Here is how Microsoft describes the changes that are gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders:

New! This update adds the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse. There is also a new option to change the direction in which the mouse scrolls.

 

New! You can now set Power Mode for when your PC is plugged in and on battery. Go to Settings > System > Power & battery.

However, there are some less exciting changes. Microsoft acknowledged a problem affecting customers relying on assistive technologies, namely screen readers. The NonVisual Desktop Access app cannot narrate apps running with elevated privileges:

[Screen readers] The NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) app and other screen readers fail to narrate all the screen content from some apps. This occurs when those apps run with administrator privileges.

Windows 11 version 24H2 for non-Copilot+ PCs is rumored to launch in October. Therefore, you can expect to see a couple of extra updates to polish things out before the public launch. If waiting is not an option, check out our guide describing how to install Windows 11 version 24H2 right now. Just keep in mind that the update is still a preview, and, as you can see from this article, there are still known issues that need fixing.

The updated changelog for Windows 11 version 24H2 build 26100.1876 is available on the official Windows Blog via this link.

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Raycast first launched in 2020 and has become a popular app for owners of macOS desktops and notebooks. It's basically a replacement for Apple's Spotlight feature in macOS, offering fast access to apps, files, folders, and even access to ChatGPT.

Today, in a blog post, the UK-based Raycast announced it will launch a version of the app for Windows PCs sometime in 2025. The post stated:

Raycast's powerful features and high quality have made it indispensable for professionals, from developers and designers to the founders of unicorn companies. It’s time that this productivity boost is unleashed to all Windows users as well. 2025 will be big!

The company has already set up a web page where interested Windows owners can sign up to join a waitlist for access to Raycast. Some people will be invited to check out a pre-release version of the app for Windows sometime later in 2024.

In addition, Raycast has revealed plans to launch an iOS version of the app. It also has a web page for a waitlist, and the first invites will be sent out later this year. In order to develop the app for Windows and iOS, Raycast announced it is raising $30 million in a Series B funding round.

Raycast's co-founder and CEO, Thomas Paul Mann, was interviewed by The Verge about the expansion of its software to new platforms. He stated that the Windows version should work and even look like the current MacOS edition, adding "I think it’s pretty exciting to redefine what it would mean to use a Windows machine.”

However, Mann also said that making Raycast work for the iOS mobile operating system might be a bit different. He added that it could be created as more of a companion app rather than a launcher like the macOS and the upcoming Raycast version for Windows.

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Winamp is a media player launched in 1997 by Nullsoft, which gained massive popularity in the following years, coinciding with the rise of MP3s music files. The player featured a simple yet powerful customizable interface, broad audio file format support, visualization add-ons and skin system, and the ability to stream internet radio or podcasts.

After Nullsoft's acquisition by AOL, its development slowed, and in 2013, Winamp was discontinued.

In 2014, new owner Radionomy took over the project intending to resume development. However, it failed to bring Winamp to its former glory, with the market having moved on to music streaming services.

On May 2024, Winamp's team announced it would release the source code for the media player on September 24, almost three decades after its initial launch.

Yesterday, the Winamp source code, build tools, and associated libraries for the Windows app were published on GitHub, allowing anyone to provide bug fixes and new features to the iconic media player.

However, its license prohibits the distribution of modified software created through the release of this source code.

Inviting collaboration

Releasing the Winamp source code to the community means that other developers are now free to contribute to the development of the media player.

"Winamp is a multimedia player launched in 1997, iconic for its flexibility and wide compatibility with audio formats," reads the GitHub page.

"Its development slowed down, but now, its source code was opened to the community, allowing developers to improve and modernize the player to meet current user needs. It really whips the llama's ass."

Winamp is an old software project (it uses DirectX 9 SDK), so updating its codebase to newer technologies will take some time and work.

The iconic status of the project and the nostalgia it induces in so many users with fond memories of the early days of digital music guarantees it will be embraced warmly.

Unsurprisingly, the Winamp GitHub repository hosting the source code and tools already has 2,500 stars and 600 forks at the time of writing, less than 24 hours after the code was made public.

Update 9/25/24: Article updated as it incorrectly stated the source code was open source and could be used for other projects.

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Well, reading that page, one specific phrase triggered me immensely. It was the totally deluded statement regarding Settings, reading: "...Settings app, which offers a more modern and streamlined experience". Ah, the modern and streamlined experience! Hot garbage. Well, for the umpteenth time, I will talk some more about Control Panel, Settings, the infestation of low-IQ touch-based stuff on the desktop, and such. Follow me, if you please.

Desktop + touch-inspired approach = Abject failure

It is very simple. Every single program out there, every single one, without exception, if given a so-called modern redesign, which basically means a flat interface and touch-like controls, instantly becomes worse than it was. It doesn't matter when, how or why. As soon as you add anything touch-like to any desktop program, you make it suck.

In fact, this is true for ALL venues of life. Let me sidetrack for a moment. Cars. Until a few years ago, the cabin, especially the driver's setup, was a pinnacle of sophistication, efficiency, ergonomics, and above all, safety. Every single thing done in the cabin was designed to make the driver more focused on the essential task of driving. But then, the touch brigades arrived ...

Ever since, cars - most of them - have become stupid tablets on wheels. Instead of having normal buttons and controls, you have stupid tablets and touch screens designed for idiots by people who have probably never driven a car in their life. You may say, this is your dinosaur opinion. No, this is a fact. A data-proven fact. The Swedish magazine Vi Bilagare did a comparison test on how long it takes to perform basic functions while driving across a range of cars, including a buttons-only 2005 vehicle. That old car won the test. Furthermore, Euro NCAP is going to provide a higher safety score for cars that favor physical buttons for essential fuctions over touch interfaces, starting in 2026. Very simple. Touch is stupid.

Back to the software ...

There are several reasons why adding anything "modern" makes programs on the desktop suck:

The simple form-factor constraints, as I've outlined in my article on this topic a while back. If you want touch interfaces or touch-like interfaces to provide the same density of information as their classic counterparts, you need huge, huge screens. Otherwise, you must bury functions and options in sub-menu after sub-menu, making usage far less efficient.

