In The News 06-06-14

Windows 7 Grows Market Share

Windows 7 is looking pretty good for a middle-aged operating system. According to Net Applications, that operating system inched up from being on 49.3% of systems accessing the Internet to just over 50% in April.

Windows 8.1 also saw growth, bypassing Windows 8’s share to be on 6.35% of systems.  Combined, 8 & 8.1 are on almost 13% of computers. Windows XP is still hanging in there at 25% despite the end of security support.  Mac operating systems combined make up a little over 4% of users while Linux accounts for 1.62%.

Lookout App Takes Selfie Of Thief

In what may be the best use of a selfie ever, the Lookout security app for your Android or iPhone will keep an eye out for strange behavior on your phone. If it thinks something is up, it’ll use the phone’s camera to snap a photo of the person using it and e-mail that photo to you along with the location of your your phone. This feature is called Theft Alerts and you do have the option of turning it off or on in the app.

Among the behaviors it looks out for are incorrect passwords, removal of you SIM card or attempts to remove the security app.

Amazon Feuds With Publisher

Online eBook giant Amazon has been in negotiation with Hachette, one of the largest publishers in the world and things have gotten a little nasty.  Amazon wants more control over pricing among other things and it looks like both sides are playing hardball which may result in delays in the delivery of new titles.

Amazon apologized for the inconvenience and said in statement, “If you do need one of the affected titles quickly, we regret the inconvenience and encourage you to purchase a new or used version from one of our third-party sellers or from one of our competitors.”

Competitor Walmart, thought it sounded like a great idea and immediately slashed prices on their selection of books both in store and online.

~ Cynthia