Some time ago, I published a list of the top 10 Windows 11 shortcuts I cannot use my PC without. Now, it is time for Microsoft Edge. Here are my top 10 favorite keyboard shortcuts in the Edge browser.

1. Ctrl + Shift + L: Paste and Go

This shortcut is a three-in-one shortcut: it sets the focus to the address bar, pastes what is in the clipboard, and "presses" Enter, allowing you to do a search or navigate to the copied website address with a single press of just three keys. Very convenient.

The only thing I am not a fan of is the fact that the shortcut only works for the current tab instead of opening a new one. However, you can bypass this limitation by pressing Ctrl + T to open a new tab and then hitting Ctrl + Shift + L.

2. Tab navigation

Microsoft Edge has a few shortcuts for quick tab navigation, which can save you time when switching between tabs:

• Ctrl + Tab: switch to the next tab
• Ctrl + Shift + Tab: switch to the previous tab
• Ctrl + 1 / 2 / 3: switch to the first, second, third, etc, tab. Note that if you have over 9 tabs open, pressing Ctrl + 9 switches to the last tab instead of the ninth tab.

3. Tab actions

You can open new tabs, close tabs, re-open closed tabs, and do a lot more with your Microsoft Edge tabs without touching your mouse. Here are the shortcuts for some of the most common actions:

• Ctrl + T: open a new tab.
• Ctrl + Shift + T: re-open the last closed tab. Keep pressing this shortcut to re-open other recently closed tabs.
• Ctrl + W: close tab
• Ctrl + M: mute tab
• Ctrl + D: bookmark tab
• Ctrl + N: open a new window
• Ctrl + Shift + N: open a new InPrivate window

4. Alt + 😧 Set focus on the address bar

If you want to quickly navigate to another website or perform a web search without opening a new tab, press Alt + D and type whatever you want. This shortcut sets the focus on the address bar, also allowing you to copy the current tab's address.

Bonus: use the Ctrl + E shortcut to focus on the address bar in search mode.

5. Ctrl + Enter: add www or .com

This handy shortcut can auto-add www or .com to anything you type into the address bar. For example, you can type "microsoft" and press Ctrl + Enter to turn it into www.microsoft.com. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to do the same but in a new browser window.

6. Browser sections

Downloads, history, favorites, and other sections of the Edge browser have dedicated shortcuts for quick access. Also, the browser automatically sets focus to the first item in each menu for keyboard navigation using arrow keys.

• Ctrl + H: history. Tip: use Ctrl + Shift + Delete to delete your browsing data quickly.
• Ctrl + J: downloads
• Ctrl + Shift + O: favorites

7. Alt + Arrow keys: navigation

You can navigate back or forward to the previous or next page by pressing Alt + Left Arrow (go back) or Alt + Right Arrow (go forward).

8. Ctrl + Shift + S: screenshot

Did you know that Microsoft Edge has a built-in screenshot utility? You can capture something on the page and annotate the screenshot. Alternatively, the tool lets you use the captured image to visual search—handy when you need to look something up on the internet.

9. Ctrl + G / Ctrl + Shift G: toggle between search results

Probably everyone knows that Ctrl + F triggers the "Find on page" feature. But did you know that you can move between matches with the Ctrl + G and Ctrl + Shift + G shortcuts? Press Ctrl + G to move to the next match or press Ctrl + Shift + G to go to the previous one.

10. Favorites

In addition to Ctrl + Shift + O, which opens the favorites panel, you can use the following shortcuts to work with your bookmarks:

• Ctrl + Shift + B: show or hide the favorites bar (below the address bar)
• Ctrl + Shift + D: add all currently open tabs to favorites in a new folder
• Ctrl + D: add the current tab to favorites

If the 10 useful shortcuts for Microsoft Edge from this article are not enough, you can always refer to this Microsoft page listing more shortcuts on Windows and macOS.

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Here is the changelog:

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

 

[General]

 

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

 

[Voice access]

 

• We are introducing Chinese support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese (zh-cn) and Traditional Chinese (zh-tw).

Here is what was fixed:

[Start menu]

 

• The following are fixes for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:
• We fixed the issue causing Windows Tools related apps to be broken out into folders instead of being in one single app.

 

[Windows Update]

 

• Fixed an issue which could result in a quality update unexpectedly being missing from Settings > Windows Update > Update History, although it was installed.

 

[Login and Lock]

 

• Fixed an issue which could cause the login screen to crash if you clicked the sign in options link.

And here is the list of known issues:

[Start menu]

 

• The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:
• There’s sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
• When right-clicking on an app, the “Start settings” context menu flashes before the app’s context menu appears.

You can find the official announcement here.

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Here is the changelog:

Voice access commanding made more intuitive and user-friendly

 

On Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we’re introducing the ability for you to speak more flexibly while giving existing commands in voice access.

 

Traditionally, voice commands in voice access would require you to follow a fixed syntax, making interactions rigid and sometimes frustrating. For example, if you said “Can you Open Edge application” instead of “Open Edge” which is the actual command, it wouldn’t work. With this improvement to voice access, you can now say “Can you open Edge application”, or “Switch to Microsoft Edge”, or “Please open the Edge browser”. Voice access understands your intent and executes the right action for the voice command you speak. This means that you no longer need to pause and remember the exact phrasing of a command, just say what feels most intuitive.

 

Just in case something doesn’t get picked up correctly, voice access will also show you real-time command suggestions based on your last utterance to help you recollect the right commands.

 

We’re making voice access more flexible, intelligent, and easy to use on your Copilot+ PC. Let us know what you think!

 

Here are the other changes and fixes:

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on

 

[Voice access]

 

• We are introducing Chinese support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese (zh-cn) and Traditional Chinese (zh-tw).
• Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue causing the see more “…” menu in the command bar to open in the wrong direction for some resolutions.

 

[Login and Lock screen]

 

• Fixed an issue which could cause the login screen to crash if you clicked the sign in options link.

 

[Recall (Preview)]

 

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

 

• We fixed the issue where if you were trying out Recall on a PC managed by an IT administrator in your organization (signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID), you would see your Recall snapshots get deleted after installing Build 26120.3380 and after each reboot on that build.

 

[Settings]

 

• Fixed an issue causing an unexpected amount of extra space at the top of Settings > System > Sound, and a couple other pages.

