What you need to know

• Nominations for the 2024 Microsoft Store App Awards opened recently.
• Microsoft has asked people to nominate apps regardless of if you're a developer or just a fan.
• Nominations will remain open until September 15, 2024 and then winners will be announced in October.
• To qualify, apps must be in the Microsoft Store and not owned by Microsoft employees.

Microsoft is on the hunt for the best apps in the Microsoft Store. The tech giant opened nominations for its 2024 Microsoft Store App Awards recently, and the nomination window will remain open until Sunday, September 15, 2024. After reviewing the entries, Microsoft will then announce winners in October.

The tech giant encouraged everyone to get involved in the nomination process, including developers who want to nominate their own apps.

"Whether you’re a developer or a fan of a fantastic app, we invite you to submit your nomination," said Microsoft. "If you don’t have your app on Microsoft Store yet, it’s not too late! Publish your app by Sept. 15, 2024, and participate in the awards to compete for incredible prizes, like Surface Pro Limited Edition Copilot+ PCs."

You can nominate an app through a Microsoft Form shared by the tech giant.

Microsoft outlined the requirements for entry and what winners will receive in a blog post:

"Evaluation criteria: Apps will be judged on User Experience, Innovation, Uniqueness, and Integration with the latest hardware and technologies.  

Eligibility: To qualify, apps must be publicly listed in the Microsoft Store and cannot be owned by Microsoft employees. 

Today, those same developers can now try out a new way to upgrade those apps without going over to WinUI 3. Microsoft has just announced it has launched a public preview that adds support for .NET 9 for UWP apps.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated:

This preview is a set of updated tools and components that are part of .NET, Visual Studio, the Windows SDK, and more, to allow using the latest version of .NET and C# for building UWP apps. This preview does not introduce any new features for UWP. Instead, it provides a migration path for developers to modernize their apps with .NET 9 while they consider moving toward WinUI 3.

Basically, UWP app makers can now upgrade their apps to .NET 9 so they can take advantage of the Native AOT (Ahead Of Time) compilation, which compiles an app's code directly into native machine code. After that update, those same developers can consider moving their UWP app to the WinUI 3 platform.

Developers who want to try this out should first get Visual Studio 2022 17.12 Preview 2, which launched earlier this week. Then they can follow these steps:

• Open the Visual Studio Installer.
• Under “Workloads” > “Desktop & Mobile”, select the “Windows application development” workload.
• Under “Optional” (in the right pane), select:
  • “Universal Windows Platform tools”, which contains all tooling for UWP apps
  • “Windows 11 SDK (10.0.26100.0)”, needed to build UWP XAML apps

They will then have to manually download the review Windows SDK bundle, which has the necessary XAML compiler that needs to be patched on their machine. Devs also have to install the latest nightly build of the .NET SDK on GitHub.

Since this is a preview version of .NET 9 support for UWP apps, Microsoft says users should expect to encounter some issues. The blog post has a list of what the team is working on to help improve this support for future updates.

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Here are the official release notes:

Game Ready for FINAL FANTASY XVI & God of War Ragnarök

 

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 3 technology including FINAL FANTASY XVI and God of War Ragnarök. In addition, this driver supports the launch of EA SPORTS FC 25 and Frostpunk 2.

Another change in the Nvidia 561.09 WHQL driver is new one-click optimal settings for Black Myth: Wukong, F1 Manager 2024, and Star Wars Outlaws.

Fixed bugs in driver 561.09 include the following:

• [GeForce Experience] Performance Monitoring overlay may stop refreshing GPU information
• [NVIDIA App] Game filters may intermittently be missing when invoking the NVIDIA Overlay in-game
• [Chaos V-Ray] Performance regression in some workloads when running R560 drivers

You can get driver 561.09t from the official website, the GeForce app, and the Nvidia app. As usual, here is the list of supported Nvidia graphics cards:

As for supported operating systems, they include 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11. 32-bit Windows 10 is no longer supported (and there is no 32-bit Windows 11). Full release notes for driver 561.09 are available here. You can also check out the announcement post on the official Nvidia website.

