Microsoft wants to extend the Notifications API to support incoming call standards, allowing customization of incoming call buttons. Think of options like "Close" to dismiss the notification, "Audio" to answer the call in audio mode, or "Video" to switch to a video call.

The Notifications API, in its current state, does not let developers do certain things, such as making a notification high priority, associating a ringtone with a notification, or customizing the buttons that appear in a notification.

Under Microsoft's proposal, developers of VoIP applications can use the proposed "scenario" property in the existing options parameter to specify if a notification is an incoming call. The "scenario" property can accept two values: incoming-call and default, with the possibility of more scenarios like alarms and reminders.

A notification with an "incoming-call" scenario will naturally have a higher priority. Here's a picture Microsoft provided to illustrate how notifications could look on the web with Edge.

With this proposal, Microsoft aims to match what other platforms already offer for VoIP use cases. For example, on Android, there is a CallStyle notification template available starting from Android 12 (API level 31) that displays caller information prominently and provides actions like "Answer" and "Decline" for incoming calls. On iOS, CallKit allows VoIP apps to display incoming calls with the same interface as the native Phone app.

You might be concerned about potential abuse, and Microsoft has considered that as well. To mitigate ringtone abuse from web apps, Microsoft says the simplest solution is to disable notifications for that specific application. Ringtones, under Microsoft's proposal, will only be available in the Progressive Web App (PWA) version of a website.

If this sounds interesting to you, Microsoft wants your feedback on the proposal (you can do so by opening a new issue in this GitHub repository). In the meantime, here's how you can try out the feature in Edge before providing feedback.

1. Start Microsoft Edge on Windows from the command line with the following feature flag: msedge.exe --enable-features=IncomingCallNotifications.
2. Open the calls notification sample app.
3. Install the app on Windows, by clicking the App available button in the address bar.
4. When the app is installed and running, click the Permission button to accept notifications from the sample app.
5. Click the Show an incoming call notification button.

This request for feedback comes weeks after the company released Edge 132, bringing changes like an improved price tracker and important security fixes.

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Here is the changelog:

Added Features:

 

• Added a 'Restart Now' button to the Browser Essentials.
• Added the 'Create new workspace' option to the tab actions menu (TAM) button in the title bar.

 

Improved Behavior:

 

• Resolved an issue where browser would crash when opening the rewards page on two identical browser windows simultaneously in Split View or Slide Over mode.
• Resolved an issue where the browser would crash when moving a favorite to the last position on the Favorites Bar using the keyboard.

 

Changed Behavior:

 

• Fixed an issue where the focus order in the Split Button within Tab center was incorrect.
• Fixed an issue where no options were available under ‘Set what the home button opens below’ in the Start, Home, and New Tab pages.
• Resolved an issue where the Internet Explorer mode icon in Settings differed from the icon in the toolbar within the Settings WebUI2.
• Resolved an issue where the role of the 'Share link' button should be read as a button, not a group, in workspaces.
• Resolved an issue where; after switching the settings page, the startup could not display the changed settings in the Start, Home, and New Tab pages.
• Resolved an issue where the Hide/Show title bar feature was not functioning in the tab center.
• Resolved an issue by reducing the minimum size of the Game Assist widget.
• Resolved an issue where matches in the header description were highlighted initially but lost their highlight after scrolling down in search mode in settings webui2.
• Resolved an issue where the keyboard focus order was incorrect after invoking the 'Go back to tracking prevention page' button on the 'Blocked trackers' page in edge://settings/profiles.
• Resolved an issue where the Copilot icon should be used in the grab bar in Copilot vision.
• Resolved an issue when clicking the 'Clear browsing data for Internet Explorer mode' or 'sign out first' link from the Delete browsing data dialog in Privacy, search, and services opened a blank settings page.
• Resolved an issue where the transient mode in Tab center was made persistent.

You can update Microsoft Edge to the latest version by heading to edge://settings/help. Edge Dev is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, and you can download it from the official website. Version 134 will be available in the Stable Channel on the week of March 6, 2025.

In other Edge news, Microsoft recently started testing a new AI-powered scareware blocker to protect you from tech scams. The feature is now available for everyone in the preview, and you can learn more about it here.

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Here is the changelog:

The update supports the following network cards:

You can download Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Driver 23.110.0 from the official Intel website. It is compatible with 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

Note that Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E are only supported on Windows 11, so if you want to use the latest wireless network standard, upgrading to the latest Windows release is a must. In addition to newer Wi-Fi standard support, you will get some other neat additions and new features, some of which we recently covered in our "Top 10 features Windows 11 received in 2024" article.

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Lock screen widgets in Windows 11 are not new (they are also available on Windows 10). Microsoft introduced them in 2024, and they are a pretty neat feature to get quick, useful information at a glance. However, when originally reporting about them, Neowin and many other users noticed the lack of personalization—you can either have all widgets on or off, with nothing in between. Now, however, Microsoft allows selecting the widgets you want on your lock screen. The first traces of this feature were spotted in November 2024.

The ability to pick what widgets appear when you lock your PC is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders in build 22635.4870 (Beta Channel). If you do not want to wait for Microsoft to deliver the feature organically, here is how to force-enable it:

1. Download ViVeTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViVeTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
3. Type vivetool /enable /id:50179255,53672489 and press Enter.
4. Restart your computer.

Now, you can go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and click Your Widgets > Add Widget. If you do not want lock screen widgets at all, toggle off the Your Widgets option.

