After a few weeks of not meeting the usual Wednesday schedule for new Windows 10 builds, Microsoft seems to be back on track this week, with build 21390 heading out to Insiders today. It's a small jump from build 21387 released last week, but that makes sense considering it was rolled out on a Friday.

Because there have been fewer internal builds since the last release, there are also even fewer changes than usual. Not that there's been a lot, as it appears that Microsoft is locking down feature additions for the next Windows 10 feature update, which is expected to arrive in the second half of the year. Builds have been coming from the co_release branch, and this week is no exception. There are only a couple of new things in this build:

• As part of our ongoing iconography improvements, Task Manager and MSI installers now have new Fluent icons.
  
• You can now set Windows Terminal Preview as your default terminal emulator on Windows – please see this blog post for details. This requires Windows Terminal Preview version 1.9 (or higher).

The build does have a fair amount of fixes, though. Here's the full list:

• We fixed an issue causing the news and interests text on the taskbar to appear blurry on some resolutions and scaling factors.
• We fixed an issue resulting in certain punctuation not being displayed correctly when the display language was Chinese.
• We fixed a svchost.exe crash related to cdp.dll that some Insiders have been experiencing in recent builds.
• We fixed an issue impacting Start reliability in recent flights.
• We fixed an issue where when using dark mode, the text in the File Explorer search box would be black on a black background. Please note this only addresses this dark theme issue in File Explorer, we are continuing to investigate a second issue impacting dark theme when using Search in the taskbar.
• We fixed an issue in recent flights where a folder might not retain keyboard focus after being renamed in File Explorer.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Task Manager showing the incorrect icon for some processes.
• We fixed a second issue causing some devices to fail when updating to this build with error code 0xc1900101. If you continue to receive this error code when attempting to update, please file a new feedback item.

There are still some known issues in this release, but the list has shrunken a bit more this time. Here's what you might still run into:

• The Windows Camera App currently does not respect the default brightness setting set via the new Camera Settings page.
• We’re investigating an issue where Search results are unexpectedly no longer following dark theme as of recent flights.
• [News and interests] We’re investigating an issue where the flyout may occasionally flash in the top left corner of your screen after clicking the button on your taskbar.

Aside from what's new in the build, Microsoft also mentioned that in order to make feedback more relevant, feedback items that are over 15 months old will no longer be saved in the Feedback Hub app.

Reports have been cropping up that Microsoft is planning a major design change for Windows 10, with hints of what it might look like showing up here and there. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also said yesterday that he's very excited for the future of Windows. However, only some changes have been made so far, and it's looking like we may need to wait until 2022 for the bulk of those UI changes to make their way to the general public. Insider builds later this year should have more news, though.

Source: Microsoft rolls out Windows 10 build 21390 in the Dev channel with new icons

Google has added a new batch of Chrome Actions for early testing in the latest Google Chrome web browser releases before the feature's worldwide rollout later this year.

Chrome Actions is a recently introduced experimental Chrome feature that allows you to type in a command, causing an action to be displayed inline in the browser's address bar search results.

When clicked, the action will be automatically executed in the browser, helping you get more things done quicker and easier.

For instance, once you type 'delete history,' 'clear cache,' or 'wipe cookies' in the Chrome address bar, a 'Clear browsing data' action will appear as a search result styled as a button right under your query.

Google started progressively rolling out the first set of Chrome Actions (i.e., Clear Browsing Data, Manage Payment Methods, Open Incognito Window, Manage Passwords, Update Chrome, and Translate Page) in November with the release of Chrome 87.

Now, Google has added a new set of Chrome Actions, including:

• Run Chrome safety check: Makes it simple for you to run a Chrome safety check, directly from the address bar. The safety check can help keep you safe from data breaches, bad extensions, and more (to use it, type “Chrome safety check” or “Run password checkup”)

• Create doc: Makes it simple to create a new Google document, directly from the address bar. This saves time, so if you want to take notes or start an essay fast, you can do it quickly right from the address bar (to use it, type “New Google doc” or “Create Google doc”)

• Manage Google Account: Makes it extra simple to control your Google Account, including personal info, payments and subscriptions, and more (to use it, type “Control my Google Account” or “Adjust my Google Account”)

How to enable Chrome Actions

Google has already started rolling out this feature and has announced today that it will be launching in Chrome for all users later this year.

However, it is still an experimental feature hidden behind Chrome flags that need to be toggled on to enable it.

To turn on Chrome Actions in Google Chrome, you have to follow these steps:

1. Go to chrome://flags in the Chrome address bar.
2. Search for '#omnibox-pedals' and enable the 'Omnibox Pedals Default Icon Colored' and 'Omnibox Pedal batch 2' flags.
3. After enabling both of them, relaunch the browser.

