Windows 11 is about to gain a feature that should have shipped years ago. But, better late than never, right? PCs will soon support using the same camera within multiple applications at the same time. That addition is the highlight feature of Windows 11 Build 26120.2702, which shipped to Insiders in the Dev Channel recently. Microsoft also rolled out Windows 11 Build 22635.4655 last week, though the changes in that update are minor.

The new multi-app camera feature was designed to improve accessibility. The feature was "developed with the Hard-of-Hearing community to enable video streaming to both a sign language interpreter and the end audience at the same time," according to Microsoft, but I imagine people will find other uses for it. The limitation on webcams to only work with a single app was always a bit strange to me. I know I'm not alone in celebrating the addition.

Key notes

• Windows 2000 aimed to unify Microsoft’s operating systems for both consumers and professionals.
• The pricing for Windows 2000 was relatively high at launch.
• Windows XP succeeded Windows 2000, integrating its stability with a more user-friendly interface.

Windows 2000 is now turning 25, and what’s a better time to take a bit of nostalgia train to Microsoft’s operating system of the millennia?

At that time, Microsoft wanted to unify its operating system families for both consumers and professionals and cater to the growing demands of enterprise computing. Because there were OS like Windows 98/Windows ME for consumers and Windows NT 4.0 for professionals, and, well, the Redmond tech giant does have a confusing trend when naming their products.

A lot of things propelled the Windows 2000 launch. Back in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, we saw a rapid growth in internet adoption. Everybody wanted to make the next best thing, and Windows 2K was that. Built on the Windows NT kernel, it was more stable than the DOS-based Windows like Windows 95/98.

But still, Windows 2K was quite pricey at that time. For the “Professional” version, it was around $319 for a full version and $149 for an upgrade. Then, for Windows 2000 Server, it was around $999 while the more robust Datacenter server had a price tag of $3,999.

To put more into the context, Windows XP Home Edition was “only” $199 for the full version. And now, we can even get Windows 11 as a free upgrade from Windows 10, but for purchasing new licenses, it’s around $139 for the Home edition. And these are not even an apple-to-apple comparison if we haven’t put inflation into the equation.

But, is it fair to call Windows 2000 a commercial suicide, though? Not really. Sure, it did lack some multimedia features popular in Windows 98 and later in Windows ME, but it paved the way for Windows XP, arguably the best Windows there ever was.

Windows 2000 was a stable and more secure solution at that time, but was eventually phased out as Windows XP which gave a more unified and professional experience. Mainstream support for Windows 2000 ended in 2005, with extended support continuing until 2010.

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Fortunately, there is a new small app that can fix that.

Battery Flyout fixes several problems with Windows 11's default battery indicator. For one, it lets you have battery percentage in the tray area, allowing you to track precise battery levels without hovering over the battery indicator. Clicking the icon opens a separate flyout with an 18-hour graph, the current level, estimated time, and a power mode slider.

Besides providing information about the battery in your laptop or tablet, the flyout lets you view the battery levels of all connected Bluetooth devices, such as mice, keyboards, headphones, styluses, controllers, etc.

However, my favorite Battery Flyout feature is its notification system. You can set the app to notify you when the battery level drops below or reaches a certain level to help you keep the battery healthy by not discharging it below, say, 20% and not charging it above 90% (or another level). Battery Flyout can also notify you when the battery is fully charged. These notifications work not only with the built-in battery but also with Bluetooth devices.

It is worth noting that some devices have additional charging modes that, for example, limit the maximum battery level to preserve its life. Unfortunately, Battery Flyout does not detect those modes. It also does not work well with Apple devices (it failed to display my AirPods Pro 2's battery level). Also, the power mode slider does not work on ARM devices as of right now.

You can get Battery Flyout from the Microsoft Store for $3.99.

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You might need to disable this option for increased accuracy during PC gaming, better mouse pointer control, or improved muscle memory. Whatever the reason, the following techniques are tried-and-tested solutions to this problem.

How To Turn Off Mouse Acceleration in Windows 10

I’ve organized the methods by complexity. Let’s get started!

From the Control Panel App

1. Click the Start button or press the Windows key, and then type Control Panel.
2. Select the Control Panel app below the Best match section.
3. Go to the Hardware and Sound menu.

