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Windows 10 has been a fairly popular topic of discussion for the last year or so, mainly down to the fact that Microsoft seem to be pushing its advantages to all and sundry. One of the biggest points to entice users has been the free upgrade to Windows 10 if you own windows 7 or Windows 8.1 already.
But what about the rest? Well now there’s a way for you to get a free update too, and it’s been promoted by Microsoft themselves.
A post on Microsoft’s windows Blog detailed the way how, which involves downloading and installing the Windows 10 Preview Build and registering it to your Microsoft account so you can get the upgrade.
“Windows Insiders running the Windows 10 Insider Preview (Home and Pro editions) with their registered MSA connected to their PC will receive the final release build of Windows 10 starting on July 29th. This will come as just another flight. I’ve gotten a lot of questions from Windows Insiders about how this will work if they clean installed from ISO. As long as you are running an Insider Preview build and connected with the MSA you used to register, you will receive the Windows 10 final release build and remain activated. Once you have successfully installed this build and activated, you will also be able to clean install on that PC from final media if you want to start over fresh.”
This does of course mean that you also need to sign up to the Windows Insider program, but it’s up to you whether you think that is a price too steep for the free OS.
Xbox One is getting a completely redesigned dashboard later this year, featuring a vertical design separated into four different tabs, including a new Quick Menu, Home, Community and Store.
Cortana will also be introduced with the new dashboard, allowing players to find friends and start parties using their voice and if you are interested, Avatars are also coming back with a new modernised look for Xbox One.
What happens when a service designed to keep your passwords safe gets hacked itself?
Password-management service LastPass announced today that it “discovered and blocked suspicious activity” on its network on Friday that caused user email addresses, authentication hashes, password reminders and server per user salts to be compromised.
While the news suggests that some user’s email addresses may now be known to criminals and that hackers may now have useful hints to passwords for other sites you may be using, LastPass says that there is no evidence that any data from any user’s vault was taken; or that any accounts were logged into illegitimately before the hack was detected. This means that any of the passwords actually stored on the server have not fallen into the wrong hands, so there should be no need to reset passwords for every site you stored data for. LastPass is confident that its encryption is strong enough to make attacking those stolen hashes with any speed difficult.
Nevertheless, when it comes to LastPass itself, it is highly recommended you change your Master Password right now to ensure those vaults can’t potentially be accessed later. Although the company’s official recommendation is that you only need to change your master password if it’s weak or use that password on multiple sites, in any case of hacking, being paranoid is often the best approach. The company also recommends that users who don’t have two-factor authentication enabled on their accounts do so now, which sounds like sound advice.
Oculus Rift has been in development for what feels like forever. Today, on Twitch, the company took the wraps off of the final version of the Rift VR device and shared a ton of new information with its “Step Into The Rift” event.
Firstly, Oculus showed off the actual headset. Covered in fabric, and purportedly light enough to hold with one hand, the final version looks much different than the development kits most of us are accustomed to seeing.
They also detailed the 360 degree audio system built into the Rift. They have also streamlined and refined the constellation tracking on the front of the unit, promising to have low latency tracking of subtle movements via one unobtrusive desktop sensor.The new Rift replaces the familiar fabric straps with what look to be hard plastic ones. The team claims that putting it on is as easy as slipping on a baseball cap, and that the new ergonomic features reduce the pressure on the front of the face. They have also worked to allow users to adjust the distance of the lenses so that you can center them between your eyes. And, in a move sure to please many, they have also altered the design to be more accomodating to those that wear glasses.
They then moved on to reveal that you can stream Xbox One games to the Rift, and that every Rift will include a wireless Xbox One controller and adapter. Xbox head Phil Spencer then came out on stage to tout the Rift’s integration with Windows 10.
Much of the rest of the conference was spent showing off short trailers of games coming to the Rift. In attendance were CCP with Eve Valkyrie, Gunfire Games with Chronos, and Insomniac Games with Edge Of Nowhere. More mention was also made of Damage Core, VR Sports Challenge, Esper, AirMechVR and Lucky’s Tale. it was an impressive looking lineup, and more was promised to be revealed at E3.
Anna Sweet, head of developer strategy also came out to discuss some of Oculus’ strategy moving forward. She repeatedly affirmed that Oculus is committed to building the best platform for games. To that end, Oculus will be investing $10 million to “accelerate independent game development” on the Rift.
Another focus of the event was the announcement that the Rift will work right out of the box with Windows, Nvidia, AMD, Unity5 and Unreal Engine 4. All of this is a push on Oculus’ part to have the Rift be as user and developer friendly as possible, and it seems to be paying off as some of the biggest names in PC gaming are already firmly on board.
The final bit of time for the show was spent showing off the alternate control method for the Oculus, deemed Oculus Touch.
These controllers are meant to be held in the hand and allow the user to interact with the virtual game world in a more realistic manner. The can track hand motions through sensors inside the rings. An example given was being able to point, wave, give a thumbs up, and even pick up a gun off a table and fire it with a natural motion. The Rift team refers to this as “low mental load”, meaning that they want using your hands in game to be as natural as using them in real life.
All in all, it was a very interesting presentation, although I’m left with many questions. of course, Oculus will be at E3 nest week, so they might get answered then.
What do you think? Are you excited? Or still skeptical? Let me know!
