March is already here and I wanted to give a wrap-up of what was happening on WinCustomize during the month of February. 

Stardock News:

SoundPackager 10 released!

"SoundPackager 10 adds cloud access to thousands of different sounds, along with a number of all-new sound packages designed to give Windows users additional choices in how their PC sounds. Users can also create their own sound packages to share with others via an in-app editor."

New and Updated Master skins:

Jargon by basj

Win Retro by don5318

Tidal by LightStar

Capri by LightStar

Tech news of interest:

Microsoft is killing off music, smart home, and third-party skills in Cortana

Everything we know about Xbox Series X: Launch titles, specs, design, price, and more

Microsoft to combine its Windows client and hardware teams under Chief Product Officer Panos Panay

Hey! March already!

Post 'em if you have them!

Looking forward to the great desktops and new skins!

Ghacks is an excellent tech website. It was recently sold, however, the tech content has remained in Martin Brinkmann's extremely capable hands. 

So, I was perusing there, as I really didn't want to do an article about MS killing the useless Live Tiles in W10, because Start10 beats anything MS has offered with W8 onward, nor about new icons coming to W10 as I think the icons created here beat them hands down, and always have.

So, Brinkmann discusses the findings of this study, which looked at:

"Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Brave Browser, Microsoft Edge and Yandex Browser...to assess the privacy risks associated with this backend data exchange during general web browsing. Questions we try to answer include: (i) Does this data allow servers to track the IP address of a browser instance over time (rough location can be deduced from an IP address, so IP address tracking is potentially a surrogate for location tracking) and (ii) Does the browser leak details of the web pages visited."

The bottom line result is that out of the box, using default settings (like no autofill), Brave won among them all. In Brinkmann's closing words:

"The researcher analyzed the default state of the browsers and found that Brave had the most privacy friendly settings. At least some of the browsers may be configured to improve privacy by changing the default configuration, e.g. disabling autocomplete functionality."

But, the study left a bit to be desired, at least for me. Vivaldi, Epic browser and (shhh) Tor weren't in this study, and imho, certainly Tor should have been. Interestingly, Bravo has the ability to apply Tor extension to private browsing ("Private Window with Tor: Tor hides your IP address from the sites you visit").

When Tor is put head to head with Bravo, take a look at the results (pros and cons) from users at Slant. It's not the only site which issued a comparison. Truth be told, though, Tor is slower than molasses in January, because of how it's onion layered switching works.

Without starting a browser war or a "mine is better" contest, I'd really like to hear what you all think.

Sources and links:

https://www.ghacks.net/2020/02/25/study-finds-brave-to-be-the-most-private-browser/

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/pubs/browser_privacy.pdf

https://www.guidingtech.com/brave-browser-vs-tor-secure-private-comparison/

There's all kinds of animated wallpapers (.dreams) available on WinCustomize, but my personal favorites are landscape scenery. Having a nice, relaxing nature landscape scene such as a beach or waterfall on the desktop is just amazing to look at. 

We've had some fantastic submissions lately so I wanted to take some time and highlight a few that I think will make a great addition to your desktop using DeskScapes.

You can see many more in the DeskScapes gallery.

Ocean Aquatics 

Grand Turk Waves

Banja Luka_Krupa_Falls

Blue Forest

We’ve had some great discussions on Hard drive speeds over the years.

One of my favorites was the one about whether SSDs was worth it.

I’ve also been benchmarking my PC’s for a very, very long time:

https://forums.wincustomize.com/168111

Here is a brief recap:

Most of the CPU speed improvements comes from adding more CPU cores.  My 2019 machine has 18 cores, 32 logical threads.  My 2008 box was the last machine with only a single core in it.  That isn’t to say that the CPU experience isn’t much better these days.  I’m just saying that unless your app is using all those cores, you could argue that you could divide these scores by the number of cores to get a better approximation of what a single threaded app would perform like.

Anyway, here are the results from my box today:

Samsung 970 Pro NVME:

Sabrent Rocket  NVME 2280:

As a practical matter, they’re both incredibly fast. 

In real world practice, an NVME (like these) will have roughly the same load times as a SATA SSD despite scoring a lot lower on the benchmarks.

Feel free to use this thread to post your Hard drive specs and scores to share with others.

I've been working with CursorFX a lot lately, and I've been going through the gallery looking for some of the best CursorFX themes that we have here on WinCustomize. 

I'm going to post a few of my favorites below, but what I really want is to know what YOUR favorites are! Is there a skin that you always use with CursorFX? Post the link in the comments!

Zoltik by Apocalypse_67

6502 by codewar65

Armada by neone6

Lucite by theAVMAN

The external link is a really useful explanation of how to add some power to the W10 context (right click) menu by Brady Gavin at How to Geek.

I won't waste your time with copying exactly how to do a registry edit, but I will reproduce the universal warning about editing the Windows registry:

"The Registry Editor is a powerful tool and, if it’s misused, it can render your system unstable or even inoperable."

A useful link: https://www.howtogeek.com/school/using-windows-admin-tools-like-a-pro/lesson5/

and three more: 

1. How to backup your registry: https://www.howtogeek.com/197785/how-to-backup-and-restore-the-windows-registry/

2. How to backup your computer: https://www.howtogeek.com/242428/whats-the-best-way-to-back-up-my-computer/

3. How to create a system restore point: https://www.howtogeek.com/237230/how-to-enable-system-restore-and-repair-system-problems-on-windows-10/

If you're afraid to do this by yourself, Brady Gavin has supplied two registry hack scripts to do all that editing...

"If you’d rather not edit the registry yourself, you can download our Add Move to/Copy to registry hack. Just open the ZIP file, double-click either “AddMoveTo.reg” or “AddCopyTo.reg,” and then click “Yes” to add the information to your registry." - Brady Gavin

However, do your backups and create a restore point before using the scripts (REG files).

