.org.uk), which is in charge of implementing the change, says it won’t be ready by then. It claimed that there’s “insufficient time to complete industry-wide testing and trials before the planned go-live date”. Under the One Touch Switch (OTS) scheme, your new provider will handle every aspect of your switch, including asking your old provider for your final bill. This process already works when moving between providers that are on the Openreach network, such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Zen. But…

Openreach has reached halfway in its plan to install fibre-to- the premises (FTTP) broadband to 25 million homes and businesses by the end of 2026. More than 20,000 medical facilities and care homes are among the 12.5 million premises now connected to gigabit speeds, it said. The figure also includes 18,000 educational buildings and more than 3.6 million homes in rural areas. It claims to be connecting around 60,000 new premises every week, or one every 10 seconds. Clive Selley, Openreach’s CEO, said that the company is “building faster than any operator I’m aware of in Europe” (see www.snipca.com/48674). He added: “This is a national infrastructure project that’s a genuine success story. We’re delivering engineering on an epic scale, on time and on budget – and that’s thanks to a…

Does Currys’ two-repairs policy override consumer law? LEAD CASE Q I’ve just bought a new TV from Currys and decided to pay for its ‘Care & Repair’ insurance service (www.snipca.com/48565). I think it’s good value and I like the seven-day repair promise, plus free pick-up and redelivery. However, I note that Currys says it can carry out two attempts at a repair. So my question is whether this supersedes the ‘one repair’ rule outlined by the Consumer Rights Act (CRA). John Perkins A No, it can’t override the CRA, but it can work together with statutory law to give extra protection. If the TV became faulty within 30 days of purchase, John can reject it for a full refund. If the fault appears between 30 days and six months, Currys…

What can I replace SyncToy with? Q After resetting my laptop to its factory settings I’ve lost a lot of programs that are no longer compatible with Windows 11. One was Microsoft’s SyncToy, which I used to back up my files to an external hard drive. Is there a good free alternative? Andrew Ball A Backing up your files is an essential, ongoing task, so getting this sorted out should be a priority. Microsoft discontinued SyncToy in 2021, but there are plenty of alternatives to choose from. One of the best is IDrive, which you may already recognise as the name of a paid-for online backup service (www.idrive.com). Its backup software is free to download, letting you archive files on an external hard drive or SSD at no cost. To download…

PC | £2,002 from CyberPower www.snipca.com/48558 CyberPower Infinity X147 GRE Gaming PC Pulling a fast one This is one of the most expensive PCs we’ve reviewed for some time, but for the price tag you get an extremely powerful specification. If you’re looking for a PC that will run anything you care to throw at it (including the latest games) and components that will keep you up to speed for years to come, this might just be the machine for you. “A lightning-quick PC for gamers with money to burn” At its beating heart is the Intel Core i7-14700KF chip. This 14th-generation processor only arrived in October, so is definitely at the cutting edge of Intel’s range. It’s packed with 20 cores, eight of which are performance cores. The remaining…

TV-STREAMING STICK | £60 from Amazon www.snipca.com/48645 There are two ways to get streaming services on your TV: you can either buy a smart TV that has all the services built in, or you can add them afterwards with a streaming device such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. The benefit of buying a stick is that they’re inexpensive and easy to upgrade. By plugging one into your TV’s HDMI port, you can make it smart or add services and options your TV may not have come with. “An affordable way to upgrade your TV with all the latest services” The latest version of Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K isn’t revolutionary – it looks very similar to its predecessor and does almost exactly the same things. However, it has…

Q I read with interest your article reviewing the best smart plugs in Issue 672. Are there such plugs that could alert me when the item plugged in fails or the supply drops out due to a power cut or similar? I’m thinking about whether I could receive an alert if my freezer failed while I was on holiday, for example. Bruce Dodsworth A Unfortunately, while some smart devices can warn you if your internet connection goes down, we haven’t yet seen one that could alert you to a power cut. Most devices require electricity to operate, then need an internet connection to report on their status, which would also be down in a power failure. There are other devices that might help. The ControlloCasa Power Failure Alarm (£42 from…

