Here is the complete changelog:

New Control Panel Display Features

 

• Advanced Optimus Modes and Manage Displays is now available under System > Display.

 

Updated Default Shadowplay Bitrate Settings

 

• Default Shadowplay settings are now configured based on your resolution, frame rate, and codec. Manually configure from the in-game overlay Settings > Video Capture.

 

Squashed bugs!

 

• Fixed an issue with driver rollback not working after changing the language setting.
• Fixed an issue where Instant Replay temp recordings are not saving at selected directory.
• Fixed an issue where windowed-mode screenshots are incorrectly saved to the desktop folder.
• Fixed an issue with video synchronizing through OneDrive.
• Resolved an issue that prevented the microphone from being selected or properly captured.
• Various stability fixes.

In addition, the update adds optimal settings support for seven new games: Delta Force (GLOBAL), Farming Simulator 25, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, Marvel Rivals, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Path of Exile 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

You can find release notes for the Nvidia app here. If you have a compatible PC, download the app from the official website. The application requires a Windows 10 or 11 PC with GTX 800, 900, 1000, 16000, RTX 20, 30, 40, MX100, MX200, MX300, 800M, and 900M graphics cards.

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Here is the changelog:

Performance and Usability:

 

• Addresses the issue affecting the camera's performance caused by insufficient memory or storage capacity.

 

Security:

 

• Addresses security vulnerabilities, securing devices from potential threats.

Here is the list of new drivers:

Here is extra information about the release:

You can update your Surface Book 3 to the latest firmware by heading to Settings > Windows Update. Alternatively, you can download it from the official Surface Support website. The Surface Book 3 will remain supported until April 1, 2025.

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After months of back and forth, the US Supreme Court finally ruled that TikTok must be sold to an American company or halt its operations in the country. However, TikTok's shutdown was overturned 12 hours later by the new US president, Donald Trump, right after he entered the White House.

Despite being granted a respite, TikTok is not yet available in both Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. Additionally, all sides have remained tight-lipped about when the app might return to the app stores, leaving impacted users in uncertainty. TikTok's absence in app stores means neither users can update their previously installed app nor any new user can install it.

However, the delay in TikTok's return to the app stores may be due to the looming threat of penalties for the app's service providers. According to US laws, TikTok's partners, including Google and Apple, could face fines of up to $5,000 per user who accesses TikTok through their platform. In essence, TikTok's US partners are at risk of incurring a staggering $850 billion in penalties.

TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, a developer of Marvel Snap, another ByteDance-owned app, has recently said they expect Marvel Snap to return to app stores as early as next week. In addition to TikTok, any other ByteDance-owned app is removed from app stores.

TikTok is now under a 75-day deadline to sever ties with ByteDance and sell at least 50% of its stake to a US company. This impending deadline could mean that TikTok might not be allowed back into the app stores until the end of this period, adding more pressure on the app to expedite the selling process.

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Yesterday, the company issued a reminder for the same as the service will be deprecated on April 18 2025 which is in less than three months. Microsoft has added that driver updates will be available via the Microsoft Update Catalog and it is recommended to transition to Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch or use Device Driver packages.

Microsoft writes:

90-day reminder: Deprecation of WSUS driver synchronization

 

If you’re using driver synchronization updates via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), prepare for change. This service is scheduled for deprecation on April 18, 2025. For on-premises contexts, drivers will be available on the Microsoft Update catalog, but you won’t be able to import them into WSUS. You’ll need to use any of the available alternative solutions, such as Device Driver Packages, or transition to cloud-based driver services for your organization, such as Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch.

Microsoft had previously reasoned that organizations have mostly moved on from WSUS driver synchronization and thus the transition to something more modern would not be too difficult for both parties involved:

Out of the participants who use WSUS, only 34% reported that they use it to synchronize drivers. Most of this 34% reported that they are in the process of implementing a different solution and don’t anticipate any problems with deprecation. Only 8% of participants indicated concerns over potential effects from deprecation

Aside from WSUS driver sync, Microsoft is also removing or has already started removing other features like DirectAccess, NTLM protocol, and many more. And while not exactly a feature, Neowin noticed recently that it is killing a very useful webpage where every official Windows 10/11 theme is hosted for easy access and download.

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@phantomofearth shared the discovery on X, showcasing how Windows 11 build 22635.4805 lets you share files to various applications by simply dragging objects to the top edge of the screen. Then, Windows will show a tray with apps like Outlook, Phone Link, and more, allowing you to drop the file for some quick sharing. Note that this change does not clash with Snap Layots, which only work when you drag a window, not files.

Microsoft has not announced the new sharing experience, but you can still try it if you are on build 22635.4805. Here is how to do it:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Launch 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:45624564,53397005,48433719 and press Enter.
4. Restart your computer.

What do you think about the new way to share files in Windows 11? Do you like the implementation? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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The full changelog is given below:

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

[Snap]

 

• We are introducing an improvement to Snap in Windows 11 aimed at driving contextual learning and discovery of the feature. Inline messaging will now appear when you accidentally invoke the Snap Bar when dragging an app to the top middle of your desktop or Snap Flyout when hovering over the Minimize or Maximize button of an app. This messaging is designed to provide guidance on snapping app windows and educating users on the keyboard shortcuts for quickly snapping app windows in the future. We are trying several variants of this experience out.

