Computeractive 652

Windows isn’t junk. For most people it’s comfortably the best operating system to use. But Microsoft adds plenty to it that feels like junk, from pointless news widgets to shameless plugs for its own tools. But Microsoft doesn’t stop there. It also stuffs Edge and Outlook with adverts, unwanted content and other irritants that seem designed to drive you potty. Forget ‘less is more’; for Microsoft it’s ‘more is never enough’. Follow the advice in our Cover Feature and you’ll be able to take a flamethrower to all this clutter. You’ll learn how to block junk so it never arrives on your PC, and obliterate what’s already there. You can then go one step further and stop Microsoft forcing you to use its tools. The result will be Windows running…

Windows isn’t junk. For most people it’s comfortably the best operating system to use. But Microsoft adds plenty to it that feels like junk, from pointless news widgets to shameless plugs for its own tools. But Microsoft doesn’t stop there. It also stuffs Edge and Outlook with adverts, unwanted content and other irritants that seem designed to drive you potty. Forget ‘less is more’; for Microsoft it’s ‘more is never enough’. Follow the advice in our Cover Feature and you’ll be able to take a flamethrower to all this clutter. You’ll learn how to block junk so it never arrives on your PC, and obliterate what’s already there. You can then go one step further and stop Microsoft forcing you to use its tools. The result will be Windows running how…

Microsoft has launched a new version of its Bing search engine that’s powered by AI in the first serious challenge to Google’s dominance for two decades. The new-look Bing provides search results using the same OpenAI technology that’s proved so successful in the groundbreaking tool ChatGPT (www.snipca.com/45130). Microsoft recently invested £10bn in OpenAI. Writing online (www.snipca.com/45128), Microsoft said around half of the 10 billion search queries made every day go “unanswered” because people are “using search to do things it wasn’t originally designed to do.” “It’s great for finding a website, but for more complex questions or tasks too often it falls short,” it said. It hopes the relaunched Bing will solve this problem by working with its browser Edge to become your “co-pilot for the web”. Microsoft claims Bing…

Microsoft has launched a new version of its Bing search engine that’s powered by AI in the first serious challenge to Google’s dominance for two decades. The new-look Bing provides search results using the same OpenAI technology that’s proved so successful in the groundbreaking tool ChatGPT (www.snipca.com/45130). Microsoft recently invested £10bn in OpenAI. Writing online (www.snipca.com/45128), Microsoft said around half of the 10 billion search queries made every day go “unanswered” because people are “using search to do things it wasn’t originally designed to do.” “It’s great for finding a website, but for more complex questions or tasks too often it falls short,” it said. It hopes the relaunched Bing will solve this problem by working with its browser Edge to become your “co-pilot for the web”. Microsoft claims Bing will now give “more relevant…

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether mobile and broadband companies give customers enough detail about how their prices will rise during their contract. Many firms, including BT and Vodafone, now hike prices by the rate of CPI inflation plus 3.9 per cent. With inflation at a 40-year high, customers face record increases this year. Because these rises are written into contracts, customers can’t cancel early without paying a fee. Ofcom will examine whether it needs to “intervene” to make sure customers are given “sufficient certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay” when they sign a contract. The regulator said that the “unpredictability of inflation rates means it can be difficult to know – months in advance – what an inflation-linked price rise will equate to in…

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether mobile and broadband companies give customers enough detail about how their prices will rise during their contract. Many firms, including BT and Vodafone, now hike prices by the rate of CPI inflation plus 3.9 per cent. With inflation at a 40-year high, customers face record increases this year. Because these rises are written into contracts, customers can’t cancel early without paying a fee. Ofcom will examine whether it needs to “intervene” to make sure customers are given “sufficient certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay” when they sign a contract. The regulator said that the “unpredictability of inflation rates means it can be difficult to know – months in advance – what an inflation-linked price rise will equate to in pounds and pence…