Even though Windows 11 has become optimized with time, it’s still quite heavy when it comes to the overall installation. However, that hasn’t stopped avid Windows enthusiasts from trying to shrink it down. While Windows 11 Lite was one of the attempts, a recent mod has actually shrunk Windows 11 down to a mere GBS! Called the Tiny11 Core, this Windows 11 mod brings all centric Windows features in an incredibly small installation size. Let’s discuss all the details below.
Tiny11 Core Windows 11 Mod Released: Key Features & Installation Size
Tiny11 Core is a new Windows 11 mod made by Romanian-based developer @NTDEV. The dev has worked on similar mods like Tiny 11 in the past, but this is the best attempt yet. There are a few exciting features in the new Tiny11 Core project. However, the highlight here is that the final installation size is just around 3GB. This is naturally minuscule compared to official Windows 11 requirements, which need 64GB or higher storage.
The Tiny11 Core Windows 11 Setup ISO is also only 2GB in size. With this, Tiny11 is one of the most lightweight Windows 11 modifications. Keep in mind that you do need to activate OS modifications like Tiny11 or Rectify11 yourself to use the system properly without any limited features.
NDTEV has used LZX disk (de)compression to shrink down his installation to ensure it comes under 3GB. As such, the overall system resource consumption (CPU usage, disk usage, etc.) is reduced on mods like this.
With that being said, Tiny11 Core does have many limitations. Firstly, many components have been stripped down or entirely removed to achieve this. The developer said that ‘significant changes had to be made,’ and he has removed many Windows 11 features such as the Windows Defender, Microsoft Edge, and Windows Update, among other things. This means that Tiny11 Core has very limited security, and as such, NDTEV has suggested only using it as a “quick-and-dirty testbed or development platform.”
Tiny11 Core for Windows 11: Should You Install It?
This current Tiny11 Core Beta 1 version is based on Windows 11 Pro 23H2, build number 22631.2361. So, the question remains – should you install Tiny 11 Core? The developer says it is not a replacement for the normal Tiny11. This ‘core’ version is too stripped down for most users, and most users should still stick to Tiny11 for now. It’s also best to avoid doing this on your primary PC.
Tiny11 Core is meant for running Windows 11 on a virtual machine for testing purposes. Developers can use this stripped-down version of the operating system to test drivers and applications. Despite this, the developer does say many applications from the Windows Store will work just fine. So, while risky, it could be the savior to install the latest OS on an ancient PC.
What are your thoughts on Windows 11 modifications such as Tiny11 Core? Would you install this on your PC? Let us know in the comments below.
Microsoft has launched its Windows 11 2023 Update. Many users were expecting this update to be a significant upgrade for Windows 11. However, many of the features, such as Windows Copilot, AI-powered enhancements to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Photos, RGB lighting support, and a more modern File Explorer, all came out a month earlier. The primary change in the Windows 11 2023 Update is the removal of the Microsoft Teams integration. The company calls this app Chat.
Microsoft Introduces New Teams in Windows 11
The new Chat is now available as Microsoft Teams (free) and is pinned to the taskbar by default. According to John Cable, VP of program management for Windows servicing and delivery, Microsoft Teams offers a streamlined communication experience that allows you to chat, call, meet, and create spaces for community groups to collaborate and share ideas easily.
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The original Microsoft Teams integration was deeply integrated into the operating system and was pinned to the taskbar by default. Users couldn’t simply unpin it like other apps. They had to go into settings to disable it from the taskbar. Chat was somewhat confusing in Windows 11, and it was only available to consumers, making it less useful for the majority of Microsoft Teams users who use the work version of the app.
Other Changes in Windows 11
The Windows 11 2023 Update also includes changes in how it manages apps. Windows 11 system components now have the label “system” and come in a group of a new section in settings. Built-in apps like the Microsoft Store, Game Bar, Phone Link, and Tips apps are all on the list. It appears that Microsoft is preparing to allow Windows 11 users to remove these system components in the future.
In summary, the Windows 11 2023 Update introduces several enhancements, including the transition from Chat to Microsoft Teams, streamlining communication experiences, and better management of system components. While many features rolled out earlier, this update aims to make Windows 11 more user-friendly and efficient.
