Control Panel and consoles in Windows 11

WINDOWS 11

By Ed Tittel

Control Panel element counts are shrinking, but they remain surprisingly active and entangled in Windows controls, configuration, and management.

Although more than a decade has passed since Microsoft began migrating functionality from Control Panel into Settings, Control Panel elements remain alive and active in Windows 11. Windows consoles are also still important, and likely to remain so, as a new AI-enabled release of Windows 11 is anticipated later this year.

But the landscape between Settings and Control Panel shifts constantly.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

Depositors lose access to cash in bankruptcy of fintech Synapse

PUBLIC DEFENDER

By Brian Livingston

Hundreds of thousands of consumers have lost access to their checking accounts, debit cards, and credit cards due to a shutdown by Synapse, a financial-technology startup that offered “banking as a service.”

Synapse acted as a middleman between true banks — including Evolve Bank & Trust, Lineage Bank, American Bank, and AMG Trust — and smaller entities.

The four banks are not in any financial danger. But they say they’ve been forced to suspend depositors’ access to their funds because on May 11, 2024, Synapse turned off its online “dashboard.” Without the live data, banks can’t verify customers’ balances, as required by law.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).

Got change for a billion-dollar bill?

LEGAL BRIEF

By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

Large patent-infringement verdicts have been in the news recently.

On May 10, a jury awarded IPA Technologies $242 million against Microsoft for infringing US Patent 7,069,560 by incorporating the patented technology into its Cortana digital assistant. Nearly a month earlier, a jury awarded Kove IO $525 million against Amazon for using Kove’s patented technology in its AWS products.

Should you care?

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).

WhoisThisDomain — Where is that great deal coming from?

FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

By Deanna McElveen

There are two non-techie things I really love: shoes and glass ornaments.

Because of tracking cookies, advertisers know this, too. I really don’t mind that very much because while I’m on Facebook, I see only ads that interest me. Unfortunately, I also get questionable ads. How do I know the origin of these vendors and their great deals before I click?

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).

The good and bad of 24H2

PATCH WATCH

By Susan Bradley

We’re getting closer to the next round of Microsoft’s feature releases, this time in the form of Windows 11 24H2.

Microsoft took advantage of its recent developer conference, BUILD, to talk about what 24H2 will include. But unless you have access to Entra ID, many of the features are ho-hum at best. And if you are a consumer, you’ll skip most of the enhancements.

Unless you like living on the edge, prepare your system now to hold back 24H2.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).

Got a NAS?

If you have a home Network attached storage (or NAS) be aware that there are some changes coming down the pipeline with the Windows 11 24H2 release.

As noted by Microsoft, they are planning to enable something called SMB signing or server message block signing. We’ll have more on this along with more guidance but for now, I’ll urge you post here what device and model you have in the comment section.

While in an office setting we want SMB signing, at home I have no issues disabling the signing. But we have a LOT of time to worry about it before I recommend 24H2.

Until then, do you use a NAS? If so, which one?

MS-DEFCON 4: May updates ready to go

By Susan Bradley

The May releases are once again a bit of a mixed bag, relatively quiet for consumers but a little bumpy for businesses.

For three days last week, Microsoft hosted its developer conference, BUILD. It’s an important event for developers, but the headlines are always about things to come.

On the other hand, I keep an eye on the now — what’s already been released — and how those patches, updates, and new features affect our everyday use of Microsoft’s technology. For example, Microsoft announced the Recall feature of its new line of Copilot+ PCs. That last part is important, because Recall requires AI support built into the hardware, and it will be available only with Windows 11.

Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.22.1, 2024-05-28).

How to dig into Excel files using the Office XML file format

OFFICE

By Mary Branscombe

The tools built into Excel assume colleagues might make honest mistakes. If you suspect something more nefarious, look in the XML of the file for clues.

Last time, I looked at what’s inside an Office document. In essence, it is a package of different files that contain both the content and the formatting of your document, kept together in what is effectively a ZIP file.

For Excel, this file collection also includes a lot of information about how a spreadsheet was put together.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.22.0, 2024-05-27).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter.