Feed aggregator

Every day, millions of people type a web address into their browser, usually in a flurry of rapid keystrokes, and arrive exactly where they intended.

However, a small but significant number of people don’t.

They might miss a letter, type an extra letter in their haste, or get some letters mixed up. Instead of hitting linkedin[.]com, they hit linkdein[.]com. Those mistakes gave way to one of the internet’s least glamorous destinations – the parked domain.

Most internet users have encountered them at some point, even if they didn't know what they were looking at. Typically, a parked domain would just be a sparse, messy page filled with adverts and a search bar with very little else.

They existed because someone, somewhere, recognized that in the early days of the internet a percentage of users would inevitably mistype a popular website – so they registered the most similar-looking domain names for themselves in a move known as “typosquatting” and earned advertising revenue from the resulting traffic.

If just 0.1% of the millions of people accessing amazon[.]com accidentally went to the amazn[.]com domain they’d bought, that’s still a worthwhile payday. It was a mundane corner of the digital economy, built on convenience, coincidence, and the occasional typo.

History can be a harsh teacher, but it can also sow complacency. In 2026, a lot of security teams still regard parked domains as little more than lazy digital billboards – inconvenient and annoying, but not a meaningful security concern.

However, the infrastructure surrounding parked domains has evolved considerably from the amateurish, pop-up-ridden advertising pages of the early internet. What was once a simple case of opportunistic domain monetization now sits inside a far more complex ecosystem of advertisers, brokers, and traffic distribution networks.

In many cases, a user's accidental visit no longer ends on a parked page at all. Instead, it triggers a journey through a chain of intermediaries operating largely out of sight. Somewhere along that journey, legitimate advertising can give way to fraud, scams, and malware distribution.

In other words, one of the web's most familiar and overlooked mechanisms has become one of the most lucrative and insidious vehicles for cybercrime.

From Mistype to Malware

The transformation of parked domains from digital curiosities into cybersecurity risks has been subtle, and that’s one of the reasons it’s so dangerous. For decades, the model followed the same patterns – a user would land on a parked domain, see a collection of banners, click on something accidental or otherwise, and generate a small amount of revenue for the domain owner.

It was cynical, but at least it was transparent because users could at least see where they had ended up and decide for themselves what to do next – usually just close the tab and go where they meant to. The only real danger here came from the occasional misleading or malicious ad rather than the mechanics of the domain itself.

Today things are different. Changes within the online advertising industry, including tighter policies around traditional domain monetization, have encouraged cybercriminals and fraudsters to try new approaches to keep the train of monetization moving.

Increasingly, users who arrive at a parked domain don't encounter a parked page at all. Instead, they’re immediately redirected elsewhere through a process known as “zero-click advertising”, sometimes referred to as direct search.

What appears to be a simple typo can trigger a rapid auction in which a user's visit is bought, sold, and passed between multiple advertising partners before they ever see a destination website. Most of this activity unfolds in fractions of a second and entirely beyond the user's view, and while many of those transactions remain legitimate, the sheer complexity of the ecosystem creates opportunities for abuse.

Somewhere within that chain, traffic can be acquired by actors whose interests extend far beyond advertising revenue, opening the door to scams, malware, fraudulent software, and a host of other malicious outcomes.

The Malvertising Economy

One of the reasons parked domain abuse is still underestimated and difficult to pin down is that the attack path rarely follows a straight line. When most people imagine a cyberattack, they picture a malicious website waiting at the end of a link, ready to ensnare an unsuspecting user.

But in this case, by the time a user reaches the content they're ultimately shown, their traffic may have already passed through a maze of advertising exchanges, brokers, redirectors, and cloaking services.

Each participant sees only a fragment of the overall journey, making it remarkably difficult for the “good guys” to determine which “bad guys” are responsible for what. It’s a little like trying to investigate a crime scene where the evidence constantly rearranges itself.

The cowardly threat actors involved in this type of cybercrime exploit this ambiguity. They use sophisticated cloaking techniques which allow them to examine visitors before deciding which content to serve up – where are they based? What kind of browser are they using? What operating system is their device running?

A security researcher in California might see a harmless landing page, while a finance broker in London might be served up a credential harvesting scam. This selective delivery makes malicious activity harder to detect and even harder to reproduce.

What’s worse, parked domain abuse is rarely aimed at a specific industry or organization. The actors deploying parked domains are usually financially motivated, and their primary interest is in acquiring traffic, so they’re not going to discriminate.

Once they’ve ensnared a victim, they become a commodity moving through an invisible marketplace where every click has value and every redirection creates another opportunity for exploitation.

The blind spot in traditional security

So where does all of this leave defenders? Parked domain abuse doesn’t behave like a conventional cyber threat. While security teams are used to investigating suspicious websites, malicious files, or compromised accounts that leave a relatively obvious trail, parked domain campaigns are different because the underlying traffic distribution is constantly changing.

The same typo domain can send one user down an entirely different path than the next. By the time an analyst attempts to recreate what a victim experienced, the route may no longer exist and any “evidence” has effectively evaporated. How do they defend against something they can't see or recreate?

One thing is guaranteed – regardless of how many redirects, intermediaries, cloaking systems, or advertising platforms sit between the initial typo and the final destination, every step in the journey depends on the domain name system (DNS). Often described as the internet's address book, DNS is responsible for translating domain names into the destinations users ultimately reach.

Put simply, each lookup leaves behind a breadcrumb that helps reveal relationships that would otherwise remain hidden, and that visibility has allowed researchers investigating typosquatted versions of well-known domains to follow the trail beyond the initial deception. Patterns start to emerge between seemingly unrelated cases of malware, involving the same parking providers, cloaking services, and traffic distribution infrastructure.

By examining historical DNS records and mapping the relationships between domains over time, it has become possible to connect incidents that appear to be unrelated and expose the networks operating behind them. Instead of playing “whack a mole” and chasing surface level domains, DNS mapping has allowed defenders to target the entire machine.

The greatest danger posed by parked domains isn't the typo itself, but the assumption that the infrastructure behind that typo is benign. For years, parked domains occupied a strange corner of the internet, largely ignored by security teams and rarely considered worthy of serious scrutiny.

But today, they offer cybercriminals something far more valuable than advertising revenue – access to legitimate systems, trusted business models, and vast streams of user traffic that can be manipulated and monetized at scale.

As threat actors continue to refine their use of cloaking, traffic distribution, and advertising networks, the distinction between legitimate online activity and malicious activity will become increasingly difficult to spot from the outside.

