tool

A Google-owned map tool will now warn drivers about known accident hotspots. But the information might not be all that useful for now. The new feature is in Waze, a GPS navigation tool that began in 2006, with Google buying it out in 2013. It's ... original selling point was that it combined data from multiple users to spot where they were driving slower than expected, indicating congestion. It then adjusted its recommendations for the quickest routes. Although Google owns Waze, it still operates as a separate service. That lets Google use it as a smaller scale test ground for features that might ... (view more)

X, formerly known as Twitter, appears to have scaled back a tool for reporting election misinformation. The tool appears to now only be available in Europe. The BBC notes the tool launched in Australia, South Korea and the United States in 2021 and ... expanded to other countries last year. However, a non-profit group says it's now only available in European Union countries. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Users on the former Twitter can report posts which they believe breach the site's guidelines, but must choose a specific category. That includes breaches such as spam or hate speech, but no longer ... (view more)

Microsoft has accidentally leaked a tool that lets users try out every new feature that's in development. It's grabbed the attention of tech enthusiasts but is very much not a good idea for the average user. The tool came to light when Microsoft ... promoted an event called "Bug Bash". Normally that's an internal "all hands on deck" process where developers are told to hold off their normal work for a set period and instead concentrate solely on finding bugs in software. Microsoft opened this process up to members of the Windows Insider program that lets the public access in-development version ... (view more)

Microsoft is to start charging extra for some features in its videoconferencing tool, Microsoft Teams. The move suggests it's further targeting a business audience rather than concentrating on the consumer market. At the moment Microsoft Teams is ... free to use, either as part of the Office 365 suite (included in the subscription cost) or a free standalone tool. Microsoft is now launching Teams Premium, which will carry an extra fee. Microsoft has hinted that will be $10 a month but has yet to confirm that. (Source: theregister.com ) Features to be Removed from "Standard" Microsoft ... (view more)

Microsoft's antivirus tools have mistakenly labeled Google Chrome and other browsers as housing malware. The error didn't cause any harm but may have annoyed or confused millions of users. The mistake affected Microsoft Defender (previously called ... Windows Defender), the built-in security tool in Windows that is likely the world's most widely used anti-malware tool. For most users, the mistake will have been most visible through a beeping noise and on-screen alert every time they opened Google Chrome. Confusingly, clicking on the notification opened up a screen which flashed more details for a ... (view more)

A third-party tool can help users get round some of Microsoft's restrictions on upgrading to Windows 11. It won't remove Microsoft nagging, however. Although Windows 11 is a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, three main restrictions mean some people ... may not be able to get it. The first is a series of hardware minimum specifications, with even some relatively recent computer processors judged inadequate by Microsoft. The second is the need for a Trusted Protection Module (TPM), a hardware device aimed at boosting security. Many computers either don't have a TPM or have it disabled by default, ... (view more)

Microsoft has tested showing advertising in its File Explorer tool. It may be ads for Microsoft products only, though the hostile response could well dissuade the company from going further with the idea. One user shared a screenshot of File ... Explorer which included a bar at the top of the window (just above the list of files) reading "Write with confidence across documents, email, and the web with advanced writing suggestions from Microsoft Editor." (Source: bleepingcomputer.com ) It also had a "Learn More" link pointing to more details about Microsoft Editor. That's a ... (view more)

Microsoft has released its Windows 11 eligibility checker tool. It now gives more detail on why a computer might not be ready to run the new system. The app in question is officially titled "PC Health Check" though that's a little misleading as it ... doesn't relate to whether the computer is currently working OK or has any serious problems. Instead it checks whether the computer is eligible to run Windows 11. It's available using this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11#pchealthcheck The original version a few months ago didn't give much detail other than whether the PC " ... (view more)

Microsoft is testing a fix for a bug that could theoretically shorten the lifespan of some hard drives. The bug means Windows 10 was mistakenly running the defrag tool more frequently than designed. Defragging has long been available as a way to ... make hard drives run more efficiently. It deals with the problem that when a computer deletes a file, it leaves empty physical space behind on the drive. The next time it writes a new file it will look for the first available suitable sized space. Over time this can lead to wasted gaps on the physical drive. In turn, this means traditional hard drives ... (view more)

A security company has warned that a free tool claiming to remove ransomware is in fact ransomware itself. Sophos has also reported that businesses that pay ransoms end up with double the financial costs of those who don't. The company's Paul ... Ducklin examined a tool called "Decrypter DJVU". It's promoted as a way to undo the damage of a strain of ransomware that encrypts files, adds the extension ".djvu" to the name, and demands a payment to decrypt and restore access. (Source: sophos.com ) The tool asks users to type in a personal ID and a file extension, though it appears it doesn't take ... (view more)