4. Now, click Mouse under the Devices and Printers in the Control Panel.

5. In the Mouse Properties window, switch to the Pointer Options tab.

6. Uncheck the box for the Enhance pointer precision option to disable mouse acceleration.
7. Click Apply and then OK to save your changes and close the window.

Using the Settings App

1. Start by clicking on the Start button in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
2. From the menu, click on the Settings icon—it looks like a little gear—or just type Settings in the search bar.
3. In the Settings window, select Devices.
4. On the left-hand side, click Mouse from the list of options.

5. Look for a link that says Additional mouse options under the Related settings section.

6. A new window called Mouse Properties will pop up. Switch to the Pointer Options tab.
7. Find the section labeled Motion and uncheck the box that says Enhance pointer precision.
8. After making the change, click Apply to save it, and then hit OK.

From a PowerShell Terminal

1. Right-click on the Windows flag or Start button to bring up the Power User menu.
2. Click on the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option.
3. You should now see the PowerShell terminal.
4. Copy the following code and paste it into the terminal window:

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Control Panel\Mouse" -Name MouseSpeed -Value 0 -PropertyType String -Force

5. Hit Enter to execute the script.
6. Now, type in the following PowerShell script and hit Enter again to run this code:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Control Panel\Mouse" -Name MouseThreshold1 -Value 0

7. Finally, copy and paste the following script and press the Enter key to execute:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Control Panel\Mouse" -Name MouseThreshold2 -Value 0

The first PowerShell script will only show an outcome. The rest of the codes will run and won’t generate any results, as intended.

If you’re here, congratulations! You’ve learned how to turn off mouse acceleration in Windows 10.

The Control Panel and Settings are suitable if you’re a basic Windows 10 user and happy with the manual methods.

However, if you love to automate processes using scripts, you should go for the PowerShell-based approach. Moreover, if you’re having problems with your mouse not locking to your game or not showing up, we can help out.

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Jennifer G, an engineer at the company, wrote:

This should be resolved now - thanks for taking the time to report this. As always, please don't hesitate to file a new piece of feedback to let us know if you continue experiencing issues

However, many users on the thread are still saying that they are continuing to encounter the same issue even though it has supposedly been fixed.

The problem has been been posted on the Microsoft's forums as well. A user Tom Chapman4 wrote:

Suddenly unable to open email in Outlook

 

When I attempt to open an email in Outlook on my Surface Pro 11th edition an outlook screen pops up with options to select my email account or add a new one. When I select my account a window pops up indicating I need to login to my account. Curious as I am alrealy logged in. When I attempt to login on that window an error pops up, 0x80049DD3. I am able to open my emails in Outlook on my Galaxy S21 with no problem.

Another user JG5044 wrote:

Why does 0x80049dd3 come up in the Outlook desktop app?

 

In Windows 10 when I open or work with mail in the Outlook desktop app (local installation) the message no access keeps coming up.

 

Then I get a message that I have to select continue to sign in to this account, or manage to remove the account.

 

Then the message something went wrong, try again later 0x80049dd3 comes up.

 

I can then select send feedback or cancel as I choose, and then I get logged in and can continue working.

The two queries have been upvoted by 56 and 52 people respectively at the time of writing. It also looks like the problem is specific to the Outlook desktop app for Windows as Android seems to be unaffected by it.

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Interestingly, Nvidia has been recommending this tweak since late 2021 as a way to address display flickering after updating to a certain graphics driver. Moreover, many AMD users reported that applying it also resolved similar issues on systems with AMD graphics cards.

Here is how to fix the invisible text cursor in Windows 10 and 11:

1. Press Win + R and type regedit to launch Registry Editor.
2. Paste the following path into the address bar: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm
3. Click Edit > New > Value > DWORD (32-bit value).
4. Rename the new value to OverlayTestMode and double-click it.
5. Change the value data from 0 to 5.

   

6. Restart your computer.

If you are not comfortable with manually editing the system registry, try the following:

1. Open Notepad and paste the following:
   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm]
   "OverlayTestMode"=dword:00000005
2. Click File > Save As.
3. Select All files from the "Save as type" drop-down and rename the file to anything with the .reg extension. For example, fix.reg.
4. Find the saved file, double-click it, and confirm changes in the registry.
5. Restart your computer.

