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Although support for Windows 10 will not end in October 2025 after all, Microsoft’s additional grace period extends its life by only one year. This means that many users will soon not only have to say goodbye to their operating system, but also to their computer in the near future. Even if its components are powerful enough for Windows 11, it may become electronic waste: This is because Microsoft has strict requirements for the hardware on which the new operating system can run — especially when it comes to the processor. Most PCs and laptops that are more than eight years old are therefore excluded from the upgrade — even though they work without any problems under Windows 10 and would certainly do the same under Windows 11. However, you can make your computer officially fit for Windows 11 with small hardware upgrades: Whether this is worthwhile, whether it is even possible, and how much it costs depends on the specific PC or laptop. Further reading: I’m sticking with Windows 10 even after it dies next week. Here’s how What your computer needs for Windows 11 The requirements that Microsoft places on a computer for Windows 11 look low at first glance: Processor with 64-bit support, two cores and a clock speed of 1GHz 4GB RAM 64GB storage for the installation Many old computers fulfill these requirements, which aren’t dissimilar from the requirements for graphics hardware with Direct X 12: Even PCs that are over 10 years old have suitable components. To make a PC with an Intel processor suitable for Windows 11, it is not enough to simply replace the processor. The new CPU also needs a new motherboard because it has a different socket format. IDG The same is true of Microsoft’s demand for a motherboard that has UEFI firmware with the Secure Boot function: This was already mandatory for computers with Windows 8, so complete systems should have been equipped with it since 2013. The requirement for TPM 2.0 is more problematic: Windows stores security keys in the Trusted Platform Module, which also monitors the PC boot process to ensure that no malware is active before Windows loads. TPM 2.0 was mandatory for complete systems with Windows 10, meaning that computers sold since the end of 2016 should be equipped accordingly. Prior to this, PCs and laptops were usually equipped with TPM 1.2 — which Microsoft believes makes them too insecure for Windows 11. However, most computers will fail to overcome one hurdle when switching to Windows 11: According to Microsoft, they absolutely need a processor that is on the official compatibility list, which is available for Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm models. This rules out all computers intended for private users that are equipped with an Intel processor before the 8th Core generation (“Coffee Lake,” “Kaby Lake R,” “Kaby Lake G,” “Amber Lake Y”) or an AMD CPU whose cores are not based at least on the Zen architecture. Complete systems with a supported CPU were available from spring 2018 — so if your computer is more than seven years old, Windows 11 cannot be installed without detours. Even with very old PCs, RAM, SSD, the processor clock rate or the number of cores are almost never the reason why Windows 11 cannot be installed. However, they lack security functions such as Secure Boot.WhyNotWin11 However, the Microsoft list is not consistent: Older processors such as the Intel Core i7-7820HQ from early 2017 or newer ones such as the AMD Athlon 3000G from the end of 2019, which is based on the Zen architecture, are also listed as suitable for Windows 11, although other processors with this architecture are excluded. Microsoft published new lists for the individual processor manufacturers for the Windows 24H2 update in February: They mainly contain more recent CPU models. However, some CPUs that were previously listed as supported have also been removed — including individual models from generations that are actually considered compatible with Windows 11. Whether this was accidental or intentional is unclear. These lists are actually aimed at PC manufacturers (OEMs), not private users. With older processors in particular, they do not give you any definitive certainty as to whether a particular CPU is supported by Windows 11 — and even if it is now, whether this will also apply to future updates of the operating system. How to check whether your PC is ready for Windows 11 If your computer is suitable for Windows 11 in its current configuration, you will be prompted at regular intervals to switch to the new system. Windows 10 also indicates this with a large window in the settings under “Windows Update”. Foundry If this is not the case for you, you can use tools to check how Windows 11-ready your PC is. Microsoft offers the PC Health Check for this purpose. Start the check by clicking the blue “Check now” button. If the computer fulfills the requirements for Windows 11, the overall result and the results for the individual components are highlighted in green. A yellow mark means that the tool could not perform the test for a specific requirement because the components or function was not recognized or has not yet been activated — for example, because Secure Boot is switched off. A cross in a red circle indicates that this component is preventing the upgrade to Windows 11 — in most cases the processor. Incidentally, you