Indice dei contenuti per June 2020 in Tech Advisor

Price: Free update Our review of Microsoft’s Windows 10 20H1 update – also known as version 2004, or perhaps the Windows 10 April 2020 Update – shows an operating system focused primarily on building out existing features, rather than launching new ones. Some scaffolding is still apparent in tweaks to Your Phone and especially Cortana. Microsoft has further polished Task Manager, Settings and Game Bar, however, and isn’t afraid to serve niche audiences with upgrades to the Windows Subsystem for Linux and the related Terminal app. As in the past, we’ve based our review on Microsoft’s Windows 10 20H1 Insider builds, beginning with the major features and working through to its minor additions. Though Microsoft essentially signalled that the 20H1 release was finished by January, we waited until the end…

Price: £755 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2wIB4as The Lenovo Yoga C740-15IML is one of the most impressive 2-in-1 laptops we’ve seen in its price range. Weighing in at just 1.4kg and jammed with nifty features, the slim, sturdily built, Yoga C740 packs in plenty of productivity pep, and it can last the whole day without its AC adaptor. A bright, Dolby Vision-enabled display plus Dolby Atmos sound provide plenty of eye and ear candy. A physical camera shutter (which, unfortunately, is a little tough to slide open and closed) and a fingerprint reader help to bolster security. In a world where high-end laptops no one can afford get all the attention, and budget laptops can be a bucket of compromises, it’s nice to see a mid-priced laptop that has so much…

The Raspberry Pi (£70 from fave.co/3aUBWrp single-board computer and all its variants have captured the imaginations of DIY enthusiasts and budding hobbyists alike. Much of the coverage you’ll see around the web focuses on the more fantastical projects – magic mirrors, portable gaming handhelds, intelligent drones, and so forth. And for good reason. Those maker masterpieces show what sort of power the mini-PC is capable of in the hands of someone with a little imagination and a bin full of spare electronics, especially now that the Raspberry Pi 4 includes more RAM, a huge CPU upgrade, USB-C charging and enough graphics horsepower to drive a pair of 4K monitors simultaneously. But most people, particularly beginners, won’t use the Raspberry Pi to whip up crazy creations. There are near-endless practical uses…

Microsoft showed off a possible future for its Windows 10 Start menu that includes the icons it recently revealed in the context of Windows 10X. In a Windows Insider podcast, Microsoft designers showed off what might be called a work in progress: a couple of different ways of viewing the Windows Start menu that would emphasize icons, rather than the current Live Tiles. “The idea is to visually unify the Start menu, [from] a somewhat chaotic colour, to something a bit more uniform,” said Mike LaJoie, one of the icon designers on the Windows team. There has been speculation that Microsoft might do away with the Windows Live Tiles entirely, especially after the Windows 10X design rolled out. That will not be the case, said Brandon LeBlanc, who oversees the…

Price: £1,149 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2ICq013 There are tiny laptops and then there are tiny laptops. Even now, when thin-and-lightweight everything is the norm, I’m still sometimes surprised by just how thin-and-lightweight we’re talking. Such is the case with the new Acer Swift 5, which is officially billed as: “The lightest 14in clamshell notebook that offers the option for dedicated Nvidia GeForce graphics.” A bit convoluted, but I think what Acer is trying to say is it’s really damn light. The Swift 5 is a full-size(ish) laptop that weighs less than some tablet hybrids. That’s impressive – though unless weight is the only feature you care about, the Swift 5 can feel limiting in other regards. Let’s dig in. Design No matter which Swift 5 you decide on, it’s going…

When Google first introduced Chromebooks in 2011, it seemed like a ridiculous idea. A laptop that can only run a browser? Who wants that? But over time, web apps slowly became more powerful and capable, while Google steadily improved the Chrome OS experience. Then, Google went even further and added the ability to run Android apps, and still further with Linux desktop apps. All of this means the Chromebooks of 2019 and 2020 are nothing like that original experience. Today, Chrome OS feels like a modern operating system that offers a first-class web browser, the flexibility of mobile apps, and a desktop experience in one box. It can satisfy the needs of almost every user, with the notable exception of those who need video or advanced image editing. If you…

Beginning with the current version of Microsoft Edge, Microsoft will begin blocking adware, Bitcoin miners, and other unwanted apps that sometimes accompany apps that users download from the web. Microsoft Edge version 80 contains a new Settings menu with the option to ‘Block potentially unwanted apps’, which works in conjunction with Windows’ Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to detect and warn against what Microsoft calls PUAs, or Potentially Unwanted Apps. (Microsoft has listed what it considers to be common PUAs at fave.co/2vWE3vO If turned on, Edge will block these apps by default, though you’ll have the option to override Microsoft’s decision and allow the app to download and install. The new option takes Windows’ own built-in protection in a different direction. To date, Microsoft’s efforts have been focused primarily on malware. The…

Price: £1,119 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2TGRtFr I feel like I need to give Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra two scores. If I’m reviewing it solely on the merits of its components and what it can do, it’s easily a five-star device, with only the smallest of perceptible flaws. The 6.9in display is remarkably bright and incredibly smooth when the 120Hz refresh rate is switched on, and the 40Mp hole-punch selfie camera is much more discreet than it was on the S10. The RAM, storage and processor are all the fastest you can get in a smartphone, and the 5,000mAh battery both lasts all day and fills up incredibly quickly. And yes, the 100x Space Zoom camera is cooler than any other telephoto lens I’ve used. But if I were to score…