Protect yourself against malware with the best antivirus software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• ESET discovers 11 vulnerable UEFI shim bootloaders signed by Microsoft, allowing attackers to bypass Secure Boot and deploy malicious bootkits
• Any UEFI system trusting Microsoft’s 2011 third‑party certificate could be exposed, potentially billions of devices; attackers can bring old trusted shims to new systems
• Microsoft has revoked the vulnerable shims, and users should apply the latest UEFI revocations (Windows auto‑updates, Linux via LVFS) to block exploitation

Cybersecurity experts from ESET have discovered 11 vulnerable UEFI shim bootloaders, all signed by Microsoft, which could allow threat actors to exploit ancient vulnerabilities and bypass UEFI Secure Boot, deploying all sorts of malicious bootkits.

A shim is a small, intermediary bootloader that works as a bridge between a computer's firmware (UEFI) and the operating system's bootloader. Its primary purpose is to allow operating systems to work with UEFI Secure Boot without having Microsoft sign every Linux bootloader individually.

Any UEFI-based machine that trusts the Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011 third-party UEFI certificate authority (CE) certificate, regardless of the operating system, was said to be vulnerable to the shims (versions 0.9 and older). That would put the number of potentially vulnerable devices in the billions, since almost all modern x86 PCs use UEFI firmware, and most of them trust the Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011 certificate out of the box.

Revoking the shims

However, ESET reported its findings to CERT/CC and the vulnerable UEFI applications were all revoked.

The shims come from different tools such as PC diagnostic software, Linux distribution, and other UEFI-based utilities, the researchers explained. They also added that, since the attackers can bring their own vulnerable shims to any UEFI system with the Microsoft third-party UEFI certificate enrolled, they can exploit systems that are, at first, not affected.

To block the vulnerable shims, users should apply the latest UEFI revocations from Microsoft, it was said. While Windows systems will most likely do it automatically, Linux systems users should do it through the Linux Vendor Firmware Service.

“What makes these old shims dangerous is not a novel vulnerability; it’s that no new vulnerability is needed to bypass UEFI Secure Boot,” says ESET researcher Martin Smolár, who discovered the vulnerable shims.

“An attacker needs no complicated exploitation primitives — only a copy of an old, still-trusted but unrevoked shim binary and a basic understanding of how UEFI shims work. That is enough to bypass such an essential security feature as UEFI Secure Boot."

This option is now open to any parent with a Spotify account.

• 'Managed' accounts let parents create a Spotify experience for their child
• Once reserved for Premium Family accounts, it is now rolling out to all
• Managed accounts are music-only with no messages, but do get Wrapped

Fed up with waiting for your Wrapped roundup only to find KPop Demon Hunters is claiming the top spot again — and it most certainly would not be down to you?

Great news: Spotify is expanding its Managed account service (which the big green streaming machine launched around two years ago, within its paid-for Family subscriptions) to the Free, ad-supported service.

This gives young listeners a chance to have their own personalized Spotify experience (including their own Wrapped summary), but within what Spotify calls a "focused, music-only experience".

With Managed accounts (which must be set up by an adult 'Account manager', usually a parent or guardian), young listeners can create their own playlists and receive tailored recommendations for new music. Yes, our favorite Daylist feature, plus a Wrapped summary at the end of each year, are both onboard.

The company tells me that while 90% of parents using Spotify agree that listening to music on the platform is a good use of their children's time (versus only a third of parents when asked the same question about gaming), parents don't really want their Wrapped playlists influenced by their nine-year-old.

Spotify also reports that more than 70% of kids now listen to music every week, but that children asking their parents to play a favorite track (often a lot) can cause family friction — especially when children might be fighting for airtime with a sibling, or just completely ignoring what mom might want to listen to in the car.

Managed accounts on Spotify: what you need to know (and why they're Golden)

(Image credit: Spotify)

As the image above shows, the process for creating a Managed account is straightforward using the 'Add account' tab. As any parent in the UK knows, plans are well underway for a social media ban for under-16s, so this can only be seen as a wise and welcome move from Spotify.

The basics are this: as well as Spotify's filters for explicit lyrics or content, parents and guardians can manually filter out content, and manage playback for specific artists or tracks.

Video and Canvas looping visuals are also always off by default for managed accounts. During its initial rollout, Spotify says 60% of parents chose to keep video content switched off, which is why in this wider rollout — it is coming to 17 markets globally today — it's off by default.

Additionally, the default features of Managed accounts mean that they are automatically set to private and are unsearchable, with no profile photos (just avatars), and young listeners will not have access to messages.

Spotify tells me that Managed accounts are typically for children aged 7-12, who are not yet ready for a full account but who want to establish their identity and explore a love of music themselves, via their own managed account.

Again, Managed accounts are music only right now, i.e., no podcasts, video or audiobooks. But Spotify says the experience will evolve as the company continues to work closely with parents as well as Spotify's team of six external partners, including the Spotify Safety Advisory Council.

Does your child need their own phone? No, there’s a device switching option, which locks the account holder’s content with a PIN, so the holder of the Managed account can start to stream away with both the default and added controls and filters deployed.

And when your children grow up (it happens so fast!), what then? Once a child reaches the minimum age for their respective market, they can put in a 'request’ to the main account holder to be upgraded to a full account. Once the owner of a Managed account turns 18, that young person can change their own account to a regular one — so no playlist gets left behind.

• 'Managed' accounts let parents create a Spotify experience for their child
• Once reserved for Premium Family accounts, it is now rolling out to all
• Managed accounts are music-only with no messages, but do get Wrapped

Fed up with waiting for your Wrapped roundup only to find KPop Demon Hunters is claiming the top spot again — and it most certainly would not be down to you?

Great news: Spotify is expanding its Managed account service (which the big green streaming machine launched around two years ago, within its paid-for Family subscriptions) to the Free, ad-supported service.

This gives young listeners a chance to have their own personalized Spotify experience (including their own Wrapped summary), but within what Spotify calls a "focused, music-only experience".

With Managed accounts (which must be set up by an adult 'Account manager', usually a parent or guardian), young listeners can create their own playlists and receive tailored recommendations for new music. Yes, our favorite Daylist feature, plus a Wrapped summary at the end of each year, are both onboard.

The company tells me that while 90% of parents using Spotify agree that listening to music on the platform is a good use of their children's time (versus only a third of parents when asked the same question about gaming), parents don't really want their Wrapped playlists influenced by their nine-year-old.

Spotify also reports that more than 70% of kids now listen to music every week, but that children asking their parents to play a favorite track (often a lot) can cause family friction — especially when children might be fighting for airtime with a sibling, or just completely ignoring what mom might want to listen to in the car.

Managed accounts on Spotify: what you need to know (and why they're Golden)

(Image credit: Spotify)

As the image above shows, the process for creating a Managed account is straightforward using the 'Add account' tab. As any parent in the UK knows, plans are well underway for a social media ban for under-16s, so this can only be seen as a wise and welcome move from Spotify.