[Input]

 

• After being temporarily disabled to address some issues with Build 22635.4400, we are beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 again. 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.

[Narrator]

 

• We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Jump to list item (I’) allows you to quickly access and jump to a list item on a page or a document. Beginning and end of element (Comma (,) and Period (.)) allow you to quickly jump to the beginning or end of large tables, lists or landmarks. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘I’, ‘,’ and ‘.’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki pages, etc.).

 

[Settings]

 

• Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers coming to Settings homepage will begin to see a new card for referring a PC Game Pass subscription to their friends to try PC Game Pass for free. This new card will only appear on the Settings homepage if you’re signed into your PC with your Microsoft account and meet the required eligibility criteria.

Known issues

 

[Start menu]

 

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Start menu to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the letters in the apps list.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.
• [NEW] 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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New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

 

Improving the battery iconography in Windows 11

 

Introducing new and improved battery icons in Windows 11! These icons have been designed to communicate battery status of your PC with just a quick glance. Key changes include colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage.

 

When your battery icon is green, this shows that your PC is charging and in a good state. A yellow battery icon will let you know that your PC using battery in energy saving mode – this automatically happens when your battery is less than or equal to 20% to preserve power. When the battery icon is red, you have a critically low battery and should plug in your PC as soon as possible. You will see these new battery icons on the taskbar in the system tray, in the quick settings flyout, and in Settings. The new battery icons will begin showing on the Lock screen in a future flight.

 

As always, your PC’s battery status and more will also be available to you when you hover over the battery icon in the system tray and under Settings > System > Power & battery where you can also adjust the battery level percentage in which energy saver mode kicks on for your PC.

 

Along with the updates to the battery icon, we are also introducing the ability to show your battery percentage next to the battery icon in the system tray – a highly requested feature by Insiders and customers. To enable this, go to Settings > Power & battery and toggle on the “Battery Percentage” setting.

 

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.]

 

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

 

[Input]

 

After being temporarily disabled to address some issues with Build 26120.2213, we are beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 again. 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.

 

[Narrator]

 

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Jump to list item (I’) allows you to quickly access and jump to a list item on a page or a document. Beginning and end of element (Comma (,) and Period (.)) allow you to quickly jump to the beginning or end of large tables, lists or landmarks. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘I’, ‘,’ and ‘.’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki pages, etc.).

 

[Search on the Taskbar]

 

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including clearer provider attribution in tabs.

 

[Oher]

 

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. With this build, we’re beginning to disable the feature.

Here is what was fixed:

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on

 

[General]

 

• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing significant performance degradation for a small population of Insiders in the previous flight due to repeated background crashes.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue where sometimes you would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
• Fixed an issue where the File Explorer address bar unexpectedly overlapped with content while in full screen (F11) view.
• Improved performance of context menu launches for people when right-clicking on cloud files.
• Made a change to help ensure thumbnails for cloud files are displayed more consistently in search results within File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue where searching might lose keyboard focus on the text box while you were typing.

 

[Other]

 

• Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to scanners not being detected by scanning apps, although the scanner was connected.
• Fixed an underlying issue which could result in 2 in 1 PCs unexpectedly changing screen orientation when coming out of sleep.

Here is the list of known issues:

[General]

 

• 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.
• A 0xc0e90001 error will occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs. This will be fixed in the next Dev Channel flight. For recovery options on your PC, visit Settings > System > Recovery.

 

[Recall]

 

• The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:
• 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.
• Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
• Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

 

[Click to Do]

 

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.
• The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
• 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.

 

[Live captions & real-time translation]

 

• The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:
• Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
• If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.
• [NEW] 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.

 

[Improved Windows Search]

 

• The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:
• In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
• In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
• In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
• In some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.
• The underline animation in the File Explorer search box sometimes does not stop pulsing.
• The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

You can check out the announcement here.

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The company first announced the deprecation in June 2024, when it also encouraged customers to adopt its newer cloud-based driver services.

"If you're using driver synchronization updates via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), prepare for change. This service is scheduled for deprecation on April 18, 2025," Microsoft said on Friday. "For on-premises contexts, drivers will be available on the Microsoft Update catalog, but you won't be able to import them into WSUS.

"You'll need to use any of the available alternative solutions, such as Device Driver Packages, or transition to cloud-based driver services for your organization, such as Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch," the company added.

Redmond also announced in September that WSUS had been deprecated but that it plans to continue publishing updates through the channel and maintain all existing capabilities.

This came after WSUS was listed on August 13 as one of the "features removed or no longer developed starting with Windows Server 2025."

"Specifically, this means that we are no longer investing in new capabilities, nor are we accepting new feature requests for WSUS," Microsoft's Nir Froimovici said at the time. "However, we are preserving current functionality and will continue to publish updates through the WSUS channel. We will also support any content already published through the WSUS channel."

Introduced almost two decades ago, in 2005, as Software Update Services (SUS), WSUS allows IT admins to manage and distribute updates for Microsoft products across corporate networks with large numbers of Windows devices.

WSUS provides centralized control over updates rather than having each endpoint download them from Microsoft's servers.

After its deprecation, Microsoft encourages enterprises to adopt cloud-based solutions for client and server updates, such as Windows Autopatch, Azure Update Manager, and Microsoft Intune.

