Brian

@shockersh It's a Neural Processing Unit or NPU. Simply put, it's a specialized processor designed to carry out AI tasks (Copilot+, ChatGPT, Gemini, Dall-E). We have an explainer you can check out here: https://www.groovypost.com/explainer/npu-101-neural-processing-unit-ai/

Microsoft continues to improve its Edge web browser by adding new features like checking Internet speed, using ChatGPT for free, and limiting RAM usage. While “browser bloat” is a real thing, Microsoft boasts its Edge performance will take a giant leap and load up to 42% faster. The company made the announcement in a recent blog post. The improvements to the browser allow for loading up to 42% faster, the menu will also be 76% faster on PCs without an SSD or less than 8GB of RAM. Yes, you read that right! Find out more in our article on gP.

If you don't want to wait to get the next big Windows 11 update later this Spring, you can start using it right now! The exciting news is that it now includes native 7-Zip and TAR archiving support. Microsoft released its next big Windows 11 update on Wednesday of this week, and you can try it now. The new update is labeled 24H2 and is available to the Release Preview ring of the Windows Insider Program. Some of the notable features included in the new release include energy saver, Wi-Fi 7 support, voice clarity, HDR background support, Rust in the Windows kernel, Sudo for Windows (for devs), creation of 7zip and TAR archives in File Explorer, and more. The company will release 24H2 through Windows Update later this year, but you can grab the final version through the Insider program.

Microsoft introduced its Copilot+ AI-powered PCs recently. I am "AI-hesitant" myself. I am not sure of having AI on a chip. On the other hand, I know it's the future of everything. And it can do some cool things. The features they demonstrated seem pretty cool. Call me old-school, but I'm not sure I want it controlling my PC and data. I do that myself 🙂

They look good. Kind of a "medium range" upgrade. I just don't have a need for an iPad so I will pass on this. The other development of no headphone jack on the 10th generation is a bigger deal than you think. People who aren't tech enthusiasts or tech savvy may not appreciate it. They need to stick with the 9th gen if they still want a headphone jack.

Microsoft's development team is pausing it's development of its Copilot AI experience on Windows 11. This is welcome news if you are running an Insider build of the OS. They keep changing it and having Copilot launch during startup is particularly irksome. Here is what the announcement said: " Over the last few months, we’ve been trying out different experiences for Copilot in Windows (Preview) with Windows Insiders across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback. Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders." And if you don't want the Copilot experience in your Windows 11 builds, you can disable it and you can also disable Copilot in Microsoft Edge. At least for now. What does everyone think about this news?

If you are wondering what fontdrvhost.exe is doing running in Task Manager on your Windows system, the good news is that it's supposed to be there. If you have Windows 10 and the latest updates, you don't need to worry about fontdrvhost.exe. The Usermode Font Driver Host (fontdrvhost.exe) is an executable created by Microsoft and built into the core OS. For more details, read our article: What is fontdrvhost.exe and Why is it Running?

Because I'm Lazy. Waiting to afford to get a new production machine

That's a lot of data. Backblaze is alright, but you can't configure what's backed up like other services.

This may seen weird, but it works. You can clean your glasses with a dryer sheet. But remember, you need to make sure it goes through a full drying cycle first! Don't clean your glasses with a fresh dryer sheet out of the box. Once the dryersheet goes through a cycle, you can use it to get out the most stubborn smudges. It doesn't scratch your glasses either. I just works. So, the next time you need to clean your glasses off, don't use the corner of your shirt...that can scratch lenses. Instead, reach for a used dryer sheet to clean them off! You will be surprised of how well this works.

Passkeys rock (where they work anyway). Some sites...like Microsoft don't have a userfriendly way to use them. However, Apple and Amazon have integrated it well into their service. Still, very important to use Two-Factor Authentication (2fa) even if you have passkeys enabled. You will have peace of mind knowing your account is protected if you can't sign in with passkeys for some reason.

@shockersh My main production box is still running Win10. And yes, I'm like a madman with updates... I let them roll in faster. I have a sepereate laptop that runs the Windows Insider builds. I'm on the Dev Channel. Then I have several VMs running Win10 and 11. Although, I am going to get a new Win11 PC to upgreade. Probably a new Surface

@shockersh I haven't read anything about this giving a BSOD but I guess you never know. I would hold off on the updates for now. We'll let you guys know when it's good to update.

Discord is cool but it feels like an aging platform. But I can't say I have done a video meeting with it. Chats only so far. Zoom is straightforward and professional.

I have the updates and PIA is working fine...so far anyway