Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

We now know that there are less than two months to wait until Windows 10 is launched. If you have been working your way through the preview builds, you'll already have a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of new features -- Cortana, Start menu, notification center, virtual desktops, Continuum, cross-device experience, Microsoft Edge and so on -- but what about the things you're going to lose when upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1?

The delivery of Windows 10 is not just about bringing new features and tools to desktop, tablets, and laptops; there are also a number of things that are simply going to disappear. Not all of this will matter to everyone, but the stripping out of certain features will come as a blow to some, and it's best to be prepared ahead of time.

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Taking a leaf out of Facebook's, er, book, Google today unveils a revamped privacy checkup page. Google and privacy are not words that belong in the same sentence for many people, but the search giant wants to change that. Users are invited to answer a series of simple questions to control how their data is stored, collected, and shared.

The company wants to place users back in control, and at the heart of today's announcement is the My Account page which is now central to configuring privacy settings. In the interests of transparency, Google has also set up a page dedicated to revealing how and why data is collected.

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Microsoft has been promising that Windows 10 will see the light of day this summer for a while now, and current rumors suggest that we might hit RTM as early as July. Now a new listing on Newegg reveals -- perhaps -- that the Windows 10 release date is pegged for 31 August.

A pre-order listing for the OEM version of Windows 10 Professional has popped up on the site with a price tag of $149.99. Windows 10 Home OEM is listed for $109.99 Based on the previous pricing for OEM versions of Windows, it's fair to assume that this is the full version rather than the upgrade edition. The suggested release dates aside, the first thing that many people will jump on is the fact that Windows 10 has a price tag at all...

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You've just discovered an incredible app or game and want to tell everyone you know about it... what do you do? Email your friends with a link to the relevant app in the App Store or Google Play? Make an announcement on Facebook to your contacts? With the introduction of App Invites, Google is bringing this sharing right into apps themselves.

Launched in beta at I/O 2015, App Invites is a feature that does very much what it says on the tin: it enables users of compatible apps to invite their contacts to install an app by sending out notifications via SMS or email. It's a feature that will be welcomed by developers as it opens up one of the most valuable forms of advertising -- word of mouth.

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The EFF (Electronic Freedom Foundation) has involved itself in lots of online battles -- including the fightback against NSA surveillance, and the drive for net neutrality. The latest fight sees the organization joining forces with web performance and security firm CloudFlare in tackling the site blocking activities of the record industry.

The digital rights group is battling record labels which it says are forcing web firms into becoming the "copyright police". The move was prompted by the closure of Grooveshark, a music website run by one of CloudFlare's clients. It re-opens the question of who is ultimately responsible for the content that appears on sites -- those posting it, those hosting it, or any other company involved in the delivery?

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There are lots of online services and sites that quickly become notorious; the Pirate Bay and Napster to name but two. But Silk Road was something in a completely differently league. Found on the dark web, the site acted as a portal to drugs and other illegal goods. It started life back in 2011 and today its founder, Ross Ulbricht is sentenced to life in prison, a year and a half after his arrest.

Ulbricht was found guilty at a jury trial three months ago and today Judge Katherine Forrest said that Silk Road demonstrated he believed he "was better than the laws of this country". She said "this is deeply troubling, terribly misguided, and very dangerous" before handing down the harshest sentence available.

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Every tech company worth its salt is running to get involved in the Internet of Things; Ubuntu is in on it, and Microsoft has teamed up with more than one company to plant its IoT flag. Today Google unveiled its new IoT platform, Brillo.

Google is not entirely new to the Internet of Things -- it already has its cloud platform in place and has also acquired Nest. Destined for all manner of connected devices, Brillo is a stripped down and streamlined operating system based on Android. Google has not revealed how its size compares to Huawei's LiteOS, but has said that -- like Android M -- there is a focus on security, and the platform will run on Weave.

