News

• Running an old OS like Windows 10 could soon pose cybersecurity issues
• Upgrading could reveal software compatibility issues, report notes
• The clock is now ticking to avoid a rushed Windows 11 migration

New research has uncovered some of the finer details around why many businesses are still being cautious with their approach to Windows 11 migration, with security threats and financial impacts proving to be major hurdles.

The report from Panasonic found nearly two-thirds (62%) of devices need replacing or upgrading for Windows 11 compatibility, highlighting the scale of the problem – a figure that rises to 76% among larger organizations with 5,000+ employees.

However, despite migration-related concerns, the study claims many organizations still recognize the benefits of upgrading from Windows 10 and older operating systems.

Panasonic found 94% fear increased ransomware and malware risks if they don't upgrade, with 93% also concerned about data breaches. But two in three noted overall higher costs associated with migrating to Windows 11, with 55% stating that it could add to cybersecurity expenses.

Nearly half also noted software compatibility issues (47%) and productivity loss during downtime (45%), and for many (25%), hardware upgrades come with software upgrades, compounding the financial impact of OS upgrades.

However, with Microsoft estimating that ESU could cost around £320,000 over three years for 1,000 devices, the need to upgrade is clear.

Around a third each acknowledge that upgrading will give them better performance and processing power (36%), a more future proof ecosystem (36%) and access to AI features like Microsoft Copilot (34%).

Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Europe Head of Go-to-Market Chris Turner commented: "The window is closing for organisations to make a well-planned, measured and cost-effective transition to Windows 11 and start unlocking its benefits."

"Organisations that are still to undertake Windows 11 migration need support to ensure their deployment is not rushed and risky," Turner added.

• Windows 10 users who don’t want to upgrade to Windows 11 get new lifeline from Microsoft
• We've listed the best business laptops and best mobile workstations for the best portable upgrades
• Check out our roundup of the best productivity software

The AI hype felt relentless in 2023/24. While the initial frenzy has subsided somewhat, executives and professionals now grapple with the reality of deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Generative AI (GenAI), within their organization.

LLMs (Large Language Models), the technology behind popular GenAI chatbots, are powerful, but there remains a significant disconnect between the perception of what they can do and their practical application for business writing.

Easy to use interfaces like ChatGPT make GenAI seem like it "can literally do anything".

This is a dangerous misconception. While incredibly useful for certain tasks, GenAI chatbots can be totally useless, and even harmful when not used appropriately.

The fundamental difference lies in how GenAI works compared to traditional software.

1. Traditional software is deterministic

It follows fixed logic and algorithms, producing the exact same, 100% accurate, and therefore repeatable result every time you give it the same input. Think of hitting CTRL+F in Word – you get a precise, repeatable count of a term.

2. Generative AI is non-deterministic

LLMs predict the next word based on probabilities from their training data. This means asking the same question twice will often give you different answers. They are designed to be variable.

This core difference results in two critical characteristics businesses must understand:

1. Hallucinations: GenAI can confidently generate incorrect information or make things up. This isn't a bug; it's how the technology works. It's guessing based on patterns, not verifying facts. Copilot, for example, can wildly miscalculate readability scores or miss most instances of a search term.

2. Lack of Repeatability: You simply cannot guarantee the same output from the same prompt.

Here is the absolute critical takeaway: if your writing or document review task requires 100% accuracy or 100% repeatability, you must use deterministic software, not GenAI. Using GenAI for tasks demanding precision is a classic case of wielding a "GenAI hammer" and seeing every problem as a nail.

Consider the disastrous consequences. I’ve used MS Copilot to search for every instance of "cybersecurity" in a contract for compliance purposes, only for the GenAI tool to miss 23 out of 27 occurrences. Trying to "shred" a document line-by-line into an Excel matrix for compliance, a task requiring perfect repeatability, is another inappropriate use case where GenAI will fail.

For businesses, especially in regulated sectors, using GenAI for tasks where factual accuracy is paramount is dangerous. Users may trust outputs due to brand credibility, not realizing the risks of inaccuracy.

Real-world failures like Air Canada's chatbot providing false information resulting in a lawsuit underscore the significant brand and trust damage inaccurate GenAI can cause.

GenAI thrives for tasks where variability, creativity, or a "good enough" answer is acceptable or desired.

Appropriate use cases include:

• First Draft Creation: Generating initial versions of documents like management plans, executive summaries, or proposal sections based on context. This can save significant time.
• Creative Assistance: Rewriting content in a different tone or style.
• Summarization: Condensing lengthy documents.
• Simplification/Rephrasing: Making complex text more accessible or refining paragraphs.
• Research & Analysis: Using public data for competitive analysis or sales research where perfect accuracy on every detail isn't required for generating insights. Using NLP (another type of AI) for thematic analysis across communications to check message consistency.