The basics are this: as well as Spotify's filters for explicit lyrics or content, parents and guardians can manually filter out content, and manage playback for specific artists or tracks.

Video and Canvas looping visuals are also always off by default for managed accounts. During its initial rollout, Spotify says 60% of parents chose to keep video content switched off, which is why in this wider rollout — it is coming to 17 markets globally today — it's off by default.

Additionally, the default features of Managed accounts mean that they are automatically set to private and are unsearchable, with no profile photos (just avatars), and young listeners will not have access to messages.

Spotify tells me that Managed accounts are typically for children aged 7-12, who are not yet ready for a full account but who want to establish their identity and explore a love of music themselves, via their own managed account.

Again, Managed accounts are music only right now, i.e., no podcasts, video or audiobooks. But Spotify says the experience will evolve as the company continues to work closely with parents as well as Spotify's team of six external partners, including the Spotify Safety Advisory Council.

Does your child need their own phone? No, there’s a device switching option, which locks the account holder’s content with a PIN, so the holder of the Managed account can start to stream away with both the default and added controls and filters deployed.

And when your children grow up (it happens so fast!), what then? Once a child reaches the minimum age for their respective market, they can put in a 'request’ to the main account holder to be upgraded to a full account. Once the owner of a Managed account turns 18, that young person can change their own account to a regular one — so no playlist gets left behind.

The oldest bridge in Paris was draped in fabric last month to appear like a mountain cave, in an installation by the artist JR. Unlike a real cave, though, it didn't provide respite from a brutal heat wave.

If you're looking to add more 4K Blu-rays to your collection, then Disney's Summer Days, Movie Nights 4K Blu-ray sale has arrived at the perfect time, where it's 2 for £30 on discs including titles from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and 20th Century Studios. The same 2 for £30 sale is also live at HMV.

I regularly test 4K Blu-ray as part of our monthly Blu-ray Bounty feature, where we test the best new 4K releases. I've picked six discs from the sale that all featured as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, so I know just how good they look and sound.

First up is Alien: Romulus, one of my reference discs for testing contrast and black tones on the best TVs. Its also excellent Dolby Atmos soundtrack is immersive and spine-chilling too.

The Sound of Music is one of the best restorations I've seen, with spectacular colours and detail. Edward Scissorhands is another disc that delivers superb colour reproduction, surpassing my expectations completely.

If you want action-packed titles with brilliant Dolby Atmos soundtracks, Master and Commander delivers pinpoint-accurate sound, while Fantastic Four: First Steps delivers the power you'd want from a superhero flick. Finally, Tombstone looks crisp and offers a fantastic DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack that will show off your surround setup.

For my thoughts on each disc, scroll further down the page.

My picks from Amazon's 2 for £30 4K Blu-ray sale

20th Century Studios Alien Romulus 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray

Walt Disney The Sound of Music 4K Blu-ray

20th Century Studios Edward Scissorhands 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney Tombstone 4K Blu-ray

Alien: Romulus

(Image credit: Future)

Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus follows a crew of scavengers who come across a derelict space station called Renaissance, where they encounter hostile aliens.

Alien: Romulus delivers a truly stunning picture in 4K. Its inky black levels and high-contrast scenes look superb on the best OLED TVs, and it's a real showcase for 4K detail. Textures are crisp, with impressive intricate detail in objects and environments that show just how good modern movies can look in 4K. When I want to test a TV's backlight and contrast, this is one of the first discs I reach for.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack featured is incredible. While the more powerful moments, such as gunfire or the sound of engines igniting, have real impact, it's the detail that impresses. The sound of face-hugger feet is so precisely mapped, it had me looking around our testing lab when I first tested it, as their path came from the rear channels with astonishing accuracy. The movie's more visceral moments, as characters meet their demise, can be particularly realistic.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

The Sound of Music

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

One of cinema's most iconic musicals, The Sound of Music follows Maria (Julie Andrews), a nun who is sent to take over as the nanny of the Von Trapp family children, set in pre-WWII Austria.

The Sound of Music is one of the best examples of a 4K restoration I've seen. Textures have been cleaned up beautifully, and the breathtaking cinematography of the Austrian landscape has never looked more detailed. Really though, it's the colours that stand out the most here. Green fields and blue skies have serious pop, and other colours such as red, yellow and orange are delivered with real vibrancy. One of my reference discs, the market scene, in particular, is brilliant.

Never has the movie's legendary soundtrack sounded better than here. The Dolby Atmos mixes are all perfectly balanced between the score and vocals, and speech is crystal clear throughout. Songs like 'Do Re Mi' and 'My Favourite Things' sound clean, with superb depth and clarity.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Edward Scissorhands

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future)

Edward Scissorhands follows the story of Edward (Johnny Depp), an artificial humanoid with scissors for hands, who is taken in by a suburban family, where he falls for the family's daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder).

When I first tested Edward Scissorhands on 4K, I didn't expect to be wowed by the disc's colours as much as I was. The gothic nature of the movie is juxtaposed with the vibrant, often garish, colour scheme of the neighbourhood, and these colours are superb in 4K. The bright, multi-coloured houses are vivid, and if your TV has good colour reproduction, you'll be rewarded. Textures have also been refined here to give everything a lifelike look.

The disc's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is excellent. It shows real depth by accurately capturing subtle effects like the clicking of Edward's scissors. Danny Elfman's unmistakable score, with big horns balanced with delicate bells, is delivered with plenty of gusto and detail.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is the tale of the HMS Surprise, a British ship during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805, as they pursue the French ship Acheron. It stars Russel Crowe as Surprise's Captain Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Maturin, the ship's surgeon.

Where Master and Commander's 4K disc shines is with its Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Naval battles deliver room-shaking power as cannons fire, with intricate details such as splintering wood coming through clear in the mix. In several scenes, as cannonballs flew through the ship, I found myself looking around the room, following its trajectory as it was mapped with incredible accuracy.

The 4K presentation looks amazing, too. Night scenes deliver deep black tones with some strong contrast, as lamps balance with said dark tones. The crew looks lifelike, and the vast ocean looks stunning in 4K. Colour, while sparing, has some nice pop, whether it's the red of blood or the gold details on ships.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

(Image credit: Disney / Future )

Set in a 1960's, futuristic world and based on the Marvel superhero family, The Fantastic Four: First Steps follows the Fantastic Four as they must protect Earth from Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Starring Pedro Pascal (Mr Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing).

The 4K disc of The Fantastic Four: First Steps has brilliant picture quality, accurately delivering the alt-1960s aesthetic. The bright blues and whites of the team's uniforms pop on screen, but the oranges and yellows of decor and civilian clothing look great too. A big-budget Marvel movie, textures are refined and 3D-like and look top-notch on 4K.

