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Quote:Start11 is a popular Start Menu alternative for Windows 11. And now, the app lets you move the Taskbar to the side of your screen.
 
Microsoft does not officially support a Vertical Taskbar on Windows 11, despite it being requested by many users since the operating system was launched. You will have to rely on third-party tools to make changes to the Start Menu and other aspects of Windows.

Get a Vertical Taskbar on Windows 11 with Start11

Stardock has announced on its blog that it has made it possible for users to move the Taskbar to the side in the latest beta version of Start 11. The customization app allows you to place a Vertical Taskbar on the left or the right side of your screen, the choice is yours.

To do this, you will need to install Start 11 v2.5 beta on your computer. When you have installed the program, you can select your taskbar experience from the configuration panel, i.e. click on the Taskbar tab in the side panel and go to Enhanced Taskbar Settings to make your changes. It's that simple.


Image credit: Stardock.

The update also brings an option to use Start11 with a left aligned Start button on multiple monitors. Prior to this update, the feature only supported two displays.

Start11 is a premium program, a license for a single installation costs $9.99. You can download a trial version of Start11 from Stardock's website to try it free for 30 days, before you buy it, or uninstall the software. Trying the program does not require a credit card, buy you will need to enter your email address, and click on a link that you will get in the activation mail to start the 30-day trial. If you own Start10, you may be eligible to upgrade to Start11 at a lower price. I recommend checking Start 11 v2 on Steam, as it may offer better regional pricing in some countries.

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Quote:Recall continues to be a privacy disaster. Reports suggest that the AI feature is recording sensitive information, even with the sensitive information filter enabled.

When Microsoft announced Recall, it did so riding on a wave of positive AI news. The company was preparing nothing other than the next generation of Windows and it wanted to announce a big feature during the main announcement.

AI, after all, stands at the center of the company's new Copilot+ PC certification. What Microsoft did not expect was the criticism that it received shortly after it revealed Recall.

An AI system that monitored and recorded pretty much anything on the PC? Enabled by default? With little safeguards and security to protect the recorded data? What could possibly go wrong?

For the big bang, Microsoft decided to skip Insider builds. This meant that it did not receive feedback from early testers, only from internal sources and maybe some partners that were allowed to try Recall. Did no one warn Microsoft about the issues or were they swept away?

So, Microsoft pulled Recall shortly after reveal and promised to go back to the drawing board. Then in late September, Microsoft announced Recall 2.0.

It did good on some of the promises that it made. Recall was now opt-in and no longer running automatically in the background. The AI feature used better security now, including extra protection of the database that contained a user's recorded history.

Note: the Sensitive Information filter is designed to block screen captures by Recall if sensitive data, such as a credit card or social security number, is entered.

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Quote:AMD FSR 3.1.3 now available



AMD has released an updated version of the FidelityFX Software Development Kit (SDK), a library of AMD graphics technologies aimed at developers. While the update is not a major one, it introduces the latest version of the FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) library.

The SDK version 1.1.3 includes fixes for implementing FSR 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 and now integrates FSR 3.1.3. This update adds opt-in hybrid spin lock pacing support and includes a frame interpolation sample for the Microsoft GDK, which is used for Xbox development.

The changelog does not mention any performance improvements or changes affecting visual quality. FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 is just one of many technologies in the FidelityFX suite. The SDK also supports features like FSR 1, FSR 2, Ambient Occlusion, Denoiser, HDR Mapper, and more.
 

Quote:AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.1.3

• Several fixes for issues discovered with FSR 3.1.1/2.
  
• New opt-in hybrid spin lock pacing support.
  
• Update to AMDFidelityFX_FSR3FrameInterpolation GDK sample, bringing native FSR 3.1.3 support to Microsoft® Xbox and desktop ecosystem sample.
  

AMD also confirms some cleanup for the Frame Interpolation backend and updates for Vulkan. 
 

Quote:AMD FidelityFX SDK 1.1.3

• General cleanup in Frame Interpolation backend.
  
• Added letterbox changes to Vulkan®.
  
• Removal of Vulkan binding shifts which could cause some compile issues.
  
• Fixes for potential incorrect backbuffer sampling in 
  Code:

  GAME_MOTION_VECTOR_FIELD
   pass.
  
• General framework fixes and updates.
  
• Fix typos in the backend.
  
• Vram query added to Vulkan.
  
• Changes to Vulkan queue selection and behavior.
  
• Removal of unused distortion texture channels.
  
• Addition of new debug lines to test pacing.
  
• Enablement of separate backbuffer and hudless formats.
  
• Typeless format support for DX12/GDK.
  
• Expose frame pacing tunings such as opt in to use hybrid spinlock.
  
• Fix for UpdateTileMappings() deadlock.
  

The latest SDK is now available for download with updated demos.

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Quote:Intel Arc B580 in first leaked benchmark

It looks like testing of next-gen Battlemage has started.



Intel Arc B580 graphics cards are now expected to launch this year, but the question everyone is asking is: how good are they, and are they worth the wait?

There’s a lot on Intel’s shoulders, as they may have an opportunity to steal some spotlight from AMD and NVIDIA launches in early 2025. However, is the mid-range Arc B580 graphics card capable of doing that?