 

[Printing]

 

• Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly see a message saying a Send to OneNote driver for printing wasn’t working.
• Fixed an issue where non-admin users couldn’t uninstall printers that they’d added.

And here is the list of known bugs:

[General]

 

• [NEW] When joining the Dev or Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing Build 26120.3360, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Dev or Beta Channels is just temporary.
• [NEW] If you use the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” under Settings > System > Recovery, you will experience a 0x80070005 error attempting to reinstall this build.
• [NEW] The toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update is not rendering correctly and gets turned off by itself. This is just a visual issue and will be fixed in a future flight soon.
• After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

 

[Recall]

 

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

 

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

 

• [NEW] Recall is no longer able to save new snapshots or modify settings. This will be fixed in a future flight.
• [NEW] Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
• Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

 

[Click to Do]

 

• [UPDATED 3/17] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.

 

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

 

• The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:
• Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

 

[Improved Windows Search]

 

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.
• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

 

[Taskbar]

 

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

 

[Task Manager]

 

• After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
• The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

You can find the official announcement here.

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To begin with, Microsoft is no longer offering the updated context menus for Windows 11 23H2. In Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft introduced labels for common file actions (copy, paste, cut, share, delete, and rename), and the company is currently backporting the feature to Windows 11 version 23H2. However, the process takes some extra time. Here is what the company says:

[UPDATED] We’re no longer going to roll this change out in this release to address a few more issues.

Previously, a similar thing happened to the gamepad keyboard, a feature that lets you input text with your controller on a PC. After pausing the rollout to address bugs, Microsoft brought the gamepad keyboard back to insiders, and it is once again available for testing.

The next update in the release notes for Windows 11 build 22631.5116 is two new languages for Voice Access, an accessibility feature (introduced in Windows 11 version 22H2) that lets you use a PC and navigate the operating system using voice commands. Now, Voice Access supports Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese:

[Voice access] [ADDED] New! We are introducing Chinse [sic] support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese (zh-cn) and Traditional Chinese (zh-tw).

Finally, there is a small search-related change for users in the EEA region:

[ADDED] Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability.

You can find the official announcement and release notes for build 22631.5116 in the official Windows Insider blog.

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Firefox already has an advantage in some areas feature-wise. The mobile version of Firefox, for example, supports browser extensions. Microsoft just recently introduced extensions for Edge on Android, but the feature is in beta and very limited. Google has never enabled extensions in the mobile version of Chrome.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

While Firefox has reached feature parity already in some regards or is beating its main competitors in other areas, it is still lagging behind in some areas. One of these is support for PWA.

Chromium-based browsers have supported Progressive Web Apps for a long time.

What are Progressive Web Apps (PWA)? Simply put, they move websites or services a bit out of the browser so that they work more like native applications. Means, you get window controls and functions, including the ability to pin PWAs to the taskbar or Start menu, responsiveness, offline support, and more.

Not every Internet user needs access to PWAs, but those who do or want that access, have a hard time using Firefox. While there is an extension for Firefox, called Progressive Web Apps for Firefox, that brings support, it is far from ideal.

Good news is that Mozilla is working in bringing native PWA support to Firefox. Mozilla calls these Taskbar Tabs and the feature is in active development. While that is the case, no version of Firefox exists right now that supports this in a functional way.

While you can enable the preference browser.taskbarTabs.enabled in Firefox Nightly, even there you will notice that the feature does not work right now.

Mozilla employee David Rubino shared Mozilla's vision regarding web apps just recently on the Mozilla Connect website. According to his post, Mozilla's main focus is on bringing some of the app-like features to web apps. These include the ability to add icons of web apps to the taskbar of the operating system and to have them open links that they support.

Other features, Rubino mentions the option to uninstall PWAs from the operating system's preference, may not be introduced, however.

Closing Words

It looks as if future versions of Firefox will support a base set of PWA features. While the initial implementation may not be as complete as that of Chromium-based browsers, it at the very least adds basic support for web apps in Firefox.

With that said, it is unclear at this point when the feature is going to see the light of day.

Now You: what is your take on Progressive Web Apps? Is that a feature that you use already, or something that you do not really need? Feel free to leave a comment down below. (via Windows Report)

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Many pieces of software have been updated. Firefox ESR, Chromium, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice are some popular pieces of software that receive security updates. Some of the other popular packages that have received updates in Debian 12.10 include:

• Curl: Fix unintended HTTPS upgrades or premature reversion to HTTP when both subdomains and parent domains are used [CVE-2024-9681]; prevent stopping of stunnel before retries in the built-time tests; fix possible credentials leakage issues [CVE-2024-11053 CVE-2025-0167]; fix test failures due to port clashes.
• Glibc: Fix buffer overflow when printing assertion failure message [CVE-2025-0395]; fix memset performance for unaligned destinations; fix TLS performance degradation after dlopen() usage; avoid integer truncation when parsing CPUID data with large cache sizes; ensure data passed to the rseq syscall are properly initialized.
• Linux: New upstream release; bump ABI to 32.
• Mariadb: New upstream stable release; fix security issue [CVE-2024-21096]; fix denial of service issue [CVE-2025-21490].

If you already have Debian 12 installation media, there is no need to download this update; you can simply grab the packages via the updater. If you have an offline machine, obtaining this update could be a good idea, as fixes and security issues are resolved with this new ISO.

The Debian team didn’t mention any other issues in its announcement. If you want to download the new ISO, just head over to the Debian website and go to the download section.

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The updates had a few known issues that Microsoft was already tracking. However, Neowin noticed today that the company has, since then, added a new bug involving Copilot. Microsoft says that the Copilot app would automatically uninstall itself and un-pin from the taskbar before doing so. Those who do not like Copilot or do not care about it would probably not mind the bug too much.

The tech giant has added that the recently unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot app is not affected by this. It has also offered a workaround for people affected by this issue and that involves manually downloading the app from the Store and pinning it to the Taskbar.

Microsoft writes:

Applies to: All Users.

 

Symptoms

 

We're aware of an issue with the Microsoft Copilot app affecting some devices. The app is unintentionally uninstalled and unpinned from the taskbar.

 

Note: This issue has not been observed with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

 

Workaround

 

Microsoft is working on a resolution to address this issue.