Touch paradigms favor less intelligent usage patterns. Very simple. You can read an excellent IEEE article called Apes with Apps (someone was quite witty there), from more than a decade ago. Bonobos can communicate using shiny pictograms and such. They cannot use keyboard and mouse.

Old software, so to speak, was often designed after meticulous, expensive research. Modern software is a vomlette of pointless code of trying to reinvent the wheel. There's nothing you can add to the 40-year-old desktop paradigm that can improve it. Nothing at all.

Modern interfaces are also ergonomically inferior. They use low-contrast elements, which make them less readable, less accessible, less efficient.

Here's an example for you: Microsoft's Exploit Mitigation. One of the best things Microsoft has ever done, and yet, it's almost completely ignored in the media, because it's not sensational or hax0ry enough. I'm a great fan of this technology, and vastly favor it over traditional AV solutions. In Windows 7/8, the functionality was enabled using the fabulous EMET utility. In the newer versions of Windows, you go through Settings (or by writing XML files like a chimp). Now, let me show you the difference between the two interfaces:

In EMET, you had long, table-like lists of programs and their relevant mitigations on the right. A table that is designed to be operated by PC mouse. You see everything, and you can quickly check boxes on and off. Very efficient, and you have a complete view of your software estate.

In the new "modern" interface, the equivalent functionality is shown in a touch-like interface. You don't get any meaningful information. One, horrible, low-contrast UI. Two, you don't see the full list. Three, you don't see the mitigations applied for any one listed program. Four, you must click on each entry, and then go through a dozen toggles like an obedient little monkey. Touch, touch, swipe, swipe, monkey, monkey.

What was wrong with EMET? Nothing. It wasn't "modern". So there you have it. Classic and efficient versus modern and stupid. I'm sorry, they call it a streamlined experience.Utter design failure.

Settings lacks functionality

Now, even if we ignore all of the above, even then, Settings is still a failure. Why? Because it cannot do half the things that Control Panel can! Very simple. Even now, a decade later, Settings is still functionality inferior to the old program. There's no parity. And therefore, there's nothing to discuss.

For example, how do you tweak a network adapter in Settings? The answer is, you don't.

You could argue, but Dedoimedo, normal people don't do this! Exactly! 99% of stuff in Settings AND Control Panel will NEVER EVER be seen, touched or changed by the normies. The ONLY people who will ever use system configuration are nerds, who prefer efficiency and speed and logic over shiny gimmicks.

What Microsoft did is a paradox - they designed a new interface for idiots, but the only people who need to use the idiotic interface are smart people. And so, all of this effort is entirely wasted, because it contributes nothing of value whatsoever to the quality dimension of the Windows operating system. It boils down to modern and shiny, like any toy.

Settings does have a bunch of options around data that Control Panel doesn't. The reason is an entirely self-made problem. Microsoft made its apps use data so you can have a "personalized" experience, but then, it also had to add toggles so the user could control (to an extent) this data usage. They could have avoided the whole thing by designing their apps not to be data-eating things like on the smartphone. Like the old programs in older versions of Windows, which didn't need Bing search, cloud, or any store.

Why would this even be an option? Unnecessary.

Why keep an activity history to begin with? Send it to Microsoft - jump back into what you were doing, even when you switch devices? Why? Who does this? Who needs this? Again, one of the myriad unnecessary smartphone-like features that have no place on the classic desktop.

Location? What? On the desktop? What? Who cares. But hey, smartphones! Data!

The really sad thing? All of the above WOULD have made some sense if Microsoft hadn't discontinued Windows Phone. I still have my old Lumias, the sweet 520 and the mighty 950, and I still love them very much. The best smartphone interface ever made. The most truly streamlined smartphone experience ever made. The Nokia/Lumia range of apps was fantastic, and still in many aspects, years ahead of what the competition does nowadays. If Microsoft phones still existed and were supported, then Windows 10/11 Settings could be useful and practical. But this? This is just someone unable to get over their own failure, and plodding on with low-IQ nonsense that has no benefit to the end user.

Lumia, I miss thee so ... What a camera, btw!

I hate the dark mode, anywhere, but Microsoft, once upon a time, managed to do a GREAT dark mode. Reasonable ergonomics. Then, if you look at Cortana (would-be AI), all of those things from back in the day, once, they kind of worked. Privacy, settings, toggles. Today, on the desktop, after they KILLED an entire ecosystem and left the Windows Phone in a lurch? Nope. Pointless, misguided, unnecessary.

Ergonomic travesty

When it comes to Settings, you don't need to go far. The pointless program, or rather app, does not even respect your desktop accent color. While other windows will have the top border painted whatever hue you have chosen, Settings will stubbornly remain gray (in light mode), so it's indistinguishable from background windows. Also, the fact foreground and background windows have the same "color" is another testament of ultimate pointlessness of this thing.

Just look at how awful it is:

You get "Rewards" up there (so you would sign in with a Microsoft account) - a system administration program behaves like something made for 5-year-olds. Rewards!

So much wasted empty space.

Ugly pale gray fonts.

In comparison, Control Panel looks like this:

But wait, you can use small icons or large icons! Customization!

Much easier and cleaner to see. The icons are vibrant. The text is readable. Functionality? Also better. Now, that does not mean Control Panel is perfect, or even amazing. If you want a nice, elegant system settings menu, take a look at what the Plasma desktop does. For example:

However, no matter how good or bad Control Panel is, at the end of the day, all things considered, it's still infinitely better than Settings.

How can anyone develop that thing?

I sometimes wonder, how can a person sit at their desk in the office (or home, whatever), and write a UI that they know sucks on every conceivable level? This isn't restricted to Microsoft in any way. Just a general observation. But then I remember what all big corporations always do. Every few years, they send their pesky, challenging veterans and dinosaurs into early retirement, and they employee clueless recent college graduates, (a term I despise), who are ambitious, terrified, obedient, and don't know any better. Tell them to write whatever, wrap it in some buzzword-rich slogans (like modern and streamlined), and you end up with things like Settings.

