Tag: windows

StarCraft remaster unveiled, and original SD version becomes free-as-in-beer

Enlarge / It finally exists. (credit: Blizzard Entertainment) A long-rumored StarCraft remaster for computers was finally unveiled on Saturday by Blizzard Entertainment, set for launch in “summer 2017.” No pricing info was announced, but Blizzard has confirmed quite a few other details about the 4K-friendly release. For one, it will be preceded by a patch to the 19-year-old StarCraft: Brood War  client, and this new 1.18a client will reportedly not change the mechanics of the game. To prove that out, this patched version will still be able to connect to players using the existing 1.16 patch (which came out all the way back in 2009). Among other tweaks, like better compatibility with newer versions of Windows, the new patch will include two important updates: the ability to connect to and play against owners of the upcoming remastered version, and the change to a wholly free product. Once the patch goes live, the original StarCraft Anthology  will be free-as-in-beer to download and play in both single- and multiplayer modes. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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StarCraft remaster unveiled, and original SD version becomes free-as-in-beer

Microsoft’s Project Scorpio Will Pack Internal PSU, 4K Game DVR Capture

According to an exclusive report from Windows Central, Microsoft’s upcoming “Project Scorpio” gaming console will feature an internal power supply unit (PSU), similar to the Xbox One S, and 4K game DVR and streaming at 60 frames-per-second (FPS). From the report: In Microsoft’s efforts to make Project Scorpio a true 4K system, it will also feature HEVC and VP9 codecs for decoding 4K streams for things such Netflix, just like the Xbox One S. It will also leverage HEVC for encoding 2160p, 60 frame-per-second (FPS) video for Game DVR and streaming. Microsoft’s Beam streaming service has been running public 4K stream tests for some time, and it’s now fair to assume it will not only be PC streamers who will benefit. Project Scorpio’s Game DVR will allow you to stream and record clips in 4K resolution with 60FPS, according to our sources, which is a massive, massive step up from the 720p, 30FPS you get on the current Xbox One. With every bit of information we receive about Project Scorpio, the theme of native 4K keeps appearing — not only for games, but also console features. We now believe Scorpio will sport 4K Game DVR, 4K Blu-ray playback, and 4K streaming apps, but the real showstopper will be the 4K games Microsoft will likely flaunt at E3 2017. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft’s Project Scorpio Will Pack Internal PSU, 4K Game DVR Capture

Intel Security Releases Detection Tool For EFI Rootkits After CIA Leak

After WikiLeaks revealed data exposing information about the CIA’s arsenal of hacking tools, Intel Security has released a tool that allows users to check if their computer’s low-level system firmware has been modified and contains unauthorized code. PCWorld reports: The release comes after CIA documents leaked Tuesday revealed that the agency has developed EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) rootkits for Apple’s Macbooks. The documents from CIA’s Embedded Development Branch (EDB) mention an OS X “implant” called DerStarke that includes a kernel code injection module dubbed Bokor and an EFI persistence module called DarkMatter. In addition to DarkMatter, there is a second project in the CIA EDB documents called QuarkMatter that is also described as a “Mac OS X EFI implant which uses an EFI driver stored on the EFI system partition to provide persistence to an arbitrary kernel implant.” The Advanced Threat Research team at Intel Security has created a new module for its existing CHIPSEC open-source framework to detect rogue EFI binaries. CHIPSEC consists of a set of command-line tools that use low-level interfaces to analyze a system’s hardware, firmware, and platform components. It can be run from Windows, Linux, macOS, and even from an EFI shell. The new CHIPSEC module allows the user to take a clean EFI image from the computer manufacturer, extract its contents and build a whitelist of the binary files inside. It can then compare that list against the system’s current EFI or against an EFI image previously extracted from a system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Intel Security Releases Detection Tool For EFI Rootkits After CIA Leak

Mozilla Firefox 52 Released As ESR Branch, Will Receive Security Updates Until 2018

prisoninmate quotes a report from Softpedia: Back in January, we told you that the development of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 kicked off with the first Beta release and promised to let users send and open tabs from one device to another, among numerous other improvements and new features. Nine beta builds later, Mozilla has pushed today, March 7, the final binary and source packages of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 web browser for all supported platforms, including GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. The good news is that Firefox 52.0 is an ESR (Extended Support Release) branch that will be supported until March-April 2018. Prominent features of the Mozilla Firefox 52.0 ESR release include support for the emerging WebAssembly standard to boost the performance of Web-based games and apps without relying on plugins, the ability to send and open tabs from one device to another, as well as multi-process for Windows users with touchscreens. With each new Firefox release, Mozilla’s developers attempt to offer new ways to improve the security of the widely-used web browser across all supported platforms. Firefox 52.0 ESR implements a “This connection is not secure” warning for non-secure pages that require user logins, along with a new Strict Secure Cookies specification. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Mozilla Firefox 52 Released As ESR Branch, Will Receive Security Updates Until 2018

