mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06https://TechHelpKB.com - Technical help knowledgebase, tech news, how-to articles & video tutorials for common issues.
France has announced it’s moving some of its government systems away from Windows towards the open-source operating system Linux, following Denmark and parts of Germany announcing similar departures from Microsoft products earlier this year.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/france-kicks-windows-to-the-curb-pivots-to-linux-os
Google Chrome collects extensive user data for targeted advertising, even in incognito mode, raising significant privacy concerns. Users can reduce tracking in many ways, or revert to a privacy-focused alternative.
Google markets Chrome by citing its superior safety features. But, according to a privacy consultant, Chrome does not protect against browser fingerprinting – a method of tracking people online by capturing technical details about their browser.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/16/google_chrome_lacks_browser_fingerprinting/
The big feature introduced in the latest Vivaldi browser dev build for Android is the native PDF reader, allowing you to open PDF files from web pages in Vivaldi’s browser tabs instead of needing to use a separate PDF reader app.
https://www.neowin.net/news/vivaldi-for-android-finally-kills-the-need-for-external-pdf-apps/
The April Patch Tuesday release involves 165 updates and roughly 340 unique CVEs from Microsoft — including two zero-days, one of which is already being actively exploited in the wild.
Charles Schwab, one of the largest brokerages in the world with more than $11 trillion in client assets, has made bitcoin trading available to its clients.
Huntress is warning that threat actors are exploiting three recently disclosed security flaws in Microsoft Defender to gain elevated privileges in compromised systems.
https://thehackernews.com/2026/04/three-microsoft-defender-zero-days.html
Thunderbolt is being sold by Firefox-maker Mozilla as a front-end client for users and businesses who want to run their own self-hosted AI infrastructure without relying on cloud-based third-party services.
Starting today, Google is rolling out an AI Mode update to users in the US that makes the tool better at interacting and understanding tabs.
Firefox will soon be able to communicate directly with your 3D printer. Thirteen years after the idea was initially proposed, the Web Serial API has landed in Firefox Nightly, Mozilla's work-in-progress channel for its browser.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/14/firefox_nightly_web_serial/
Researchers have discovered a new campaign in which a cluster of 108 Google Chrome extensions has been found to communicate with the same command-and-control (C2) infrastructure with the goal of collecting user data and enabling browser-level abuse.
https://thehackernews.com/2026/04/108-malicious-chrome-extensions-steal.html
Google has announced that it will begin penalizing websites that interfere with the normal functioning of a web browser's back button, aka back button hijacking.
https://www.techspot.com/news/112065-google-demote-websites-hijack-browser-back-button.html
Microsoft has begun stripping Copilot branding from several apps and is reportedly working on major improvements to Windows 11 for deployment in later updates. Here's what's happened so far, and which improvements are in the works.
https://www.slashgear.com/2147512/microsoft-removing-copilot-ai-windows/
The latest AI addition to Chrome comes in the form of “Skills,” reusable Gemini prompts you can access while browsing with a single click.
Are Brave browser's powerful default privacy controls (blocks ads, fingerprinting, and third-party cookies by default), built-in search engine, and Speedreader mode enough to make you turn your back on Chrome?
https://www.androidpolice.com/quit-chrome-for-open-source-browser-not-looking-back/
Adobe has released an emergency security update for Acrobat Reader to fix a vulnerability that has been exploited in zero-day attacks since at least December.
These six changes can finally help you stop spam from taking over your Gmail and made it feel manageable again.
https://www.androidpolice.com/reduced-spam-gmail-dont-just-involve-unsubscribing/
Is your inbox overflowing with ads, newsletters, and social media updates? This one feature that's built into most email solutions will fix that for you.
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/work-life/how-to-use-email-aliases/
Google has rolled out a new Chrome browser feature which should make stealing session cookies for use in infostealer malware attacks a thing of the past.
Firefox-maker Mozilla is calling out Microsoft after Redmond said it would scale back some Copilot features in Windows, arguing the rollback shows the company pushed AI too far without enough regard for user choice.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/10/mozilla_microsofts_copilot_strategy/
