Whether a program is open-source or not doesn’t just matter to developers, it ultimately matters for users, too. Open-source software licenses give users freedoms they would not otherwise have. The Definition of Open Source If a program is open-source, its source code is freely available to its users. Its users — and anyone else — have the ability to take this source code, modify it, and distribute their own versions of the program....
Something called storedownloadd is taking up a lot of CPU power, which you noticed while using Activity Monitor. Don’t panic: it’s just the Mac App Store downloading some software for you. This article is part of our ongoing series explaining various processes found in Activity Monitor, like kernel_task, hidd, mdsworker, installd, WindowServer, blued, launchd, backup, opendirectoryd, and many others. Don’t know what those services are? Better start reading! RELATED: What Is This Process and Why Is It Running on My Mac?...
On 64-bit versions of Windows, you have two separate Program Files folders. But it doesn’t end there. You also have two separate system directories where DLL libraries and executables are stored: System32 and SysWOW64. Despite the names, System32 is full of 64-bit files and SysWOW64 is full of 32-bit files. So what gives? What Is System32? RELATED: What Are DLL Files, and Why Is One Missing From My PC?...
While lithium-ion batteries are, on the whole, incredibly safe they do very very occasionally catch fire or explode. When it happens, like with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco or HP’s more recent laptop recall, it’s always big news. So what’s going on and why do batteries sometimes go out with a bang? Let’s find out. RELATED: HP Is Recalling Some Laptop Models Due to Slight Battery Melting Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries—the kind of battery that’s inside your laptop, phone, tablet, and pretty much every other modern gadget you own, as well as electric cars and airplanes—are responsible for the portable device revolution....
Every other platform—Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, and Linux—offers full disk encryption. But, if your PC doesn’t ship with encryption, you’ll need the Professional version of Windows 10—a $100 upgrade from Windows Home. Why Disk Encryption Matters Disk encryption is extremely important, especially for laptops. Even if someone steals your laptop or you misplace it somewhere, people can’t view your private data without permission as long as your disk is encrypted....
Mozilla Firefox is an open source project, so anyone can take its code, modify it, and release a new browser. That’s what Waterfox, Pale Moon, and Basilisk are—alternative browsers based on the Firefox code. But we recommend against using any of them. If You Don’t Like Firefox Quantum, Use Firefox ESR Instead RELATED: What’s New in Firefox Quantum, the Firefox You’ve Been Waiting For We like Firefox Quantum, which is faster and more modern than previous releases of Firefox....