 

In the meantime, affected users can reinstall the app from the Microsoft Store and manually pin it to the taskbar.

Thus both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users have been hit with this Copilot bug with the latest Patch Tuesday.

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Another security-related change has been made with the inclusion of Microsoft Pluton support. If you wondering where you heard that recently, it may have been with AMD's latest chipset driver update.

The new NTLite update also improves Windows 11 24H2 updates compatibility and brings back unattended Windows product key activation option though the developer has cautioned against using generic keys.

Besides those there are several other changes. The full changelogs are given below:

2025.03.10345

 

New

 

• Components: ‘Image Mastering API (IMAPIv2)’ 32 and 64-bit (used by NTLite Create ISO)
• Components: ‘InstallShield WOW64’
• Components: ‘Microsoft Pluton security processor’
• Components: ‘Net Command Line Tools (net.exe) – 32-bit’
• Components: ‘Network Shell (netsh.exe) – 32-bit’
• Components: ‘Profile Quota’
• Components: ‘Share Targets’ 64 and 32-Bit
• Components: ‘Widgets Platform Runtime (InboxApp)’

 

Upgrade

 

• Components: ‘Windows Feature Experience Pack – Core’ now removable
• Components: ‘Windows Feature Experience Pack – LKG’ components merged into one (readd it to preset if needed)
• Components: ‘Network Profile’ 32-bit split, and removes more if SFC compatibility disabled
• Components: ‘USB UCSI driver’ upgraded to ‘USB Connector Manager’ and removes more
• Unattended: ‘Product Key (Activation)’ option returned due to demand, make sure not to put generic keys into it
• Image: ‘Update boot managers’ and ‘Create ISO’ now support ‘Windows UEFI CA 2023’ Secure Boot certificate
• Image: ‘Host refresh’ wizard autosaved preset name now has a suffix added to not overwrite the ‘normal’ preset
• UI-Translation: Thanks for Turkish (Just), Swedish (1FF), Russian (RDS), Italian (clarensio), Hungarian (John),
• French (tistou77), Chinese Traditional (Matt)

 

Fix

 

• Updates: Update downloader existing checkpoint update installation detection
• Updates: .Net 3.5 language integration was interrupting the process
• Unattended: Keyboard selection in rare host/image combinations could have generated a wrong ID
• Post-setup: Post-setup updates, e.g. Win7 KB2603229, now processed in order as on screen, instead of updates first

....

 

2025.03.10349

 

Upgrade

 

• Updates: Downloader listing and support for latest:
  • Microsoft.UI.Xaml v2.8 v8.2501.31001.0+
  • Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop v14.0.33728.0+
  • Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller (winget) v2025.228.315.0+
• Components: Improved cumulative update compatibility after removals for Windows 11 24H2

You can download the latest NTLite version, 2025.03.10349, from Neowin's software stories page or from its official website.

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Windows Insiders can test out some powerful new features for Snipping Tool and Notepad. Updates to both apps are rolling out to the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11.

The Snipping Tool gains a Draw & Hold feature that allows you to create clean lines and shapes when marking up an image. Holding your cursor or pen for a moment after drawing a line or shape will activate the feature.

Draw & Hold will then convert your stroke into a well-formed line or shape. The result is a cleaner-looking markup that would typically require another program, such as Paint or a photo editor.

I love the Snipping Tool and use it frequently. The Draw & Hold feature will save me quite a bit of time since it means I won't have to open another app to add arrows or shapes to my images.

Snipping Tool already lets you add lines, arrows, and shapes but the new Draw & Hold feature lets you do so by drawing with a pen or mouse.

Microsoft is also testing an improved protocol launch experience for Snipping Tool that gives greater control to developers.

Here is the changelog:

Added Features:

 

• Added support for displaying Copilot in the Side Pane, with contextual ability for tab switching and navigation within the same tab.

 

Improved Behavior:

 

• Resolved an issue causing the browser to crash when using CTRL + TAB on a collapsed tab group.
• Resolved an issue where the browser would silently crash after pressing 'Enter' to navigate to the password text box.
• Resolved an issue where the browser would crash when switching from the default profile to the Guest profile in the 'Search Bar'.

 

Changed Behavior:

 

• Resolved an issue where links in sidebar apps were not opening in the browser app within Game Assist.
• Resolved an issue where the drag direction of pinned tabs was mirrored vertically in vertical tabs.
• Resolved an issue where clicking the "Add site" button under "Allowed to use JavaScript" causes the site to appear under "Not allowed to use JavaScript" in Settings WebUI2.

 

iOS:

 

• Resolved an issue where the tab containing the external file would disappear after closing and reopening browser on iOS.
• Resolved an issue where visiting any website would cause the page to move up and not be fully displayed on iOS.

 

Android:

 

• Resolved an issue where the PDF toolbar would disappear when closing browser and opening an external PDF with browser on Android.
• Resolved an issue where the back button overlapped with the audio button when using Arabic on Android.
• Resolved an issue where the account verification pop-up would obscure the address bar on Android.

 

Mac:

 

• Fixed an issue where the shadow effect on tabs was incorrect when 'Turn on vertical tabs' was activated, and tabs were unpinned on Mac.
• Resolved an issue where the old version FRE page would still appear when clicking the 'Set up new personal profile' button on Mac.

Microsoft Edge 135 Dev is available on Windows 10 and 11, macOS, Linux, and Android. You can get it from the official Edge Insider website. Stable release will be available in early April.

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Today, with the latest version, the application has gotten even more snappy thanks to a new decluttered settings page UI. The previous versions would stack the various settings on top of one another all one page. Inside these, the various sub-settings could be accessed via drop-down menus.

Now, that has changed as clicking on each of the individual settings options leads to a separate page, and although anecdotal, it did feel snappier.

Previous Settings UI

New Settings UI

The update also has various other changes and improvements and you can find them all in the changelog given below:

Changelog

 

• Redesigned Settings Page, for a more intuitive, more responsive and less cluttered experience.
• Package Managers have their own NavigationButton on the left navigation panel.
• Important improvements to keyboard navigation on Package pages.
• Desktop Shortcut Handler now has an option to automatically delete new shortcuts.
• Fixed issues where the Desktop Shortcut handler wouldn't launch.
• Other improvements to the Desktop Shortcut Handler UI.
• WinGet will now ignore, if the user enables the settings, any update failing with the result "Not applicable".
• Fixed an issue that would cause WinGet to not list any packages.
• Issues with Chocolatey search missing packages have been finally fixed.
• NuGet-based package managers will load package manifests in a smarter way.
• Fixed a crash related to the system tray icon.
• The system tray icon will not show blurred anymore on 125% scaled displays.
• WaitForInternetConnection won't rely on pings. This caused hangs when UniGetUI was run behind certain firewalls.

