Microsoft’s latest salvo in the ongoing campaign to coax users into adopting Windows 11 focuses on one of tech’s oldest and most effective lures: speed. According to performance claims recently published by the company, Windows 11 is purportedly “2.3x faster” than Windows 10. For anyone who’s spent time running both operating systems on a range of machines, though, this assertion raises eyebrows—and for good reason. A closer analysis of Microsoft’s reported benchmarks, the technical realities beneath the surface, and the context of a broader technological landscape reveals a complex blend of marketing, genuine advancement, and ongoing industry tensions over privacy, user choice, and security.
The headline claim that Windows 11 is dramatically faster than its predecessor isn’t backed by a clean, apples-to-apples comparison. According to Microsoft’s publicized methodology, the company conducted its benchmarks using older PCs for Windows 10 and newer, more powerful devices exclusively for Windows 11 tests. All of the test machines featured Intel processors—conspicuously omitting AMD hardware, despite AMD’s significant market share. Such an approach stacks the deck in favor of Windows 11 and reflects a classic marketing tactic: show your latest product in its absolute best light.
For the typical user or IT professional, the reality is more nuanced. Users running both Windows 10 and Windows 11 on similar hardware have consistently found performance differences to be incremental at best—certainly not in the territory of being more than twice as fast. Notably, reputable independent benchmarks by third-party outlets such as Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech have found that, for day-to-day tasks, gaming, and professional workloads, Windows 11’s raw performance closely tracks that of Windows 10, with occasional improvements thanks to optimizations for newer CPUs and hybrid architectures like Intel’s Alder Lake and Raptor Lake families. Yet these gains are measurable in percentage points, not orders of magnitude.
This context is essential, especially as the Windows 10 end-of-support date approaches in October 2025. Microsoft’s messaging stresses the need to upgrade for both security and performance, while critics contend the approach leans heavily on manufactured urgency. The push to persuade owners of older PCs—many of which lack the requisite Trusted Platform Module (TPM) or Secure Boot support—to trade in otherwise-working systems for new hardware further fuels complaints that the company is more interested in driving hardware sales than sustainability or consumer choice.
A glaring weakness in Microsoft’s claims, however, is the lack of transparent, apples-to-apples benchmarking. Tech-savvy users know that to evaluate OS speed accurately, tests must be run on identical hardware. By sidestepping this, Microsoft opens itself up to allegations of manipulation. The omission of AMD processors is another significant oversight, as some Ryzen configurations in Windows 11’s early days suffered from performance regressions due to L3 cache latency bugs—now mostly fixed, but a cautionary note about driver and firmware dependencies.
Many IT professionals are skeptical. The timing of these claims—mere months before Windows 10 sunsets—is hard to view as anything but strategic. Forums and social channels are filled with complaints about the ethicality of pushing users to buy new PCs and annoyance at Microsoft's aggressive tactics, including pop-up reminders and limited options for those wanting to stay on Windows 10.
But for many with older machines—some of which remain more than adequate for web browsing, productivity, or creative work—Microsoft’s latest speed claims should be interpreted with caution. Rather than representing a technological leap, they exemplify a blend of marketing spin and selective benchmarking.
From a user-experience perspective, this is a genuinely valuable innovation. In an era where group chats can balloon with hundreds of messages in hours, being able to “catch up” in seconds is a welcome relief. WhatsApp and Meta stress that the AI operates in an off-device, secure environment using their Private Processing model. Supposedly, neither Meta nor WhatsApp personnel have access to personal message content, and participation in the feature is strictly opt-in, hidden behind Advanced Chat Privacy settings.
Independent technical verification remains limited, and privacy advocates warn that even the most well-intentioned “AI assistant” features inevitably require access to more metadata or message context, raising the risk of scope creep. The summary feature is restricted, for now, to U.S. users operating in English, but its spread seems inevitable. Notably, opting in remains the user's choice—a move that, for now, places the burden of risk assessment on individuals, echoing wider debates about the cost of convenience in a rapidly AI-augmented world.