The invisible text cursor bug should now be gone.

Bonus option: You can go to Settings > Personalization > Themes > Mouse cursor and select any non-default cursor for "Text select." This should work as well, although the most effective option is to apply the registry change described above.

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First, Microsoft corrected the waiver users need to agree to when they proceed to installing Windows 11 on any hardware that is not officially supported by Microsoft. Second, a very handy direct link to the Windows Recovery menu was added such that users experiencing issues on incompatible systems can roll back to Windows 11. You can find the detailed changes in our dedicated piece.

If you recall, Microsoft officially recommends a new PC for upgrading to Windows 11 from very old systems and we speculated that perhaps the changes to the support page were made since the Redmond company probably understands not everyone may upgrade.

Following our discovery of the updated page, others in the press also started reporting on it too. Microsoft has noticed the buzz and has updated the article yet again. This time, the headline of the piece has been updated from "Installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet minimum system requirements" to "Windows 11 on devices that don't meet minimum system requirements".

Aside from that, Microsoft has also clarified that it does not officially allow users on unsupported hardware to run Windows 11 and users should immediately go back to Windows 10.

It writes:

Important: Updated December 12, 2024

This support article was originally published on October 4, 2021, when Windows 11 was first released to the public. At the time of publication and still today, the intention behind this support page is to detail considerations for customers to understand the implications of installing Windows 11 against Microsoft's recommendation on devices that don't meet system requirements for Windows 11. If you installed Windows 11 on a device not meeting Windows 11 system requirements, Microsoft recommends you roll back to Windows 10 immediately.

Windows 11 minimum system requirements remain unchanged ...

Hence, for those running Windows 10 on devices that don't meet the system requirements of Windows 11, it looks like Microsoft is in favor of a new PC after all once 10 reaches the end of support state. You can check out some of the tips in this article on ways to reuse such a system.

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The full changelog is given below:

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

[Start menu]

 

• We are improving the filtering for recommended websites on the Start menu based on feedback from Windows Insiders so that we show the highest quality sites based on your own browsing history. Please continue to give us feedback if you see a website recommended you feel shouldn’t be.

 

[Spotlight on the lock screen

 

• We’re trying out a few different treatments for the top right hotspot (“Like the image that you see”) on the lock screen. You can now learn more about the spotlight image on your lock screen by clicking on the “Like icon” that takes you to the Spotlight landing page.

 

[Spotlight on the desktop]

 

• We’re beginning to roll out some changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon interaction model for Windows Insiders. You can now quickly and easily discover more information about your background image by simply hovering over or clicking on the “Learn about this picture” icon on your desktop.

 

[Windows Share]

 

• When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.

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

[Taskbar]

 

• Fixed an issue where the window previews weren’t showing when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar.

Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)

We invite Windows Insiders to try out Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)!

 

Game Assist is the first in-game browser that delivers a rich gaming-centric browsing experience—including access to your browser data from your PC and mobile devices. Game Assist is a special version of Microsoft Edge that’s optimized for PC gaming and can appear on top of your game in Game Bar. It’s game-aware and will suggest tips and guides for what you’re playing. It also shares the same browser data with Edge on your PC so the information you care about is always accessible while you play, including your favorites, history, cookies, form fills, and more. Check out this blog post for more details and how to get started using Game Assist!

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

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Here is the changelog:

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

 

Windows Camera Advanced Configurations

 

We are beginning to roll out a new advanced camera options page. Just navigate to a camera under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras and click the edit button for advanced camera options.

 

This new advanced camera options page will provide you with the following two configurations for your camera:

 

• Multi-app camera: Allows multiple applications to access the camera stream simultaneously, developed with the Hard-of-Hearing community to enable video streaming to both a sign language interpreter and the end audience at the same time.
• Basic camera: Enables basic camera functionality for improved debugging, recommended as a last resort when your camera is not functioning correctly. This feature was developed in collaboration with Microsoft support agents.