It is quite possible that Control Panel is a code nightmare. Perhaps it's a messy clutter minefield in the backend. Perhaps. As an end user, I don't care! I have zero sympathy for the plights of any which company and their profits. What I care about is functionality and efficiency. If a program (or an app) cannot do its job, it's a failure that should be catapulted to Mars.

Conclusion

Microsoft may be migrating Control Panel functionality to Settings, but what they're doing is, they are ruining decades of hard-won experience and usage patterns. And for what? For creating an inferior replacement. They are making system administration more difficult. They are making even simple things less efficient. Settings is ugly. There's no redeeming value to it.

They did the same things with Skype. Killed the old 7.X branch and relaunched the "app" as 8.X, and then it took months and months for the "new" and "improved" version to gain the exact same functionality its predecessor had. Well, most of it, because it still doesn't have it all. Even now, years later, Skype 8 is still not as good as the old version. The same is true of Settings, Windows 11 menu, and many, many other "modern" ideas. Just a pile of useless, inefficient nonsense.

I know you think I'm being sensational, bitter and whatever. You're wrong. The touchification of the desktop is a clear and present danger. The "modern" look cannot be disassociated from the "touch" stupidity. And touch cannot be disassociated from the smartphone-like usage. And this is what the corpo-drones want to do. They want to transform a PC, which is essentially a 100% local asset in 100% your control into a phone-like turd that they control.

Just look at how Windows has transformed in the last decade. Mandatory online account to set up the operating system, mandatory TPM and Secure Boot, cloud sync stuff, soon AI, perhaps a subscription, maybe an ad or two, hey, this is a long and steady process of transforming the computer from a tool for intelligent work into a shiny terminal for idiots, because idiots are profitable, and that's all that matters. Settings is a manifestation of this process. Every time you open it and look at its sad gray fonts and inefficient layout, remember what modern and streamlined means. If your IQ is above 100, you ought to be worried. We're done here.

Cheers.

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Highlights

 

• [Start menu] New! This update moves your profile picture to different positions. There is also a new background color for the left pane on the menu. This color change makes the items on the pane stand out more. This change might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.
• [IE mode] Microsoft Edge sometimes stops responding when you use IE mode.
• [Media playback] Playback of some media might stop when you use certain surround sound technology.

 

Improvements

 

• [Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO)] The SSO notice that the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires prompts too often. This occurs when you authenticate using a certificate. To learn more, see Upcoming changes to Windows single sign-on.
• [Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
• [File Explorer and taskbar] Windows server stops responding when you use apps like File Explorer and the taskbar.
• [Windows Update opt-in notifications] They now appear when you sign in.
• [Directory enumeration] This might fail if a directory has symbolic links that have long target names.
• [Microsoft Defender for Endpoint] Work Folders files fail to sync when Defender for Endpoint is on.

The known issues are given below:

Symptom	Workaround
After installing this update, you might be unable to change your user account profile picture.   When attempting to change a profile picture by selecting the button Start> Settings > Account > Your info and, under Create your picture, clicking on Browse for one, you might receive an error message with error code 0x80070520.	We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

The update can also be manually downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog website here. You can find the official support article here on Microsoft's website.

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One of the best parts of Windows 11 is the ability to configure virtually (almost) every aspect of the experience in more than one way. I say "almost " because the company has changed and made some elements (such as the Taskbar) more restrictive.

Since the operating system offers a plethora of settings that can be tailored to meet your specific needs, from adjusting system preferences to personalizing your desktop, I will share with you some of the configurations I usually apply on new installations.

Some of these include customizing the Start menu pins and shortcuts and changing some Taskbar settings to make it more usable while removing some clutter. I will show you some alternative ways to configure widgets and notifications and explain why you should change the time and date settings to allow the system to configure these features automatically.

Also, I drill down on some apps and display configurations, as well as the privacy settings and the customizations I use for File Explorer, the mouse and cursor, and mobile devices.

In this how-to guide, I will show you some of the settings I typically configure on my devices running Windows 11.

Windows 11 settings to change on new setups

On every installation, I usually find myself customizing several areas of the operating system, such as the Start menu, Taskbar, Widgets, Notifications, Clock, Apps, Display, Privacy, mobile devices, mouse, and File Explorer. 

Start menu

In the Start menu, I prefer to show more pins than recommendations, add extra shortcuts next to the power button, and deactivate some of the notifications.

Here are the update highlights:

• Launch driver for Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 2 with Intel® Arc™ Graphics and Intel® Graphics.

Here is the list of known bugs:

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• Diablo IV (DX12) may intermittently crash while toggling Ray Tracing settings during gameplay.
• Doom Eternal (VK) may exhibit intermittent flickering corruption in the game menu and during gameplay.
• Blender may experience application crash while rendering certain benchmark scenes.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when exporting videos after using some models for video enhancements.

 

Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

 

• Diablo IV (DX12) may experience an application crash with ray tracing settings enabled.
• Horizon Forbidden West (DX12) may experience color corruption during gameplay.
• Enshrouded (VK) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Fortnite (DX12) game may stutter or crash while performing Alt + Tab operations.
• SPECworkstation3.1 may exhibit system instability while running certain workloads.
• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve studio V19 may experience errors intermittently with benchmark preset set to Extended.
• Blender may experience application crash while rendering certain benchmark scenes.
• DirectML-based AI applications may experience slower first token latency.
• 3DMark WildMark Extreme may experience performance drop by 5%.
• Chaos Enscape Benchmark 4.1 may experience visual corruption.
• Endurance Gaming average fps is not capping as intended when toggling EG Off-On through Arc Control

Intel's latest graphics drivers are available on systems with the following processors and graphics cards running 64-bit Windows 10 and 11:

Download the driver here. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Here is the official changelog:

