Windows Help & Advice - UK (2019-12)

The Knowledge...

Microsoft’sOctoberevent,heldinNewYork,

threwupa wholehostofexcitingnew

devices,liketheSurfaceDuotwin-screen

phone– butnone,forourmoney,stolethe

showquiteasmuchastheSurfaceNeo.We

don’tknowwhatit’llcost,andthere’snofirm

releasedate,buttheNeolookssettochange

thewaywethinkaboutcomputers:it’s

flexible,foldable,andsupercompact,likea

hybridbetweentoday’scoolestphonesand

tomorrow’sneatestlaptops.

Keep your personal

web browsing private

++LLLȫȫȫɏɏɏ ʖʖɚɚɚ ɿɿOOʋʋʋʖʖɚɚɚ ʣʣLLɳɳɳKKɢɢɢ

S

erviceslikeFacebookand

Googlehavetentaclesthat

reachfaracrosstheweb,and

they’rewatchingwhatyou

do.Althoughtheyrarelytieyour

activitytoanypersonalinformation,

thatwhichtheydolearnis soldto

advertisers,whotargetyouwithads

thattheoreticallyfityourinterests.

Everlookedata sofaonlinethen

beenbombardedwithadsforsofas

forthenextmonth?That’swhy.If

thismakesyouuncomfortable

• it’smostlybenign,butwecan
  certainlyunderstandbeingagainst
  it – therearea fewthingsyoucan
  dotostopit.
  First,considerchangingyourweb
  browser.GoogleChromeand
  MicrosoftEdgedon’t(yet)include
  anysignificanttechnologytostop
  tracking,thoughit’sapparently
  comingtoChromeina future
  version.TryusingFirefox(getfirefox.
  com),Opera(opera.com)orVivaldi
  (vivaldi.com)whicheachbuildin
  trackingprotection– inthecaseof

Opera,there’salsoanadblocker

builtin.AsGoogleandFacebookare

thebiggesttwoculpritsfortracking,

youcouldconsiderusingalternative

platforms– trickyif you’retiedto

usingFacebook(orotherservicesin

itsfamily,likeInstagramand

WhatsApp)butyoucouldtryusing

DuckDuckGo(duckduckgo.com)

asanalternativetosearching

throughGoogle.

Lastly,tryusinga VPN,orvirtual

privatenetwork,likeNordVPN

(nordvpn.com)orPrivateInternet

Access(privateinternetaccess.com).

Thesehavemanyuses,butkeeping

yourwebbrowsingprivateis the

aim;fortheultimateintracking

evasion,browsingthroughtheTor

Browser(torproject.org)means

everythingyoudoonlineis

automaticallyroutedthrough

differentpointsintheworld.It’sa

littleslower,butthere’snoway

someone’sfollowingyouif you

appeartobeinStockholmone

minuteandAntarcticathenext.

The web is watching. It’s not as scary as it

sounds, but it’s not hard to hide yourself away

Windows 10 X

Is that a roman numeral?

It is not. This isn’t Windows 10 10: the ‘X’

is Microsoft’s favourite cool letter (see:

Xbox, Surface Pro X et al), and it’s the

designation given to a special version of

Windows made specifically for dual-screen

or folding devices. Microsoft calls it an

‘expression’ of Windows, enhanced for

gadgets like the Surface Neo.

Why create a special version of

Windows for that?

It’s not so much that Microsoft has

created a special version, more that

Windows has now become a lot of things

all at once. Significant parts of Windows

run on loads of different devices and have

done for some time, often imperceptibly.

To use a car analogy, Windows is the

engine which the rest of the chassis is

built around.

But it doesn’t look much like the

Windows we know.

That’s because the Windows 10 that

you’re running on your desktop computer

or laptop simply wouldn’t work for this

platform. It’s likely that this won’t be the

last mobile version of Windows 10, and

you can expect the Windows name to be

fractured between a whole host of new,

different versions soon.

So what’s different?

There’s a new start menu, which feels a

lot more like the smartphone interfaces

we’re all used to by now, and a lot less

clutter – we’d be surprised if it included

any draggable floating program

windows. There isn’t, we’re delighted

to learn, any significant incompatibility:

Windows 10 X may look different but

it should still run the apps you’re

familiar with.

So can I get it?

No. You’ll have to wait a year for the

Surface Neo to, er, surface, and so far

that’s the only machine we know of

that’ll run Windows 10 X. It won’t be

something you can install on a laptop

or desktop PC, though don’t be

surprised if Microsoft comes up with a

new version for the home by then...

SPLIT SCREENS The Surface Neo consists of two

side-by side 9-inch screens.

SMART KEYS The magnetic keyboard can be

moved to reveal Windows 10 X’s nifty Wonderbar.

MANY MODES The 360-degree hinge means you can
IMAGES: MICROSFOTuse the Neo like a laptop, like a tablet, or like a book.

NEO CLASSICAL Microsoft reinvents the PC

Discover

Online privacy

December 2019 | |^7