Beyond simple chatbots, the real value often lies in specialized applications. These layer GenAI into workflows for specific jobs, intelligently combining GenAI for creative/drafting tasks with deterministic software for accuracy-critical functions like readability scoring or compliance checks.

They understand the "job to be done" and apply the right technology. NotebookLM, which generates audio summaries of documents, is a great example of a focused application.

Generative AI, even when combined with techniques like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to access proprietary data, is not a magic wand that can overcome poor data quality. The old adage "garbage in, garbage out" is more relevant than ever. If your internal knowledge bases are a mess of outdated content, multiple revisions, and poorly tagged documents, the AI's output will reflect that chaos.

As the Harvard Business Review noted, "Companies need to address data integration and mastering before attempting to access data with generative AI". Good data hygiene – clear folder structures, naming conventions, and processes for maintaining content – is crucial but is fundamentally a human behavior problem, not just a tech one. Investing in proper knowledge management now will pay dividends when you roll out any GenAI solution.

Many popular AI chatbots rely on public cloud-based LLMs. For businesses, especially those in regulated industries like defense, finance, and healthcare, feeding proprietary or sensitive or PII (Personally Identifiable Information) data into these public models poses a significant security risk. CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) are rightly wary, often blocking interactions with such models entirely.

The safer path for enterprises involves hosting LLMs in a private cloud or on-premise, fully locked down behind the firewall. The rise of powerful open-source models like Llama 4 or Mistral Nemo which can be deployed securely in-house, is a welcome trend. This shift is so significant that a Barclays CIO survey last year indicated 83% plan to repatriate some workloads from the public cloud, largely driven by AI considerations.

Most AI projects fail not due to the technology, but because of people, process, security, and data issues. Lack of buy-in, poor strategy, inadequate data, and insufficient change management and user education are common pitfalls.

Deploying AI chatbots without teaching users about:

• Hallucinations
• The need to verify outputs
• Effective prompting
• Crucially, what tasks not to use GenAI for

...will lead to frustration and project failure.

Start with the business problem you need to solve, then map the appropriate technology to that job. Don't just chase the "shiny new tech". Define your goals, measure success (both quantitative and qualitative), and involve end-users early.

When evaluating vendors, look beyond captivating demos. Ask pointed questions about accuracy, repeatability, data handling, security posture, and their understanding of your specific use cases and industry needs. Always try before you buy and vet vendors carefully. Be wary of vendors who overpromise or claim GenAI can do everything.

In summary, popular AI chatbots offer exciting capabilities, but they are not magic. They are powerful tools with significant limitations. Successful businesses will adopt a pragmatic, thoughtful approach: understanding GenAI's non-deterministic nature, applying it strategically to appropriate tasks (like creative drafting), leveraging hybrid applications, investing in data quality and security, and crucially, focusing on the people and processes required for effective adoption and change management.

This is the path to truly unlocking AI's value.

I tried 70+ best AI tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

If you’re going to watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps during its opening weekend, you’ll also be able to catch the very first trailer for Avatar 3 (better known as Avatar: Fire and Ash). As if I didn’t think my job could get any better, I was treated to an exclusive first look at what’s to come in the next installment of James Cameron’s smash-hit sci-fi series, in 3D, with a cocktail shaped like a delicious fiery explosion.

It was a similar fanfare for the release of The Way of Water, but I still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Objectively, it seemed absurd for a trailer to have its own launch event, but as soon as the lights went down and I put my 3D glasses on, I completely understood why. Even in a matter of minutes, Cameron creates something so majestic, something so beautiful that stops time itself, that you can’t do anything other than sit back in amazement.

Obviously, I’m not going to tell you any specific details about the scenes in the Avatar 3 trailer – you’ll need to trust me when I say you need to see it to believe it. But I can tell you more about what to expect, and when you need to pay extra attention in order to work out what’s to come when the full film is released on December 19, 2025.

Here’s the genius about the Avatar 3 trailer launch. I watched the footage through, in 3D, three times, and I still haven’t got the vaguest idea what the core storyline actually is. Essentially, this means the trailer is functioning as it should, not giving away everything we’re going to see in the full film, but simply alluding to it instead. But even if you can’t remember the ins and outs of Na'vi lore, it only takes a few seconds to work out that the next installment is going to be a lot darker.

As we already know, conflict on Pandora is about to escalate once again, with Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of the family encountering the aggressive Mangkwan Clan for the first time. They’re the “fire Na'vi,” and they’re viciously on the offensive from the moment they arrive in the trailer. We don’t know what their backstory is or why they have such an issue with outsiders, but as the trailer confirms, the meeting isn’t going to end in flowers and rainbows.