• Do Not Disturb (DND) Override on Android: Calls were still coming through when "Do Not Disturb" was enabled. This issue is now fixed.
• No Sharing Popup on Windows: The share screen button was not triggering the expected sharing popup. This has been corrected.
• Unusable OneAuth SSO Accounts on iOS: Fixed an issue where accounts were listed in the picker after uninstalling and reinstalling Skype, but not functioning when clicked.
• Search Lobby Join Link on Mac: Pasting a join link into search no longer opened the lobby. This issue has been resolved.
• Child Account Search Disabled by Default: Child accounts now won’t appear in search by default for better privacy.
• Avatars Not Showing on iOS Notifications: Fixed an issue where avatars weren't appearing in notifications for iOS users.
• Fraud with Translated Conversations: Added options to block users when receiving fraudulent translated conversation requests.
• TwinCam Wrong User Info on Mobile: Joining a TwinCam session with the wrong user was not showing the correct information text. This has been fixed.
• Blank QR Code on TwinCam: On mobile, clicking TwinCam during a call was sometimes leading to a blank QR code screen. This has been addressed.
• Font Size Adjustment: Resolved an issue with font sizes being too large for some users, improving readability.
• License Text Truncation on Mac: In some languages, such as Czech, the login window’s license text was getting cut off. This has been fixed for clearer communication.

Despite the popular belief that Skype is dead, Microsoft still releases frequent updates with a wide range of changes. If you want to give Skype another try and participate in its Insider program, head to the official website and download the version for your preferred platform.

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Gradual rollout

These 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.

 

• [Start menu] New! The “Sign out” option is now on the account manager when you open the Start menu. To change to a different user, select the ellipses (…). A list of other users appears to make it easier to switch.
• [Taskbar] New! You can now share local files directly from the search results that appear in the Search box on the taskbar.
• [Settings] New! The Delivery Optimization Settings page now matches the Windows 11 design. See Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization.
• [Windows Share] New! This update removes the search box from the Windows Share window.
• [Lock screen] New! Media controls now show in the lower part of the lock screen at its center when media is playing.

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.

 

• [IE mode] Microsoft Edge sometimes stops responding when you use IE mode.
• [Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)] There is inconsistent data between TCP_INFO_v1 and GetPerTcpConnectionEstats. File synchronization services use TCP connection performance analysis tools. This issue affects how accurate those tools are.
• [Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
• [Outlook and other encrypted email apps] This issue prompts for your PIN each time you open an encrypted email.
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint] Work Folders files fail to sync when Defender for Endpoint is on.
• [Microsoft Edge] It sometimes stops responding when you use IE mode.

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

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Here is the changelog:

Gradual rollout

 

• [Start menu] New! The “Sign out” option is now on the account manager when you open the Start menu. To change to a different user, select the ellipses (…). A list of other users appears to make it easier to switch.
• Taskbar] New! You can now share local files directly from the search results that appear in the Search box on the taskbar.

 

[Settings]

 

• New! The Delivery Optimization Settings page now matches the Windows 11 design. See Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization.
• New! There is a new energy recommendation to turn off high dynamic range (HDR). This helps to conserve energy on devices that have HDR displays. Go to Settings > Power & battery > Energy recommendations.
• [Lock screen] New! Media controls now show in the lower part of the lock screen at its center when media is playing.
• [Battery life] New! When your device’s battery power is running low, a pop-up window will appear that asks you to plug in your device. This occurs when the battery level reaches 20% and while Energy Saver is set to “Always On”.

 

Normal rollout

 

• [Open Source Software] This update adds attributions to credits.txt files for Rust OSS components.
• [Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
• [WebView2 apps] They do not detect input from Xbox 360 and Bluetooth controllers.

You can check out the full blog post here.

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Now, there's evidence that Steam, the biggest PC digital game store, may be in development for Arm-based PCs. A recent update from Valve in a test application was spotted on the third-party site SteamDB (via Tom's Hardware) that showed a listing for "proton-arm64ec-4." That may indicate Valve is testing an Arm-based version of Proton, which is Valve's layer for making Windows-based games playable on the Linux OS and specifically on the Linux-based Steam Deck handheld gaming PC.

The SteamDB page also seems to indicate that Valve is testing the Arm-based Proton with a number of PC games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Deep Rock Galactic, and many more. While its possible Valve could be testing these games to work on an Arm-based version of Steam Deck, it seems more likely that the company is working on a version of Steam that will run natively on the growing number of Arm-based Windows PCs.

As is usually the case with Valve, it has not mentioned officially that it is working on getting Steam to run on Arm-based PCs. It could be a while before such a port is revealed, let alone launched.

However, if an Arm-based version of Steam is indeed in the works, it could be even more evidence that Qualcomm's efforts to expand its Snapdragon chips to Windows PCs are gaining more developer support. That might be bad for its big rivals AMD and especially Intel, who reportedly got a takeover offer from Qualcomm in recent days.

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ExplainingComputers (1.04M subscribers)

September 22, 2024

Video length: 23m 21s

Setting up a Linux virtual machine in Windows. Video mainly details how to do this using Oracle’s VirtualBox, but also discusses VMware Workstation Pro, and includes a demo installation of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

00:00 Titles & Intro

00:42 Hardware Setup

03:48 VirtualBox

08:24 Creating a Virtual Machine

13:56 Tips & Tricks (for VirtualBox)

17:50 VMware

19:32 WSL

22:14 Wrap

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Scratch the surface of Windows (and macOS), and you’ll find a command line console underneath, a lingering remnant of how these operating systems started out: as user-friendly graphical wrappers built on top of text-based, monochrome interfaces.

 

If you’re as old as I am, you might remember having to launch apps and games on a computer by typing out text commands, rather than pointing and clicking. The modern-day methods are much easier, of course, but the old ways are still available — and they’re actually still useful for multiple tasks, as the list below shows.

 

To begin with, Windows kept the Command Prompt utility as a reminder of its MS-DOS roots. That was later joined by PowerShell (Command Prompt with extras), and in the latest versions of Windows 11, Command Prompt and PowerShell are now both wrapped up in a tool called Windows Terminal.

