Microsoft has been making quite a few changes to the Windows 11 taskbar, but there’s still room for improvement. Despite the big Windows 11 2024 Update that just dropped and all the nifty features and improvements in that update, Microsoft is already looking ahead to the next update and what that one is going to bring. As noticed by Twitter user @phantomofearth and reported by Windows Latest, an upcoming version of Windows 11 that’s currently only available to Insiders on the Beta Channel shows that it’ll be possible to change the size of taskbar items. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro In the latest Beta version of Windows 11, there’s a new toggle in the Taskbar section of Windows Settings that lets you Show smaller taskbar buttons with options for Always, Never, and When taskbar is full. (As of this writing, the setting isn’t fully working as intended.) This particular option was already in Windows 10 but was removed for unknown reasons when Windows 11 launched. It’s a great way to reclaim just a bit more screen real estate, so a welcome change. If you aren’t a Windows Insider, you can expect this feature to release to the general public some time in November or December. Further reading: Is the Windows Insider Program worth joining? Read...

Your PC is capable of running not one, but two Windows apps designed to protect you and your system against online threats: Windows Security and Microsoft Defender. Telling them apart can be tricky, though. Thanks to a few name changes, what’s old sounds new and what’s new sounds old. If you haven’t kept up with the updates, it may not be clear which one you want — or if you actually prefer to run both.  To help you decide, I’ve broken down what each app does. Let’s dig in. What is Windows Security? PCWorld PCWorld PCWorld Previously known as Windows Defender, Windows Security is the most current name for the app that ties Microsoft’s basic antivirus and network protections together. Similar to third-party antivirus software, you get a unified interface to make changes to the app and access manual scans. Separate tabs break out various settings: Virus & threat protection: From this tab, you can run manual scans (Quick, Full, Custom, or Offline), change how your system screens for threats, and set up more stringent ransomware defenses. Account protection: Guard the Microsoft account tied to your PC, as well as strengthen Windows’ login process. Firewall & network protection: Refine your settings in order to tailor screening of incoming and outgoing traffic. App & browser control: Adjust how Windows screens apps for suspicious behavior, and if Edge runs in an isolated, sandboxed environment. Device security: Get information about your PC’s deeper security protections in Windows — core virtualization, security processor (TPM), and secure boot. Device performance & health: See a quick overview of the general “health” of your PC with regard to software issues or storage drive issues. Family options: Filter viewable content for users on the PC, as well as see breakdowns of device usage. You can manage your family group through the web portal. Click on the arrows (desktop) or swipe (mobile) to see each tab in the Windows Security app. What is Microsoft Defender? PCWorld PCWorld PCWorld Confusingly, the Microsoft Defender app shares its name with the antivirus engine powering Windows Security’s malware protection — but they’re not directly tied. Instead, the Defender app offers additional defenses against online threats for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers. It works equally with either Windows Security (including the Microsoft Defender Antivirus engine) or third-party antivirus software. Privacy protection: You can funnel your online traffic through Microsoft’s encrypted VPN service whenever you’re on a network connection, like public Wi-Fi you don’t trust. You get up to 50GB of data per month. Microsoft Defender also can now detect unsecure Wi-Fi connections, and not just alert you to them, but automatically turn on the VPN too. Privacy Protection is available on all supported platforms, including Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. Identity theft monitoring: Through a partnership with Experian, Microsoft Defender will alert you to data breaches and any fraudulent activity on your credit reports. The service also provides up to $1 million in restoration costs and $100,000 in lost funds if you are a victim of identity theft. Device protection: You can watch to see if your devices (up to four) or those linked through your Microsoft Family Group have any suspicious activity occurring and be notified through this app. Notifications will be sent through Windows’ notification system, and you can also view them through the Defender app. Click on the arrows (desktop) or swipe (mobile) to see the different sections of the Microsoft Defender app. Windows Security vs. Microsoft Defender Windows Security and Microsoft Defender are complimentary apps, rather than competing.  Windows Security defends against online threats, including ransomware, and it’s included for free with a Windows license. (Heads-up: If you ever see a popup notification telling you to call a phone number or pay to renew, you’ve either visited a compromised website or your PC has been directly compromised — time to run an antivirus scan ASAP.) Microsoft Defender then rounds out those protections by letting you shield your online activity from other users on the same network, keeping you informed of data leaks and credit fraud, and monitoring your devices for vulnerabilities.  Should you use Microsoft Defender? Windows Security and Microsoft Defender paired together can rival basic third-party antivirus suite subscriptions. Windows Security and Microsoft Defender paired together can rival basic third-party antivirus suite subscriptions.Alaina Yee / Foundry Windows Security and Microsoft Defender paired together can rival basic third-party antivirus suite subscriptions.Alaina Yee / Foundry Alaina Yee / Foundry If you’re already a Microsoft 365 subscriber, having both Windows Security and Microsoft Defender set up and active is comparable to a very simple third-party antivirus suite subscription — and you don’t have to pay extra. However, if you’re not yet a paid Microsoft 365 user, want additional integrated features (like a password manager), or prefer a different interface, independent antivirus software will be a better fit for your needs. You can check out our top recommendations in our best antivirus software roundup, which covers all types of plans. Read...

The former Governor General confirms she will not seek to continue and wants the governance appointments process to be “robust”. Read...

