Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Windows

Microsoft Shuts Down Cortana App On Windows 11 (theverge.com) 16

Posted by BeauHD from the officially-deprecated dept.
Microsoft is rolling out a new update for Windows 11 that disables the digital assistant Cortana. The Verge reports: If you attempt to launch Cortana on Windows 11 you'll now be met with a notice about how the app is deprecated and a link to a support article on the change. Microsoft is now planning to end support for Cortana in Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams Display, and Microsoft Teams Rooms "in the fall of 2023." Surprisingly, Cortana inside Outlook mobile "will continue to be available," according to Microsoft.

Microsoft is now working on Windows Copilot, a new sidebar for Windows 11 that is powered by Bing Chat and can control Windows settings, answer questions, and lots more. Windows Copilot is expected to be available this fall as part of a Windows 11 update that will also include native RAR and 7-Zip support.
AI

Chinese Researchers Used AI To Design RISC-V CPU In Under 5 Hours (tomshardware.com) 37

Posted by BeauHD from the performance-is-nothing-to-brag-about-though dept.
Required Snark shares a report from Tom's Hardware: A group of Chinese scientists has published (PDF) a paper titled "Pushing the Limits of Machine Design: Automated CPU Design with AI." The paper details the researchers' work in designing a new industrial-scale RISC-V CPU in under 5 hours. It is claimed this AI-automated feat was about 1000x faster than a human team could have finished a comparable CPU design. However, some may poke fun at the resulting AI-designed CPU performing approximately on par with an i486.

Training consisted of observing a series of CPU inputs and outputs. The scientists generated a Binary Speculation Diagram (BSD) from this I/O and leveraged principles of Monte Carlo-based expansion and Boolean functions to hone the accuracy and efficiency of the AI-based CPU design. Thus the CPU design was formed "from only external input-output observations instead of formal program code," explains the scientists. It also boasted an impressive 99.99999999999% accuracy. Using the above-outlined process, an automated AI design of a CPU was created.

The taped-out RISC-V32IA instruction set CPU was fabricated at 65nm and could run at up to 300 MHz. Running the Linux (kernel 5.15) operating system and SPEC CINT 2000 on the AI-generated CPU validated its functionality. In Drystone benchmarks, the AI-generated CPU performed on par with an i486. Interestingly, it appears to be a little bit faster than an Acorn Archimedes A3010 in the same test. Though some might be unimpressed by the performance of the AI-generated CPU, the scientists also seem quite proud that their generated BSD "discovered the von Neumann architecture from scratch."
Operating Systems

Oracle Scraps Plans For Solaris 12 (theregister.co.uk) 127

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
bobthesungeek76036 writes: According to The Register, Solaris 12 has been removed from Oracle roadmaps. This pretty much signals the demise of Solaris (as if we didn't already know that...) From the report: "The new blueprint -- dated January 13, 2017 -- omits any word of Solaris 12 that Oracle included in the same document's 2014 edition, instead mentioning 'Solaris 11.next' as due to debut during this year or the next complete with 'Cloud Deployment and Integration Enhancements.' At the time of writing, search engines produce no results for 'Solaris 11.next.' The Register has asked Oracle for more information. The roadmap also mentions a new generation of SPARC silicon in 2017, dubbed SPARC Next, and then in 2020 SPARC Next+. The speeds and capabilities mentioned in the 2017 document improve slightly on those mentioned in the 2014 roadmap.

Comment Yay, more "search box" first for everything UI (Score 1) 200

by MetaDragon (#53118065) Attached to: Television Needs To Be Reinvented, Says Apple SVP
Don't get me wrong, I agree television/cable box UIs could use a rethink, but can somebody please please explain to me why all the current UI designs trends revolve around simplification via killing off menus and obscuring all of a device's features behind a single text/voice search interface? Maybe I've just gotten so old I can't understand the new hotness, but do the "kids" today really have trouble navigating a menu of hierarchically organized items? I just feel like we're barrelling down the road to that one Star Trek TNG episode where the crew happens upon a world where the inhabitants have lived with their technology for so long that nobody knows how it actually works anymore.

Comment Re:Shocking! (Score 1) 308

I never said Windows 8 was free. I said the bundled mail client was. Unless you want me to believe that the mail client is a core component of the operating system and not a candy coating freebie to entice casual users who couldn't care less about the features of a full mail client to purchase windows?

Comment Compromising one card at a time not good enough? (Score 1) 164

by MetaDragon (#40640283) Attached to: Canadian Banks Rushing To Offer Virtual Wallets
Given the frequency that anything online gets hacked these days, you would have to be really really naive to trust every one of your credit cards to a service that sounds like a potential one-stop shop for identity thieves. I mean, come on, has the world grown so lazy that manual entry of payment info when making purchases online is considered difficult?

Slashdot Top Deals

The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much.

Close