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All eyes are on Google today, and there are certainly plenty of announcements to take on board. As well as exciting future releases such as Android M, there are also changes to old favorites. Google Play is one stalwart that's in line for an update, and this time around Google has decided to focus on making the store a family-friendly experience.

To allay the fears of concerned parents who are worried about what their kids might stumble across while looking for apps and games, Google is introducing a new Family category. There is a strong focus on making it easier to select content that's suitable for specific age groups and the categorization is available across apps, games, books, movies, and TV shows.

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Ready to further facture the Android market, Google today gave us the first glimpse at what to expect in the follow up to Lollipop -- Android M. We're not yet any the wiser about what the M might stand for (Marshmallow? Marzipan? Mars?) but we do know that Google is placing a focus on security improvements, giving users greater control over app permissions, and prolonging battery life.

Battery performance improvements -- if Google is to be believed -- are seriously impressive. The company claims that its Nexus 9 tablet could benefit from twice the battery life currently enjoyed under Lollipop. What else is there to look forward to? The Developer Preview also boasts a new fingerprint reader API, indicating that biometrics are set to become increasingly important in future handsets.

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Security and Facebook are not words that generally sit well together. This is something that the social network is only too aware of, and in recent years has taken various steps to try to improve the security and privacy of individuals' accounts. The latest tool in its arsenal is the new Security Checkup.

At the moment the tool is not being made available to everyone, but those who have been chosen to test drive it will be able to use simple on-screen prompts to change their password, turn on login alerts, and clean up login sessions, all from one handy location.

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AdBlock Plus has already been in court once this year proving itself to be legal. A German court heard a case brought by a group of TV companies who felt they were getting a poor deal when their ads were blocked.

The internet has something of a love/hate relationship with ad blockers. While surfers love the fact that they clean up the browsing experience, content creators have a source of income crimped. To try to keep everyone happy, AdBlock Plus came up with the idea of Acceptable Ads -- a sort of halfway house between blocking and permitting ads -- and this was something that featured in this most recent court case.

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Online piracy is usually associated with music, movies, and software. But the ever-growing popularity of ereaders such as the Amazon Kindle has also led to a burgeoning ebook piracy scene. The UK has been trying to clamp down on piracy recently, and the latest target is a raft of sites offering illegal downloads of ebooks.

We've already seen the government would like to restrict access to some online content such as porn, and torrent sites have been blocked at ISP level. Now a High Court ruling means that a number of big ISPs are to be forced to block access to major ebook sites.

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Google's system of rating apps and games in the Play Store has been relatively simple up to now. A rudimentary high, medium, and low labelling format has been used to give a rough indication of the age a particular title is suitable for, but things are about to get a lot more complicated. Developers are now required to answer a questionnaire about their apps so they can be assigned movie-style age ratings.

Sounds simple enough, but this is not a global system; different parts of the world have different views of what is suitable for different age groups. What is deemed acceptable for 15-year-olds in one country might be thought suitable only for over 18s somewhere else. Any app that does not receive an age rating will simply not appear in Google Play.

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"The dog ate it" is a classic excuse for failing to deliver homework, but a new study shows that it also explains a good deal of damage to various items of technology. You may well have dropped a phone in the toilet, smashed a tablet on the floor or accidentally obliterated a laptop screen, but it seems our furry friends are just as much to blame as us bipeds.

Figures released by insurance company SquareTrade show that in the last five years, pets in Europe have been responsible for the destruction of £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) worth of tech. British households have been hit with the highest pet vs tech bills, with cats, dogs and other domestic creature clocking up £358 million in damage.

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Twitter has become more than just a soundboard for those looking to voice an opinion -- although obviously it is still that. It has morphed into a valuable resource for delivering information in real time. This is particularly useful when it comes to keeping up to date with breaking news.

Starting today Google will tap into this wealth of information for its search results. The feature is starting life in Google apps on iOS and Android mobile devices, but will spread its way around the world and to the desktop soon.

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