And, have a great weekend!   

Razvan Serea wrote a good review of Windows Ultimate Tweaker 4.7

over at Neowin, including the change log. There are more than two hundred new tweaks, and most pertinently new ones in the privacy and security sections...nice for the folks who are new to W10 from W7 and who are (rightfully) concerned about the former.

The full list of the tweaks are here: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/list-of-tweaks-available-in-uwt4 .

Here's a screenie showing privacy tweaks. The red arrow simulates my cursor. Note the explanation the app shows for "Disable telemetry".

As with any app, and especially one like this one, I'd advise creating a restore point before tweaking away. It's very convenient the app reminds you to do so, as well.

It's a great app...one many of us had and probably forgotten all about, and well worth downloading, here: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/your-download-of-uwt4-will-start-in-5-seconds and as the link mentions, download commences 5 seconds after landing there.

It is freeware, without ads or other software with it.

Earlier this month at CES, AMD declared that 2020 was the year for “gamers and creators.” Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lisa Su took to the stage during a press conference and announced that AMD’s 3rd generation processors for laptops have officially arrived. 

According to Dr. Su, the new Ryzen 4000 series of chips based on the company’s 7nm Zen 2 architecture are the “best laptop processor(s) ever built.” By incorporating the right technology elements, AMD will fit tremendous amounts of power within a laptop form factor. These chips are AMD’s first laptop chips to make the move to Zen 2; the Ryzen 3000 series has already brought the tech to desktops, but laptops have been using an older process. 

The new processor, which can fit into ultra-thin laptops, contains 8 cores and 16 threads. The new CPUs will come in both 15-watt “U-class” ultra-low power versions (for thin and light laptops), and “H-class” 45-watt laptops (for gaming and content creation). AMD promises desktop-class performance on laptop hardware with the top of the line U-series chip (Ryzen 7 4800U), which offers an 8 core, 16-thread design. 

In addition to the new Ryzen 4000 series, Dr. Su also announced the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X Processor during her CES presentation. The performance comparison graphic covered three screens and showed nearly 5x the power of leading competitors’ products. During an interview on AMD’s “The Bring Up,” Dr. Su discussed the process behind developing the Threadripper.

“When you think about what you can do with computing -- I mean, if you think just a few years ago, 16 cores seemed like more than you ever needed, but then we did Threadripper and we went up to 34 cores,” Su said.  “And we said with third gen, ‘why not? Why not go up to 64 cores,’ and it’s not just about technology for technology’s sake. It’s really about how do we put technology into the hands of power users so that they can do new and important and creative things.”

According to AMD, the first Ryzen 4000 series laptops will arrive from Acer, Lenovo, HP, Asus, Dell, and other companies starting in the first quarter of 2020. The Threadripper 3990X will release on February 7, 2020.

AMD is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved.

Jafo made the remark on a post of mine recently that he does no banking on his phone. There's an excellent reason not to. I'd heard it wasn't wise because of the vulnerability of phones, and public networks (man in the middle attacks), though not because of SIM swap fraud!

So, I have to admit, this one's a new one for me. SIM swap fraud. Turns out they’re easy pickings for hackers. So, what’s SIM swap fraud?

"SIM swapping occurs when someone contacts your wireless carrier and is able to convince the call center employee that they are, in fact, you, using your personal data. They do this by using data that's often exposed in hacks, data breaches, or information you publicly share on social networks to trick the call center employ into switching the SIM card linked to your phone number, and replace it with a SIM card in their possession."

Once that's accomplished you're the victim of identity theft. Think about what's in your email, bank info, etc. So, they're in your phone and first thing, they change your emails' passwords, your social media passwords, if you have cryptocurrency passwords, they're now in the hacker's possession, as well as any codes sent to your phone as two factor identification, etc. Getting the picture?

"You can decrease your chances of someone gaining access to and taking over your phone number by adding a PIN code or password to your wireless account. T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T all offer the ability to add a PIN code. 

Some companies, like Sprint, require you to set up a PIN code when you sign up for service. However, if you're unsure if you have a PIN code or need to set one up, here's what you need to do for each of the four major US carriers. 

• Sprint customers: Log in to your account on Sprint.com then go to My Sprint > Profile and security > Security information and update the PIN or security questions then click Save.

• AT&T subscribers: Go to your account profile, sign in, and then click Sign-in info. Select your wireless account if you have multiple AT&T accounts, then go to Manage extra security under the Wireless passcode section. Make your changes, then enter your password when prompted to save.

• T-Mobile users: Set up a PIN or passcode the first time you sign in to your My T-Mobile account. Pick Text messages or Security question and follow the prompts. 

• Verizon Wireless customers: Call *611 and ask for a Port Freeze on your account, and visit this webpage to learn more about enabling Enhanced Authentication on your account."

If you have service through a different carrier, call their customer service number to ask how you can protect your account.

Most likely, you'll be asked to create a PIN or passcode.

When creating a PIN or passcode, keep in mind that if someone has enough information to fake that they're actually you, using a birthday, anniversary, or address as the PIN code isn't going to cut it. Instead, create a unique passcode for your carrier and then store it in your password manager."

Short of having empty accounts, how can you tell if you're a victim? A very quiet phone and the inability to make calls. That includes customer service at your carrier, but store the number in your phone to call from someone else's phone:

"Here are the customer service numbers for each major carrier. Put your carrier's number in your phone as a contact:

• Sprint: 1-888-211-4727
• AT&T: 1-800-331-0500
• T-Mobile: 1-800-937-8997
• Verizon: 1-800-922-0204"

Remember to get a good password manager (we'll talk about them in a subsequent post)...and, good luck!