Web User - UK (2019-12-27)

72 27 Dec 2019-7Jan 2020

WhyMicrosoftisforcing
Windows7userstoupgrade
Much has beensaid about
Microsoft ending support for
Windows7in20 20 ,but what
hasn’tbeen explainedishow
this will happen.
Untilnow,Microsofthas
pushed–oftenaggressively
–users ofWindows7to
upgrade toWindows10 but,sofar,its
tacticshavefailed because Windows 10
is much lessuser-friendly than Microsoft
claims initshype and cannot(will not?)
supportsomesoftwarecurrently usedon
people’s PCs.
Windows10 is not as popularas
Windows7and thatseemstoannoy
Microsoft–thecompanyhasspent huge
amountsofmoneyonit, yetitstill needs
constant patchesto correct itsfaulty
updates. Atsome point, shortly after
supportforWindows7ends,Microsoft
will (initsinfinitewisdom)supplythe
final update,which will be nothing more
thanapieceofcode thatdisables
Windows7andeverythingassociated
withit.
Ibelievethatvery soonafter,Windows
10 will becomeamonthly paid-for
service–Microsoft has already said that
therewillbeno“singleversion”release

of Windows10 andhas hinted atusers

having topayfor it astheydofor Office

365. Itwill become yet another
     cash cowfor Microsoft.
     Barry Singleton,via email

My concernsabout

YubiKeysecuritykeys

Readingyour coverfeature

about YubiKeyand two-factor

authentication (2FA) in Issue 489left me

feeling very uncomfortable.What

happens if mykeyfails, or Ilose it?

Whatif it’sstolen orIjustforget tocarry

it with me?

ItseemstomethatYubiKeyoffers

short-term conveniencebut, potentially,

long-term problems. Your article covered

implementing2FAbutwas not soclear

on howtodeal withmultipledevices.

Ihaveasmartphone,tablet, desktopand

laptop–wouldIusethe samekeyfor all

of them?The answerisno,because my

phone andtablet haveUSB-Cports,

1

3

5

2

4

6

Quiz Answers: Issue 490

Frosty the

Snowman

HomeAlone

SantaClaus:

theMovie

TheNightmare

Before Christmas

Jingle All

theWay

TheMuppet

Christmas Carol

I

’m surethatbythe time this is

published, wewillknowwhich party

wonthe General Election (I assume

theConservatives), butIwanted to

sharemytuppenceworth onLabour’s

proposal tooffer free broadbandto

everyone inthe UK(NeedtoKnow,

Issue 489).

On thefaceof it,thissoundslikean

excellent plan–the internet isnow

suchan essential part of our lives

thateveryone should beable to

accessit, regardlessoftheirfinancial

circumstances. Manycompanies and

government departmentsnowinsist

on digitalapplications,statements

and account management,rather

thanconducting their business

via postoroverthephone,which

meansthatpeople whocan’tget

Free broadband plans areunworkable

online maybelefthigh anddry.

However,IfailtoseehowLabourcan

deliver on its promisetoprovide national

broadband services free of charge

because the infrastructuredemands

constant investmentandthe moneyhas

to come from somewhere.That’s notto

mention paying the engineers,support

teams,administrativestaff and

countlessother employees of ISPsto

do their jobs. If internet providers are

tobe nationalised, as Labour suggests,

then surely the funds will needtocome

from taxpayers, so the broadband is

unlikelytobe ‘free’ after all!

Asforthe suggestion that

technologycompaniescould be taxed

moreheavilytocoverthecost –

Amazon, Google,Facebook and the

restarehardlyrenownedforpaying

theirfair shareoftax, so whyshould

theystart now?

So while ‘freebroadbandforall’ is a

niceidea, itwon’twork in practice,in

the samewaythatwe’renot entitled

tofree gas, electricity orwater.

Michael Hewitt, via email

Star Email

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