SECURITY CAMERA | £160 from Amazon www.snipca.com/48652 An upgrade on Ring’s regular Outdoor Camera Battery (£90 from www.snipca.com/48653), the new Pro version adds radar for improved 3D motion detection. It then uses the data it collects to plot visitors’ (and intruders’) routes by combining the movement tracking with satellite imagery. Called Bird’s Eye View, it’s a clever trick, but one that doesn’t quite justify the £70 price hike over the regular model. “Plots intruders’ routes via 3D satellite imagery” In other ways, the weatherproof Pro is as good as we’ve come to expect from a Ring product. The build quality is robust, setup is simple and there are plenty of configuration options. The Ring’s Full HD video quality is also impressive, though not outstanding, with rivals offering 2K or even…

The new ORA, from Canadian speaker manufacturer Kanto Audio is a powerful compact desktop speaker ideal for listening to music, gaming, or for use as a home or remote recording studio monitor. Featuring separate amplifiers for the woofers/tweeters, ORA offers superior clarity alongside a smooth, accurate frequency response. Featuring Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, Analogue Line-in and a USB-C input for connecting iPhone 15, Android devices, Digital Audio Players, PC, Mac and more, ORA delivers 50 watts of bi-amplified Class D power. The Kanto Audio ORA also includes a subwoofer output, with a built-in automatic crossover at 100Hz that high-passes the speakers and low passes the sub-out, enabling seamless integration with a powered subwoofer — such as the Kanto Audio SUB8. Measuring 6.9x3.9x5.6in (HxWxD), it’s the perfect compact speaker for desktop use.…

TV Add Netflix by buying an Android TV box After reading about Hilary Foster’s problem in Issue 671’s Consumeractive (‘Netflix has stopped supporting my TV – what are my rights?’), I propose a cheap solution. She can buy an Android TV box for about £20-£30 on eBay or Amazon, and plug it into her old TV – assuming it has an HDMI port. It will give her TV access to the Google Play Store, from where she can download Netflix (www.snipca.com/48516). I speak from experience, having bought the T95 Android box on eBay (pictured below left). It has 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and plenty of ports: Ethernet, HDMI, USB, and SD card slot. I spotted it on sale on eBay recently for £26 (www.snipca.com/48517). Pete Clough SOFTWARE Create your own…

WINDOWS 10 & 11 Add comments to folders Adding comments to folders in File Explorer is a handy way of reminding you what they contain. To do this, you first need to show the Comments column. Open File Explorer (press Windows key+E), then click View at the top, followed by Details. Next, right-click a column heading (Name, Date, Type etc), then click ‘More…’. Now scroll down the Choose Details box that appears then tick Comments, followed by OK. Double-click the folder you want to add comments to. In Windows 11, click the three dots next to View, and select Options. In Windows 10, click View (1 in our screenshot below), then Options. Next, in either 10 or 11, click the View tab, then untick ‘Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’ 2.…

What is it? A new TV-streaming service from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Due to launch in 2024, it will be the first service to provide free live and on-demand shows over broadband rather than through your aerial or satellite dish. So it’s like a streaming version of Freesat and Freeview? Yes, and it’s run by Everyone TV (www.everyonetv.co.uk), which is backed by all four broadcasters and also manages Freesat and Freeview. Jonathan Thompson, Everyone TV chief executive, said Freely is for the “growing number of UK viewers who are watching content online, but still want easy access to the shared experience of live TV”. Will it have the same channels? It’ll definitely have all the channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and probably…

Around 380,000 households are now signed up to a broadband or mobile social tariff. This is a rise from 220,000 in 2022, Ofcom said in its latest report on consumer affordability. However, it added that only 8.3 per cent of the 4.6 million eligible households have signed up to a social tariff, while just over a half aren’t aware they exist. Its research showed that 30 per cent of UK households – around 8.5 million – struggled to afford their communications services in October 2023. This is double the figure in April 2021, though shows a slight drop from 32 per cent in October 2022. Ofcom also found that it’s usually cheaper for people with fixed broadband to buy their services as part of a bundle. Its analysis found savings…

MICROSOFT PROMOTES ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS Microsoft has highlighted all the new accessibility tools it added to Windows 11 in 2023, writing a blog post (www.snipca.com/48700) to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities in early December. New features include live captions and more natural voices for Narrator. Microsoft says these make Windows 11 the most inclusive version of the operating system ever. GOOGLE AXES ‘MOVIES & TV’ APP Google will shut its ‘Play Movies & TV’ app on 17 January and move all content you’ve bought to YouTube or Android TV. It has already removed the app from smart TVs and Roku devices. Google said that the move will “simplify how you purchase new movies or access the movies and TV shows you’ve purchased”. Read more on its Android TV Help…