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Microsoft acknowledged performance problems on Windows Server 2019 by the end of August 2024. The company then confirmed that the issue originates from the August 2024 Patch Tuesday updates, namely KB5041578. Affected systems would experience general system slowdowns, unresponsiveness, and high CPU usage, especially when running cryptographic services.

Initial reports and investigations showed that the root cause of the problem is antivirus software performing scans of certain Windows update directories:

After installing the August 2024 Windows security update, released August 13, 2024 (KB5041578), you might observe that some Windows Server 2019 devices experience system slowdowns, unresponsiveness, and high CPU usage particularly with Cryptographic Services.

 

A limited number of organizations reported that the issue was observed when the device was running an Antivirus software which performs scans against the ‘%systemroot%\system32\catroot2’ folder for Windows updates, due to an error with catalog enumeration.

 

Our investigations so far indicate that this issue is limited to some specific scenarios.

Here are the symptoms that affected Windows Server 2019 may exhibit after installing KB5041578:

• Show increased CPU utilization
• Experience increased disk latency/ disk utilization
• Indicate degraded OS or application performance
• Show that the CryptSVC service fails to start
• May boot into a black screen
• Experience slow to boot
• Freeze or hang

Now, with KB5043050, all those performance issues are gone. However, it is worth noting that the problem does not affect regular users with systems running Windows 10 or 11, Home or Professional—only Windows Server 2019 was hit.

You can learn more about performance issues in Windows Server 2019 KB5041578 in a post on the official Windows documentation website. Full release notes for the latest Windows 10 Patch Tuesday updates are available here.

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Here's what's new:

23H2 and 22H2

Highlights

• This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

Improvements

Note: To view the list of addressed issues, click or tap the OS name to expand the collapsible section

 

Windows 11, version 23H2

 

Important: Use EKB KB5027397 to update to Windows 11, version 23H2.

 

This security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

 

• This build includes all the improvements in Windows 11, version 22H2.

   

• No additional issues are documented for this release.

   

Windows 11, version 22H2

 

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5041587 (released August 27, 2024). Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

 

• [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.

   

If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

 

For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the September 2024 Security Updates.

 

Windows 11 servicing stack update (KB5043937) - 22621.4166 and 22631.4166

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Known issues in this update

21H2

Highlights

• [Bluetooth] Connections to some wireless earbuds are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.

Improvements

This security update includes improvements. Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

 

• [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.

   

• [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 (COSA)] This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.

   

• [LocalUsersAndGroups configuration service provider CSP] It stops processing group memberships if a group cannot be found.

   

• [Unified Write Filter (UWF) Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)] API calls to them to shut down or restart a system throws an access denied exception.

   

If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

 

For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the September 2024 Security Updates.

Windows 11 servicing stack update (KB5043938) - 22000.3196

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Known issues in this update

These updates will be available from Windows Update and should install automatically in most cases. If you would like to download these updates for offline installation, you can get them from the Microsoft Catalog website. You can find the updates for 23H2 and 22H2 here and the update for 21H2 here.

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Highlights

• This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

Improvements

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5041865 (released August 27, 2024). Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

 

• [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.

   

• [Task Manager] Graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager do not show the correct colors when you use dark mode.

   

If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

 

For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the September 2024 Security Updates.

Windows 11 servicing stack update (KB5043113)- 26100.1738

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Known issues in this update

If you would like to install this update on an offline machine, you can download it from Microsoft Catalog. If you have an internet connection, it will be available over Windows Update.

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The major highlight of the release is security patches.

Highlights

 

• This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

After a couple of weeks without any, known issues are back:

Known issues in this update

Some of the older Windows 10 versions have also received updates today, which have been listed below with their respective release notes (KB) linked as well as links to download them at Microsoft's Update Catalog:

It is noteworthy here that Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 10 1909 reached the end of servicing. Non-LTSC editions of 21H2 have also reached the end of servicing.