should not trust the age information displayed on the left-hand side of the tool’s start screen — it simply guesses based on certain system information, which has nothing to do with the actual age of the hardware or the Windows installation. The freeware WhyNotWin11 also checks the Windows 11 compatibility of the individual components and functions: Green means passed, red means failed. If the check tool reports that Secure Boot could not be detected, it may be because you have not activated this function. First start the Windows system information by running msinfo32 in the main window: “UEFI” must be in the “BIOS Mode” line. If “Off” is displayed for “Secure Boot State,” the UEFI supports Secure Boot, but it is not activated. To switch on Secure Boot, call up the UEFI settings: The most reliable way to do this is to click on “Restart now” in the Windows settings under “Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced Boot.” After a short time, the blue Windows pre-boot environment will appear: Select “Troubleshooting > Advanced options > UEFI firmware settings > Restart.” The computer now calls up the UEFI setup: Depending on the manufacturer, you will find the options for Secure Boot in the “Boot” or “Security” section. There, set Secure Boot to “Enabled,” “Switched on,” “UEFI,” or “Windows UEFI Mode.” After the restart, the “Secure boot state” in the system information should be set to “On.” If you open the TPM management under Windows with the command tpm.msc, the system will show you whether a corresponding security module is present and switched on. If Windows does not find a TPM in the system, you may first have to activate it in the UEFI setup settings.Foundry Proceed in a similar way to check for TPM: Enter tpm.msc in the Windows search window. If the information for a TPM and “Specification version 2.0” appear, everything is OK, version “1.2” is not sufficient for Windows 11 — you need a new processor here. If you see “No compatible TPM found,” the TPM may be compatible but not active. Now you need to call up the UEFI again and look for an option such as “Security Device,” “TPM State,” or, on a computer with an Intel CPU, “Intel PTT” or “Intel Platform Trust Technology.” The corresponding options for an AMD computer are called “AMD fTPM Switch” or “AMD PSP fTPM.” Set them to “On,” “Enabled,” or “Activated.” You need to replace this hardware for Windows 11 For an older PC, the route to Windows 11 usually involves changing the processor: Older CPUs also fulfill some of Microsoft’s requirements — they usually come with TPM 2.0 and their motherboard offers UEFI firmware with Secure Boot. However, the models on the compatibility list have additional functions that their predecessors do not have and that cannot be added later via an update: In most cases, these are security precautions against malware attacks on the operating system. The quickest and cheapest way to make an older PC fit for Windows 11 is to equip it with a processor that Microsoft allows. To do this, you must first clarify whether the CPU in your computer is soldered to the motherboard or sits in a socket — only then can it be replaced at all. Find out the model designation of the CPU — for example via the Windows Device Manager under “Processors,” in the Windows settings under “System > Info,” or with a hardware analysis tool such as HWinfo 64 or Speccy. Then research the technical data for this model on the processor manufacturer’s website — for example ark.intel.com. The hardware tools are also helpful — in HWinfo 64, look for “Main processor -> CPU platform.” If terms such as “Socket,” “PGA,” or “LGA” appear there, it is a socketed processor that can generally be expanded. If, on the other hand, you see the abbreviation “BGA,” also in the form “FC-BGA,” the processor is soldered onto the board — you cannot replace it. A complete PC with a desktop or tower housing usually has a socketed processor, whereas in many laptops the CPU is soldered. However, there are exceptions: All-in-one PCs or small mini PCs often use soldered laptop CPUs, while large laptops — for example, gaming and high-end laptops — often have a socketed processor. Intel: How to choose a suitable processor If the processor can be changed, the next step is to clarify whether a Windows 11-compatible model can be used instead. The new processor must fit into the existing slot on the motherboard installed in the PC. For older computers with Intel processors, your chances are slim: The socketed models from the CPU generations that are suitable for Windows 11 — from Coffee Lake onwards — use a different slot than their predecessors. This is also called LGA1151 — but version 1 differs from version 2 for Coffee Lake in terms of the electrical connections: You can therefore use a newer processor, but it will not work. When switching to Windows 11, you will therefore need a new processor and a new motherboard for the Intel platform. Only if the processor sits on the board in a socket can it be replaced with a new one. You can use check tools such as HWinfo64 to find out whether this is the case with your computer. IDG Depending on how powerful you want your computer to be after the upgrade, the upgrade will cost you between around $200 and $500. In addition, you can skip several CPU generations from Intel when buying a new processor and motherboard, as newer models are hardly