 

Windows Terminal supports all the original Command Prompt instructions, and you can launch it from the Start menu. It’s simple: 

 

• Search for Terminal.
• Right-click on the program icon and choose Run as administrator to make sure all of the features are available to you. 

 

Now that you’ve got the Windows Terminal open, here are some of the commands that might make it worth your while. To make use of them, type the text shown and then hit Enter.

 

There are more ways to shut down your computer than you might have realized.

Screenshot: Microsoft

 

1. Shut down your computer after a certain time

shutdown /s /t 600

Shutting down your computer via the Start menu isn’t difficult, of course, but Terminal gives you a few more options, like timed shutdowns. The command above orders a shutdown (“/s”) rather than a restart, after a time (“/t”) of 600 seconds. Simply adjust the timing as needed.

 

Another handy option is “shutdown -r -o” (without the quotes), which restarts (“-r”) your computer and launches the Advanced Start Option menu — very useful for troubleshooting. Just type “shutdown” by itself to see other flags you can use.

 

2. See a visualization of your folders

tree

Type “tree” and hit Enter to see a visual representation of the folders and subfolders on your system — very useful for seeing how your Windows drive is organized. You can include a drive and folder path (such as. “C:\Programs\”) to focus the listing on a specific area of the drive and use the “/f” flag to see files listed as well as folders.

 

3. Troubleshoot network problems

ipconfig /flushdns

The “ipconfig” command is often used to troubleshoot networking problems. Use it on its own, and you’ll see your router’s current IP address, but add the “/flushdns” flag, and connections between your computer and the websites you visit get reset (via the DNS server), which can help if websites aren’t loading up as they should.

 

You can also use “ipconfig /release” and then “ipconfig /renew” to get a fresh IP address for your computer — potentially solving connection problems between your Windows device and your router or your device and the internet.

 

You can get a plethora of information about your system.

Screenshot: Microsoft

 

4. Get more information about your system

systeminfo

The classic “systeminfo” command will tell you just about everything you could possibly want to know about your system and then some: it returns your Windows 11 version and CPU model, the amount of RAM and storage installed, all the active network connections currently detected, and even how long your PC took to boot up last time around.

 

5. Check your Windows 11 drive for errors

chkdsk

The “chkdsk” command has long been a favorite of IT technicians, and you’ll see it appear in many a troubleshooting guide. It essentially checks your system disk for errors and can fix some of the most fundamental ones. For example, if you’re having trouble accessing files and folders, or booting up your PC, chkdsk might be able to help.

 

There are lots of flags you can use with it, too. The command on its own just looks for errors, but add a space and “/r” at the end, and the utility will try and fix those errors while recovering all the data it can. Use “chkdsk /?” to see other options.

 

6. See running tasks

tasklist

The “tasklist” command gives you more or less the same information as the Task Manager, showing you which applications are putting the most strain on your system. Using the process ID numbers (or PIDS) that it shows, you can then forcefully kill apps using “taskkill /pid <PID number> /f” — which can be handy for troublesome software.

 

You can use these PID numbers to force-kill troublesome apps.

 

7. Analyze the energy states of your computer

powercfg /a

This is another classic command line prompt, which, with the “/a” flag, will return all the sleep states your computer supports (such as hibernate and fast startup). You can also get a detailed battery report via “powercfg /batteryreport” — which is saved in the default folder for the current user account.

 

Dig deeper and there’s more: “powercfg /devicequery s1_supported” lists all the devices connected to your system that can wake it out of standby, for example. Change that “s1” if you need to analyze a different standby state — the codes will be listed when you run the original “powercfg /a” command.

 

8. Check Windows 11 system integrity

sfc /scannow

Like many other command line prompts, this one is really useful when it comes to troubleshooting. It checks the integrity of key operating system files and applies fixes where necessary. If you’re noticing bugs and crashes all across Windows 11, this is one of the first steps that a lot of troubleshooting guides will recommend.

 

9. Get advanced networking information

netstat

Another simple word that conceals a host of useful diagnostic utilities: Use “netstat” on its own and it’ll tell you about all the devices your computer is connected to, from printers to smart speakers (use Ctrl+C when you want it to stop).

 

Like many other commands, you can tweak the command in a myriad of ways (use “netstat /?” for a full list). You can, for example, use “netstat -b” to see which apps are currently communicating with the web, which can help spot programs that are being more active online than perhaps they should be.

 

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Not just that, the company also often pushes upgrades that are meant to improve Linux performance or increase its functionality. For example, back in November 2022, Microsoft pushed nested virtualization or nested Hyper-V support. And in September last year, Linux boss Linus Torvalds accepted Hyper-V improvements related to AMD SEV-SNP guests and Intel TDX guests which were sent in by Microsoft's Principal Architect at Azure Machine Learning, Wei Liu.

Torvalds has once again accepted new Hyper-V upgrades from Liu for Linux 6.12 and one of them in particular is of more interest from the performance point of view which was presented by Microsoft's Saurabh Singh Sengar:

Pull Hyper-V updates from Wei Liu:

 

• Optimize boot time by concurrent execution of hv_synic_init() (Saurabh Sengar)
• Use helpers to read control registers in hv_snp_boot_ap() (Yosry Ahmed)
• Add memory allocation check in hv_fcopy_start (Zhu Jun)

The patch description explains how the parallelization of the hv_synic_init() function can improve the boot time on processors with many cores and NUMA (non-uniform memory access) nodes:

Optimize boot time by concurrent execution of hv_synic_init()

 

Currently on a very large system with 1780 CPUs, hv_acpi_init() takes around 3 seconds to complete. This is because of sequential synic initialization for each CPU performed by hv_synic_init().

 

Schedule these tasks parallelly so that each CPU executes hv_synic_init() in parallel to take full advantage of multiple CPUs.

 

This solution saves around 2 seconds of boot time on a 1780 CPU system, which is around 66% improvement in the existing logic.

Sengar also did a recent presentation about his findings titled "Accelerating Linux Kernel Boot-Up for Large Multi-Core Systems" which delves into the details of this patch and other optimizations that are being made. You can find it here on the Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC) website.

