Technology

The founder of crypto lender Celsius has admitted to lying to customers about how their money would be used and manipulating markets for his personal gain.

Put this handy Bluetooth tracker in your wallet, passport or just about anywhere else so you can more easily find your stuff later.

The streaming service's review of your year now includes audiobooks, AI podcasts and thank-you messages from artists.

After the ups and downs of 2024, experts still feel the future is bright for residential solar.

The mobile device security firm iVerify has been offering a tool since May that makes spyware scanning accessible to anyone—and it's already turning up victims.

MLCommons provides benchmarks that test the abilities of AI systems. It wants to measure the bad side of AI next.

• A few months ago, Chinese state-sponsored actors were observed on IT networks of ISPs, telcos, and more
• Since then, the companies worked hard on cleaning up their infrastructure
• Salt Typhoon still lurks, CISA warns, as it shares guidelines to defend

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) believes Salt Typhoon, the Chinese state-sponsored threat actor that was spotted in telecommunications giants’ networks months ago, is still lurking and hasn’t been completely eradicated. To help organizations tackle this important threat, the agency released in-depth guidance earlier this week.

Salt Typhoon is a known hacking collective, on payroll with the Chinese government. It is mostly engaged in cyber-espionage, targeting important entities and figures in the West, with infostealers and similar malware.

It is part of a wider campaign that includes a number of other “typhoons” - Flax Typhoon, Volt Typhoon, and Brass Typhoon, that seeks not just to steal information, but also to disrupt critical infrastructure.

Strengthening the network

For months now, cybersecurity experts, government agents, and the media have been reporting on Salt Typhoon’s attacks on internet service providers, telecommunications firms, and similar companies. The targets have been working hard on cleaning up their IT systems, but according to CISA, there’s still work to be done.

That being said, the agency first suggests telecoms strengthen their network visibility and focus on monitoring, detecting, and understanding network activity. Then, the report discusses hardening systems and devices through protocols and management processes, device hardening, and access controls. Finally, it tackles incident reporting and provides detailed contact information for reporting cybersecurity incidents in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Software manufacturers should embed security principles during development, CISA concluded, advocating for secure-by-design configurations, which should reduce reliance on customer hardening.

“Software manufacturers should prioritize secure by design configurations to eliminate the need for customer implementation of hardening guidelines,” it said. “Additionally, customers should demand that the software they purchase is secure by design.”

For any organization fearing being targeted by Salt Typhoon (or any other Typhoon, for that matter), CISA’s guidance is a must-read.

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The updated BlackWidow steps even further into the world of premium custom mechanical keyboards, with a price to match.

This smart blender is a workhorse meant for more than smoothies and baby food.

Spotify Wrapped 2024 is finally here – which means it’s time for the streaming service’s ruthless algorithms to pass judgement on our music tastes for the year. And this time, Wrapped even has an AI-generated podcast where virtual hosts dissect your musical adventures.

Yes, thanks to Google’s NotebookLM, Spotify Wrapped has a pretty big new addition to its popular recap feature. Alongside that new Wrapped AI podcast (more on that below), other recent features like AI Playlists and AI DJ are also getting a twist for Spotify’s reflection on your year in music.

As Spotify veterans, we’re here to run you through how to find your Wrapped 2024 recap, what to do if it isn’t showing up and, most importantly, how embarrassing our Wrapped recaps have been this year. If we make you feel a bit better about your music taste in the process, we’ll consider that a job well done.

So whether you’re still patiently waiting for Spotify’s elves to deliver your Wrapped, or are simply here to gloat, here’s all the latest from the trenches of this year’s Wrapped experience…

Spotify Wrapped 2024: the essentials

• How do you find it? Spotify Wrapped 2024 should appear when you open the app (make sure you’re running the latest version), but if not head to the app’s Home tab. You should see a banner that takes you to your Wrapped experience and a 'Wrapped' button at the top. Alternatively, head to Spotify's web version. For more detailed guidance, head to our how to find Spotify Wrapped 2024 guide.
• What’s new this year? Spotify has gone pretty big on Wrapped this year, introducing a few new AI features. The headline one is ‘Your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast’, but there are also new twists on features like AI DJ and AI Playlist. Another nice touch is ‘Your Music Evolution’, which sums up how your tastes have changed over the year.
• What if it isn’t showing up? The Spotify Wrapped rollout is rarely plain-sailing, so what can you do if there’s no sign of it? Make sure you’re running the latest version of the app for a start, then head to our guide on what to do if Spotify Wrapped 2024 isn’t working.

