Eliana Willis

Matthew Miller/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Shokz OpenFit Air earbuds More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Treblab HD77 Bluetooth speaker is available on Amazon for $69. It has a big sound from a small package and is durable enough to take a beating. The sound is very mid-range and lacks much in the way of bass. more buying choices I can be a bit of an […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Samsung Neo QLED (QN90D) 98-inch TV lists for $15,000, but is marked down to $13,000 at most vendors. Its picture quality rivals OLED models in contrast and motion handling while exceeding most of them in peak brightness. The location of its connection ports can make setting up such a large […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Shokz OpenSwim Pro headset is available for $159 in grey and red versions. The headset sounds fantastic underwater, the nine-hour battery life is outstanding, and you can use it in MP3 or Bluetooth mode. However, it doesn’t support audio playback services like Spotify, so you must manually load your music […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The LG G4 OLED is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $2,796. LG has made great strides with its OLED picture quality, and this model is truly exceptional However, the regular price might be a turn-off since you can buy great TVs for half the price. more buying choices […] More

Stockbyte/Getty Images Wireless internet connections are convenient, but they’re also notoriously unreliable. Nothing proves that point more emphatically than a glitchy video conference call, especially if it’s tied to a crucial business meeting. The solution, of course, is to run a wired network connection to your home office. Wi-Fi is great for mobility, but a […] More

ZDNETUpdate: We’ve pulled the original content, which recommended Wubuntu, from this article. Your trust in ZDNET’s recommendations is very important to us, and part of protecting that trust is letting you know when we’ve gotten something wrong and making it right. During my test period of the Windows-like Wubuntu distribution (which was roughly a week), I had no problems with it. However, after that week passed, something strange happened in the form of a persistent pop-up asking me to enter a product key for PowerTools. Unless I had a key, I could no longer use the Wubuntu desktop. The only way to get a key is to purchase one.Also: The best Linux distribution of 2024 is MacOS-like but accessible to allI reached out to the developer who insisted I was using the Pro version (which I wasn’t). The developer then sent me a license key for PowerTools which did away with the pop-up, but my curiosity about the issue was piqued.After a bit of digging around and reading your comments, I discovered that Wubuntu is rumored to be a rebranding of LinuxFX, a distribution well-known to be a scam. This Reddit thread validated my suspicion, which pointed to the issue being that the licenses for PowerTools (and the associated personal data) were stored in a database that was very easy to breach.Again, I reached out to the developer, asking about the connection between Wubuntu and LinuxFX, to which he replied: Linuxfx has its own theme (resdsand) and its own selection of applications. On the other hand, Wubuntu is just a Windows theme applied over Ubuntu. People think it’s the same distribution because most of the stuff behind Wubuntu is done by the same developers, but Wubuntu has a completely different purpose than Linuxfx. Wubuntu wants to look like Windows and Linuxfx doesn’t necessarily. I’ll explain again that Wubuntu is just Ubuntu with opensource Windows themes applied and comes with the Powertools tool pre-installed.He also said: “Wubuntu is just an Ubuntu with opensource Windows themes, where the source links are available on sourceforge. The most partisan users are against a Linux with a Windows theme, but the system is really just a pure Ubuntu with a Windows theme.”I checked out the Sourceforge page and, to my surprise, also found it linked to a LinuxFX Redsand Theme. That link actually takes you to the LinuxFX Sourceforge OS page (and not a theme). Also: The Linux log files you should know and how to use themBecause of this, I cannot, in any way, recommend this distribution to anyone. I’m not saying, with absolute certainty, that Wubuntu is as problematic as LinuxFX was/is, but because there is some level of uncertainty and unanswered questions, I recommend avoiding this distribution. It would be one thing if the nag wasn’t so persistent and you could use the desktop without purchasing a license. Unfortunately, that is not what I found to be the case.This is troubling and points to a growing issue within the open-source community. When I first started covering Linux and open-source in 1999, there was this unwritten, sacred rule that trust was the bedrock of the community. Linux and the software available for the platform was always trustworthy and there was never the need to consider “what happens if…”; it was all good to go. More

ZDNETAh, 2024. You were a year, that’s for certain. You had 365 days, each a slat on the roller coaster rails that moved us forward while also taking us to higher highs and lower lows.One thing is for certain: 2024 saw a lot of incredible Linux distributions released. There was a new Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Rhino Linux, EndeavorOS, Manjaro, Zorin OS, openSUSE, Nobara, Garuda, and many more, all of which shined in one way or another.Also: This Linux distro I recommend to power users takes a unique approach to OS designBut, for me, there was one distribution that rose above all the rest and deserves the title of Best Linux Distribution for 2024.That distribution is elementary OS 8. I tell you why below. But first, how do I select a “best distribution?” Isn’t this all subjective? Of course it is. But I like to think that, with nearly thirty years of using and covering Linux, I have developed a fairly deep understanding of the OS, what it can do, and what it means to the community of people who use and depend on it.So, my criteria for being the best include the following:As polished an OS as possibleViable for any type of userTrue to the mission of the OSIt’s uniqueIt’s reliableViable for aging hardwareAn elegant but also simple desktop OSMany distributions fit the above list, but one stands out above the rest: elementary OS 8.When I reviewed elementary OS 8, I claimed that it continued the tradition of being a beautiful, user-friendly desktop, and that checks two of the boxes right off the bat.But let’s hold it up to my criteria. More