Google regularly pays other companies to be the default search engine, including Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser. For that, a US federal judge has ruled that such deals have a "significant effect" on maintaining Google's search monopoly, preventing other search engines from competing fairly and entrenching Google's dominance. Google is officially recognized as a monopolist with its search market share about 95%.
Google is testing Compact Mode for Google Chrome on desktop
Google is working on a compact mode in the Chrome browser. It aims at offering an alternative UI that should free up more space on screen and reduce control padding. This way, the browser will get more room to display the web content. At the moment, the feature is only available in the desktop branch of the browser.
Google is about add a built-in AI in the Chrome browser that will work locally
Google is about to run an experiment with built-in artificial intelligence in the Chrome browser. Currently, the company invited participants to join a closed test of embedding a large machine learning language model into Chrome.
Microsoft rolls out a major Store update for Windows 11 users
Microsoft has released an update to the Microsoft Store app (version 22407.xxxx.x and higher) for Windows 11 that brings a redesigned Library, a new Updates & Downloads page, and a few other changes. The new version of the app is gradually coming to Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels.
How to Find Uptime in Windows 11
There are several methods to find uptime in Windows 11. Uptime is the time the OS was running without restarting or shutting down. Windows 11 may require to restart it finish some of the mandatory tasks, such as installing updates or drivers. But if you have urgent activities, you can postpone such restarts, and have a huge uptime value. Server editions of Windows 11 usually run without restarts for really long, and their uptime will always be greater than a typical consumer PC.
Firefox 129 released with HTTPS-first browsing and Reader View improvements
Firefox 129.0, a stable version, is now available with improvements to Reader View and HTTPS as the default protocol in the address bar for non-local sites. Mozilla has released installers and binaries browser for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Following Microsoft, NVIDIA drops support for CPUs without POPCNT
As discovered recently, a change in Windows 11 24H2 makes impossible to install it on a computer without the POPCNT instruction. It is part of the SSE4.2, which is missing in AMD Turion II and Intel Core 2 Duo and older. Now NVIDIA follows the suit. The company announced that it will stop supporting processors that do not have the POPCNT instruction in GPU drivers. Starting with version 555, computers that do not meet this requirement will experience blue screens of death (BSODs) after installing this version of the NVIDIA drivers.
Windows 11 Build 26120.1340 (Dev) improves Settings and Voice Access
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1340 is now available in the Dev channel. An option to disable enhanced cursor precision and change mouse scroll direction, improved spelling processing in Voice Access, and more accurate energy recommendations are among the changes.
Google Chrome warns that uBlock Origin will soon stop working
Users who installed the latest Google Chrome version now see a warning that uBlock Origin will soon stop working and it's time to find it an alternative. The browser will disable Manifest v2 extensions in the near future, and uBlock Origin is one of them.
How To Disable Power Throttling in Windows 11
You may want to disable power throttling in Windows 11 in order to get better app performance. While this requires a trade-off in terms of battery life, sometimes performance is a mission-critical thing.