As you'd expect from a Marvel movie with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, this disc sounds fantastic. There are plenty of room-rattling explosions that deliver punchy bass and impact. Anytime the Human Torch flies overhead, height channels are utilised perfectly and will sound great through an Atmos system.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Tombstone

(Image credit: Disney / Future )

Tombstone follows Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russel), a retired lawman who moves to the town of Tombstone and ends up as its de facto sheriff after a gang of outlaws wreaks havoc. The movie also stars Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, and Bill Paxton.

Tombstone looks stunning in 4K. A fantastic restoration means textures are clean and crisp, demonstrating almost 3D-like levels of depth and detail. Colours are bold and punchy throughout, and black tones are rich, whether it's the night sky or the Earp group's clothes.

The disc's DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack is excellent too. Gunfights deliver precise sound mapping, as bullets fly around and ricochet off buildings. Galloping horses offer plenty of rumble that will let your subwoofer flex its muscles, and even subtle sound effects like spurs on boots as people walk have nice detail.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

If you're looking to add more 4K Blu-rays to your collection, then Disney's Summer Days, Movie Nights 4K Blu-ray sale has arrived at the perfect time, where it's 2 for £30 on discs including titles from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and 20th Century Studios. The same 2 for £30 sale is also live at HMV.

I regularly test 4K Blu-ray as part of our monthly Blu-ray Bounty feature, where we test the best new 4K releases. I've picked six discs from the sale that all featured as part of the Blu-ray Bounty, so I know just how good they look and sound.

First up is Alien: Romulus, one of my reference discs for testing contrast and black tones on the best TVs. Its also excellent Dolby Atmos soundtrack is immersive and spine-chilling too.

The Sound of Music is one of the best restorations I've seen, with spectacular colours and detail. Edward Scissorhands is another disc that delivers superb colour reproduction, surpassing my expectations completely.

If you want action-packed titles with brilliant Dolby Atmos soundtracks, Master and Commander delivers pinpoint-accurate sound, while Fantastic Four: First Steps delivers the power you'd want from a superhero flick. Finally, Tombstone looks crisp and offers a fantastic DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack that will show off your surround setup.

For my thoughts on each disc, scroll further down the page.

My picks from Amazon's 2 for £30 4K Blu-ray sale

20th Century Studios Alien Romulus 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray

Walt Disney The Sound of Music 4K Blu-ray

20th Century Studios Edward Scissorhands 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray

Walt Disney Tombstone 4K Blu-ray

Alien: Romulus

(Image credit: Future)

Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus follows a crew of scavengers who come across a derelict space station called Renaissance, where they encounter hostile aliens.

Alien: Romulus delivers a truly stunning picture in 4K. Its inky black levels and high-contrast scenes look superb on the best OLED TVs, and it's a real showcase for 4K detail. Textures are crisp, with impressive intricate detail in objects and environments that show just how good modern movies can look in 4K. When I want to test a TV's backlight and contrast, this is one of the first discs I reach for.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack featured is incredible. While the more powerful moments, such as gunfire or the sound of engines igniting, have real impact, it's the detail that impresses. The sound of face-hugger feet is so precisely mapped, it had me looking around our testing lab when I first tested it, as their path came from the rear channels with astonishing accuracy. The movie's more visceral moments, as characters meet their demise, can be particularly realistic.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

The Sound of Music

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

One of cinema's most iconic musicals, The Sound of Music follows Maria (Julie Andrews), a nun who is sent to take over as the nanny of the Von Trapp family children, set in pre-WWII Austria.

The Sound of Music is one of the best examples of a 4K restoration I've seen. Textures have been cleaned up beautifully, and the breathtaking cinematography of the Austrian landscape has never looked more detailed. Really though, it's the colours that stand out the most here. Green fields and blue skies have serious pop, and other colours such as red, yellow and orange are delivered with real vibrancy. One of my reference discs, the market scene, in particular, is brilliant.

Never has the movie's legendary soundtrack sounded better than here. The Dolby Atmos mixes are all perfectly balanced between the score and vocals, and speech is crystal clear throughout. Songs like 'Do Re Mi' and 'My Favourite Things' sound clean, with superb depth and clarity.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Edward Scissorhands

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future)

Edward Scissorhands follows the story of Edward (Johnny Depp), an artificial humanoid with scissors for hands, who is taken in by a suburban family, where he falls for the family's daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder).

When I first tested Edward Scissorhands on 4K, I didn't expect to be wowed by the disc's colours as much as I was. The gothic nature of the movie is juxtaposed with the vibrant, often garish, colour scheme of the neighbourhood, and these colours are superb in 4K. The bright, multi-coloured houses are vivid, and if your TV has good colour reproduction, you'll be rewarded. Textures have also been refined here to give everything a lifelike look.

The disc's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is excellent. It shows real depth by accurately capturing subtle effects like the clicking of Edward's scissors. Danny Elfman's unmistakable score, with big horns balanced with delicate bells, is delivered with plenty of gusto and detail.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is the tale of the HMS Surprise, a British ship during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805, as they pursue the French ship Acheron. It stars Russel Crowe as Surprise's Captain Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Maturin, the ship's surgeon.

Where Master and Commander's 4K disc shines is with its Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Naval battles deliver room-shaking power as cannons fire, with intricate details such as splintering wood coming through clear in the mix. In several scenes, as cannonballs flew through the ship, I found myself looking around the room, following its trajectory as it was mapped with incredible accuracy.

The 4K presentation looks amazing, too. Night scenes deliver deep black tones with some strong contrast, as lamps balance with said dark tones. The crew looks lifelike, and the vast ocean looks stunning in 4K. Colour, while sparing, has some nice pop, whether it's the red of blood or the gold details on ships.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

(Image credit: Disney / Future )

Set in a 1960's, futuristic world and based on the Marvel superhero family, The Fantastic Four: First Steps follows the Fantastic Four as they must protect Earth from Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Starring Pedro Pascal (Mr Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing).

The 4K disc of The Fantastic Four: First Steps has brilliant picture quality, accurately delivering the alt-1960s aesthetic. The bright blues and whites of the team's uniforms pop on screen, but the oranges and yellows of decor and civilian clothing look great too. A big-budget Marvel movie, textures are refined and 3D-like and look top-notch on 4K.

As you'd expect from a Marvel movie with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, this disc sounds fantastic. There are plenty of room-rattling explosions that deliver punchy bass and impact. Anytime the Human Torch flies overhead, height channels are utilised perfectly and will sound great through an Atmos system.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

Tombstone

(Image credit: Disney / Future )

Tombstone follows Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russel), a retired lawman who moves to the town of Tombstone and ends up as its de facto sheriff after a gang of outlaws wreaks havoc. The movie also stars Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, and Bill Paxton.

