Windows 10 Report Card after 4 years. Fake News: Mr. Science Bill Nye - Chromebook better than Windows

Windows 10 after four years: A solid report card, but serious challenges ahead

Every year, some pundits declare the PC dead. But sales are holding steady and are even up year over year, as mobile professionals, gamers, and corporate IT departments decide that there really isn't a credible alternative yet. Maybe next year.

After 4 years, 6 major feature updates Windows 10 is on track to hold 80% of the Windows market by the time support for Windows 7 ends in 2020.  However, a number of corporate users refusal to upgrade sparks concerns that a resurgence of malware such as the WannaCry ransomware outbreak that struck Windows XP when support ended for that OS.

All in all Windows 10 has been a successful venture other than the misstep that occurred with the rollout of version 1809, (score under Upgrades and Updates).

ZDNet grades Windows 10 in 6 areas;

1.  Adoption Rate:  C-

2.  Upgrades and Updates:  C+

3.  Privacy:  A,  The competition (Google and Apple) has made this category too easy for Microsoft.

4.  Security:  A/B

5.  Apps:  Incomplete

6.  Hardware:  A-  Apple is stumbling badly in the Mac market, criticized for the quality of its keyboards, a lackadaisical approach to design, and a lackadaisical attitude about its professional customers. This year, the run of bad news for would-be Mac owners continues with the news that recent-vintage 15-inch MacBook Pro models are banned from airplanes because of the risk of battery fires.

To read the entire ZDNet article click the following link;

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-report-card-after-four-years-serious-challenges-ahead/

The above article segues nicely into our next news item, Mr. Science Bill Nye becoming the face of Chromebook.  Is it time to take Mr. Nye's well paid for opinion and buy a Chromebook over a Windows notebook?  After the Chromebook ad featuring Mr. Nye appeared, a ZDNet reporter decides to pay a visit to a retailer and find out which is selling and which is the best system to own.

Windows or Chromebook? A Best Buy salesman told me it isn't even close

After Google hires Bill Nye to explain that people are just scared to leave their decrepit Windows laptops for Chromebooks, I thought I'd get another opinion. It was harsh.

To read the surprise finding of the visit, please click on the following link;

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-or-chromebook-a-best-buy-salesman-told-me-it-isnt-even-close/?ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&bhid=2219791

Free Dark Web Check - see if your email and information is compromised on the Dark Web

Dark Web Check, Deep Web, Clearnet.  Deep Dark secrets of the Internet.

There is a place on the Internet that is the domain of criminals, hackers, and others that are inaccessible to most users.  They are only accessible via the use of special browsers or access to P2P (peer to peer networks) maintained for use only by members.

In this deep forbidden layer, SSNs, credit card, bank info, personal info, email addresses and of course passwords are for sale along with other items.  Drugs, vile pornography maybe even human trafficking occurs in this realm, transactions often protected by indecipherable Bitcoin accounts and links to hide identities.

Wikipedia:  The Dark Web, The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets, overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access.  The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term deep web is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web.

The darknets which constitute the dark web include small, friend-to-friend peer-to-peer networks, as well as large, popular networks like Tor, Freenet, I2P, and Riffle operated by public organizations and individuals. Users of the dark web refer to the regular web as Clearnet due to its unencrypted nature.[8] The Tor dark web may be referred to as onionland,[9] a reference to the network's top-level domain suffix .onion and the traffic anonymization technique of onion routing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web

With the latest Information breach at Capital One affecting over 100 million Americans, it is a good idea to check to see if your information is available on the Dark Web.  There is a website that I have written about here before, "Have I Been Pawned" where you can enter your email address and it will report back how many breaches and what breaches your information has been compromised through.

When I first wrote about the Have I Been Pawned website in November of 2018, https://dforceatl.blogspot.com/2018/11/email-and-identity-theft-has-your.html
there were over 5.5 billion compromised accounts.  Since that post the number has grown to 8.2 billion pawned accounts.

I have 4 main email accounts that I use, 1 for non-business related email, 1 I use to communicate with my clients and 2 Outlook accounts I use when in the field.  In November my non-business account I found on the Dark Web but my business-related account was not listed.  Today, the original account found on the Dark Web is on there but now my main business-related account is listed 3 times with recent hacks.  One of my Outlook accounts is on the Dark Web, associated with the River City Media Spam list so my only risk there is an increase in spam.

The "Have I Been Pawned" site is safe to use and it is the same website that is used by Experian, Equifax, and other credit monitoring agencies.  By going directly to the website, you don't have to provide a credit card or create an account with the Credit agency to check your info.

I cannot stress enough practicing good Password Policy!

That link again to "Have I Been Pawned" is https://haveibeenpwned.com/


Support for Windows 7 is ending

January 14, 2020 is the end of support by Microsoft for Windows 7.  If you are still using Windows 7,
this means that your Intel processor and operating system are old and more vulnerable to security risks and viruses.

If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work, but it may become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Your PC will continue to start and run, but Microsoft will no longer provide the following support for your business.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-windows-7-support


New DForce Intel Gen 8 & 9 processors with Windows 10 and Solid State Drives.