PC Pro March 2021

YOU’RE NO FOOL. How could you be? You’re holding a copy of PC Pro in your hands. Wherever you turn, though, I guarantee people are trying to part you from your money. For some prime examples, look no further than Davey Winder’s eye-opening feature about scams on p24. You’ll notice that this isn’t a list of tricks such as the old ruse of “Microsoft” calling about a problem with Windows. The new breed of scammers are smarter than that. Among many other devious tactics, they tailor their message for topicality, whether that’s mysterious delivery firms calling to expedite your parcel – a popular scam call in the lead-up to Christmas when this was a big concern – or the promise of a January sale deal. The biggest danger may be thinking that…

Jon Honeyball On top of his usual contributions – including the tale of his final Windows 7 migration on p110 – Jon delivers his verdict on the £549 Apple AirPods Max on p59 Dave Mitchell Sharing files in the cloud doesn’t only mean using Dropbox, Google and Microsoft. Dave explains what to look for and puts four alternatives through their paces from p94 Lee Grant As someone who has to deal with grieving families trying to unlock a loved one’s technology, Lee provides a unique insight on the steps we can all take. See p116 Nicole Kobie What does the quantum internet actually do? And when will it appear? In this month’s Futures section on p126, Nicole reveals two big recent breakthroughs that change everything…

Broadband providers are facing criticism for the way they sell Wi-Fi upgrades, with consumers and industry experts claiming people are being locked into overpriced, additional subscriptions. Wi-Fi can be a bottleneck in houses – increasingly so as broadband speeds into homes improve – and providers are selling equipment that claims to offer home-wide coverage. However, there’s frustration that consumers are not always free to use their own kit if they want to avoid ongoing charges. The issue was flagged by a reader who switched to Sky Broadband only to find that he was unable to use the home networking equipment he had previously purchased to spread the broadband into the deeper recesses of his house. “I had used a fibre modem connected to the line and Google Wi-Fi for internal connectivity,” IT…

Everyone at PC Pro was saddened and shocked to hear of the death of Adam Banks. Adam, who had written for PC Pro many times over the years, was best known as the editor of our sister title MacUser, taking the helm twice during the magazine’s lifespan. The world “editior” doesn't even come close to describing the scale of Adam’s input, however: he was a writer, columnist, art director and editor all wrapped into one supremely talented human being. It was one of Adam’s many moments of inspiration that won MacUser national acclaim, when a 2012 magazine cover was chosen as one of the PPA’s Covers of the Century. In truth, the PPA could have chosen from a dozen or more equally strong contenders. Adam would probably have squirmed at such praise, and at…

If you were approached to take part in a study, run by a household name, to better understand the nation’s internet habits, would you take part? Well, maybe. Throw in £10 per month in rewards and it might seem more attractive. But what if, in return, the company installed software that could theoretically give it unencrypted access to traffic passing between your devices and the web? Suddenly, the offer doesn’t seem quite so appealing. Research company Ipsos MORI has been sending out letters seeking participants for its Iris web usage research programme, which urges potential panellists to override system warnings and install apps and software that include its own VPN and root certificate. “The idea that you should be downloading another root certificate and VPN – to anyone who knows what they are…

Under the Ipsos MORI Iris programme, 10,000 participants are invited to share details of their browsing habits in return for a signing-on fee of points that Ipsos values at £20. There are additional rewards of between £5 and £10 in points per month, depending on how many devices users make available. To earn these benefits, users must download software or apps – sometimes from a valid app store, Google Play in the case of Android phones, or direct from Ipsos. Once installed via Google Play, for example, Ipsos Iris Blue also installs a VPN. For Apple products, users are asked to download and install a piece of software from Ipsos and are guided through the process to implant it in iOS – Ipsos hasn’t answered the question of why it’s not in…