Windows 10 Build 15048 Has a Windows Mixed Reality Demo You Can Try

Microsoft’s big push into mixed reality involves headsets from multiple manufacturers (including ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo), and developer kits with Acer’s headset will begin a phased rollout this month. But Windows 10’s latest “Insider Preview” build already includes a mixed reality simulator with a first-person 3D environment that can be navigated with the W, A, S and D keys. Slashdot reader Mark Wilson writes: From the look of the changelog for Windows 10 build 15048 that was released a few days ago to Insiders, it looked to be little more than a bug fixing release. But in fact Microsoft has already started to include references to — and even a portal for — Windows Mixed Reality. We have seen reference to Windows Holographic in Windows 10 before, but this is the first time there has been anything to play with. It coincides nicely with Microsoft revealing that Windows Mixed Reality is the new name for Windows Holographic, and it gives Insiders the chance to not only see if their computer meets the recommended specs, but also to try out a Windows Mixed reality simulation. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Windows 10 Build 15048 Has a Windows Mixed Reality Demo You Can Try

Microsoft reduced Windows update sizes by 35 percent

Fans of Windows and snappy downloads will be relieved to learn that Microsoft’s Unified Update Platform, which has been rolling out to Windows Insiders since November, will be available to all retail users starting with the release of the Creators Update coming later this spring. In addition to those very handy snooze and schedule features , the UUP significantly shrinks the size of future updates by saving users the trouble of downloading an entire build of their operating system. That feature is called differential download packages , which is a technical term for “only downloads what you need.” A differential download looks at the files already on your system and uses them to rebuild the new OS version from there. It sounds simple, but as Microsoft’s Laura Butler points out , it’s no easy task given the decades of legacy code and patches. For a major release like the Creators Update, you’ll still need to download a full build, but the next feature update after that should be significantly smaller — about 35 percent smaller on average, according to Microsoft’s Director of Program Management Bill Karagounis. For Windows Insiders those downloads should be even smaller, but it’s a bit of a trade-off since those systems get hit with more frequent updates. Source: Windows Blog

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Microsoft reduced Windows update sizes by 35 percent

Delta Windows Updates shrinks downloads 65% for Insiders, 35% for everyone else

Enlarge / The announcement of the Creators Update in October 2016. The Windows 10 Creators Update, due some time in the next couple of months, enables differential updates as part of what Microsoft calls the Unified Update Platform. These updates only contain the changes between one major Windows update and the next, which should make for smaller, faster downloads. Windows Insiders have been receiving these new differential updates since early December, and Microsoft has reported on the effectiveness of the new scheme. Compared to a “canonical” update (which includes full files rather than just the changed portions), the savings are substantial: the median differential download size of build 15025 was 910MB. The media canonical size of build 15031 was 2.56GB. 910MB is quite a bit smaller than 2.56GB. (credit: Microsoft ) This is particularly attractive to members of the Insider program because each new build is delivered as a major update that performs a full in-place Windows 10 install. To take advantage of the differential updates, you’ll have to make sure to never skip any releases; if you’re updating an older build to the very latest, a full download is required. This represents a trade-off on Microsoft’s part: The company doesn’t want to have to maintain a differential update between any and every pair of builds. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Delta Windows Updates shrinks downloads 65% for Insiders, 35% for everyone else

How to Get Windows and macOS Apps on Your Chromebook

As capable as Chromebooks have become , there are times when you might need to load up Photoshop, iTunes or something else that relies on Windows or macOS. Not only can Chrome OS do this, it’s not that difficult to set up…if you know the right plug-ins to use. Here’s how to get started. Read more…

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How to Get Windows and macOS Apps on Your Chromebook

132 Google Play apps tried to infect Android users with… Windows malware

Enlarge (credit: Palo Alto Networks ) It’s a mystery that left researchers scratching their heads: 132 Android apps in the official Google Play market attempted to infect users with… Windows malware. The apps, which were spawned by seven different developers, mostly contained carefully concealed HTML-based iframe tags that connected to two heavily obfuscated malicious domains. In one case, an app didn’t use iframes but instead used Microsoft’s Visual Basic language to inject an entire obfuscated Windows executable into the HTML. The apps were equipped with two capabilities. One was to load interstitial ads, and the other was to load the main app. The main apps loaded WebView components that were configured to allow loaded JavaScript code to access the app’s native functionality. An example of one infected app’s user interface and underlying code. (credit: Palo Alto Networks ) That was a lot of work considering that the Windows-based malware was incapable of executing on an Android device. On top of that, the two malicious domains in the iframes—brenz.pl and chura.pl—were taken over by Polish security authorities in 2013. So what, precisely, was going on? Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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132 Google Play apps tried to infect Android users with… Windows malware

Toshiba Plans To Ship a 1TB Flash Chip To Manufacturers This Spring

Lucas123 writes: Toshiba has begun shipping samples of its third-generation 3D NAND memory product, a chip with 64 stacked flash cells that it said will enable a 1TB chip shipping later this spring. The new flash memory product has 65% greater capacity than the previous generation technology, which used 48 layers of NAND flash cells. The chip will be used in data centers and consumer SSD products. The technology announcement comes even as suitors are eyeing buying a majority share of the company’s memory business. Along with a previous report about Western Digital, Foxxcon, SK Hynix and Micron Technology have now also thrown their hats in the ring to purchase a majority share in Toshiba’s memory spin-off, according to a new report in the Nikkei’s Asian Review. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Toshiba Plans To Ship a 1TB Flash Chip To Manufacturers This Spring