Posts by demonwarcat

Windows 11 leads as October looms, but millions still cling to Windows 10

Re: It really boils down to money.

TPM module really is not the issue. Despite all press claims. If your machine has a processor recent enough to make Microsoft's supported CPU list it has an embedded TPM 2.0 module. Now there are a small number of machines out there where the bios does not give the option to enable this but for most supported CPUs it is merely a matter of enabling the embedded module. Pre windows 11 the default was to disable this. There may also be a secure boot issue. While Windows 11 does not require secure boot to be enabled it does require it to be supported. This requires a pure UEFI boot. No compatibility support module. Again pre Windows 11 enabling the compatibility support module was the default to enable pre UEFI add in boards to work.

Please tell us Reg: Why are AI PC sales slower than expected?

Not Wanted

I am looking for a new laptop to replace my current 10 year old machine. I am struggling to find a suitable replacement at the moment I am looking at either having to drop from 17" to 16" or accept no biometrics. Super Clippy is nowhere amongst my requirements. Indeed if anything lack of support for recall is a positive not a negative. I rather expect to finish up with a copilot+ machine but that is likely because that is all I will be offered not because it is what I want.

California goes ape with bill to crown Bigfoot official state cryptid

Florida Cryptid

Will Florida now declare Donald Trump as the official state cryptid? Ok slow off mark beers alround

Three and Vodafone: We need to merge because our networks are rubbish

Effective Remedy

I am reluctantly of the opinion that not allowing the merger will just condemn both companies to slow lingering deaths. I am not sure that 3 ever had a financial structure that would have funded the ongoing investment requirements of running a mobile network. Vodaphone I rather blame the historic management of the company.

I feel two types of measure are necessary to permit the merger. The lesser issue would be the possible divestment of some of the merged companies spectrum. More important since the argument is about network investment is that Ofcom should provide the merged company with a prioritised list of not spots to which they should provide 5G coverage within 5 years. Failure to hit this target should trigger a fine of 10% of annual revenue each year until the target is hit.

Nokia demos upper 6 GHz band for mobile, but UK wants it shared with Wi-Fi

Personally I am of the opinion that the whole of the 6GHz band should be allocated to wifi. I know that the mobile phone companies will attempt to claim any spare frequency but generally the issues with mobile are poor indoor coverage which 6GHz is unlikely to improve and lack of coverage in rural areas which also not well suited to deployment of 6GHz. Since most people address the first issue by using WiFi and the second is better addressed using lower frequencies the average user will get a better result from the UK following the US and allocating 6GHz to wifi followed by a rollout of 802.11be by ISPs.

Vodafone and Wi-Fi vendors play tug of war over 6 GHz

Re: This doesn't seem right...

My understanding of its propagation properties is that 6GHz is better suited to WiFi than mobile usage and in principle it would seem to me that indoors connectivity is better delivered by WiFi connection to a landline than an attenuated mobile signal. Like the respondent above I would prefer that the whole of the 6GHz band was allocated for WiFi. Since I believe that the expectation is that the radio spectrum currently used by broadcast TV will be reallocated to mobile communications I am not sympathetic to the mobile phone companies.

Telecoms networks could provide next-gen GPS services without the need for satellites

Back to the future

This is rather chicken and egg. Many moons ago telecoms systems used atomic clocks to feed synchronisation links to much of the equipment that required accurate timing. This was superseded by using GPS receivers as timing sources as cheaper and more flexible. At least some telcos still have their atomic clocks as backups for GPS but given the intricacies of network synchronisation and the record keeping associated with it even where the telco has backup systems i would not expect a clean change over in the event of GPS failure. A move back from GPS to telco provided synchronisation would require extensive network replanning.

Chemical plant taken offline by the best one of all: C₈H₁₀N₄O₂

A friend of mine used to run a PC repair business. As I result I saw a variety of machines that had imbibed various fluids. Black coffee without sugar was generally survivable. At the other end of the scale orange juice was terminal.