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On Windows 11, you can choose the location to save screenshots automatically, and in this guide, I will explain how to complete this configuration.

Although there are many different ways to take screenshots, the most common methods include using the "Print" key, the "Windows key + Print" keyboard shortcut, or the "Windows key + Shift + S" shortcut, and the one thing these options have in common is that they always save the capture automatically in the "Screenshots" folders.

Usually, the Screenshots folder lives in the "Pictures" folder. However, you can always change this location to another folder or another drive, depending on how you want to organize your files.

In this how-to guide, I will explain the easy ways to choose a different location to store screenshots on Windows 11.

Change screenshot folder location on Windows 11

To change the default folder location to store screenshots on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Open the new folder location to store the screenshots.
3. Click on New and select the Folder option.

Here is the changelog:

Gaming Highlights:

 

• Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs for:
  • FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH

 

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc B-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel 31.0.101.6257 software driver for:

 

• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH (DX12)
  • Up to 12.8% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings
  • Up to 11.6% average FPS uplift at 1440p with High settings

 

Game performance improvements on Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs versus Intel 31.0.101.6458 software driver for:

 

• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH (DX12)
• Up to 9.0% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings

Here is the list of known bugs:

Intel Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

 

• F1 24 (DX12) with XeSS FG may exhibit certain corruptions and applications crashes
  • Application may crash when dynamically changing XeSS FG settings during gameplay. Recommendation is to toggle XeSS FG settings in the game menu before starting a race.
  • “Alt + Enter” shortcut may change the display mode to fullscreen exclusive, which is not supported in XeSS 2 and may cause the game to crash.
• MLPerf may exhibit intermittent errors when running on multi-GPU system configurations. It is recommended to disable integrated GPU as a workaround.
• Topaz Labs Photo AI may exhibit corruptions with certain image enhancement operations.
• Magix Vegas Pro may exhibit corruptions when using style transfer feature.
• Dassault Systèmes CATIA may experience an application crash when using HQAO option.
• Adobe Lightroom Classic may experience lower than expected performance. Workaround is to set recommended preferences in the application
  • Under Edit, Preferences, Performance options, choose Graphics Processor as “Custom”
  • Select “Use GPU for Display”, “Use GPU for Image Processing” and “Use GPU for Export” options.

 

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit darker than expected shadows in certain campaign scenarios.
• Topaz Gigapixel AI may experience intermittent crash while exporting images.

 

Intel Core Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

 

• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio V19 may experience errors intermittently with benchmark preset set to Extended.
• Davinci Resolve Studio v19.0 may experience errors while rendering OpenVino test scenarios.
• Topaz Video AI may experience corruption when exporting videos after using some models for video enhancements

 

Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

 

• Adobe Premiere Pro may exhibit corruption in the output video after performing 8K AV1 Encode.
• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio V19 may experience errors intermittently with benchmark preset set to Extended.
• Davinci Resolve Studio v19.0 may experience issues while rendering certain OpenVino test scenarios.
• Davinci Resolve Studio v19.0 may experience errors intermittently while rendering certain AI/ML scenarios.
• Topaz Video AI may experience corruption when exporting videos after using some models for video enhancements.
• Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (DX12) may experience crash during gameplay with frame generation enabled.

Intel 32.0.101.6460 non-WHQL and 32.0.101.6259 non-WHQL are available on PCs with 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 with the following graphics products from Intel:

You can download the driver from the official website here. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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In the now-updated support document, Microsoft says those keeping an eye on the Windows Event Viewer might notice an error related to SgrmBroker.exe with the following code: "The System Guard Runtime Monitor Broker service terminated with the following error: %%3489660935."

While it might look serious at first glance, there is indeed nothing to worry about. For one, Microsoft says the only way to detect the bug is to "monitor" the Event Viewer closely. Otherwise, you will not see any traces or signs of the problem, plus there should be no signs of performance, functionality, or security issues. Microsoft also provided some additional insights into the problem with SgrmBroker.exe (System Guard Runtime Monitor Broker Service):

SgrmBroker.exe refers to the System Guard Runtime Monitor Broker Service. This service was originally created for Microsoft Defender, but it has not been a part of its operation for a very long time. Although Windows updates released January 14, 2025 conflict with the initialization of this service, no impact to performance or functionality should be observed. There is no change to the security level of a device resulting from this issue. This service has already been disabled in other supported versions of Windows, and SgrmBroker.exe presently serves no purpose.

If the error in the Event Viewer still bugs you, you can fix it by turning off the System Guard Monitor Broker Service. Here is how to do it:

1. Open a Command Prompt window. This can be accomplished by opening the Start menu and typing 'cmd'. The results will include “Command Prompt” as a System application. Select the arrow to the right of “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
2. Once the window is open, carefully enter the following text: sc.exe config sgrmagent start=disabled
3. A message may appear afterwards. Next, enter the following text: reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SgrmBroker /v Start /d 4 /t REG_DWORD
4. Close the Command Prompt window.

Microsoft says a future update will fix the problem for good. More important bugs in the January 2025 security updates for Windows 10 and 11 include compatibility issues with certain Citrix software, which causes errors when attempting to install the latest Patch Tuesday update. You can learn more about it here.

