Technology

How-To Geek writes:

Dolphin is the default file manager on the KDE desktop, helping you navigate and browse your local and cloud files. Even though it’s usually discussed as a Linux application, you can actually install it on Windows as an alternative to Microsoft’s built-in File Explorer.

Many KDE applications are available and fully supported on Windows and Mac, such as the Kdenlive video editor and Krita digital art creator. Dolphin is also in that category of cross-platform KDE apps, though the Windows version is more of an experimental project. You have to download the latest daily version from KDE’s build server. After installation, Dolphin is available in the Start menu.

How-To Geek

The title already says it all: It’s weird.

That said, Dolphin also offers a number of features that File Explorer doesn’t such as split screen views and the ability to start a terminal session from any folder. The latter may not be as relevant for Windows as it is for Linux, but it’s still convenient for power users.

Windows Central writes:

Earlier this month, a report emerged that the Denmark Ministry of Digital Affairs would shift away from using Windows and Microsoft Office in favor of Linux and LibreOffice. Now, it appears the ministry will only shift away from Office but continue using Windows.

Politiken, which reported on the situation, has amended its original piece, as spotted by PC Gamer. The Denmark Ministry of Digital Affairs will migrate from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice gradually over the coming months.

Windows Central

It’s nice that they’re at least moving to LibreOffice, but it’s still disappointing that they’re sticking to Windows for now.

At this year’s WWDC, Apple announced that they are changing all versions of their different operating systems to be the number 26. As they mentioned, this is based on the year that they will be in service for longest and is inteded to unify the version numbers between all platforms.

As such, this year’s OS releases will include:

• iOS 26
• iPadOS 26
• macOS 26
• watchOS 26
• tvOS 26
• visionOS 26

For anyone following tech news, this won’t be new. As a long-time Apple user, I do, however, have a few things to say about it.

My feelings are mixed. I’m the type of person that needs order. Call me slightly autistic or OCD, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Apple has mostly been consistent with its versioning when it comes to its software. I do wish they had stopped with the Mac OS X 10.x nonsense sooner and moved on to Mac OS 11, but at least it was still in sequence.

Contrast that to Microsoft’s chaotic and nonsensical versioning system for Windows. I realize that, internally, Windows NT is still versioned sequentially, but you don’t see that anywhere unless you know where to look.

As such, I am a bit dismayed that Apple made such a huge leap in version numbers.

That said though, I understand why. It makes absolute sense to unify the versions across their multiple platforms so that both consumers and developers know which feature set to expect. Since Apple already indicates Mac models by the year they were released, this makes sense to do on the software-side as well. Now, they just need to carry this over to their iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches, etc.

Ubuntu has been using a YEAR.MONTH versioning scheme for their OS releases from the beginning. This has never bothered me because it was logical and sequential.

It will take me a little bit of time to get used to Apple’s new versioning, but as long as they stay consisent and avoid Microsoft’s versioning follies, I think it’s for the better. In the end, it’s just a number that indicates a specfic release of a piece of software and version numbers don’t really matter. They are just labels to identfy a specific piece of software.

Axios writes:

Publishers face an existential threat in the AI era and need to take action to make sure they are fairly compensated for their content, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told Axios at an event in Cannes on Thursday.

Why it matters: Search traffic referrals have plummeted as people increasingly rely on AI summaries to answer their queries, forcing many publishers to reevaluate their business models

Axios

This something I recently wrote about on my personal blog. If I had to rely on any of my blogs for income, I would be panicking about now. My biggest fear is that AI and the handful of companies that are working on it are going to irreversibly change the internet so that most people stay in their walled gardens. As someone who has been a web developer since the beginning of the internet, that worries me.

It would appear that the privacy laws in the EU continue to pay off.

9to5Mac writes:

Earlier this week, Meta officially flipped the switch on in-app advertising for WhatsApp users worldwide, marking the first time ads have appeared inside the messaging platform. But if you’re in the European Union, there’s now an important update: the rollout won’t be happening for you… yet.

Europe’s privacy guardrails hold yet again

In comments to reporters today (via Politico), Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) said WhatsApp has informed them that the new ad model won’t go live in the EU until next year at the earliest. Previously, Meta had stated that they would be “rolling this out slowly over the next several months”, with no mention of the European rollout timeline.

[…]

To nobody’s surprise, that cross-platform data-sharing element in particular raised immediate concerns from European privacy advocates and regulators.

9to5Mac

I generally try to avoid Meta’s products because of their abysmal attitude towards user privacy, so I won’t be terribly affected by it when it does come to the EU. I only use WhatsApp for the two or three people I know who don’t have anything else. Otherwise, it’s Apple Messages or Signal for me.

I’m definitely glad I live in the EU.