 

Coming in a future build, we plan to introduce a third option here for selecting a media type. This feature will let you choose different media types like resolution and frame rate, with the default setting being “Let Windows Choose” for optimal experience.

 

Passwordless Improvements

 

As part of Microsoft’s commitment to a passwordless future, on Windows, we are launching API support for third-party passkey providers. Microsoft has been engaging with passkey manager partners on developing this capability. We are committed to bringing a passwordless future to all customers – together with third-party credential providers, we will raise the bar on login security with passkeys for all users on Windows.

 

WebAuthn Plugin Authenticator APIs

 

We are releasing updates to WebAuthn APIs to support a plugin authentication model for passkeys. In the coming months, Windows customers will be able to choose a third-party provider as an additional choice alongside the native Windows passkey provider while maintaining the Windows Hello user experience. Messages in WebAuthn flows will be forwarded to the plugin and responses are returned to the WebAuthn client applications. This enables plugins to create and authenticate with passkeys when requested by the customer. This model allows plugins to use Windows Hello as a user verification mechanism to enable a seamless passkey experience. You will notice additional user experience updates to the passkey flows and Settings alongside the new capabilities.

 

If you are a developer for third-party passkeys, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API.

 

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

 

[Start menu]

 

• We are improving the filtering for recommended websites on the Start menu based on feedback from Windows Insiders so that we show the highest quality sites based on your own browsing history. Please continue to give us feedback if you see a website recommended you feel shouldn’t be.

 

[Settings]

 

• The ability to change time zones is available again under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time for standard (non-admin) users.

Here is what was fixed and improved:

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

 

[Start menu]

 

• We are improving the filtering for recommended websites on the Start menu based on feedback from Windows Insiders so that we show the highest quality sites based on your own browsing history. Please continue to give us feedback if you see a website recommended you feel shouldn’t be.

 

[Settings]

 

• The ability to change time zones is available again under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time for standard (non-admin) users.

 

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

 

[Input]

 

• Fixed an issue where if pointer trails were enabled, the mouse cursor may become invisible with a black box behind it.
• Mitigated an issue where the ALT or Shift key on the keyboard may get stuck down in the latest flights after the Windows Hello prompt appeared for some Insiders.
• Fixed an issue which could lead to the mouse cursor unexpectedly stuttering when you moved it around sometimes.

 

[Graphics]

 

• Fixed an underlying issue which could result in some games appearing oversaturated when using Auto HDR.

 

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

 

[Rollback]

 

We fixed the issue where if you roll back from Build 26120.2510 to an earlier build, you would see an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced.

And here is the list of known issues:

[General]

 

• [NEW] 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 impact you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

 

[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.
• Sometimes Click to Do doesn’t highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

You can read the announcement post on the official Windows Blogs website.

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Tom's Hardware experimented with Recall and its capability to filter out confidential information like credit card numbers, social security numbers, personal information, and other sensitive data. In some cases, Recall successfully detected and filtered out what it should not snapshot. However, many times, it ignored all clues and captured everything without any filters.

For example, Recall captured a credit card number in Windows Notepad and a fully filled loan application in the Edge browser. The same happened with a simple HTML page with fields for credit card information like number, CVC, expiration date, etc. Despite the obvious clues, Recall ignored its filters and captured everything as is.

Still, not everything is that bad. Recall managed to detect sensitive information on e-commerce websites and capture them without any personal information.

Before you grab a pitchfork, it is worth reminding that Recall is currently in public preview, and Microsoft explicitly stated that filters might not work 100%:

We’ll continue to improve this functionality, and if you find sensitive information that should be filtered out, for your context, language, or geography, please let us know through Feedback Hub.

In addition, Windows 11 encrypts all your snapshots, and they are only accessible after you authenticate with Windows Hello. Microsoft also promises that snapshots never leave your device, and turning off Recall purges everything immediately. Despite the reassurances, the reality shows that Copilot+ PC owners should probably think twice before embracing Recall.

Although Recall is now available (in preview) for more devices, including AMD and Intel-powered ones, it is probably a good idea for many to stay away from it and let Microsoft take its time to polish the experience and make it more reliable. With that said, it remains a big question whether Microsoft can regain user trust after all the drama that happened this year.