On the surface, Google’s move promises increased productivity. Want to quickly dictate a message, summarize a WhatsApp conversation, or initiate a call via an AI? Gemini will be able to help, in theory, seamlessly. Users can technically opt out, but key functionality will be enabled by default—a pattern familiar to anyone following Google's product rollouts.
The risk here extends beyond privacy: operational security is at stake. A digital assistant with permission to interact with core apps could, if compromised, represent a single point of failure. For now, technical details about how Gemini’s access is specifically sandboxed remain limited—a gap that security professionals will want to see filled before broad deployment.
Google’s Chromium engineers quickly identified the source but clarified that a fix must come from Microsoft. Microsoft, for its part, advises parents to allow Chrome in the Family Safety dashboard, but warns this workaround could lead to unfiltered, potentially unsafe browsing, nullifying the point of the parental controls in the first place.
This feature, similar to capabilities long available in Chrome and via third-party extensions like Auto Tab Discard, is now native to Firefox, making it easier for users to manage system resources without sacrificing their multi-tab workflows. In addition, the new version allows for easier addition of search engines from website search fields and offers faster, more accurate full-page translations. The extension button in the toolbar is now optionally removable, giving users further control over the browser interface.
Even more significant, perhaps, is Microsoft’s under-the-hood security shake-up. The company will soon limit antivirus and security programs’ access to the Windows kernel, instead shifting them to user mode. This change, made in partnership with the major security vendors, is intended to prevent third-party software (and, more critically, malicious code) from making stealthy, deep system changes that can disrupt or compromise Windows. The change comes on the heels of the 2024 CloudStrike-related outage, where vulnerabilities in software with kernel-level permissions led to system instability across the globe.
The outcry comes as Apple prepares for a significant update in iOS 26, which, according to reports, will make it possible for Apple Wallet to show offers and promotions not just from Apple, but from third-party partners as well. This new policy signals a potential shift in Apple’s approach to monetization, inviting comparisons with the ad-saturated environments of Google and Meta’s platforms. Unsurprisingly, the move has sparked concern among privacy-conscientious consumers and Apple loyalists who fear a slow but inevitable slide toward more aggressive in-app advertising.
Brother advises all users to apply the latest firmware updates and change default admin passwords immediately—a reminder that printers, often neglected from a security standpoint, remain a common vector for attacks. The warning extends to devices from Fujifilm Business, Ricoh, Toshiba, and Konica, all of which have been identified as similarly vulnerable.
For consumers and IT professionals alike, the key takeaway is vigilance. Demand verifiable data, not just marketing benchmarks. Read the fine print on privacy, and don’t assume that convenience features are risk-free. Aggressive marketing and the latest AI features may drive headlines, but security, transparency, and user control will define which platforms truly earn your trust in the months and years ahead.
Source: FileHippo June 28 tech news roundup: Microsoft claims Windows 11 is twice as fast as Windows 10, Firefox 140 introduces Tab Unload, WhatsApp’s AI can summarize your chats
The headline claim that Windows 11 is dramatically faster than its predecessor isn’t backed by a clean, apples-to-apples comparison. According to Microsoft’s publicized methodology, the company conducted its benchmarks using older PCs for Windows 10 and newer, more powerful devices exclusively for Windows 11 tests. All of the test machines featured Intel processors—conspicuously omitting AMD hardware, despite AMD’s significant market share. Such an approach stacks the deck in favor of Windows 11 and reflects a classic marketing tactic: show your latest product in its absolute best light.For the typical user or IT professional, the reality is more nuanced. Users running both Windows 10 and Windows 11 on similar hardware have consistently found performance differences to be incremental at best—certainly not in the territory of being more than twice as fast. Notably, reputable independent benchmarks by third-party outlets such as Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech have found that, for day-to-day tasks, gaming, and professional workloads, Windows 11’s raw performance closely tracks that of Windows 10, with occasional improvements thanks to optimizations for newer CPUs and hybrid architectures like Intel’s Alder Lake and Raptor Lake families. Yet these gains are measurable in percentage points, not orders of magnitude.