(Image credit: Spotify)

Yes, Wrapped is rolling out now

Spotify has finally tired of every single reply to its social media accounts being a skeleton meme with a ‘waiting for my Wrapped’ tagline – the button has been pressed, and Wrapped 2024 is rolling out now.

It’s too late to game those algorithms. The next time you open your Spotify app (making sure you’re on the latest version) you should see a Wrapped 2024 banner appear among your mixes – tap it to find the unvarnished truth of your year in music.

Alternatively, if you’re old-school or secretly checking at work, you can find Wrapped 2024 in the macOS or Windows apps, or in a web browser.

(Image credit: Spotify / Apple)

You may want to try the mobile web player first...

Spotify Wrapped 2024 is now officially rolling out, but not everyone (including many on the TechRadar team) are seeing it in the app yet.

But one way to see your slideshow is to open a browser on your smartphone then head directly to the Spotify web player (making sure you're logged in on the app). You should then see the slideshow of your musical highlights, which will keep you busy while the full Wrapped heads to the app.

(Image credit: Spotify)

Isn’t Wrapped a bit late this year?

Early December feels a little late for Wrapped, but it’s not an unusual time for Spotify to hit the rollout button. Last year, it did land on November 29, but in 2019 it appeared on December 5, while the year before it arrived even later on December 6.

So while it feels like Wrapped should be a late-November affair, the more common rule now is that it lands on a Wednesday, which it’s done for the last five years now. Have we just done a Wrapped-style analysis of Wrapped? Well, it’s about time the tables were turned…

(Image credit: Spotify)

Here's what Wrapped 2024 looks like

While I wait for the full Wrapped to hit my app, I've watched my slideshow in the mobile player (above). It's pretty similar to previous years, with the main new feature being 'Your Music Evolution'.

That shows you your particular music obsessions at three different times of the year. Apparently I was into 'Atmospheric Ritual Ambient' in September, which sounds a bit Wicker Man but I'll take it...

(Image credit: Spotify)

How do you find and share your new Wrapped AI podcast?

The star of this year’s Wrapped 2024 is definitely the new AI podcast, which has just landed for me – even though it’s fairly short at just over three minutes long. It’s rolling out for a “limited time” in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Sweden only, so it’s worth playing it soon.

You can either find it in your Wrapped home feed (by tapping the banner in the Home tab) or by tapping the app’s ‘Search’ function and typing in “Your Spotify Wrapped AI podcast”. You can also share the unique podcast with others (assuming it’s safe for public consumption) by tapping the share icon underneath the playback menu.

Now, let's try and have a listen without cringing too hard...

(Image credit: Spotify)

AI Wrapped podcast impressions – an impressive debut

Okay, I've just listened to my AI podcast, and it's actually better than I was expecting. Initially, it feels like you've just commissioned two podcast hosts to stroke your musical ego, with my ones cooing "talk about exclusive taste" and "wow, that's impressive" for my total number of minutes.

But there's also some nice added depth. For my top artist Big Thief, the AI podcast fills in some background info on the recording process for Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, talking about the locations for the different sessions.

I'm less keen on Spotify's kooky sub-genres like 'Pumpkin Spice Hollywood Indie', but overall it's definitely a fun addition to this year's Wrapped.

(Image credit: Spotify)

Is Wrapped for both Free and Premium subscribers?

The answer is yes and no. Free Spotify subscribers do get a Wrapped recap – and impressively this year, they also get the new ‘Your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast’ feature, which is available to everyone for a “limited time”.

But a couple of Wrapped features are reserved for Premium subscribers. Those are the ones related to the AI DJ – which this year commentates on your year in music like a radio show – and the AI Playlist features (above), which lets you create personalized playlists from your Wrapped data.

For example, you can ask it to make a playlist based on "artists similar to my top five” or one for “my top genres”. Did someone say echo chamber?