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New features in the latest version of Sticky Notes include the ability to launch the app from the Start menu or Windows Search. You can pin its icon to the taskbar or Start menu and open it like any other application on your computer.

Also, the new Sticky Notes app now supports always-on-top, which means you can pin a note and make it stay on top of any other application for a better multitasking and note-taking experience. To do so, click the pin icon next to the close and minimize buttons.

Finally, there is the "Copy Note" feature. As the name suggests, it allows you to copy the content of a particular note, including images and text, and then paste it into OneNote or another application.

Besides announcing new features for the Sticky Notes app, Microsoft published a brief FAQ section to clear things up a little for its users. It includes frequently asked questions about updating the Sticky Notes app, troubleshooting errors, accessing Sticky Notes on phones, moving notes from the old app to the new one, and more. Also, Microsoft made it clear that the old Sticky Notes app (the one bundled with Windows 10 and 11) is not going anywhere. Still, going forward, new features will be available in the new app:

The Microsoft Sticky Notes app will still be available but to access the latest features and enhancements, we recommend moving to the new Sticky Notes in OneNote.

You can learn more about the latest Sticky Notes update here.

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For those unfamiliar, ZoomIt is part of the Sysinternals app suite, which Microsoft purchased in 2006. The suite includes various utilities for file system, networking, process monitoring, security, and more. It is a pretty rich collection of tools that can help you boost your productivity, troubleshoot problems, and more. You can check Sysinternals on the official Microsoft Learn website.

As for ZoomIt, it is a handy, lightweight app for those frequently making presentations and demos on their computers. You can use ZoomIt to zoom something on the screen (hence the name), annotate on your screen, draw, insert text, record your demos, display timers, and more. The beauty of ZoomIt is that it is free, simple, and light on resources. It also works on all Windows versions, including on systems with touch and pen input.

Clint Rutkas from the PowerToys team confirmed that ZoomIt is coming soon to PowerToys:

Besides ZoomIt, PowerToys is getting a tool called "New+," which allows for creating files and folders using customized templates. File Actions is another upcoming module for adding new context menu entries for select features, such as generating checksums, copying or moving files, creating a new folder with the highlighted items, copying images to the clipboard, and more.

While there are no exact dates on when ZoomIt, New+, and File Actions will be available, you can expect them soon in the upcoming updates. Meanwhile, Microsoft released a small bug-fixing update for PowerToys to address a bunch of issues in Workspaces. Check out the full details here.

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As such, software support from third-party app makers is starting to arrive as well. Parallels Desktop, which is a popular virtualization application for running Windows on Macs, is the latest major software to add support for the next feature update of Windows 11 with its newest release, version 20.

The Parallels Desktop dev team notes that improvements have been made to the NVMe driver, installation, mouse cursor, display resolution, and more. Up to 80% performance boost is also being promised.

It writes:

Improving the stability and integration of this major Windows 11 update in a virtual environment has been a major goal since Windows 11 24H2 appeared in the Canary channel in early 2024.

 

These efforts include fixes for the NVMe driver, express Windows 11 installation on Intel-based Mac computers, mouse cursor positioning, and a fix for the dynamic resolution to sustain the ability to resize a Windows 11 VM window with automatic resolution adjustments.

 

From the Microsoft side, optimizations for the new major Windows 11 version 24H2 ensure users’ workflows remain uninterrupted while running legacy Windows apps (built for the Intel platform) and get up to 80% performance boost for certain computational workloads thanks to the improved Prism emulator built into Windows 11 on Arm OS.

Keep in mind though that the performance claim is based on PassMark's Floating Point Math test against Windows 11 23H2 and so you may not see it everywhere. It is also noteworthy that the uplift takes into consideration the performance boost offered by the new Prism Emulator. Back in June, Microsoft explained how Prism can help boost gaming performance with its seamless code conversion from AMD64 to Arm64.

