Tag: software updates

Articles

Top 6 New Chrome OS Features Coming in Build 89 (droid-life.com)

Google Is Bringing a Handoff Feature to Android and Chromebooks (gizmodo.com)

Google Chrome OS adds a Phone Hub, Nearby Share, and Tote files | PCWorld

Google working to solve Chromebook’s support problem – PC World Australia (idg.com.au)

From the horse’s mouth

Google

Get new features with automatic updates – Google Chromebooks

Chromebooks announces new features for 10th birthday (blog.google)

My Comments

The Chromebook platform is gaining more credibility as a computing platform and celebrates its 10th birthday

Google is celebrating the Chrome OS platform’s 10th birthday by investing in more features for that platform and for the Chromebooks and similar devices using that operating system.

As I have said before, the last year has seen a growth in takeup of the Chromebook as a regular computing device especially as COVID-19 and its associated stay-at-home orders have had us make more use of regular computers using desktop operating systems. Google took advantage of this by adding more functionality to Chrome OS in January 2021 thanks to it being valued as a desktop operating system, especially by families and the education sector.

Now they have laid on more features for Chrome OS with Build 89. One of these is to interlink your Android smartphone with your Chromebook. Here, this feature called Phone Hub offers the ability to mute or “ping” your phone from the Chromebook or enable the Android hotspot function. You have tbe ability to “hand-over” Websites you started browsing on your Android phone to you Chromebook’s display. It doesn’t seem to offer yet the ability to continue “chatting by SMS” from your Chromebook or move photos you took with your Android phone to your Chromebook yet, but it could be seen as a future direction for Phone Hub,

There is the ability to sync the list of Wi-Fi networks that you have set your Android phone or Chromebook up with so that both devices have the SSIDs and passwords for all these networks.

Android and Chrome OS now support Google’s “Nearby Share” across-the-room data transfer so you could move that photo or PDF between your Android phone, Android tablet or Chromebook without using the Internet. The same goes for when another Android or Chrome OS user has that Weblink or photo they want to share with you and you want to see it on your Chromebook.

There is the ability for Chrome OS to remember the last five “copy-and-paste” Clipboard entries. This is taken advantage of if you press the “Everything” key (concentric rings or magnifying glass key) and the V key together to dump everything from the last five “cuts” or “copies” to your document.

The “Tote” bas been added to Chrome OS’s file manager’s default view to bring up frequently-used, new or “pinned” files. For Windows users, this is similar to the Quick Access screen which shows frequently-touched folders or files you have recently touched.

There is an option to have the context menu show up further relevant information about something you highlighted and right-clicked. This will allow you to bring up options like unit, currency or time-zone conversions, definitions or translations in the context menu.

Google has even worked on the lock screen further by allowing you to customise it further. This will include having it interactive in the context of media controls and similar functionality.

It is part of newer directions for Google’s Chrome OS desktop operating system. For example, there will be a direction for Google to offer meaningful functionality updates to Chromebook users every month. But I see issues with this approach where buggy conde can be rushed in to Chrome OS in order to get that PR-worthy feature in to the operating system.

Another issue is to make the Chrome OS platform a long-tailed desktop computing platform like what happens with Windows and MacOS. There were concerns about older Chromebooks missing out on Chrome OS updates due to arbitrary cut-off time periods like five years to eight years from manufacture. It was affecting people who purchased second-hand Chromebooks or were taking advantages of seasonal specials where manufacturers were offloading surplus prior-generation Chromebook inventory at cheap prices.

For subsequent Chrome OS builds, Google will revise the policies regarding end-of-support when dealing with older equipment. This may be about code availability for longer than 8 years from manufacturer or to cater towards Windows-like hardware / software independence when it comes to continual support for that platform.

Here, Google will work with computer manufacturers to answer this problem. For example, they have to ship Chromebooks with a realistic long support life and OEMs have to have Chrome OS equipment capable of having very long service lives like what is the norm with Windows for example. Google will even work out a way to push the latest code in to Chromebooks even at the browser level if not the operating-system level.

They also have a view to bring back other form factors like the Chromebase “all-in-one” and the three-piece “Chromebox” form factors.  Here, it is to prove that Chrome OS isn’t just about cut-price mass-market laptops anymore.