(Image credit: Spotify)

My Wrapped feels about right

There's always a worry that Wrapped is going to expose you as a secret top 1% Phil Collins fan, even if you only played it on request from your car passengers – but this year my top artists and songs were kind of as I expected.

I've gone pretty hard and Big Thief and Floating Points this year, the latter partly as it's also ideal working music. Sometimes I was Spotify had a 'work mode' to separate that listening from true, chin-stroking intentional listening. Jon Hopkins also made a late charge thanks to his excellent ambient headphones album Ritual.

My only annoyance is that more of my top listening wasn't from 2024 band albums I also loved this year like English Teacher and King Hannah. Maybe next year guys...

(Image credit: Spotify)

AI DJ vs Wrapped AI podcast: what’s the difference?

Spotify appears to have two very similar AI-powered features in Wrapped 2024; a review of your year from its AI DJ, plus that new NotebookLM-powered Wrapped AI podcast. So how do they differ?

The main difference is that the AI DJ is a single radio host who’ll then actually play some songs based on your musical adventures in 2024. The Wrapped AI podcast, meanwhile, is an AI-powered conversation between two hosts about your listening habits, but doesn’t include any songs.

Also, the AI DJ is for Premium subscribers only, whereas all Spotify listeners get the Wrapped AI podcast. I'm personally not a huge fan of AI DJ because it tends to play me songs I've already worn out, but I'll give this special Wrapped version a spin to see if it's more insightful...

(Image credit: Spotify)

Is Wrapped missing features this year?

A fair amount of the online chatter about Wrapped this year is that it's missing quite a few favorite features from previous years, and I have to agree.

There's no in-depth genre breakdowns (other than Spotify's made-up ones like 'Apocalyptic Permanent Wave Rock') and Spotify has ditched Sound Town (which paired you with a city, based on your music tastes) which was big on social media last year.

This year's Wrapped does feel quite superficial, considering the amount of data Spotify could draw upon to make interesting connections and recommendations like Last.fm. But those new AI features has obviously taken priority and the AI podcast is a fun addition that could perhaps grow in depth in 2025.

(Image credit: Spotify)

Why did Google get involved in Wrapped this year?

The new Wrapped AI podcast is a pretty nice addition to Spotify’s recap, and Google’s explained how it works.

Steven Johnson, Head of Editorial at Google Labs, said Google created a new version of a Gemini AI model called Flash specifically to handle the millions of custom podcasts that needed to be generated.

“It was quite an impressive engineering effort,” Johnson said. “It’s been a great collaboration because it’s given us some techniques that we're gonna be able to bring back to NotebookLM.”

It’ll apparently also be the first of many NotebookLM collaborations. “We look forward to a lot of different partnerships, both on the audio front and also just on the text front,” Johnson added. Hmm, surely it's planning something for YouTube too?

(Image credit: Spotify)

Look out for Taylor Swift's new Spotify easter eggs

An important part of the Wrapped experience is finding out just how far you've drifted from the musical zeitgeist. But no-one will be surprised to discover that Taylor Swift has again been the number one most-streamed artist globally, according to Spotify – and the numbers are truly incredible.

Swift was responsible for over 26.6 billion streams on Spotify this year, enough for several for every person on earth. She's so popular that Spotify has baked in a few easter eggs for fans, including "a custom mini-animation tailored to the eras of her discography" (like Sparkles and Seagulls) on Spotify's Play button. They'll apparently being rolling out today, so keep your eyes peeled, Swifties...

(Image credit: Spotify)

The AI playlists are worth dabbling with

I must admit I've barely touched Spotify's AI playlist feature, which rolled out a few months ago – but it's become a bit more interesting with its Wrapped twist. They're a little bit buried, hiding in the 'Your Library' tab at the base of the app under the '+' icon.

You can now put a Wrapped spin on playlist, for example asking it to "make me a playlist with my Top songs that are perfect for a workout". I'm not super-keen on musical echo chambers, so asked it to make me a playlist of songs inspired by my top artists of 2024, with mixed results.

Spotify lets you provide feedback on its results with little '+' icons to keep songs you're happy with, so the more we use the better it'll get.

And with that, it's time to hand over these Spotify Wrapped liveblog reins to someone who's got his ear far closer to the musical ground than me, our Editorial Executive Rowan Davies...

