Connectors Archives

Tech Optimizer

April 15, 2026

Postgres to Iceberg in 13 minutes: How Supermetal compares to Flink, Kafka Connect, and Spark

Supermetal introduced Iceberg sink support, allowing for data transfer from Postgres to Iceberg. In a performance comparison, Supermetal completed snapshotting in 13 minutes, while Flink took 90 to 116 minutes, Kafka Connect required 120 minutes, and Spark exceeded 3 hours. The tests focused on throughput during the snapshotting phase rather than latency. The setup used the TPC-H dataset with a scale factor of 50 and involved AWS infrastructure. Supermetal operates independently of Kafka, enabling direct data delivery from source to sink. It utilizes a JSON configuration file for deployment, supporting various catalogs and advanced configuration options. Supermetal's Iceberg writer can adjust settings based on the CDC source phase. Throughout the tests, Supermetal maintained low CPU and memory usage, while other tools faced challenges with performance and resource management. Data synchronization was validated across all tools, with Supermetal achieving at least 7x faster snapshotting performance without tuning.

Winsage

April 5, 2026

Claude Cowork and Claude Code Can Now Control Your Windows Desktop

On April 3, 2026, Anthropic expanded Claude’s desktop control feature to Windows for Pro and Max subscribers, allowing users to operate applications, navigate web pages, and manage files on their PCs without prior configuration. The feature is in research preview and includes a Dispatch companion for task assignment from mobile devices. Claude uses a structured tool hierarchy for task execution, prioritizing connectors like Slack and Google Calendar, and engages in direct desktop control only when necessary. Users must opt in to activate the feature, which integrates with existing software without requiring API keys. The technology is partly derived from Anthropic’s acquisition of Vercept AI, which specializes in AI-driven computer control. Security concerns have arisen due to vulnerabilities demonstrated shortly after the launch, prompting Anthropic to implement safeguards while acknowledging the feature's potential errors. Users can stop Claude's operations, but the company admits it cannot disable the technology remotely once tasks have started. Competitors like Microsoft and Google are also exploring similar desktop-level AI automation capabilities.

Tech Optimizer

March 11, 2026

Moving AI apps from prototype to production requires enterprise-grade postgres infrastructure

By 2024, 78% of organizations are expected to utilize AI, a significant increase from previous years. However, 90% of technology leaders struggle to measure the return on investment from AI initiatives. Traditional databases are inadequate for AI applications due to limitations in features like vector similarity search and semantic retrieval. Many organizations face challenges in integrating AI applications with existing databases, particularly when migrating legacy systems to the cloud. Security and compliance are critical for AI applications in regulated industries, requiring audit trails, data encryption, and adherence to standards like HIPAA and GDPR. The absence of dedicated vendors for transitioning AI from prototyping to production is notable, with no Postgres vendor focusing solely on AI integration until recently. Anthropic's open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) has emerged as a standard for connecting AI agents to data sources, easing integration challenges. The underlying database architecture is crucial for supporting enterprise-grade AI applications, with Postgres being a common choice. The pgEdge Agentic AI Toolkit for Postgres provides a solution for building production-ready AI applications while ensuring availability, security, and compliance.

Tech Optimizer

January 26, 2026

AlloyDB managed connection pooling

AlloyDB for PostgreSQL is a fully managed database service designed for enterprise workloads, combining PostgreSQL's strengths with Google Cloud technology for enhanced performance, scalability, and availability. A new feature, managed connection pooling, addresses the challenges of inefficient database connection management, which can lead to performance degradation, resource exhaustion, and reliability issues. Managed connection pooling maintains a cache of active database connections, allowing applications to reuse connections instead of creating new ones for each request, thus reducing latency and resource consumption. This feature is tightly integrated into AlloyDB, simplifying operations and optimizing performance and security. It offers two configurable pooling modes: transaction mode, which maximizes reuse for short transactions, and session mode, which maintains a connection for the entire session. Enabling managed connection pooling can increase transactions per minute by up to five times, support over three times more concurrent connections, decrease connection latency, and improve reliability during traffic spikes. UKG, a provider of HR solutions, has adopted this feature to enhance the performance and scalability of their applications. To enable managed connection pooling, users can activate it in the Google Cloud console and connect applications using standard PostgreSQL drivers to the designated port.

Winsage

December 21, 2025

Windows 11 gets a December Insider update packed with new features and AI upgrades — reveals Microsoft’s next big push. Here’s everything that is new.

Microsoft has slowed down the development of Windows 11 but released several preview builds through the Windows Insider Program in December 2025, showcasing various enhancements. Key updates include: - Model Context Protocol (MCP): Introduced in build 26220.7344, allowing AI agents to communicate with applications and tools via a secure on-device registry. It includes the File Explorer Connector for managing files through natural language searches and the Windows Settings Connector for navigating settings. - Unified Update Orchestration Platform (UOP): Provides a consistent update experience for developers through the Settings app. - Windows MIDI Services: Rollout of a new MIDI API, Service, and SDK, supporting MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 devices with enhancements like app-to-app MIDI support. - Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE): Expanded to additional handheld gaming devices, replicating console gaming on PCs. - Settings app with AI agent: Enhanced navigation and modification of settings with an integrated AI agent. - File Explorer dark mode improvements: Extended dark mode to various elements and improved search functionality using AI. - Drag Tray disable option: Users can now disable the Drag Tray feature through Settings. - Mobile Devices settings integration: Features for managing mobile devices are now integrated within the Settings app. - Virtual Workspaces in Advanced settings: New access to manage virtualization features without using the legacy "Windows Features" page. - Keyboard and text cursor settings: New settings added for customizing keyboard and cursor behavior. - Quick Machine Recovery improvements: Now enabled by default on Windows 11 Home and Pro editions. - Windows Studio Effects compatibility: Expanded to more camera hardware for improved user appearance. - Windows Spotlight for desktop changes: New context menu options for wallpaper changes and additional details. - Taskbar with Ask Copilot: A toggle to replace Windows Search with AI-driven searches. - Taskbar with AI agents: AI agents can function as apps in the Taskbar, providing real-time updates. - Windows 11 Agent Launchers: A framework for registering AI agents within the OS. - Narrator customization: Users can select which properties are announced while navigating applications. - Voice Typing animation: New animation for the dictation key in the Touch Keyboard and a "Discover Windows" widget added. - Voice Access streamlined setup: Simplified setup process for Voice Access. The Windows Insider Program will pause further builds until January.