Tombstone looks stunning in 4K. A fantastic restoration means textures are clean and crisp, demonstrating almost 3D-like levels of depth and detail. Colours are bold and punchy throughout, and black tones are rich, whether it's the night sky or the Earp group's clothes.

The disc's DTS-HD 5.1 MA soundtrack is excellent too. Gunfights deliver precise sound mapping, as bullets fly around and ricochet off buildings. Galloping horses offer plenty of rumble that will let your subwoofer flex its muscles, and even subtle sound effects like spurs on boots as people walk have nice detail.

• Check out the full Amazon 2 for £30 sale

I connected with experts to find out where our air quality is headed, and if air purifiers are the breath of fresh air we need.

• Microsoft’s July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixed a record 622 vulnerabilities, including 58 critical, two exploited in the wild, and one publicly disclosed, plus 428 Chromium bugs
• Actively abused flaws include CVE‑2026‑56155 (AD FS privilege escalation) and CVE‑2026‑56164 (SharePoint privilege escalation), alongside notable issues in BitLocker and Copilot
• Surge in fixes is linked to Microsoft’s use of Anthropic’s Mythos AI, with patch volumes rising sharply since its adoption

Microsoft has released its July 2026 Patch Tuesday download, marking another record-breaking update, addressing hundreds of flaws across the ecosystem.

The release, which is currently rolling out to Microsoft users, fixes a staggering 622 vulnerabilities, including 58 critical-severity ones, two that were observed as being abused in the wild, and one which has already been publicly disclosed.

On top of that, Microsoft shipped fixes for another 428 Chromium bugs, as well.

A jump in numbers

There are simply too many vulnerabilities to mention all of them, however two that are being exploited in the wild are CVE-2026-56155 and CVE-2026-56164. The former is described as an “Insufficient granularity of access control in Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)” bug, which allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. It carries a severity score of 7.8/10 (high).

The latter is a “Missing authentication for critical function in Microsoft Office SharePoint” bug that allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network. Microsoft assigned it a medium severity score (5.3/10), but the National Vulnerability Database gave it a 9.8/10 (critical).

Other notable mentions include CVE-2026-50661, a protection mechanism failure in Windows BitLocker that allows unauthorized attackers to bypass a security feature with a physical attack, and CVE-2026-48561, an improper neutralization of special elements used in a command in Microsoft Copilot, that allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

If you think fixing 622 vulnerabilities in a month is a lot, you’re absolutely right. It’s well above what Microsoft is used to do, and this is most likely due to the company now using the fabled Mythos - Anthropic’s cybersecurity-oriented AI.

In June 2026, roughly a month and a half after the release of Mythos, Microsoft fixed 206 flaws, which raised eyebrows because it was significantly above the company’s usual amount of bugs fixed.

In May it fixed 120 flaws, in April 167, and in March - 79.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to appear before the Senate for his confirmation hearing. And, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has paused most traffic stops after recent deadly shootings.

(Image credit: Ken Cedeno)

Upgrading your TV soon? One well-known TV brand is our readers' all-around favorite.

A smart scale can weigh you, but it also provides additional biometric data.

Philips Hue is widely known as the best smart bulb brand, but if you're looking to get yourself kitted out with a full Hue setup from the main range, it'll cost you. You might have spotted the brand's Essential range — which looks very similar to the main lineup but comes in at a much more affordable price — and wondered where the compromise is. You can see an Essential bulb on the left of the image above, next to a main range bulb on the right.

This article is here to help you figure out whether the Philips Hue Essential range is right for you, or whether it's better to splurge on the original lineup. We've tested both, and you can get the full low-down on what we thought of the budget-friendly bulbs in our Philips Hue Essential series review. For a quick summary, though — plus links to buy — read on.

Philips Hue Essential bulbs: reasons to buy

Let's start with the good bits about the Philips Hue Essentials range. Here are the main benefits to know about:

✅ The performance is excellent: In her side-by-side tests with the main range, our Homes Editor Cat Ellis found "both were equally responsive, and produced colors that were identical to my naked eye when [she] switched between scenes". The Essential bulbs are based on a different color-matching technology to regular Hue lights, but Cat "had a hard time telling the difference".

✅ They're compatible with the full Hue ecosystem: The Essential bulbs will play nicely with any Hue gadgets you already have, making them a great way to extend your existing smart light setup.

✅ They're much cheaper than the main range: While prices vary depending on exactly which bulb you're buying, generally the Essential models come in around half the price of the main range.

Philips Hue Essential bulbs: reasons to avoid

So what about the downsides? These are the main compromises you'll be making if you opt for an Essential bulb:

❌ The white shades don't match the main range: Essential bulbs have a narrower white light range, which is an issue if you were hoping to add them into a room that already has bulbs from the main lineup.

❌ They can't dim as low: Essential bulbs can only dim to 2%, whereas the main range can go right down to 0.2%. If you want seriously muted lighting, you'll need to shell out a bit more and stick to the main range.

❌ They can't get as bright: Essential bulbs have a lower maximum brightness capacity — they can reach 803 lumens, whereas some of the standard White & Color Ambiance bulbs can hit 1,600 lumens. It's worth nothing that this spec varies by bulb; not all standard bulbs have a higher max brightness than their Essential counterpart.

Philips Hue Essential Starter kits

Most people getting started with a Philips Hue lighting setup will begin by purchasing a 'Starter kit', which bundles some bulbs, a Philips Hue Bridge, and occasionally a bonus Philips Hue accessory. A Bridge isn't essential, but it is a good idea if you want to maximize the potential of your bulbs. There are a few variations available, with different numbers and kinds of bulbs included; I've listed a selection here.

US starter kits

Philips Hue Essential starter kit (4 E26 bulbs), White and color ambiance

Philips Hue Essential starter kit (2 bulbs), White and color ambiance

UK starter kits

Philips Hue Essential starter kit: 2 B22 smart bulbs, White and color ambiance

Philips Hue Essential Starter Kit: 2 E27 Smart Bulbs

Philips Hue Essential Starter Kit: 3 E27 Smart Bulbs (806 Lm)

Philips Hue Essential Starter Kit: 3 Gu10 Smart Bulbs (345 Lm) + Smart Button

Philips Hue Essential Starter Kit: 3 Gu10 Smart Bulbs (345 Lm)

Philips Hue Starter Kit: 2 E27 Smart Bulbs (1100)

Philips Hue Essential bulbs

If you already have a Bridge and are looking to extend your setup, or are planning on going without (basic bulb functions can be controlled via Bluetooth), you can buy individual or multipack bulbs. There's a massive range — I've just included a selection here.