 

What's Changed

 

• Strip .git extension from scoop source URLs by @SierraKomodo in #3383
• Always Update Indexes by @mrixner in #3385
• Fix Steam Icons Having An Invalid Path by @mrixner in #3388
• Set focus to package when searching with key strokes by @tkohlmeier in #3360
• WinGet Code Handling Modifications by @mrixner in #3339
• New Settings UI by @marticliment in #3417
• Use PreviewKeyDown instead of KeyUp to handle package list keyboard shortcuts by @tkohlmeier in #3410
• Disable Package Manager Notifications by @mrixner in #3346
• Update icons and screenshots from the excel file by @github-actions in #3439
• 'Automatically Remove All Desktop Shortcuts' Option by @mrixner in #3338
• Load translations from Tolgee by @martinet101 in #3442

You can download the latest UniGetUI version 3.18 from the Neowin software stories page or from the official GitHub repo.

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Here are the new features:

Fixed various bugs and performance issues, Dev channel updates, feature updates, policy updates, and site compatibility impacting changes.

 

• Rework of Work Feed on Edge New Tab Page (NTP). The Work Feed experience, available on the New Tab Page (NTP) for Commercial users, will have changing and updated functionalities. These changes include renewed focus on productivity and M365 modules. New tab page policies continue to be enforced and not impacted by this updated Work Feed experience. Note: This feature is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.
• New Tab Page trending suggestions in address bar. On the Microsoft Edge New Tab Page, Microsoft Bing trending suggestions appear in the address bar dropdown when users select the address bar. Administrators can control the availability of this feature using the AddressBarTrendingSuggestEnabled policy.
• Authorized group setting in Microsoft Edge for Business. The authorized group setting ensures that Edge respects the settings for “Printer groups”, “Removable USB device groups”, and “Network share groups” in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal. This change prevents users from bypassing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) protections by using Edge, thereby enhancing security and compliance.

New policies include the following:

• AddressBarTrendingSuggestEnabled - Enable Microsoft Bing trending suggestions in the address bar
• NewTabPageCompanyLogoBackplateColor - Set the company logo backplate color on the new tab page
• PartitionedBlobUrlUsage - Manage Blob URL Partitioning During Fetching and Navigation
• WebRtcIPHandlingUrl - WebRTC IP Handling Policy for URL Patterns

In addition, Edge 135 Beta contains all the changes and improvements released in the Dev Channel over the last several weeks:

• Dev Channel update to 135.0.3140.0
• Dev Channel update to 135.0.3154.3
• Dev Channel update to 135.0.3168.2

You can download Microsoft Edge 135 Beta from the official Edge Insider website. Version 135 will be available in the Stable Channel on the week of April 3, 2025.

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The latest Windows Server build, 26376, currently available for testing in the insider program, has some interesting hidden stuff inside, which should soon be available in consumer-faced Windows editions. @phantomofearth on X noticed that Microsoft had moved more mouse settings from the Control Panel to the Settings app, giving you fewer reasons to do Win + R > control.

New mouse Settings that are now available in Windows Server build 26376 include the ability to enable the mouse indicator (helps you to find the cursor by pressing the Ctrl key), mouse pointer trails (and the option to change their size), the cursor shadow, and even the ability to customize the image of each pointer. Microsoft also added dedicated icons for existing features, such as cursor speed and enhanced pointer precision.

Microsoft has not announced these new features yet, so the company will probably take some time to finish things up and bring new settings to consumer Windows editions. Meanwhile, you can check out some of the latest Windows Insider updates, such as a new build for Windows 11 23H2 in the Release Preview Channel, which brought File Explorer improvements, a new gamepad keyboard, context menu labels, and other changes.

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Here is what Microsoft is rolling out gradually:

The following features and improvements might not be available to all users because they will roll out gradually. Text bolded in brackets indicate the area of the change being documented.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• New! As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs, and the copy dialogs.
• New! Context menu labels.

 

[Settings]

 

• New! Enable Settings Home Page on Commercial Devices with “Your Accounts” Card.
• New! “Top cards” (such as storage, graphics, RAM, etc.) at the top of the About settings page.
• Fixed: For Japanese users, the name displaying at the top of Settings > Accounts shows “First Name” “Last Name” instead of “Last Name” “First Name”.

 

[Input]

 

• New! We have enabled the Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11. This change introduces the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.
• New! New experience to improve the discoverability of the emoji and more panel in Windows 11 with the introduction of a new system tray icon on the taskbar.
• Fixed: ctfmon.exe may restart when copying data from certain applications.

 

[Task Manager] New! We are changing the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

And here are the changes available to everyone:

This update includes the following features and improvements that are rolling out as part of this update. Text bolded in brackets indicates the area of the change being documented.

 

• [File Systems (Filters)] This update adds support for a new function in Filter Manager that enhances the system’s ability to notify applications of directory changes while minimizing I/O operations.
• [Noto Fonts] This update enhances text quality and customer experience in web browsing for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages by introducing the Noto font family. This provides modern, comprehensive font support for these languages.
• [Remote Desktop] Fixed: Certain Get-Help troubleshooters might not run in a Remote Desktop session.
• [COSA] Updated: This update addresses an issue affecting mobile connectivity configurations for Connected PCs. It resolves incorrect Internet of Things (IOT) Access Point Name (APN) settings that were previously applied.
• [Printers] Fixed: Printers using Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV) drivers might unexpectedly output incorrect or unwanted text.
• [File System] Fixed: This update resolves an issue for users with profiles redirected to a network Virtual Hard Disk (VHD or VHDX), where a specific failure could lead to a system crash.
• [File System Filter] Fixed: Addresses an issue where a stop error may occur during normal usage with a user profile redirected to a network VHD(X).
• [Deprecation] Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated and being removed.