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Files Preview now has a new Cards View layout, which replaces Tiles View. Cards View shows more details about files and folders, like file name, type, size, modification date, dimensions (for images), duration (media files), tags, sync status, and more. You can switch to the new Cards View by clicking the "Layout" button on the toolbar and selecting "Cards."

Files Preview 3.8.13 also adds some upgrades for file thumbnails. They are now properly in sync with the layout size and have proper DPI awareness. The rest of the changelog includes the following:

Drag & drop

 

• Added support for dragging files from the Recent Files widget.

 

Image files

 

• Added support for rotating JPEG-XR images.
• Added support for setting JPEG-XR images as the desktop background.

 

Fixes

 

Cloud Drives

 

• Fixed issues with Google Drive support.

The new Cards Layout and other improvements are expected in the next Files update, version 3.9. Meanwhile, you can check out the latest update (version 3.8) in our dedicated article.

Files Preview is available for $6.29 in the Microsoft Store. You can also get the app for free from the official website. The preview version works alongside the stable release, so you can keep it side-by-side with the regular version.

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Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is out January 30, and those with Radeon graphics cards will want to install this driver before going out web-swinging as Peter or Miles next week. At the same time, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is finally released today on PC, and AMD is also recommending this driver prior to playing.

Fixed issues are these, which look like good news for Apex Legends players:

• Improvements to performance while playing Apex Legends™ with DirectX® 12 API.
• Lower than expected performance may be observed while using LM Studio on AMD Ryzen™ AI and Radeon™ products.

The known issues are these:

• Partial black screen may appear in Main Menu while playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2 with Radeon™ Anti-Lag 2 and Ray Tracing enabled on AMD Ryzen™ 7000 and above series processors. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to disable Radeon™ Anti-Lag 2 as a temporary workaround.
• Intermittent system or application crash may be observed while playing FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH for long periods of time.
• Intermittent driver timeout or crash may be observed while playing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370. Users experiencing this issue can enable Variable Graphics Memory in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition as a temporary measure (AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition -> Performance -> Tuning -> Variable Graphics Memory).
• Intermittent stutter may be observed while playing Marvel Rivals when AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 3 frame generation is enabled. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to disable AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 3 frame generation in the per-game settings as a temporary workaround.
• After using the AMD Cleanup Utility for Windows®, the AMD Bug Report Tool may appear intermittently during a new driver install on AMD Ryzen™ 7000 and above series processors paired with AMD Graphics Products.
• HEVC encoding may not work as expected while using OBS Studio with Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting.

The new AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.1.1 optional update is now available for download from the Radeon Settings app as well as AMD's own changelog page for the driver.

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Vivaldi Technologies is kicking off 2025 with the release of Vivaldi 7.1, packed with features that make the browser even more adaptable to you. From improvements to the Dashboard, to seamless tab imports, this update focuses on enhancing control, customization, and efficiency in your browsing experience.

Vivaldi 7.1 adds a new Weather Widget to the dashboard, allowing you to receive real-time weather updates for your location or any other city. You can pin the new widget to the dashboard (introduced in Vivaldi 7) alongside other widgets like mail, calendar, feeds, and more.

Vivaldi's dashboard received a few customization updates. You can now change widget backgrounds, and web widgets can adapt to the browser's theme.

If you want to switch to Vivaldi from your current browser without losing a single tab, the new Import Open Tabs feature will make sure nothing stays behind. You can use it to copy all the open tabs from your current browser or several browsers at once.

Vivaldi 7.1 also features the new Add Speed Dial dialog that makes it easier to organize websites and favorites. Also, the browser is getting a new "Send Tab to Device" feature that allows you to instantly transfer your active tab to your mobile device or another computer. However, this feature is not available as of right now, and Vivaldi says it will arrive on January 30, 2025.

Finally, developers updated the list of available search engines to include Startpage, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, and Qwant. Vivaldi says that besides giving users more flexibility and freedom of choice, partnership with other search engines allows the project to maintain its independence.

Vivaldi 7.1 is now available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can download the browser from the official website. Full release notes are available here.

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Going forward it is redirecting users to download Windows themes directly from the Microsoft Store and has added a direct shortcut link to the Store that says: "Explore Windows themes in the Microsoft Store". As with any Windows 10-related support article, this one too contains the warning about the impending end of support for Windows 10.

The cautionary message on the Themes page reads:

Important

 

This page containing links to download Windows themes is now obsolete and will be retired soon. We recommend downloading the latest themes directly from the Microsoft Store for the best experience.

While the link to the Store loads up a bunch of Windows themes, the one Microsoft wants to remove does seem a lot easier to navigate around in case a user is looking for a particular topic or subject. They have been properly categorized under various headers like Animals, Plants & flowers, Games, Automotives, Movies, and more. They also include panoramic themes and ones with audio.

In total, there are 13 categories:

• Animals

• Art (illustrative)

• Art (photographic)

• Automotive

• Games

• Holiday & seasons

• Movies

• Natural wonders

• Places & landscapes

• Plants & flowers

• From the community

• Branded themes

• Panoramic (dual monitor)

• With custom sounds

By clicking the drop-down for each category, users get access to a bunch of theme files that they can download and install on their desktops for free. You can find the page here on Microsoft's official website.

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On Windows 11, you'll find a new Sticky Notes, which is essentially a redesigned version integrated within the OneNote app.