Whichever bulb lineup you choose, you'll have to decide between Hue's three light types. White and color ambiance bulbs can emit any one of millions of RGB colors, including a wide range of different white tones. White bulbs emit a warm light at a set color temperature, and White ambiance bulbs can be set to any one of a massive range of cool to warm white lights.

US bulbs

Philips Hue Essential A19 - E26 Smart Bulb - 800 Lm - 8.8w - 4 Pack

Philips Hue Essential Br30 - E26 Smart Bulb - 650 Lm - 7.2w

Philips Hue Essential A19 - E26 Smart Bulb - 800 Lm - 8.8w

Philips Hue Bundle: Essential A19 - E26 (2 Pack)

Philips Hue Bundle: Essential Br30 - E26 (2 Pack)

UK bulbs

Philips Hue Essential A60 LED Smart Bulb (4 pack), White and Color Ambiance

Philips Hue Essential smart bulb (2 pack), White and color ambiance

Philips Hue Essential Smart LED GU10 Spotlight Bulb, White and Color Ambiance

Philips Hue Essential 10-Meter LED Strip Light, Color and Ambiance

• Microsoft deleted a user’s OneDrive account after it was compromised
• This resulted in the loss of 25 years’ worth of photos and games
• The incident is a reminder to use multiple backup solutions

How much do you have stored in your Microsoft account? Consider all the photos and documents backed up to OneDrive, the games and apps linked to your username, and all the rest. Many of us have a lot stored there, but as one Microsoft user recently found out, it can all be taken away in an instant — with Microsoft itself doing the deleting.

Posting on X, Joshua Khane related how a recent hack of their account led to Microsoft taking the nuclear option and removing 25 years’ worth of data, including photos of their infant son and “thousands of Euros spent on games.”

Khane shared an email from Microsoft explaining that, since “unauthorized access occurred” on their account — meaning a likely compromise by hackers — “we have permanently suspended the account.” Microsoft confirmed that “this action is irreversible … Additionally, if you had files stored in OneDrive, those files are no longer accessible. Due to encryption and privacy safeguards, even our engineers cannot retrieve them.”

The move left Khane incensed, with the disbelieving user condemning Microsoft’s decision not to restore their account: “One of the biggest companies ever couldn’t do that so they just deleted that sh*t like it was nothing??”

“Even though the security could be tighter from my side (lessons are learned),” they added, “it bothers me the most that Microsoft says that they cannot recover my account and suspended it … Thousands of Euros are gone down the drain as I’ve lost all my games also! Couldn’t back those up and I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe, even if I got compromised!”

How to keep your data safe

(Image credit: Deemerwha studio / Shutterstock)

After the saga was posted on Reddit, other users chimed in with similar stories of their own. “Happened to me also,” said one user. “I had payment proof and everything going back 20 years. They said sorry, best we can do is lock your account for good.”

Another had a piece of advice for Khane: “When this happened to me, I created the new account and sent an email to them (on the same thread) with the new account info. They basically cloned the old account into the new one and I got everything back.” Elsewhere, many users recommended Khane take legal action against Microsoft.

If you want to avoid a similar fate, it’s important that you don’t just back up your important documents to one source — be that cloud storage like OneDrive or an external storage drive. If something goes wrong, your only copy has vanished into the ether.

Instead, build redundancy into your backups. Use a cloud backup service like Backblaze and a local NAS or offline archive drive. If possible, ensure your backups are in different physical locations, including one off the premises.

As Redditor Linesey rightly suggested, “Get a NAS, get an off-site location like a safe deposit box for cold storage, and then use the cloud if you really want to, as another layer.” That way, you’ve got at least one fallback option if a firm like Microsoft decides to delete your data without warning.

It’s also worth setting up passkeys and multi-factor authentication on your accounts and using one of the best password managers to strengthen and store all your logins. That way, you make it harder for bad actors to gain access to your account — and less tempting for Microsoft to hit the big red button, with irreversible consequences.

• Microsoft deleted a user’s OneDrive account after it was compromised
• This resulted in the loss of 25 years’ worth of photos and games
• The incident is a reminder to use multiple backup solutions

How much do you have stored in your Microsoft account? Consider all the photos and documents backed up to OneDrive, the games and apps linked to your username, and all the rest. Many of us have a lot stored there, but as one Microsoft user recently found out, it can all be taken away in an instant — with Microsoft itself doing the deleting.

Posting on X, Joshua Khane related how a recent hack of their account led to Microsoft taking the nuclear option and removing 25 years’ worth of data, including photos of their infant son and “thousands of Euros spent on games.”

Khane shared an email from Microsoft explaining that, since “unauthorized access occurred” on their account — meaning a likely compromise by hackers — “we have permanently suspended the account.” Microsoft confirmed that “this action is irreversible … Additionally, if you had files stored in OneDrive, those files are no longer accessible. Due to encryption and privacy safeguards, even our engineers cannot retrieve them.”

The move left Khane incensed, with the disbelieving user condemning Microsoft’s decision not to restore their account: “One of the biggest companies ever couldn’t do that so they just deleted that sh*t like it was nothing??”

“Even though the security could be tighter from my side (lessons are learned),” they added, “it bothers me the most that Microsoft says that they cannot recover my account and suspended it … Thousands of Euros are gone down the drain as I’ve lost all my games also! Couldn’t back those up and I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe, even if I got compromised!”

How to keep your data safe

(Image credit: Deemerwha studio / Shutterstock)

After the saga was posted on Reddit, other users chimed in with similar stories of their own. “Happened to me also,” said one user. “I had payment proof and everything going back 20 years. They said sorry, best we can do is lock your account for good.”

Another had a piece of advice for Khane: “When this happened to me, I created the new account and sent an email to them (on the same thread) with the new account info. They basically cloned the old account into the new one and I got everything back.” Elsewhere, many users recommended Khane take legal action against Microsoft.

If you want to avoid a similar fate, it’s important that you don’t just back up your important documents to one source — be that cloud storage like OneDrive or an external storage drive. If something goes wrong, your only copy has vanished into the ether.

Instead, build redundancy into your backups. Use a cloud backup service like Backblaze and a local NAS or offline archive drive. If possible, ensure your backups are in different physical locations, including one off the premises.

As Redditor Linesey rightly suggested, “Get a NAS, get an off-site location like a safe deposit box for cold storage, and then use the cloud if you really want to, as another layer.” That way, you’ve got at least one fallback option if a firm like Microsoft decides to delete your data without warning.

It’s also worth setting up passkeys and multi-factor authentication on your accounts and using one of the best password managers to strengthen and store all your logins. That way, you make it harder for bad actors to gain access to your account — and less tempting for Microsoft to hit the big red button, with irreversible consequences.