Note that changing these settings requires an activated Windows installation, so if you are testing Windows 11 preview builds on a virtual machine, you will have to activate it with a genuine Windows key beforehand. Some former Microsoft employees have very interesting thoughts about that.

Credit for the feature IDs goes to @phantomofearth.

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The bug stemmed from Windows 11’s power-saving feature, which reduces high-resolution timer callbacks for background apps. While this mechanism helps conserve battery life, it unintentionally throttled processes responsible for smooth media playback, leading to poor audio quality when streaming.

Users have reported widespread issues when streaming video from Chrome to their Android TV. One user noted that streaming NHL games worked fine on Windows 10 but became problematic on a new Windows 11 laptop, with audio breaking as soon as Chrome was minimized or another app was brought into focus.

Microsoft has now provided a fix via a Chromium update. The change ensures that Chrome and Edge can explicitly inform Windows not to throttle their timer resolution, even when running in the background. A new flag, PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_IGNORE_TIMER_RESOLUTION, instructs Windows to maintain high timer resolution for casting services, preventing audio issues.

With this fix, Chrome users on Windows 11 will soon be able to cast media to their Android TV without experiencing audio distortion. The update is expected to roll out in the coming weeks, marking another example of Microsoft’s ongoing contributions to improving web technologies.

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The rollout began with the Patch Tuesday updates that month (KB5034765 for Windows 11 and KB5034763, and more for Windows 10). This was important since the 2011 certificates will be 15 years old in 2026, which is when they are set to expire.

Today, the company has published a PowerShell script to update the Windows bootable media such that it will be able to trust the new Windows UEFI CA 2023 certificate. It deals with the Black Lotus Secure Boot vulnerability tracked under ID CVE-2023-24932.

For those wondering, Certificate Authorities (CAs) or keys essentially help manage the authenticity and validity of various crucial components like bootloaders, drivers, firmware, and other applications.

About the new PowerShell script, Microsoft explains:

The PowerShell script described in this article can be used to update Windows bootable media so that the media can be used on systems that trust the “Windows UEFI CA 2023” certificate.

 

The Make2023BootableMedia.ps1 PowerShell script updates boot manager support on Windows media to the boot manager signed by the new “Windows UEFI CA 2023” certificate. The input and output can be bootable media of the following type:

 

• ISO CD/DVD image file,
• USB flash drive,
• a local drive path, or
• a network drive path.

The company has also asked users to note a few important details when performing the update:

The latest Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) can be found on the Download and install the Windows ADK page and is necessary for this script to work properly.

 

Notes

 

• The Make2023BootableMedia.ps1 script should be run from an elevated PowerShell prompt.
• You must provide the script with a media source (-MediaPath) which has the latest servicing updates applied.

You can find the full details about it here in the KB5053484 support article that Microsoft is maintaining on its official website.

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Typically, Microsoft holds its Build conference in May every year. 2025 is no exception, so mark May 19-22 in your calendar if you want to attend the conference or follow its announcements online. Interestingly, last year, Build happened on nearly the same date, on May 21-23. Also, it was a three-day event, while this year, developers will get one more.

As usual, the Build conference will happen in Seattle, Washington. Microsoft announced the upcoming event on X, teasing "a new path forward."

As of right now, there are not that many details about what we will see during the conference (you can bet Microsoft will talk a lot about artificial intelligence, Copilot, and other AI-powered things). The official Microsoft Build website has no schedule or any information so far apart from the date and a "Get notified" button. You can expect Microsoft to publish the event schedule and other information as we get closer to the conference in May. Neowin will cover all the important announcements, so stay tuned.

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It's a new year for Windows 11, one that Microsoft is proudly calling the year of the Copilot+ PC. As Windows 10's end of support date nears, millions of users will need to consider an upgrade to Windows 11 this year. So, I thought it would be a good idea to take a peek behind the curtain at what Microsoft is currently working on for Windows 11 in 2025.

Some of the features we're taking a look at are yet to be announced. Improvements to the Start menu, System Tray, Battery Icon, and File Sharing are all on the cards, and we can take an early look at them today thanks to the latest Windows 11 preview builds and @phantomofearth on X, who has discovered pretty much all of the unannounced features in development so far.

So, let's take a look at the 7 most interesting changes and features that are currently in the works for Windows 11.

Start menu upgrades

Windows 11's lock screen will soon support customizing which widgets appear. The change entered testing with Windows Insiders recently with the release of Windows 11 Build 22635.4870. The option is rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA), so you may not see it at this time.

Windows 11 Build 22635.4870 includes some other improvements that are on the way, such as the addition of an "Activity" column in File Explorer that will appear for those signed in to school or work accounts. Microsoft outlines all the changes and fixes in a recent blog post.

You can see some of the improvements in that build in action in our latest video. The ability to customize which widgets appear on the lock screen is just one of many features shown by our Senior Editor Zac Bowden. The embed below should jump straight to the new widget options being showcased, but if it does not work, you can just jump to the 6:37 mark.

Quite a few of the features highlighted by Bowden are not in preview testing among Insiders at this time, so make sure to watch the entire video to see what's on the way to Windows 11 in 2025.

Windows 11 widgets are embarrassing

Windows 11 will support showing any widget on the lock screen, including third-party widgets. Unfortunately, the selection of widgets for Windows 11 is poor. There are only a few dozen widgets available on Windows 11 at this time, and that includes widgets made by Microsoft. The library of widgets includes Tic-Tac-Toe and other widgets that aren't especially useful.