more expensive than older ones: This not only makes the updated computer fit for Windows 11, but also gives it a generous increase in speed. If your old PC uses DDR4 RAM, you can even use the RAM on a board for the 14th core generation “Raptor Lake-R” from last year: A suitable motherboard such as the Asus Prime H610M costs around $100, and you can get a solid mid-range processor such as the Core i5-14400 as a boxed version with cooler for around $140. It will be significantly more expensive if you want to equip your old PC with the latest CPU generation Arrow Lake: Inexpensive processors such as a Core Ultra 5 225 cost around $250, with a suitable motherboard costing just over $100. You will also need DDR5 RAM, which is around $40 for 16GB capacity. If you only have a tight upgrade budget, you can opt for a board with an LGA1200 slot for an Intel PC: CPUs up to the 11th-generation Rocket Lake can be used there, such as a Core i5-11400F, which costs around $115 with a fan. In addition, an LGA1200 board such as the Gigabyte H510M v2 costs around $100. There are no costs for a new drive in any case: All boards for the upgrade options shown have M.2 and SATA connections so that you can continue to use an existing SSD — unless you need a flash memory with a larger capacity. The cheapest M.2 and SATA SSDs with 512GB are around $30 — an SSD with PCI Express 3.0 is sufficient for M.2 because the recommended boards do not support a higher PCIe version for the drive. In many cases, you can continue to use your existing power supply unit: Its connections should be suitable for the new board and the new components, unless you are using a powerful graphics card. However, it is generally advisable to replace the power supply unit on a computer that is six years old or older. Hardware upgrade for an AMD computer The upgrade path to Windows 11 is more favorable if you have a computer with an AMD processor: The manufacturer continued to use the AM4 socket for the older processors until 2022. This means, for example, that a Ryzen 7 1700 that does not work with Windows 11 can be replaced with a processor from the Ryzen 5000 series, such as the Ryzen 7 5700 or the Ryzen 7 5800XT. These models are still readily available and cost between $120 and around $180 with cooler. Many old PCs with AMD CPUs only need to be replaced to make them compatible with Windows 11. Check beforehand whether there is a UEFI Bios update for the installed board that supports the new processor.IDG Before you buy the new processor, check whether your existing motherboard supports it: The manufacturer must provide a suitable UEFI update, which can be found out on the support pages for the relevant board. You can continue to use the built-in RAM and an existing SSD. As with Intel, newer AMD processors support higher clock rates for DDR4: In everyday PC use, however, it is usually hardly noticeable that the existing DDR4 memory in the old computer runs a little slower. Read...

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Keeping yourself safe online can feel like an increasingly difficult challenge. One solution is to use a VPN to encrypt your data when online, but this isn’t as simple a fix as it first sounds. Here’s a quick guide on how to improve your online safety and make sure your data stays secure. What is a VPN? A Virtual Private Network is software that creates an encrypted ‘tunnel’ through which your data flows when using the internet. This makes it very hard for hackers to track your activities online or steal your data. Getty Should I use a free VPN? The idea of a free VPN might be tempting, and there are certainly some reputable examples available, but choosing the wrong one can open up you and your data to significant risks. For example, a recent academic paper entitled Hidden Links: Analyzing Secret Families of VPN apps found that groups of VPNs on the Google Play Store shared the same code and security vulnerabilities, making them easier targets for hackers. Security analysts Cyfirma also reported on malware masquerading as a free VPN which, once installed, would steal user data. Another example from Koi Securities revealed that a popular free VPN Chrome extension was secretly taking screenshots of users’ activities that could then be uploaded to the company servers. Free VPNs can often be data capped too, feature weaker encryption than premium products, and have fewer servers around the world. While it’s not true that all free VPNs are unsafe, there is a risk involved when signing up to one if you don’t know how it operates. Which VPNs are safe to use? When it comes to security, you’ll want to use a VPN from a known and trusted brand. Norton is a name synonymous with data security, and its Norton VPN is built to continue that legacy. Norton also runs a no-log policy, which has been audited multiple times by independent third parties, so none of your browsing activities are stored on its servers or seen by its staff. It also uses IP rotation and Double VPN technology to ensure your privacy when online. With over 100 locations across the world and a built-in ad blocker to speed up and simplify your browsing experience, Norton VPN not only makes your time online safer, it’s also more enjoyable as you’ll face less interruptions. Getty Norton VPN – money well spent Don’t take the risk of using a free VPN that might watch what you do online. Instead, sign up to Norton VPN and get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your privacy and security have protection. Sign to to Norton VPN today! Subscriptions start at a low cost of £29.99 for the first year for the Norton VPN Standard plan that covers up to five devices, while Norton VPN Ultimate for available at £39.99, for the first year, covers up to ten devices, and also includes AI-powered scam detection, 50GB of cloud storage for Windows, as well as parental control tools. Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the latest topics on our YouTube show or burning news from across the web? You’re in the right place. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! I never thought I’d think on laptops with envy. But here I am, writing these words. It comes on the heels of Intel’s deep reveal of Panther Lake, which is what Adam, Will, and Mark were learning about last week. (Such is the super sekret life of tech journalists.) Mark’s quick rundown of the facts is extensive, as overviews go—there’s just that many details to cover. I highly recommend reading his deep dive as well, but among the highlights: Three chip families represented by one 8-core and two 16-core processors, with a claim of 50 percent better multithreaded performance over previous generations. The top-tier 16-core CPUs pack juggernaut-level integrated graphics, including dedicated support for ray-tracing. Said integrated graphics take the form of Xe3 GPU cores touted as 50 percent faster on average compared to last gen. Multiframe generation support (yep, “fake frames”).  Intel is also cramming in upgrades to the “image processing unit” in its integrated laptop processors to boost clarity and color fidelity of video during webcam calls. Inaccurate skin tones and grainy low-light calls should be less of a problem on a Panther Lake chip. But the feature I want in all chips, including desktop? Auracast, which not only lets you wirelessly play videos across two devices simultaneously, but also use the onboard Bluetooth radio to triangulate the location of a lost item—whether the laptop itself or a connected device, like earbuds. So why the envy, when desktop could get Auracast (and likely will)? When kickass integrated graphics matter less, given the flexibility for discrete GPU support? When desktop processors outstrip performance on laptops? Memory issues. I mean of course the ominous reports of anticipated shortages and sharper rising costs for memory. In a recent interview, Phison’s CEO thought that demand from AI data centers for NAND-based products could create a dearth lasting as long as 10 years. A whole-ass decade. Blake Patterson It’s not just NAND, either. DRAM is also expected to suffer from the same shortages and price hikes as demand skyrockets. (You can read Luke James’s excellent article over at Tom’s Hardware for more of a dive into the factors contributing to this bleak outlook.) Here’s my thinking: CPUs and GPUs will continue to improve on desktop, yes. It’s likely features like Auracast will come to desktop processors, yes. But what good will that do me if I can’t afford to build a PC around those chips? These days, I think of storage and memory as basic staples among hardware components—no different than the potatoes, rice, or bread of a meal. The idea of RAM and SSDs becoming both scarce and expensive makes me start to question what I can take for granted about desktop PCs and DIY building. I wonder if interest in DIY building will slow a bit, due to the extra burden on budgets. If that will then lead to an equal slowdown in consumer CPU and GPU innovations. If that then increases the withdrawal from DIY building, leading vendors to pull back on the innovation and variety in cases, fans, and other such components. I’m not predicting a death spiral, but I fear a period of dormancy that returns us to the mood and vibe of past eras—when desktop PCs were boring, bland, and not highly performant unless you had serious spare cash to drop. For now, I’m preparing for austerity even as I look forward to seeing what else could come from Intel’s Panther Lake, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme, and future laptop processors. I love the idea of powerful mobile chips. I hate the idea that they could supplant desktop PCs as the only reasonable option for consumers. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Will Smith, and special guest Edward Crisler, NA PR Manager at long-time GPU maker Sapphire Technology, discuss the current state of GPUs, including manufacturing challenges and benchmarking changes. I should talk more about the actual episode here, but honestly, Ed always has great insights and you should definitely check out the whole conversation. More to the point, I’m still extremely preoccupied by the lollipop scorpions that Adam brought back as a souvenir for Willis. Surely…that’s an HR violation? Isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be? (Willis, be careful!) Willis Lai / Foundry Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd Network YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! Don’t miss out on our NEW shows too—you can catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now! (Adam just dropped a new episode of Extra Edition related to Panther Lake!) And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s packed nerd news Intel’s Panther