It’s finally that time of year again where everyone can basically costume up as basically whatever the hell they want, and it’s always fun to see what some of those in the fighting game community come up with.
Longtime Japanese pro BST|Fuudo apparently decided he wanted to be Dee Jay this year after winning a big Street Fighter 6 tournament with the character this past weekend.
Although he doesn’t have the Maximum chain or blinged out headphones, Fuudo was able to get surprisingly close to Dee Jay’s SF6 outfit with what he could probably find at local stores and online — including the maracas.
I’m also pretty sure I have the exact same gloves for an old Akihiko cosplay except they’re red, but that’s neither here nor there.
Google’s At a Glance widget is great. It helps you plan your day ahead by displaying events from your Calendar, keeps track of your connected devices, shows the date and weather info for the day, displays alerts for natural disasters and parcel deliveries, and a lot more things. And while a general user may already consider it plenty feature-rich, At a Glance is actually pretty limited. Limited in the number of things it can display, in the number of third-party apps you can connect, and overall in customizations and the number of complications you can have at once. That’s where Smartspacer comes in. It’s an app that extends the default At a Glance and makes it more customizable.
What is Smartspacer?
Smartspacer is Google’s At a Glance on steroids. It’s an open-source app developed by Kieron Quinn that enables tons of customizations in Google’s At a Glance widget on Pixels and regular Android devices. It does so by exploiting an option in Google’s Smartspace service where it overrides the Smartspacer service instead of the default At a Glance right after restarting the System UI. The best part is, it doesn’t require root.
In layman’s terms, users can have extended customizations, widgets, and alerts right at their glance without any limitations. The app also has a plugin section to feed the data to Smartspace including data from Amazon, Uber, Tasker, and lots more.
In Smartspacer, there are tons of targets and complications. The former is the main information that sits on the top like the main At a Glance widget that shows all info, while complications are additional information such as the battery of a particular connected device, or steps info from Health Connect. If you do not get it, the above image should make it clear.
The default implementation of At a Glance is quite limited, at least for the set of apps and in my region. The customize option of the default At a Glance has lots of options but I’ve only been able to use or see a few options appear such as Torch, Connected Devices, and Bedtime. Features such as Parcel Delivery, Fitness, Food, and Household orders have never worked, at least for me, for whatever reason. As someone who has longed for Assisted Calling to land on Pixels in the sub-continent, At a Glance’s further limitations have made the Pixel experience far less enjoyable. Well, not anymore.
Plugins and Complications
Smartspacer uses Plugins which can be used in Targets and Compilations. As of writing this, there are a total of 20 plugins users can download; some of the popular ones include Amazon, Uber, Google Keep, and Health Connect. The plugins too are open-source and are installable directly in the app from the repository.
Once installed, users will have to add them as a Target or Complication and move them in the list to set where they appear. Beyond this, most widgets don’t require additional attention except for the Amazon widget which requires you to sign in for it to start displaying your order statuses.
The Google Keep widget allows you to select one of your notes and displays it all the time as a page in At a Glance. Similarly, you have the Music target which shows the current track that’s being played. You can also have Notifications as a target where you can select notifications from a specific app to be displayed as a page in At a Glance.
Some of the plugins that I’ve been using are Greeting, Music, Amazon Deliveries, Health Connect, Samsung Health, Google Keep, and Notifications for X (Twitter), and they all work flawlessly. The setup is easy but it’ll take you some time to have things exactly where you want them to be.
I love the Battery complication as it shows the battery percentage of my Pixel Buds Pro directly on the home screen. This eliminates the need of having the Pixel Battery Widget and I end up having more space on my home screen for a cleaner look. Some of the other Targets and Complications I use are Time remaining to Sunset, Steps, Distance Walked, Current Weather, and Google Finance.
One Issue with Smartspacer (Rather Android)
While Smartspacer doesn’t require root but Shizuku (And only for enabling Enhanced Mode for more features), one major issue with it, or rather due to Android’s limitation, is that you’ll need to enable it each time you restart your device or when the app updates. Although it takes only a few steps to start Shizuku, it could be a hassle for people. For those unaware, Enhanced Mode is especially great on Pixels as it allows Smartspacer to integrate on the Pixel launcher and on the lock screen.