While the two Na'vi clans battle it out, Pandora itself has never looked more jaw-dropping. You can expect some ridiculously beautiful set pieces from Cameron in the trailer, elevating the 3D experience we got back in The Way of Water. It boggles the mind to think how they got there, but somehow, Cameron and his creative team has made something more visually astonishing that anything we’ve ever seen before.

Even though I was as busy as everyone else getting lost in the wonder of Pandora, there was a particular scene that caught my attention, and potentially has the power to change everything we know about the Avatar franchise. Blink and you’ll miss it, because it’s on screen for less than a full second. Again, no outright spoilers here, but all you need to know is that the only familiar character involved in this fleeting moment is Sully.

From the first Avatar movie, we’ve known there’s a huge human element in Pandora’s world now, and you only need to look at Sully himself to understand how that’s adapted over time. However, it’s easy to forget that presence in Avatar 2, shifting the worldbuilding focus to different Na'vi tribes coming into contact. All I’ll say is that Avatar 3 has the power to bring the Na'vi vs. Na'vi vs. humans hate triangle back into play, all by introducing an entirely new perception of human popular culture into the mix (you’ll know it when you see it, I promise).

If 3D isn’t your thing, you’ll be able to catch the Avatar 3 trailer in full on YouTube from July 28. If you can’t wait that long… I suggest you get yourself down to your local cinema quick sticks.

• Stream all Avatar movies in the US on Disney+
• Stream all Avatar movies in the UK on Disney+
• Stream all Avatar movies in Australia on Disney+

• I watched Avatar on the Apple Vision Pro and this is how you do 3D movies at home
• You can finally stream the original Avatar in glorious 4K HDR on Disney Plus
• 3D movies are great, actually

• Windows 11 has a new optional update
• It's a big one, delivering a whole load of new features
• These include an AI agent in Settings, a new quick-recovery option for PCs that won't boot, and added AI features for many Windows 11 apps

Windows 11 has a new update in preview, and it's a hefty download which packs in a lot of features, many of which are AI-related (and for Copilot+ PCs only, with their beefy NPUs).

This is patch KB5062660 for Windows 11 24H2, and it should be noted that this is an optional (preview) update, meaning that it's still in testing, so the various features may still have bugs (install it at your own risk, in other words).

Everything should be fully knocked into shape by the time the full update for August arrives, which is when all these features will be officially deployed (or should be – although some are on a 'controlled rollout', meaning they'll be drip-fed out).

So, with those caveats out of the way, what have we got to look forward to with this optional update (and next month's full upgrade)?

Here's my pick of the top features rolling out with KB5062660 (again, bear in mind that some are for Copilot+ laptops only).

The headline functionality here is, sadly for most of us, for Copilot+ PCs only, and it's the addition of the first so-called Windows Agent. This is an AI agent specifically for the Settings app, and it lets you find and manipulate the options you need in a much more convenient way.

Normally, trying to find a setting involves using the search functionality, which can be rather hit-or-miss. With the AI agent, you're essentially getting an intelligent search where you can simply ask a question (in natural language) pertaining to what you're trying to do in Windows 11, and the agent will (hopefully) immediately surface the correct setting.

The AI doesn't just find the right setting for you, but can also make suggestions as to what changes you might want to make as well. Check out the video clip above of the agent in action to get a flavor of how it all works.

This is just rolling out to Arm-based Copilot+ PCs (with Snapdragon CPUs) to start with, but support for AMD and Intel chips is "coming soon" (it's also for the English language only initially).

Suffice it to say this is one of the more impressive uses of AI in Windows 11 I've seen so far, alongside more intelligent Windows 11 search from the desktop (for both Copilot+ laptops, and other PCs too). Yes, Microsoft appears to be progressing overall search capabilities nicely with AI, which is good to see.

Click to Do is Microsoft's array of context-sensitive AI-powered options in Windows 11 (for Copilot+ PCs), and a few more shortcuts (for selected text or images) have been added here. That includes a choice to fire up Reading Coach, which is a free app (installed via the Microsoft Store) that aims to help you polish up your reading skills (pronunciation and more besides).

Secondly, Immersive Reader is now in Click to Do, which takes any text and presents it in a "distraction-free environment", allowing you to adjust text size, font, spacing, and a bunch of other parameters to make everything more easily readable. It also helps with reading skills (breaking down words into syllables, providing a picture dictionary, and more).

Draft with Copilot is also now in Word (for Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers), allowing you to turn a sentence (or short summary) into a lengthy full draft penned by the AI.