The Linux desktop offers versatile possibilities for optimizing window management, making it an effective tool for multitasking. With window lists, tiling methods, virtual desktops, and active corners, Linux desktops have more to offer than the interfaces of other operating systems. Task switching with Alt-Tab All Linux desktops obey the Alt-Tab hotkey for task switching, but generally only offer the tasks of the current desktop. There are exceptions, such as LXQT (Lubuntu), which offer all windows. However, most desktops have a setting to extend the range to all panes, such as XFCE via Settings > Window management fine-tuning (“Window cycle through all panes”). Further reading: How Linux’s insanely customizable desktop works This can be configured in a very detailed but self-explanatory way in Cinnamon under System settings > Window > Alt-Tab, or somewhat confusingly in KDE under System settings > Window management > Application switcher. In Gnome, Alt-Tab is limited to the windows of the active area. However, Gnome offers the additional Win-Tab hotkey for comprehensive task switching, which Gnome users should get used to. Note: We always refer to the “Win” key here, which is often referred to as the “Meta” or “Super” key in Linux. Tiling windows Tiling and automatic window arrangement is a current desktop mode that Windows, KDE, Gnome (planned project), or the Gnome extension “Tile Windows” are forcing. Some Gnome distributions such as Pop-OS include this extension as standard. The most important hotkey here is Super-Y, which distributes all active windows appropriately on the monitor. KDE Plasma is currently the best example of what tiling methods can achieve: By pressing Win-T, a grid appears that fills the entire screen and can be further divided and arranged. Press Esc to return to the normal desktop. If a window is now moved with the title bar and the Shift key pressed, it is automatically scaled into the previously created grid. This is clever, but only really practical for very rationally organized work — for example when programming with defined code, debug, and terminal windows. Further reading: The best Linux software for Windows switchers All Linux desktops offer simple snap-in functions: Dragging a window to the right or left edge of the screen automatically scales the window to half the screen size. Dragging to the top of the screen enlarges the window to full screen. These are almost universal desktop standards. Users who feel disturbed by such automations can also switch them off. The option can be found in the general settings under “Windows” or “Window management” as “Snap to screen edges” or “Automatic docking.” KDE’s elaborate tiling editor can be deactivated under System settings > Workspace behavior > Workspace effects. Virtual desktops No matter which Linux desktop you use: Virtual desktops are available, although they are not activated everywhere. Virtual desktops multiply the screen area and are useful in almost any scenario — even on large monitors. XFCE has its own virtual-desktop option under Settings > Desktop, while LXQT hides this option somewhat in the configuration center under “Window manager Openbox.” Gnome and Budgie show the item “Desktop” under System settings > Multitasking. In KDE, only one desktop is configured by default, but this can be changed in the System settings under Desktop behavior > Virtual desktops. Active corners (here in KDE): This option should be used in doses for one or two fundamental multitasking action(s). Active corners (here in KDE): This option should be used in doses for one or two fundamental multitasking action(s). KDE.org Active corners (here in KDE): This option should be used in doses for one or two fundamental multitasking action(s). KDE.org KDE.org Whether a toolbar applet (“desktop switcher” or similar) is useful in addition to the standard hotkeys for virtual desktops (see below) must be decided for each desktop. The optional “desktop switcher” for the system tray can usually be accessed by right-clicking on the tray and selecting “Add to tray” (or similar). While this is recommended for Mate, XFCE, and LXQT, for example, Cinnamon, KDE, or Gnome do not need this because they have their own desktop overview (Ctrl-Alt-Top for Cinnamon, Win-F8 for KDE, or just the Win key under Gnome). The most convincing solution is offered by Cinnamon’s large-area overview, where moving a window from one virtual desktop to another does not involve any fiddling. In addition to optional bar applets, preset hotkeys can also be used to switch between workspaces. Ctrl-Alt-Right and Ctrl-Alt-Left are predominantly standard, less frequently Ctrl-Win-Top and Ctrl-Win-Bottom. KDE always does everything a little differently, but of course has all options on board: You can get used to the standard hotkeys Ctrl-F1 (F2, F3 et cetera) for switching virtual desktops, as well as the aforementioned Win-F8 hotkey for an overview of all desktops. If you are coming from a Gnome-affined desktop, you can change the hotkeys in the KDE system settings under Shortcuts > KWin. The entries “One desktop to the left / right” are relevant for switching to the next desktop. Window list in the system bar The “Window list” bar applet (also “Window buttons,” “Grouped window list”) is one of the most important controls for accessing numerous open programs. A window list is active by default on almost all desktops, but it is not technically mandatory. If such a display of active tasks is missing or has been inadvertently deactivated, it should be added to the system tray by right-clicking. Ideally, the control should only display the program icons to save space, also combine multiple instances (e.g. of the file manager and terminal) in one icon to save space and, thirdly, represent all windows of all virtual desktops and all screens. All bar applets offer these options. The path to the applet configuration can differ, as can the description of the individual options. The image at the top left of this page shows the optimum configuration of the XFCE window list as an example. In Ubuntu’s customized Gnome, the dock takes over task control (configuration under Settings > Ubuntu desktop), in Mints Cinnamon the “Grouped window list” bar applet is recommended. These tools combine the window list of running programs with a favorites launcher. Active corners Active corners trigger a window action or a program by moving the mouse to a corner of the screen. Cinnamon, KDE, and Budgie offer this function, Gnome limits it to the “Activities” launcher. In fact, active corners next to click targets such as the main menu or window title are rather counterproductive, but with a system bar at the top edge, active corners can be focused at the bottom. A suitable action in terms of the multitasking overview would be “Show all workspaces” (Cinnamon) or “Show windows – all workspaces” (KDE). Cinnamon offers “Active corners” as a separate item in the system settings; in KDE the option can be found under Workspace behavior > Screen edges. Read...