US Space Force deploys robot dogs at Cape Canaveral base

ABC Warriors forever

A Windows 11 tsunami? No, more of a ripple as Microsoft's latest OS hits 5% PC market

No incentive to upgrade

While I originally expected to see processor support extend back to sixth gen Intel and 1st gen Ryzen it now seems that the cut off is MBEC support. This leaves me with the grand total of 1 supported PC. The supported PC is the only one running Home rather than Pro. If Win 11 Home included bitlocker, which would have seemed sensible given the focus on security, this might have been enough to justify the incomplete feature set of Win 11. As it is the sixth gen Intel and first gen Ryzen machines I have will continue with Win 10 as long as the hardware remains usable. I expect Win 10 support to be extended. I have two machines with significantly older processors. One a gaming machine with intel 4th gen would have been rebuilt this year but that build is on hold until graphics card availability sorts out - the other even older is lightly used and still doing its job ok. Probably should be rebuilt but to be honest the money is better used elsewhere. Even when the gaming PC gets rebuilt at the moment it is more likely to get Win 10 than Win 11. This reflects the poor state of Win 11 and the benefits of os commonality.

BT Wholesale wants the channel to give SMBs a nudge before copper sunset in 2025

Re: Dear Mr OpenReavh...

They do know who has a current analogue line. They don't know what devices you have connected to it and if any will react poorly to being connected to a VOIP service. BT's Smarthub 2 has a POTS socket. I have just been migrated and for many people it will simply be a case of plugging their main phone into this. Things become more complicated if you have existing wired extensions as voice reinjection is not being offered. You can claim a free phone or voice adapter from BT where you can't just plug your phone in. Power fail is only being poorly addressed. BT will sell you a UPS to power hub and ONT. On the face of it this does not comply with OFCOM's stated policy. I understand some ISPs are providing battery backup at no charge.

Paper Tiger Lake? El Reg gets its talons on the first Intel Core i7 Honor MagicBook 14

Re: Civ XI !!!!

Hopefully by XI all the irritating changes in VI will have been undone. I very quickly gave up on VI

What you need to know about Microsoft Windows 11: It will run Android apps

Windows 10 like Windows 7

While I understand why Microsoft are insisting on UEFI and TPM this is going to slow down take up massively. Of my machines only one meets the requirements. I don't know why one laptop doesn't as Microsoft's tool helpfully doesn't report why. As I build my my own desktops none has a TPM module. I did consider adding one to my main machine a couple of years back. I have been considering updating my gaming machine and this buts that is now on the backburner until mainboard manufacturers make TPM modules standard not an add on you can plug in if you can track one down. Since all my machines are stable and perform sufficiently for there jobs I don't see me spending money just to make them Windows 11 compatible. Until faced with a hardware failure or performance drops below an acceptable level I shall just keep running Windows 10. And if that takes me past 2025 then reluctantly I shall run Windows 10 unsupported. My personal guess is there are sufficient people in a similar position that like with Windows 7 Microsoft will be forced to extend support

I could throttle you right about now: US Navy to ditch touchscreens after kit blamed for collision

Because they are built in batches and take a long time to build so new equipment comes along. Even within batches there is a probability that later ships will include newer kit that will not be retrofitted until the earlier ships come up for refit. Ships from later batches can be radically different from earlier batches.

Max Schrems is back: Facebook, Google hit with GDPR complaint

Having both Facebook and Twitter accounts my layman's impression is that Facebooks new privacy controls do not meet the requirements of GDPR and Twitter's does. Though I would have preferred that Twitter giving me a 3rd party processing yes / no option I would have like the option to choose who could and couldn't. Since the option was all or nothing I naturally chose nothing. I wait to see Facebook's next attempt to get valid consent

IPv6 growth is slowing and no one knows why. Let's see if El Reg can address what's going on

Not fit for purpose

When I was first exposed to IPv6 on a cisco course my immediate reaction was that it's use of MAC addresses to generate the IP address was a security risk. Since then although some of the issues with IPv6 have been addressed my opinion remains IPv6 was designed to address the issues of the time and these are not the issues of today. I agree that IPv4 will need replacing but like a number of the other respondents I think we need to develop a new scheme that is suited to modern needs and concerns.

MPs petition for legally binding target of 95% 4G coverage across UK

Personally I think the government / ofcom should prohibit deployment of 5G until certain minimum levels of 4G service have been achieved. Otherwise we will just see what we have with previous generations where localised deployment higher speeds is preferred to coverage

Microsoft Lean's in: Slimmed-down Windows 10 OS option spotted

Quickly scanning the list of removed files it looks like windows media player is removed. I still use windows media player as music lacks much of its functionality

Scotland: Get tae f**k on 10Mbps Broadband USO

If this is the project whose technical designs I saw shortly before my retirement from BT then it would exclude most of the highlands.