This context is essential, especially as the Windows 10 end-of-support date approaches in October 2025. Microsoft’s messaging stresses the need to upgrade for both security and performance, while critics contend the approach leans heavily on manufactured urgency. The push to persuade owners of older PCs—many of which lack the requisite Trusted Platform Module (TPM) or Secure Boot support—to trade in otherwise-working systems for new hardware further fuels complaints that the company is more interested in driving hardware sales than sustainability or consumer choice.
Critical Analysis: The Real-World Performance Picture
There’s no question Windows 11 introduces legitimate performance features. These include an updated scheduler optimized for newer processor architectures, improvements for waking from standby, and battery life enhancements on laptops. The Start menu and taskbar are rebuilt for responsiveness, and storage stack improvements can reduce input/output delays under certain conditions. However, these optimizations generally shine on modern hardware; their impact can be muted or even detrimental on older, unsupported configurations.A glaring weakness in Microsoft’s claims, however, is the lack of transparent, apples-to-apples benchmarking. Tech-savvy users know that to evaluate OS speed accurately, tests must be run on identical hardware. By sidestepping this, Microsoft opens itself up to allegations of manipulation. The omission of AMD processors is another significant oversight, as some Ryzen configurations in Windows 11’s early days suffered from performance regressions due to L3 cache latency bugs—now mostly fixed, but a cautionary note about driver and firmware dependencies.
Many IT professionals are skeptical. The timing of these claims—mere months before Windows 10 sunsets—is hard to view as anything but strategic. Forums and social channels are filled with complaints about the ethicality of pushing users to buy new PCs and annoyance at Microsoft's aggressive tactics, including pop-up reminders and limited options for those wanting to stay on Windows 10.
The Bigger Picture: Should You Upgrade?
For organizations and power users, the calculus is about more than just raw speed. Windows 11 does bolster security, especially with mandatory TPM 2.0 and updated virtualization protections, and its ongoing support means vulnerabilities are more likely to be patched promptly. For most general users, especially on hardware no older than three to four years, the performance difference will be modest but real—boot times, wake-from-sleep, and multitasking are a bit smoother, thanks to more efficient system resource management.But for many with older machines—some of which remain more than adequate for web browsing, productivity, or creative work—Microsoft’s latest speed claims should be interpreted with caution. Rather than representing a technological leap, they exemplify a blend of marketing spin and selective benchmarking.
WhatsApp’s New AI Summaries: Convenience Versus Privacy
Another headline this week comes from the ubiquitous messaging platform WhatsApp, which is trialing a new feature called Message Summaries. Powered by Meta AI, this capability can parse group or individual chats and automatically generate a summarized briefing, allowing users to catch up quickly on what they’ve missed in lengthy conversations.From a user-experience perspective, this is a genuinely valuable innovation. In an era where group chats can balloon with hundreds of messages in hours, being able to “catch up” in seconds is a welcome relief. WhatsApp and Meta stress that the AI operates in an off-device, secure environment using their Private Processing model. Supposedly, neither Meta nor WhatsApp personnel have access to personal message content, and participation in the feature is strictly opt-in, hidden behind Advanced Chat Privacy settings.
Trust But Verify: AI, Privacy, and User Choice
Here, as ever, the devil is in the details. WhatsApp has tried hard to position itself as a privacy-forward platform, with end-to-end encryption as a core value proposition. But as generative AI features roll out, there are necessarily new data flows and trust boundaries. The promise of "private processing"—where summarization is done off-device but in a secure enclave—should theoretically keep messages out of Meta’s hands, but there is an inherent element of faith in the platform’s integrity.Independent technical verification remains limited, and privacy advocates warn that even the most well-intentioned “AI assistant” features inevitably require access to more metadata or message context, raising the risk of scope creep. The summary feature is restricted, for now, to U.S. users operating in English, but its spread seems inevitable. Notably, opting in remains the user's choice—a move that, for now, places the burden of risk assessment on individuals, echoing wider debates about the cost of convenience in a rapidly AI-augmented world.