Once Google Chrome restarts, the Chrome Actions will automatically show up when you're typing the relevant terms into Chrome's address bar.

Microsoft has released Windows Terminal Preview 1.9 with new features including Quake Mode and the ability to set it as the default console on Windows. The Redmond firm has also bumped the stable version of Windows Terminal to version 1.8; you can grab that now from the Microsoft Store or the GitHub releases page.

With Windows Terminal Preview 1.9, you now have the ability to set it as your default terminal emulator, any command-line applications you choose to run in the future will automatically open with Windows Terminal. While this preview release supports this option, you need to also be running a Windows Insider Program Dev Channel build to find the setting, according to the release notes. To make it the default terminal application, open Command Prompt properties, go to the Terminal tab and then choose Windows Terminal Preview from the Default Terminal Application section.

Another new feature in this update is Quake Mode, using Win + ` from anywhere in Windows will bring up the quake window on the top half of your screen, you can dismiss it again using the same key combination. This will save you time when you want to run a command quickly but don’t want to mess around finding Windows Terminal in the Start Menu to open it. Microsoft has already updated the PowerToys FancyZones layout editor so that it can be opened with Win + Shift + ` instead of Win + `.

This update also improved the settings UI so that you can edit actions via the Actions page giving you the ability to create new keyboard shortcuts. It also introduces an italic variant of the Cascadia Code font and includes improvements for Arabic and Hebrew.

To get this update, head over to GitHub where you’ll be able to find a download link.

Source: Here's what's new in Windows Terminal Preview 1.9

Refund rights for customers

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has reached agreement with antivirus vendor McAfee that means some customers whose software subscription was automatically renewed will be able to get a refund.

The deal follows a lengthy investigation into the antivirus sector that kicked off in 2018 amid concerns that "some firms in the industry may not be complying with consumer law."

It's quite the slap on the wrist for McAfee, whose software tends to be bundled with a large number of devices sold in the UK. Customers who signed up with the company may not have understood the ins and outs of auto-renewal, hence the CMA action.

Under the arrangement, the process for turning off auto-renewal "will be made more straightforward for customers in the future," said the regulator. Anyone already renewed will be entitled to end their contract and get a refund for the months remaining. Significantly, that refund right will be backdated for customers that were refused a refund in 2020.

Additionally, McAfee has been instructed to make its pricing clearer (including the part about year two pricing being higher than the price paid when the antivirus product was first purchased.) It must also make instructions on turning off auto-renewal and getting refunds clearer on its website.

The Register asked McAfee for its take on things and the company told us:

"McAfee is pleased to have reached agreement with the CMA on our shared goal of improving the ease, fairness and transparency of business-to-consumer practices and policies. Our work with the CMA aligned with our efforts to enable customers to maintain ongoing protection while retaining control over their McAfee subscription."

Antivirus rival Norton has also come unstuck at the hands of the CMA's investigation and was taken to court in March for "refusing to provide certain information for an investigation into auto-renewing contracts."

We asked the vendor for its take on the fate of McAfee and its own court case, but it has yet to respond.

While we have no doubt Reg readers will be well aware of what comes preloaded on their laptops (and the implications of signing up for a contract or replacing it with an alternative) other buyers may not be so familiar.

However, the sheer ubiquity of McAfee's products (a glimpse at the most inexpensive of Dell Inspirons shows customers needing to opt out of having McAfee's's products preinstalled) means many may have simply opted to register without realising the full implications of auto-renewal. We have asked Dell to comment on this.

The requirement to make this clear with an easy-to-find opt-out could have far-reaching consequences as other vendors ponder deals sweetened by a cheap first year followed by a subsequent quiet price hike. ®

Source

Microsoft's Build event for 2021 is about to kick off, and with it comes a torrent of announcements for developers and businesses. But there's also some news for Edge users, which are getting an update to version 91 later this week. Microsoft has said that, after the update, Edge will be the most performant browser on Windows 10, thanks to improvements made to two features: startup boost and sleeping tabs.

First off, startup boost will help Edge launch even faster by running some core Edge processes in the background. Microsoft says this doesn't use additional resources when Edge windows are open. Naturally, to keep background processes running, some resources do have to be used before the browser is opened, though.

As for sleeping tabs, Microsoft says it can help you save up to 82% in memory usage by putting inactive tabs to sleep. When a tab is put to sleep, Edge can do things like pause ads immediately, saving up resources right off the bat. There are also some Windows-specific improvements to save system resources in this update. You can customize sleeping tabs so they're put to sleep after a specific period of time, and protect certain websites from going to sleep if there's a risk of losing important content.

Edge 91 is currently available in the Beta channel, so we already have a good idea of what other features will be in the stable release, like new color themes available out of the box, a new price history feature, and a password monitor.