On the topic of Windows support, the Parallels Desktop team also adds that application compatibility has been greatly improved with this release. It says:

The latest release offers improved compatibility with ArcGIS Pro, LabVIEW, Ninja Trader, and other applications so you can now seamlessly install and run on a Mac with Apple silicon—all with the help of Parallels Desktop for Mac. 

 

It’s also great to see software companies shift their strategy and start delivering product updates that run natively in Windows 11 on Arm which means more apps will soon become available for Apple silicon users. Recent examples include Malwarebytes ThreatDown, Opera browser, Adobe Illustrator, LibreOffice, and others.

In addition to Windows 11 24H2 support and improvements, the new Parallels Desktop 20 also received support for macOS Sequoia, which is expected to be out soon.

Besides these, there are many more improvements with the latest version 20 of Parallels Desktop. You can read all about them here in the official blog post.

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In a blog post, Microsoft said it has been listening to feedback from users of the Planner app on Teams to help develop the web version. It added:

When rolled out to your organization, users with a Microsoft 365 license who visit Planner for the web at https://planner.cloud.microsoft will receive the new Microsoft Planner experience, bringing together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Microsoft Planner, the power of Microsoft Project for the web and the intelligence of Microsoft Copilot into a simple, familiar experience with a rich set of capabilities for individual and team work management.

The upcoming Planner app for the web will allow users to view all of their plans, projects, and to-do lists in one location. It will also have the My Tasks view, so you can access all of your assignments and manage your priority tasks with the My Day view. There will also be several ways to organize your tasks, such as Grid, Board, Charts, Schedule, and others.

Users who sign up for the paid premium plan in the Planner app on the web will also be able to access extra features, including a preview of Copilot, the Timeline view, custom fields, task history, team workload, managing goals, and others.

Microsoft says that Planner on the Web will be available first for Microsoft 365 tenants who have chosen to get the Targeted release updates. After that, it will be rolled out to the other Microsoft 365 users.

Finally, Microsoft will hold an online AMA about the new Planner app on September 17 at 9 am Pacific time (noon Eastern time).

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Here are the official release notes for Skype Insider 8.128.76.201:

• Blocked spam chat notifications continuing post-block: The issue where notifications from blocked chats continued has been resolved, ensuring blocked contacts remain fully silenced.
• Fixed display issue on the Share and Connect page on Mobile: The page now correctly shows all elements, providing a complete view of options for sharing profile links, aiding usability.
• Corrected duplicate message reactions/responses in notifications: Notifications now appear only once for each reaction or response, preventing repeated alerts and reducing confusion.
• Resolved issue with Group Chat spinner on iOS: The spinner that appeared when creating a group chat on iOS has been fixed, ensuring smoother group creation.
• Translator functionality fix: Improvements have been made to the translator accuracy, addressing mistranslations and repetitive errors.
• Calls tab sync issue resolved on Desktop: The active item in the Calls tab now accurately reflects the selected contact, preventing mismatches and ensuring the correct item is highlighted.
• Fixed unread message count not updating on channel navigation: The unread message count now updates correctly when navigating within channels, keeping your message status accurate.
• Improved scroll-to-bottom functionality in Channels: The scroll-to-bottom feature now works consistently, even with 99+ unread stories, for a better reading and catching-up experience.

In case you missed it, Microsoft made Skype completely ad-free to improve the user experience and maybe lure back those who abandoned the messaging platform long ago.

Skype 8.128.76.201 is rolling out gradually to Skype Insiders, so it might take a few days before you see the release on your device. The Skype Insider program is available on Windows 10, 11, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux.

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The company has stated that an automatic forced update to version 23H2 will be initiated after the next Patch Tuesday (October 8, 2024) and is meant to keep such devices updated with the latest security updates and alike.

On its Windows health dashboard website, Microsoft writes:

On October 8, 2024, Windows 11, version 21H2 (Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions) and Windows 11, version 22H2 (Home and Pro editions) will reach end of servicing. The upcoming October 2024 security update, to be released on October 8, 2024, will be the last update available for these editions. After this date, devices running these editions will no longer receive monthly security and preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats.