Although the core features remain the same as in the legacy version, there are a few changes. The most noticeable is that the app is integrated into OneNote rather than a standalone program. Microsoft has also introduced a more modern and visually appealing design that offers organizational improvements. Finally, the new version supports automatic source linking and allows screenshots.

In this how-to guide, I'll outline the steps to start using the Sticky Notes app on Windows 11.

How to get started with Sticky Notes on Windows 11

If you want to get familiar with Sticky Notes, you must know the steps to get and manage it.

Install Sticky Notes

Sticky Notes is now part of the OneNote app, meaning you must have the app before accessing your notes.

If you don't use the Microsoft 365 apps, and you don't have OneNote already installed on your computer, use these steps:

1. Open the OneNote page in the Microsoft Store.

The open source Wine project—sometimes stylized WINE, for Wine Is Not an Emulator—has become an important tool for companies and individuals who want to make Windows apps and games run on operating systems like Linux or even macOS. The CrossOver software for Mac and Windows, Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, and the Proton project that powers Valve's SteamOS and the Steam Deck are all rooted in Wine, and the attention and resources put into the project in recent years have dramatically improved its compatibility and usefulness.

Yesterday, the Wine project announced the stable release of version 10.0, the next major version of the compatibility layer that is not an emulator. The headliner for this release is support for ARM64EC, the application binary interface (ABI) used for Arm apps in Windows 11, but the release notes say that the release contains "over 6,000 individual changes" produced over "a year of development effort."

ARM64EC allows developers to mix Arm and x86-compatible code—if you're making an Arm-native version of your app, you can still allow the use of more obscure x86-based plugins or add-ons without having to port everything over at once. Wine 10.0 also supports ARM64X, a different type of application binary file that allows ARM64EC code to be mixed with older, pre-Windows 11 ARM64 code.

Wine's ARM64EC support does have one limitation that will keep it from working on some prominent Arm Linux distributions, at least by default: the release notes say it "requires the system page size to be 4K, since that is what the Windows ABI specifies." Several prominent Linux-on-Arm distributions default to a 16K page size because it can improve performance—when page sizes are smaller, you need more of them, and managing a higher number of pages can introduce extra CPU overhead.

Asahi Linux, the Fedora-based distribution that is working to bring Linux to Apple Silicon Macs, uses 16K pages because that's all Apple's processors support. Some versions of the Raspberry Pi OS also default to a 16K page size, though it's possible to switch to 4K for compatibility's sake. Given that the Raspberry Pi and Asahi Linux are two of the biggest Linux-on-Arm projects going right now, that does at least somewhat limit the appeal of ARM64EC support in Wine. But as we've seen with Proton and other successful Wine-based compatibility layers, laying the groundwork now can deliver big benefits down the road.

Other new additions to Wine 10.0 include improved support for high-DPI displays, which should be better at automatically scaling app windows that aren't DPI-aware. A Desktop Control Panel applet can control the configuration of the virtual "display" that apps running under Wine use. Support for various Direct3D features is improved, and the Vulkan renderer has gotten improvements meant to reduce stuttering in games.

Windows-on-Arm: It’s a real thing now!

Though various versions of Windows have been running on Arm processors for over a decade now, last year was when the project became a credible mainstream computing platform.

Last summer, Qualcomm released its Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors, which could compete with the performance and power consumption of Intel, AMD, and Apple's laptop processors. Microsoft put the Snapdragon chips in the mainstream, mass-market versions of the Surface Pro tablet and the Surface Laptop, rather than putting them in a secondary side-project as it had done with hardware like the Surface Pro X; the company also announced a "Copilot+ PC" initiative, which featured Snapdragon-powered PCs from most of the major PC manufacturers.

Microsoft also released the Windows 11 24H2 update, which looks like another routine yearly update on the surface but included large under-the-hood overhauls of Windows' compiler, kernel, and scheduler that improved performance for Arm chips as well as some x86 chips. Microsoft also updated and branded its x86-to-Arm code translation feature, now called "Prism." The company said at the time that Prism would run x86 apps between 10 and 20 percent faster than they had run in older Windows versions on the same hardware.

Finally—and most relevantly, for people using Wine—the company convinced a critical mass of major app developers to release versions of their apps that ran natively on the Arm versions of Windows. That included major browsers like Google Chrome, creative apps like Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo, and productivity apps like Dropbox and Google Drive. If you want to know why the Wine project prioritized ARM64EC support this time around, it's because the Windows-on-Arm app ecosystem is finally becoming relevant.

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Several days ago, users noticed that Smart Lookup was no longer working. For those unfamiliar, Smart Lookup lets you quickly find a definition of the selected word without switching away from the app or opening a browser. Just right-click a word and click "Search" in the context menu. Here is how Microsoft describes it:

Have you ever reviewed a document or read an email and found yourself challenged by an unfamiliar word or phrase? In Microsoft 365, work smarter and quickly look up the word or phrase to get connected to multiple resources related to it.

Now, when clicking "Search," Word opens a side pane with the following message: "We are sorry, but this feature is deprecated," leaving users only two options: open Office.com or go to Bing (of course).

In the Smart Lookup support document on the official website, Microsoft has only briefly mentioned that the feature has been retired as of January 1, 2025. Sadly, as of right now, there are no direct replacements for Smart Lookup, and people are already ranting about it online. It was one of those small and useful conveniences that many users would miss.

Yes, you can replace Smart Lookup with Copilot, but it is not as convenient since you have to type your prompt instead of just making two clicks to pull a definition. Besides, Copilot in Office apps requires a Microsoft 365 subscription (which is now more expensive), while Smart Lookup worked in perpetual licenses and LTSC releases all the way down to Office 2016. Sadly, it is now gone. Press F to pay respects.

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Besides those, the tech giant has released an OOBE (out of box experience) update today for the newest Windows 11 version, 24H2, as well as Windows Server 2025. The update is available under KB5050575 and as is usually the case with such updates, the company has published a general changelog for it without going into any specific details about what it brings.

Microsoft writes:

KB5050575: Out of Box Experience update for Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025: January 21, 2025

 

Summary

 

This update improves the Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025 out-of-box experience (OOBE). This update applies only to the Windows OOBE process and is available only when OOBE updates are installed.

These OOBE updates will install automatically during setup if the user has an active internet connection.

In a separate document about OOBE, Microsoft explained what these OOBE updates deliver. It also notes that the downloading and installation time of the update depends on the users' hardware and internet connectivity. It writes:

Critical driver updates, and critical Windows zero-day patch (ZDP) updates, will begin downloading automatically during OOBE after the user has connected to a network. The user can't opt-out of these critical updates as they are required for the device to operate properly. Windows will alert the user that the device is checking for, and applying, the updates.

 

If a newer version of Windows is available than the version that shipped with the device, depending on OS Build, a user may receive latest Windows Updates as one of the last sections of the OOBE. The Windows update will be downloaded and installed during the OOBE.

You can find the support article for KB5050575 here on Microsoft's official website.

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Today, the utility has received its latest pre-release update, and it brings multiple improvements related to downloading and installing packages, including multiple simultaneous downloads and the addition of a downloading option simply by right-clicking a package.

Alongside that, an issue, bugging the uninstallation of a package has been fixed. The full changelog is given below:

General changes

 

• Downloading packages is now easier:
  • Better download experience: Downloads will show as an install/download operation, on the bottom of the window
  • Multiple downloads can be performed at the same time
  • Packages can be downloaded by right-clicking them -> Download installer, no need to open package details
• UniGetUI can work as a portable app, storing settings alongside the executable file
  • This will be effective if UniGetUI is installed in "Portable" mode. A "Portable" installation will not interfiere with a "Regular" installation.
• Uninstall package, then [Update/Reinstall] work again (they were broken in 3.1.6-beta1)
• Lots of bugfixes and internal improvements.

 

What's Changed

 

• Load translations from Tolgee by @martinet101 in #3190
• Updated username for winget workflow by @vikingnope in #3197
• Diversify Icon Detection (Icons for Steam, Local PC, and Microsoft Store Applications) by @mrixner in #3189
• Better package installer download operations by @marticliment in #3178
• Update icons and screenshots from the excel file by @github-actions in #3199
• UniGetUI Portable by @marticliment in #3203

You can download the latest version of the application from Neowin's software stories page, the official website or from its GitHub repo. Keep in mind, though, that the version is labeled as a beta, and thus, you may experience some instabilities.

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The new update to the popular virtualization software fixes a blue screen of death (BSOD) issue related to Windows 11 24H2 guests, and a full-screen bug. In terms of OS support, the new version adds initial support for Linux 6.13, RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) 9.6, and Windows Server 2025.

There are improvements related to Windows driver installations, NVMe, and more. The full changelogs are given below:

VirtualBox 7.1.6 (released January 21 2025)

This is a maintenance release. The following items were fixed and/or added:

 

• VMM: Fixed issue when Windows 11 24H2 guest was experiencing BSOD in rare conditions
• GUI: Improved representation of disabled preferences contents (mask+font) when it is shown with certain Linux themes
• GUI: Fixed issue when seamless mode was not properly enabled or disabled in appropriate time according to GA status events
• GUI: Fixed rare crash on macOS hosts on application exit
• GUI: Fixed small 7.1.4 regression in preferences windows when filter editor was not in focus
• GUI: Introduced improvements in Advanced properties/settings dialog area
• GUI: Restored missing functionality to change bridged adapter at VM startup if current one wasn't found
• GUI: Fixed issue when Show action duplicates were created on macOS host in attempt to switch between running and powered off VMs
• GUI: Fixed regression when 3D acceleration check-box was not available for certain guest OS and graphical controller types
• GUI: Restored lost Help button for preferences windows on macOS
• GUI: Restored lost Help button shortcuts for certain windows
• GUI: Fixed issue when error message was shown when VM was starting in full-screen mode
• VirtioNet: Fixed issue with re-negotiation of features after reset
• Graphics: Fixed issue with Linux guest screen flickering when guest was using VMSVGA graphics adapter
• VBoxManage: Added the ability to export and import VMs which contain an NVMe storage controller
• VBoxManage: Fixed issue when it was not possible to set graphics controller to "QemuRamFB" using modifyvm command (bug #22232)
• Main: Fixed issue when specifying custom proxy server in GUI settings had no effect
• Network: Added changes which replaced NAT engines with libslirp
• Guest OSes: Added OS type for Windows Server 2025
• Linux guest and host: Added more fixes for UBSAN related warnings (bug #21877)
• Linux guest and host: Added initial support for RHEL 9.6 kernel
• Windows guests and host: Re-implemented driver installation
• Solaris host: Removed the VirtualBox GUI shared objects libqgtk2styleVBox.so and libqgtk2VBox.so from the Solaris installation packages as they depend on GTK2 which is EOL and no longer supported
• Linux Guest Additions: Introduced initial support for kernel 6.13
• Linux Guest Additions: vboxvideo: Added improvement for kernel 6.4 support and fixed issue when graphics could be frozen when using VBoxVGA adapter
• Linux Guest Additions: Introduced additional fixes for kernel 6.12 in vboxvideo

..........