Source: LKML (link1, link2)

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This week, the site has posted word that there will be a new calendar feature added to Microsoft Teams sometime in November for PC and Mac platforms:

The new calendar in Teams combines rich productivity features and the latest innovations like Microsoft Copilot, to help users more seamlessly manage their schedules, prepare for and recap meetings, and even identify optimal days for in-office collaboration. The new calendar in Teams is designed to be familiar and reliable, as it’s one unified calendar that works across new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, Microsoft Places, and now Microsoft Teams. With this update, users will see the ‘New calendar’ toggle at the top right of the calendar app in Teams.

The listing also says that the new calendar feature in Teams will actually be turned off by default, but can be enabled by clicking on that "New calendar" toggle when it rolls out.

Another feature that's coming in November for Teams on the PC, iOS, and Android platforms is targeting meeting organizers;

We are expanding the existing ‘Turn off copying or forwarding of meeting chat’ control for meeting organizers to include live captions, transcription, and meeting recap. With this change, meeting organizers with eligible licenses will see a control called ‘Turn off copying and forwarding of meeting chat, live captions, and transcript’ in the meeting options. When this control is enabled, meeting participants won’t be able to copy the meeting chat, live captions, live transcript, or any insights generated from intelligent meeting recap.

Moving on from Teams, Microsoft has announced that Outlook for the PC, web, iOS, and Android apps will get a better way to organize their emails via Copilot in December.

Prioritize my inbox by Copilot marks high priority mails in your inbox and provides a short summary of the mail's importance in the message list and the reading pane. Mails can be sorted and filtered by Copilot's priority. In Web and New Outlook for Windows, you can also choose to have Copilot mark low priority mails.

Finally, there's a new listing that shows that Copilot Chat will be added to the web version of OneNote sometime in January 2025.

That's it for our look at the Microsoft 365 roadmap site this week. Come back in seven days for the highlights on the site for the next week.

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The change was spotted in the latest Windows 11 preview build from the Beta Channel. Microsoft did not mention it in the release notes, so users had to find out on their own.

If your computer runs Windows 11 build 22635.4225, you can turn on the updated Task Manager using the ViVeTool app. After that, go to Task Manager's Performance tab and look out for your SSD and its type in parentheses.

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator. To do so, press Win + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
3. 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.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:51978387 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer and launch Task Manager.

It is worth noting that you do not need to wait for the update if you want to know your SSD type without installing a third-party app. You can learn that by heading to Settings > System > Storage > Advanced Storage Settings > Disk & Volumes and clicking Properties next to your drive. In that section, Windows will show your drive details, including its type, health, temperature, capacity, partition style, and more.

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To send a file from your computer to your phone, all you need to do is right-click the file and select "Send to My Phone." Just keep in mind that you will not see the option unless Phone Link is configured and running. Also, no luck for iPhone users—almost all of the best Phone Link features remain exclusive to Android users due to the closed nature of Apple's operating systems.

Here is how Microsoft describes the new feature:

We are adding the ability to share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, the Phone Link must be installed and configured on your PC.

The new "Send to My Phone" option is currently rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel with the "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available toggle on." However, as usual, you can speed things up by force-enabling a feature using the ViVeTool app. 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. To do so, press Win + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
3. 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.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:45286369,52800817 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer.

The "Send to My Phone" context menu entry is not the only one recently introduced by Microsoft. One of the latest Photos updates brought a new "Edit in Photos" option. If you are not a fan of it, check out this guide explaining how to remove it.

Credit for the IDs goes to @PhantomOfEarth

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Alongside the two new Windows 11 preview builds announced for Dev and Beta Channels earlier this week, Microsoft released a new version of the Snipping Tool app. Version 11.2408.13.0's main highlight is the option to change the default folder for screenshots and screen recordings.

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2408.13.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces the ability to change the folder that original screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved to. Just go to app settings in Snipping Tool to select a new default folder to try it out!

Although the update is technically only available to Windows Insiders, you can get to version 11.2408.13.0 without waiting for the public release or enrolling your device in the preview program. Just keep in mind that the update is a preview, so it might be less stable than the public version.

1. Go to store.rg-adguard.com and select ProductID from the first drop-down list.
2. Paste 9MZ95KL8MR0L in the search box.
3. Select Fast from the next drop-down.
4. Download the Microsoft.ScreenSketch_2022.2408.13.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundle file (you can also download a newer version if there is one).
5. Run the downloaded file and click Update to install the new version.

Now, open the Snipping Tool app, go to Settings and expand the "Automatically save original screenshots" option. Click Change to specify a new folder for screenshots and screen recordings. If something goes wrong, uninstall the Snipping Tool and download the latest production version from the Microsoft Store.

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The company has updated the original announcement post with a notification that the initial plan has been postponed until it can offer a better way for IT admins to control and manage their environments. Here is what the message says:

Update September 20, 2024: We’ve heard your feedback regarding the Windows update experience during the OOBE, and while we understand the importance of keeping devices updated from the start, we’re committed to implementing this change in the best way for IT admins to manage their environments.

 

This change has been postponed. Updates will continue to not be applied during OOBE for Autopilot devices until we’ve established the right mechanisms for IT admins to properly manage and adhere to update policies. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to enhance the Windows enrollment experience. Stay tuned for more updates!

You can read the updated announcement post on the official Tech Community forum post over this link.

It is worth noting that the change does not apply to regular customers. Your shiny new Windows 11 computer you bought for personal use will download and apply all available updates during the initial setup process. If you do not want that, press Shift + F10 on the onboarding screen, type oobe\bypassnro and press Enter. Windows 11 will restart and let you finish the setup process without connecting to the internet or signing in with a Microsoft Account.

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Some of the big changes in this upgrade include GNOME 47, which came out recently, and a selection of new wallpapers, including those marking the 20th anniversary of Ubuntu; you can check out the wallpapers here.