There are some interesting widgets available, such as battery meter, but it's clear that developers do not value making widgets for Windows 11. The Spotify widget just shows a couple of trending playlists and does not even include music controls, let alone your personal library of content.

Highlights include support for translating Korean, Japanese, simplified Chinese, and Russian, protection against browser history abuses by sites, wider AI chatbot access, and a New Tab layout refresh rolling out.

Firefox 135: the major changes

Firefox Translations improvements

The built-in translations feature of Firefox supports four new languages as part of the release. The following languages can now be translated:

• Simplified Chinese
• Japanese
• Korean

The fourth language, Russian, is now available as a language that text can be translated into.

The translation feature of Firefox is special, as it runs locally. This is beneficial to privacy, as no information is submitted to remote Internet servers. It also works offline as a consequence. The main downside is that it requires language packs, that users need to download before translation functionality becomes available. The process is automated, provided that an Internet connection is available.

Certificate improvements

Firefox 135 includes two changes to certificates:

• The browser enforces certificate transparency now for certificates issued by a certificate authority in Mozilla's Root CA program. The goal is to better protect against misuse through the use of "publicly-run, often independent CT logs". More information about this is available here.
• The CRLite certificate revocation checking mechanism is being rolled out. This improves the performance of checks "substantially" according to Mozilla.

Safeguards against History abuse

Going back and forward when browsing the Internet is an essential feature that all web browsers support. Some sites use tricks to pollute the browsing history to make it difficult to go back or forward.

Mozilla has integrated a new technique in Firefox 135 that prevents sites from abusing the history API to generate large amounts of entries in the history. This should improve back and forward operations on many sites that abuse the feature.

New Tab Page layout

Mozilla is rolling out the redesign of the New Tab page to all Firefox users. Previously, it was only made available to users from the United States.

The big change is the list of recommended stories that Mozilla displays underneath search and web shortcuts.

Other changes and fixes

• AI chatbot access is rolling out to all users. It is necessary to enable the feature in Firefox Labs or select AI Chatbot from the Firefox sidebar.
• Credit Card autofill functionality is being rolled out to all users gradually.
• Mac and Linux users who use the quit keyboard shortcut are now given an option to close the active tab, provided that at least one additional tab is present.
• The DoNotTrack checkbox is no longer available. Firefox users may check the "Tell websites not to sell or share my data" setting instead.
• Copy Without Site Tracking is now known as Copy Clean Link.
• Linux binaries are now provided in XZ format, which improves unpacking performance and reduces the size of files.

Firefox 135.0 download and update

Most Firefox installations will receive the update to the new version automatically. This does not happen in real-time though and may take a few days.

Users who do not want to wait, and most may not want to, considering that the new version includes security patches, may run a check manually.

Just select Menu > Help > About Firefox in Firefox. The browser checks for updates at Mozilla and will download the latest version automatically.

Firefox 135 is also available as a direct download from Mozilla's official site. None-stable downloads are also available.

• Firefox Beta download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download

Outlook

Firefox 136 will be out on March 4, 2025. Expect at least one point release to address smaller bugs and issues.

Additional information / resources

• Firefox 135 release notes
• Firefox 135 for Developers
• Firefox 135 for Enterprise
• Firefox Security Advisories
• Firefox Release Schedule

Closing Words

Firefox 135 is a big release, unlike Firefox 134, which was rather small. Translations support for three major Asian languages is probably the biggest feature of the release, but safeguards against browser history pollution is also welcome.

What is your take on the release? Have you tried it already? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Version 572.24, which builds upon the recently released Game Ready driver 572.16, fixes two bugs. One is for those on the latest RTX 5000 graphics cards suffering not only from empty wallets but also from Valorant crashing upon startup. The second bug fixes a problem with Final Fantasy XVI causing PCs to freeze if the user runs Windows 11 version 23H2.

Here is the changelog:

• [GeForce RTX 5080] Valorant may crash when starting game [4951583]
• [Windows 11 23H2] When exiting Final Fantasy XVI, PC may freeze [5083532]

If you do not need these specific fixes, you can skip the update and wait for the next driver release. Nvidia usually includes hotfix patches in the following Game Ready driver updates.

You can download Nvidia's latest hotfix driver from the official support website. Full release notes are available on the same page. If you run an older Game Ready driver, check out what is new in version 572.16 in our separate article.

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The application received its latest update today and has incorporated a Registry tweak that Microsoft itself once hosted on its official Windows 11 installation guidance, even though the company now probably wants you to forget about it. Aside from that, the utility has also received improved script that should make the software more stable.

The developer of Flyby11 though has added that Microsoft Defender flags the app as PUA or potentially unwanted application.

The release notes says:

• Compliance with Microsoft's Recent Changes: Adjustments made to accommodate Microsoft's updated CPU and TPM policies. Some infos are on Neowin
• Some scripts have been refined and rigorously tested for stability within the app

 

Important Notes:
 

Microsoft does not officially support this method, but it still works as expected

 

The app is now flagged as PUA:Win32/Patcher by Microsoft Defender. You can safely ignore this if you wish to proceed with the upgrade. I will contact Microsoft to verify whether this is an official classification or a false positive

Microsoft Security Intelligence website defines a PUA:Win32/Patcher as follows:

PUA:Win32/Patcher

 

Aliases: TR/Spy.23040.293 (Avira) Virus.Win32.Oliga (Ikarus) Troj/Bdoor-AZC (Sophos) W32/PEPatcher (McAfee) Win32/HackTool.Patcher.T (ESET) HackTool.Patcher!k1ob6v1J4gE (VirusBuster)

 

Summary

 

This application was stopped from running on your network because it has a poor reputation. This application can affect the quality of your computing experience.

