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July 2016

5 Reasons to upgrade to Windows 10

There are reasons for and against upgrading an existing system to Windows 10. I covered reasons to keep on using an existing operating system yesterday already and suggest you check it out first.

Today, I'm going to look at reasons for making the switch to Windows 10.

I want to make clear that you have to weight each reason individually, as you may weight them different than other computer users.

5 Reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10

The free to upgrade period to Windows 10 is almost at an end, and it is likely that many users who have not upgraded yet consider doing so.

The reason is simple: the upgrade is free, and it is possible to go back in the first month should things turn out not to your liking.

That's a pretty good incentive to try out the new operating system. There are other things that you may like about Windows 10, and I will reveal them in another article that I'll publish soon.

This article on the other hand concentrates on reasons why you may not want to upgrade to Windows 10.

Mozilla tests new Get Add-ons page in Firefox

If you are running Firefox's Developer Edition you may have noticed the new Get Add-ons page already that Mozilla rolled out with the latest update.

Add-ons are one of the core selling points of the Firefox web browser. While Mozilla stated recently that 40% of Firefox users don't run a single add-on, it does mean that the other 60% run at least one.

Turn off specific sounds on Android

Ultimate Sound Control is a free application for Android that gives you better control over system sounds on devices running Android.

All Android versions come with some form of sound management. You may change the global volume for instance, select individual volume settings for ring, alarm and media, or change sounds for specific events.

Depending on the manufacturer of the device, you may get even more controls, for instance to turn off the sound the camera makes when you use it.

Avast to acquire AVG for $1.3 billion

Avast announced an agreement to acquire security rival AVG for $1.3 billion and $25 per outstanding share in an all cash offer earlier today.

AVG's stock jumped up more than $6 today already to $24.80 after the announcement was released by both companies.

The company reported gross income of $363.81 million and a net income of $46.97 million in 2015.

The transaction has been approved by AVG's and Avast's management board and supervisory board already, and AVG's board recommended the acceptance of the offer to AVG Shareholders.

How to solve a broken captcha

One more step, please complete the security check to access a site, may be displayed to you when you try to access certain sites on the Internet.

This happens to me a lot when I connect the device to a virtual private network or Tor. Usually, it means clicking on the "I'm not a robot" box first, and selecting images showing specific types of objects afterwards.

Etcher: flash images to SD and USB

Etcher is a new cross-platform open source program to burn operating system images to SD cards and USB drives safely and securely.

My Surface Pro 4 ships without optical drive, and so do quite a few modern laptops and desktop PCs. It seems that optical discs are on their way to a niche existence; but this may come with a couple of issues.

The Z is an innovative computer mouse

The Z is a mouse created by Swiftpoint that aims to revolutionize how mice works by introducing new features that benefit all users.

When it comes to the mouse input device, not much has changed in the past decade or so. Manufacturers moved away from using a ball to power movement to other techniques, specialized devices came with dozens or more buttons, and DPI started to become important as well.

Apart from that, you still click on buttons to perform actions and that is about it for the majority of mice out there.