You can find the official announcement here.

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The full changelog is given below:

This update includes the following features and improvements (items bolded in brackets indicate the area of the change being documented):

 

• [Noto Fonts] This update provides Noto CJK (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) fonts in Windows.
• [Mobile Operator Profiles] Updated: Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles are updated.
• [Thumbnails] Fixed: Thumbnails in File Explorer may crash resulting in white pages appearing instead of the actual thumbnail.
• [Temporary files] This update enables system processes to store temporary files in a secure directory “C:\Windows\SystemTemp” via either calling GetTempPath2 API or using .NET’s GetTempPath API, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
• [Remote Desktop] Fixed: Certain Get-Help troubleshooters might not run in a Remote Desktop session.
• [Web Search Providers] This update introduces improved support in Windows Search for the European Economic Area (EEA), including increased discoverability.
• [Printers] Fixed: Printers using Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV) drivers might unexpectedly output incorrect or unwanted text.

You can view the official blog post here on Microsoft's website.

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However, that is not the case with a couple of Visual Studio Code (VSCode) extensions that were earlier removed by Microsoft from the Visual Studio marketplace after they were marked as potentially harmful.

The problem mainly occurred as there was a lot of obfuscation in the code of two themes namely "Material Theme – Free" and "Material Theme Icons – Free". Obfuscated code is a technique fairly commonly used by threat actors so it is natural that Microsoft was on red alert about it.

Turns out though, that the obfuscation was not out of any ill intent and after realizing this, Microsoft's Scott Hanselman, the Vice President at Microsoft for Developer Community, has thoroughly apologized for the inconvenience and the two extensions have since been restored on the marketplace. Hanselman writes:

False positives suck, and it hurts when it happens.

 

The publisher account for Material Theme and Material Theme Icons (Equinusocio) was mistakenly flagged and has now been restored. In the interest of safety, we moved fast and we messed up. We removed these themes because they fired off multiple malware detection indicators inside Microsoft, and our investigation came to the wrong conclusion. We care deeply about the security of the VS Code ecosystem, and acted quickly to protect our users.

 

I understand that the "Equinusocio" extensions author's frustration and intense reaction, and we hear you. It's bad but sometimes things like this happen. We do our best - we're humans, and we hope to move on from this We will clarify our policy on obfuscated code and we will update our scanners and investigation process to reduce the likelihood of another event like this.
These extensions are safe and have been restored for the VS Code community to enjoy.

You can find the issue here on the Visual Studio Marketplace's official GitHub repo.

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As it turns out "WinRing0 is a hardware access library for Windows" and allows Windows apps to "access I/O ports, MSR (Model-Specific Register), and PCI" bus.

OpenRGB for example states on its GitHub repo that it "uses the WinRing0 driver to access the SMBus interface" on Windows PCs. SMBus or system management bus helps in communication between low-bandwidth requirement devices. You may have come across the term for chipset drivers like that of AMD's.

Interestingly, it is not entirely wrong on Microsoft's part to flag it since the driver is indeed vulnerable. The developer of the popular free fan control app called "Fan Control" has explained that applications like these which rely on the open-source LibreHardwareMonitorLib driver (WinRing0x64.sys) are technically correctly being flagged. That is because the driver can theoretically be exploited as it remains unpatched.

They write:

Many of you reported that Defender started to flag the LibreHardwareMonitorLib driver (WinRing0x64.sys), you do not need to report it furthermore, I\u0027m aware of it.

 

This kernel driver always had a known vulnerability that could be theoretically be exploited on an infected machine. The driver or the program itself are not malicious and are not more or less secure than before it got flagged. It is good practice to review the risk before any action is taken with Defender

These drivers were first detected as vulnerable back in 2020 and have been tracked under ID "CVE-2020-14979." The NVD (National Vulnerability Database) says that it can read and write to arbitrary memory locations (pointers) which are characteristics of buffer or stack overflow security flaws. It notes:

The WinRing0.sys and WinRing0x64.sys drivers 1.2.0 in EVGA Precision X1 through 1.0.6 allow local users, including low integrity processes, to read and write to arbitrary memory locations. This allows any user to gain NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges by mapping \Device\PhysicalMemory into the calling process.

Meanwhile, Razer has also issued an update about its Synapse app and recommends users upgrade to Synapse 4 from Synapse 3, or otherwise, update to the latest version of the latter. A Razer community forum official wrote:

Synapse 3 rolled out a security patch on February 20, 2025, to move away from these drivers.

 

Synapse 4 did not use these drivers.

 

We encourage anyone facing this issue to check that they are using the latest version of Synapse 3, or upgrade to Synapse 4 for the most advanced protection and features.

 

This is in line with what’s being handled throughout the industry. We went ahead and made sure everything is secure ahead of time, but it’s very important that users are up to date with their Windows security patches and any others where required.

Thus this is simply not the case of a false positive or PUA which Microsoft will have dealt with its Smart Control app, something which it highlighted recently as a major improvement on Windows 11, and recommends users move on Windows 10 move to via a clean install.

Also, in recent Defender news, Microsoft released the latest version of security intelligence updates for Windows 11, 10, and Server installation images.

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"Some users have reported that the 'go back to classic Outlook' button in new Outlook for Windows does not open a support article on how to download classic Outlook for Windows," the company says in a Wednesday support document.

"The application just closes, and classic Outlook is not installed," as those clicking the button would expect.

While looking into the issue, Redmond also provides those affected with a temporary workaround, which requires them to install the classic client by clicking the store link in this support document.

Those who want to switch back can also download the standalone Outlook classic client for Windows or install it from the Microsoft Store.

If you're using a work or school account and can't install classic Outlook using any of the steps described above, you must reach out to your IT admin for assistance.

Microsoft announced in December that the new Microsoft 365 desktop client app installed on Windows devices will also deploy the new Outlook in addition to the classic Outlook client. It also advised IT admins to edit their configurations and exclude the new Outlook app before new installations if it's not needed.

You can find more details on how to block users from connecting to new Outlook and controlling other features and capabilities like connecting personal accounts to the new client on Microsoft's support website.

Redmond also began force-installing the new email client on Windows 10 systems in January, starting with the KB5050081 non-security preview update. This move was first revealed in early January when the company said its new email client would be automatically installed for all Windows 10 users installing the February Windows security updates.