Zoom is still one of the best apps for video conferencing and video chatting with friends and family, but like all software tools, it needs a bit of personalization to work just how you want it to. Maybe you don’t want your webcam’s video feed mirrored, or you’d rather have a dark theme for the Zoom app’s interface, or maybe you want the thumbs-up emoji to match your real-life skin tone. If you want to elevate your Zoom experience, here are some key Zoom settings that are worth tweaking right out of the gate. Connect your calendar Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG There’s a reason why this tip is one of the first ones to show up on the “Get Started” checklist when you first launch Zoom. If you’re going to have regular meetings or video calls, having your digital calendar integrated with Zoom makes everything way easier. To do this, either click Connect your calendar in the Get Started list or click the Connecting your calendar link in the upper-right. Alternatively, log into your Zoom account on the Zoom site, then go to your profile page and scroll down to the Others section, then select Configure Calendar and Contacts Service and follow the on-screen instructions. Toggle dark mode I hate blinding white apps, browsers, and backgrounds, so I always enable dark mode in apps that support it — and that includes Zoom. (If you’re on a laptop with an OLED display, dark mode can also help extend battery life and reduce burned-in images.) To enable dark mode in Zoom, click your profile picture, then Settings. In the General section, scroll down to Appearance, then select Dark. Tweak audio settings Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Zoom works well enough out of the box, but a few audio settings tweaks can really improve the overall experience — not just for you but also everyone else you end up being on calls with. Open the Settings in Zoom and select the Audio section on the left-side navigation. Here, choose the right microphone input and speaker output, then test to ensure both are working correctly. (This is always a good idea with a new Zoom installation.) Other key settings worth tweaking in this section: enable Zoom background noise removal with background noise suppression set to Auto, and enable the Mute my microphone when joining checkbox to make sure you never accidentally disrupt a meeting as you join. Tweak video settings If you’re planning to show yourself on camera, it’s well worth tweaking the video settings so you look your best and maintain your privacy. Navigate to Settings > Video in the Zoom app and you’ll be able to tweak a range of video settings. Make sure your webcam is plugged in and turned on (assuming you’re using an external webcam and not one that’s, say, built into your laptop). Choose whether you want your webcam video to appear in its native aspect ratio and whether it should be in HD (if your webcam is HD). The mirroring setting can be comfortable, but you might want to disable it if you’re going to give presentations or frequently show text on screen (otherwise text will appear backwards). Consider ticking the Turn off my video when joining option so you can always double-check your surroundings before your webcam feed goes live. And if you’re the kind of person who gets self-conscious and ends up staring at yourself all throughout meetings, you should consider toggling the Hide self view option. Looking for a virtual background to use in your calls? You’ll find a range of options and filters in Settings > Background & effects. Tweak screen sharing settings I don’t know about you, but I always get a little nervous when I need to share my screen on Zoom. Am I going to accidentally reveal sensitive or embarrassing information and not even realize it? You can alleviate some of that anxiety by properly setting up screen sharing settings from the get-go in Settings > Share screen. Under the “When I share my screen in a meeting” label, make sure you’re set to Show all sharing options. This way your entire screen isn’t automatically shared and you can always choose what to show. Do the same under the “When I share directly to a Zoom Room” label. Also, under the “Share applications” label, pick the Share individual window option so you can be sure you’re only sharing one window at any given time, not all of them. Enable meeting security features “Zoom bombing” is a fact of life for some organizations and individuals, so locking down your meetings and calls is a great way to give you peace of mind against that, all while increasing your data privacy. Related: How to prevent Zoom bombing To do so, log into the Zoom website and navigate to the Settings section on the left-side navigation. On the Settings page, look for the Meeting tab (between General and Webinar). Within the Meeting tab, scroll down to the Security subsection. Now, look through all the options and tweak as applicable to you. For example, set up a waiting room so you can admit participants one by one, or require a passcode for new meetings, or limit meetings to authenticated accounts, etc. Disable file sharing in meetings You might trust the teams in your meetings to not send malware or unsecured files to each other. But can you be totally sure? What if they’re hacked or infected with viruses that try to send malicious files? Or what if an unauthorized user joins the meeting somehow? Unless you’re 100% sure that your meetings are locked down and inaccessible to outside parties AND that every single participant you encounter adheres to safe file sharing practices AND that they’re cleared of viruses and unauthorized access, then disabling the sharing of files in meetings is a good safeguard to have in place. Log into the Zoom website and navigate to Settings, then Meeting, then scroll down until you find Send files via meeting chat. Toggle that option to Off to disable file sharing. (Alternatively, you can set limits on file sizes and/or file types that can be shared.) Manage meeting recordings Recording your meetings can be a great way to maintain archived footage of important discussions or demonstrations. But before you start recording, make sure your settings are what you need them to be. First, adjust the recording settings in Settings > Recording to tweak where the footage gets saved, whether you want audio to be separated or not, and whether you want shared screens to be recorded. You can further adjust recording options on the Zoom website by logging into your account and navigating to Settings > Recording. There you can set who can record within your meetings, who gets notifications when a recording is ongoing, and other advanced settings. Tweak accessibility settings Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Zoom has some excellent accessibility settings that can help make text more legible, auto-enable closed captions in meetings, minimize flashing images and patterns, and customize screen reader alerts. If any of that sounds useful to you, make sure you head over to Settings > Accessibility and play around with these options. Choose your emoji skin color The default yellow skin color for emojis is relatively inoffensive, but maybe you don’t want to be represented by a Simpsons character. Zoom has a number of different skin color options to pick from, which will show up in chats and reactions during meetings. To do so, navigate to Settings > General and scroll down to the Reactions section. There you’ll see a number of thumbs-up emojis with different skin tones. Choose the one you want to use. Enhance your meetings with Zoom apps Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Jon Martindale / IDG Zoom apps are a great way to make meetings more dynamic and automated. You have Group Photo, Music, and Timer apps installed by default, which you can enable by navigating to Settings > Zoom apps and toggling the ones you want. For a much wider array of options, visit the Zoom App Marketplace to explore over 2,700 apps currently available for use within Zoom. Examples include automated AI note takers, interactive games, meeting enhancements, custom text overlays, integrated cloud storage, a way to enable easier remote support for your teams, and more. Read...