It shows that Google is seeing Chrome OS as a fully-fledged mass-market “open-frame” platform for regular desktop and laptop computers. What needs to still happen is for more software including rich powerful software like games to be written to run natively in this platform.

Google’s effort with Chrome OS and the Chromebook platform may see us heading to the days of the late 1980s when there were three dominant desktop/personal computing platform i.e. IBM-based computers with MS-DOS, the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga. But compared to that era, more hardware vendors will offer computers for both the Windows and Chrome OS platforms rather than platforms being based around hardware and software offered by a particular vendor.

Article

Windows 10 major updates will see an improvement to how new functionality is discovered

Windows 10 Insider build 20190 hits Dev channel with new post-update experience | Windows Central

My Comments

When Microsoft officially releases a major Windows 10 feature update, it may be daunting to know what changes have existed to your computing environment as a result of that update.

Here, you may want to know what changes took effect including any new functionality that came about. It may also be about any significant changes to Windows 10’s user experience that you may have to get used to. For some people, finding that a significant change to the user experience may be daunting and that a feature may be delivered but they don’t know how to take advantage of it. This may cause some Windows 10 computer users to delay or avoid major-update cycles all together.

As well, it is more important for people who aren’t sure of any significant changes to how their technology operates, something that can be of concern for the older generations who haven’t had much computer experience. For them, it may be about relearning a skill they already have in order to adapt it to a newly-revised user interface.

Microsoft will be answering this problem with its “Tips” app in Windows 10 from the next feature update onwards. Here it will have a “What’s New” focus that appears after the update is rolled out to highlight any new features or changes to the user experience. This will be updated with every feature update so users are aware of the newly-added functionality.

But I would like to see added to this information relating to improved peripheral and network device support especially where it is relevant to the kind of connections your computer has and devices it is connected to.

For example, it may be about whether a peripheral or network device is gaining class-driver support within Windows or whether the current class drivers that are part of Windows and relevant to the device are gaining any significant improvement. This includes any newer settings that are available to the end-user so they have it working their way.

This can allow a user to rationalise the software that is running on their computer without worrying that they will lose the functions they are dependent on because they remove vendor-supplied software for that device. Similarly, they may want to know whether the installation of a device on a newer computer is going to be a true plug-and-play experience without the need to download and install any extra software. As well, users are then sure they won’t lose device functionality if the device vendor declares end-of-support on that device.

Microsoft is at least taking some steps towards improving the update experience for major updates within Windows in order to make them discoverable and user-friendly.

Article

Most iPads and iPhones updated to iOS 11.2 now safe from the KRACK exploit

Apple fills the KRACK on iPhones – at last | Naked Security

Previous Coverage

KRACK WPA2 Wi-Fi vulnerability–what is affected

My Comments

There has been intense computing-press coverage regarding the KRACK WPA2 exploit against otherwise-secure Wi-Fi wireless network segments. As my previous coverage highlighted, most of the major regular-computer and mobile operating systems were updated to rectify the vulnerability associated with this exploit.

Check the Settings App on your iPhone for the update

But, as I called out in the article, the iOS 11.1 update that Apple rolled out for their iPhones and iPads only remediated the vulnerability on certain newer devices. Here, it was ignoring a larger installed base of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches by not providing the remediation for devices earlier than the iPhone 7 or the iPad Pro 9.7 (2016).

Now Apple has rolled out the iOS 11.2 update to extend this remediation to more iOS devices in the field. These include:

• iPhone 6 encompassing the S and Plus variants, the iPhone SE, the iPhone 5S,
• 12.9” iPad Pro (1st generation), the iPad mini 2 and its successors, the iPad Air, the iPad (5th generation)
• iPod Touch (6th generation)

Here, it means that those commonly-used recent iPhones and iPads are now safe against the KRACK exploit. Check your Settings app on your iOS device to be sure it is up to date with this patch.