 

To help keep you protected and productive, Windows Update will automatically initiate a feature update for Windows 11 Home and Pro devices that are not managed by IT departments when these are nearing end of servicing. Moving to Windows 11, version 23H2 keeps your device supported and receiving monthly updates that are critical to security and ecosystem health.

While it has been nearly a year since Windows 11 23H2 became available, the OS is still far from flawless, it seems, at least on some system configurations. Recent performance testing has shown that even a seemingly good Windows 11 installation can lead to a lot of performance loss, even though nothing appears to be the issue.

Microsoft also initiated a wider rollout of version 23H2 in July. Soon, the company is also expected to make version 24H2 generally available for everyone.

Despite some longstanding problems, the new feature update is expected to bring several improvements, such as fewer graphics driver crashes, hardware AV1 encoding, and more.

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What you need to know

• The "Files" app received an update recently that adds a few small features and that improves the experience when using Google Drive.
• Files is a third-party file management app that has several features that Microsoft's File Explorer lacks.

The Windows 11 File Explorer is fine. Functional and consistent, Microsoft's app for file management has been around for ages. But File Explorer lacks some pizzazz. If you want a modern file management experience, you need to look at third-party alternatives. One option is the Files app, which I've covered for years. It's my favorite File Explorer alternative, thanks to its modern design, feature set, and development path. A recent update to Files adds some handy fixes noted in its change log, plus one change not mentioned anywhere.

The most recent update to Files brings the app to version 3.7. The app's change log outlines additions, such as an optional toolbar button to navigate to home and the option to hide the System Tray icon. The developers of Files also refactor the app's code for detecting Google Drive, which should result in a better experience. That change isn't noted in the release page of Files, but the developer shared it with me recently.

Google Drive has been an excellent cloud storage solution for years. It's received a bit of extra attention in the Windows space lately since Google announced the app will come to Snapdragon-powered PCs later this year. Google Drive is very popular, so its absence on Windows on Arm PCs was a deal breaker for many.

Files v3.7

• Added a setting to hide the System Tray icon
• Focus existing tab when opening locations from external process
• View navigation history when right clicking back/forward buttons
• Added thumbnails to the breadcrumb flyouts
• Optional toolbar button to navigate home
• Customize CPU threads when creating archives
• Added an action to navigate home
• Experimental support for flattening folders
• Removed the loading animation from the home page
• Hold the shift key while pressing the properties button to open the File Explorer properties window
• Added support for opening the breadcrumb dropdown via keyboard navigation
• Added support for Infomaniak kDrive
• Added an option to close the active pane from the right-click context menu
• Corrected inverted scrolling behavior for icon size adjustment
• Fixed an issue where shortcuts couldn’t be created for commands
• Fixed an issue where resuming from background didn’t bring Files to the foreground
• Fixed an issue where context menus didn’t follow the custom font setting
• Fixed an issue where a shortcut to a folder couldn’t be created
• Fixed an issue where Google Drive wasn’t displayed when mounted as a folder
• Fixed an issue where layout settings didn’t persist across updates
• Fixed an issue where folders with file extensions were sometimes treated as files
• Fixed an issue where ejecting drives would sometimes fail
• Fixed an issue where double-clicking a file would sometimes navigate up
• Fixed issues with opening certain file formats

Starting on Windows 11 version 24H2 (2024 Update), Microsoft is making the VBScript a feature on-demand that you can completely remove from your computer, and in this guide, I will show you the steps to complete this configuration.

VBScript (Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition) is a lightweight scripting language designed to automate tasks and add functionality to web pages in the operating system. However, since it may contain security vulnerabilities, a lack of functions compared to modern languages, and a lack of development, Microsoft no longer recommends using this feature unless it's essential.

As a result, starting with the 2024 Update, Windows 11 includes an option to remove the feature using the Optional features settings or PowerShell. 

