

Software
Trendfocus: Microsoft recommends phasing out Windows 11 installations on hard drives by 2023
Analysts at Trendfocus said Microsoft is pushing PC and laptop OEMs to move away from hard drives as their primary boot device. It is alleged that the corporation has set a deadline for the transition to SSD until 2023.
At the same time, the Windows 11 system requirements do not specify the type of drive that must be used for booting. It says only about the minimum amount – 64 GB. Microsoft itself has not yet commented on this information.
Trying to get OEMs to use SSDs instead of HDDs as boot devices makes sense from a performance standpoint. Even the slowest SSD without DRAM cache is substantially faster as a boot device than a hard drive.
In addition, many laptops and desktop PCs already come with an SSD as a boot disk, and users install the HDD themselves or order it additionally during assembly. However, hard drives are still used in emerging markets and low-cost OEM builds.
However, price remains a critical factor. According to Trendfocus Vice President John Chen, the cost of a 1TB hard drive is equivalent to the price of an SSD with a capacity of only 256GB, that is, 4 times less. And switching to a 512 GB SSD will raise the price so much that it will be unacceptably expensive for many users.
The same Chen noted that Microsoft wanted to make the transition from HDD to SSD as early as this year, but due to high prices, it had to be postponed. Now OEMs are trying to negotiate with Microsoft on the timing. It is possible that the transition will be postponed until 2024.
It is also not yet clear what measures the corporation will take against those suppliers who explicitly refuse to switch to SSD. However, the very fact of such a transition will inevitably affect the demand for hard drives.

Phones
One UI 6.0 on Android 14 released for Galaxy S21 FE in Europe

At the beginning of the week, One UI 6.0 firmware based on Android 14 was released for the Galaxy S21 FE version for the North American market, and now a similar version of the software has been released for the European Galaxy S21 FE.
Update number G990B2XXU5FWK3, is already being distributed in Europe (particularly in Germany). The software is 2.4 GB in size and includes the November Android security updates.
Let’s remember that the Galaxy S21 FE came out in January 2022 with Android 12 out of the box. Android 14 is not the last for it – Samsung promises to release Android 15 for this model.
Software
The company of the former owner of Twitter launched Bitkey – a hardware wallet for bitcoins

The Block company of entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former head of the social network Twitter (now X), announced the launch of a hardware crypto wallet called Bitkey for storing Bitcoin. Bitkey is shaped like a black hexagon and is complemented by a mobile app and a set of tools for recovering private keys in case you lose your wallet, smartphone, or both devices. According to the creators, Bitcoin is a safe and easy way for people with varying levels of Bitcoin experience to take control of their finances, gain peace of mind and independence from any one organization.
Bitkey works based on a 2 of 3 multi-signature system: the client is given two keys – one of them is in the mobile application, and the second is stored offline in the hardware device. Through the application, you can make Bitcoin transactions from your smartphone, track your balance and manage security settings. The hardware key serves two main purposes: an additional layer of security for co-signing money transfers (based on the limit set by the client) and data recovery if the phone is lost.
The third key resides on the Bitkey server and is used for only two purposes: moving bitcoins for smartphone-only transactions (no hardware device) and recovering the wallet in case you lose your phone, hardware device, or both. Since Bitkey only has access to one key, and not two or three at once, an organization cannot access a client’s funds without the client’s knowledge. Bitkey is currently available for pre-order in 95 countries for $150, with deliveries expected to start in early 2024.
Software
After 40 years: Notepad in Windows 11 finally has a character counter

Microsoft has been gradually improving the built-in Notepad app in Windows in recent years, and now it’s finally getting a character counting feature.
In the new test version of Windows 11, the Dev and Canary channels now display the number of characters at the bottom of the Notepad window, much like counting the number of words in a document in Microsoft Word.
The Microsoft Windows Insider testing program team explained in a blog post:
When text is selected, the status bar displays the character count for both the selected text and the entire document. If no text is selected, the character count for the entire document is displayed, so you always have a clear idea of the length of the document.
This is the latest addition in a line of changes to Notepad in 2023: the app recently added a new autosave option that lets you close a document without being confronted with a window prompting you to save every time. Microsoft has also added tabs and dark mode to Notepad.
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