7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what"s been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee.
This week"s highlights include NASA"s Artemis II moon mission, the UK going after Microsoft, OpenAI becoming a $852 billion company, and Ubuntu requiring higher PC specs than Windows 11. Let"s get started.
You can check out recent issues of the "7 Days" weekly series here.
Once in a blue moon
NASA is again back at exploring the closest celestial body to us after multiple delays. On April 1, four astronauts launched into space on a 10-day round-trip mission to fly by the Moon and explore its far side from a distance of about 4,700 miles.
They will end up being the furthest humans have traveled into deep space, breaking Apollo 13"s record. However, things took a dramatic turn when the astronauts on the Artemis II mission had to deal with Earthly problems. The team complained that they had two versions of Microsoft Outlook, and neither of them was working.
coolest_king12@gmail.com
Finally, Google has allowed us to fix our teenage sins and say goodbye to those old, embarrassing email addresses. You can change your Gmail address without creating a new account and starting from scratch. However, your past will keep haunting you because your old email will continue to live as an alternate email linked to your account.
Netflix is giving back (sort of)
Netflix came under fire in Italy after a court ruled that the streaming giant"s price hikes between 2017 and 2024 were unfair. Upholding a lawsuit by an Italian consumer group, the court ordered Netflix Italia to lower subscription prices and refund subscribers up to 500 euros/person for extra money charged in previous years.
Only fools skip their backups
World Backup Day happened on March 31 this week, strategically placed a day before April Fool"s Day as a reminder. It"s estimated that each person on Earth generates about 36.5GB/year of new information, and losing that data to a broken phone or a fried PC is the last thing we want. Much worse, even data centers are not safe these days. That"s why many experts recommend following the 3-2-1 rule for backups.
UK goes after Microsoft
The Redmond giant is on the radar of the UK"s competition watchdog, which will investigate the company"s business software ecosystem and address issues it has with Microsoft"s practices. CMA will assess whether the company has Strategic Market Status (SMS) in business software, potentially prompting changes to cloud licensing and to how AI tools are integrated to ensure a level playing field.
Going head to head
Swiss technology company Proton AG has jumped into direct competition with Microsoft and Google by launching its very own suite of work apps, called Proton Workspace. The word "privacy" has been a part of Proton"s marketing since the start; this case is no different. To "finally break free from Big Tech dependency," you need to pay $14.99/mo for its Standard plan and $24.99/mo for Premium.
Speaking of Workspace, you can now use guest accounts in Google Workspace to chat with people outside your organization and those who don"t have a Google account. The feature will start rolling out on April 13.
iCelebrate - Apple"s 50th anniversary
The company that sells the $19 Polishing Cloth turned 50 years old this week. Among various ways Apple celebrated its big day, it hosted a grand celebration at Apple Park, inviting music legend Sir Paul McCartney to perform a set.
In other Apple news, some MacBook Pro users were caught off guard after discovering that Apple made a small but controversial change to the 140W USB-C Power Adapter that ships with the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
You can check out the latest issue of Apple Rewind to catch up on the recent news.
Instagram paid version
Social media has been considered a free commodity on the web. But that is changing slowly, as more platforms are launching paid subscriptions to offer an ad-free version and put some features behind a paywall. Meta has started testing "Instagram Plus" paid version in some countries, which comes with "advanced controls" and "exclusive features" for a monthly fee.
Men are liking YouTube
The consumer memory industry is facing the unintended consequences of the AI wave. But the same is true of the UK TV industry, which, according to a survey, is losing male eyeballs to YouTube as AI adoption and social media fatigue grow. Ofcom found that men are using YouTube as their main or only viewing platform because the way it works makes it easier to use compared to an electronic program guide or sifting through a streaming service.
What"s in a screen?
Screenless fitness bands are making a comeback, and Google wants a share of the pie. The search giant is reportedly developing a screenless fitness band to compete with the likes of Whoop. It was reported that the device will have "basic features," but the actual details aren"t known.
In other news, Google is pushing 64-bit on Wear OS even further. It now requires all new Wear OS apps and updates to include native 64-bit code to remain on Google Play. Those who don"t comply will be prevented from uploading new versions to the Play Console.
Inching closer to a trillion
The AI tech giant OpenAI is just over a decade old, and it"s moving closer to a trillion-dollar valuation. Recently, it set a new global record for private fundraising, raising $122 billion in committed capital. The latest funding round pushed OpenAI"s post-money valuation to a whopping $852 billion.
