Weekend tech reading: Microsoft kills patch notes, fooling Windows Hello, Skylake-H specs revealed

Matthew DeCarlo

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Microsoft kills patch notes, will no longer explain most Windows 10 updates When Microsoft debuted Windows 10, it began offering significantly less information about KB updates in any given package. Instead of getting a clickable link that provided more than a bare sentence of information, users have to manually search for KB articles based on the given name. While this isn't difficult, it's an example of how Redmond has made it a bit more difficult to know what the OS is doing or why it's doing it. ExtremeTech

Also: How to prevent Windows 10 from automatically downloading updates & Windows 10's usage share growth flatlines

Even twins can't fool Windows 10's facial recognition Windows 10, released last month by Microsoft, replaces the hack­able password system with biometric recognition. You log in using your fingerprints, and with eye and face recognition. The new feature is called Windows Hello. If you have an iPhone or recent Samsung smartphone, you will know how convenient fingerprint recognition is, and it has proved consistent and reliable. The Australian

New data uncovers the surprising predictability of Android lock patterns The abundance of password leaks over the past decade has revealed some of the most commonly used -- and consequently most vulnerable -- passphrases, including "password", "p@$$w0rd", and "1234567". The large body of data has proven invaluable to whitehats and blackhats alike in identifying passwords that on their face may appear strong but can be cracked in a matter of seconds. Ars Technica

Unraveling the enigma of Nintendo's Virtual Boy, 20 years later Twenty years ago, on August 21, 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy in North America. The stilt-legged tabletop gaming console, which offered a unique red stereoscopic 3D display, attempted to ride a wave of popular interest in virtual reality. It was a risky, innovative gamble for Nintendo that didn't pay off, leaving many to wonder why it existed in the first place. According to some reports, the Virtual Boy sold roughly 770,000 units worldwide during its brief life span... Fast Company

IBM's 'rodent brain' chip could make our phones hyper-smart Dharmendra Modha walks me to the front of the room so I can see it up close. About the size of a bathroom medicine cabinet, it rests on a table against the wall, and thanks to the translucent plastic on the outside, I can see the computer chips and the circuit boards and the multi-colored lights on the inside. It looks like a prop from a '70s sci-fi movie, but Modha describes it differently. "You're looking at a small rodent," he says. Wired

Specifications of Intel Skylake-H mobile processors In less than two weeks, Intel is going to announce Skylake mobile processors, targeting both high performance notebooks and ultra-thin and light laptops. High-performance mobile market segment will be served by Skylake-H processors, that will come with increased boosted CPU and GPU frequencies at the expense of higher power consumption. CPU World

Model Cores/Treads Base Clock/Turbo L3 Cache IGP Clock TDP
i3-6100H 2 / 4 2.7 GHz 3 MB 350 / 900 MHz 35W
i5-G300HQ 4 / 4 2.3 / 3.2 GHz 6 MB 350 / 950 MHz 45W
i5-G440HQ 4 / 4 2.6 / 3.5 GHz 6 MB 350 / 950 MHz 45W
i7-6700HQ 4 / 8 2.6 / 3.5 GHz 6 MB 350 / 1050 MHz 45W
i7-6820HK 4 / 8 2.7 / 3.6 GHz 8 MB 350 / 1050 MHz 45W
i7-6820HQ 4 / 8 2.7 / 3.6 GHz 8 MB 350 / 1050 MHz 45W
i7-6920HQ 4 / 8 2.9 / 3.8 GHz 8 MB 350 / 1050 MHz 45W

Understanding Intel's Dynamic Power and Thermal Framework 8.1: Smarter throttling In mobile, thermal throttling is effectively a fact of life as modern, thin tablets and smartphones leave little room for implementing high-performance fans. We can use CMOS scaling to try and reduce the amount of power consumption, but in order to keep up with increasing performance demands it's important to also scale performance as well. AnandTech

Game design deep dive: Rocket jumping in Rocket League In our PlayStation 4 and PC game, Rocket League, players control cars capable of both double-jumping and boosting; most advanced players learn to manipulate our physics model and "fly" by skillfully combining the two abilities. While we developed this mechanic almost by accident while designing Rocket League's predecessor, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, we love the way it adds depth to the game's skill curve and made sure to include it while building Rocket League. Gamasutra

35 innovators under 35 There's more than one way to read these stories. Sure, the subjects are inspiring and creative people. But these are not merely personality profiles. They also illustrate the most important emerging technologies of the moment. In biomedicine, for example, we feature several people who are figuring out in detail how the brain works and how we might stave off mental disorders. Others are unearthing knowledge about cancer that might open new avenues for treatment. MIT

This company could completely change how we interact with all our screens We live in a world of screens. And most Americans spend a lot of time with them -- roughly 7.4 hours per day, by some estimates. And while screens help us work and stay in touch, they're not exactly...friendly. They're rigid. They're fragile. And they lack a certain warmth. That's what makes what Polyera, a Chicago-based firm, has to show off so truly different and interesting... The Washington Post

Batman: Arkham Knight PC patch in testing WBIE is still working on repairing the Windows edition of Batman: Arkham Knight, though it sounds as if the patch to fix things may not arrive this month as promised, as a new update on the situation says they "are now putting the first interim patch into testing," and that this will be released "in the next few weeks," provided all goes well (thanks PC Invasion). Blue's News

Don't be Apple There is so much to admire about Apple. They make superb, beautiful products. Their amazing comeback story is unparalleled in corporate history. Steve Jobs has become something akin to a modern-day patron saint of the tech industry. Tim Cook is, rightly, enormously respected. TechCrunch