(Image credit: Future)

2024 is the year I turned country

So apparently, I’m a country gal now? Who would’ve thought! To say I’m surprised with my top artists would be a lie, and since I correctly guessed all five I’d say that I have a pretty solid awareness of who I’ve been listening to the most over the past year.

But what surprised me the most was the result of my top five songs. Because the scope of my listening habits has been significantly more widespread than ever this year, my top songs were hard to pin down. While I knew deep down that Cowboy Carter would be my most-streamed album this year, the influence of Taylor Swift and Charli xcx’s banger album Brat has been unprecedented, and I was convinced that they would creep in somehow.

However, to my surprise, Beyonce has yet to be dethroned from my Spotify Wrapped. Not only has she come out on top as not just my most-streamed artist for another year running, but five songs from Cowboy Carter occupy my most-streamed songs list. Excuse me, I’m just off to fetch my cowboy hat and boots.

Want to hear two robots chat about your music taste? This Wrapped season, Spotify and Google teamed up to make that dream (or nightmare) a reality.

• One of the data centers NASA uses got damaged by a burst pipe
• Experts are still assessing the extent of the damage
• Stanford has described the outage as “severe”

A number of NASA's projects, such as its Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission, are facing major disruptions after the data center they rely on recently got damaged by water, leading to a serious outage.

Stanford’s Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) confirmed that a burst water pipe severely damaged the data center’s servers, and a resolution could be a long way away.

JSOC explained that a four-inch chilled-water pipe broke on November 26, affecting the machines that process and distribute data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) instruments as well as the IRIS spacecraft.

NASA’s data center is offline

JSOC said that its team is still working to assess the extent of the damage, however it has confirmed that the damage is “severe,” adding that data processing for the HMI, AIA and IRIS projects will be down for an “extended length of time.”

Although data processing is set to be unavailable for an uncertain amount of time, JSOC assured us that the data capture systems are still in place and functional, therefore new data will still be collected as usual. Instruments onboard the SDO and IRIS will continue to collect observation data, which is set to be stored at the DDS in New Mexico temporarily, until repairs are complete.

The SDO previously stated that it generates around 42 terabytes of solar observation data monthly, highlighting the scale of the challenge posed by the water-induced outage.

Although data up until November 26 remains accessible on the SDO website, solar scientists and space weather forecasters will need to turn to alternative data sources until the data center is back online.

JSOC stated: “We deeply regret any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as our team prioritizes the repair and recovery of the affected systems.”

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It's Christmas come early for Spotify fans, because Spotify Wrapped 2024 has arrived: a musical stroll down memory lane, giving you the chance to relive the past year through the albums, tracks, and artists you listened to on the streaming service. For our first impressions, make sure to follow along in our Spotify Wrapped 2024 liveblog.

If you were part of Spotify Wrapped 2023 and any of the previous annual recaps, you'll know what's involved. Spotify digs deep into your listening stats, to present you with an entertaining summary of your own personalized hit parade.

This year there are some tasty new features. The headline is the Spotify Wrapped AI podcast, generated by Google's NotebookLM. That's right, you get to listen to Google's AI podcast hosts dissecting your music taste for a few minutes in a custom-made chat. There are also Wrapped-specific twists on Spotify's AI DJ feature and AI Playlists.

You can find Spotify Wrapped 2024 now by opening up the Spotify app for Android or iOS – and we'll tell you below exactly how you can get at your recap. If it's not appearing, make sure you're updated to the latest version of the app, and keep refreshing.

Spotify Wrapped 2024 is available on the web too: just point your browser at spotify.com/wrapped and you're in. Enjoy the look back at your musical year, which may include one or two surprises that you'd forgotten about.

How to find your Spotify Wrapped 2024

Your Spotify Wrapped 2024 should be pretty hard to miss – in the app, go to the Home tab and tap the banner on your homepage (right) or the Wrapped button at the top of the page (left). (Image credit: Spotify)

Spotify Wrapped 2024 isn't hard to find. An alert should show up when you open the app, but if not head to the Home tab inside the app for Android, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, macOS, or the web – you should see a big Wrapped 2024 banner among your mixes and recommendations like the ones above.