Caught in PR
GitHub Copilot was in the news this week, putting Microsoft in hot water after it injected ads in pull requests (PR) generated by Copilot. It was discovered that such ads promoted other software in millions of GitHub PRs and Copilot integrations in Slack, Teams, and other places. Microsoft came up with damage control and said the situation arose from a "programming logic issue."
ONLYOFFICE parts ways
The makers of the popular open source office software pulled the plug on their eight-year-old partnership with Nextcloud over license violations. That"s because the latter partnered with IONOS, and some other European companies to launch a new open source project called "Euro-Office."
Ubuntu system requirements beat Windows 11
A popular Linux distro now has higher hardware requirements compared to Windows 11. Canonical announced the system requirements for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, stating that it needs at least a 2GHz dual-core processor, a minimum of 6GB RAM, and 25GB free storage. In contrast, Microsoft still recommends a 1GHz dual-core CPU and 4GB of RAM for Windows 11.
In other open-source news, Linus Torvalds expressed concerns about an unusually large Linux 7.0 RC6 patch count, suspecting that it could be linked to improved AI coding tools. Martin Wimpress, who maintains Ubuntu MATE is stepping down after 12 years due to a lack of time and passion. He has started looking for a new maintainer.
GNOME and Google Drive
The latest GNOME 50 update dropped support for Google Drive files through the Nautilus sidebar. The reason is that there is no one to maintain the decaying "libgdata" library, which serves as a communication bridge between GNOME apps and Google"s servers. It has not been actively maintained for around four years.
However, Google Drive is getting a new ransomware detection feature that automatically scans uploaded files for potential ransomware. There is also a bulk restoration tool that lets you restore several files to a previous version at once.
Living on the Edge
Microsoft keeps turning every stone to make Edge the default browser on your PC, including a recent beta test. The Browser Choice Alliance called out Microsoft for repeatedly trying to take control away from users, claiming it creates "unnecessary friction" when switching browsers.
In other browser news, Opera Neon got new MCP connectors to open doors for AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude, which can control your web browser and access the web.
Haptics for mouse
Logitech MX Master 4 mouse got a firmware update that switches on native haptic feedback across Windows 11. While the feature hasn"t been announced, Neowin spotted that the new firmware update promises native Windows haptic feedback for those running the March 2026 update or later.
Watch your step
AI-powered hiring platform Mercor said it was among "one of the thousands of companies" hit by the recent LiteLLM attack, which is being called one of the largest supply chain attacks in the AI industry. While Mercor"s data was stolen and posted on the dark web, hackers were caught after a small bug in their code caused a massive memory leak.
Another security story from this week talked about how the popular JavaScript library Axios, with 80+ million weekly downloads, was targeted in a cyberattack that makes installed versions contact a command and control server for payloads.
Google"s most powerful open models
Google announced Gemma 4 this week, which is a family of the search giant"s most powerful open-source AI models yet. It ships with a clean Apache 2.0 license and can be used commercially. Gemma 4 models come with native support for function calling, structured JSON output, and native system instructions.
Google Vids is now powered by the Veo 3.1 model. You can use the tool to create custom avatars for your organization"s identity and target audience, and to export finished videos directly to YouTube without downloading files.
Apart from these, here are some more AI news from this week:
- Adobe Illustrator can now use AI to rotate 2D vectors in 3D space
- Perplexity Computer can now draft IRS returns and audit tax professionals
"I was driving"
It might look surprising, but Google Meet support arrived first on CarPlay than Android Auto, joining the likes of Teams and Cisco Webex. So, it will be hard to dodge team meetings with the "I was driving" excuse. While you can join a live call in your car, for obvious reasons, your call will be limited to audio only. Google has promised Android Auto support is coming soon.
What happened at Microsoft this week
For those wondering what happened under the Redmond giant"s roof this week: Windows 11 is getting a movable taskbar, Bing Maps got its biggest address data upgrade, and it"s finally getting easier to turn off experimental Windows 11 features.
Although it"s been known for a while, users aren"t happy that Microsoft is killing its Publisher app and recommending PowerPoint, Designer, and Word as alternatives. You can check out Taras"s freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week.
Our Features
This week, Usama talked about how Patch Tuesday is killing the excitement for Windows feature updates. The Redmond giant is stuffing so much in Patch Tuesdays that it leaves little room for Windows feature updates to make a mark.
If you"re a regular Windows 11 user, there are ten common mistakes that people often make without realizing it. You should avoid them, as sometimes things might go south, leading to unintended disasters.
