Daily Archives: March 31, 2025

• Reviewing your licensing options

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.13 • 2025-03-31

  TAME YOUR TECH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Can you get a license for that?

  With the upcoming end of life of Windows 10, I’m often asked why I’m not recommending that you look for and install the long-term servicing channel (LTSC) version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.

  LTSC is a version of Windows 10 that was designed for devices that require minimal changes over time. It is primarily used in environments where stability and consistency are crucial, such as medical devices or industrial machinery. It is not available to the public and can be purchased only through volume licensing. It’s a platform that is intentionally not bloated, and it comes with fewer pre-installed apps, such as Microsoft Store, Cortana, and Edge (until the 2021 version). While it gets regular security updates, it does not get feature releases.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Tame Your Tech Adobe, Autopilot, Business Software Alliance, Intune, Licensing, LTSC, Microsoft, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Software, Windows 11

• Apple has been analyzing your photos since September 2024

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Apple silently turned on a feature in its new iPhone iOS 18, macOS 15, and other operating systems that sends a version of every photo in your collection to a central server for “evaluation” — with no publicity about the feature and without asking device users to opt into the process. It’s simply enabled.

  The Cupertino corporation released iOS 18 and macOS 15 (code-named Sequoia) on September 16, 2024. When I say the photo-analysis feature was “silently turned on,” I mean there’s no mention of Apple’s Enhanced Visual Search (EVS) in the company’s official What’s new in iOS 18 Web page. There’s a passing reference to using Apple Intelligence, the iPhone’s “smart assistant,” to search for photos in iOS 18.1 (released on October 28, 2024). But there’s been none of the promotional talk you’d expect for such an important change as EVS.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Public Defender Apple, Enhanced Visual Search, iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, Newsletters

• What Windows 11 24H2 offers beyond bugs

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:43 CDT by Lance Whitney • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  If you can get past the persistent glitches, the 2024 flavor of Windows 11 does have some interesting and helpful new features.

  I’d long resisted updating my main laptop to Windows 11 24H2. Though I’d been running this version on a couple of virtual machines, I didn’t want to put one of my core PCs through the ringer. And that’s because Windows 24H2 had been plagued by bugs almost since its official release last October.

  Most major Windows updates are beset with glitches here and there. Before an official rollout of a new version, Microsoft strives to find as many flaws as possible through internal reviews and beta testing. But with so many different Windows PCs and environments in the world, finding every single problem or conflict is difficult — if not impossible.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Windows 11 Camera, File Explorer, Newsletters, Sudo for Windows, Voice Clarity, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi 7, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2, Windows Narrator, Windows Spotlight

• Making sense of Settings in Windows 11

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:42 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Settings is surely here to stay, but so are all Windows’ other settings tools.

  Each new build of Windows 11 moves more functionality into Settings. It’s a slow process, and one I’m sure most of us would like to be faster.

  When you consider the amount of legacy code in Windows and the ongoing need to ensure as much backward compatibility as possible, however, those delays make more sense. Changes are more seamless for users in the Insider Program, with new updates coming with every build.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Windows 11 Control Panel, Newsletters, Settings, Windows 11 Settings