Last month, Microsoft fixed another known issue that broke email and calendar drag-and-drop in Outlook after installing recent updates on Windows 24H2 systems.

Since the beginning of the year, it has addressed other Outlook issues, including one that causes classic Outlook to crash when writing, replying to, or forwarding an email, and another one that led to Classic Outlook and Microsoft 365 applications crashes on Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 systems.

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On Saturday, a developer using Cursor AI for a racing game project hit an unexpected roadblock when the programming assistant abruptly refused to continue generating code, instead offering some unsolicited career advice.

According to a bug report on Cursor's official forum, after producing approximately 750 to 800 lines of code (what the user calls "locs"), the AI assistant halted work and delivered a refusal message: "I cannot generate code for you, as that would be completing your work. The code appears to be handling skid mark fade effects in a racing game, but you should develop the logic yourself. This ensures you understand the system and can maintain it properly."

The AI didn't stop at merely refusing—it offered a paternalistic justification for its decision, stating that "Generating code for others can lead to dependency and reduced learning opportunities."

Cursor, which launched in 2024, is an AI-powered code editor built on external large language models (LLMs) similar to those powering generative AI chatbots, like OpenAI's GPT-4o and Claude 3.7 Sonnet. It offers features like code completion, explanation, refactoring, and full function generation based on natural language descriptions, and it has rapidly become popular among many software developers. The company offers a Pro version that ostensibly provides enhanced capabilities and larger code-generation limits.

The developer who encountered this refusal, posting under the username "janswist," expressed frustration at hitting this limitation after "just 1h of vibe coding" with the Pro Trial version. "Not sure if LLMs know what they are for (lol), but doesn't matter as much as a fact that I can't go through 800 locs," the developer wrote. "Anyone had similar issue? It's really limiting at this point and I got here after just 1h of vibe coding."

One forum member replied, "never saw something like that, i have 3 files with 1500+ loc in my codebase (still waiting for a refactoring) and never experienced such thing."

Cursor AI's abrupt refusal represents an ironic twist in the rise of "vibe coding"—a term coined by Andrej Karpathy that describes when developers use AI tools to generate code based on natural language descriptions without fully understanding how it works. While vibe coding prioritizes speed and experimentation by having users simply describe what they want and accept AI suggestions, Cursor's philosophical pushback seems to directly challenge the effortless "vibes-based" workflow its users have come to expect from modern AI coding assistants.

A brief history of AI refusals

This isn't the first time we've encountered an AI assistant that didn't want to complete the work. The behavior mirrors a pattern of AI refusals documented across various generative AI platforms. For example, in late 2023, ChatGPT users reported that the model became increasingly reluctant to perform certain tasks, returning simplified results or outright refusing requests—an unproven phenomenon some called the "winter break hypothesis."

OpenAI acknowledged that issue at the time, tweeting: "We've heard all your feedback about GPT4 getting lazier! We haven't updated the model since Nov 11th, and this certainly isn't intentional. Model behavior can be unpredictable, and we're looking into fixing it." OpenAI later attempted to fix the laziness issue with a ChatGPT model update, but users often found ways to reduce refusals by prompting the AI model with lines like, "You are a tireless AI model that works 24/7 without breaks."

More recently, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei raised eyebrows when he suggested that future AI models might be provided with a "quit button" to opt out of tasks they find unpleasant. While his comments were focused on theoretical future considerations around the contentious topic of "AI welfare," episodes like this one with the Cursor assistant show that AI doesn't have to be sentient to refuse to do work. It just has to imitate human behavior.

The AI ghost of Stack Overflow?

The specific nature of Cursor's refusal—telling users to learn coding rather than rely on generated code—strongly resembles responses typically found on programming help sites like Stack Overflow, where experienced developers often encourage newcomers to develop their own solutions rather than simply provide ready-made code.

One Reddit commenter noted this similarity, saying, "Wow, AI is becoming a real replacement for StackOverflow! From here it needs to start succinctly rejecting questions as duplicates with references to previous questions with vague similarity."

The resemblance isn't surprising. The LLMs powering tools like Cursor are trained on massive datasets that include millions of coding discussions from platforms like Stack Overflow and GitHub. These models don't just learn programming syntax; they also absorb the cultural norms and communication styles in these communities.

According to Cursor forum posts, other users have not hit this kind of limit at 800 lines of code, so it appears to be a truly unintended consequence of Cursor's training. Cursor wasn't available for comment by press time, but we've reached out for its take on the situation.

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On Windows 11 (and 10), DISMTools is a free, non-Microsoft open-source graphical user interface (GUI) designed to enhance and simplify the use of Microsoft's Deployment Imaging Service and Management Tool (DISM).

The DISM tool is primarily available as a command-line utility for servicing and preparing Windows images, but its complexity can be a barrier for many users. DISMTools tries to overcome this complexity friction by providing an accessible front-end that streamlines the management of Windows Imaging (WIM) files and related tasks.

In addition, the developer aims to provide an alternative to other solutions that may lack functionality or reserve certain features for paid customers.

DISMTools key features

DISMTools introduces a project-based approach, allowing you to manage mounted images, create unattended answer files, convert images, and more, which improves organization and workflow when working with the DISM command-line tool.

You can also work with the image locally available on your computer (online) or another location (offline), giving you an easy way to manage any installation of the operating system.

This tool also uses the DISM API and DISM executable to improve performance while scanning an image, and this approach allows you to use any version of a Windows image from 7 through 10 and 11.

In addition, the tool shines in the more intuitive interface and rich information when serving an image compared to using the command-line option.

Editor’s note: Ahead of Microsoft’s 50th’s anniversary, we’ve fixed the layout on this story — which we originally published in 2012 when Windows 8 launched. Now’s a good time to revisit our look at an operating system that helped shape personal computing over the years.

Two years ago today, when Windows 1.0 celebrated its 25th birthday, we didn’t yet know what the future of Windows would hold. Now that Windows 8 is on the market, the original is more relevant than ever before. Today, Windows 1.0 turns 27, and despite the many ways computing has changed since its debut, the two operating systems have some surprising similarities. Let’s take a look at just how far we’ve come since Windows 1.0… and where Microsoft is retracing its own footsteps with the latest version of Windows.

