Multizone | All our technotes
If we've published it, you can find it here.
As we move through 2026, the catalogue of paid add-ons for Microsoft 365 has ballooned from a handful of extras into a sprawling marketplace of hundreds of supplementary services. What began as a straightforward subscription model has quietly evolved into a tiered ecosystem where essential capabilities — security, identity management, AI assistance — increasingly sit behind additional paywalls. For finance and IT leaders trying to hold the line on software budgets, the pressure is real and growing.
TL;DR – Microsoft 365's paid add-ons have multiplied dramatically, and standard subscription tiers no longer cover many features organisations once considered baseline. From Copilot to advanced security tooling, the costs stack up fast. This article examines what's driving that expansion, what it means for your budget, and how to push back effectively — including a practical option many organisations are overlooking.
- Details
Read more: Are Costly Add-Ons Draining Your Microsoft 365 Budget?
Lossless audio and Dolby Atmos sound coming to subscribers of Apple Music in June 2021 at no additional cost
Apple today announced Apple Music is bringing industry-leading sound quality to subscribers with the addition of Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity. Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen to more than 75 million songs in Lossless Audio — the way the artists created them in the studio. These new features will be available for Apple Music subscribers starting next month at no additional cost. Lossless audio alone is kind of a big deal, but the question remains open as to whether you feel the value is there in Apple Music.
Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality. Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favorite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more. Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with Lossless Audio. Apple Music as we know it is about to change forever.
TL:DR — Cool if you have the right Airpods and an Apple Music subscription, otherwise meh. Amazon Music announced lossless audio today too, coincidentally.
- Details
Read more: Apple Music Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos, Lossless audio
XLD can be used as a CD ripper. You can convert each track in your audio CD into the desired format. I use FLAC, which is supported nicely by PLEX. X Lossless Decoder(XLD) is a comprehensive tool for macOS that is able to decode/convert/play various 'lossless' audio files. The supported audio files can be split into some tracks with cue sheets. Also XLD supports the creation of a CD image with cue sheet (wav+cue, flac+cue, etc).
TL:DR— This is a lovely audio ripper. X Lossless Decoder(XLD) rips CD's to 'lossless' audio files such as FLAC files and is built for Mac computers with Apple silicon, as well as earlier Macs and the source code is published. Importantly it works well and outputs what I need - lossless audio versions of my CD's for PLEX.
- Details
TL:DR— XRG is an open source system monitor for macOS. XRG allows you to monitor CPU activity, GPU activity, memory usage, battery status, machine temperature, network activity, disk I/O, current weather, and stock market data.
Just take me to the link
- Details
I switched out of Adobe software in 2021 and have not missed a single thing about their tools. Adobe Creative Cloud was costing close to £700 per year for a single licence — a hard subscription to justify for functionality I used only occasionally. Since then the landscape for Adobe alternatives has shifted dramatically, and in 2026 the case for leaving Adobe behind is stronger than ever.
I replaced every Adobe Creative Cloud tool with fully featured Universal applications built to take advantage of Apple silicon. I am not a professional designer reviewing these apps from a power-user perspective — there are plenty of those reviews elsewhere. My needs are straightforward: I need graphics tools occasionally, for example to clean up an image or edit a scalable vector graphic. I need effective software designed and built for the latest Apple silicon technology. I do not need a full Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. So if you, like me, have an Apple silicon Mac and want tools whose developers are moving forward rather than falling behind, this article is for you.
TL;DR — I did it, and I have been genuinely surprised by the depth and quality of the alternatives. They are all fast, full-featured, and — crucially — they do not carry Adobe's subscription model or its increasingly sluggish pace of development. I standardised on Affinity products and cancelled my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription years ago. In 2025 Canva made the entire Affinity suite free to download and use, which removes the last remaining financial barrier to switching.
- Details
Read more: Replacing Adobe Creative Cloud on Apple Mac computers
The Stationery Pad checkbox is a surprisingly under-utilised tool. Let's explore what Stationery Pad is, how you can leverage it to create templates, and the various scenarios where it can simplify your workflows. For many users, mastering this feature can significantly enhance your productivity as you navigate your document-centric tasks.
TL:DR – The Stationery Pad feature in macOS allows users to create template documents that ensure the original files remain unchanged. To use it efficiently, select a document, enable the Stationery Pad option, and whenever you open that document, Finder will generate a new copy that you can edit without the risk of altering the original.
- Details
Google I/O 2021 was a landmark moment for Flutter — the conference where the framework genuinely announced itself as a serious cross-platform contender. Looking back from 2026, it's striking how much of what was seeded at that event has since grown into the Flutter ecosystem we rely on today. Flutter has gone on to power production apps across mobile, web, desktop, and embedded platforms, and the trajectory that began at I/O 2021 is now well and truly fulfilled.
TL;DR — Flutter's breakout moment at Google I/O 2021 set the stage for everything that followed. By 2026, it stands as one of the most widely adopted cross-platform UI frameworks in the world.
- Details