Microsoft's Quick Machine Recovery (or QMR) is now arriving for all PCs (not just Copilot+ devices), which is the ability to recover from a problem that means your PC won't boot. This is the nightmare scenario we all dread, and the idea is that you'll be able to get help via the Windows Recovery Environment (which can be accessed if your system won't boot to the desktop).

QMR allows for diagnostic data to be sent to Microsoft and hopefully a patch can be sent back to cure the problem, or that's the idea. Another avenue of troubleshooting – one that's completely automated – is clearly a good idea, and I'm looking forward to seeing how useful this will be. (And I should clarify, I'm keen to see how competent this feature is – not to personally use it, with any luck. We can all hope that it's a screen we don't ever have to visit).

A bunch of new AI-powered functionality for images is now inbound (for Copilot+ PCs), as previously seen in testing. That includes a Relight ability in the Photos app – allowing you to place virtual light sources to change the lighting in an image – and object select in the Paint app, which uses AI to select any given object (so you don’t have to do so manually).

A similar feature to the latter is coming to the Snipping Tool called 'perfect screenshot', which lets you roughly select an area of the screen you want to grab, and then automatically makes a precise crop of that element, taking the pain out of that process. (Again, check the above video to see how this works).

There's quite a lot going on with this update, as mentioned, and another development is that Recall is now being deployed in Europe. Previously, this AI-supercharged search (that works using regularly taken screen grabs) wasn't out in the European Economic Area (EEA), but it is now, and it comes with a new ability. This is the option to export its screenshots (called snapshots) to "trusted third-party apps and websites" (wherever you want, basically - should you wish to share this data).

Furthermore, all Recall users are getting a reset button, which deletes all data relating to the feature and restores Recall to its original settings, should you wish to start afresh (or indeed abandon the ability and turn it off).

Also, the Black Screen of Death is now official, so wave goodbye to the blue version that's been with us so long, and say hello to a more streamlined effort whenever your PC is unfortunate enough to witness Windows 11 locking up. (I'm not sure about this change, as I've discussed elsewhere at length recently).

The Gamepad layout in the virtual keyboard for Windows 11 now benefits from "enhanced controller navigation" which includes word suggestions and better handling of menus, as well as the ability to use a gamepad to sign in from the Windows lock screen (via the PIN panel).

Finally, this preview update fixes a problem with the May 2025 update for Windows 11 which caused some PCs to suffer instability issues (crashes). Microsoft says this was a "rare" bug that didn't affect many, but it sounds like a truly nasty one, so having it resolved will doubtless be a relief.

• Microsoft promises to crack one of the biggest problems with Windows 11: slow performance
• Windows 11's handheld mode spotted in testing, and I'm seriously excited for Microsoft's big bet on small-screen gaming
• No, Windows 11 PCs aren't 'up to 2.3x faster' than Windows 10 devices, as Microsoft suggests – here's why that's an outlandish claim

• Users are reporting multiple issues with Google smart home gadgets
• Commands aren't working or being responded to slowly
• Most Google Home and Nest devices haven't had updates for years

Have you checked in on your Google Home devices lately? It seems that Google Home and Google Nest gadgets are gradually becoming less reliable and more buggy, and many users are venting their frustrations at Google apparently abandoning the ecosystem.

A lengthy Reddit thread details a long list of problems, as highlighted by an article at Android Authority – an article which itself has dozens of comments bemoaning how unreliable Google smart home devices have become.

The issues listed include commands not working, automations and routines breaking, audio and video streams being unavailable, and devices going offline, not talking to each other, or being very slow to respond – it's not a pretty picture.

One user's lament that "I can only get it to work without some kind of error 25% of time these days" is typical, and many of the people logging complaints say they're planning to switch to different products in the absence of any response from Google.

There aren't many signs of life from the Google Home and Google Nest ecosystem at the moment. The Nest Protect smoke alarm was discontinued in March, and we've not had a new Nest security camera since 2021. For the latest Nest smart speaker or smart display launch you have to go back further, to 2020.

We did get a new Nest Thermostat last August, but it was only made available in the US, and older models are no longer sold in Europe. Add in the increasing number of bugs being reported, and it's understandable that users are upset.

Google does have a track record of getting interested in something and then abandoning it, from Chromecast devices to Google Stadia – which is obviously going to put people off from investing their time and money into whatever Google offers in the future.

Google's latest favorite toy is of course Gemini AI, and it's possible that we'll see new smart home devices with Gemini on board in the future. However, given how little attention Google has recently paid to the hardware it's already got in this category, there'd be no guarantee any new gadgets would be supported in the long term.

• Google just teased the Pixel 10 Pro, and a new color
• The 13 biggest announcements from Google I/O 2025
• Google Maps has been updated with a subtle change