Windows 11-23H2
Microsoft did not do quite what most people were expecting! Last month I said that the 23H2 update for Windows 11 was expected with yesterday’s Patch Tuesday update (10th October) and I listed the new features likely to be included:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2023/09/
What actually happened was yesterday’s update was a minor affair with just a few bug fixes.
The new features I mentioned last time were released on 26th September, but you have to turn on Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available in the Windows Update settings. For most people, these new features are now expected to happen with the November (or possibly even December) Patch Tuesday when the version advances to 23H2.
Also, somewhat confusingly, the new Copilot AI feature is now supposedly only being released in the States and parts of Asia. However, I installed the preview of this update when it was first released on 26th September and I have the Copilot preview icon on the Taskbar, so maybe it is available also in the UK.
Free Windows 10 Upgrade Ends
Back in 2015 when Windows 10 was released, Microsoft stated that, for one year, you would be able to upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 for free. In theory, this offer should have ended on the 29th July 2016. However, this free upgrade was still available until very recently and I have used it a number of times over the years.
Now, Microsoft have announced that this free upgrade will no longer be available. I guess most people who were ever going to upgrade have done so by now, so this probably will not affect many people.
Note that you can still upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 for free, provided you have qualifying hardware. Once a machine has had Windows 10 or 11 installed and activated, that PC becomes ‘digitally entitled’ to run Windows 10/11. This means such a machine can be completely wiped and Windows 10/11 can be legitimately re-installed from scratch without the need to enter a product key.
Text Messaging
There are a number of different systems used for transmitting and receiving text messages on your phone.
The first and most basic of these is SMS – Short Messaging Service. These messages use the same technology as voice communications, so, provided you have a connection to your mobile network, you can use SMS. It does NOT use either mobile or wi-fi data. However, it is very limited, so you cannot send pictures or emojis and the message is limited to 160 characters.
MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service – as its name suggests, this allows you to include pictures or videos and send longer messages. It is an enhancement of SMS, so it does not use data, you just need a mobile phone signal.
RCS – Rich Communication Services – is a more powerful system, but it does require a data connection – either wi-fi or mobile data. As modern smartphones usually have access to data pretty much all of the time these days, it probably makes sense to use RCS as the default for messaging on Android devices. This means it can provide some of the functions you might find in other data-based messaging services such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, etc. For example, it can indicate that a message has been received and opened, it can indicate when the other party is typing, you can create groups, it uses end-to-end encryption, etc.
On an Android phone, you probably have either the Google messages app or the Samsung messages app. Both of these are able to use RCS which most people would probably use as the default.
Apple does not support RCS, but has it’s own propriety system (see below).
If RCS is temporarily unavailable due to the lack of a data connection, the app will fall back to using SMS. See this Android Police article for more on RCS including how to enable/disable it:-
https://www.androidpolice.com/how-to-enable-disable-rcs-chat-google-messages/
iMessage – this is the default on Apple phones. It is Apple’s proprietary system and uses data in a similar way to RCS. Again, it can fall back to using SMS where iMessage is not available. iMessages appear in a blue bubble while SMS messages are in a green bubble. Apple converts any RCS messages it receives into SMS/MMS.
Although the lack of compatibility between iOS and Android with respect to the iMessage and RCS systems is unfortunate, it can be easily circumvented by using a separate messaging service such as WhatsApp which works across both platforms.
Tab Tip
If you are using a Chromium-base browser in Windows 10 or 11 (i.e. Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, etc), you can press Ctrl+Shift+A to see a list of all your open and recently closed tabs. If you tend to have lots of tabs open, this could be a useful way to view them. Click on any tab shown in the list to open it.
Another Scam
Of course, if there is something new happening, the scammers will latch on to it. This time it’s the digital telephone switchover.
We first mentioned this at the Club back in September 2021 under the heading Landline Phone System (PSTN) Ceases in 2025, see:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2021/09/
Now this is becoming more widely known, scammers are contacting people asking for payment details for the switchover when, in fact, it will be free. See this Which? article for more:-
https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/criminals-are-exploiting-the-digital-switchover-to-scam-vulnerable-people-adaN74c98Nwr
Forwarding Emails in Gmail
If you use a Gmail email address, you can forward any emails you receive to another email address. You have to set this up using a web browser - you cannot set it up from the mobile app.
To set this up, go to:-
https://mail.google.com
Click on the Settings cog.
Click on the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
Click Add a forwarding address and enter the email address you want to forward to.
Click Next, Proceed, OK.
A verification email will be sent to that forwarding address. Click the link in that email.
Choose what you want to happen to emails after forwarding - e.g. Keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox.
Most other email services will have a similar forwarding service, although in some cases, (for example Yahoo), this is a premium function that is only available if you pay.
Stop Outlook 2007 Getting New Mail
Linda wanted to continue using Outlook 2007 as an 'archive' of old mail but to stop it receiving any new emails.
I believe you can achieve this by disabling the automatic send/receive function. This web site explains how - option 3 looks like the best choice:-
https://carlcheo.com/how-to-stop-receiving-emails-in-microsoft-outlook
Password Monitor in Edge
Edge offers a Password Monitor to alert you when any of your passwords saved in Edge are found in a data breach. To turn it on/off, go to Settings, Profile, Passwords. Turn on Show alerts when passwords are found in an online leak.
This service checks the emails saved in Edge and uses the “Have I Been Pwned” database – see below.
Have I Been Pwned
https://haveibeenpwned.com/
We have mentioned this web site a number of times, but I thought it was worth a reminder. You can see what we previously said by going to the Roger’s Documents web site:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
Select the Computer Club tab (on a phone, tap the 3 bars to select this), then tap on the document:-
Scams, Data Breaches & Have I Been Pwned
Essentially, you can type in your email address to see if it has been found (”pwned” – pronounced “poned”) in any data known to have been stolen in data breaches.
You can also click on the Passwords tab to see how many times any of your passwords have cropped up in stolen data.
You can use the Notify Me feature to get a warning email if your email address is ever found in a future data breach.
HIBP is used by many other organisation, such as the Firefox browser, to offer the same service as provided by Edge
Outlook Layout
Having screen-shared my Outlook window, Brian asked how the layout could be changed. I am using the "New Outlook". On the Toolbar, clicking on View provides a couple of useful choices. Clicking on Layout gives you the options to turn on/off the Folder pane and/or the Reading pane (which can be on the right or the bottom). Clicking on View settings allows a number of further options including whether the newest emails should appear at the top or bottom.
Full Fibre Broadband
When you switch to Fibre-to-the Premises (FTTP) or full fibre broadband, you no longer have the copper wire and the socket to plug your landline phone into. Your ISP can usually provide an internet phone service, known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), also called "Digital Voice". In most cases, this service will probably use the same telephone number as your previous landline. You can continue to use your existing telephone by simply plugging it into a phone socket on the back of your router rather than the old socket that was on the wall.
I chose to abandon my landline when I switched to FTTP.
Next Session
Wed 8th November 2023 at 2pm by Zoom.