These user-facing announcements come on top of some developer news like the general availability of WebView2 in WinUI 3. Additionally, PWAs can now be submitted to the Microsoft Store.

Source: Microsoft says Edge 91 will be the best-performing browser on Windows 10

Microsoft's implementation of OpenJDK is now ready for developers who want to use Java on the Azure cloud.

Chrome 90 was released over a month ago with support for new augmented reality (AR) APIs and an AV1 encoder, among many other things. Today, Chrome 91 is rolling out in the Stable channel, headlined by enhancements such as an improved File System Access API and support for the automatic transfer of one-time passwords (OTP) from SMS to cross-origin iframes on the web.

Apple has officially made macOS 11.4 available to the public. The latest software enables support for several AMD GPUs as well as support for paid subscriptions in the Podcasts app, bug fixes for Safari, Preview, and more.

macOS 11.4 is available now for all users and should be showing up in System Preferences > Software Update soon if it’s not already. Apple’s also made the latest software available for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

macOS 11.4 is a more minor update after 11.3 added a range of new features. However, the latest release does bring a handful of changes.

One of the main features in macOS 11.4 is expanded GPU support for “cards based on the AMD Navi RDNA2 architecture (6800, 6800XT, and 6900XT).”

In the release candidate, we learned macOS 11.4 also includes support for paid subscriptions in Apple Podcasts along with a number of bug fixes:

• Apple Podcasts subscriptions are available for purchase via monthly and annual subscriptions
• Channels group together collections of shows from podcast creators

This release also fixes the following issues:

• Bookmarks in Safari may get reordered or moved into a folder that can appear hidden
• Certain websites may not display correctly after your Mac wakes from sleep
• Keywords may not be included when exporting a photo from the Photos app
• Preview may become unresponsive when searching PDF documents
• 16-inch MacBook may become unresponsive when playing Civilization VI

Notably, ahead of today’s 11.4 public release, Apple started testing with the first macOS 11.5 beta last week.

Source: Apple releases macOS 11.4 with expanded GPU support, Safari bug fixes, more

Microsoft has released a new Office Insider Preview Build 14117.20000(Beta Channel) for Windows users. The new Office build adds a new feature to Outlook. The new feature tells you when and where you last signed into your account. Also, users will get alerts when any suspicious activity is detected. Apart from that, it brings fixes for a plethora of issues found in Word, Excel, PowerPoint. You can read the full official changelog below.

CHANGELOG

Outlook

Sign in information

Outlook now tells you when and where you last signed into your account, and alerts you if any suspicious sign-in activity is detected. To check it out, click File > Info and look at the information provided under Most Recent Login.

Word

Notable fixes

• We fixed an issue where a Save As error message was displayed even after a user chose to discard changes.
• We fixed an issue where signing in with a different account could result in a crash.
• We fixed an issue that prevented images from being posted in modern comments.
• We fixed an issue where the Reviewing pane could scroll or appear to scroll but didn’t align with selected comment.
• We fixed an issue that caused the selection in the document to not be cleared when clicking outside a newly created comment.
• We fixed an issue where comments aren’t highlighted when selected.
• We fixed an issue where the wrong field is getting updated when running a macro if editing restrictions are applied.
• We fixed an issue where some files don’t open because of corrupt bookmarks.

Excel

Notable fixes

• We fixed an issue where signing in with a different account could result in a crash.
• We fixed an issue related to two-finger scrolling when using freeze panes.
• We fixed an issue related to out of memory issues when printing on large-format printers.
• We fixed an issue that impacted the performance of VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH when filling a large amount of data.
• We fixed an issue that caused dynamic arrays to not update cell values when referenced by RealTimeData functions.

PowerPoint

Notable fixes

• We fixed an issue where signing in with a different account could result in a crash.
• We fixed an issue that prevented copying from the speaker notes pane while in Read Only mode.

To update to the latest Microsoft Office Insider Preview Build, open any Office program and go to File> Account> Update Options> Update Now.

Source: Microsoft releases Windows Office Insider Preview Build 14117.20000(Beta Channel)

Back in March, Microsoft started testing Math Solver feature in Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft today announced that Math Solver will be available as a preview feature starting with Microsoft Edge 91 stable.

Microsoft Math Solver allows anyone to snap a picture of a math problem and get an instant solution with step-by-step instructions to help them learn how to reach the solution on their own. Math Solver also offers many options to continue learning with additional materials such as quizzes, worksheets, and video tutorials.

Microsoft Math Solver is available now in Microsoft Edge Canary, Dev, and Beta channels). You can go to the settings menu (…) in the top right corner of the browser, open More Tools and select Math Solver to use this feature.