Gemini’s New Terms: Eyes on Your Apps
Google’s Gemini assistant, formerly Bard, is preparing to blur the boundaries between digital assistant and system-level app integration. Users received notifications that, effective early July, Gemini will automatically be able to interact with core communication and utility apps—Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and others—regardless of whether the “Gemini Apps Activity” toggle is off.On the surface, Google’s move promises increased productivity. Want to quickly dictate a message, summarize a WhatsApp conversation, or initiate a call via an AI? Gemini will be able to help, in theory, seamlessly. Users can technically opt out, but key functionality will be enabled by default—a pattern familiar to anyone following Google's product rollouts.
Analysis: Security, Agency, and “Opt-Out by Default”
Industry watchers and privacy advocates alike raise flags here. While Google has said users needn’t worry and that measures are in place to respect privacy, precedent indicates caution is warranted. By enabling cross-app access by default, Google is shifting control away from users and into the hands of the platform by design—a model that often goes unnoticed by the majority of consumers until after the fact.The risk here extends beyond privacy: operational security is at stake. A digital assistant with permission to interact with core apps could, if compromised, represent a single point of failure. For now, technical details about how Gemini’s access is specifically sandboxed remain limited—a gap that security professionals will want to see filled before broad deployment.
Chrome Crashes Trace Back to Microsoft Family Safety
An unusual technical hitch has left Chrome users struggling, with browser crashes and failures to launch unexpectedly traced back to Microsoft Family Safety controls. The parental control feature, intended to block inappropriate sites and apps, began erroneously blocking Chrome altogether, rendering the browser inoperable for affected users.Google’s Chromium engineers quickly identified the source but clarified that a fix must come from Microsoft. Microsoft, for its part, advises parents to allow Chrome in the Family Safety dashboard, but warns this workaround could lead to unfiltered, potentially unsafe browsing, nullifying the point of the parental controls in the first place.
Learning from the Incident: Reliance, Integration, and Risks
The debacle highlights the potentially fragile interdependence of modern software ecosystems. Parents and administrators relying on built-in safety controls found themselves unable to use a staple application, while the prescribed fix forced an all-or-nothing choice between usability and security. Although Microsoft and Google will no doubt patch the issue, it underscores how even small changes or misconfigurations within one company’s stack can have outsized effects on end users' workflows, privacy, and safety.Firefox 140: Tab Unload and User-Centric Improvements
While Microsoft and Google dominate the browser headlines, Mozilla quietly continues to innovate in Firefox 140. The new update brings several user-focused enhancements, most notably a feature called Tab Unload. By right-clicking any open tab and selecting “unload,” users can suspend (but not close) inactive tabs, freeing up valuable memory—especially for power users who keep dozens of tabs open simultaneously.This feature, similar to capabilities long available in Chrome and via third-party extensions like Auto Tab Discard, is now native to Firefox, making it easier for users to manage system resources without sacrificing their multi-tab workflows. In addition, the new version allows for easier addition of search engines from website search fields and offers faster, more accurate full-page translations. The extension button in the toolbar is now optionally removable, giving users further control over the browser interface.
More Than Cosmetic: Performance and Customization
These tweaks, while not revolutionary, signal Mozilla’s ongoing commitment to delivering a lean, customizable, and private browsing experience. The Tab Unload feature in particular addresses a persistent pain point for heavy browser users, and Mozilla’s focus on optimizing translations and search engine management shows ongoing investment in functionality that targets real-world user frustrations.Blue Screen of Death Goes Black, and Security Gets Safer
As if to symbolize the end of an era, Microsoft has confirmed that the legendary Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows 11 will soon be replaced by a Black Screen of Death. While the change is primarily visual, Microsoft has also simplified the contents of the crash screen—now displaying the STOP Code and “What Failed” information at the bottom, a move intended to make diagnostics clearer for users and technicians alike. The update, expected later this summer, will debut alongside Quick Machine Recovery (QMR), a tool that can automatically repair some boot and crash problems.Even more significant, perhaps, is Microsoft’s under-the-hood security shake-up. The company will soon limit antivirus and security programs’ access to the Windows kernel, instead shifting them to user mode. This change, made in partnership with the major security vendors, is intended to prevent third-party software (and, more critically, malicious code) from making stealthy, deep system changes that can disrupt or compromise Windows. The change comes on the heels of the 2024 CloudStrike-related outage, where vulnerabilities in software with kernel-level permissions led to system instability across the globe.