Israel said it was because Antonio Guterres had not `unequivocally` condemned Iran`s missile attack on Israel. Read...

Yesterday, Microsoft started rolling out the major Windows 11 2024 Update to the general public who are on devices considered “safe” for the upgrade. However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. As it turns out, the Windows 11 24H2 update is causing issues for numerous users and has even been resulting in Blue Screens of Death (BSODs). What’s most frustrating, though, is that there doesn’t seem to be one single cause to point to. For example, installing the Windows 11 2024 Update on an Intel PC with outdated audio drivers (Intel Smart Sound Technology) can cause the system to start crashing. The Easy Anti-Cheat tool that’s supplied with games like Fortnite and Asphalt 8 is also causing problems. Same goes for the Safe Exam Browser and with fingerprint sensors. The update also disrupts functionality in many popular wallpaper apps, which could lead to crashes or problems with virtual desktops. What can you do about it? This is mainly a problem of compatibility on a software-by-software basis, so you can’t really do anything except wait for each software’s developers to issue their own updates that address their respective faults. The silver lining is that if your PC could possibly be affected, the update probably won’t be rolled out to you until things are clear. If the update was rolled out to you and you’re affected by crashes or instability, see our article on rolling back problematic Windows updates. How to install Windows 11 24H2 anyway All of the above aside, there are some cool changes in the Windows 11 2024 Update — cool enough that maybe you want to make the upgrade ASAP and you’re tired of waiting for the rollout to hit you. In that case, there are ways for you to force install the update. However, do so at your own risk! (If you start blue screening, that’s on you.) Still want to proceed? Then you have two options for manually installing the Windows 11 2024 Update: Using Windows Update Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. Type “Check for updates” and press Enter to open Windows Update. Make sure the Get the latest updates as soon as they are available checkbox is ticked in Windows Update. Click Check for updates to check for updates. If the Windows 11 24H2 update is available, click Download & install, then restart your PC when prompted to do so. If the official Windows Update method doesn’t work, you still have the alternate option of using the Windows 11 Installation Assistant. Using the Windows 11 Installation Assistant Visit the official Windows 11 download page. Under the section titled “Windows 11 Installation Assistant,” click the Download Now button to grab the installer file. Double-click to execute the downloaded installer file. Click on Accept and install, then follow the on-screen instructions. After installing the update, your PC will restart. Post-update check After the Windows update is installed, open the Start menu, then type “winver” and press Enter. This will run a check to see what your current Windows version is. If you’ve successfully installed the Windows 11 2024 Update, you should be on Build 26100 and version 24H2. Further reading: Windows 11 24H2 removes these apps and features Read...

Dash cams have come a long way from the rather primitive 480p products that were state-of-the-art when we first began our coverage eight years ago. These days, multi-channel front/interior/rear models abound, and capture quality is vastly improved — including 4K resolution. Amenities such as phone connectivity, driver alerts, and voice commands are now common, and some dash cams will even upload videos to the cloud or call 911. What follows are the criteria and test methodology we employ as we examine, install, and bang on one of these puppies in our test vehicle. Further reading: The best dash cams Suitability to task: Single or multiple channels Of course, the first thing we consider in a dash cam system (some have multiple cameras) is suitability to task. If you’re driving a semi, you’ll only need front coverage, or a far more complex system than we generally review — one that can cover the obscured areas to the side and rear. If you’re a ride-giver you’ll want coverage of the interior, and likely out the back of the vehicle as well. A single-channel dash cam is always front-only. Dual-channel dash cam systems can be front/interior or front/rear. Three-channel systems cover the front, interior, and rear. We have seen the occasional four-channel system that attempts 360 coverage, but it’s not common. Dash cam features we look for Vendors always try to distinguish their products via clever or ground-breaking features. Other vendors tend to catch up quickly once something unique and sell-able is introduced. However, the basics are what we value most. Here’s what we look for: The essentials — At least 1080p resolution. A resolution of 1440p or 2160p often (but not always) offers better detail, but chews through storage more rapidly (as do multiple cameras) and requires fast TF cards or internal (mostly eMMC) storage. — Good optics and processing. Higher resolution and a high-end sensor mean nothing if the lens and post-processing aren’t up to snuff. We’ve seen 4K captures that are worse than top-notch 1080p captures. Resolution and compression settings from the Ombar dash cam app. Resolution and compression settings from the Ombar dash cam app. Resolution and compression settings from the Ombar dash cam app. — Linked to resolution are compression and storage requirements. 4K video can take up a lot of space. Less so with h.265 than with h.264. Most vendors offer both methods since, while h.265 saves space, it’s not as compatible with older playback devices. Dash cams vary in storage support, such as what capacity Micro SD/TF card they will accept, or the amount of internal memory, if that’s what they employ, so we take that into consideration as well. — GPS. Global positioning data can pinpoint the location of an accident, as well as provide mapping data of your drives. I’ve used it to locate a pleasant eatery in the mid-west I’d forgotten the location of. The less essential — Voice control and alerts are nice features that help you keep your eye on the road. — Bad-driver hand-holding features, err… driving aids, such as lane-departure warnings, are far less important to us. Not only are they not particularly smart in many cases, but they can distract you at the wrong time. Do us all a favor, and if you find these useful, let someone else drive. — On the other hand, stop-sign and speed-zone warnings might save you some money, if they don’t distract. Of course, if you always abide by the posted instructions, you don’t need these either. Dash cam mounting methods Dash cam mounts come in two flavors: semi-permanent adhesive (sticky), and slightly less “semi-permanent” suction mounts. You can almost always remove the camera from