Moreover, if you"re a frequent Task Manager user in Windows 11, you can move it to a more accessible location. Without downloading any third-party app, you can pin the Task Manager to the top of the screen to keep an eye on CPU usage, temperature, RAM usage, GPU, or network load.
PS website hints at a breakup with PCs
It"s been a while since we heard that Sony is shying away from PCs, ditching single-player releases altogether. While it hasn"t made any official announcements saying goodbye to PC games, the PlayStation website has subtle changes, such as dropping mentions of PC as a platform in the descriptions of first-party studios.
Automatic Transmission
The latest update to the NVIDIA app introduced Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and a 6X Multi Frame Generation mode. There are new override options for Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, which are described as "automatic transmission" for RTX 50 series GPUs. DLSS Frame Generation is now raising the maximum multiplier to 6, giving five more frames for every natively rendered frame.
For GeForce NOW users, the month of April brings several gaming titles, including Capcom"s upcoming sci-fi RPG PRAGMATA, the highly anticipated indie title Replaced, the action game Samson, and more.
Popular OS for gaming
Windows might have lost the crown to Android, but it"s dominating in the gaming world as the most preferred OS. Valve"s latest Hardware & Software Survey revealed that Windows 11 has an overwhelming 66.6% market share on the most popular gaming platform, continuing its previous streak. Interestingly, Windows 7 is still used by 0.08% of Steam users.
What else in gaming?
The latest issue of Pulasthi"s Weekend PC Game Deals curates several multiplayer games on sale this week. The latest freebie title from the Epic Games Store is the Clone Drone Danger Zone by Doborog Games. Xbox Free Play Days is welcoming six Assassin"s Creed games this weekend, bringing Assassin"s Creed Valhalla, Mirage, Unity, and more.
There are more titles in April for PC gamers with a Prime Subscription as part of the latest promotion, including Total War: PHARAOH DYNASTIES and XCOM: Enemy Unknown Complete Pack.
That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world:
- Xbox Games Showcase and a Gears of War: E-Day deep dive confirmed for June
- Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal hit with more layoffs, this time affecting over 100 staff
- State of Decay 3 rises from the dead six years after reveal with playtests
From the review corner
This week, while reviewing the GCP-10A gaming chair from Seenda, Christopher recounted how he used to sit on the floor for hours to play games on the original Xbox. Seenda"s floor chair can be a great addition for those who currently sit on the floor for extended periods. It offers comfort with great lumbar support and is easy to store. However, the chair attracts a lot of pet fur, and it could be a little taller and wider.
TerraMaster D1 SSD Pro
Steven got his hands on the TerraMaster D1 SSD Pro disk enclosure, featuring a great design and an expensive MSRP. However, that money is for an all-aluminum enclosure with support for Thunderbolt 5, 80 Gbps USB4 sustained bandwidth, a fanless design, 8TB raw capacity, and an Intel JHL9480 Thunderbolt 5 Accessory Controller chip. There is no M.2 latch system, and the cable is only 0.3m.
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Fx Pro
The new Sound Blaster Audigy Fx Pro sound card from Creative comes in a compact form factor, with a built-in headphone amplifier and analog + S/PDIF option. However, it disappoints because it does not support DTS or Dolby Digital and has no EMI shielding. Overall, it"s a nice card for those in the budget segment and offers a great starting point for up to 7.1 channel audio.
Xenonauts 2
Goldhawk Interactive"s turn-based strategy video game, Xenonauts 2, is the sequel to the 2014 original title. It"s a modern take on classic XCOM, but lacking style, Pulasthi highlighted in his detailed review. The game features a useful action preview system, satisfying technology progression, and tough AI to outmaneuver. On the downside, the art style is boring, the mission strategy could be better, and there are punishments for taking too many missions.
Apart from that, Sayan tested Intel"s secret sauce for Windows 11 performance in its latest Core Ultra processors, and Taras published the hands-on with the Aulumu C01 HiPer Titanium alloy Apple Watch band.
More price drops!
We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals while they are still alive:
- This 28TB Seagate IronWolf Pro CMR NAS 7200 RPM HDD deal is even better than the 20TB one
- Save $100 on the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handheld console
- Samsung"s best ever Dolby Atmos 11.1.4 soundbar, the new 990H, is already an insane deal
- This 16GB VRAM variant of Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti GPU is great for 1080p & 1440p gaming
- This Ugreen 144TB desktop NAS with 4-bay HDD, SSD support is a nice deal for under $600
To view all of our recent deals, click here.
So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.