 

If you were trying to install an application, you might have downloaded it from a source other than the official product's website.

As in the case of any third-party unofficial app, we always recommend trying it out on a virtual machine. Now, that the app has been flagged, it is extra important that you make sure it is on a VM even though something like a lack of digital signage can lead to apps getting flagged as well. Still, it is always better to be safer than sorry.

You can try Flyby11 1.2 here on its official GitHub repo. There are other alternatives too like Rufus.

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Microsoft notes that this build is for version 23H2. The company already published one for the Beta channel on version 24H2 earlier this week under Build 26120.3073 (KB5050090).

The full changelog for build 22635.4870 is given below:

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear

 

We’re beginning to roll out support for lock screen widgets (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. We are starting this rollout first with Insiders in the EEA and plan to expand to Insiders in other regions in the future. Insiders outside the EEA will continue to see the “Weather and more” experience.

 

As part of this, we’re also adding support for a new group policy called “Disable Widgets On Lock Screen” that will allow IT administrators to disable lock screen widgets without disabling widgets elsewhere on PCs they manage. To edit this policy, please launch the Local Group Policy Editor app and navigate to Computer Configurations > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Widgets. This policy is only supported in EEA regions at this time but will expand to include other regions in the future as well.

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

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

[File Explorer]

 

• For Windows Insiders signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID), File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

 

[Start menu]

 

• Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the letters in the apps list.
• Fixed an issue where the colors were not correct when opening the account manager flyout on the when using a mixed dark and light custom mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue where if you opened a File Explorer window and minimized it, it might not be rendered correctly when you restored it.
• Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer reliability for some Insiders.
• Fixed an issue which was causing explorer.exe to crash when dropping files into File Explorer sometimes in the latest flights.

 

[Other]

 

• Fixed a high hitting background sihost.exe crash in the latest flights.

 

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

 

[Other]

 

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

 

• [USB cameras] Fixed: Your device does not recognize the camera is on. This issue occurs after you install the January 2025 security update.
• [USB audio device drivers] Fixed: The code 10 error message, “This device cannot start” appears. This occurs when you connect to certain external audio management devices.

 

Known issues

 

[File Explorer]

 

• We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

 

[Settings]

 

• The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.
• There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

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

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Here is the changelog:

Features

 

• Introduce the .NET Single File Application bundle readonly support which currently extracting compressed files in the bundle are not supported.
• Introduce the Electron Archive (asar) readonly support.
• Introduce the ROMFS file system image readonly support.
• Introduce the ZealFS file system image readonly support.
• Introduce the WebAssembly (WASM) binary file readonly support.
• Introduce the Work In Progress littlefs file system image readonly support which currently only block information can acquired.

 

Improvements

 

• Update Ukrainian and Russian translation. (Contributed by SlowDancer011.)
• Update Hungarian translation. (Contributed by JohnFowler58.)
• Update packages for maintainer tools.

 

Fixes

 

• Fix the empty folders are excluded issue for the UFS/UFS2 file system image readonly support.
• Fix the unavailable issue when cancelling the extraction for the UFS/UFS2 file system image readonly support.

In addition to NanaZip 5.0 Update 1, the developer released NanaZip 5.1 Preview 0, but its changelog is the same as the one for the stable release.

You can download NanaZip from GitHub or the Microsoft Store. The app is available for free, and it is one of those useful applications we recommend to all Windows 10 and 11 users (you can find even more in our recently published 2025 edition of the "Top 10 apps for Windows users" series). Although Windows 11 has improved archive support, it still cannot match the performance and capabilities of dedicated third-party applications.

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Update 10.31.2024: On November 1, we will begin offering the traditional 5-by-5 Extended Security Update offer through the Volume Licensing price list. The first ESU will be available in November 2025. We’ll share more details on availability of the cloud-based Extended Security Update offer on our price list in the future.

This January, Microsoft also updated the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) documentation that it maintains on its Microsoft Learn website. Neowin noticed this change while browsing.

The updated documentation adds pricing details as well as information related to Windows 365/Azure VD, minimum license purchase requirements, and more, in the FAQ section:

How much does ESU cost?

 

Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 can be purchased today through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program, at $61 USD per device for Year One.

 

The price doubles every consecutive year, for a maximum of three years. ESU is available at no additional cost for Windows 10 virtual machines running in Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop. Additionally, Windows 10 endpoints connecting to Windows 365 Cloud PCs will be entitled to the ESU for up to three years, with an active Windows 365 subscription license.

 

Is there a minimum license purchase requirement for Windows 10 ESU?

 

The minimum license purchase requirements for Windows 10 ESU is one license.

 

...

 

When will the ESU offer be available for licensing?

 

Windows 10 ESU will be available in volume licensing starting about 12 months before the end of support date of Windows 10, or late 2024.

 

...

 

Will Windows 10 PCs stop working without the ESU offering?