Overall, Smartspacer is a really neat app, and it’s what Google’s At a Glance widget should have always been. If it seems exciting to you and if you’d like to request new plugins, you can do so by opening an issue on the project’s official GitHub repository. You can also join its official Discord server to stay updated.
Vivo is gearing up to introduce its new flagship series under the Vivo X100 moniker. Namely, the company will introduce three smartphones, the Vivo X100, X100 Pro, and X100 Pro+. The brand recently confirmed their launch for November 6, and keeps sharing teasers that depict the phones’ specifications. For instance, they will include Dimensity 9300, LPDDR5T RAM standard and even satellite connectivity. Now, the company’s product manager Han Boxiao shared the first official look of the Vivo X100 in its blue colorway. Through this article, we will discuss about the phone design that has been revealed in the new teaser.
Vivo X100 series design improve the usual formula
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The new poster confirms the phones design with a huge circular camera module at the back. The blue color has white elements inspired by start trails. The massive cutout houses four cameras, ZEISS branding and the T* lens coating. It’s a gorgeous design that borrows some elements from the Vivo X90 series, but improve it further. The camera module is now bigger and moved up to the center of the phone’s back. The star trails in the Blue color option are also a nice touch for the phone’s overall look. At the front, the phone will have slightly curved edges and a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera.
The phone’s bottom houses the USB Type-C port and the speakers. The power button and volume rocker are on the right side when you’re looking to the phone’s front. The device will bring an in-display fingerprint scanner, so it’s a conventional power button.
The Vivo X100 and X100 Pro are coming with the MediaTek Dimensity 9300, while the Vivo X100 Pro+ is rumored to be equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The Pro+ will include a 200 MP telephoto lens while the X100 Pro will offer a 64 MP periscope with a 100mm equivalent lens. These phones will be backed by Vivo’s V3 ISP, and you can also expect all the goodies included in the partnership with ZEISS.
Conclusion
There is still one full week ahead of the phone’s release, so we expect Vivo to keep sharing more details about the phone. So far, what are your impressions about the design revealed? Let us know in the comments section below.
Depending on who you ask, Street Fighter 6 has a lot of problems right now. Much like any new fighting game, there are complaints about damn near everything you can think of going around at the moment, but there are a handful of issues that most everyone seems to agree on.
One of these widely agreed upon issues is the total lack of new alternate outfits for the playable characters in Street Fighter 6. As we sit here on Halloween day, it’s hard not to wonder how on earth Capcom missed the opportunity to release special Halloween-themed costumes for the main roster this year.
At this point in time, an outfit 3 for numerous characters on the playable roster have been revealed by way of concept art. So far, we’ve seen some interesting designs that fans seem pretty excited about, but there has been zero word from Capcom on when or how they’ll actually release.
Back in the Street Fighter 5 era, we saw a lot of alternate costumes released over the game’s nearly seven-year lifespan. Generally speaking, Capcom released costume packs that included roughly five outfits for various characters, and we saw several of those packs launched periodically throughout each year.
Street Fighter 6 saw its release back on June 2, 2023, meaning it’s been in the hands of the public now for just shy of five months. Despite this, there have been zero additional costumes for the playable roster, and fans are getting tired of waiting.
From the looks of it, Capcom intends to reveal, then release an outfit 3 for every fighter on the roster all at the same time. This is far more reminiscent of the DLC costume practices they used back in the Street Fighter 4 days where new skins took a while to come out, but when they did, every fighter on the cast received one.
On top of having no clue when outfit 3 will hit, we still haven’t even seen all of the designs yet. At this point in time, we’ve only seen eight out of what will likely be twenty new outfits, which doesn’t bode well for their release. If it took five months just to reveal these initial eight, how long will it be before we see them all, let alone launch?