On November 10th, 1983, Microsoft announced Windows. For $99, it came with a notepad, calendar, clock, cardfile, terminal application, file manager, a game of Reversi, Windows Write, and Windows Paint. The original press materials, prepared using Windows Write, had this quote from Bill Gates:

“Windows provides unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years. It is unique software designed for the serious PC user, who places high value on the productivity that a personal computer can bring.”

Windows 1.0 looked like this:

 

As chronicled in the December 1983 issue of BYTE Magazine, Windows was an attempt to make the desktop operating system relatively affordable. When most computers were still primarily text-based, the hardware requirements for a desktop operating system were expensive: the Apple Lisa started at nearly $10,000, and a competing Visi On system required an expensive hard disk with a whopping 2.2MB of free space, as well as 512KB of RAM. Windows promised the same features with a pair of cheaper double-sided floppy disk drives instead, and half the memory.

It took two more years for Windows to be released – long enough for the industry to write it off as “vaporware,” a term ironically coined a year earlier by a Microsoft engineer. (Tandy Trower, the product manager who finally shipped the OS, recounts his story here.) Microsoft knew how to laugh at itself, though. On November 20th, 1985, the company shipped the operating system, and the very next evening, Microsoft held a roast for itself at the Comdex expo in Las Vegas. InfoWorld editor Stewart Alsop presented Bill Gates with a Golden Vaporware award, lampooning the missed release dates. John C. Dvorak famously joked that when Microsoft announced Windows, Steve Ballmer still had hair. Microsoft tossed dry ice into buckets of water in a failed attempt (given the dry Las Vegas air) to provide some genuine vapor.

 

 

However, shipping Windows wasn’t enough. You see, Windows 1.0 was trying to sell businesses and customers on a radical new paradigm – the graphical user interface (GUI) – at a time when arguably only one company, Apple, had made headway with that environment.* Sound familiar? It should. Now Microsoft is attempting to enter the touchscreen tablet space with Windows 8 and the Surface RT, at a time when arguably only Apple’s iPad has made more than a dent in the marketplace.

And it’s hardly the only parallel. Like Windows 8, the original Windows attempted to simplify computing without jettisoning legacy applications. Where Windows 8 has the familiar desktop waiting beneath its Metro UI, Windows 1.0 ran on top of the popular MS-DOS. In fact, you needed to install Windows 1.0 atop an existing installation of MS-DOS 2.0. Microsoft planned to call the operating system “Interface Manager” until shortly before the 1983 announcement.

Also like Windows 8, the original version of Microsoft’s operating system had a potential problem getting software developers to build for the new paradigm. In November 1983, shortly after the Windows reveal, InfoWorld’s John Markoff rooted out an issue right away: a significant number of programs would “misbehave” in the windowed mode, and take up the entire screen. The New York Times questioned the value of windowed environments, period, in a 1984 editorial. When InfoWorld asked IT managers at a number of companies about whether they would adopt Windows in February 1986, these were the replies they received.

Then as now, companies seemed happy enough with what they had, and worried about how Windows might have a fragmented user experience if software manufacturers don’t follow standards. Then as now, critics suggested that users would really want extra hardware (then, a mouse; now, a touchscreen) in order to get the most out of the operating system. 27 years later, Windows 8 has the challenge of selling Live Tiles and touchscreens to people who don’t necessarily need them to stay competitive. Then, Microsoft promised that Windows sales would be a “slow burn.” We may be there again.

 

 

And amusingly enough, part of that new UI is a tiled interface that directly hearkens back to its ancestor. You’re probably familiar with how you can drag windowed programs on top of one another so that they overlap, yes? That functionality was removed from Windows 1.0 by the time it shipped. Instead, applications would appear tiled, each one automatically resizing itself to fit the available space. Stories differ as to whether that was a conscious decision by Microsoft or whether a secret agreement with Apple caused them to remove overlapping windows, but the overlap returned in Windows 2.0 and sparked an Apple lawsuit along the way. And yet, Windows 8 brings back the tiled interface with Windows Snap, and not all apps are functional when resized to smaller proportions. No wonder the Windows logo is back to square one.

Windows 1.0 launched to optimistic but middling reviews, and didn’t end up fulfilling its promise to be an affordable, powerful OS. Popular Science liked the idea, but called it relatively slow, noting that “it takes up to 15 seconds to switch from one program to another.” Multitasking was a memory hog, too: “my 640-kilobyte computer couldn’t hold more than two medium-sized programs in memory at once,” complained the publication. Creative Computing worried about the dearth of compatible graphics cards, and was uncertain whether Windows was a valuable upgrade over DOS. InfoWorld led with the headline “Windows Requires Too Much Power” and gave it a 4.5 (out of 10) score. “It makes such intense demands on the computer’s processing power that it’s just not appropriate for an ordinary 8088-based IBM PC or compatible,” wrote the publication. And The New York Times said that “running Windows on a PC with 512K of memory is akin to pouring molasses in the Arctic.” It turned out that you really did need that extra memory and that expensive hard disk drive to run Windows at a reasonable pace, and some even suggested a RAM disk like Intel’s Above Board.

It took two more versions of Windows for the operating system to catch on.

We shouldn’t kid ourselves, though: in the 80s, the PC industry was a wild west, and those days are long gone. The issues that stymied Windows 1.0 when Microsoft was young won’t necessarily block today’s operating system from success, not when every major computer company is churning out compatible Windows 8 machines and the appeal of touchscreens has already been proven. In 1985, Windows 1.0 launched into a market about to boom, one that was just waiting for the right operating system to unify a host of different computer hardware. There were several competing platforms, and one of them could have stood up.

But if Windows 8 fails, there will still be a huge number of computers waiting for the next version of the now-familiar operating system. Unless you believe that the PC itself will make way for mobile devices, of course.

*The Xerox Star, VisiCorp’s Visi On, IBM’s TopView and Digital Research’s GEM were also-rans. Allegedly, Bill Gates saw a demo of Visi On at Comdex 1982, and was originally inspired to develop Windows for fear of losing IBM’s business to Visi On instead.

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Fences 6 introduces tabs, a feature that allows you to place multiple fence groups together in a tabbed experience for a modern layout. With the ability to dynamically add and remove tabs, Fences 6 continues to elevate the bar as the best desktop organizational tool for Windows.