Source: Microsoft

Source: Microsoft Math Solver will be available as a preview feature in Microsoft Edge 91

It is weekly Firefox Nightly news, Mozilla has said that it’s working on a number of items in the macOS version of Firefox to improve how native it feels. The changes outlined include scrollbars squishing during rubber-banding (hitting the bottom and top of web pages), the arrival of native fullscreen, and improvements to enhanced dark mode handling. The latter two items can be toggled on in Firefox Nightly for testing.

The current version of Firefox on the Nightly channel is version 90, the release after the big interface overhaul due on June 1. Firefox 90 is expected to launch on July 13, 2021, according to FX Trains which tracks Firefox releases.

According to Mozilla, the new squishy scrollbars are enabled in Firefox Nightly but native fullscreen and the dark mode enhancements need to be enabled. To enable native fullscreen, head to about:config and turn on full-screen-api.macos-native-full-screen. To turn on enhanced dark mode support, go into about:config again and enable widget.macos.respect-system-appearance.

The work on native fullscreen and support for enhanced dark mode is still underway so you should be aware that you may experience problems after enabling these features in Firefox Nightly. As long as Mozilla doesn’t run into any major issues, we could see all of these improvements arrive with the stable release of Firefox 90.

Source: Mozilla working on several macOS improvements for Firefox

Google Chrome has suddenly started crashing yesterday for many Windows users worldwide making the browser unusable.

Google released Chrome 90.0.4430.212 on May 10th, and for the most part, there have been no reported issues with the release until yesterday.

As first reported by Windows Latest, starting yesterday morning, users began reporting that Google Chrome extensions and tabs suddenly began crashing while using the browser.

Due to these crashes, the Chrome subreddit and Chrome product forums have begun filling up with posts from people experiencing these issues.

"Seemingly out of nowhere ~15 minutes ago, Google Chrome stopped working for me. My extensions crashed and all pages (including Chrome pages like settings) refuse to load. The screen is completely blank, and the tab is simply labeled "Untitled" with a frowning folder next to it," a user posted yesterday to Reddit.

Google Chrome alerts stating an extension has crashed

Source: Reddit

While BleepingComputer has not experienced these crashes, users report that Chrome is displaying a gray screen and cannot open the Settings or Extensions pages of the browser.

Furthermore, users are reporting that these crashes happen in both the regular and Incognito browsing modes.

It is believed that the crashes are caused by an issue with the Google Chrome '%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data' folder, which is used to store your data, extensions, and configuration settings for the browser.

A Google Product Expert recommends that users create a backup of the 'User Data' folder and then perform one of the following steps to fix the crashes:

As this only seems to be happening on Windows I will provide such instructions, but this will be operating system dependent:

1.  Ensure your Sync data is accurate at https://chrome.google.com/sync and passwords appear at https://passwords.google.com (If you have a passphrase they will not but they should be reflected in the sync data link)
2. Close any open Chrome instance
3. Open File Explorer and navigate to: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data
4. Delete the "Local State" file from the directory (ensure you have a backup!)
5. Re-Open Chrome

If the above steps don't resolve the problem then try the following

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data
2. Take a copy of everything in this directory and store it somewhere such as your desktop
3. Rename the "User Data" folder to something other than User Data
4. Re-Open Chrome

Some users have reported that after performing these steps, the Google Chrome crashes have stopped.

Others state that once you restart Google Chrome the issue occurs again.

It is not clear what is causing the crashes, but it is likely a change pushed out to some users by Google since the latest browser release.

It is common for Google to push out configuration changes or new features to Google Chrome users in limited tests. One of these tests or configuration changes may be causing the issues seen by so many users.

BleepingComputer has contacted Google with questions about the crashes but has not heard back at this time.

Source: Google Chrome is crashing worldwide on Windows 10 PCs, how to fix

Sent in on Thursday by Greg Kroah-Hartman was char/misc fixes for 5.13-rc3. While char/misc fixes at this mid-stage of the kernel cycle tend to not be too exciting, this pull request has the changes for addressing the patches from University of Minnesota researchers. Greg noted in the pull:

The majority here is the fallout of the umn.edu re-review of all prior submissions. That resulted in a bunch of reverts along with the "correct" changes made, such that there is no regression of any of the potential fixes that were made by those individuals. I would like to thank the over 80 different developers who helped with the review and fixes for this mess.

Going by the umn.edu Git activity that puts 37 patches as having been reverted with this pull request. The reverts span from ALSA to the media subsystem, networking, and other areas. That is 37 reverts out of 150+ patches from umn.edu developers over the years.

Here are some of the technical explanations for some of the problems with their patches:

The original commit message for this change was incorrect as the code path can never result in a NULL dereference, alluding to the fact that whatever tool was used to "find this" is broken. It's just an optional resource reservation, so removing this check is fine

###

While the original commit does keep the immediate "NULL dereference" from happening, it does not properly propagate the error back to the callers, AND it does not fix this same identical issue in the drivers/net/ethernet/cavium/liquidio/lio_vf_main.c for some reason.

