May 2016

Microsoft added a new feature to the most recent preview version of its Windows 10 operating system that resolves one of the longest standing issues that users experienced when using Windows: the 260 character limit.

The system that Windows uses by default has a limit of 260 characters which led to all kinds of issues including the inability to run operations on files stored under paths exceeding the limit, issues with the extraction of files, and issues with transferring files from systems that have no such limit.

PCMark is an excellent benchmark for Android that enables you to test your phone's performance, battery life and storage performance among other things.

Running benchmarks on a mobile device is not really something that is that interesting to most users unless they either want to test tweaks they made, compare different versions of an operating system or framework, or have multiple devices at their disposal that they want to compare.

Limited Periodic Scanning is a new feature of Windows 10's Anniversary Update edition that configures Windows Defender to scan the system in intervals even if other antivirus solutions are used primarily.

The main idea behind the feature is to improve system security by using Windows Defender as a second-opinion scanner on Windows 10 devices.

JDownloader 2 is a new version of the popular cross-platform, Java-based download application supporting thousands of Internet sites.

The new version of the program is already listed for download on the official website, but the changelog has not been updated yet to reflect the changes of the new JDownloader version.

Classic Shell 4.2.7, currently in beta, introduces several new features to the popular customization software for the Windows operating system.

The program has seen a rise in popularity since the introduction of the Start Screen on Windows 8 as it allowed users of the operating system to enable a classic start menu on devices running the Microsoft operating system.

Classic Shell is more than just a start menu replacement though, even though it is probably the main reason why many users install the program on their devices.

The sale of Opera Software to a Chinese consortium for 1.2 billion US Dollars has received the required 90% shareholder acceptance rate.

Rumors that Opera Software was up for sale emerged as early as 2012 but nothing came out of the rumored acquisition of the company by Facebook.

It was revealed in February 2016 that a consortium of Chinese Internet companies, among them Kunlun and Qihoo 360, have offered 1.2 billion US Dollars for the Norwegian company.

Dropbox revealed Project Infinite, a new way of managing files on desktop systems when the Dropbox client is being used, about a week ago.

The main feature that Project Infinite brings along with it is a placeholder mechanic that displays all files on the desktop computer even if they are not synced. This gives you an overview of all of the files stored on Dropbox and improves manageability because of it.

Facebook is in the news again, this time for listening in on conversations or background noise.

The store on the News10 website is sensationalist but its core is true. The news report makes it seem as if Facebook is listening in on conversations all the time.

The report admits that users need to give Facebook permission to access the microphone, but makes it seem as if Facebook will from that moment on listen to anything that is being said.

WinAuth is a free open-source program for the Windows operating system that can be used to generate codes for various services offering 2-factor authentication.

2-factor authentication, sometimes also called 2-step verification, is an authentication scheme that adds a second verification step to authorization processes.

Companies started to add these options to improve account security. Basically, what it does when enabled is to require another code to be entered before access is granted.

Google Maps users may soon see a new form of advertising when they use the popular mapping service that displays local search ads when the product is being used.

The ads will be displayed on Google Maps for the desktop and for mobile. Desktop users, those who use a web browser on a desktop computer to access Google Maps, will see ads in two places according to Google.