Tap or click on that banner and your audio recap of 2024 should start on screen, in the familiar format: a social media stories-style slideshow of highlights, telling you how much listening you've done on Spotify, and the songs and artists you were most fond of.

If you can't see your Spotify Wrapped 2024 yet, make sure you're using the latest version of the app. On mobile, find Spotify on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store – if an update is available, it'll say so on the listing page. On the desktop apps, click your profile picture (top right) and you'll see a prompt to install an update, if one is available.

You can also just open spotify.com/wrapped inside a web browser, log into your Spotify account, and view your Wrapped 2024 data there.

What's new in Spotify Wrapped 2024 this year?

As you might have expected, Spotify has plugged plenty of AI into its Wrapped recap this time around. Alongside the familiar charts of the music you listened to the most, you'll also find these new features:

1. Spotify Wrapped AI podcast

(Image credit: Spotify)

• Available for: Free and Premium subscribers

Thanks to a little help from its friends at Google, Spotify is giving us a special AI-powered Wrapped podcast this year. This tweaked version of NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature serves up a short (three-to-six minute) podcast episode about your year in music, hosted by AI presenters.

It's available to both Free and Premium users for a "limited time" in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Sweden. From what we've seen, the presenters are pretty positive and complementary, but we also haven't seen your music taste.

To find it, go to the Spotify app's home screen and tap on the Wrapped label at the top of the screen – then tap on the 'Your Wrapped AI Podcast'. Alternatively, you can find it via search by typing in 'Your Spotify Wrapped AI podcast'.

2. An AI DJ for your Wrapped 2024 story

(Image credit: Spotify)

• Available for: Premium subscribers only

If you're a Premium subscriber, you'll be familiar with the AI DJ: the bot is able to play a mix of tunes in Spotify based on your previous listening habits, and talk you through the picks just like a radio presenter would. This feature was actually included in Spotify Wrapped 2023, but it's back and better than ever in 2024.

With Wrapped 2024, the AI DJ will talk through your last 12 months of activity on Spotify – almost as if the synthetic being has been your constant companion over that time. It's an alternative way of digging into your musical past, and will include commentary based on the expert views of the human editors at Spotify too.

3. AI Playlists based on your Wrapped 2024

(Image credit: Spotify)

• Available for: Premium subscribers only

Another Spotify Premium feature that rolled out this year was AI Playlists. The idea is that you can create playlists with simple prompts – in the same way you might get ChatGPT to generate a block of text, or get Midjourney to generate a piece of art. You just tell Spotify what you want from your playlist, and it gets to work.

Once your Wrapped 2024 has appeared in Spotify, you can use the AI Playlist feature to generate new playlists from it (besides the playlist of your top 100 songs for 2024 you get anyway). For example, you can ask Spotify for "a playlist of my top genres" or "artists similar to my top five”.

4. Your Music Evolution

(Image credit: Spotify)

• Available for: Free and Premium subscribers

Last year, Spotify was big on pairing you with your musical twin city with Sound Town, but this time around it's more into seasons. The new 'Your Music Evolution' feature sums up how our music taste has varied according to the time of year.

The feature splits your year into three musical phases, which are named in Spotify's typically new-age style – for example, 'Atmospheric Ritual Ambient' and 'Pumpkin Spice Hollywood Indie' (we're not quite sure what that means).

Still, it's a fun feature that's for both free and Premium subscribers – and it's also turned into a personalized playlist that you can find in the Wrapped feed from the app's Home tab.

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Spotify Wrapped 2024 is now rolling out globally (and you can follow along in our Wrapped 2024 liveblog), but the streaming service's elves don't always deliver your musical gift on time or without hitches. Is your Wrapped 2024 not working or showing up? There are a few things you can try.

Last year, Spotify's Wrapped recap ran into some issues that produced "internal server error" messages. While we haven't seen anything quite on that scale with Wrapped 2024, its rollout is still proving a little uneven.

In 2023, Spotify fans using the desktop, browser-based version of Spotify Wrapped got the error message above, but had more joy in the mobile app. (Image credit: Spotify)

Before we go into some potential fixes, it's worth noting that you need to have listened to Spotify for a certain amount of time to qualify for the Wrapped roundup. With a free or premium account, you need to have streamed at least 30 tracks for over 30 seconds each, from five unique artists, so this won't be an issues for most.