In this how-to guide, I will outline the different ways to uninstall the VBScript feature on Windows 11.

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What you need to know

• Microsoft is working on a new feature in Windows 11 that allows you to drag an app from Windows Search to the Taskbar.
• Dragging an app into the Taskbar allows you to pin that app.
• Similar functionality already exists within Windows 11, but it requires you to drag an item from the Start menu's all apps list or pinned section rather than from Windows Search.

Pinning apps to the Windows 11 Taskbar could soon be a bit easier. Microsoft is working on a feature that allows you to drag an app from Windows Search into the Taskbar to pin that app. It's already possible to drag an item to the Taskbar to pin that app, but doing so requires dragging the app from the Pinned section of Start or from the Start menu's all apps list.

X (formerly Twitter) user phantomofearth discovered the change and shared a video of the feature in action. The most recent Canary build of Windows 11 includes the option. The feature is also rolling out to the Dev and Beta channels. The change is an undocumented one, so it may be a while before it ships to Windows 11. Microsoft could also decide against ever rolling it out.

Neowin noticed that such a bug has sprung up in the Dev channel with the latest build, 26120.1542, released under KB5041872. Affected users are reporting that their download progress gets stuck at 8%, while some add that their system's CPU usage gets pegged at 100%. Clearly, the download process is trying to do something in the background, leading to such high cycles. This is leading to system slowdown, lagging, and freezing.

Microsoft forum user Sujal Thakkar [BCA - 2023] has posted about the issue inquiring about possible ways to work around the problem. The question has been upvoted by 49 others at the time of writing. They wrote:

I am trying to update the build Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Insider Preview (10.0.26120.1542) (KB5041872).

 

However, whenever I attempt to download the update, it consistently gets stuck at 8%. When it reaches 8%, the CPU usage by the Windows Modules Installer spikes to 80-90%, causing the PC to become unresponsive and slow. The issue resolves after restarting the PC and pausing the update. However, the problem reappears as soon as I resume the update, making it difficult to use the PC smoothly. I have tried restarting the Windows Modules Installer and Windows update from the systems. But it still is not resolving.

Another user on the forum, matGV, also has a query about a similar issue affecting KB5038603, an earlier build. The issue has been upvoted by 24 others at the time of writing.

Added details in their post suggest that the high CPU usage is the result of TiWorker EXE which is short for Windows Update Trusted Installer Worker Process. They add:

I am experiencing an issue with the Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Insider Preview (10.0.26120.1252) (KB5038603). The download remains stuck at 8% and does not progress. Here are some additional details about my system and what I have tried so far:

 

• Windows Version: Windows 11 Insider Preview
• Build Number: 10.0.26120.1252
• Update Type: KB5038603

...

 

Additionally, I have noticed that the TiWorker.exe process is using a high amount of CPU, which significantly slows down my system. This also causes frequent crashes in games and applications.

An issue on the Feedback Hub has been raised as well by user Judge L, who wrote:

"Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Insider Preview (10.0.26120.1542) (KB5041872)" is Attempting to Download Twice causing High CPU usage

You can find the issue at this link, which you can upvote if you are experiencing similar problems.

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Here is the complete changelog for PowerToys version 0.81.4:

• #34558 - Fixed an issue causing Workspaces not correctly detecting popular applications like Discord or Steam.
• #34556 - Improved UI to more clearly show button outlines in the Workspaces Editor.
• #34588 - Fixed a broken link in Workspaces OOBE page.

You can download PowerToys 0.84.1 from GitHub. Alternatively, head to this link to get the app from the Microsoft Store. If you are already a PowerToys user, go to Settings > General and press "Check for updates" to get to the latest version. PowerToys is available on Windows 10 and 11, and older Windows versions are not supported.

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According to the Firefox Release Calendar website, Firefox 115 ESR, the latest Firefox version with support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, will continue receiving updates until April 1, 2025. Firefox 115.21 ESR is expected on March 4, 2024, which means users with old Windows versions have at least seven more months of support from Firefox.

