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Enlarge / "Say... that's a nice e-mail you're writing." (credit: HP)

I have a dirty secret: I am an inveterate reader of other people's screens. It's a compulsion. I've tried to quit. But I can't. They're invariably more fascinating than my own, so if I'm sitting next to you on the plane I'll be checking out your e-mails, reading your presentations, and tutting at your use of Comic Sans in your documents. As such, I'm not a fan of HP's new Sure View screens—but I certainly understand the justification.

The EliteBook 840, showing its off-axis visibility with the privacy mode enabled.

The Sure View option is being offered on the HP EliteBook 1040 and the EliteBook 840; with one press of a button the screens flip from regular wide viewing angle mode into private mode, slashing the off-axis visibility of the devices.

The effect is pretty significant. On-axis visibility drops a little, as the screen gets dimmer, but off-axis visibility drops substantially. It's definitely enough to stop nosy row-mates on your cattle class flight from being able to read your e-mails, and even the people in the row behind are going to struggle to see what you're working on.

(credit: Wikipedia)

With the imminent release of Windows Server 2016, due to be launched some time in September with its new per-core licensing, Microsoft is making a concerted effort to win over VMware users and get them to switch to Hyper-V.

Accordingly, the company is running a time-limited promotion: switch from VMware to Hyper-V and the company will give you "free" licenses to Windows Server Datacenter. The catch is that you'll need to buy a Software Assurance subscription too, so it's not really free. But it should save some of the costs of migrating.

To help persuade companies to switch, Microsoft has offered a TCO calculator to show off the big savings (Microsoft hopes) that can be had from making the switch.

Enlarge (credit: McDonald's)

McDonald’s food isn't exactly the healthiest choice for kids—and apparently the same can be said of the restaurant’s fitness trackers.

The wristband toys given away in the fast food chain’s signature Happy Meals were intended to help get kids moving. Instead, the toys have gotten company officials racing to issue a recall after the devices were found to burn and irritate kids’ skin. So far, there have been 70 reports of injuries from the colorful gadgets, including seven reports of blistering burns.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s issued a voluntary recall of millions of its “Step It” fitness trackers.