Also, Wrapped isn't available in some regions due to local data privacy laws. In 2022, for example, Spotify users in Sri Lanka and Ghana discovered that Wrapped wasn't available for them.

But if you've tried closing and reopening the app, then tapping the Home tab, only to find that your Spotify Wrapped 2024 is stubbornly refusing to show up in a banner or as a button at the top of the page, try these little fixes and workarounds...

1. Update the Spotify app

On iPhone, you need to be on version 8.8.94 of the Spotify app to be able to see your Wrapped 2024 roundup. (Image credit: Spotify / Apple)

Are you definitely running the latest version of the Spotify app? If Wrapped 2024 isn't showing up, it's worth double-checking, because that's essential for the recap to roll out to you.

Go to the Spotify app in the App Store (on iOS) or Play Store (on Android) and check to make sure there isn't an app update waiting for you. On iOS you need to be running app version 8.8.94, while on Android it's version 8.8.96.476.

All up to date and still no Wrapped showing? You could reach for the red button and try the nuclear option – deleting the app from your phone, then reinstalling it. Your music and playlists are all tied to your Spotify account, so don't worry – they'll show up again when you log back in. But it might just be nudge it needs to spark Wrapped 2024 into life.

2. Head to the mobile site

Head to the Spotify mobile site in the likes of Chrome on iOS (above) and you might get to see your Wrapped 2024 slideshow, even when it isn't yet available in the app. (Image credit: Spotify / Apple)

If Spotify Wrapped 2024 isn't appearing as a banner or tile in the Home tab of the app, there are another couple of ways you can find it.

One is simply by heading to the Spotify Web Player in your mobile browser in iOS or Android, and logging into your account. We've had experience of Wrapped 2024 not being available within the app, but playing for us on the mobile site.

The downside is that you only get the slideshow experience without the Wrapped extras, such as the new NotebookLM-powered AI podcast feature, but it's a start while you waited for Wrapped to belatedly appear in the app.

3. Take the manual route

(Image credit: Spotify / Apple)

If none of the above steps have worked, and Spotify Wrapped isn't appearing as a banner or tile in the app, you can also try using Spotify's search bar.

In the app's search bar, try typing 'spotify:datastories:wrapped' or '2023 Wrapped', then hitting 'search'. For us, typing in the former took us straight to our Wrapped roundup, but the latter may also produce a result that you can tap to take you through your slideshow.

This is also an alternative way to find the find the Wrapped AI podcast. If you can't see a tile, try searching 'Your Spotify Wrapped AI podcast' – if it's available, it should produce a result for you to tap.

How long will Spotify Wrapped 2023 be available?

Spotify Wrapped typically has a limited viewing window, after which it turns into a simple playlist of your favorite songs of the year.

In previous years, Wrapped has been available to view until mid-January, after which it simply redirects you to a playlist of songs. It isn't yet clear if this will be the same for Wrapped 2024, but it gives us a rough idea of the window. The AI podcast feature is expected to be available for a much shorter amount of time.

Want to listen to your Wrapped playlists from previous years? Head to the app's search bar and type 'wrapped 2020' or 'spotify:genre:2020' (depending on your chosen year).

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• Microsoft will begin adding a watermark to the desktop of unsupported PCs
• PCs with Windows 11 installed that don't have TPM 2.0 are considered unsupported by Microsoft
• Updates could also be blocked

If you’re running Windows 11 on an unsupported PC, we’ve got some bad news. Microsoft looks set to make your life a misery by adding a watermark and an annoying pop-up message that’ll keep reminding you that you’re using the operating system on hardware you’re not supposed to until you stop and (ideally, for the company) buy a new PC.

Windows 11 launched with some specific hardware recommendations, especially to do with Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), a bit of hardware included in modern motherboards that supposedly makes the operating system more secure.

However, Microsoft’s insistence that PCs needed TPM 2.0 to run Windows 11 meant that many people found that their perfectly powerful and recent PCs and laptops, which could run Windows 10 without issue, weren’t able to run Windows 11.

Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down too well with a lot of people, and since then there have been various ways of getting Windows 11 to run on unsupported hardware.