Millions of UK phone owners could receive payouts after a class legal action was launched against EE, O2, Three and Vodafone for allegedly overcharging customers. Justin Gutmann, a former Citizens Advice executive, and law firm Charles Lyndon claim that the UK’s four largest networks abused their market dominance by charging a ‘loyalty penalty’ that left existing customers paying much more than new customers. Gutmann says that when customers signed their contract, the cost of repaying included both the cost of the phone and using services such as data, calls and text. He alleges that the companies didn’t reduce the amount they charged once the initial contract had ended, despite the fact that customers had already paid for their phones. “I’m launching this class action because I believe these four mobile-phone…

WATCH OUT FOR… Fake parking apps on Google What’s the threat? Scammers are placing fake adverts for popular parking apps in Google search. Research from consumer campaigners Which? shows that adverts for JustPark, PayByPhone and RingGo all appear above links for the genuine apps. In an example given by Which?, searching for ‘paybyphone app’ produced two bogus adverts linking to the sites onlytelephone (1 in our screenshot) and homeautomationinnovators 2, both ending in ‘.com’. Clicking the links takes you to sites claiming the app is a free download, but it still asks for your credit-card details. Small print at the bottom reveals that you’re paying £24.99 a month to an unnamed company for a ‘health and lifestyle bundle subscription’. A PayByPhone spokesperson told Which? that the adverts have nothing do…

We’ve received confirmation that the dog pet store ‘Not in the Dog House’ (www.notinthedoghouse.co.uk) has gone into liquidation. This is bad news for reader Sara Planter, who contacted us about her £44 order of dog food that never arrived (see Issue 668). We had no luck contacting the company, so asked North Yorkshire Trading Standards to investigate. We’d noticed that more than 50 per cent of reviews for the company on Trustpilot were for just one star (www.snipca.com/48570, pictured), while the site had also appeared on the BBC’s Watchdog (www.snipca.com/48571). Trading Standards directed us to the liquidators XLBS (https://xlbs.co.uk), who refused to comment on the state of the company and likelihood of anyone getting their money back. It said that anyone who has lost money can file a claim, but…

WEB BROWSER Vivaldi 6.5 www.snipca.com/48707 What you need: Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux Vivaldi is one of the most innovative browsers, with each new release making significant changes – rather than the small updates you get in Chrome and Edge. In 2023, it finally introduced an iOS app (www.snipca.com/47792) and has now returned its attention to its desktop version. The main new feature in Vivaldi 6.5 is the Sessions Panel, which adds yet another option to the browser’s sidebar. This lets you save your open tabs as a ‘session’, then start a new session with a clean slate. Unlike pinned tabs, saved session tabs don’t use any system memory in the background. To use the feature, click the new Sessions button on the sidebar – this looks like…

SOFTWARE WARNING! Microsoft error adds HP Smart printer tool We all know what’s impossible to avoid: death, taxes and computers that come pre-stuffed with software you don’t need – aka bloatware. I just hope we don’t need to add a fourth item to this list: Microsoft adding printing tools for printers you don’t even own. Step forward the HP Smart app, which is a perfectly fine tool for printing and scanning via your phone. But it’s only perfectly fine if you actually own an HP printer. And many users who use a non-HP printer found it installed on their Windows computer at the end of November. You’ll see it in our screenshot (courtesy of the website Ghacks), looking pleased with itself under the ‘Recently added’ heading. For a few days…

MINI PC | £394 from Chuwi www.snipca.com/48566 While it’s classed as a mini PC, this Chuwi model is a little larger overall than the similarly compact machines made by the likes of NUC and Beelink, albeit with a lesser footprint if you stand it vertically (as shown right). It’s built around an Intel Core i5-13500H chip. These have only recently been superseded by 14th-generation processors, as found in the CyberPower PC reviewed opposite. These 13th-generation units remain a decent option for anyone looking for good Windows performance, and prices are becoming more reasonable. The Corebox’s processor is supported by 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. “More powerful than many mini PCs but it’s bigger overall” Unsurprisingly, its performance levels cannot compete with CyberPower’s expensive gaming PC, but you’ll be…

