Tech tidbits from around the web.
10/1/2016 3:52:52 PM
This is your final month to buy a Windows 7 or 8.1 PC
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Ed Bott explains why it’s the beginning of the end for those who wish to buy a new PC pre-loaded with Windows 7 or 8.1.
Beginning Nov. 1, Microsoft’s largest partners, the so-called royalty OEMs like Dell and HP and Lenovo, will no longer be able to build and sell new PCs running any version of Windows except Windows 10.
That’s actually a two-year extension on what would have been the normal sales lifecycle for PCs running those earlier Windows versions. But the clock is finally running out.
The end of the Windows 7/8.1 sales lifecycle doesn’t mean that those older versions of Windows will be completely dead … Windows 7 will continue to receive security fixes via Windows Update until Jan. 14, 2020. Windows 8.1 will be supported until Jan. 10, 2023.
As Ed writes, there will of course be lots of Windows 7/8.1 left in the channel after October 31, as well. But these will be available “while supplies last,” as they say.
Windows 10 usage share dropped in September. Somehow.
And blogs like WinBeta keep confusing usage share with market share, unfortunately. Guys. Usage is not the same as unit sales. And unit sales is market share. NetMarketShare measures usage only. Not market share. Yes, despite its name. Anyway.
Taking a look at the overall [usage] share for [PC] operating systems, Microsoft’s Windows increased marginally from 90.52% to 90.85%, whereas Apple’s Mac fell from 7.37% to 6.92%, a trend that has been happening for quite some time. Linux saw an increase from 2.11% to 2.23%.
[But] Windows 10 usage fell from 22.99% to 22.53%.
So, statistically, it was just flat. But you see this kind of thing with usage share. Which you’d know. If you understood what it meant.
New PIXEL UI brings a bit of desktop elegance to Raspberry Pi
With Windows 10 IoT Core not offering a full desktop experience on Raspberry Pi devices, our options for a desktop PC experience are pretty much limited to Raspian, a Raspberry Pi version of Linux. Which just got a brand new UI called PIXEL. Raspberry Pi explains:
Today, we’re announcing the release of the PIXEL desktop, which will ship with the Foundation’s Raspbian image from now on.
PIXEL officially stands for “Pi Improved Xwindows Environment, Lightweight”.
The latest set of changes are almost entirely to do with the appearance of the desktop; there are some functional changes and a few new applications, about which more below, but this is mostly about making things look nicer.
Basically, we get new desktop wallpapers, new icons, a new window frame design, new fonts, a new login experience, an Airplane mode of sorts, and even some new applications, including RealVNC, which can be used to remote access your Windows PCs. Interesting.
Report: EU will charge Google with Android-related antitrust abuses
Reuters exclusively reports that, yes, the European Union will be charging Google with antitrust violations related to Android.
EU antitrust regulators plan to order Google to stop paying financial incentives to smartphone makers to pre-install Google Search exclusively on their devices and warned the company of a large fine, an EU document showed.
The document, running to more than 150 pages, was sent to complainants last week for feedback. Google received a copy in April in which the European Commission accused it of using its dominant Android mobile operating system to shut out rivals.
The EU competition enforcer in its charge sheet, known as a statement of objections, said it planned to tell the U.S. technology giant to halt payments or discounts to mobile phone manufacturers in return for pre-installing Google’s Play Store with Google Search.
The regulators also want to prevent Google from forcing smartphone makers to pre-install its proprietary apps if this restricts their ability to use competing operating systems based on Android.
Google “cannot punish or threaten” companies for not complying with its conditions, according to the document seen by Reuters.
Good stuff.
Apple’s iOS 10 now running on more devices than iOS 9
Well. That was quick. Apple Insider reports:
Adoption of iOS 10 has surpassed the halfway mark in just two weeks of availability, as research shows more than 55 percent of compatible devices are running Apple’s latest mobile operating system.
According to statistics compiled by research firm Mixpanel, iOS 10 adoption is tracking at 55.29 percent as of Friday, while iOS 9 stands at 43.8 percent. Older iOS version distribution fell to 4.71 percent.
The fresh metrics come two days after iOS 10 passed its predecessor for a majority share of compatible devices.
Despite the gains, consumers are slower to migrate to iOS 10 than iOS 9, which last year reached the 50 percent mark in only four days.
By the way, this is also usage share.