While these workarounds proved that there were plenty of unsupported PCs out there that could run Windows 11 perfectly fine, Microsoft was clearly unhappy about it, and now it’s going to further lengths to make using Windows 11 on unsupported hardware more of a chore.

As ZDNet reports, if a PC doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for Windows 11, but has the operating system installed anyway, then a watermark will be added to the desktop (in a similar way to how watermarks appear if you run Windows 10 or 11 without activating it), and a message will start appearing in the Settings app as well.

As well as those deliberate annoyances, Microsoft also warns that if you run Windows 11 on unsupported PCs you might not get essential updates – and damages to your device might not be covered by a warranty.

While you might wonder how much damage running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware will cause, the bigger concern is that you could miss out on a security update and subsequently fall victim to a virus.

Heavy-handed haranguing

(Image credit: TeodorLazarev / Shutterstock)

Considering how keen Microsoft is to get people to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, you might think that the company wouldn’t mind (or at least turn a blind eye to) people moving to Windows 11, even on unsupported hardware.

However, it seems the company is sticking to its guns, and doesn’t care if a PC can run Windows 11 – if it doesn’t support TPM 2.0, then it’s not coming in (to the ‘can officially run Windows 11’ club).

This insistence is an odd one. While it’s ostensibly about security, TPM is one of those things that few people outside of enterprise settings will notice or care about. If you’re already annoyed enough that your PC has been deemed unable to run Windows 11 to use a workaround to get the operating system running, having an ugly-looking watermark stamped on your desktop isn’t going to go down well – nor is it going to convince you to either return to Windows 10, or buy a new PC.

Those are the only two options available to you if your PC cannot run Windows 11, and while Microsoft does offer a way to go back to Windows 10, it feels like the company would much rather you just buy a new PC with Windows 11 pre-installed. That’s an expense not everyone can afford, and it can be particularly galling to be forced to do that if your device is perfectly able to run Windows 11, it just doesn’t have TPM 2.0.

However, while I have a lot of sympathy for people who are running Windows 11 on unsupported devices, the fact that Microsoft is warning that those users might miss out on updates means I can’t recommend continuing – if you miss out on a vital security update, you’ll be putting yourself and your device at risk.

Still, it leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth, especially as these workarounds have proved that there are plenty of unsupported PCs that can run Windows 11 just fine if it wasn’t for Microsoft’s insistence on TPM 2.0.

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ExpressVPN has just launched a new dedicated IP feature with privacy at its core.

ExpressVPN promises to go a step further than Dedicated IPs offered by other providers thanks to a unique zero-trust approach. This approach means not even the provider can trace it back to you, a new step for the product.

Available for its Android, iOS, and Windows VPN only at the time of writing (more availability is expected to land soon), users can choose from 29 locations in 22 countries mainly across North America, Asia, and Europe by paying an additional monthly fee.

A new industry standard

"As a privacy-focused company, our vision is to offer a dedicated IP service that addresses any security concerns typically associated with traditional implementations," said Samuel Bultez, Head of Product at ExpressVPN.

With a dedicated IP, the chances that your online activities can be linked back to you are higher. This is what ExpressVPN promised to have fixed.

Bultez said: "Our innovative approach to dedicated IP delivers all the benefits of a static IP address while preserving every user's privacy and security – even ExpressVPN cannot trace the dedicated IP back to the individual."

Dedicated IP solutions are great. But they also come with some limitations—having a static IP typically means your activity can be easily linked to you.Our very own dedicated IP solution solves these challenges and keeps you secure–even we can’t trace it back to you.December 4, 2024

A Zero Knowledge IP Allocation design focused on trust and transparency ensures that IP addresses are allocated privately, the provider explained.

ExpressVPN's "new industry standard for dedicated IP" also makes the most of innovations such as blinded tokens – a token issued by a server without the server knowing who the token is assigned to – and AWS Nitro Enclaves that promise to further boost your privacy and security.

Pete Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN, said the team also released a technical white paper to document Express' unique engineering approach to dedicated IPs.

"With the release of our white paper, we've gone a step further to document this process, providing an in-depth look at our technical architecture, security measures, and privacy safeguards for full transparency," he added.