Analysis: Security’s New Balancing Act
This new architecture, while widely lauded by enterprise security professionals, isn’t without risk. Moving security agents away from the kernel reduces the window for catastrophic, system-wide breaches, but could also make it harder for antivirus tools to catch sophisticated threats that operate below user space. Microsoft is working closely with vendors to ensure detection rates and user protection are not compromised, but the transition is likely to generate a fresh wave of compatibility headaches and growing pains as the ecosystem adapts.Apple Pushes F1 Movie Ads Through Apple Wallet—A Privacy Alarm?
Apple, long known for its “privacy-first” marketing and relatively ad-free device experience, startled users this week by pushing a promotional notification for F1 The Movie via Apple Wallet. The ad appeared as a lock screen notification and lingered until manually dismissed—an intrusion that many iPhone owners, used to a premium, nearly ad-free experience, found deeply unwelcome.The outcry comes as Apple prepares for a significant update in iOS 26, which, according to reports, will make it possible for Apple Wallet to show offers and promotions not just from Apple, but from third-party partners as well. This new policy signals a potential shift in Apple’s approach to monetization, inviting comparisons with the ad-saturated environments of Google and Meta’s platforms. Unsurprisingly, the move has sparked concern among privacy-conscientious consumers and Apple loyalists who fear a slow but inevitable slide toward more aggressive in-app advertising.
Editorial Perspective: Ads on Premium Devices—A Slippery Slope
While Apple insists its implementation will be tasteful and privacy-conscious, history shows that once one form of advertising is permitted in a system-level app, others tend to follow. For a company that built its reputation on user trust and curated simplicity, this represents a risky pivot—one that risks alienating users who pay premium prices specifically to avoid such distractions.Printer Security Risks: Brother Updates Patch Critical Flaws
Rounding out the week’s news is a major security bulletin from Brother, the printer manufacturer, which has released firmware updates for hundreds of its printer models following disclosures from Rapid7 researchers. Among the vulnerabilities patched is a flaw that reportedly allowed attackers to generate the default admin password and gain unauthorized administrative access, putting user data, printer configurations, and potentially even internal networks at risk.Brother advises all users to apply the latest firmware updates and change default admin passwords immediately—a reminder that printers, often neglected from a security standpoint, remain a common vector for attacks. The warning extends to devices from Fujifilm Business, Ricoh, Toshiba, and Konica, all of which have been identified as similarly vulnerable.
The Risk of Forgotten Endpoints
This episode underscores the ongoing security challenge posed by IoT and office devices—printers, routers, and other “smart” hardware are frequently overlooked when it comes to patch management, despite containing sensitive information and often being connected to company networks. The lesson is clear: treat every connected device as a potential security risk, and implement rigorous update and password protocols accordingly.Looking Ahead: Choices, Risks, and the Unfolding Future
This week’s tech news delivers a snapshot of an industry in flux—balancing genuine innovation and user empowerment with ever-present pressures from business imperatives, security risks, and shifting attitudes toward privacy. Windows 11’s performance claims show that, even today, marketing can sometimes outpace technical reality. WhatsApp and Google’s AI innovations bring new convenience but heighten the stakes for data privacy, while issues like the Chrome-Family Safety debacle and Brother printer vulnerabilities spotlight how the weakest link in your digital life may not always be the most obvious one.For consumers and IT professionals alike, the key takeaway is vigilance. Demand verifiable data, not just marketing benchmarks. Read the fine print on privacy, and don’t assume that convenience features are risk-free. Aggressive marketing and the latest AI features may drive headlines, but security, transparency, and user control will define which platforms truly earn your trust in the months and years ahead.
Source: FileHippo June 28 tech news roundup: Microsoft claims Windows 11 is twice as fast as Windows 10, Firefox 140 introduces Tab Unload, WhatsApp’s AI can summarize your chats