DirectX 12 tested: An early win for AMD and disappointment for Nvidia Windows 10 brings a slew of features to the table -- the return of the Start menu, Cortana, the Xbox App -- but the most interesting for gamers is obvious: DirectX 12 (DX12). The promise of a graphics API that allows console-like low-level access to the GPU and CPU, as well as improved performance for existing graphics cards, is tremendously exciting. Yet for all the Windows 10 information to trickle out in the three weeks since the OS launched, DX12 has remained the platform's most mysterious aspect. Ars Technica

A new Linux file-system aims for speed while having ZFS/Btrfs-like features Another year, another new file-system, or so it seems in the Linux world. The main goal for this new file-system is to "match ext4 and xfs on performance and reliability, but with the features of btrfs/zfs." Phoronix

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I will not move to windows 10 unless there is reliable way to disable all the spyware and all those secret updates all the time. Heck the insiders build has top feedback to at least include the size of the update but no ... automatic spyware download all the time!
 
Windows 10 is the first OS since XP that I am in no rush at all to install on my machine, and I will not install it until this bs stops. Forced updates? No. Not giving me proper details on updates? No. Rumours of it calling home to report what software is on my machine? No.

The above is what I/we do know about the OS. I'm still worried about what we haven't yet heard/found....
 
"Microsoft kills patch notes" Very strange decision. But it's been getting worse for a long time, in Windows Update all patches just have the same description. At least before we could click the link and be taken to the MS-KB article. Which usually provided somewhat relevant data, even if that with the release of Win10 has been sorely lacking too. I at least want an idea about what a patch does; to know if it's useful or not. And in the case when you install several patches and an issue crops up: To be able to easier figure out which one caused it.
This became especially relevant the last week before Win10 went RTM when broken patches where delivered, without a way to block them.
As I see it the main negative feedback about Win10 is the Update system, why not just listen to the feedback like you claim you do Microsoft?
 
Same here, to say I am in no rush to replace with Windows 7 is putting it gently.

The Windows 10 icon on the bottom right-hand corner of my Windows 7screen used to just exist quietly and I would pull it up out of curiosity every once in awhile to check it out.

Now, the damn thing is popping open itself and in my face every morning I sit down to Windows 7 computer. What a nagging little ***** Microsoft has become. Nagging people to do stuff generally turns them off. I know it does me. The harder you try and push me to Windows 10 the harder I'll resist.

Can Microsoft do anything right these days? Oh how far the mighty have fallen, and continue to fall. You know your operating system sucks when you have to nag people to update to it.
 
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EDIT nvm just saw the other article
https://www.techspot.com/community/...-game-performance-strongly-favors-amd.218306/

I'm amazed there are no comments on those directx 12 gpu bench marks. So far direct x 12 will significantly lower your fps on nvidia and improve it on a amd card. It looks like amd has been playing the long game. Then again people have said amd gpus run modern consoles, if that's true its no surprise they are already optimized for dx12. Assuming xbox one uses dx12 in some capacity. Hopefully nvidia can offer similar fps boosts after driver optimization as the hopes.

It looks like dx12 will also greatly utilize multicores, another win for amd cpu's. If single threaded cpu performance no longer matters, amd just knocked all the pieces off the board. I am not a fan boy of amd or intel, just another pc gamer trying to get the best bang for his buck.


"Microsoft kills patch notes" Very strange decision. But it's been getting worse for a long time, in Windows Update all patches just have the same description. At least before we could click the link and be taken to the MS-KB article. Which usually provided somewhat relevant data, even if that with the release of Win10 has been sorely lacking too. I at least want an idea about what a patch does; to know if it's useful or not. And in the case when you install several patches and an issue crops up: To be able to easier figure out which one caused it.
This became especially relevant the last week before Win10 went RTM when broken patches where delivered, without a way to block them.
As I see it the main negative feedback about Win10 is the Update system, why not just listen to the feedback like you claim you do Microsoft?


Remember how long it took them to revoke the unpopular xbox one features.

Must have the internet
Cannot trade games
Must have kinect
etc cant rem the rest


p.s. Go rocket league!
 
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Note that Windows 7 and 8.1 are also getting spyware Windows 10 has through Windows Update. I'm talking about telemetry and all that stuff. I don't know the list of all the KB's but you could probably Google it if care enough for your privacy.
 
Same here, to say I am in no rush to replace with Windows 7 is putting it gently.

The Windows 10 icon on the bottom right-hand corner of my Windows 7screen used to just exist quietly and I would pull it up out of curiosity every once in awhile to check it out.

Now, the damn thing is popping open itself and in my face every morning I sit down to Windows 7 computer. What a nagging little ***** Microsoft has become. Nagging people to do stuff generally turns them off. I know it does me. The harder you try and push me to Windows 10 the harder I'll resist.

Can Microsoft do anything right these days? Oh how far the mighty have fallen, and continue to fall. You know your operating system sucks when you have to nag people to update to it.

Possible permanent fix for that upgrade icon:

Go to add/remove programs and search your installed updates for KB3035583 and uninstall it.
Restart computer.
Check for updates manually and it should appear. Hide it. (right click, hide).
Done.
 
Speaking of encryption patterns in google, years ago hp had a minicomputer wich served thirty two users. They had encrypted files, but really only about ten encryption patterns, no matter what key you used. All you had to do was change the key by a letter or number in a for next loop and when you found some data to have zeroes in it, you found the key. It was way ahead of its time, tho. Computer usage in those days for students was limited to about four minutes of cpu time an hour, programs being run on punched cards. If you never saw a typewriter, you never saw a keypunch. Pray for me. I'm having eye surgery tomorrow, which I don't like the idea of. Maybe they think I have magic eyes and they'll inherit the media plugs.
 
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