• Windows 11's July update has arrived
• It packs some smart features, including pausing updates at length and a new recovery option
• This patch also cures a nasty bug that slowly eats more and more drive space, but there's an issue to be aware of for Dell laptop owners

Microsoft has released its monthly patch for Windows 11 and the July update is a biggie, packing a feature that I've been awaiting for quite some time.

That would be the ability to pause updates on Windows 11 Home – beyond just a short period of time, which has been the only choice to date – and there are some other impressive additions from Microsoft here.

I'm going to pick out my top four features introduced by the July update, as well as rounding up some of the other more notable changes here. I'll also highlight an important bug fix that has been deployed for a nasty flaw that eats your drive space – along with a warning for some of those with a Dell laptop (who may not get this update for a good reason, as you'll see).

As ever, these changes were seen in the last optional update (June preview), and most of these features are being rolled out gradually, so you may not see them right away after installing this update (indeed, you may have to wait a while based on how the update winds blow regarding your exact PC configuration).

1. Pausing updates

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sometimes you want to hold off installing an update because of a bug that you're nervous about potentially affecting your system, and up until now, Windows 11 users have only been able to avoid any given update for five weeks.

Okay, so that's a fairly long time, but what if the bug is one of those persistent and niggly affairs that Microsoft takes an age to fix? You may want to delay the update beyond five weeks, and now you can. The catch is that you'll need to continually renew the delay for every 35-day period, but nonetheless, you can now keep an update at bay for as long as you want. (Well – until you're forced to update to a new version of Windows 11, that is, when support runs out for your current version).

2. Point-in-time restore

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Another neat addition is point-in-time restore, a new recovery option that you can employ when something bad happens to your PC and you can no longer reach the desktop. Point-in-time restore lets you roll back a non-functioning system to a previous working state. It reverts to the "full system state" meaning that all your apps, files, and settings are recovered as captured at that previous time.

Hopefully this is a feature that you'll never need, but if you do, you'll be very glad of it. Note that the system backups obviously take up drive space, with older backups automatically deleted after 72 hours by default. Also, if you have a system drive that's smaller than 200GB, you'll have to enable this feature yourself (as it won't be turned on automatically due to potential space issues – note that you can specify a maximum amount of storage space used).

3. Fewer annoyances with widgets

(Image credit: Windows/Unsplash)

The July update is making the widgets panel 'quieter' by which Microsoft means that it has cut out a lot of clutter. The main change is that by default the panel just displays your widgets and Microsoft has got rid of the promotional nonsense in terms of ads and the MSN feed. Notifications and taskbar badges are also minimized by default, and widgets no longer open when you hover over them.

There are some other streamlining moves here, and even if you don't use widgets, I think this is a noteworthy change as it shows the direction Microsoft is now heading in with Windows 11 – chilling out on the upselling as was previously promised (if not entirely banishing it).

4. Screen tint

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Ham patipak)

Windows 11 has been graced with a number of accessibility improvements in the July update, first of which is a new screen tint ability. This does what it says on the tin, allowing you to tint the screen with a choice of colors to help reduce eye strain, or to make text more easily readable. You can adjust the tint intensity, and this is a very useful addition that'll save people from downloading a third-party app to get these kinds of color overlays.

Other features in the July update

(Image credit: TechRadar)

There's quite a lot going on here aside from the above major moves, and that includes Microsoft boosting the speed at which File Explorer launches (helping Windows 11 to feel more performant overall).

There's a whole lot of work on the Bluetooth front, too, as Microsoft notes: "This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices." That includes better driver stability, improved audio routing for calls via Phone Link, and more.

File Explorer has also been honed to be more reliable, and Microsoft has implemented a performance tweak to the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) that means PCs will shut down more promptly. If you've ever sat staring at your computer while it takes 20 seconds to shut down, wondering what on earth it's doing, that kind of behavior will hopefully be a rarer occurrence going forward.

A major bug fix – and Dell laptop problems

There's some good news for those of you who have been suffering at the hands of a mysterious bug that eats storage space (due to an out-of-control database file). This is fixed with the July update (the cure was in the June preview before it), so you can grab this to resolve the issue (hopefully).

There's some bad news on the bug front, though, namely that you won't get this update on some Dell devices with Intel CPUs, as Microsoft has blocked it due to the July patch causing all sorts of weird issues. I say it's bad news, but at least Microsoft caught the problem and has prevented the update from being piped to those machines.

Microsoft informs us: "This update might not be available for a limited number of Dell devices with Intel processors due to an incompatibility reported by Dell that can potentially cause unexpected shutdowns, poor performance, increased heat, and battery drain. We are working together with Dell to prevent the affected models from experiencing the issue and plan to release a resolution for affected devices in the coming days."

So, if you were wondering why you couldn't get this patch on your Dell laptop, now you know. You'll just have to sit tight for now until Microsoft and Dell get this ironed out.

• Windows 11's July update has arrived
• It packs some smart features, including pausing updates at length and a new recovery option
• This patch also cures a nasty bug that slowly eats more and more drive space, but there's an issue to be aware of for Dell laptop owners

Microsoft has released its monthly patch for Windows 11 and the July update is a biggie, packing a feature that I've been awaiting for quite some time.

That would be the ability to pause updates on Windows 11 Home – beyond just a short period of time, which has been the only choice to date – and there are some other impressive additions from Microsoft here.

I'm going to pick out my top four features introduced by the July update, as well as rounding up some of the other more notable changes here. I'll also highlight an important bug fix that has been deployed for a nasty flaw that eats your drive space – along with a warning for some of those with a Dell laptop (who may not get this update for a good reason, as you'll see).

As ever, these changes were seen in the last optional update (June preview), and most of these features are being rolled out gradually, so you may not see them right away after installing this update (indeed, you may have to wait a while based on how the update winds blow regarding your exact PC configuration).

1. Pausing updates

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sometimes you want to hold off installing an update because of a bug that you're nervous about potentially affecting your system, and up until now, Windows 11 users have only been able to avoid any given update for five weeks.

Okay, so that's a fairly long time, but what if the bug is one of those persistent and niggly affairs that Microsoft takes an age to fix? You may want to delay the update beyond five weeks, and now you can. The catch is that you'll need to continually renew the delay for every 35-day period, but nonetheless, you can now keep an update at bay for as long as you want. (Well – until you're forced to update to a new version of Windows 11, that is, when support runs out for your current version).

2. Point-in-time restore

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Another neat addition is point-in-time restore, a new recovery option that you can employ when something bad happens to your PC and you can no longer reach the desktop. Point-in-time restore lets you roll back a non-functioning system to a previous working state. It reverts to the "full system state" meaning that all your apps, files, and settings are recovered as captured at that previous time.