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Although Windows 11 doesn't have native support for alarms and timers (or stopwatch), the operating system brings these features through the Clock app, so you don't have to reach for your phone to perform these simple tasks.

Regardless of the reason, if you need to create an alarm to wake up, set a reminder, or schedule breaks, or you have to set a timer to keep track of a specific task, or you want to measure the duration of particular activities or tasks, such as exercise routines, study sessions, or work projects, the Clock app provides the tools to manage your time.

In this how-to guide, I will explain the easy steps to use the Clock app to get started with the alarm, timer, and stopwatch features on Windows 11.

How to set an alarm with the Clock app on Windows 11

In the Clock app, creating, editing, and removing alarms is a straightforward process.

Create an alarm

To create an alarm on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Clock and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on Alarm from the left pane.
4. Click the "Add an alarm" button from the bottom right.

On Windows 11, when you pair a Bluetooth device, it will appear across the system or apps with the default manufacturer-assigned name.

Although sometimes these generic names can be descriptive enough, other times, they can be long and confusing, especially if you have multiple devices of the same categories, such as printers and headphones.

If you have to change the name of one or more Bluetooth devices on Windows 11, you have more than one way to complete this configuration through the Control Panel and the Settings app. However, using the Settings app, you can only rename speakers, microphones, and printers.

In this how-to guide, I'll explain the steps to change the name of virtually any Bluetooth device connected to your computer.

How to change name of any Bluetooth device on Windows 11

On Windows 11, you have multiple ways to rename a Bluetooth device, including from the legacy Control Panel and through the Settings app, but only for specific devices.

Rename any Bluetooth device

To change the name of virtually any Bluetooth device on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Bluetooth & devices.
3. Click the Device pages on the right side.

Not much is known about the latest driver besides "launch driver for Intel® Arc™ B-series Graphics (codename Battlemage)." We will update the article once the official changelog becomes available.

You can download Intel Arc 32.0.101.6325/101.6252 WHQL from the official website here. Supported products include 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 systems with the following graphics cards and processors:

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While the Beta disc images were under testing, I speculated that Linux Mint 22.1 could carry a codename like Winifred or Whitney. Usually, the whole series of releases, such as 22, 22.1., 22.2, and 22.3, stick to the same letter for codenames. Mint 22 was Wilma so it would make sense that the rest of the releases would use a name starting with W, but it seems this won't be the case as Xia has been chosen.

I did mention that Cinnamon 6.4 would be used as the default desktop environment and this has held. The main feature of Cinnamon 6.4 is the new theme which boasts modern aesthetics, rounded elements, and darker tones. It also brings cleaner dialogs, better support for Wayland, and native night light support to promote health.

With regards to the new power options, you can now choose balanced, power saver, or on some devices, performance. They're pretty explanatory, you can get more battery life if you sacrifice performance or get more performance by sacrificing battery life.

Since 2012, the Mint team has been releasing new updates with new sets of wallpapers. These wallpapers are accessible in each new release and the list has started to get a bit messy so the team has started grouping them. The first group is called Wallpapers which includes abstract and 3D shape wallpapers.

If you're interested in trying this new Beta, head over to the Linux Mint blog post which contains a long list of mirrors where you can grab the Beta. The Stable release should be out in about two weeks and will be supported until 2029, just like Linux Mint 22.

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Here are the official changelogs:

You can download the latest Surface firmware updates from Windows Update. Alternatively, offline packages are available on the official Surface Support website here (Surface Pro 11) and here (Surface Laptop 7).

In case you missed it, a new report recently emerged detailing Microsoft's plans for 2025. The company allegedly plans more Copilot+ PCs with ARM and Intel processors, such as a refreshed Surface Laptop Studio and a new 11-inch Surface with a Snapdragon chip.

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However, it looks like the company is now in a bit of a rush as it has already begun removing NTLM on Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025. This week, it announced that NTLMv1 has been removed from the aforementioned Windows editions.

Microsoft has updated the notification on its deprecated features page which now says:

All versions of NTLM, including LANMAN, NTLMv1, and NTLMv2, are no longer under active feature development and are deprecated. Use of NTLM will continue to work in the next release of Windows Server and the next annual release of Windows. Calls to NTLM should be replaced by calls to Negotiate, which will try to authenticate with Kerberos and only fall back to NTLM when necessary.