Articles 

Windows 10 preview build protects your files from ransomware | Engadget

Windows 10 will hide your important files from ransomware soon | The Verge

Microsoft previews new ransomware protection feature | Bit-Tech

From the horse’s mouth

Microsoft

Windows Experience blog post

My Comments

If you have heard the news over the last few month, you will have heard about ransomware activity in the form of the WannaCry and Petya ransomware variants getting at major installations including the NHS and the Victorian traffic-camera infrastructure.

But Microsoft has attacked this problem in a different way by providing application-level control for the next major update for Windows 10 – the Fall Creator’s Update. It is part of refining the Windows Defender security software that is part of the operating system for improved business-tier data security.

It is a very similar process to what Android and iOS do in relation to allowing the user to control what apps have access to what resources and features on their smartphone or tablet. It is also in contrast to how regular-computer operating systems work when it comes to controlling the level of access granted to a computer’s file system, where users or groups of users are typically granted particular levels of access to folders or files.

Here, once you enable the Controlled Folder Access function, applications can’t add, modify or delete files in folders where this control exists unless the app is part of a user-defined whitelist.  The routine for adding an app to the whitelist will be very similar to what you do on your iPhone or Android phone when it comes to allowing that app you newly downloaded to have access to a particular resource on your smartphone and could occur during installation or when you first use that app after enabling Controlled Folders.

By default, this feature would be enabled for the Documents, Desktop, Pictures and Videos folder trees but you can enable this feature for other folders such as “ad-hoc” work folders created on the system disk or other fixed storage on your system. I am not sure is this is also to apply to removable storage like USB hard disks, USB memory keys or SD cards, or whether this can also apply to network and online storage like your NAS shares or your Dropbox folder.

A question that can also be raised is whether the Controlled Folder feature will also provide a way to limit access to other system resources by apps. Here, it could range from access to network and Internet resources to prevent spyware from “phoning home” or to limit access to your computer’s Webcam and microphone to limit use of these resources as a surveillance tool.

Article

Dell XPS 13 Kaby Lake Ultrabook – keep this running at its best with the latest downloads from Dell’s Website

Dell XPS 13 (9360) with Kaby Lake gets a suite of new drivers and fixes | Windows Central

From the horse’s mouth

Dell

New XPS 13 Ultrabook

Product Page (Buy Here!) – currently AUD$2299

Support Page

My Comments

You may be pestering your boss about a new ultraportable computer for your work or perhaps your old laptop has been showing the dreaded doughnut for a bit too long and you have enough money set aside for one of the latest and greatest Ultrabooks. Dell has the latest XPS 13 Kaby Lake variant just released with a price of AUD$1899 (Intel Core i5 Kaby Lake CPU, 8Gb RAM, 128Gb SSD, Windows 10 Home) but keep an eye on the Dell website for specials where the machine may be offered cheaper.

This “portable-typewriter-size” Ultrabook will have the latest Intel processor and chipset, Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C connectivity and other niceties with the ability to exploit 802.11ac Wi-Fi network segments with a strong reliable signal thanks to Rivet Killer Wireless technology. But are you sure you are getting the “best bang for the buck” once you order it from Dell?

Because this Ultrabook has just been released with drivers and firmware “just out the gate”, you may find that it may not cut the mustard as expected like with equipment that has just been released. But Dell have answered this reality by issuing the latest drivers and patches for this system that have been “tuned up” to bring out the best performance from this Ultrabook.

The article recommended that, as part of getting your new “toy” ready for its full-on use, you make sure it is running the latest drivers and support software for its hardware functionality. Most likely, you will spend time making sure it works with your home and/or business network and peripherals; installing the software that is important for your work and play activities; verifying you can get to your online hangouts from this new device, as well as enabling the features that are so important to you. But you would need to factor in spending time checking for newer drivers so the computer performs at its best.

They may not show up on the Dell Update utility software packaged with this system as “critical” but are more likely as “recommended” downloads. You may find it more reliable to hit up the support page and download the necessary updates here. Some of the drivers listed may be about assured stability with the “expansion-module” docks that Dell has available for this system. Here, you may not think of them as being relevant for you if you didn’t purchase any of those accessories from Dell, but they can be as relevant for any adaptors or “expansion-module” docks that appear under a different brand but use the same electronics as Dell’s accessories for one or more of their functions.

The same situation will also apply to whatever new computer you have purchased especially if it has just been released, whereupon you may have to use the manufacturer’s software update utility to pick out the drivers and support software for your system’s hardware. Similarly, you may have to visit the manufacturer’s support or downloads page to find the latest downloads for your computer such as to update the supplied software to newer and better standards.

A similar situation had crept up when I was doing some support work for a friend of mine who had problems with his laptop not associating with his home network since he upgraded it to Windows 10. Here, it required the installation of drivers and firmware from the manufacturer’s support Website in order for it to work properly under that newer operating system and take advantage of what it had to offer. Again, you may have to use the manufacturer’s software update utility or visit their support or downloads page after you perform a major update on the computer’s operating system.

The same thing can happen if your computer is equipped with a subsystem like a wireless-network chipset or audio chipset which implements software-defined behaviour. This is where the subsystem’s functionality is evolved under the command of driver and support software – newer software could improve the subsystem’s existing functionality, make the subsystem honour new standards and become more compatible, or add extra capabilities to that subsystem.

One of the issues that was raised in the article was whether Dell, like the rest of the computer manufacturers, will make these drivers available through the Windows Update mechanism that Microsoft provides or not rather than having to write and furnish an update utility of their own.

A reality that may be seen more is that the OEMs who supply the chipsets or other electronics that look after a particular function, such as Intel, Qualcomn or other wireless-network chipsets that are furnished with newer laptop computers, is that these OEMs may provide the updated drivers for the electronics concerned and you may find that these drivers haven’t been updated as far as the computer manufacturer is concerned. Here, if you know whom the OEM is for that chipset, something you can identify in Device Manager which will list the the extant software drivers installed on your system for its hardware. This same situation also faces desktop computers that you build or upgrade yourself or have built up by an independent computer store.

Similarly, for computers that implement a recovery image for the operating system and supplied applications, you may find that updated versions of the drivers and supplied software may not make it to the recovery image. This can be annoying if you have to “strip” your computer back to ground-zero and reinstall everything during situations like rectifying faults or preparing to hand the computer over to someone else. This could be improved with the ability to amalgamate newer versions of the same software in to the recovery image.

Paying attention to Windows Update, the software-update software delivered by your computer’s manufacturer or the computer manufacturer’s support / download pages can allow you to keep your computer like the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook to the expectations that its manufacturer placed on it.

Article 

IoT manufacturer caught fixing security holes | The Register

Here’s what happened when someone hacked the August Smart Lock | CNet

My Comments

The Internet Of Things, along with network hardware focused at consumers and small businesses, has been considered a thorn in the side of people who are involved with data security. This is because of a poor software-maintenance cycle associated with these devices along with customers not installing new software updates for these devices.

Recently, at the DEFCON “hack-a-thon” conference in Las Vegas, a few of the smart locks were found to have software weaknesses that made them vulnerable.

But August, who makes one of these smart locks which are retrofitted to existing “bore-through” single-cylinder tubular deadbolts, answered this issue in a manner that is considered out-of-place for the “Internet Of Things”. Here, they issued software patches to rectify these security issues and offered them as a user-downloadable firmware update.

What is a sad reality for a lot of these devices is that the manufacturer rarely maintains the firmware that runs these devices, if not at all. Some manufacturers think that this practice is about having to “add functionality” to these devices which they would rather do with subsequent models or product generations. But this kind of updating is about making sure that the software ecosystem associated with the product is secure and stable with all the “bugs” ironed out. Similarly, it is also about making sure that the product is complying with industry standards and specifications so as to work properly with other devices.

August uses the latest iterations of their smartphone apps to deploy the firmware updates to their products, typically requiring that you place your phone with the app running near the door that is equipped with these locks.

The computing security industry and computing press congratulated August on responding to the security weakness in its products through a firmware update with “The Register” describing it as being beyond the norm for the “Internet Of Everything”. But they wanted more in the form of them disclosing the nature of the threats in the lock’s firmware in a similar manner to how Microsoft, Google or Apple would disclose weaknesses in their operating-system software.