###

This commit is not correct, it should not have used unlikely() and is not propagating the error properly to the calling function, so it should be reverted at this point in time. Also, if the check failed, the work queue was still assumed to be allocated, so further accesses would have continued to fail, meaning this patch does nothing to solve the root issues at all.

###

Upon review, this commit was found to be not be needed at all as the change was useless because this function can only be called when of_match_device matched on something. So it should be reverted.

Among the other patches that ended up being reverted for having no substantive value or at worst incorrect/incomplete code...

Source

Microsoft has released the optional KB5003212 preview cumulative update for Windows 10 1909 with bug fixes and performance optimizations in the operating system.

This cumulative update is Microsoft's May 2021 monthly "C" preview update that allows users and admins to test out the upcoming fixes scheduled for release in the forthcoming June 2021 Patch Tuesday.

You can install the update by going into Settings, clicking on Update & Security, and then selecting 'Check for Updates.' As this is an optional update, you will be required to click on the download and install buttons.

Before you install this update, Microsoft states that you must first install the KB5001406 or KB5003244 servicing stack updates.

Microsoft also warns that Windows 10 1909 has reached end of servicing as of May 11th, 2021, and will no longer receive security updates.

"Windows 10, version 1909 reached end of service on May 11, 2021 for devices running the Home, Pro, Pro for Workstation, Nano Container, and Server SAC editions," state the KB5003212 release notes.

"After May 11, 2021, these devices will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats. To continue receiving security and quality updates, Microsoft recommends updating to the latest version of Windows 10"

"We will continue to service the following editions: Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise"

If you wish to install the Windows 10 KB5003212 update manually, you can do so from the Microsoft Catalog.

What's new in Windows 10 KB5003212 

After installing this update, Windows 10 1909 will be updated to build 18363.1593.

The highlighted fixes and improvements in the Windows 10 KB5003212 cumulative update preview are listed below:

• Addresses an issue with the just-in-time (JIT) behavior of jscript9.dll.

• Addresses an issue that might cause a device to stop responding during hybrid shutdown.

• Addresses an issue that prevents a touch device from working as a serial mouse in multiple monitor situations.

• Addresses an issue in Safe Mode that prevents users from signing in if Web Sign-in is enabled.

• Addresses an issue in Active Directory (AD) Admin Center that displays an error when it lists many organizational units (OU) or container objects and PowerShell Transcription is enabled. The error message is, "Collection was modified after the enumerator was instantiated".

• Addresses an issue with devices that were configured using mobile device management (MDM) RestrictedGroups, LocalUsersAndGroups, or UserRights policies. These devices incorrectly continue to receive the policy after you use MDM to remove the configuration profile that has the policy. As a result, users of the affected devices might have incorrect group memberships and UserRights assignments or other symptoms. This issue occurs after installing Windows updates from October 20, 2020 and later.

• Addresses an issue with the Autopilot Reset command taking too long to process after it has been sent.

• Addresses an issue that might cause application installers to fail. This issue occurs when you enable Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) using the PowerShell command “set-processmitigation -system -enable forcerelocateimages”.

• Addresses an issue that fails to apply BitLocker encryption automatically using a Group Policy. This issue occurs on external drives that have a master boot record (MBR) active boot partition.

• Addresses a memory leak issue in PKU2U that causes cluster nodes to run out of memory.

• Addresses an issue that fails to register a DNS update to an A record and a PTR when Azure virtual machines update against corporate DNS zones.

• Addresses an issue that prevents users from receiving geographic location information even when all the geolocation UI settings are enabled correctly, and the device contains a location sensor.

• Addresses an issue with muting a phone call when you transfer the call.

• Addresses an issue with per-user profiles that occurs after you set the Group Policy Object “Allow everyone to create all user profiles” to “Disabled”. After restarting the device, Wi-Fi doesn’t automatically reconnect when using per-user profiles.

• Addresses an issue that prevents a task from working correctly when you set the condition “Start only if the following network connection is available” for the task.

• Addresses a memory leak that might occur in some Remote Desktop screen sharing scenarios.

• Addresses an issue with the PerfMon API that might cause handle leaks, which slow performance.

• Updates Delivery Optimization to accept a custom port in the DOCacheHost configuration.

• Addresses an issue that might cause endless replication when you promote a new domain controller and the Active Directory Recycle Bin feature is enabled.

• Addresses an issue that sporadically prevents the Resource Host Subsystem (RHS) from registering network name resources in the Domain Name System (DNS). As a result, Event ID 1196 appears.

• Addresses a timing issue that might cause a RemoteApp to intermittently duplicate characters that were entered on the local keyboard or pasted from the Windows clipboard.

Microsoft has also stated that the following known issues exist with this release. The issue below has been affecting Windows 10 since November 2020.

Source: Windows 10 1909 KB5003212 cumulative update preview released

Many Opera browser and Opera GX users have reported that the program is not blocking ads on YouTube. Just to be clear, we are talking about the browser's built-in ad blocking option and not add-ons.

The complaints state that the browser allows the ads on the video streaming service, even when the adblocker's default lists are enabled. A little searching reveals that this has been a recurring issue in the browser, and for quite some time too. I have been using both browsers for a week, because I wanted to confirm whether the issue exists, it is real and slightly complicated. The browser blocked ads on all other sites that I visited, but when it came to YouTube videos, it allowed the ads to play.

Opera GX does not allow all three of its default blocker lists to be unchecked, you can only disable 2 of the three, which seems a little odd because I wanted to use custom lists to rule out issues with the default ones

So I stuck to the default lists and used the browser primarily to watch videos. Opera GX doesn't seem to block 9 out of 10 ads. When I kept switching through videos in a large playlist, nearly every single video had an ad, but some didn't. This made me wonder whether it depends on the channel that has uploaded the video, because the ones without ads were from specific channels, and these were mostly big brand channels who were probably in it for the marketing, and not the monetization part.

I also noticed that if I kept watching videos for a while, I wouldn't get the ads until I exited the browser and came back. But this seemed completely random, one day it would work, the next day it didn't.

You may have noticed that I mentioned Opera GX so far. While ad-blocking in GX failed completely, the tests with regular Opera browser were a bit weirder. Some days it failed to block ads, sometimes it would load the ad and skip it in a split-second, sometimes I didn't get ads at all. And all these were with the block ads and block trackers options enabled.

Back to the issues with Opera, there is no explanation from the developers, even though an official thread (created by a moderator) exists at the browser's forums. The consensus among Opera GX users seems to be that something has changed on YouTube's end, which prevents the browser from blocking the ads. Well if that was true, then no ad-blocker should work, right? I use Firefox and Edge regularly every day, and also have Vivaldi and Brave on my computer, just to keep an eye on new features and changes. None of these browsers have an issue blocking ads on YouTube. One tech-savvy user on reddit mentioned that Opera's ad blocker is generic and that it does not work with YouTube's  script, specifically the Polymer framework.

That brings us to one of two workarounds for the issue. The easier way to fix the YouTube ad blocking problem on Opera is to just use an extension like uBlock Origin. This may seem like a no-brainer to experienced users, but there are a lot of people who don't know about the popular ad-blocking add-on. You can find the extension on the Opera Addons store and the Chrome Webstore. Install it, and it will take care of the problem for you.

The other way, is to add custom filter lists, which can be useful for people who don't want to install extensions, but want to block more ads. The uBlockOrigins uAssets Git Repo has a bunch of filters that you can add. Just copy the URL of each list, and paste it in the custom lists section of Opera's settings.

Let's hope Opera fixes this problem.

Source: Opera browser and Opera GX are not blocking ads on YouTube

Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is finally reaching the end of its operational cycle. Microsoft announced today that the support for the desktop application for IE11 will end on June 15, 2022, and the application will be retired. However, Windows 10 LSTC, Server Internet Explorer 11 desktop applications, and MSHTML (Trident) engine will be unaffected by this deadline.

To ensure a smooth transition and allow ample time for the general public and corporations to shift from the legacy browser, Microsoft has announced a timeline for the gradual phasing out of IE11.

Yesterday, Microsoft started rolling out the Windows 10 May 2021 Update to everyone. Along with the announcement, Microsoft also confirmed the demise of Windows 10X but promised to bring its features to Windows 10. However, Windows 10X was not the only thing that got axed yesterday.

Late last night, the Redmond giant published a list of features that got deprecated or removed from the May 2021 Update. The list of removed features include the Legacy Microsoft Edge and XDDM-based remote display driver. This should not come as a surprise since Microsoft was no longer supporting Legacy Edge after the official launch of Chromium-based Edge. You can head down to check out the full list of removed features:

Apart from this, Microsoft has also deprecated a couple of features meaning the company will not be working on them moving forward and they might be removed in the future. You can check out the list of deprecated features below:

The list includes two features namely, Personalization roaming and Windows Management Instrumentation Command line. The latter of the two will be superseded by Windows PowerShell and the deprecation applies only to the command-line management tool.

Windows 10 May 2021 Update is now rolling out to Windows 10 users and like the previous updates, Microsoft will be rolling the update out in batches to prevent any major issues. Users, however, can use the Media Creation Tool or the Upgrade Assistant to download and install the update manually.