[Update - November 2024]: NTLMv1 is removed starting in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 20205[sic].

The company has also informed about it on its removed features page:

NTLMv1 is removed starting in Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025.

NTLM has shown how vulnerable it is in modern times and a recent example is 0patch issuing an unofficial micro-patch for such a security flaw.

Aside from NTLMv1, another security feature has also been removed on Windows 11 24H2. First announced back in 2022, the company has confirmed that it has now removed Windows Information Protection (WIP) or enterprise data protection (EDP). The feature was meant to protect against accidental data leaks. Microsoft writes:

Windows Information Protection is removed starting in Windows 11, version 24H2.

You can find the list of removed features here on Microsoft's official site.

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WhatsApp, one of the world's most popular communication platforms, is rolling out a new feature-loaded update for its users. The update is going live for all users on Android, iOS, and the desktop apps. WhatsApp's new calling features will redefine how users connect with their loved ones on the platform. With over two billion calls made daily on the platform, the latest update brings new call effects, selective group calling, and more.

One of the stand-out features of this new WhatsApp update is the ability to select participants when placing a group call. Earlier, when you put a group call, the notification was sent to all members of the group. However, with the new update, you can call only those you need, negating interruptions for other members of the group. This could come in handy if you are planning a surprise party or coordinating activities.

Another interesting feature that the new WhatsApp update introduces is the ten video call effects. These new video call effects are aimed at adding a fun element to your video calls, and you can choose to add puppy ears, dive into an underwater scene, or perform a virtual karaoke session.

WhatsApp is also introducing multiple new features for desktop users as well. There is now a revamped "Calls" tab on the desktop app, making it easier than before to initiate a call, create a call link, or dial a number directly. This upgrade overall makes it easier to handle calling operations when using the WhatsApp desktop application.

Finally, the update improves the video call quality for both mobile and desktop calls. The video calls are now sharper, in high resolution, and more reliable during one-on-one or group conversations. The new update is rolling out for all users on Android, iOS, and desktop. So, to enjoy the new features, make sure to update the apps on your respective platforms.

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On Windows 11, the system now includes an option to change the behavior of the Copilot key to launch other applications, and in this guide, I will explain how to complete this process.

If you recently purchased a Copilot+ PC or a computer with modern hardware, you probably noticed the new "Copilot" physical key on the keyboard, next to the "Alt" key, which replaces the second "Windows" key.

Originally, the idea was to promote Microsoft's Copilot chatbot integration on new devices, which the company said was the most significant change in PCs in the last three decades. However, shortly after (typical), Microsoft took a different approach and completely removed the Copilot integration from the operating system, making this new dedicated key useless.

Instead of recalling the devices to change the keyboard or leave the dedicated key without any action, Microsoft came out with a cheaper solution that adds a simple option to remap the Copilot key to any supported application.

In this how-to guide, I'll explain the steps to change the settings of the Copilot key to launch other apps.

How to change the Copiloy key on Windows 11

To launch other apps with the Copilot key on your keyboard, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Personalization.
3. Click the Text input page on the right side.

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Over three years after the initial release, Windows 11's taskbar is still stubbornly glued to the bottom of the screen, leaving users no option to move it to the top or sides. Microsoft once said that changing the taskbar's position "is not important," and it has stuck to its claim ever since.

Therefore, users have only two options: stay on Windows 10 or use third-party apps. And with Windows 10's support ending soon, third-party programs become the only viable choice. Start11 is one of the options you can consider, especially its latest beta update, version 2.5.

Start11 v2.5 Beta is now available for download with only one major change: a vertical taskbar. You can place the taskbar to the left or right and have the Start menu appear at the side of your display, not at its bottom center.

The ability to move the taskbar to a side of your screen in Start 11 v2 currently requires enrolling in the beta program. The good news for those who do not want to use pre-release software is that a stable release is expected in January. Here is what Stardock says in the release notes:

Vertical Taskbars - Start11 v2.5 beta brings vertical taskbars to the desktop, this is a free update that will allow users to dock the taskbar on the left and right side of their desktop.
This feature is in beta and does require the user to opt into our betas to try it out - full release is expected in early January.