it’s base so that’s rarely an issue. But occasionally you can’t, and the exceptions tend to be high-end cameras. Go figure. Sticky mounts sometimes come with easier-to-remove, but still-sticky film adhesive. Which style you prefer largely depends on your circumstances. If you intend to use the same dash cam in multiple vehicles, a suction mount is best. Otherwise, a sticky mount (some cameras come with a couple of base plates) is less likely to come loose. Suction and semi-adhesive sticky mounts. (Thinkware) Suction and semi-adhesive sticky mounts. (Thinkware) Suction and semi-adhesive sticky mounts. (Thinkware) If you’re parked in locations where theft is less likely than damage, then leaving your dash cam in the car can be beneficial, waking up (constant power required) and capturing damage that may occur when you’re not in the car. If the camera is cloud-capable, it might even manage to upload images before a thief can unplug or remove it. One thing most vendors skip (we’ve only seen two) is a removable rear camera. Parking on the street in San Francisco, I often long for this, though honestly, most thieves don’t look for stuff on your back window. At least that’s the working theory as to why I have yet to have one stolen, despite my leaving the car unlocked and it having been visited several times. Unless it’s something special (magnetic, etc.) we don’t award or subtract brownie points for the mounting system. You quite often have a choice when ordering so mull it over. Power source How a dash cam is powered is something that weighs more heavily into our evaluation than mounts — the power method makes a difference in both convenience and cabin clutter. There are three possible sources for dash cam power: the auxiliary (cigarette lighter) port, the OBDII port, or a hardwire kit that taps into your car’s wiring. There are also adapters that pull juice from powered mirrors, but we’ve never seen a dash cam vendor provide one, as the required connector varies by auto manufacturer. This is an OBDII power adapter. Though you can’t see it, there’s a pass-through port on the other side so you can still attach diagnostic equipment without cutting power to the dash cam. This is an OBDII power adapter. Though you can’t see it, there’s a pass-through port on the other side so you can still attach diagnostic equipment without cutting power to the dash cam. This is an OBDII power adapter. Though you can’t see it, there’s a pass-through port on the other side so you can still attach diagnostic equipment without cutting power to the dash cam. Grabbing power via the auxiliary port (nee cigarette lighter) is the most common and easiest method, but quite often it also means a cable running up the center of the dash that’s hard to hide. Additionally, most auxiliary ports lose power when you turn off the car. Hardwire kits allow you to hide the cable more easily, but require a lot more time and tapping the wires under your dash. If installed correctly, a hardwire kit provides a constant power source for parking surveillance. Cameras that offer that will, or should, sense a low-battery condition and power all the way down in response. If they don’t, we dock points. An OBDII cable is the most elegant solution, simply plugging into that diagnostic port and also providing constant power. The OBDII port is generally found in a less-exposed location, most often in the driver’s side foot well. Most OBDII cables provide a pass-through port so you can still connect diagnostic equipment without cutting power to the dash cam. The connector port on the camera is also something we consider. Non-proprietary connector types such as Type-C are much easier to source than proprietary coax connectors and the like. You can even find Type-C cables at gas stations these days. Proprietary cables may require a visit to the dash cam vendor’s site to replace, and might be more expensive, might take a while to get, or even worse, be unavailable. Beyond that, cable type is a relatively minor concern rating-wise. Size and build quality There are laws in some states concerning objects that obstruct your view through the windshield. Most cameras will fit nicely, if not completely, behind your rear view mirror, but we do like small and unobtrusive. Small is also less obvious to thieves. That said, some of our favorite, and most capable cameras are on the large side. Nextbase’s rather large and intrusive but highly capable IQ dash cam. Nextbase’s rather large and intrusive but highly capable IQ dash cam. Jan Sandbladh Nextbase’s rather large and intrusive but highly capable IQ dash cam. Jan Sandbladh Jan Sandbladh The reason we consider build quality should be obvious. You don’t want something that breaks when you drop it during the mounting process, and a certain amount of heft is indicative of the general concern for quality. On the other hand, you don’t want something too heavy that strains the mount so that it parts from your windshield. Then there’s heat shedding. We inspect the camera for adequate ventilation. We’ve seen some very good cameras that run a bit warmer than they should due to the relative lack of venting. Basically, we’re just looking for something inconspicuous and that we think will last for a suitable amount of time (see the Longevity section below). Capture quality Capture quality counts by far the most in our evaluation as providing legal evidence is the raison d’etre of dash cams. We of course look for vivid, accurate color; however, detail is by far the most important aspect. Easily legible license plate numbers (along with embedded GPS data) could be the key to reliably establishing the identity of an offending vehicle. There’s often a large difference in how well a dash cam works in daylight and at night. Night means numerous bright areas imposed on a much darker background, which is harder for a sensor to handle, and much harder to process. How much you worry about day versus night depends, again, on when you do most of your driving. But the quality of a dash cam’s night captures is by far the most telling aspect when it comes to judging its quality. In other words, if the night captures are good, just about everything else will be as well. If you want to shorten your reading time of our reviews just skip to the night capture evaluation. Interface, phone apps, and connectivity While a touch display is always a nice perquisite, we’re generally more interested in how efficiently, ergonomically, and intuitively the settings menus and physical buttons are laid out. You’re going to be monkeying around in the settings menus often, so how the buttons (or touchscreen) facilitate common operations such as locking a capture (make sure it’s never overwritten), taking a photo, or toggling the microphone or display on/off is weighted heavily. The ability to respond to voice commands is a plus, and is a virtual necessity for dash cams that lack a display. Vantrue phone app. Vantrue phone app. Vantrue phone app. For the same