 

Windows 10 PCs will continue to work, but we recommend customers upgrade eligible PCs to Windows 11 using Windows Autopatch, Microsoft Intune, or transition to a new Windows 11 PC for the best, most secure computing experience. Customers also have the option to migrate to the cloud and subscribe to Windows 365 to make Windows 11 available to users on any device with a Cloud PC. Beginning October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide the following for versions of Windows 10 that reach end of support on that date:

 

• Technical support
• Feature updates or new features
• Quality updates (including security and reliability fixes)

Microsoft also offers an extended support program for consumers for $30. Thus users and enterprises alike still have some time to decide on how to proceed.

The company certainly wants more users to update and it recently pulled a "Windows 11 free for a limited time only" trick to entice users. Neowin also noticed that Microsoft recently wiped any trace of the official CPU/TPM requirement bypass from its official website, reinforcing its previous stance.

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If there was one piece of software I would encourage anyone to run on Windows 11 it's PowerToys, and it just keeps getting better. The latest good news is another handy new feature coming soon, this time for transcoding audio and video files.

Transcoding usually requires a dedicated tool, something like Handbrake or ffmpeg, but with this forthcoming update, you'll be able to do it within PowerToys Advanced Paste feature.

Copilot+ PCs currently lack a "killer" exclusive feature that makes them more alluring than competing devices. The AI power promised by Copilot+ PCs exists on the best AI PCs, not all of which feature the Copilot+ moniker. But Microsoft is working to make Copilot+ PCs stand out. The tech giant is currently testing a new AI menu within Paint and an improved Windows Search experience that leverages AI.

Copilot in Paint

For those that opted to clean install Windows 24H2, or bought a new computer with it preinstalled without the codec, luckily there is a third party fix to restore AC-3 support, as discovered in multiple topics on Reddit, my guide is inspired by this post. Apps like Plex might have an issue where AC-3 is required and no sound will be heard. This can be restored with the AnWave 2024 Split Feature Release, found on GitHub.

Installation instructions

1. Download the Microsoft.Dolby.Digital.Atmos.Pack from GitHub
2. Extract the downloaded zip file and open the .exe
3. A popup notice states that it is part of AnWave and if you would like to visit the site, you can dismiss this by clicking "No", since you just came from there
4. Here you can click on "Install" for the Microsoft Dolby Digital Plus Encoder and Decoder, these are the ones we want.
5. After installing both, restart your device
6. Enjoy AC-3 content working again!

Plex settings

It's important to note that in the case of Plex (and possibly others) the audio settings should also match your speaker setup. If your audio equipment is stereo, like for example, speakers built into your monitor or desktop stereo speakers then you should also make sure Plex knows this, otherwise some content will be quieter because Plex will attempt to direct play all audio channels through your stereo setup, some channels are quieter than others, which results in an overall lower volume in some cases; a more detailed explanation can be viewed here.

• Go to Settings, and in the left panel where you see Plex for Windows, click Player
• Toggle Show Advanced top right of the Player settings page
• In the Audio Device dropdown setting, change this from Auto to your actual Audio Device
• Depending on your audio device you can choose Basic, Optical, or HDMI
• Then set the Audio Channels that match your system.

Now Plex will "intelligently" downmix the audio to the correct format, as outlined in their own documentation, and EAC-3 5.1 content should also be a bit louder on Stereo setups.

Hopefully this helps people that have discovered some of their content no longer has audio, but also why some content is quieter than others. For example, Emby does not appear to have the same issues that Plex has with audio output, content that has no sound in Plex will work in Emby, because Emby includes many codecs native to the Windows app.

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Note: It is worth mentioning that there are no guarantees that these features will be shipped to all users in the Stable Channel. Microsoft is no stranger to killing things while they are still in the ovens (remember Windows Sets?), so keep that in mind. If waiting is not an option, you can try these things by enrolling your PC in the Windows Insider program.

1. Improved Auto HDR

Available to all Windows Insiders

If you have an HDR-capable monitor or TV, you probably know that Windows 11 requires flicking a toggle to enter or exit HDR mode, which quickly gets a bit annoying when you play HDR movies or play games often. Although you can always keep HDR on, the operating system does not look very good with it. Future Windows 11 updates should enable the OS to detect HDR content and allow automatic HDR streaming.

2. Small taskbar buttons

Does not work yet

I really hate to give Microsoft credit for restoring things that should have been present in the first place, but it is what it is. Users discovered code bits pointing to Microsoft working on the ability to have smaller taskbar buttons, something that Windows has had since the days of Windows 7. The OS lost this feature when transitioning to Windows 11, but now, it seems that it might be back in the near future.

Tip: Did you know that Windows 11 has a hidden compact taskbar? While it is not entirely the same as small taskbar buttons, it gives the OS a very neat, minimal look.

3. Gamepad keyboard

Available to Windows Insiders

I love this one. With the new gamepad keyboard, you can quickly type something using standard gamepad controls like sticks, triggers, bumpers, AXYB buttons, and more, which are perfect for couch gaming when your keyboard is away from you.

Interestingly, at some point, the feature was shipped to all users in the Stable Channel, but then Microsoft revoked it to address unknown issues. I hope it will be back in no time because it is a great feature for PC gamers who prefer controllers over mice/keyboards.

4. New Start menu layouts

Requires turning on hidden feature IDs

Windows 10 users who are now getting ready to jump off the dying operating system into the unknowns of Windows 11 with some of its UI and UX elements remaining hopelessly underdeveloped should be glad to know that Microsoft is working on several new Start menu layouts.