If you already have a Start11 license, you can download version 2.5 for free. If not, a perpetual Start11 v2 license will set you back $9.99. Besides the ability to move the taskbar around, you will get plenty of other features to supercharge Windows 11's stock and lackluster Start menu.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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Suggested actions arrived as part of build 25115 over two years ago. The idea was simple: let Windows 11 recognize basic stuff like phone numbers and date/time to provide shortcuts for phone calls, internet search, or calendar features, like creating an event. Sadly, as useful as it might sound for some, Microsoft decided to kill suggested features in Windows 11 without much explanation.

Here is what the company said in the official documentation:

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are deprecated and will be removed in a future Windows 11 update.

There is no information on when suggested actions will be removed from the operating system, so you might still have some time before Microsoft pulls the plug.

It is quite surprising to see Microsoft killing a relatively new Windows 11 feature this early. One might guess that the suggested actions did not find much popularity among users, and the company decided to remove them.

Some of the other recently deprecated Windows features include Android app support, Paint 3D (you can still get it if you want, by the way), Windows Speech Recognition, the Tips app, Steps Recorder, WordPad (it is also possible to bring it back) and more. You can check out the complete list of deprecated Windows features in the official support document.

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Here is the official changelog:

[Start menu]

 

• When right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will be shown for apps that have them such as PowerPoint.

  

• Jump lists will now be shown when right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu such as PowerPoint that have jump lists.

 

[Dynamic Lighting]

 

• When no compatible devices are attached, the Dynamic Lighting settings page will now show a placeholder message and Brightness and Effects controls are disabled.
• On the Dynamic Lighting settings page, we have added Forward, Backward, Outward and Inward direction options to the Wave effect, and added the Forward direction option to the Gradient effect.

 

[Input]

 

• We are beginning to roll out a change where we now hide the IME toolbar when apps are in full screen mode for those who have the IME toolbar enabled and type in Chinese or Japanese.

 

[Narrator]

 

• We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Skip past links (N’) allows you to navigate to the text after a link. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. Jump to lists (L’) allows you to quickly access a list on a web page or a document. 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 – ‘N’ and ‘L’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki page, etc.).

 

[Speech in Windows]

 

• We have improved our speech-to-text and text-to-speech experience on Windows. Users of Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing might see a message asking them to update their language files manually. The language files will be released separately through Microsoft Store.

Here's what was fixed:

[General]

 

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA while using their PC starting with Build 27754.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• We did some work to help address an issue where File Explorer might hang when browsing a folder with lots of media in it.

 

[Taskbar & System Tray]

 

• Fixed an issue on secondary monitors for left aligned taskbar users, where the widgets text in the taskbar might overlap the date and time.

 

[Input]

 

• Fixed an issue where if pointer trails were enabled, the mouse cursor may become invisible with a black box behind it.

 

[Task Manager]

 

• Fixed an issue where some HDDs were being incorrectly listed as SSD on the Performance page.

 

[Display]

 

• Fixed an issue which could result in lag and screen tearing on secondary monitors with full screen windows.

 

[Other]

 

• Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Excel sometimes hanging on launch when opening certain files.

And here are the known bugs:

[General]

 

• [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
• We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
• We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.

You can check out the announcement post here.

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The company writes:

Today we are beginning to gradually roll out the ability to seamlessly share files between your iPhone® and Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC when they are connected via Phone Link and the Link to Windows app.

 

To use this feature, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:

 

• An iPhone® that is running iOS 16 or higher.
• The Link to Windows app on your iPhone (version 1.24112.73 or higher).
• Phone Link version 1.24112.89.0 or higher.
• You are registered for the Windows Insider Program.

If you haven’t used your iPhone® with Phone Link before, you’ll be offered file sharing during the Phone Link setup process.

 

If you already have your iPhone® paired with Phone Link, you can set up file sharing by going to aka.ms/addAccount on your PC.

 

Alongside that, the company has also published a short guide on how users can do it:

To share a file from your iPhone® to your PC:

 

• Navigate to a file or set of files you want to share on your iPhone®.
• Tap the share icon.
• Tap “Link to Windows”.
• Tap the device you would like to share your file or files with.