In Street Fighter 5, Capcom made it somewhat of a tradition to release special Halloween-themed alternate costumes within the month of October. From 2016 through 2019, we saw a Halloween costume pack released, and though they moved away from it in the later years, we still saw numerous other costumes — including crossover costumes that saw characters transform into familiar faces from other Capcom IPs — released over time.
Street Fighter 4 also had its own Horror costume pack released in October 2015 for Ultra Street Fighter 4. From a grim reaper to devils and demons, everyone on the cast got their own spooky alternate look that year.
But here we are in 2023 with Street Fighter 6, and there are no new alternate costumes to speak of. Especially at a time like right now where fans are frothing at the mouth for new character digs, a Halloween-themed costume pack would have been a massive hit this year.
Capcom’s history with Halloween costumes in Street Fighter games already makes this a hard pill to swallow, but what hurts even more is that the company is clearly aware of the holiday and has been releasing Halloween content for Street Fighter 6. Unfortunately for us on the competitive side, this content has been isolated to a single-player Fighting Pass and World Tour avatar gear.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that we’re seeing the game’s single-player modes getting content and there are absolutely fans out there who enjoy the avatar stuff. However, those who are playing the core game right now have been heavily neglected in uncharacteristic fashion.
You ever feel prickly things on the back of your neck?
If we’re not going to see the release of any of these new character costumes soon or even get release dates for them, at the very least we’d hope that Capcom could give fans an update and let us know what they’re even planning for DLC costumes in Street Fighter 6.
Even if it’s just a statement saying that they are doing big costumes packs featuring everyone and they’re going to release less frequently, it would help a ton in tempering expectations.
Apple finally announced the new family of M3 chips at the “Scary Fast” event on Halloween Eve. After the unveiling of Snapdragon X Elite, a direct competition to Apple’s M-series silicon, Apple has been quick to respond to the market. But is the Apple M3 a breakthrough chipset and does it bring a meaningful upgrade over the Apple M2?
In this article, we have compared the Apple M3 vs M2 with regards to CPU, GPU, memory bandwidth, neural engine, and more. So let’s not waste time and check out the performance difference between Apple M3 and Apple M2.
Starting with the CPU first, the Apple M3 has seen architectural improvements this year and is built on TSMC’s 3nm process node, just like the Apple A17 Pro. As a result, the base Apple M3 chipset packs around 25 billion transistors, the M3 Pro has 37 billion transistors, and the M3 Max includes 92 billion transistors.
Furthermore, Apple has included 8 CPU cores on the base M3 chip, 11 or 12 CPU cores on the M3 Pro, and the M3 Max has an option of up to 14 or 16 CPU cores.
The Apple M3 family of chips also brings newer high-performance and efficient cores. According to Apple, the high-performance core on the new M3 chipset is 15% faster than M2’s high-performance core. And the efficiency core on Apple M3 is 30% faster than M2’s efficiency cores. However, Apple has restructured the CPU cluster and has reduced the number of performance cores in M3 Pro.
Unlike on Apple M2 Pro, which had 8 high-performance cores and 4 efficiency cores (8P+4E), the new M3 Pro has an equal sharing with 6P+6E cores.
The base M3 chip with 8 CPU cores has a 4P+4E cluster design, and the M3 Max with 16 cores has a 12P+4E cluster design. Consequently, in multi-threaded workloads, the Apple M3 is not a big upgrade over the M2. During the presentation, Apple mostly compared the M3 with its three-year-old M1 chipset and didn’t showcase the M3’s prowess over the M2.
Last year during the launch of M2, Apple said that M2 is 18% faster than M1. And now, Apple says M3 can deliver 35% better performance than M1 at peak power which means that M3’s CPU is about 17% better than M2. During the presentation, Apple concluded that the 8-core CPU on M3 is up to 20% faster than M2.
Well, it all depends on which M3 variant you choose and what kind of core cluster design it features. The CPU performance can be skewed heavily based on the cluster design. Overall, I would say, the CPU upgrade on the Apple M3 has been decent at best over the M2. However, if you are coming from M1, the Apple M3 is a definite upgrade.
