Eliana Willis

SJVN / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETAt long last, after years of waiting for the “Year of the Linux desktop,” we’re getting somewhere. According to the US Federal Government Website and App Analytics, which I trust far more than I do StatCounter, 6% of its visitors over the last month were using Linux operating systems.Downright impressiveThis website keeps track of US government website visits and analyzes them. On average, there have been 1.6 billion sessions in the last 30 days, with millions of users participating daily. If you add in Android (16.2%) and Chromebooks (0.8%), you’re talking about 23% of visitors using Linux, which puts it above MacOS (11.7%), Windows 10 (15.7%), and Windows 11 (15.3%), which is downright impressive. Take that, Windows.Also: Yet another European government is ditching Microsoft for Linux – here’s whyThese numbers are based on billions of visits to over 400 US executive branch government domains. That’s about 5,000 total websites, and it includes every Cabinet department. DAP gets its raw data from a Google Analytics account. DAP has open-sourced the code, which displays the data on the web, and its data-collection code. Best of all, unlike the others, you can download its data in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, allowing you to analyze the raw numbers yourself. An all-time highThe feds aren’t the only ones showing that the Linux desktop has become a real player. According to the web analysis company StatCounter, the US Linux desktop market has stepped over the 5% mark. To be exact, in June 2025, the Linux desktop reached a new high of 5.03%. Indeed, if you add in ChromeOS, a Linux distro that uses the Chrome web browser as its interface, the Linux desktop has reached an all-time high of 7.74%, according to StatCounter. Also: 7 things every Linux beginner should know before downloading their first distroBefore you break out the champagne, though, keep in mind that StatCounter’s numbers should be taken with a mountain of salt. Both Ed Bott and I find StatCounter’s statistics to be questionable. As Bott recently said: “StatCounter’s ‘market share’ reports are a great excuse for tech bloggers to crank out a story each month, but they bear only the most casual relation to the real world, and most of those month-to-month spikes are simply statistical noise.” Why? StatCounter’s methodology doesn’t count PCs or users. Instead, it counts web pages containing its tracking code from over 1.5 million websites. Every month, the company records about 5 billion page views. For each page view, it records the browser and operating system. Also: Want to save your old computer? Try one of these 8 Linux distros for freeThat sounds good, but when it comes to counting users and their operating systems, it’s very fuzzy. In other words, StatCounter’s numbers are good for general trends, but you shouldn’t rely on them for specifics. More

Kayla Solino/ZDNETSummer usually means one thing: vacation. And nothing can ruin a vacation more than losing your wallet or luggage. To ease those anxieties, I have the perfect Bluetooth accessory that’s worth picking up before you hit your next destination. Amid the possibility of a new generation of the Apple AirTag, we’re seeing big discounts on the Bluetooth tracker, making this the best time to buy the current generation. The Apple AirTag 4-Pack More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETYou might’ve heard about that recent viral Street View trend — the one where people learned they can go back in time and see street-view-level imagery of their house or a loved one’s home, and they’re getting emotional spotting long-gone relatives, friends, or even trees when they try it for themselves. But did you know you can do something similar with Google Earth?Also: Waze vs. Google Maps: Which navigation app is best?Unlike Google Street View, which only goes back to 2007 and shows you a first-person, panoramic point of view, Google Earth offers 3D views of practically anywhere — and in some places, you can go back as far as the 1930s with historical imagery. I tried it myself, searching old childhood homes in New York. I could see them going all the way back to the 80s. Admittedly, the farther I went back, the imagery looked like flat, top-down aerial views, some of which were blurry. But zoom to the 1990s, and the imagery got more dynamic and clearer. By the early 2000s, I could see satellite data in 3D.Also: How to blur your house on Google Street View (and 4 reasons why people do it)Historical imagery in Google Earth can show drastic changes to places over long periods of time — in London, Berlin, Warsaw, and Paris, you can see aerial imagery from the World War II era up to satellite views in modern times. It’s fascinating to have a bird’s-eye perspective and to be able to see how your house, neighborhood, or city has changed over several decades. How to go back in time with Google Earth Are you a curious homeowner? Or maybe an amateur historian? Perhaps you love nostalgia, or you’re just interested in the latest Google tools? Either way, here’s all you need to know to about Google Earth’s historical imagery.What you need: You’ll need an internet-connected device — such as a PC or a smartphone — to access Google Earth online. (There is a desktop app for Google Earth; although this guide mostly provides step-by-step instructions for the website and mobile app, the experience is very similar across platforms.)   More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The TCL QM8 (2024) features rich colors and searing brightness. It has enhanced audio over 2023’s model, while still being easy to set up and navigate. The viewing angles are somewhat limited, but this high-quality TV still deserves an Editor’s Choice award. more buying choices –> apr / 2025 As last […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways KeySmart’s iPro Key Finder and Holder is available at Best Buy for $40. It holds up to 14 keys, has a built in LED flashlight, and lasts about a month on one charge. It’s one more thing you’ll need to keep charged. –> Are you forever losing your keys? You’re convinced […] More

AWS Summit 2025 at the Javits Center in NYC.  Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETForget the old Apple slogan, “Think different.” For Deepak Singh, VP of developer agents and experiences at AWS, the mantra of the future is “work differently,” and the way he wants to do that is through agentic AI.”I think people get too hung up on the automation and efficiency, part of which are outcomes,” said Singh. “We are working differently, but the way we are working different is making us more effective because [agents are] solving harder problems or more problems than you could do before.”Also: AWS aims to be your one-stop-shop for AI agents from Anthropic, IBM, Perplexity, and othersSingh sat down with ZDNET on Wednesday, shortly after AWS introduced a bevy of new tools and features centered around agentic AI solutions. Among the biggest announcements were Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, a new enterprise-grade platform designed to facilitate the implementation process for new agents, and a new virtual store within AWS Marketplace, which allows customers to choose agents from Anthropic, IBM, Perplexity, Salesforce, and other vendors.At the core of the announcements is the ability to make organizations more easily adopt, customize, and deploy AI agents in their organization. This ease of access to AI agents inherently means the technology will be more rapidly deployed, and that the way people work will be transformed rapidly — but Amazon postulates it’s for the better. Work smart Singh, whose work focuses on building experiences that optimize how developers build software, told ZDNET that agentic AI offers workers of all levels the opportunity to build more efficiently.For example, Singh said a software developer intern could spend more time learning how the system works instead of learning the intricacies of a new programming language. Ultimately, a better understanding of the system, facilitated through interactions with AI agents, can help the intern develop the project they are working on.  More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Yeedi S14 Plus is available for a retail price of $1,400, though an introductory offer puts it at $999 for a limited time. The Yeedi is a big upgrade from almost any robot vacuum on the market right now, with 18,000Pa of suction and a self-cleaning mop roller. The S14 […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G is a full-color, color paper, and ink paper tablet available at Verizon for $239. It’s a great entertainment tablet for daily use that also functions very well as an e-reader. Although the screen is versatile, don’t expect the graphics to compare to those on an […] More