Brian Fagioli

Many people know that I am a Linux proponent. With that said, I am not a stereotypical Microsoft hater. While I regularly use operating systems like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Chrome OS, I also use Windows 10. Truth be told, I actually love the newest Microsoft desktop operating system -- Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Folks like me that use both Linux and Windows will often setup multiple partitions on a single drive or across multiple drives. This method allows you to easily choose between various operating systems at boot. Unfortunately, there are apparently reports that upgrading to Windows 10 Anniversary Update could delete all Linux partitions in the process. Scary!

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Dropbox is my favorite cloud storage service. I am such a fan, that I actually put my money where my mouth is -- I pay for it annually rather than use a "free" alternative. Why do I open my wallet? Besides being cross-platform and offering a Linux client, I respect the company's consistent improvements and innovations. I also like that its business is mostly focused on storage -- it isn't just one tentacle of a much larger octopus-like creature, such as Microsoft or Google.

Today, the company opens up the beta-testing of its all-new Dropbox Paper apps for Android, iOS, and web. If you are interested in participating in testing the collaboration tool, please read on.

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Let's be honest, folks -- Windows 10 Mobile is not a popular phone operating system. Compared to Android and iOS, Microsoft's OS is largely insignificant. In fact, many people -- including my colleague Mihăiță Bamburic -- consider it a dead platform without a future.

Today, however, Windows 10 Mobile gets a significant app, showing that maybe it isn't dead after all -- Starbucks. While you may not view it as a big deal, many people depend on the coffee chain's app to pay for drinks and find locations. The fact that Starbucks put resources towards the app should make Microsoft fans very happy.

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Even though solid state drives are all the rage nowadays from a performance standpoint, mechanical hard drives still reign supreme for capacity. While SSDs should eventually catch up to HDDs in this regard, that is not going to happen any time soon. Even when SSDs do reach capacity parity, their prices will not. In other words, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an affordable 10TB solid state drive.

Speaking of 10TB hard disk drives, today, Western Digital announces a datacenter HDD with that capacity. This is the company's highest-capacity 'WD Gold' drive ever.

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Football (not soccer) is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Whether it is college or professional, Americans love to spectate it. Not only do they watch the games, but plan their days around them too -- choosing the right snacks and beverages is very important.

Also wildly popular lately is Snapchat. Millennials are absolutely gaga over the app, and last year, the National Football League began utilizing it. Today, the NFL announces that it will be leveraging the 'Discover' feature for the upcoming season. While this extended partnership is certainly a 'touchdown' for Snapchat, the National Football League could benefit greatly too.

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Linux Mint 18 has been available for a month now, and the latest version of the operating system has received much praise. Quite frankly, when you base a distro on Ubuntu, it is hard to go wrong. Both of the default desktop environments -- Cinnamon and Mate -- are brilliant, making the entire package a home run for many.

Of course, not everyone loves the aforementioned environments, and that is OK. One of the arguably wonderful things about Linux-based operating systems is the ability to change the DE. Today, the Linux Mint Team releases the Xfce version of 'Sarah'.

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Tim Cook has been pushing the iPad Pro as a desktop/laptop replacement. You know what? He isn't wrong. Well, depending on a user's needs, of course. For many people, it just won't work -- Windows, Ubuntu, or OS X would be better. If all you do is surf the web, go on social media, or leverage a word processing app, it can be quite brilliant. Heck, it can even succeed at editing both photos and videos if your expectations aren't too high.

With all of that said, the tablet on its own is hardly a productivity workhouse without an important accessory -- a keyboard. Can you buy Apple's keyboard cover? Yeah, and it is pretty good, but many consumers prefer Logitech's Logi CREATE variant instead. Unfortunately, the backlit keyboard is only available for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Today, this changes, as the company releases the keyboard for the 9.7-inch variant too.

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If you hate emoji, I am sorry to tell you that they do not seem to be a fad. In other words, the little pictures are here to stay. Just accept it, y'all -- emoji are fun!

Today, Apple announces that over 100 emoji are being added to the upcoming iOS 10 operating system. The company is putting a lot of thought and care in these new characters, you see, as it is focusing on diversity in both families and gender, plus the latest epidemic of gun violence.

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The Apple Watch is seen by some as a misstep for Apple, but in reality, it outsells Android Wear smartwatches by a lot. Quite frankly, in my travels, I see far more of Apple's smartwatch than ones based on Google's operating system.

While the Apple Watch is very stylish, many of the bands can be very expensive. Luckily, there are many lower-priced third-party bands on sites like Amazon. Unfortunately, many of the aforementioned bands are of low quality, harming the premium Apple Watch experience. Today, X-Doria looks to change this. It releases a new stainless steel 'Mesh Band' that offers high quality for less than $50.

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The upcoming school year is quickly approaching, meaning many parents and students are busy shopping. While some kids still need old-school things like pens and paper, the really fun thing to buy is a new laptop.

Understandably, money is tight for many folks, meaning a quality computer might not be in the budget. Luckily, System76 is giving away one of its most popular Linux-based laptops -- the Lemur. The pre-installed Ubuntu operating system is absolutely brilliant for education, making it a sweet prize for the winner. If you are interested in entering, you can find out the details below.

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When it comes to get working done, I leverage many operating systems -- Windows 10, Ubuntu, iOS, and believe it or not, even Chrome OS. Google's cloud-focused desktop OS is actually quite capable -- depending on needs, of course. Many things work wonderfully in a browser nowadays, such as word processing, spreadsheets, and photo editing.

Apparently, Charles Schwab has seen the light on Chromebooks too, as the financial company has chosen them for a specific need -- in-person account opening. In other words, the much-respected company did not choose Windows 10 for this project. Sorry, Microsoft!

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For any site you visit nowadays, HTTPS should be offered by default. I don't care about the content of the site -- there is no reason to go HTTP only in 2016. Security matters, folks.

Google.com -- one of the world's most popular domain names -- is aiming to get even safer by implementing HSTS. The search giant has recently enabled this technology for the benefit of its users, and it should start paying security dividends immediately.

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Linux and other open source software have been in the news quite a bit lately. As more and more people are seeing, closed source is not the only way to make money. A company like Red Hat, for instance, is able to be profitable while focusing its business on open source.

Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems, and it is not hard to see why. Not only is it easy to use and adaptable to much hardware (such as SoC boards), but there is a ton of free support online from the Ubuntu user community too. Today, Canonical announces a special Ubuntu Core image for the uCRobotics Bubblegum-96 board.

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If you were to observe me playing PC games alone in my basement (yes, I am a cliché), you may hear me talking. No, I'm not a crazy person speaking to myself; I am likely wearing a gaming headset and chatting with a stranger over the internet.

If you are a serious PC gamer, you should invest in a quality headset. Look, you spend all kinds of money on your gaming computer, mouse, and keyboard; why not splurge on a headset too? Today, Sennheiser announces an intriguing surround sound headset -- the PC 373D.

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Solid state drives have been a huge boost to performance for home computer users. Long gone are the days where your PC had to have moving parts. The sound of a slow and loud HDD seeking data is a noise I will never miss.

SSDs are not just for the home, however, as the enterprise can leverage them too. Today, Seagate unveils what it calls an "Industry First" -- a 2TB M.2 NVMe Enterprise SSD, dubbed "Nytro XM1440". This fast drive with massive capacity could be a godsend for servers.

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