Initially, Mozilla planned to ditch Windows 7-8.1 support in September 2024 but changed its plans. Now, Mozilla offers two ESR releases: 115 for unsupported operating systems and 128 for Windows 10 and newer. Removing Windows 7 support from Firefox 116 and onward allowed Mozilla to clean up the code base and removed the burden of maintaining newer libraries that no longer support pre-Windows 10 releases. At the same time, Mozilla says there are enough Firefox users on Windows 7, which justifies the extended support:

Continuing to support it past October isn't going to be free (backporting security fixes is already getting increasingly painful due to the divergence which naturally happens over time as an ESR goes further into its lifecycle), but there's still enough users there that we felt it was worth doing for now at least.

According to a comment from a Firefox engineer, Mozilla "expects to have more official communications about it in the near future."

For reference, Microsoft, Google, and other browsers stopped updating their browsers all the way back in January 2023. The end of Chromium support on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 forced other developers, such as Valve and its Steam, to stop updating their software as well.

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It's hard to believe but the "new" Outlook for Windows app currently needs an internet connection to be opened or restarted. That will finally change sometime later in September, according to the roadmap entry:

This introduces the ability to open or restart the new Outlook for Windows when not connected to the internet. Previously, you needed a connection to the internet to open or restart the new Outlook. Offline access is only supported when the app is already running and then goes offline. Opening and restarting the app while offline will be introduced with this rollout.

There's also a new calendar feature coming in December to the new Outlook for Windows app:

Users will be able to automatically see their auto-mapped calendars when toggling from classic Outlook to the new.

Moving on to Microsoft Teams, people who use the iOS or Android Teams apps will get a new video feature in November:

Cloud IntelliFrame, the video framing feature that enhances the visibility of people in the room for online meeting attendees, is now available for Teams mobile users when they join a meeting that has participants in a Teams Rooms on Windows.

Desktop and Mac Teams users are getting a new feature in October for BYOB notebook users at the office:

When users connect their laptop to a room's shared peripheral through USB, Teams automatically detects the room's audio and recommends connecting on the pre-join screen, streamlining the bring your own device (BYOD) meeting room experience. For room devices (e.g., displays, audio devices) recognized as shared and on Microsoft's known BYOD devices list, users will automatically transition to the room's audio upon connection.

Finally, Microsoft Edge browser users on Macs will get a new feature related to Teams in October:

When you set the default browser to Microsoft Edge on MacOS and enable the feature, web links from the Teams desktop app sent via chats, channels, calendar, and other entry points will seamlessly open automatically in the profile that is signed into Teams app and skips the need to reauthenticate in the browser making it faster and easier to access content. Administrators can control the availability of this feature using the "Choose Which Browser Opens Web Links" Microsoft 365 policy.

That's it for our weekly look at the Microsoft 365 Roadmap site. Be sure to come back next Sunday for our look at new entries on the site for the next week.

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Windows Insider enthusiast "@PhantomofEarth" posted a small but interesting feature on his X account that was discovered to be available in the most recent Canary Channel builds of Windows 11. He found that when you search for a Windows 11 app in the taskbar's Search field, you can drag that app and pin it to the taskbar.

First, he shows that clicking on the Search field brings up the Suggested Apps list, and then he moves one of the apps on that list, Snipping Tool, onto the Windows 11 taskbar. He actively searches for the Notepad app, and when it appears in the search list, he drags it to be pinned in the search bar. This is reportedly live for all Canary Channel Windows 11 builds that have the "27xxx" in the build number.

While there were no full Windows 11 builds for Insiders this week, Microsoft did update last week's Canary Channel 27695 blog post with a new Wi-Fi setting change. It also updated the blog post for last week's Windows 11 Beta Channel build 22635.4145, which added a new virtual keyboard for Xbox and other game controllers.