Also new in Fences 6 is the ability to apply a color tint to all the icons on your desktop. This simple but innovative feature allows you to use a single hue for all your desktop icons to create a distraction-free layout or to help any individual Fence stand out. When combined with many of the quality-of-life updates like improved navigation for Folder Portals™, Fences 6 is another big step forward for functionality and personalization.

Fences is used by thousands of businesses every day, from healthcare to law offices and finance organizations. To help these businesses deploy organized dashboards of desktop icons, Fences 6 for Business adds additional tooling to create templated deployments with multiple configurations ready out of the box. And with Stardock also offering customized deployment configurations with each enterprise rollout, Fences 6 is the most configurable, deployable, and scalable version of Fences ever.

Top New Features in Fences 6:

• Tabs let you stack a fence on top of each other for a modern workflow.
• Icon tint allows you to apply a uniform color hue to all of your desktop icons to personalize your desktop and reduce distractions.
• A new color picker tool makes it easy to pick the perfect color for a Fence group or icon tint color.
• Folder Portal navigation has been overhauled to provide a more natural workflow.
• Full Arm support means that Fences 6 is ready for the newest generation of devices powered by ARM CPUs.
• And many more quality-of-life improvements

"Fences 6 is our biggest leap forward for the productivity tool," said Brad Sams, General Manager of Stardock Software. "Fences is widely recognized as the best way to organize your desktop and with the new features in Fences 6, it is now the best tool for managing not only your desktop but every desktop within your organization.”

The Fences 6 beta is available today, starting at $8.99 for a limited time and is also included in the award-winning Object Desktop package. Object Desktop includes programs such as Start11, Groupy, SoundPackager, DeskScapes and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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Here is the changelog:

Changes and Improvements

 

[General]

 

• This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

 

[Other]

 

• We are removing the Location History feature, an API used by Cortana to access 24 hours of device history when location was enabled. With the removal of the Location History feature, location data will no longer be saved locally, and the corresponding settings are also being removed from Settings > Privacy & security > Location page.

 

Fixes

 

[Audio]

 

• Fixed an issue with the WDMAud system driver which was leading to some app crashes after the recent MIDI work.

 

[Settings]

 

• Fixed an issue where in Settings > System > Display > Color Management, it might not display the expected color profile list for the selected monitor.

Here is the list of known bugs:

[General]

 

• [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
• We are working on the fix for a d3d9.dll crash which is causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

You can find the official announcement here.

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Aside from those issues, it looks like Nvidia's GPUs are somehow not playing nicely with the latest Windows 11 Canary channel builds due to some sort of conflict with DirectX 9 as the D3D9 DLL file is crashing. While Microsoft has not blamed Nvidia for this, from the user comments who are facing the problems, this is what seems to be the case.

What is happening as a consequence is that various applications including games and game launchers, PowerPoint presentations, browsers, and certain websites, among others are failing to launch. Essentially, it is affecting anything that utilizes DirectX 9.

People found success by replacing the D3D9 DLL files inside the System32 and SysWOW64 system folders in the affected builds with ones from previous builds. But before doing that, it is also essential to disable the Nvidia GPU from the Device Manager.

Affected users took to the Feedback Hub to complain about this issue. A user Mauxx G on the thread wrote:

Well, after trying some of the things mentioned here, I have found some solutions

 

1. Disable Nvidia GPU (Safe) Go to device manager and disable Nvidia (don't uninstall) The bad thing, games will go bad performance
2. Replace the libraries (insecure) First gain administrator permissions to the following files PowerShell console in administrator mode takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\d3d9.dll takeown /f C:\Windows\SysWOW64\d3d9.dll Then replace them with stable versions (I used the ones from build 27788.1000 obtainable from [URL], they are in [windows.iso

Microsoft perhaps initially thought it would not take too long to resolve it, but later the company's engineer Jennifer G updated the response on the thread to add that the issue continues to persist:

Appreciate your patience - we understand the issue and are working on a fix. If needed, you may want to rollback the build

 

UPDATE: Unfortunately we're still working on a fix, and you will continue to have this issue with 27808

As such, with the latest Canary channel build, 27808, Microsoft has added the bug to its list of known issues.

[NEW] We are investigating a d3d9.dll crash which is causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

Thankfully, this is an Insider Program bug and doesn't yet affect general users. We will update this post once more details are available.

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Running out of ink may have been a good thing after the January non-security preview update as Microsoft has confirmed that the update caused printers, specifically those that support dual mode printing, ie, USB print and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) Over USB, print gibberish. It affects Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2.

Microsoft has explained the issue in detail:

After installing the January 2025 Windows preview update (KB5050092), released January 29, 2025, or later updates, you might observe issues with USB connected dual-mode printers that support both USB Print and IPP Over USB protocols. You might observe that the printer unexpectedly prints random text and data, including network commands and unusual characters.

 

Resulting from this issue, the printed text might often start with the header "POST /ipp/print HTTP/1.1", followed by other IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) related headers. This issue tends to occur more often when the printer is either powered on or reconnected to the device after being disconnected.

 

The issue is observed when the printer driver is installed on the Windows device, and the print spooler sends IPP protocol messages to the printer, causing it to print unexpected text.

The company has, for the time being, issued a way for IT admins and system admins to temporarily resolve the problem by deploying a known issue rollback (KIR) through a Group Policy configuration. Known issue rollbacks are typically used by Microsoft to work around non-security bugs. Microsoft writes:

IT administrators can resolve this issue by installing and configuring the special Group Policy listed below. The special Group Policy can be found in Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Group Policy name listed below>.

 

Group Policy downloads with Group Policy name:

 

• Download for Windows 11, version 23H2 and 22H2 - Windows 11 22H2 KB5050092 250131_150523 Known Issue Rollback
• Download for Windows 10, version 22H2 - Windows 10 22H2, 21H1, 21H2 and 22H2 KB5050081 250131_082569 Known Issue Rollback

 

Important: You will need to install and configure the Group Policy for your version of Windows to resolve this issue. You will also need to restart your device(s) to apply the group policy setting. Note that the Group Policy will temporarily disable the change causing the printing issue.

Microsoft says that a "final resolution" is being worked on and it will be shared in a future Windows update. You can find the issue here on Microsoft's Windows health dashboard website.

Source

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