Lake chips definitely made the biggest waves in tech news this week, but other interesting, quirky, and downright unsettling tidbits popped up, too. I’m predictably wary after reading a new report about AI models being easily corrupted, but balancing out the scales is a rather delightful DIY take from Google on a keyboard. Also, we got word of it a few weeks ago, but now it’s time to bring out the bugle—AOL’s dial-up service is now officially dead. Rest in peace, old friend. It’s unusual, but I want one.Google Expect Thread Director changes in Intel’s Panther Lake: Mark wasn’t the only one who dug deep into Panther Lake while at the press briefings in Arizona. Will took a dive with Intel Fellow Rajshree Chabukswar into the upcoming improvements Intel is making to Thread Director for Panther Lake, too. Xbox Game Pass site chokes as flood of gamers rush to unsubscribe: Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. (If you want to try to load up on the previous, more reasonable price for Ultimate while you still can, try these methods.) The only RAM config that PC gamers need? This advice from our colleagues over at PCWelt takes the pressure off to spend more to get better performance. But will the internet agree to a sensible take? AI can figure out conversations based on…mice vibrations: Right out of a spy novel. I hope I’m never a high-profile enough target for this. (Also, I guess this justifies my use of a crappy cheap mouse.) Keep it secret. Keep it safe: Google’s allowing end-to-end encrypted emails to be sent to non-Gmail recipients. It’s only available to Workspace users, but I like what it could mean for personal accounts down the road. You can play real Game Boy games in a LEGO Game Boy: My current favorite modder is back with this dope LEGO GameBoy tweak. I definitely smiled when I read about this and saw who was behind it. I love Natalie_The_Nerd’s work.Natalie the Nerd I’d try this rotary dial keyboard: It would be slow, yes. But I like what it could mean for accessibility options. (Though maybe voice typing is faster. Assuming it recognizes what you’re saying with any accuracy. And it’s not always necessarily as private as I’d like.) So it doesn’t take much to corrupt AI models: Cool cool cool. At least one Starlink satellite per day is falling and burning up: The good news is the debris won’t kill anyone. The bad news is that these occurences will contribute to global warming, which indirectly causes death worldwide. Microsoft keeps trying to kill off local accounts in Windows 11: I’m really grumpy about this. Seriously, Microsoft, who do you think is bothering to open the Command Prompt during setup? It sure isn’t most folks. ‘Interstellar interlopers’ makes a great band name: As always, much appreciation for the fine folks at Ars Technica, keeping the wonder and mystery of space alive for us all. Catch you all next week—if I manage to escape the boxes I’ll be swimming in, after taking inventory of my October Amazon Prime Day purchases. None of it is exciting, but I’m excited that I got a good deal on “boring” stuff. Yeah, I’ve reached that age. ~Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

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For a case study in how a once-promising technology turned toxic, look no further than ATSC 3.0. Also known as NextGen TV, the new broadcast standard promised to revolutionize free over-the-air TV with features like 4K HDR video, time-shifting, on-demand viewing, and interactive programming. For cord-cutters who get free local channels with an antenna, this was a genuinely exciting technology when it began rolling out way back in 2019. Six years later, that excitement has evaporated thanks to restrictive digital rights management (DRM) and high adoption costs. While the broadcast TV industry has failed to make ATSC 3.0 stick, they’ve succeeded in getting tech enthusiasts, consumer advocates, and even some individual broadcasters to fear and despise it. Now, broadcasters are hoping for a bailout from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which announced this week that it will consider their wishes to wind down the existing ATSC 1.0 standard and mandate ATSC 3.0 adoption. If that happens, most antenna users will need a new TV or tuner box by 2030 at the latest. Having failed in the marketplace, broadcasters now want the government to help foist ATSC 3.0 upon people instead. Sadly, it didn’t have to be this way. What’s happening with ATSC 3.0? NextGen TV broadcasts are available in more than 90 U.S. markets, covering 70 percent of the population, but accessing these broadcasts requires an ATSC 3.0 tuner, and most TVs don’t have one. If the FCC disappears ATSC 1.0, over-the-air TV viewers will need to upgrade their tuners even if they don’t need a new TV or care about ATSC 3.0’s new features. Low-cost TV makers tend to exclude ATSC 3.0 from their sets, and some bigger brands–including Samsung and LG–have either pulled back or stopped supporting the standard entirely. External ATSC 3.0 tuner boxes can bring support to existing TVs but they’re expensive at $90 and up. TV’s that don’t support ATSC 3.0 will need an external tuner box if the FCC pulls the plug on ATSC 1.0.ADTH As such, broadcasters estimate that only 14 million compatible TVs and 300,000 external tuner boxes have been sold in the United States through the end of 2024. That means