 

To share a file from your PC to your iPhone®:

 

• Select the file or files you want to share on your PC (local files only).
• Right-click on the file and select “Share.”
• Select “My Phone”

 

Note: If you do not see “My Phone”, select Phone Link.

 

Feedback: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.

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

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With the latter, the tech giant is going to remove an upgrade block for Windows 11 version 24H2 feature update "in the coming days." The block was put in place under safeguard hold ID 54762729 to prevent issues with USB scanning, printing and network devices like modems. For those who may not have followed, Microsoft had stated that switching from USB to eSCL mode was broken.

However, as always, the company has added that it can take up to two days or around 48 hours for Windows 11 24H2 to be offered via the Windows Update page. A way to hasten the process is to restart the device following the update.

The company writes:

Resolution: This issue was resolved by Windows updates released December 10, 2024 (KB5048667), and later. We recommend you install the latest security update for your device as it contains important improvements and issue resolutions, including this one.

 

The safeguard hold (ID 54762729) that was previously in place for this issue will be lifted in the coming days. Note that, once you install the Windows update addressing this issue, it may take up to 48 hours for the Windows 11, version 24H2 update to be offered via Windows Update. Restarting your device might expedite the process.

You can find the issue here on Microsoft's official Windows health dashboard website.

For those who do not wish to wait, you can also use a Registry or Group Policy editing hack to update to Windows 11 24H2 immediately after downloading and installing the latest Patch Tuesday. You can find it in this dedicated article.

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Stardock released Multiplicity 4 v1.0 today, a powerful application that allows you to control multiple PCs with a single mouse and keyboard. Known as a software KVM, Multiplicity 4’s innovative new features to let you use any Windows laptop as a native secondary display, stream multiple monitors at the same time, and introduces support for ARM devices.

Powered by the proprietary ControlStream™ v4 technology, Multiplicity 4 can stream multi monitor configurations to the primary device within a single viewing window. And with the advanced compression technology that can easily be configured, Multiplicity 4 is designed to provide a full fidelity experience but can also be optimized to preserve bandwidth with a single setting.

New with Multiplicity 4 is Seamless Display, a feature that makes it simple to use a laptop or other Windows PC as a secondary native display with Windows. With this feature, you can make a laptop, tablet, or other Windows PC act as a secondary monitor that functions as a native display – this enables the ability to drag apps and windows to the secondary device as if it was plugged directly into your computer.

Seamless, a powerful feature that lets you move effortlessly between multiple devices, has been enhanced to support resolution-aware monitor placement to improve your movement across multiple devices and displays.

"Multiplicity is trusted by emergency call centers around the globe and is used extensively by our manufacturing partners," said Brad Sams, Vice President and General Manager of Stardock Software. "With this release, Multiplicity 4 is adding new features that will help our partners use a single solution for all of their KVM and remote desktop needs for the modern workplace.”

With this release, Multiplicity 4 is now ready for corporate deployments and takes advantage of Stardock’s deployment tooling and the license key management portal.

Here's what's new in Multiplicity 4.

• ARM – Support for ARM devices for nearly all functions are now supported.
• Seamless Display – use a Windows laptop or tablet with your desktop as a native Windows monitor with full fidelity.
• Multi-Monitor Streaming – if your secondary device has more than one monitor, you can view them all at the same time, up to 16 monitors are supported.
• Seamless – move your mouse between each computer, this feature now supports advanced resolution aware monitor placement.
• Audio – Improved audio streaming now supports higher bitrate when streaming from remote devices.
• Security – Multiplicity 4 now uses AES-256 encryption for file and monitor streaming and supports for IPV6.
• Backup – Easily backup and restore your settings to a file, you can also now easily reset all settings too.

Multiplicity 4 starts at $29.99 for a perpetual license but is included in our award-winning suite of applications, Object Desktop. For more information or to purchase, please visit the Multiplicity 4 webpage.

You can also download the entire Object Desktop package. Object Desktop includes programs such as Fences, Start11, Groupy, SoundPackager, DeskScapes and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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