While the Beta version of Ubuntu Desktop (non-x86) is probably what most people will be drawn to, there are Betas now available for all the different spins of Ubuntu too including Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, UbuntuKylin, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu. The Betas for Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu MATE, and Ubuntu Unity still aren't ready but could be available by Monday.

Another new feature coming in Ubuntu 24.10 is for Nvidia users. They will be switched to Wayland by default instead of Xorg. The plan is to solve any issues throughout Ubuntu 24.10, 25.04, and 25.10 before the long-term support (LTS) release in April 2026.

As a non-LTS release, Ubuntu 24.10 will only be supported until July 2025. While it will be considered stable, you'll have to upgrade in the not too distant future. For this reason, if you don't want to keep doing upgrades, it's best to wait on Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (and subsequent point releases) until Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is released in August 2026.

Ubuntu 24.04.x LTS is supported for five years from release, so that takes you up to 2029 - not bad considering it's a free-of-charge operating system. If productivity is what matters to you, it's a no-brainer: jump on the LTS version instead.

Source: Ubuntu

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Here is the changelog:

• Addresses a potential issue that prevented the device to Wake-on-Power (automatically start when they're reconnected to power) when connected via Dock3.
• Fixes the issue of boot failure that occurs when USB-C is disabled using the SEMM tool.
• Enhances the detection of certain Dell monitors when connected to a Targus docking station during power cycles.
• Improves the identification of monitors connected via USB-DP when the USB-C port is disabled using the SEMM tool.
• Resolves an issue with the Wake on LAN (WOL) feature that caused the system to automatically power on after being shut down.
• Enhances the overall display experience by preventing the system from flickering and providing maximum resolution of the monitors connected to the Surface USB-C Travel Hub.
• Addresses the issue with image distortion after the system wakes from Sleep mode.
• Improves system stability which caused a bug check or system hang during sleep mode or transition between power states.
• Addresses the problem that caused the occurrence of a black screen when trying to restart your device.

The complete list of new drivers in this update is available here.

Here is extra information about the release:

You can download the latest firmware update for the Surface Pro 11 from Windows Update. Alternatively, Microsoft provides an offline package, which you can download here.

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Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed that it would deprecate WSUS driver synchronization on April 18, 2025, because only about a third of IT admins were using it for that kind of feature. Today, Microsoft revealed it was going to deprecate WSUS itself.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated:

Specifically, this means that we are no longer investing in new capabilities, nor are we accepting new feature requests for WSUS. 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.

Microsoft further explained that WSUS will be included in the next update of the server OS, Windows Server 2025. However, it added that IT admins should try to move on to cloud-based updating tools. That includes the use of Windows Autopatch and Microsoft Intune for PC clients and Azure Update Manager for updating servers.

Earlier today, Microsoft announced the first public preview of hotpatching for Windows Server 2025. This will allow IT admins to download and install security updates for the OS without the need to reboot the server. This is due to the OS incorporating the use of he company's cloud-based Azure Arc services.

While WSUS will remain in place for the upcoming Windows Server 2025, it seems clear that the company is preparing to shut down WSUS at some point since it will no longer be adding any new features. However, the company has yet to reveal exactly when that will happen.

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The full changelog is given below:

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

Shared Content in File Explorer Home

 

File Explorer will now provide you with quick access to files that have been shared with you. If you are signed into Windows with your Microsoft account, you will be able to view files that have been shared with your account, such as email, Teams chat, etc. If you are a commercial customer who is signed-in with your Microsoft Entra ID account, you will additionally be able to view files that they have shared with others. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the ‘Shared’ tab item.

 

You will also be able to view a broader set of file types in their Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the homepage. For example, if you’ve recently opened/edited files in Designer, Loop, Power BI, Forms, etc. these files will now be available in your Recent list.

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

 

Windows Sandbox Client Preview

 

This build includes the new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that is now updated via the Microsoft Store. As part of this preview, we’re introducing runtime clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host at runtime. You can access these via the new “…” icon at the upper right on the app. Additionally, this preview includes a super early version of command line support (commands may change over time). You can use ‘wsb.exe –help’ command for more information.

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security & Privacy > Windows Sandbox.

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

[General]

 

• For new PCs or new user accounts on managed commercial devices (PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, Education, or Pro logged in with an Entra ID (or domain), the Microsoft 365 app will be pinned to the taskbar for quick access to Copilot for Microsoft 365. Existing commercial PCs that still have the previous Copilot in Windows experience will see that replaced with the Copilot app pinned to their taskbar.

 

[Lock screen]

 

• We have updated the Lock screen so that the media controls will now show at the lower bottom center of the Lock screen now when media is being played.

[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.

• Based on feedback, we’ve made some updates to the new account manager on the Start menu making the sign out option directly visible, and adding a list of signed in users under “…” so it’s faster to switch accounts.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

 

• We are trying out a more simplified system tray to highlight the date/time in a shortened form and to show the notifications bell icon based on DND status. Without the notification bell icon, you can get to your notifications by clicking the date and time to Notification Center. You can revert to the long form of the date/time and bell icon visuals by toggling the values in the Settings via Settings > Date and Time under “Show time and day in the system tray” and Settings > System > Notifications under “Notifications”. These settings are also accessible through the context menu shown by right clicking the system tray clock/bell icon button.

[Search on the Taskbar]

 

• We are beginning to roll out the ability to share local files directly from within the search results shown in the search box on the taskbar.

[Input]

 

• We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch to have a new section for touch screen edge gestures, where you can choose if you would like to disable the left or right screen edge touch gesture.

 

[Notifications]

 

• If desired, there’s now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. You can now press the “…” within the notification to disable the notification, as you can with other notifications, or you can go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there (called “Notification Suggestions” in the list). Note – this entry will only appear in the senders list after you have received one.

 

[Settings]

 

• In response to feedback, we have added a detach virtual hard disk (VHD/`VHDx) button to Settings making it much simpler to detach your VHD/VHDx as needed. This option is available under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes, in the properties for your VHD/VHDx.

• We’ve designed the settings page for Delivery Optimization under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization to match the Windows 11 design principles.