A leak from Geekbench, where the alleged Intel Arc GPU was spotted, doesn’t provide an answer to this question. The GPU was tested in Geekbench’s OpenCL test, which is not directly comparable to gaming performance. However, it does apparently confirm one detail: the Xe-Core count.

The Arc B580 was tested on Intel’s high-end platform, featuring a Core Ultra 9 285K processor and a Z890 motherboard:



The card is listed with 160 Compute Units, which, based on what we know about Battlemage, should be divided by 8. This leaves us with 20 Xe2-Cores. If you’re not convinced, you can check the results for the Core Ultra 7 258V as an example, which shows 64 Compute Units (8 Xe2-Cores).

The detailed results page confirms that the GPU clock speed is 2850 MHz and it offers 11.6 GB (so 12GB) of VRAM, aligning with a previous leak about the custom ASRock B580 series.

The OpenCL score of 78,743 points is clearly not high enough to be considered final. In fact, it is lower than the Arc A580, which is expected to be a slower card.

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Quote:The second half-year report for AV-Comparatives’ 2024 Enterprise Main-Test Series, which includes Real-World Protection, Malware Protection, and Performance Tests, is now available. You can find detailed product reviews and the full report here: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/bu...t-november
 
AV-Comparatives Releases 2024 H2 Enterprise Cybersecurity Test Report: 17 Leading Business Security Solutions Evaluated

AV-Comparatives, a globally recognized independent security testing organization with ISO certification, has published its 2024 H2 Enterprise Security Test Report.

This comprehensive analysis serves as an invaluable resource for IT managers and CISOs, offering insights into the performance of endpoint security solutions tailored to business and enterprise environments.

As cyber threats evolve, antivirus vendors are under constant pressure to refine and enhance their solutions. The 2024 H2 Enterprise Security Test Report demonstrates how these products are adapting to emerging challenges, delivering improved protection.

This half-yearly report includes test results from Real-World Protection, Malware Protection, Performance (Speed Impact), and False-Positive tests. It provides detailed product reviews and descriptions, helping organizations evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various solutions.

Tested VendorsSeventeen leading vendors participated in the tests, including: Avast, Bitdefender, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Elastic, ESET, G Data, K7, Kaspersky, Microsoft, NetSecurity, Rapid7, SenseOn, Sophos, Trellix, VIPRE, and VMware.

Key Test Categories

1. Real-World Protection Test
   Evaluates how effectively endpoint security solutions defend against internet-borne threats over a four-month period.
   
2. Malware Protection Test
   Assesses the ability to detect and neutralize malicious programs introduced via local networks or external drives.
   
3. Performance Test
   Measures system efficiency, ensuring robust security without significant speed impacts.
   
4. False Alarm Test
   Conducted alongside the protection tests, this evaluation ensures minimal false positives, which can disrupt business operations.
   

Why This Report Matters

The findings from these tests provide critical insights for businesses, helping decision-makers choose solutions that align with their operational needs. Whether for SMBs or large enterprises, the report offers a clear, comparative view of the tested products’ capabilities.

Full Report

Quote:Apple Intelligence is now available for users in 6 more regions. However, it only supports the English language.

The Cupertino company was biding its time, waiting on the sidelines watching Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and other companies attract users to their AI service. It finally unveiled Apple Intelligence in June 2024. While everyone expected it to debut when iOS 18 was launched, the much awaited AI features were nowhere to be seen, even on the new iPhone 16 models.

Users had to wait until the end of October for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 to arrive and bring Apple Intelligence, and it still disappointed many, because the AI capabilities were only available for users in the United States, specifically, to those who had set their device to the US English language. Many users were furious that Apple has been falsely advertising a flagship feature that was not available in their region.



Apple Intelligence arrives in 6 more countries

Apple Intelligence is now available for English users in the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. In other word, the company has simply expanded support for localized versions of English, and the AI features have arrived along with the iOS 18.2, 18.2 and macOS 15.2 updates. What about support for other languages?
 

When will the rest of the world get Apple Intelligence?

Apple says that it will add support for additional languages including Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese in 2025. The company plans to release a software update in April to introduce the AI features partially.

Apple has confirmed that it will bring Apple Intelligence to regions in the European Union next year. But, should you wish to use the features, there is a way to enable them regardless of which Country you live in. The catch is that you will need to switch your device's language to English.

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Quote:Microsoft rolled out a change recently on Windows 11 that removed some bits of information from the taskbar. For the date, only day and month are shown, while the year has been removed. For the time, only the hour and minute is shown. Information such as AM or PM has also been removed.



Microsoft says this was done to free up space on the taskbar. While some users may like the change, as it gives them more room for other icons and information on the taskbar, others may dislike it.

Good news is that Microsoft added a new preference as well that allows users who do not like the change to restore the classic behavior.

Tip: You can hover with the mouse cursor over date and time to get a small popup with the full information.

How to restore the full date and time on Windows 11



Here is a step-by-step guide to restore the classic taskbar behavior:

1. Right-click on date and time on the taskbar.
   
2. Select "adjust date and time". You can also open Settings > Time & language > Date & time manually instead.
   
3. Expand "Show time and date in the System tray" by clicking on the down-arrow icon.
   
4. Uncheck "Show abbreviated time and date".
   

The change is immediate. You should see the full date and time again on the taskbar.

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Quote:AVG 24.12.9694:

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Quote:Avast 24.12.9694:

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