Source: Here are the features being deprecated or removed from Windows 10 May 2021 Update

Returning to its usual Tuesday schedule, Microsoft today released a new Edge Dev build that brings a few new features. The update bumps the version up to 92.0.891.1 and is the first of the version 92 builds to contain significant feature additions, along with the usual set of bug fixes and other improvements.

Headlining the list of new features is a new grey theme for Immersive Reader, which brings a nifty alternative to the current bright and dark preferences. There are also a few new improvements to vertical tabs, with the browser now allowing users to turn on or off the feature in all currently open windows. The company is also bringing the ability for users to hide the title bar when using vertical tabs, something that was spotted earlier today.

Here is the complete list of features being added in today’s build:

• Added a dark gray theme to Immersive Reader.
• Added a Setting to turn on or off vertical tabs in all currently open windows.
• Added a setting to hide the title bar when tabs are in vertical mode.
• Finished rolling out Microsoft Rewards integration in the Account button.
• Added support for remembering the pin state of the History and Downloads menus (remembering pin state in general is still controlled behind a flag).

As usual, the release also contains a bunch of bug fixes to improve the reliability of the browser. Here’s what’s fixed:

• Fixed an issue on Mac where dragging a tab out of a window sometimes crashes the browser.
• Fixed a crash on startup on Mac.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where the browser sometimes doesn’t open if multiple profiles are present.
• Fixed a crash when using Shopping features.
• Fixed an issue where some websites fail to install as apps.
• Fixed a hang when using IE mode tabs.

And there is also a list of fixes that are being made to address changed behavior. These include fixes for issues such as the one that prevents the browser from restoring tabs after a forced restart, sidebar search issues, and more. Here is the complete list:

• Improved the Cookies In Use dialog.
• Fixed an issue where tabs sometimes aren’t restored after the browser is forcibly closed by a Windows Update-initiated machine restart.
• Fixed an issue where certain site data is deleted when the browser closes due to the setting to do so being turned on, even though those sites were on the exception list and thus should have been preserved.
• Fixed an issue where searching for settings sometimes causes the Settings page to go blank.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where some parts of the fullscreen Shy UI don’t respond to input.
• Fixed an issue where videos sometimes aren’t scaled or sized properly.
• Fixed an issue where the search sidebar sometimes can’t be closed.
• Fixed an issue where PWAs or websites installed as apps that are installed in multiple profiles sometimes have multiple Taskbar shortcuts instead of just one.
• Fixed an issue where websites installed as apps sometimes don’t have icons on their shortcuts when they should.
• Fixed an issue where changing the copy/paste settings doesn’t affect content already on the clipboard.
• Fixed an issue where tooltips sometimes are placed incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where the profile picture on the profile Settings page sometimes is broken.
• Fixed an issue where the pages that open when the browser is first opened sometimes change unexpectedly.
• Fixed an issue where certain navigations are blocked that shouldn’t be when Family Safety is enabled.
• Fixed an issue in kiosk mode where the browser never resets after an allotted period of time if the current page is in IE mode.

Lastly, there are the known issues that the company is keeping a track of. Some of the issues listed – such as the problem with YouTube video playback – are being tracked for a while. Here is the complete list of the known issues:

• Certain extensions such as the Microsoft Editor extension don’t work on Linux. As soon as they’re installed, they crash and are disabled. We’re currently investigating.
• Users of certain ad blocking extensions may experience playback errors on Youtube. As a workaround, temporarily disabling the extension should allow playback to proceed. See this help article for more details.
• Some users are still running into an issue where all tabs and extensions immediately crash with a STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH error. The most common cause of this error is outdated security or antivirus software from vendors like Symantec, and in those cases, updating that software will fix it.
• Users of the Kaspersky Internet Suite who have the associated extension installed may sometimes see webpages like Gmail fail to load. This failure is due to the main Kaspersky software being out of date, and is thus fixed by making sure the latest version is installed.
• Some users are still seeing favorites get duplicated. This issue should be reduced now that automatic deduplication has been introduced into Insider channels, but we’re still rolling that out in Stable. We’ve also seen duplication happen when running the manual deduplicator on multiple machines before either machine has a chance to fully sync its changes, so make sure to leave plenty of time in between runs of the deduplicator.
• Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in one dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note that this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is most likely related to our ongoing work to bring scrolling back to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the edge://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag.

As usual, the update should be made available automatically to users running Dev channel builds. However, considering that the rollout has just begun, not all devices will receive it right away. You can head into settings and check for updates through the About Microsoft Edge section.

Source: Edge Dev build 92.0.891.1 brings vertical tabs improvements and more

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I've been using System76's Pop!_OS Linux for about five years now. Prior to that, my distribution of choice was elementary OS. Why the change?