reason, phone connectivity is a major plus. The larger displays on today’s cellular devices make adjusting settings considerably easier, while also letting you leave the camera on its mount. (It’s easiest to adjust a dash cam using its own interface when holding it in your hand rather than reaching to the window). Above is the Vantrue phone app interface. To connect to an app, some sort of wireless is required. Dash cams use either Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a combination of both. Wi-Fi allows much faster transfer of files, so if you’re using a display-less dash cam or one that relies on internal memory, it’s basically a necessity, and we’ve never seen one without it. It’s merely a luxury on dash cams with a display and removable memory cards. LTE is also available, but I’ll cover that next. Though removing an SD/TF card and using a card reader on a computer is easy, we also appreciate the ability to connect the dash cam itself to the computer and offload videos directly from it. Sadly, this isn’t as common as one might hope, despite the vast majority of dash cams using USB connectors of one type or another. All in all, the more ways to retrieve your videos that a dash cam provides, the better. Cloud connections and storage Several dash cams we’ve tested from companies such as the now defunct Owl, Nextbase, Garmin, etc. offer uploads to the web. This can be very handy. Some cameras offer this via integrated LTE, which always requires a subscription, while some offload to your phone then upload using your phone’s connectivity. The latter of course requires connecting your phone to the dash cam and doesn’t offer the immediacy of the dedicated LTE. We consider LTE dash cams to be almost a separate category, for no other reason than they are expensive to own and operate. But if you have the means, they can be super handy — especially if you’re not the only one driving the vehicle. With LTE, the GPS data can be relayed for tricks such as locating your car, reporting collisions, or making sure that prom date doesn’t wind up at a hotel. How we test The first step in testing is of course evaluating the installation, though it’s generally so similar, it’s rarely something that counts heavily for or against. Hand-holding features such as an onscreen alignment routine are great, but they certainly won’t save a camera with bad captures from a low rating. Once installed, we go for diurnal and nocturnal rides. Most of the video is shot while the vehicle is in motion, though we often use parked shots in the same location so you can more easily compare. After capturing enough video, we set to inspecting it for quality — primarily detail, color, and stabilization. As previously discussed, quality is not necessarily joined at the hip with resolution, though bigger numbers are generally better. The optics and post capture processing are equally important. As noted, we’ve seen poorly processed 4K captures that are no better, and occasionally worse than competently processed 1080p captures. We also look at defects and artifacts. These range from the wobblies, where bumps or vibrations induce a shot-through-jiggling-jello effect (a defect common to early GoPros); to shearing, where two half-frames are visible at once; to moire, where details in motion shimmer rather than move smoothly; to severe fish-eye in cameras, with a wider field of view (FOV). Note that these defects have become rarer and rarer over the years. For night video we check for lens flare from headlights; blown-out bright areas that render dark details invisible; and the level of detail in darker areas. We also look for how well details are handled in different quadrants. Weak detail to the sides can be induced by cheap optics. Front, interior, and rear day/night captures from several cameras. These are stills taken from live videos. And not necessarily from the best dash cams. Front, interior, and rear day/night captures from several cameras. These are stills taken from live videos. And not necessarily from the best dash cams. Front, interior, and rear day/night captures from several cameras. These are stills taken from live videos. And not necessarily from the best dash cams. Once again, by far the most important aspect of captures is the amount of detail they provide, which is directly related to the video’s validity as evidence. That said, if you want to document your road trips, the more pleasing the overall quality of the video, the better. Longevity testing To be brutally honest, most dash cams aren’t going to last a lifetime. In fact, you’ll be doing well if you get a year from a cheap one and five years from a good one. It’s not always the dash cam’s fault — any piece of operating electronic equipment constantly exposed to direct sunlight will have a hard time of it. That said, some dash cams run warmer than others, which can’t help longevity when combined with constant exposure to the sun. As noted earlier, we look for lots of ventilation. Once we’ve finished initial testing, we hand off the dash cam to another individual for long-term testing. Though we rarely report it, end-user feedback gives us an idea of the lifespan of a product, how satisfying it is to use, and in many cases, whether said user even found it useful. As with many things in life, you don’t need a dash cam until you do. And then, if you don’t have one — it’s too late. The final rating To reiterate, our considerations are, in order of appearance: suitability to task, capture detail, capture color quality, physical size and build quality, GPS, connectivity, and price. Yes, as with all the products we review, we factor in how much it costs. Price won’t change our mind about what’s the actual best tech, but it will result in a bang-for-your-buck opinion. Not everyone needs or can afford the absolute best. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Great real-world battery life Excellent performance thanks to Ryzen AI 300 Solid build quality Cons AI features are still questionable No Copilot+ PC AI features at lunch Port selection is minimal An OLED display would look nicer Our Verdict The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 shines thanks to AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series processors, which delivers long battery life in real-world use with excellent performance. But “AI laptops” aren’t as futuristic as the marketing might lead you to expect. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: HP Omnibook Ultra 14 Retailer Price Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a “next-gen AI PC” thanks to its AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. But, while this machine has a neural processing unit (NPU) for local AI applications — plus Copilot+ PC features coming soon — AI isn’t the big story here. Look past the “AI” logos on this machine and you’ll find a solid laptop that gets long battery life and excellent performance in real-world use thanks to AMD’s latest hardware. First, a word about the name: Back in May 2024, HP announced a rebranding of its entire PC lineup, dumping names like “Spectre” and “Dragonfly.” The word “OmniBook” here means this is a consumer laptop. If this was intended for commercial users, HP would call it an “EliteBook” or “ProBook.” (However, HP will still use “Omen” to refer to gaming PCs). Further reading: Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Specs The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. This hardware includes a neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 55 TOPS for local AI applications. That’s why HP is positioning this as a “next-gen AI PC” — it will soon be compatible with Copilot+ PC features, unlike previous-generation “AI PCs” with hardware like Intel’s Meteor Lake. There are several variations of this PC. HP loaned us a “top of the line” model with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, 32 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of solid-state storage. This package is available at Best Buy for a retail price of $1,689.99. A few other variations are also available, with the least expensive one being a AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. This is available through HP’s online store for $1,349.99. Model number: HP OmniBook Ultra 14-fd0023dx CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5 RAM Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 890M Display: 14-inch 2240×1400 IPS display with 60Hz refresh rate and touch screen Storage: 2 TB PCIe Gen 4 solid-state drive Webcam: 9MP 1440p webcam with physical privacy shutter Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4, USB4 40Gbps), 1x USB Type-A (10Gbps), 1x combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: IR camera and fingerprint reader Battery capacity: 68 Watt-hours Dimensions: 12.41 x 8.96 x 0.65 inches Weight: 3.47 pounds MSRP: $1,689 as tested The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a great computer. It’s sturdy and well put together — and, most importantly, it has an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. These just have better performance and longer battery life than Intel’s Meteor Lake chips. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a well-designed, solid piece of mostly silver metal on the parts of the laptop you’ll touch. (There are just a few plastic elements, like the bezel.) While HP has changed the branding of its consumer laptops, there’s a lot of the “Spectre” design language here. The angular corners where the display meets the bottom tray of the laptop are immediately and recognizably HP. The 14-inch OmniBook Ultra 14 feels like a solid machine. At 3.47 pounds, it’s a tad heavier than some “thin-and-light” laptops, but it has a good weight distribution and it’s a very reasonable size and weight. The hinge is sturdy. The charger HP bundles is unusually nice, too — it has a nice braided cable. As many of us have noticed with phones, braided USB charging cables tend to hold up better over the long run. While HP is pushing the “AI PC” angle here — complete with an “AI” logo below the left side of the keyboard and on the back of the hinge — bear in mind that this machine won’t get Copilot+ PC features until Microsoft rolls them out in November 2024. However, those Copilot+ PC features aren’t too interesting yet anyway. HP does bundle an “HP AI Companion” app with this machine. This app integrates a variety of AI tools that use the system’s NPU to analyze data in files, for example, and to guide you through changing various PC settings. It’s good to see PC manufacturers include tools that demonstrate the power of the AI hardware they’re pushing, but this isn’t life-changing software that will make you want to seek out an AI laptop. There’s a bit of bloatware installed here. The noisiest one is McAfee antivirus, which nags you to set it up, but you can easily uninstall McAfee. There’s also a Dropbox promotion, as well as Adobe offers and Google essentials apps in the Start menu. It’s not the cleanest setup out of the box, but it’s easy to uninstall what you don’t want. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 has a full-size keyboard with a backlight you can toggle off and on. It’s placed nicely at the center of the laptop, and the keys feel great to type on. I don’t consider them mushy at all. I was able to type accurately at high speeds. And naturally, since this is an AI laptop, it has a Copilot key to the right of the right Alt key on the keyboard. This machine has well-size trackpad sitting centered right below the keyboard, too. It’s a good size for the laptop —  not too small and not too large. Palm rejection worked excellently well typing. The surface felt smooth and responsive, whether I was moving the cursor with a finger, scrolling with two fingers, or using multi-touch gestures. The trackpad’s click action also felt pleasantly responsive, although I’ve been spoiled by haptic touchpads like those on the Surface Laptop 7 and would like to see more laptops use them. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Display and speakers The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 includes a 14-inch IPS display with 2.2K resolution —  that’s 2240×1400 pixels. This is a 60 Hz display with up to 400 nits of brightness, and it’s also a touchscreen. The screen looks good, although it could offer more brightness. For a productivity-focused laptop like this one, it works well. For productivity and general web-browsing and media consumption, I was perfectly happy with it. Still, the limitations are obvious, even on paper: 400 nits on the low side for brightness, and some people may want more. A refresh rate faster than 60Hz is always nicer, too. OLED screens are much more beautiful, but they’re also expensive and tend to use more power, decreasing battery life. The screen is also a little glossy, and an antireflective coating, higher brightness, or a matte finish may be preferrable. That’s up to you and how you plan to use your laptop. This laptop’s quad-speaker setup is one of the better speaker configurations I’ve heard on a 14-inch productivity laptop. It has a good amount of volume, a fairly wide soundstage, and more bass than the average 14-inch laptop — which, I’m aware, isn’t saying much! Laptop speakers will always be fighting an uphill battle, but these are solid speakers. These aren’t the cheap tinny speakers you’ll unfortunately see on many low-priced laptops HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 has a nicer webcam than most laptops — at least on paper. It features a 9 megapixel 1440p webcam — most laptops I review tend to have 1080p webcams at most. The picture looks clear in a variety of lighting conditions, although I would’ve expected it to look a tad sharper. You also have access to a variety of AI effects for tweaking your webcam video through Windows Studio Effects as well as HP’s bundled software. There’s also a physical shutter switch above the webcam, which you can slide to block the webcam. That’s always a great feature to have. The OmniBook Ultra 14’s built-in microphone did a good job of picking up my voice, although I feel like I’ve heard clearer audio from some other laptops. Between the webcam and microphone, this is a perfectly fine laptop for online meetings, although I imagine the ProBook and EliteBook laptops HP is targeting at professional users might have upgraded webcams and microphones. This laptop features both an IR camera for facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the blue power button at the top-right corner of the keyboard. You can use either or both with Windows Hello. Both facial recognition and fingerprint recognition worked well, quickly letting me sign into the laptop. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Connectivity IDG / Josh Hendrickson IDG / Josh Hendrickson IDG / Josh Hendrickson The HP OmniBook Ultra 14’s port selections are limited. On the right side, you’ve got two USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 40Gbps) ports — one of which is on the angled edge. It works very nicely with the laptop’s own power cable. HP was proud to inform me that this is the first AMD-powered consumer laptop the company has released with Thunderbolt 4 ports. Bear in mind that you will use one of these ports to charge the laptop, leaving one port free while the laptop is charging. On the left side of the laptop, you’ve got a USB Type-A port (10Gbps) and a combo audio jack. This isn’t a terrible selection of ports — some modern laptops are ditching USB Type-A ports or even the audio jacks. But, if it’s important for you to have more USB Type-C ports, more USB Type-A ports, or features like a microSD reader or HDMI out port, you’ll need to look elsewhere or get a dongle. Since this machine is using AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series hardware, it offers both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity. It’s a great futureproof hardware setup. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Performance The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 delivered excellent performance in desktop productivity apps thanks to its modern AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor combined with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB solid-state drive. AMD’s new hardware is no slouch. As always, we ran the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs in more detail. IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. This benchmark is designed to measure overall system performance, but it’s particularly focused on CPU performance. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 posted an overall PCMark 10 score of 7,801. That’s a tad behind the more expensive, creator-focused Asus ProArt PX13, which has a similar Ryzen AI 300 series CPU. But it’s nicely ahead of Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptops. IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With a multi-threaded score of 7,582 in Cinebench R20, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 performed well. It’s somewhat behind the Asus ProArt PX13. But, once again, it’s nicely ahead of Intel Meteor Lake laptops. IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 took 896 seconds — that’s just under fifteen minutes — to complete the encode process. That’s a big longer than the Asus ProArt PX13, but once again beats those Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptops. IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and its Radon 890M graphics delivered a score of 3909 in 3DMark Time Spy. Most of the other laptops we’re comparing this machine to have discrete Nvidia graphics, so you can see how critical discrete graphics are. But the Radeon 890M graphics are a nice step up over the older Radeon graphics in the older Asus ZenBook 14 OLED system we’re comparing it to here. Overall, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 delivered excellent performance. It’s not quite as fast as the Asus ProArt PX13 in our benchmarks, but it handily beats similar systems powered by Intel Meteor Lake processors. Of course, this system doesn’t have discrete graphics, so it’s not ideal for gamers and people who need more 3D horsepower for professional applications. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Battery life The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 includes a 68 Watt-hour battery. This has AMD’s new Ryzen AI 300 series hardware. While our benchmarks show it may not be as long-lasting as Intel Lunar Lake or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hardware, it is AMD’s latest hardware that delivers more power efficiency than most of the laptops you’ll find on the shelves. IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 lasted 1,091 minutes, which is just over 18 hours. That’s a great result — and it beats the Asus ProArt PX13 along with those Intel Meteor Lake-powered systems. But lots of laptops post high numbers in this benchmark only to drain faster in day-to-day use. Synthetic benchmarks aside, I’ve found that Ryzen AI 300 series laptops — both this machine and the Asus ProArt PX13 I reviewed — deliver long battery life in typical desktop usage with the productivity apps I use. (For me, that means applications like Google Chrome, Microsoft Word, Slack, OneNote, Excel, and other desktop applications). This machine lands in the ballpark of all-workday battery life for my usage — though, again, it really depends on the applications you’re using, the screen brightness you choose, and so on. HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Conclusion The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a great computer. It’s sturdy and well put together — and, most importantly, it has an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. These just have better performance and longer battery life than Intel’s Meteor Lake chips. Plus, unlike with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop, you don’t have to worry about compatibility concerns. Because of that, I’d happily take this over an Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptop. The base model starts at $1349, which is a reasonable price for this new hardware — and it could be quite a good price if you find it on sale. Still, it’s not for everyone. Some people will want a more beautiful OLED display, for example. Or you may be looking for discrete graphics so you can game or use professional tools that require that hardware. Or, perhaps you simply need more ports and aren’t looking forward to the dongle life. The big question is Intel’s Lunar Lake. When Lunar Lake laptops have taken Meteor Lake’s place in the market, you may have many more options for this kind of performance and energy efficiency. Still, this is a great laptop at a fair price — if this hardware is what you’re looking for. Read...

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