This issue also is something that is applying to home-network equipment like routers, along with toys and games that connect to the Internet. What is being called out for is a feedback loop where bugs and other software deficiencies in all these devices are called out and a simplified, if not automatic, in-field software-update process takes place whenever newer firmware that answers these problems is released. This also includes the manufacturers disclosing the security issues that have been found and explaining to customers how to mitigate the risks or update the affected software.

Article

Even Apple Macintosh users need to keep secure computing habits

Mac Malware Opens OS X Backdoor to Attackers | Tom’s Guide

My Comments

A lot of Apple Macintosh users have jumped to this platform based on an initial fact that there was very little malware written for it. But now, as more people are using Macs, they are becoming a target for malware including some “backdoor” software which weakens the MacOS’s defences against other malware.

This time, what was being called out was a Trojan-horse program that pretends to be a file-conversion program, the kind of program that is easily downloaded in a hurry.

Keep your Mac’s operating system and software patched and updated

A good practice regarding keeping your Mac secure, as with other computing platforms, is to make sure that the MacOS operating system is up-to-date with all the patches that Apple releases. This is because Apple may have released bug-fixes or remedied exploits that have been discovered in your version of the MacOS operating system.

Preferably, I would recommend you have this set up to work automatically so that when you are connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, your Mac is kept updated and patched.

You can set this up to be performed automatically by going to [Apple] – [System Preferences]. Then you go to the App Store panel if you have one of the newer versions of MacOS (Yosemite onwards) then check the boxes for “Automatically check for updates” and “Download newly available updates in the background”. This will then make the “Install OS X Updates” option available which you should check.

For Macs that run prior versions, you would still go via [Apple]-[Software Update] and set the appropriate options to automatically patch your version of MacOS X.

You can manually update and patch your Mac by visiting the App Store if you are in Yosemite or newer versions and tick off all of the software that needs updating in the Updates panel. For prior operating systems, you would need to visit the [Apple]-[Software Update] menu and click the option to download and install the latest patches for your Mac.

You can still visit the Updates panel in the App Store and go through all the apps that need updating so you can be sure they are up-to-date. If you have software that isn’t delivered via the App Store, use its interface or the software developer’s Website to keep it up-to-date. This is also important because older versions of application and other software can carry bugs or exploits.

This is something you should do when you switch your Mac on if you haven’t used your Mac or haven’t connected it to the Internet for a significant amount of time, such as with a secondary-use MacBook or a Mac that you use as part of multi-platform computing.

Upgrade your Mac’s operating system if you can

It may be worth upgrading your Mac’s operating system to a newer version if your computer can handle it. In most cases, you can update the system for either pennies’ worth or for free. Here, you could check the App Store or Apple’s website regarding newer operating systems for your Mac.

The main advantages that these new operating systems offer encompass system-wide hardening including the availability of the Mac App Store where the software is verified before it is made available.

Make sure you download software from reputable sources

For all computing platforms, one requirement for safe and secure computing is to obtain computer software from known reputable sources.

In the case of the Macintosh, either download new software from the Mac App Store where the software is verified or from the website of a trusted and known developer. Even when you obtain software from the Mac App Store, check the quality of the software by looking through the reviews that are posted about it and checking the reviews also for other software offered by the same developer. I have written an article about obtaining software from app stores because there has been a risk of them turning in to the equivalent of bulletin boards and download sites that host poor-quality software.

When it comes to software delivered in a packaged form, avoid the temptation to install from anything unless you have bought it yourself from a reputable dealer.

Consider desktop-security software for the Mac

This may sound foreign to Apple Macintosh users but you may also find that it may be worth considering the installation of a desktop-security / endpoint-security program on your Mac. It is more so if you or others who use your Mac are not astute when it comes to downloading software or handling the Internet.

Most of the developers who have written these kind of programs for the Windows-based computers have now written versions of these programs for the Macintosh platform because of the rise of threats against this platform. Like with Windows, the better desktop-security programs also offer protection against Internet-borne threats such as site-reputation checking, content filtering, and spam filtering. Similarly, better-quality software runs in a manner that doesn’t impinge on your Mac’s performance.

Conclusion

Like other computer platforms like DOS / Windows, the Apple Macintosh needs its users to be careful about keeping their computer and data secure. This includes keeping the operating system up-to-date along with being sure about what software you have on your computer.