Mostly because I purchased System76 desktop machines (first the Leopard Extreme and then the Thelio) and Pop!_OS was the default distribution. I took to Pop!_OS almost immediately. Essentially, it was System76's take on GNOME, which offered a few extras that made perfect sense.

But over time, a couple of things happened. First off, System76 started focusing on its own in-house OS, Cosmic desktop, with the goal of creating something altogether new. The problem with that was updates started to become few and fewer and then System76 decided to skip the 23.04 update completely. Of course, that's not a terrible thing, as 23.04 was not an LTS (Long Term Support) release. And Pop!_OS 22.04 was still getting security updates.

The big problem I started having was random lockups. I'd be in the middle of writing something and my desktop would freeze. Combine that with the 250Gb drive getting too close to full, and it was time for me to either do a fresh install of Pop!_OS or hop to another distribution completely.

After giving it some thought, I started to realize I was no longer as enamored of Pop!_OS as I once was. Sure, it was still a serviceable distribution, but there were aspects of the distribution that were starting to bother me. Beyond the instability I was experiencing, I didn't like the app launcher and the upgrade process was becoming a bit cumbersome.

Once I'd drawn that conclusion, it was time to decide which distribution would be my next landing spot. I considered going back to elementary OS but remembered the problems I had with Pulse Audio (the audio server) on that distribution. During my last couple of years with elementary OS, I was constantly struggling to get Pulse Audio to recognize my external microphone, which (given I was working on seven different podcasts at the time) was quite problematic. Sadly, with elementary OS 7, they seemed to have avoided migrating to Pipewire (Pulse Audio's replacement).

That decision alone prevented me from heading back to elementary OS.

I liked the Pantheon desktop layout, so I decided to find a distribution that matched that aesthetic. The search took me to Ubuntu Budgie, which I'd only recently reviewed for ZDNET.

After removing the drive containing Pop!_OS (I wanted to be able to easily go back, should the need arise), I installed a 2TB SSD drive and installed Ubuntu Budgie. Almost immediately, I remembered one of the benefits of using Pop!_OS… it's optimized for System76 hardware.

However, all it took was installing the System76 driver and everything was working to perfection.

Since the switch, I haven't experienced a single issue and am quite happy with Ubuntu Budgie.

My early days with Linux

This whole process reminded me of my early days with Linux. Back then, there weren't nearly as many Linux distributions as there are now, but there were still plenty. I started off with Caldera Open Linux 1.0 and immediately switched to Red Hat 5.0. From there I started hopping from distribution to distribution, including:

•     Mandrake Linux
•     Debian
•     Slackware
•     openSUSE
•     Ubuntu
•     elementary OS
•     Bodhi Linux
•     PCLinuxOS
•     Fedora
•     Deepin Linux
•     Zorin
•     Pop!_OS

I'd bounce between those and many others (or just switch desktops) until I found something that fitted my needs and personality at the time. Most often, however, my distribution of choice had an Ubuntu base, simply because I found it to be easier to work with.

Some might consider having so many choices would be overwhelming for users. I've always found quite the opposite to be true. With so many Linux distributions to choose from, there's always hope you'll find the perfect fit. If you don't like the distribution you're currently using, pick another one. Don't like the desktop that comes with your open-source operating system? Install something else.

Back in my early days of using Linux, that was part of the joy. With so many options, I knew if I didn't like what I had, I could "distro hop" until I found the one.

For those who don't know, the idea behind "distro hopping" is hopping from one Linux distribution to another until you find one you like. Back in my early days with Linux, the prospect of trying something new was exciting. When I'd become disenchanted with Red Hat, there was Ubuntu.

When Ubuntu lost its charm, there was elementary OS. When elementary OS had become problematic, I could always go back to Ubuntu or try something completely off the beaten path. And the second you think you've tried them all, a new distribution comes into the picture for more exciting times.

I honestly thought my days of distro hopping were over. But when Pop!_OS started showing signs of trouble for me, I knew it was time to hop again. And I don't suspect Ubuntu Budgie will be the last distribution I ever call my default. At some point, another team will release something I must try and I'll hop again.

That's part of the beauty of Linux. It's not just a more flexible, powerful, secure, and stable operating system, it's also more diverse. On top of that, you'll rarely find yourself feeling stagnant or stuck with one Linux distribution because there are hundreds to choose from.

Distro hopping with Linux has always been part of the fun. From my early days with Linux to now, I've always known the second something goes wrong or I become bored, all I have to do is select from one of the many options, install it, and see if it fits my needs. If not, on to the next.

And, as a helpful tip -- I use secondary drives to house all of my files, so when I go to re-install, I know all I have to do is remount the drives and I'm ready to go.

It never fails to give me peace of mind that Linux has my back… no matter which distribution I'm using.

Source