Hopefully this is a feature that you'll never need, but if you do, you'll be very glad of it. Note that the system backups obviously take up drive space, with older backups automatically deleted after 72 hours by default. Also, if you have a system drive that's smaller than 200GB, you'll have to enable this feature yourself (as it won't be turned on automatically due to potential space issues – note that you can specify a maximum amount of storage space used).

3. Fewer annoyances with widgets

(Image credit: Windows/Unsplash)

The July update is making the widgets panel 'quieter' by which Microsoft means that it has cut out a lot of clutter. The main change is that by default the panel just displays your widgets and Microsoft has got rid of the promotional nonsense in terms of ads and the MSN feed. Notifications and taskbar badges are also minimized by default, and widgets no longer open when you hover over them.

There are some other streamlining moves here, and even if you don't use widgets, I think this is a noteworthy change as it shows the direction Microsoft is now heading in with Windows 11 – chilling out on the upselling as was previously promised (if not entirely banishing it).

4. Screen tint

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Ham patipak)

Windows 11 has been graced with a number of accessibility improvements in the July update, first of which is a new screen tint ability. This does what it says on the tin, allowing you to tint the screen with a choice of colors to help reduce eye strain, or to make text more easily readable. You can adjust the tint intensity, and this is a very useful addition that'll save people from downloading a third-party app to get these kinds of color overlays.

Other features in the July update

(Image credit: TechRadar)

There's quite a lot going on here aside from the above major moves, and that includes Microsoft boosting the speed at which File Explorer launches (helping Windows 11 to feel more performant overall).

There's a whole lot of work on the Bluetooth front, too, as Microsoft notes: "This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices." That includes better driver stability, improved audio routing for calls via Phone Link, and more.

File Explorer has also been honed to be more reliable, and Microsoft has implemented a performance tweak to the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) that means PCs will shut down more promptly. If you've ever sat staring at your computer while it takes 20 seconds to shut down, wondering what on earth it's doing, that kind of behavior will hopefully be a rarer occurrence going forward.

A major bug fix – and Dell laptop problems

There's some good news for those of you who have been suffering at the hands of a mysterious bug that eats storage space (due to an out-of-control database file). This is fixed with the July update (the cure was in the June preview before it), so you can grab this to resolve the issue (hopefully).

There's some bad news on the bug front, though, namely that you won't get this update on some Dell devices with Intel CPUs, as Microsoft has blocked it due to the July patch causing all sorts of weird issues. I say it's bad news, but at least Microsoft caught the problem and has prevented the update from being piped to those machines.

Microsoft informs us: "This update might not be available for a limited number of Dell devices with Intel processors due to an incompatibility reported by Dell that can potentially cause unexpected shutdowns, poor performance, increased heat, and battery drain. We are working together with Dell to prevent the affected models from experiencing the issue and plan to release a resolution for affected devices in the coming days."

So, if you were wondering why you couldn't get this patch on your Dell laptop, now you know. You'll just have to sit tight for now until Microsoft and Dell get this ironed out.

• The UK is proposing a social media curfew for ages 16 and 17
• Access would be blocked from midnight to 6am by default
• However, teens will be able to change these settings if they wish

Having already announced plans to ban under-16s from social media apps early next year, the UK government is now proposing a midnight social media curfew for young people aged 16 and 17 — though parents seem less impressed with this latest idea.

As reported by the BBC, the suggested curfew would run between midnight and 6am, and would be combined by certain "addictive" features being disabled in apps like Instagram and TikTok at any time of day. Those features would include infinite scroll, for example, and videos auto–playing when loaded.

The measures will be "crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends," according to Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. They're also intended to provide a gentler 'on ramp' to these apps for kids turning 16, having previously not had any access.

Changes are also going to be enforced for AI chatbots, which will be required to encourage regular breaks for under-18s, and to have safeguards in place to prevent "dangerous, misleading, or unverified mental health advice" from appearing. The moves are being made after a pilot scheme involving more than 300 teenagers and their families.

Teens can opt outKeir Starmer to announce midnight social media curfew for teenagers from r/ukpolitics

There's not much detail in the government's announcement, so questions around mechanisms and timing have yet to be answered. It's possible the target date for this is the same as the under-16s social media ban – springtime (March, April, May) in the UK.

What's different to the social media ban is that the curfew timings and the removal of addictive features are going to be optional. While app developers will be told by the government to have these restrictions in place by default, teenagers will have the option to disable them if they wish.

Reactions on Reddit suggest the measures will end up being "ineffective and useless", with one poster comparing it to speed limit warnings for cars — very easy to ignore. Commenters also point out that this may require more age verification, and that existing parental control tools already exist to block social media access for kids at certain times.

"How is it any of the government's business what time anyone uses social media?" reads one post, while another calls into question allowing 16-year-olds to join the army but not letting them on social media past midnight.

• The UK is proposing a social media curfew for ages 16 and 17
• Access would be blocked from midnight to 6am by default
• However, teens will be able to change these settings if they wish

Having already announced plans to ban under-16s from social media apps early next year, the UK government is now proposing a midnight social media curfew for young people aged 16 and 17 — though parents seem less impressed with this latest idea.

As reported by the BBC, the suggested curfew would run between midnight and 6am, and would be combined by certain "addictive" features being disabled in apps like Instagram and TikTok at any time of day. Those features would include infinite scroll, for example, and videos auto–playing when loaded.

The measures will be "crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends," according to Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. They're also intended to provide a gentler 'on ramp' to these apps for kids turning 16, having previously not had any access.

Changes are also going to be enforced for AI chatbots, which will be required to encourage regular breaks for under-18s, and to have safeguards in place to prevent "dangerous, misleading, or unverified mental health advice" from appearing. The moves are being made after a pilot scheme involving more than 300 teenagers and their families.

Teens can opt outKeir Starmer to announce midnight social media curfew for teenagers from r/ukpolitics

There's not much detail in the government's announcement, so questions around mechanisms and timing have yet to be answered. It's possible the target date for this is the same as the under-16s social media ban – springtime (March, April, May) in the UK.

What's different to the social media ban is that the curfew timings and the removal of addictive features are going to be optional. While app developers will be told by the government to have these restrictions in place by default, teenagers will have the option to disable them if they wish.

Reactions on Reddit suggest the measures will end up being "ineffective and useless", with one poster comparing it to speed limit warnings for cars — very easy to ignore. Commenters also point out that this may require more age verification, and that existing parental control tools already exist to block social media access for kids at certain times.

"How is it any of the government's business what time anyone uses social media?" reads one post, while another calls into question allowing 16-year-olds to join the army but not letting them on social media past midnight.