• We’ve updated the dialog when viewing your Wi-Fi password under Settings > Network & internet to match the Windows 11 visuals.

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

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue where when pressing WIN + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
• Fixed an issue which was causing CTRL + F to sometimes not start a search in File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost sometimes when doing Shift + Tab in File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce when you were opening or navigating items in the breadcrumb flyouts of the open or save dialog.
• Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce anything when opening or navigating items in the column header flyout in File Explorer.

 

[Input]

 

• Updated the logic for the setting “Press the lower right corner of the touchpad to right-click” Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad so it shouldn’t show in cases where the touchpad doesn’t support the functionality.

 

[Task Manager]

 

• Fixed an issue where the background wasn’t displayed correctly in Task Manager settings.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

 

• We can confirm that the Recall feature is no longer showing as an option under the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ dialog in the Control Panel in Windows.
• Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of Insiders on the previous flight finding the Windows Modules Installer (tiworker.exe) unexpectedly using 100% of the CPU, causing freezes and other issues on PCs.
• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to fail to install the latest updates, seeing error 0x800f0993.

 

[Input]

 

• Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

 

[Widgets]

 

• Fixed an issue which could result in the Widgets icon unexpectedly displaying in the taskbar twice sometimes.

 

[Other]

 

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

 

• [FrameShutdownDelay] The browser ignores its value in the “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main” registry key.
• [Unified Write Filter (UWF) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)] An SCCM task to re-enable UWF fails because of a deadlock in UWF. This stops the device from restarting when you expect it.
• [OpenSSH] This update adds a prompt that asks you to confirm when you turn on OpenSSH using the Server Manager UI.
• [NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.
• [Domain Name System (DNS)] This update hardens DNS server security to address CVE-2024-37968. If the configurations of your domains are not up to date, you might get the SERVFAIL error or time out.
• [vmswitches] They fail to enumerate using Get-VMSwitch command.
• [Windows Installer] When it repairs an application, the User Account Control (UAC) does not prompt for your credentials. After you install this update, the UAC will prompt for them. Because of this, you must update your automation scripts. Application owners must add the Shield icon. It indicates that the process requires full administrator access. To turn off the UAC prompt, set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\DisableLUAInRepair registry value to 1. The changes in this update might affect automatic Windows Installer repairs; see Application Resiliency: Unlock the Hidden Features of Windows Installer.
• [Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
• [Task Manager] Graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager do not show the correct colors when you use dark mode.
• [Remote Desktop Services] It stops responding.

 

Known issues

 

[General]

 

• [IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see “(repair version)” noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.
• [NEW] This build may fail to install with error 0x800f0983. If you see this error, please try to install it again, as it should work on retry. If it stays on 0%, please be patient – it should proceed.
• [NEW] Reset your PC > Cloud Download won’t work on this build, it will get stuck on Getting Things Ready. Please choose the non-cloud option if you need to reset while we work on a fix.

 

[Start menu]

 

• [NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2408.13.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces the ability to change the folder that original screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved to. Just go to app settings in Snipping Tool to select a new default folder to try it out!

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

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

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Here is the changelog:

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

 

[File Explorer]

 

We are adding the ability to share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, the Phone Link must be installed and configured on your PC.

 

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

 

[Input]

 

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see the emoji panel not working properly again in the previous flight (closing after selecting one emoji, and not able to switch categories).

 

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

 

[Settings]

 

We are adding the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. The key will continue to launch Copilot on devices that have the Copilot app installed until a customer selects a different experience. This setting can be found via Settings > Personalization > Text input. If the keyboard connected to your PC does not have a Copilot key, adjusting this setting will not do anything.

 

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

 

[General]

 

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck when closing Notepad in the previous flight.

 

[Other]

 

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

 

[Windows Installer] When it repairs an application, the User Account Control (UAC) does not prompt for your credentials. After you install this update, the UAC will prompt for them. Because of this, you must update your automation scripts. Application owners must add the Shield icon. It indicates that the process requires full administrator access. To turn off the UAC prompt, set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\DisableLUAInRepair registry value to 1. The changes in this update might affect automatic Windows Installer repairs; see Application Resiliency: Unlock the Hidden Features of Windows Installer.

 

[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.

 

[Task Manager] It stops responding when you switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme.

 

Known issues

 

[Start menu]

 

[NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

You can check out the full blog post here.

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Added Features:

 

• Added the ‘Custom Image Upload’ feature in the new settings appearance page.
• Added a loading view icon while the PDF is loading on android.

 

Improved Behavior:

 

• Fixed an issue where logging into a different MSA account would cause browser to crash on iOS.
• Resolved an issue where browser crashes after installing the Dark Reader extension on Android.
• Fixed a crash issue in the Passwords settings on Android.

 

Changed Behavior:

 

• Fixed an issue where there was no response when closing the search result panel with the Enter key in the Favorites hub.
• Resolved an issue where the Settings banner was incorrectly displayed on the Settings page, ensuring it now appears only once.
• Resolved an issue where the icon badge color was incorrect with the ‘System default’ theme in dark mode within the Settings appearance.
• Resolved an issue where the new group was generated successfully, but the previously generated group became ungrouped.
• Fixed an issue where the close button was missing in modal dialogs.

 

iOS:

 

• Fixed an issue where the font size of the ‘Microsoft Rewards’ page increased in landscape mode on iOS.

 

Android:

 

• Fixed an issue where the shopping cashback page would incorrectly appear on the New Tab Page (NTP) when clicking the back button on mobile after visiting shopping websites with cashback offers.
• Fixed an issue where Talk Back in the Android settings did not announce the selected state of chat and search list items.

 

Mac:

 

• Resolved an issue where the toolbar would cover content below when ‘Automatically hide and show the menu bar’ was set to ‘Never’ in system settings on Mac.

As usual, you can download Microsoft Edge Dev from the official Edge Insider website. Existing installations can be updated on the edge://settings/help page. The public release in the Stable Channel is expected on the week of October 17, 2024.

Source

RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend  

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of August): 3,792 news posts