How to use ExpressVPN dedicated IP

Activating ExpressVPN's dedicated IP is very easy. The option is integrated into the app interface to ensure a quick and easy setup.

All you need to do is head to your account page to add a dedicated IP to your subscription – or add one to the checkout if you're a new user – starting from $3.49 a month, depending on your plan length.

Go to your VPN app (iOS, Android, and Windows only currently) to set it up. You'll need to pick your location among the 29 available and create an access code, which will be the only way to use your dedicated IP. You can see more information on the full process in ExpressVPN's guide.

Once the dedicated IP is set up, you'll be able to switch from this to a standard VPN IP from the app. Bear in mind that the provider is gradually rolling out the option, so you may need to wait some time before being able to use it.

• Third-party Nintendo Switch 2 accessories have surfaced on online shopping sites
• They match previous leaks, but are unlikely to be genuine
• The console has yet to be officially unveiled by Nintendo

Some accessories, purportedly designed for the tentatively named Nintendo Switch 2, have appeared on online shopping websites.

As noted by VGC, accessories allegedly designed for the Nintendo Switch 2 are now up for sale at Chinese retailer Alibaba including a case and tempered glass screen protector. The screen protector appears to be designed for a display much larger than that of the original Nintendo Switch, lining up with previous rumors that its upcoming successor would have a bigger screen.

The case also looks quite different from anything that we’ve seen for the original. It’s bigger, appearing to offer much more room for the Joy-Con controllers. There also seems to be something of a protrusion in the case’s design, though it’s not clear whether this is just for additional protective padding or indicates that the Nintendo Switch 2 controllers are expected to be a radically new shape.

Listing images for the products reveal dimensions too. The case is 1.9in / 5cm deep, with a height of 5.9in / 15cm and a width of 11.6in / 29.5cm which could give us a very rough idea of the Nintendo Switch 2’s size. This would make the system much closer in size to something like the Steam Deck OLED than the Nintendo Switch.

A logo is also shown on one product, though it looks more like a crude fan mock-up than anything else. It’s effectively just the current Nintendo Switch emblem with the number two haphazardly slapped on the end.

It almost goes without saying, but you should take the appearance of these products with a huge pile of salt. Sellers can list basically whatever they want on these kinds of websites, so this is far from an official confirmation of anything. It’s more likely that a few companies are trying to make a quick buck selling accessories in anticipation of the upcoming console, using the latest Nintendo Switch 2 leaks to take a best guess at what they could look like.

Nintendo has previously confirmed that a Nintendo Switch successor will be announced "within this fiscal year" - which is to say before March 31 2025. We'll likely have to wait for an official reveal before we will know for sure what the company has in store.

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• Expect "some very early, gentle messaging" in the coming weeks
• Don't call it a crackdown, but it's a crackdown
• More active streamers will be targeted first

Have you seen one of the best horror movies It Follows? It's about a terrible, frightening thing that follows you and from which there's no escape. And that's a bit like password crackdowns on streaming services: you can move from streamer to streamer, but sooner or later the password crackdown will catch up with you. The latest is the Max password sharing crackdown and it's starting soon.

As Deadline reports, Max is going to target higher data users first with "gentle messaging" encouraging them to stop sharing their logins and add an additional account instead. Those reminders are set to start showing up as soon as next week. But that messaging is going to become less friendly as time goes on in 2025.

How will the Max password crackdown happen?

The crackdown will arrive rather like Mike Campbell's bankruptcy in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises: "gradually and then suddenly."

According to JB Perrette, Warner Bros Discovery's CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games: "We’ll start some early messaging with some people who we think are in the higher tier of usage. We will offer a way to essentially add a member, starting in the first quarter."

Once that process is in place, Max will become stricter. "We will then start gradually as we get the data and start figuring out, with some explicit and implicit signals, how good we are at detecting," Perrette says. "And then as we go through ’25, you’re going to see the filters get tighter and tighter.”

The news isn't exactly a surprise: ever since Netflix first mooted its password crackdown it's been a question of when, not if, rivals would follow suit. Max is just doing what Netflix, Disney Plus and Hulu are doing.

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Check out holiday favorites like Die Hard, Miracle on 34th Street and Scrooged, along with Tubi originals, all streaming free this December.