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July 2016
Site Update
29 July 2016
If all goes according to plan, Windows 10 will cease to be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 users within the next 24 hours, and that will hopefully be the end of the incessant and deceptive Windows 10 upgrade prompts. My opinion of Windows 10 remains unchanged: it is the worst version of Windows ever released, simply because it marks the inevitable reduction of user choice and control over the OS, and the true beginning of Microsoft's unambiguous and unashamedly heavy-handed attempts to make money by herding users towards their Windows Store walled garden and its meagre cache of dumbed-down mobile-oriented "Universal apps". To reinforce this point, this article reports that the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update will remove a range of Group Policy settings from Windows 10 Pro, specifically to prevent users from blocking Store, advertising and telemetry-related annoyances. Earlier this week, Tim Sweeney of Epic Games voiced similar concerns about MS turning the PC into a closed platform. It may seem fanciful or even alarmist at first, but having witnessed Microsoft's dramatic transformation into an incompetent anti-consumer company, I genuinely feel that it's not unreasonable to assume that MS will indeed abuse its desktop OS monopoly more and more over time. If you're currently using Windows 7, I strongly recommend that you remain on it until its official end of support date of January 2020.
AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.3
29 July 2016
AMD has released the Crimson Edition 16.7.3 driver for the HD 7700, HD 8500 series and above on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. This driver improves performance in Rise of the Tomb Raider, and provides a range of bug fixes.
Skype 7.26
27 July 2016
A new Version 7.26.0.101 of the communications utility Skype has been released.
Windows Updates
22 July 2016
Microsoft has released non-critical updates for Windows 7 and 8.1 as Rollup Updates for this month. They are listed in more detail in this Microsoft Article.
Nvidia GeForce 368.95 Hotfix
22 July 2016
Nvidia has released the 368.95 Hotfix graphics driver. This driver is for the GeForce 400 series and above under Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. It fixes a DPC latency bug on Pascal GPUs.
Chrome 52.0
21 July 2016
Google has released Version 52.0.2743.82 of the Chrome browser. This version provides security and bug fixes.
Flash Player 22.0
20 July 2016
Adobe has released Version 22.0.0.210 of the Flash Player plugin for Internet Explorer only. To download the full offline installer, use this link: Internet Explorer.
Java Runtime Environment 8.101
20 July 2016
Oracle has released an Update 101 to the Java Runtime Environment 8.
Windows Updates
20 July 2016
Microsoft has released non-critical updates for Windows 7 and 8.1. They are listed in more detail in this Microsoft Article. Note: KB3035583 and KB3173040 are Windows 10 upgrade related updates.
CCleaner 5.20
19 July 2016
A new Version 5.20.5668 of the free CCleaner system cleaning utility has been released. Changes include support for the Vivaldi browser, improvements to Chrome and Firefox cleaning, DPI improvements, as well as minor improvements and bug fixes.
iTunes 12.4.2
19 July 2016
Apple has released a new Version 12.4.2 of the iTunes software. This version fixes an Apple Music playback bug and provides security fixes.
Nvidia GeForce 368.81 WHQL
15 July 2016
Nvidia has released the 368.81 WHQL certified graphics driver. This driver is for GeForce 400 and higher graphics cards under Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10. It provides the best experience in Virtual Reality games, including Nvidia VR Funhouse, Everest VR, Obduction, Raw Data, and The Assembly. It also adds support for the new Ansel technology in Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The driver package contains PhysX version 9.16.0318 and GeForce Experience version 2.11.4.
GPU-Z 1.9.0
14 July 2016
GPU-Z, a free graphics card information utility, has reached Version 1.9.0. Changes include support for new chipsets and bug fixes.
Microsoft Security Updates
13 July 2016
Microsoft has released its monthly set of Windows security updates which you can view here and obtain via Windows Update. This includes a cumulative update for Windows 10, with the changes noted here.
Flash Player 22.0
13 July 2016
Adobe has released Version 22.0.0.209 of the Flash Player plugin for browsers. To download the full offline installer, use these links depending upon your browser: Internet Explorer or Firefox or Opera. Use Windows Update to update the built-in Flash Player in IE11 under Windows 8 and 10, and Edge under Windows 10. Update to the latest version of Chrome to update its built-in Flash Player.
Acrobat Reader DC 2015
13 July 2016
Adobe has released a new Version 2015.017.20050 of its free software for viewing PDF documents, now known as Acrobat Reader DC. This update contains security and bug fixes.
AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.2
10 July 2016
AMD has released the Crimson Edition 16.7.2 driver for the HD 7700, HD 8500 series and above on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. This driver fixes an issue with the default setting for compatibility mode.
AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.1
8 July 2016
AMD has released the Crimson Edition 16.7.1 driver for the HD 7700, HD 8500 series and above on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. This driver improves the RX480's power draw, adds a new power compatibility mode, provides performance improvements for the Polaris architecture, as well as a range of bug fixes.
Nvidia GeForce 368.69 WHQL
7 July 2016
Nvidia has released the 368.69 WHQL certified graphics driver. This driver is for GeForce 400 and higher graphics cards under Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10. It provides the best experience in Virtual Reality games, including DiRT Rally VR. The driver package contains PhysX version 9.16.0318 and GeForce Experience version 2.11.4.
Windows Updates
6 July 2016
Microsoft has released non-critical updates for Windows 7 and 8.1. They are listed in more detail in this Microsoft Article. Note: KB2952664, KB2976978 and KB2977759 are Windows 10 upgrade related updates.
Windows Updates
1 July 2016
Microsoft has released non-critical updates for Windows 7 and 8.1. They are listed in more detail in this Microsoft Article. Note: KB3163589 and KB3173040 are Windows 10 upgrade related updates.
Skype 7.25
1 July 2016
A new Version 7.25.0.106 of the communications utility Skype has been released.
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