Intel’s 14th-generation processors What do they do? The processor is the brain of the PC, so it does most of the computing work and controls all the other components. Intel has launched three new processors for desktop PCs, one for each of its three lines: Core i5, i7 and i9. According to Intel’s numbering scheme, these are 14th-generation processors, but they’re mostly minor upgrades to the equivalent 13th-generation models. How do they work? The processor plugs straight into the motherboard and coordinates all the PC’s functions. Everything that happens on the computer passes through the processor. These latest chips use the same sockets and motherboards as the previous generation, so you won’t need new hardware. However, they have a few new functions. These include more automated overclocking options that allow…

KEYBOARD ❘ £84 from Amazon www.snipca.com/48604 This wired mechanical keyboard comes in a bronze finish and refreshingly minimal light effects (just white LED indicators for Num lock, Caps lock and scroll lock keys) – and all at an attractive price. That buys you keys with the latest Cherry MX2A Brown switches, offering 4mm of travel, and no clacking noise. Cherry claims each key should last for 100 million hits. The keys support anti-ghosting, which means all key presses are registered, even when you hit several at the same time. This is essential for fast gaming. It’s easily able to keep up with the fastest typists, reminding us that there isn’t anything quite like a mechanical keyboard if you want to bash out words at pace. The keys have a 2mm…

What is it? High-end Japanese headphone manufacturer Final has launched a set of earbuds with ‘Hi Resolution 8K sound’ – the Audio ZE8000 MK2 (£299 from Amazon at www.snipca.com/48658, pictured). What do they do? They are a follow-up to Final’s ZE8000 earbuds (£180 from www.snipca.com/48659), which were launched last year. They too had ‘8K sound’, but Final claims this set is better. It says that 8K sound lets you hear the smallest of details, bringing more nuance to any music you’re listening to. What’s the catch? Well, you can’t actually measure sound in terms of resolution. This is a marketing gimmick to make us all think about earbuds in the way we consider TV or monitor resolutions. 8K TVs are currently the best quality available. As an audio specification, it’s…

What you need: WhatsApp on an Android phone or iPhone Time required: 30 minutes Scroll back through your WhatsApp messages and what do you see? Family photos; birthday wishes; useful scraps of information, like phone numbers, addresses, and appointments. And the general chit-chat of everyday life that might raise a smile as you return to them in the future. Losing all that would be an inconvenience, not to mention a shame. That’s why it’s important to make sure your WhatsApp chats are backed up – and with new restrictions for Android users (see Step 4), it’s worth both checking that they’re secure today, and that you plan for the future. Although WhatsApp generally works the same on both Android and iPhone, there are significant differences in the way that each…

CHROME Run a more thorough Safety Check 2023 was a bad year for Chrome’s security, with Google frequently rushing out patches to fix vulnerabilities in the browser. Although it’s impossible to predict which flaws may affect Chrome in 2024, you can do your bit to protect it using the revamped Safety Check feature in version 120 (released 6 December). Previously rather basic and easy to miss, the improved Safety Check provides at-a-glance information about the browser’s current security status and recommends actions you should take to make it safer. To access the new tool, which is supposed to work ‘proactively’, click ‘Privacy and security’ in Chrome’s Settings and choose ‘Go to Safety Check’. Here you’ll see three ‘Safety at a glance’ buttons (see screenshot below), which let you perform specific…

LIBREOFFICE WRITER & MICROSOFT WORD Add a ‘next style’ When writing in LibreOffice, you can choose from a variety of preset styles – with different fonts, sizes, and paragraph spacing. LibreOffice also lets you choose a ‘next style’, which means you can swap from one style to another when you tap Enter. This is useful for changing from a style you’d use to write your headers, to one you’d use to write most of your text. Click the Styles tab on the right-hand side bar (1 in our screenshot below), right-click the style you want to edit, then click ‘Edit Style…’ to open the Paragraph Style box. We picked Heading 2. In the Organiser tab, we clicked the dropdown arrow beside ‘Next style:’ 2 and chose Text. This means Text will…

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 2K A screen with 2048x1080 pixels. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much data a PC can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 3G/4G/5G Technologies that deliver faster mobile broadband. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. 7z Also known as 7-Zip. A free, open-source file archiver. Administrator Someone who can make changes to a computer that will affect others who also use it. ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A technology that converts a standard phone line into a broadband internet connection. AI Artificial intelligence. Intelligence demonstrated by a machine rather than a human. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a screen. Traditional PC…