Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

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13

STAR LETTER

Viewsexpresseddon’tnecessarilyreflectthoseofComputeractive

TheStar Letterwriter wins aComputeractivemug!g!

UpgradetoWindows11 because

softwareruns better

InIssue 622 ’s LettersTimBaker

askedwhyheshouldupgradeto

Windows 11 whenallhissoftware

worksonWindows 1 0. Myanswerto

thisperfectlyvalidquestionisthathis

softwarewillrunmoreeffectivelyand

securelyonWindows 1 1.Oneofthe

mostsignificantthingsthathappens

whenMicrosoftreleasesanew

versionofWindowsisthatitprompts

developerstolaunchrevampededitions

oftheirprograms,withenhanced

featuresdesignedtotakeadvantageof

thenewoperatingsystem.Without

improvementstoWindows,there

wouldn’tbeimprovementstosoftware.

I’llgivethreeexamplesofprograms

Iusethathavebeenenhancedfor

Windows 11 –they’veallappearedin

Computeractiverecently.Firstisthe

audioplayerAIMP(Issue 620 ,page 1 9,

http://www.snipca.com/4 0086 ),whichfor

thesakeofsimplicityIuseinsteadofa

combinedaudio-videomediaplayer.Its

bestnewfeatureistoaddbookmarks

toaudio,lettingyoujumptothebest

bits.Thisisparticularlyusefulwhen

listeningtoaudiobooks.

SecondisO&OShutUp10++(Issue

617 ,page 1 8,www.snipca.com/3 9704 ),

whichI’vebeenrunningforthepast

fewyearstorestoreprivacysettingslost

byeachWindowsupdate.Itsnew

Windows1 1 versionrespectswhether

youhavetheDarkmodeturnedonin

Windows-ie,itsinterfaceisdarkif

yourunWindowsdark(asIdo).

ThefinalprogramisStartAllBack

(Issue 621 ,page 5 1,www.startallback.

com),whichletsyoureplaceWindows

11 ’s defaultStartmenuandtaskbar

witholderdesignsthatyou’llprobably

bemorefamiliarwith(pictured). The

fullpriceis£4.99, butIupgradedfor

just£1.5 0 becauseIwasusingthe

Windows10version,calledStartIsBack.

Idoubttheseprogramswould’ve

beenimprovedwithoutthearrivalof

Windows11. I’m sureTimwillfind

hisfavouriteprogramshavealso

benefited–orwillsoon–from

thenewoperatingsystem.

MelAnderson

thechanceofhavinglightningspeedsin

myhome.MystreethashadFibre-to-the-

Cabinet(FTTC)recentlyputin,and

ductingandconduitlaidtotheedgeof

mypropertyforfibreinstallation.

Openreachturneduptoinstallthe

fibrecableandpromptlystarteddigginga

trenchacrossmyfrontlawn.Irushedout

andaskedthetechnicianwhatwasgoing

on.HeinformedmethatIdidnothavea

conduitinthegrounduptomyfront

doortorunthefibrethrough,asmy

coppercablehadbeenburiedstraight

intotheground.

ThetechnicianaskedmeifIwasOK

withhimdiggingupmylawn,tarmac

path,concretedrive,edgingstonesand

somepavingslabstogetthefibreintomy

house.Iaskedhimifhecouldguarantee

reinstatingmygardentoitsprevious

condition.Hetoldmethatwasn’t

possible,buthewoulddohisbest.

Idecidedthatfull-fibreisn’tworththe

upheavalandaskedhimtostopthe

installation.Ithencancelledmyfibre

installwithTalkTalk.Iknowatsome

pointwhenBTswitchesofftheanalogue

phoneserviceandcopperbecomes

obsoleteIwillhavenooptionbuttoget

fibreinstalled.Untilthen,Iwilljuststick

withwhatIhavegot.

PatrickMalseed

‘ShameonHP’for making

shoddykeyboards

InIssue 621 ’s ConsumeractiveHP

hadtoldreaderDianeCashellthat

theletterswearingoffherlaptop’s

keyboardwithinayearofpurchasewas

‘fairwearandtear’,andsonotcoveredby

thethree-yearwarranty.Wesuffereda

disappearing-lettersproblemmanyyears

agowithaMicrosoft ergonomic

keyboard.AlettertoMicrosoft(yesa

letter–itwas that longago)seemedto

fall on deafears untilacoupleof months

laterapackagearrivedfromMicrosoft.It

containednoexplanation,just10brand

newkeyboards.Ialsorecallthatthe BBC

Micro in the1980shad injectionmoulded

keycaps(picturedbelow), andthe letters

ranthroughthemlike theletters in a

stickofrock, so they could neverrub off.

ShameonHPfor making shoddy

goods.They need to take alessonfrom

Acorninterms of manufacturin gquality,

andMicrosoft in terms of(slightlyodd

but effective)customerservice.

RobHindle

Cracked thepassword?

Yes, PrimeMinister

Max Wallace’s password (see Issue

622) waseasytoguess. Just a

glance at TBGBDCTMBJatl5PMs made

my brai nthink of‘TonyBlairGordon

BrownDavid Cameron Theresa May

BorisJohnson arethe last fivePrime

Mini sters’. It’s actually much harder to

come upwith password challengesthan

it is to decode them,but after awhile

thinking Icameupwiththiseffort:

He2Ne10Ar18Kr36Xe54Rn86.Iremember

the sequence from my days at universi ty,

but Iwon’t saywhichsubjectIstudied

becauseit’ll be toobig aclue. Youcould

make it more complicatedbyreplacing

certainnumbers withcharacters (suchas

1with!). I’msuresomepeoplewho share

my educational specialitywill identifyit

straightaway.Thenumbers ar en’t

random,bythe way.

DerekMerchant

CA SAYS Derekwas thefirstreaderto

identifyIssue622’spassword,and a

Computeractivemugisnowin thepost

to him.We’ll sendanothertothefirst

reader to decodethepasswordhehas set.

Issue 623 •19January–1February 2022