The new layouts include "Category" and "Grid" views. The first one automatically sorts all your apps into categories like Entertainment, Games, Productivity, and more. The second one lets you have the list of all applications in a slightly different view. Whether these two views can fix Windows 11's Start menu remains an open question, and for many, a third-party Start menu replacement will remain the only option.

5. 6 GHz hotspots

Requires turning on hidden feature IDs

If you have a modern laptop, say a Copilot+ PC with Wi-Fi 7 support, you will soon be able to create 6 GHz hotspots for compatible devices. This is not a groundbreaking addition by any means, but it is nice to see Microsoft keeping its operating system modern and compatible with the latest industry standards.

6. Redesigned battery indicator

Available to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

I never liked the battery indicator in Windows 11. It is too small and hard to read, plus it is inconsistent with the one on the lock screen. Also, checking the exact battery percentage requires hovering the cursor over it.

Luckily, Microsoft is fixing that. A redesigned battery indicator is coming soon, including the ability to display battery percentage in the tray area. Finally!

Tip: If you do not want to wait, a neat third-party app called Battery Flyout will give you a better battery indicator with percentage support and a few extra features.

7. File Explorer improvements

Turned off as of right now

This is another small change that Windows 11 needs so much. File Explorer tabs are cool, but the fact that the app opens another window every time I click an external link (like "Open file location" or similar) instead of a new tab just boils my blood and ruins the entire purpose of having tabs.

Soon, Windows 11 will let you choose what File Explorer should do with external links—open a new window or a new tab. For now, the feature is turned off (Microsoft says it needs some improvements), but expect it to be back in the near future.

8. New PC spec cards

Available for testing in the Insider Program

Microsoft is making it easier for users to check their PC specs in one place and without switching between Task Manager tabs or various sections in the Settings app. The "About" page in Settings will soon let you see all the primary components like processor, graphics card, RAM, video memory, storage, etc.

9. New Share UI

Requires turning on hidden feature IDs

Windows 11 has a few neat UI concepts and features like Snap Layouts that let you quickly arrange apps on the screen. Microsoft is now investigating a similar idea, but for sharing files. As of right now, it is not documented and requires turning off hidden feature IDs. However, once turned on, you can drag a file from File Explorer onto a dedicated tray and onto the needed app in a dedicated tray at the top of the screen. This concept should make sharing files much easier and fun, especially on touchscreen devices and tablets.

10. AI-powered Windows Search

Available for testing in the Insider Program; requires dedicated hardware

This AI-powered feature will be something every Windows user likes. Copilot+ PCs will let you search for files and images in File Explorer and Windows Search on the taskbar using natural language. There is no more need to know the exact name of the file or its extension. Just type "my presentation about elephants," and Windows will find the necessary PowerPoint file.

Also, the new semantic search will work in the Settings app to help you find the necessary toggle and thus steal my job. Just type what you want in simple words, and AI will figure it out. Very convenient for inexperienced users or newcomers to Windows 11.

These are only ten changes we like in Windows 11 preview builds so far. What things do you like the most? Maybe you think the list should include other things? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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If you remember the days, there was a widespread objection against the stringent OS hardware requirements, something that is quite prevalent even today, as Microsoft recently had to clarify it was not relaxing the Windows 11 hardware eligibility criteria.

The workaround that Microsoft had published involved tweaking a Registry key that would allow a Windows 11 upgrade on unsupported PCs by bypassing CPU and TPM checks:

Warning:

 

• Microsoft recommends against installing Windows 11 on a device that does not meet the Windows 11 minimum system requirements. If you choose to install Windows 11 on a device that does not meet these requirements, and you acknowledge and understand the risks, you can create the following registry key values and bypass the check for TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and the CPU family and model.
• Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup
• Name: AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU
• Type: REG_DWORD
• Value: 1
• Note: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

However, Neowin noticed today while browsing that the support article which hosted this information has been edited since and the above workaround has been deleted. The change was made sometime recently after the release of Windows 11 24H2.

Microsoft's current official recommendation is a new PC for updating to Windows 11, so clearly the company is not a fan of those updating to 11 on unsupported devices. Microsoft's partners like Dell and AMD have expressed they are likely on board with this too.

With Microsoft justifying how deprecation is actually a good thing for users, the upcoming end of support for Windows 10 will certainly be interesting from the hardware standpoint.

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This update adds Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) Audio. Your computer must support Bluetooth LE Audio to use this feature. This update improves audio fidelity and battery life when you pair your computer with Bluetooth LE Audio earbuds and headphones.

A documentation piece regarding Bluetooth LE audio was also published on the Microsoft Learn website, which delved into some of the technical aspects of the new technology and detailed how Windows Bluetooth vendor-specific audio path (VSAP) would allow platforms to enable Bluetooth LE Audio streaming.

The documentation also defined some of the audio format requirements IHVs (independent hardware vendors) had to meet for Bluetooth LE Audio. These included audio frame durations of either 7.5 ms or 10 ms, support for Basic Audio Profile (BAP) and Telephony and Media Audio Profile (TMAP), among others.

However, Microsoft never released a defined set of requirements for the general user back then. Recently, though, the company finally published a support article titled "Check if a Windows 11 device supports Bluetooth Low Energy Audio" that defines this. Neowin spotted this new page while browsing.

