Windows 11 debacle, Microsoft Linux, Qualcomm’s M1 killer & more

Microsoft has had a busy few weeks with the initial developer releases of Windows 11, plus a lot of pain and anguish for Windows 10 users who are discovering that they won’t be able to upgrade to Windows 11.

Microsoft remains unrepentant and insists that mandating you have at least an Intel 8th generation processor, or at least an AMD Zen 2 based processor, is still the minimum for Windows 11

If you won’t want to run Windows 11, then what are your alternative?

Or maybe you want to run Microsoft’s Linux distro called CBL-Mariner!

The Guardian newspaper has highlighted the perils of government-sanctioned cyber-surveillance, following its exposé of Pegasus, a sophisticated piece of malware that is being used by authoritarian regimes to target activists, politicians, and journalists. So, what is Pegasus? How does it work? Can you protect yourself?

NVIDIA has demonstrated its RTX Ray Tracing tech on an Arm-based PC, no x86 chips here! The demo included Wolfenstein: Youngblood, running in real-time on a MediaTek Arm platform with ray-traced graphics.

Valve has launched Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device with an AMD processor, RDNA 2 graphics, and a 7 inch touch screen. It is basically a handheld PC. Which OS does it run? Linux of course!

• How To Write Your First Game (video) – Learning to program by writing a game is a great way to improve your skills. Not only is it fun, but you get an almost instant reward for every line of code your add! Here is an introduction to Pygame Zero, so that you can write a game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and the Raspberry Pi.
• Qualcomm Says it Can Beat Apple’s M series (video) – The new CEO of Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon, says Qualcomm can beat Apple’s M series of processors, including the M1. He says Qualcomm can do it thanks to its recent acquisition of Nuvia, a company filled with former Apple engineers!
• OnePlus Is Intentionally Slowing Down Apps (video) – OnePlus is intentionally slowing down apps on the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. It seems that OnePlus has an aggressive battery saver that lowers the performance of apps like Chrome, WhatsApp, Twitter, Zoom, Instagram and others.
• The Zip file format is now 32 years old – You’d think being 32 years old the format would be well documented. Unfortunately, it’s not.
• Towards Inserting One Billion Rows in SQLite Under A Minute – Current Best: 100M rows inserts in 33 seconds.
• The Art of the Romanian Haystack – Over the centuries this particular method of haystack building has become more refined to the point where the haystacks of Romania have their own unique characteristics.
• List of elevator special modes – Elevator special modes are modes for elevators usage in special situations.