 

VirtualBox 7.0.24 (released January 21 2025)

This is a maintenance release. The following items were fixed and/or added:

 

• VMM: Fixed issue when Windows 11 24H2 guest was experiencing BSOD in rare conditions
• GUI: Fixed issue when error message was shown when VM was starting in full-screen mode
• Graphics: Fixed issue with Linux guest screen flickering when guest was using VMSVGA graphics adapter
• VirtioNet: Fixed issue with re-negotiation of features after reset
• VBoxManage: Added the ability to export and import VMs which contain an NVMe storage controller
• Main: Fixed issue when specifying custom proxy server in GUI settings had no effect
• Guest OSes: Added OS type for Windows Server 2025
• Linux guest and host: Added initial support for RHEL 9.6 kernel
• Linux guest and host: Added more fixes for UBSAN related warnings (bug #21877)
• Solaris host: Removed the VirtualBox GUI shared objects libqgtk2styleVBox.so and libqgtk2VBox.so from the Solaris installation packages as they depend on GTK2 which is EOL and no longer supported
• Windows guests and host: Re-implemented driver installation
• Linux Guest Additions: Introduced initial support for kernel 6.13
• Linux Guest Additions: vboxvideo: Added improvement for kernel 6.4 support and fixed issue when graphics could be frozen when using VBoxVGA adapter
• Linux Guest Additions: Introduced additional fixes for kernel 6.12 in vboxvideo
• Windows Guest Additions: Fixed guest screen resize issue which caused random failure of switching modes for virtual displays

You can download the latest VirtualBox from Neowin's software stories page or from the official website.

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In addition to Windows 11 users with versions 23H2 and 22H2, Microsoft is now offering Windows 11 version 24H2 to customers with Windows 10-based machines, assuming their PCs can officially run Windows 11 without any hacks or modifications. Still, Windows 11 remains an optional update, and you are free to stay on Windows 10 despite Microsoft's claims about Windows 11 being "free for a limited time."

Here is what Microsoft posted on the official Windows Health Dashboard website today:

Windows 11, version 24H2, also known as the Windows 11 2024 Update, is now broadly available.

 

Starting this week, we are expanding this latest Windows version’s phased rollout. We are gradually offering this update also to eligible devices running Windows 10, version 22H2.

 

If you have an eligible Windows 10 or Windows 11 device, you can check if the update is available by selecting  Settings > Windows Update and selecting  Check for updates. If your device is ready for the update, you’ll see the option to  Download and install Windows 11, version 24H2.

 

Devices running Home and Pro editions of Windows 11, versions 23H2 and 22H2 that are not managed by IT departments will receive the update automatically. Users can choose the time to restart their device or postpone the update.

Note that your device will not detect Windows 11 version 24H2 if it is affected by one of quite many blocking bugs. They include problems on certain ASUS devices, Auto HDR issues, audio bugs, and more. At the same time, Microsoft lifted a block preventing Ubisoft fans from getting to Windows 11 version 24H2.

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As usual, the update is split into features that are rolling out gradually and features that are available to everyone right away. Here is the changelog:

Gradual rollout

 

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.

 

• [Taskbar] New! This update improves the previews that show when your cursor hovers over apps on the taskbar. The update also improves their animations.
• [Windows Studio Effects] New! An icon will appear in the system tray when you use an app that supports Windows Studio Effects. This only occurs on a device that has a neural processing unit (NPU). Select the icon to open the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. To view the app that is using the camera, hover over the icon for a tooltip.
• [Fonts] New! This update adds Simsun-ExtG, a new simplified Chinese font. It includes the Biangbiang noodles character. Some apps might not be able to display these new extension characters yet. The font has 9,753 ideographs that support Unicode Extensions G, H, and I. See the list below.
  • Unicode range G 30000-3134A (4,939 chars)
  • Unicode range H 31350-323AF (4,192 chars)
  • Unicode range I 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 chars)
• [File Explorer]
  • New! You now have quick access to items that others have shared with you. Shared items include files, emails, Teams chats, and more. To view them, you must use a Microsoft account or a Microsoft Entra ID account to sign in to Windows. To view these shared items, go to the File Explorer Home page and choose the Shared tab. If you use a Microsoft Entra ID account to sign in, you have more viewing choices. You will see the files that you have shared with others. Also, the Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections of the page will show a broader set of file types.
  • New! When you right-click items in the left pane, the “New Folder” command appears on the context menu.
  • Fixed: After you do a search, that search might repeat when you don’t want it to.
  • Fixed: The date and time properties of a file might update after you copy it.
  • Fixed: Icons on the details pane might not update as you expect when you change a theme. This makes it hard to view the change when you switch between dark and light themes.
  • Fixed: The search box might lose input focus as you type.
• [Mobile hotspot] New! The Windows Mobile Hotspot now supports 6 GHz connections. This new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers. The chips that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi might not support the 6 GHz mobile hotspot. To view this new band, go to Settings > Network & internet > Mobile hotspot. In the Network properties section, select Edit. To work with existing devices, the mobile hotspot will only use 6 GHz when you enable it.
• [Settings] New! You can change time zones in Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time. You don’t have to be an admin to make this change.
• [Domains] Fixed: A device might fail to join a domain.
• [Mouse]
  • Fixed: The mouse cursor might disappear. This occurs when you hover over text fields in certain applications.
  • Fixed: If you turn on pointer trails, the mouse cursor becomes transparent, and a black box appears behind it.
  • Fixed: The mouse cursor might stutter when it moves across the screen. This occurs even when the system is not using a lot of resources.
• [Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME)] Fixed: When you switch app windows, the IME language might change from Chinese to English.
• [Snipping Tool] Fixed: Snipping Tool screenshots might be distorted. This occurs when you use two or more monitors that have different display scaling.
• [Task Manager] Fixed: It takes too long to close after you close the app.
• [Microsoft Excel 2016] Fixed: When you open certain files, Excel opens, but the screen might remain on the loading screen.
• [Dam.sys] Fixed: A watchdog timeout error might occur when your PC resumes from sleep.
• [Windows update installation] Fixed: Cumulative updates might not install. The error code is 0x800736b3. This occurs after a feature on demand fails to install.

 

Normal rollout

 

• 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.
• [Windows Backup] New! You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area).
• [High dynamic range (HDR)] Fixed: The display of some games appears oversaturated. This occurs when you use Auto HDR.

You can find the official announcement blog post here.

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In late November 2024, Microsoft announced Edge Game Assist—a new feature that makes it easier to browse the internet when playing games on a computer. After a brief period of testing, Microsoft Edge Game Assist is now available to everyone in the Stable Channel.

Microsoft Edge Game Assist eliminates the need to Alt+Tab out of your game when you need to find or check something quickly. Just press Win + G and open the browser widget.

Initially, Microsoft Edge Game Assist required downloading Edge 132 Beta and making it your default browser. Now, however, Game Assist is available on the Stable Channel, and it no longer requires changing your preferred browser. Therefore, you can keep using Chrome, Firefox, or anything else while also having a convenient Game Bar browser.

Although Game Assist is now available to every Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge user, it is still in preview and requires manual installation. Here is how to do that:

1. Make sure you are on the latest Microsoft Edge version by heading to edge://settings/help
2. Go to Settings > Appearance > Game Assist

   

3. Click Install
4. Press Win + G to open Game Bar
5. Click Widgets > Game Assist (Preview)

Now, you can place the widget anywhere you like or pin it to the screen.

In addition to releasing Game Assist to all users, Microsoft added support for more games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Marvel Rivals, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. II: Heart of Chernobyl. Also, the feature now supports certain extensions like ad blockers.

Microsoft says future updates will add keyboard shortcuts, a dedicated "Settings and more" menu, right-click context menus, a better picture-in-picture mode, and more. You can learn more about the latest Game Assist update in the announcement post.

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The details:

• VeraCrypt 1.26.18 fixes two security issues affecting the Linux and Mac versions of the software.
• On Windows, 32-bit support has been dropped.
• The minimum Windows version is now Windows 10 version 1809.

What is VeryCrypt? VeraCrypt is an encryption software that you may use to encrypt entire systems, drives, partitions, or protected containers on storage devices.

Downloading and installing the VeraCrypt update

VeraCrypt comes without built-in updating support. This means that you need to download and install the new release manually. First thing you may want to do is check the current version.

Tip: you can check the current version by selecting Help > About VeraCrypt in the interface.

While you may visit the official downloads page, you may notice that it does not link to the latest version just yet. Check the project's SourceForge repository instead. There you find the latest downloads. Note that the installation requires a reboot.

The security fixes

VeraCrypt 1.26.18 fixes two security issues that affect the Linux and Mac versions of the encryption software. They are:

• CVE-2024-54187: Added absolute paths when executing system binaries to prevent path hijacking
• CVE-2025-23021: Prevent mounting volumes on system directories and PATH

Additional details have not been published at the time of writing.

The non-security changes

All operating systems got support for AES hardware on ARM64 platform and "SHA-256 x86 intrinsic to enhance the performance of PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256".

Windows users need a 64-bit version of the operating system and at least Windows 10 version 1809 to run the latest VeraCrypt release. Users on older versions of Windows need to keep using the outdated versions of VeraCrypt to keep on using it (or upgrade Windows).

The release makes a few noteworthy changes next to that:

• Reduces driver deadlock issues under low-memory scenarios.
• Fixed an issue affecting the creation of Traveler Disks.
• Changed generators to modern ones to improve security.
• Updated libraries.

There are also non-security changes for Linux and mac OS. On macOS, screen capturing is now disabled by default. The --allow-screencapture enables it again for those who require it. There is also a fix for both systems that ensures that a volume exists before the mounting operation is started.

You can check out the full changelog here if you are interested.

Do you use encryption software? If so which and why that one? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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