Microsoft has confirmed Bluetooth LE Audio won't work on Windows 10 or Windows 11 21H2. It writes:

Not all Windows 11 devices support LE Audio, even if the Windows device is marketed as supporting Bluetooth LE. To use LE Audio, the Windows device must:

 

• Be running Windows 11, version 22H2 or newer.
• Have compatible Bluetooth LE support and a compatible audio codec.
• Have LE Audio capable drivers from the manufacturer for both the Bluetooth LE radio and the audio codec.

 

Note: Bluetooth LE Audio isn't supported on Windows 10 or Windows 11, version 21H2.

 

Some Windows 11 devices that currently don't support LE Audio might gain support for it in the future through driver updates from the manufacturer.

Bluetooth LE Audio on Windows also supports hearing devices like hearing aids, a feature that the company started testing later in the year in October in the Canary channel. A separate support article for that has been put up as well, and on it, the tech giant has confirmed that adjusting certain acoustic aspects like audio presets and ambient sound volume on hearing aids are only supported on Windows 11 24H2 and later:

Note: Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer is required to adjust audio presets and ambient sound volume.

You can find the support article here on Microsoft's website.

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While many tests showed margin of error differences, there were two interesting takeaways from that in terms of gaming. First the positive, there was a definite improvement in frame generation performance on Black Myth Wukong. We observed it on all three of our 24H2 runs and the gains were quite substantial too with over 17% improvement in averages and more than 15% in the lows.

On the flip side, single-threaded performance on 24H2 was, for some reason, lower and it was highlighted in more than one instance, be it a synthetic test or an actual game.

Besides gaming, application start-up performance also took a sizable hit on the newer feature update in PCMark 10.

With those in mind, we set out to see if doing a clean installation would reduce these differences, and also whether we would come across other new performance quirks.

Thus we proceeded to clean install Windows 11 November 2024 Patch Tuesday (KB5046617) on top of October 2024.

Just like last time, our test is not straight-up apples-to-apples comparisons. We are trying to replicate the usage and experience of a general user and as such, all settings would be kept at default. This is how we are evaluating the performance differentials of a clean install for Windows 11 24H2 vs an in-place upgrade. Hence, some of the settings like Core Isolation or Virtualization-based Security (VBS) have been kept enabled.

In case you are wondering about the hardware we tested this on, Steven and I worked on this together (remotely), on his test bench comprising Intel's Core i7-14700K CPU and AMD's 7800 XT GPU (provided by AMD for review). The latest GPU drivers were used at the time (Adrenalin version 24.10.1).

Again we start with synthetic benchmarks first.

In 3DMark's CPU/physics test, we see an immediate improvement with the clean installation. Our 14700K does better in both DirectX 11-based Fire Strike physics as well as DirectX 12-based Time Spy. This time, 24H2 draws nearly equal to 23H2 on Fire Strike Ultra and manages to beat it on Time Spy Extreme.

So an 8.2% gain in the more single-threaded Fire Strike Ultra and a 5.87% improvement in the more modern Time Spy Extreme.

The same trend continued on 3DMark CPU Profile which measures the scaling performance of a processor across threads on Time Spy. On our clean-installed 24H2 PC, we saw better scaling once the processor thread count exceeded eight. At up to 4 threads, the two systems were identical.

The biggest difference was seen at 16 threads where the clean installed 14700K was ~6.78% faster. With all threads maxed, the difference was significant too at ~6.6%.

Following that, we have our 3DMark GPU tests. The 7800 XT for some reason did worse on our clean-installed 24H2 system but it is something that may be considered within the margin of error (max. difference is ~2.23%). So we aren't going to sweat it out and are attributing it to run-to-run variance.

Hence, in the synthetic tests, the clean PC definitely fared significantly better. Neither 3DMark nor Windows received any specific optimizations in this period and thus the performance differential is likely to be down to the clean install.

With that, it's time to move on to some real-world games.

On Black Myth: Wukong, we again saw a huge uplift with frame generation (FG) enabled on 24H2. In fact, our results on the clean-installed system were identical to what we saw on the in-place upgrade.

Only the 95%ile score was better by 1 FPS in the case of FG off, the average was the same indicating that a clean PC or an upgraded PC hardly matters in this case.

We had another eventful result on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy as the 24H2 clean installed PC underperformed our 23H2 by a large degree.

Interestingly, Intel's APO (Application Optimization) actually helped this time as it smoothed out whatever issue it may have been that was bothering the 14700K as we once again saw performance parity between 24H2 and 23H2.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider's performance differences were within the margin of error mostly. Another noteworthy point here is that APO did not crash on 24H2 this time. We were able to evaluate its effect, and it most certainly helped on both 23H2 and 24H2.

The Callisto Protocol was a boring test run, there is not much going on here.

I was eager to see what would happen in Far Cry 6 since it presented an interesting case last time. Unfortunately, for some reason, our clean-installed system did not default to the same graphics settings that it had chosen during the in-place upgrade. Thus, we could not directly compare the results. Regardless, it was still interesting to note this difference between the two cases.

We noticed a similar thing in a couple of other games too, Assassins' Creed Odyssey and Final Fantasy XV. We are unsure why our 24H2 clean setup felt our RX 7800 XT was not capable of handling 1080p ultra settings such that it defaulted to a lower preset in these three titles.

Regardless, we could confirm that our 14700K was not bottlenecked even at these more CPU-demanding settings since we saw an increase in the FPS output in all the three games.