GPU Improvements
GPU has been a major focus this year on the Apple M3. It has been developed on a next-generation architecture and supports many pro-level features. The Apple M3 starts with a 10-core GPU and goes all the way up to 40 GPU cores on the M3 Max. The M3 comes with 10 GPU cores, the M3 Pro packs in 14 and 18 GPU cores, and the M3 Max features 30 and 40 GPU cores.
It supports features such as hardware accelerated Ray Tracing for an unparalleled gaming experience with impressive lighting and a powerful reflection system. The Apple M3 GPU also supports HW-accelerated Mesh shading for processing complex geometric designs. It can aid in rendering incredibly complex visual scenes in graphics-intensive games and programs.
The most noteworthy change Apple has brought to Apple M3’s GPU is Dynamic Caching. This technology allows the chipset to allocate system-level memory to hardware in real-time. Plus, it can assign the exact amount of memory, increasing performance and efficiency.
The company states that M3’s 10-core GPU is up to 20% faster than M2 GPU. And M3 Pro’s 18-core GPU is about 10% faster than M2 Pro’s GPU. Coming to the 40-core GPU on the M3 Max, it’s 20% faster than M2 Max’s GPU. All things considered, the GPU improvement on the M3 is about 10% to 20%. The company also claims the next-gen M3 GPU delivers 65% better performance than the M1 GPU. Along with that, the Apple M3 GPU matches the performance of the M1 GPU at half of the power, which is great from the point of efficiency.
Unified Memory Downgrade
In the memory department, Apple has not changed much on the M3. In fact, it seems to have regressed on the memory front. Apple seems to be using the same LPDDR5 Unified memory. The base M3 has a memory bandwidth of 100GBps, the same as M2’s memory speed. But, Apple has surprisingly reduced the memory bandwidth to 150GBps for the M3 Pro. The M2 Pro’s memory could go up to 200GBps. It’s likely Apple is using a 192-bit memory bus instead of a 256-bit bus, which was used on the M2.
For Apple M3 Max as well, there is some differentiation in memory bandwidth. M3 Max with a 14-core CPU has a memory bandwidth of 300GBps whereas last year’s M2 Max can deliver speeds up to 400GBps. Only if you get the top-end M3 Max with a 16-core CPU, you get the memory bandwidth of 400GBps. It feels like a needless exercise by Apple to force people to get the top-tier model. Apple shouldn’t have cut down on memory bandwidth based on different models.
Apart from that, the company has brought a 128GB Unified memory option with M3 for the first time. Earlier, it was limited to 96GB on M2 Max. You could get memory up to 192GB but with M2 Ultra only. It means you can now run even larger AI models on your MacBook without issues.
Apple has enhanced the Neural Engine on the M3 and it is 15% faster than M2’s Neural Engine. However, it’s still using 16 cores and has not disclosed the TOPS figure for the M3. In comparison to M1, the Neural Engine is about 60% faster which is great. However, the Neural Engine performance is almost on a similar footing as far as M2 is concerned.
The Media Engine has also not seen many upgrades, except that now it comes with AV1 decoding support. You can stream AV1-encoded videos on streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, which should translate into better battery life. And there is the usual support for H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW video codecs.
What’s Our Verdict on Apple M3: Yay or Nay?
The Apple M3 seems to be a decent upgrade over the M2. It delivers moderate upgrades in CPU and GPU and has, in fact, regressed in the memory department. The Neural Engine is also more or less the same, however, you can now get the 128GB option to run large AI models locally. The Media Engine, except for AV1 decode, is also the same. It has not seen breakthrough improvements, as we noted in our earlier comparison between Apple M2 and M1.
To put it straight, the Apple M3 is not a monumental upgrade and if you use an M2-powered Mac, you can skip it without second thoughts. However, for M1 users, the new M3 MacBook might be a tempting proposition.
Samsung is ready to deploy a new generation for its budget Galaxy A-series smartphones. The lineup revamped the company’s business in the mid-range and low-end markets, offering decent specifications for a competitive price. The new round of devices will come soon and the Samsung Galaxy A15 should start the new generation. The phone will go official in Q1 2024 with 4G and 5G versions in Europe. The 4G variant appeared on Geekbench with the Helio G99 SoC. Now, it’s time for the 5G variant of the Galaxy A15 to have its specifications revealed. Through this article, we will dive into the phone’s full specifications.