Winsage

December 9, 2025

Windows Insiders get a glimpse of Redmond’s agentic future

Microsoft has begun a public preview for native support of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in Windows 11 Insider builds, specifically in build 26220.7344, available to Windows Insiders on the Dev and Beta channels. The MCP is an open standard that allows AI agents to connect with various applications and services. The update includes built-in connectors for File Explorer and Windows Settings, enabling agents to navigate files and modify settings with user consent. Microsoft aims to transform Windows into an agentic operating system but faces user skepticism about its AI initiatives. The update also features Quick Machine Recovery for non-domain-joined Windows Professional devices and the production release of Windows MIDI Services for MIDI 2.0. There is no timeline for when native MCP support will be generally available.

Winsage

December 4, 2025

The first building blocks of an agentic Windows OS

Microsoft is introducing an MCP registry to Windows, enhancing security with protective wrappers and providing local agents with discovery tools. A proxy will enable connectivity for local and remote servers, ensuring robust authentication, auditing, and authorization. Enterprises can control access to the MCP using group policies and default settings, allowing unique identities for connectors. The registration process for an MCP server has been simplified with MSIX packages, making installation more accessible. Developers must have NodeJS installed to use the MCP bundle (mcpb) package, which is built using an NPM package. This approach allows developers to incorporate the MCP server into their application’s installer as an MSIX file for easy distribution and installation.

Tech Optimizer

December 2, 2025

AWS Transform announces full-stack Windows modernization capabilities

AWS launched AWS Transform for .NET in May, aimed at modernizing .NET applications. In response to user feedback, AWS introduced AWS Transform for full-stack Windows modernization, which streamlines modernization tasks across the Windows application stack. This service enhances modernization efficiency by up to five times and supports migration from .NET Framework to cross-platform .NET and SQL Server to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition. It includes features for validating and testing applications, customizable deployment configurations, and modernizing ASP.NET Web Forms UI to Blazor. AWS Transform connects to source code repositories and database servers to analyze dependencies and create modernization waves. Users can configure database connectors for SQL Server and source code repositories, leading to a wave-based transformation plan. The service generates a SQL Modernization Assessment Report detailing the proposed modernization strategy. The transformation process involves converting SQL Server schema to PostgreSQL, migrating data, transforming .NET application code, and deploying applications for testing. AWS Transform exclusively supports codebases in .NET 6 or later. It also facilitates UI modernization from ASP.NET Web Forms to Blazor, managing the conversion of various project files. Additional features include support for porting to .NET 10 and .NET Standard, an editable transformation report, real-time tracking of transformation progress, and a markdown file outlining remaining tasks post-transformation. AWS Transform for full-stack Windows modernization is available in the US East (N. Virginia) Region, with no additional charges for the features beyond standard resource usage. It supports SQL Server versions from 2008 R2 to 2022 and Entity Framework versions 6.3 to 8.0.

AppWizard

November 28, 2025

These AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT Black Friday deals finally make this mid-range GPU a true bargain

AMD's RX 9000 series graphics cards, particularly the RX 9060 XT, have seen fluctuating retail prices often exceeding the suggested MSRP. However, Black Friday has brought several deals, making the RX 9060 XT more accessible. The Asus Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB model is available for 9, down from its typical price of 9. It features 32 RDNA 4 compute units and has shown strong performance in gaming tests, achieving 51fps in Doom: The Dark Ages at 1440p and 113fps in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 1080p. The RX 9060 XT requires a single eight-pin PCIe power connector. The XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC Gaming Edition with 8GB of VRAM is priced at 9.99, which is the lowest price for this model during Black Friday, down from its MSRP of 9.

Winsage

November 18, 2025

Windows Is Becoming An Operating System For AI Agents

Microsoft Windows is evolving to incorporate AI agents that act autonomously, resembling digital coworkers. This shift is facilitated by the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which standardizes agent interactions with tools and data sources, ensuring secure access to system resources. Windows introduces an on-device registry of "agent connectors" for functionalities like file access and system settings, managed through an OS-level proxy that oversees identity, permissions, consent, and audit logging. The initial connectors focus on File Explorer and System Settings, defining clear capabilities and restrictions for agents. A transparent consent model allows users to manage permissions easily, promoting a user-friendly experience. The introduction of an Agent Workspace provides a dedicated environment for agents, ensuring they operate independently and with least-privileged access. Security measures include signed connectors and a standardized proxy for authentication and auditing, enabling visibility into agent actions. Windows is also expanding on-device AI processing with APIs for various functionalities, allowing agents to leverage local models securely. While Windows is not becoming an agent-first operating system, it is establishing a framework for human and agent interactions, positioning itself as a safe environment for AI operations. The foundational elements for this evolution include standard interfaces, clear permissions, isolated environments, and system-level observability.