With the gaming portion wrapped up, we move to productivity. Cinebench 2024 shows the exact same performance on 24H2 (clean) and 23H2 in the CPU rendering test, and a 10-point increase over in-place upgraded 24H2.

The GPU test also shows an improvement on the clean installed PC but again nothing too exciting.

It was a bit disappointing to see that the clean installed 24H2 PC was slower than the in-place upgrade system on 7-Zip's compression test. While it was still slightly faster than 23H2, compared to the in-place upgrade, the clean 24H2 setup was ~3.5% slower.

PCMark 10 again revealed interesting results. If you recall, last time, on an in-place upgrade, we noted that the app startup performance was lower in the case of 24H2. Well, that trend continued and in fact, it got worse.

Windows 11 23H2 scored 24,096 in the application start metric. In contrast, 24H2 upgrade and 24H2 clean scored 21,376 and 20,813 respectively. Thus they were ~11.3% and ~13.625% slower respectively.

24H2 clean installed device was also much worse in photo editing, spreadsheet processing and writing tests. Overall, the 24H2 clean PC scored 9,999 points vs 10,734 points on 23H2 and 10,460 on 24H2 in-place upgrade.

Lastly, we have the memory allocation test on 24H2 vs 23H2. This shows how much system RAM each OS requests for caching page files, prefetch data, game/app data, among other things.

Speaking of RAM, we were using TeamGroup's 32 GB DDR5-7600 kit that we reviewed last year. Memory allocation is the amount of system RAM that an app requests and is not equal to the actual memory used up by that software. Regardless, it gives us an idea about the capacity of memory needed.

This is a major win for our clean installed 24H2 system. Not only does it do quite well against 23H2, it also massively reduces the amount of allocated RAM compared to what we had previously on our upgraded 24H2 PC. The improvement was seen in every single workload.

Perhaps there is a memory leak problem on an in-place upgrade that our clean-installed PC resolved. We can't say for sure, but our results consistently suggested this.

Conclusion

The idea of this clean installation review was to see if the performance nuances we saw on the in-place upgrade would be eliminated on a clean 24H2 PC and whether the latter would be the better way to upgrade from 23H2.

While the initial impressions were great as we saw significant improvements in the synthetic 3DMark benchmarks, they did not quite materialize in actual games. Neither did we see any notable improvements in non-gaming tasks. And in the case of PCMark, we saw a significant regression in performance.

Thus if you feel like trying a clean installation of Windows 11 24H2 in hopes of improving the performance, you will likely be disappointed; unless you are getting memory hogged like we experienced on our upgraded 24H2 setup. In that case, a move to clean installed 24H2 could help.

Our stance on upgrading from Windows 11 23H2 to 24H2 remains the same, it depends, but in most cases, you are not going to miss out on much if you stick to 23H2.

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With the upcoming update, PowerToys Advanced Paste will let you transcode media files to different formats. For example, convert an audio or video file into an mp3 file or convert a video into an mp4 (H.264/AAC) while preserving bitrate, video dimensions, metadata, and more. The upgrade was announced by Clint Rutkas on X:

In addition to media file support, a future Advanced Paste update will make it possible to abort actions, which is extra useful for long-running tasks. Also, the UI will display the progress of the current task so you can better understand how long it will take to complete.

According to the pull request on GitHub, the updated Advanced Paste module should make it to the next PowerToys update, version 0.89, which should arrive later in February (Microsoft usually ships one major PowerToys update per month).

Besides Advanced Paste, Microsoft is working on a big update for the Run launcher. In late December 2024, Microsoft announced PowerToys Run v2 with a revamped user interface, a reworked extension model with the ability for extensions to pick their render surface for a better user experience, and other community-driven changes.

While Microsoft prepares all these neat features and upgrades, you can check out the details about the latest PowerToys update, 0.88, in our dedicated coverage.

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These dynamic updates apply to Server 2025 as well. Microsoft writes:

KB5050758: Setup Dynamic Update for Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025: January 28, 2025

 

Summary

 

This update makes improvements to Windows setup binaries or any files that setup uses for feature updates in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025.

 

...

 

KB5053117: Safe OS Dynamic Update for Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025: January 28, 2025

 

Summary

 

This update makes improvements to the Windows recovery environment in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025.

For those who may not be aware, these Dynamic Update packages are meant to be applied to existing Windows images prior to their deployment. In a Tech Community blog post about Windows 10 Dynamic Updates, Microsoft explained Dynamic Updates in more detail regarding its various components and uses. These packages include fixes to Setup.exe binaries, SafeOS updates for Windows Recovery Environment, and more:

As soon as a Windows 10 feature update initiates, whether from media or a Windows Update service-connected environment, Dynamic Update is one of the first steps invoked. Windows 10 Setup reaches out to an Internet-facing URL hosted by Microsoft to fetch Dynamic Update content, then applies those updates to your OS installation media.

 

Content acquired includes:

 

• Setup Updates: Fixes to Setup binaries or any files that Setup uses for feature updates.
• Safe OS Updates: Fixes for the "safe OS" that are used to update Windows recovery environment (WinRE).

 

In addition to these updates, Dynamic Update will preserve Language Pack (LP) and Features on Demand (FODs) content during the upgrade process. These are not updates to LPs and FODs, but reacquisition to ensure the user has these elements present with the update completes.

The Setup update is available for manual downloading from the Windows Update Catalog website. You can find it here: KB5050758. You can also avail of the WinRE update manually by visiting KB5053117.

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