only about 11 percent of U.S. households can tune into ATSC 3.0 channels today. Broadcasters argue that by winding down ATSC 1.0, they’ll have more bandwidth for features like 4K resolution (which remains largely unavailable in today’s actual ATSC 3.0 broadcasts), additional channels, or improved reception. They believe this will finally stimulate demand for NextGen TV and get more hardware makers on board. That’s one way to look at it. The other way is that if the FCC lets ATSC 1.0 support disappear, viewers will need to upgrade even if they don’t need a new TV or care about new features. Meanwhile, broadcasters would be free to repurpose additional spectrum away from free TV over public airwaves. Either way, broadcasters are hoping the FCC will force the issue. This week, the commission released a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks public comment on what broadcasters want. That includes the ability to sunset ATSC 1.0 broadcasts for the 55 largest U.S. markets in 2028 (and every market in 2030), along with a potential mandate to force every TV maker to include a ATSC 3.0 tuner in their sets. After the public comment period, the FCC will come up with proposed rules to adopt and eventually vote on them. Doing early adopters dirty Broadcasters could have stimulated demand for ATSC 3.0 in a more organic way. Instead, they’ve stymied the groups most likely to advocate for its success. SiliconDust is a case in point: It was the first manufacturer to sell a consumer-grade ATSC 3.0 tuner in the U.S. Its HDHomeRun tuner lets you set up an antenna in one room, and then access live TV across multiple networked televisions via its streaming apps. Users can also set up DVR servers to record over-the-air channels, using either HDHomeRun’s software or third-party solutions such as Plex and Channels DVR. SiliconDust Nick Kelsey, SiliconDust’s CTO and founder, told me in 2020 that the company wanted to spur the market for ATSC 3.0 with a bleeding-edge product. But since then, broadcasters have punished both SiliconDust and its customers for their early enthusiasm. As broadcasters have started encrypting their ATSC 3.0 channels with DRM, HDHomeRun users have been unable to access that content because their boxes can’t decrypt the programming. While HDHomeRun tuners are “NextGen TV-certified” and licensed to decrypt copy-protected content, a private group of broadcasters called the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA) has separately been certifying devices to receive encrypted channels. The group refuses to do that for HDHomeRun tuners, citing SiliconDust’s use of a chip by a subsidiary of the Chinese company Huawei as a security concern. It’s unclear why the A3SA waited five years to point out this potentially disqualifying hardware issue. It’s also a little fishy, given that SiliconDust has cited numerous other roadblocks along the way. Either way, the upshot is that not a single whole-home DVR with encrypted ATSC 3.0 channel support exists on the market today. Tablo indefinitely delayed its plans for an ATSC 3.0 product in 2022, citing DRM concerns. ZapperBox is working on a whole-home solution but it doesn’t expect full functionality for another year. Broadcasters understandably want to protect their content from piracy, but balancing that goal with all the existing use cases for over-the-air TV should have been a priority. Instead, broadcasters alienated their most enthusiastic audience and mutated ATSC 3.0 from a promising technology into a poisonous one. DRM alienated everyone Channels DVR (and its new Multiview feature) won’t work with encrypted ATSC 3.0 channels.FancyBits The downsides of DRM extend beyond just whole-home DVRs. Some NextGen TV tuner boxes won’t decrypt channels without an internet connection, and the YouTube creator Tyler “Antenna Man” Kleinle has reported that some TVs can fail to decode encrypted channels for no apparent reason. Lon Seidman has found that decryption certificates on ATSC 3.0 products will eventually expire, rendering them unable to receive encrypted channels at all. (Both creators have been encouraging viewers to complain to the FCC.) Even broadcasters that have no plans to encrypt their channels could run into problems. Weigel Broadcasting Company, which operates MeTV and several other popular digital subchannels, has told the FCC that televisions may eventually block or hinder users from viewing stations that haven’t purchased an encryption certificate. That effectively could turn the A3SA, a private entity, into a gatekeeper for the public airwaves. Meanwhile, no permission is needed to innovate on the unencrypted side of the fence. Channels DVR, for instance, just released a breakthrough multiview feature that integrates with HDHomeRun tuners, making it the first solution for split-screen viewing of free over-the-air channels. Weigel just launched a new Western-themed channel to join its stable of rerun-centric over-the-air offerings. Tablo’s $100 whole-home DVR continues to get better with a newly-launched offline mode and integration with more streaming channels. Had broadcasters not alienated these kinds of torchbearers, they might’ve fared better at convincing the public that ATSC 3.0 is essential. Now their only hope is to cry to the government about it. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming and over-the-air TV advice. Read...