Microsoft has decided to slightly extend the life of the Windows 10 operating system for corporate and ordinary users. Although the end of support date for the OS will not change, Microsoft just announced that it will offer extended security updates for Windows 10 after October 14, 2025.

This will allow those who are unable to upgrade to Windows 11 or purchase a new device running Windows 11 to continue using the operating system safely.

The Extended Security Updates program requires a one-year subscription with an option to renew for three years. It is worth keeping in mind that the program only covers critical security updates and will not bring new features. Prices have not yet been announced.

Unlike the Windows 7 program, Microsoft is offering the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates program for regular consumers, not just businesses, companies, and organizations.

The young company Beeper has introduced the Beeper Mini application, which allows Android owners to exchange messages with iPhone owners via iMessage.

A previous attempt to bring iMessage support to Android only lasted a few days. However, Beeper Mini is now working, doing its job correctly, and is available for download on the Google Store. In addition to simple iMessage messaging, it also supports group chats, reactions, photo and video sharing. At launch, the service costs $2 per month and only works with iMessage. Over time, it is planned to get rid of the Mini ending and integrate WhatsApp, Signal and other instant messengers.

Interestingly, the history of the creation of the application began with the fact that a 16-year-old teenager offered Eric Migikovsky, director of Beeper, a prototype code, which formed the basis of the Beeper Mini application.

At the same time, Migikovsky emphasizes that Beeper Mini differs from other services that provide some kind of workaround, since it provides direct exchange of iMessages.

It is noted that other services, including Beeper’s previous iMessage implementation, relay messages through Macs in the cloud. This creates real security problems, as recently exemplified by Sunbird and its Nothing Chats solution, marketed under the Nothing brand. The Nothing app was launched and shut down in just four days due to serious security issues.

Beeper Mini avoids some of these problems because it works fundamentally differently. The developers have figured out how to register a phone number with iMessage, send messages directly to Apple servers and back to your phone right inside the application.

It was a complex process that involved what’s known as reverse engineering Apple’s messaging service. The team had to figure out where to send the messages, what they should look like, and how to retrieve them back from the cloud. The hardest part, according to Migikovsky, was cracking what is essentially the key to the entire ecosystem: checking whether a connected device is a genuine Apple product.

Migikovsky said:

We jailbroken an iPhone and then took a deep dive into the OS to see how everything works. Then we wrote new code from scratch to replicate everything inside our Android app.

The result, according to Migikovsky, is a third-party implementation of iMessage that is actually secure: Beeper doesn’t see messages, contacts, or a user’s Apple ID password. It doesn’t even require a login. The app simply connects to Apple’s servers, just as an iPhone would, he said.

The bigger question may be how long the Beeper Mini can last. Migikovsky believes that his solution is legal and does not violate copyrights, since there is no Apple code in Beeper Mini.

The team of the popular AnTuTu benchmark has published the latest monthly rating of the most productive Apple mobile devices. At the end of November, the top three continues to be dominated by various versions of the iPad Pro.

At the same time, the smartphones of the new iPhone 15 line perform well in terms of performance, although not fantastic. The iPhone 15 Pro took sixth place and is now the most productive among Apple smartphones; the iPhone 15 Pro Max is in seventh place.

They are followed by last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the iPhone 15 Plus closes the top ten. The basic version of the iPhone 15 only took 11th place.

Data were collected from November 1 to November 30, 2023. It is worth noting that the table shows the average, not the highest results, and the results of at least 1000 tests were used for each model.