On Friday, Microsoft released an updated version of the Photos app for all Windows 10 and 11 Insiders. It also released a new Windows Server 2025 Insider build with a new expiration date of Sept. 15, 2025.

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Whether Windows 11 needs a separate option is an open question, especially if you can just open a picture and click a big blue "Edit" button in the upper-left corner. Some people prefer third-party photo viewers, so having a hardcoded link to the Photos app in the context menus might feel unnecessary.

Here is how to get rid of it.

Remove "Edit with Photos" from Windows 11 context menus.

Note: The following steps require Administrator privileges. We also recommend creating a system restore point and backing up important data before messing around with the Windows Registry.

1. Press Win + R and type regedit to launch Windows Registry Editor.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions. Copy the path and paste it into the address bar to speed things up and avoid misplacing the necessary registry value.
3. Right-click Shell Extension and select New > Key.

   

4. Rename the new key to Blocked.
5. Right-click Blocked and select New > String Value.

   

6. Rename the new string value to {BFE0E2A4-C70C-4AD7-AC3D-10D1ECEBB5B4} and press Enter.

   

7. Restart your computer.

That is it. The "Edit with Photos" is no longer present in your context menus.

Restore "Edit with Photos" in Windows 11 context menus.

1. Press Win + R and type regedit to launch Windows Registry Editor.
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked.
3. Delete the {BFE0E2A4-C70C-4AD7-AC3D-10D1ECEBB5B4} value.

   

4. Restart your computer.

   

Finally, you can always uninstall the Photos app to get rid of its context menu entries. However, the app has a pretty neat image editor, so nuking it just to clean up the context menu might be a bit too extreme.

What do you think about the new "Edit with Photos" option in Windows 11's context menus? Do you think it is useful or useless? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Note: This update is not available for the Intel-based version of the Surface Pro 9. The Intel version has its own firmware updates.

Here is the official changelog for the Surface Pro 9 5G's September 2024 firmware update:

The following update is available for Surface Pro 9 with 5G (SQ3 Processor) devices running Windows 11 Update, Version 22H2, or greater.

 

Improvements and fixes:

 

• Resolves an issue that prevented the device from using the USB-C functionality after the system had booted.
• Enhances the stability of the device, reducing the occurrence of blue screen.

Here is the list of new drivers:

Here is extra information about the release:

To update your Surface Pro 9 5G, head to Settings > Windows Update. Alternatively, download an offline package from the official Surface Support website. Before installing the update, back up important data, as firmware updates are non-uninstallable.

The Surface Pro 9 5G, like its Intel-based sibling, has a six-year lifecycle. The computer was launched on October 25, 2022, and it will be out of support by October 25, 2028.

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Meta has finally pulled the curtain back on what its plans for third-party chats in WhatsApp and Messenger will look like. The change, which is coming for users in the European Union, introduces new options to put Messenger and WhatsApp messages in the same inbox as third-party chats or keep them separate.

 

It’s building new notifications into Messenger and WhatsApp as well, which will let users know when they can link chats from newly supported apps. Meta says it has “gone above and beyond the ‘basic’ features required for interoperable messaging” and will offer rich messaging features, like reactions, direct replies, typing indicators, and read receipts.

 

Image: Meta

 

It will also start including the option to create groups with other people in third-party chats next year. But Meta’s plan for interoperability goes beyond messaging — the company says it will roll out support for third-party video and voice calls in 2027.

 

Meta has been working on bringing third-party chats into WhatsApp and Messenger for users in the EU for quite some time. The company is considered a “digital gatekeeper” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which means it must comply with requirements to make WhatsApp and Messenger interoperable with third-party apps, like iMessage, Telegram, Google Messages, Signal, and others.

 

Image: Meta

 

There are some hurdles it will have to overcome, as other companies that want to integrate with WhatsApp and Messenger will need to use the same Signal Protocol to keep messages private. In a copy of the agreement third-party apps have to sign, Meta says it will make the Signal Protocol available to partners upon request.

 

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