Samsung Galaxy A15 5G Specifications
The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G had its full specifications detailed today. Under the hood, the mid-range device will include the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ SoC. It’s a mid-range 5G chipset featuring 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz and 6 ARM Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz. The chipset manufacturing uses a 6 nanometer process technology. The chipset is decent for basic usage with social media apps, web browsing and etc. However, when it comes to gaming, it should play casual games well but the more demanding ones will need certain tweaks in the graphics settings. The phone will be paired with 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM.
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The phone brings decent features for the low-end segment
The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G will feature a 6.5-inch Full HD+ screen with 90 Hz refresh rate. It’s a nice display for enjoying media content and web browsing, the 90 Hz refresh rate will ensure the content looks smooth. In terms of optics, the phone will bring a 50 MP main camera with 10x zoom. It will come alongside 5 MP and 2 MP units. Probably ultrawide and depth modules. For selfies and video calls, the device has a 13 MP selfie shooter.
The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G will include a 128 GB storage with the option to expand it by up to 1 TB. The phone draws powers from a 5,000 mAh battery under the hood with 25W charging support. This capacity will allow users to watch videos and movies from streaming services without having to worry with the battery dying all of sudden. The charging speed is not the fastest out there, but Samsung is conservative in this aspect. The handset also include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication.
The handset will sell in Black and Blue colors will cost $149 in the US. However, a previous rumor suggested it will be sold around €250 in Europe.
Carving jack-o’-lanterns is an important tradition for those that celebrate Halloween. It seems that one fan (Geo the Geo) has decided to carve a memorable FGC moment into his pumpkin this year.
Evo Moment 37 was the event that unfolded during Evo 2004. Justin Wong as Chun-Li was hoping to deplete that remainder of Daigo’s life bar using one of Chun-Li’s supers, but Daigo Umehara as Ken was able to parry every single hit and punish Wong for the win.
Needless to say, this pumpkin is intended to represent that moment. The distinctive silhouettes of Chun-Li being parried by Ken is clearly visible within the pumpkin.
Considering its content, this is actually a powerful image. It’s often said that Evo Moment 37 saved the FGC as it was losing steam just before the event played out the way that it did.
Check out the image of the Evo Moment 37 jack-o’-lantern below:
Google recently released the stable Android 14 and we have now got the latest statistics on the Android version distribution, which tells about how Android is adopted by users and which version is the most popular. The last time this happened was in May. Have a look at the details below.
Latest Android Version Distributions Stats
Based on recent stats, Android 13 is the most used Android version as it has acquired a share of 22.4%, which has seen a significant increase since May. It was 15% then! Prompt software updates on most smartphones could be the reason for its swift adoption and this could continue to grow!
The second most used Android version may come as a surprise; it is Android 11 with a share of 21.6%. It has seen a drop in adoption since the last set of data released but this is still impressive given that it has taken the second spot even now.
Google has once again updated the Android version distribution statistics shown to developers in Android Studio to reflect data up to October 1, 2023.
Here’s how the % of (GMS Android) devices has changed since May 30, 2023 when the stats were last publicly updated.
This is followed by Android 10 (16.1%) and Android 12 (15.8%), which is pretty surprising. It feels like Android 12 hasn’t been the likable choice and people are rather preferring older versions! The list continues with Android 9 with a share of 10.5%, Android 8.1 with a 5.6% share, Android 8 and 6 with 1.9% share, Android 7.1 and 7 with 1.3% share, Android 5.1 with 1.2% share, Android 4.4 with 0.4% share, and Android 5 with 0.2% share.
The stats highlight how even older Android versions remain active, showcasing how erratic Android distribution can be. It goes without saying that Android 14 is currently out of the picture considering it just went stable and is yet to reach more and more smartphones. We shall get more on this once a few months pass, giving us a better picture of how Android 14 is treated.
We will keep you posted with the new stats whenever they arrive, so, stay tuned. Also, what are your thoughts on the aforementioned data? Do not forget to share with us in the comments below.
