Here is what is new in the Intel Wireless Wi-Fi driver for Windows 10 and 11:

Release notes for the Bluetooth driver include the following:

• This version supports the latest for Windows 11 OS Update.
• Intel Wireless Bluetooth 23.60.0 driver has been updated to include functional and security updates. Users are encouraged to update to the latest version for best performance.

Supported operating systems include 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11. As for the hardware, you can install version 23.60.1 if your computer has one of the following network cards:

Intel Wireless Wi-Fi driver 23.60.1 is available here (release notes), and Bluetooth driver 23.60.1 here (release notes).

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These are the features that Microsoft is rolling out gradually to Windows 11 users who are willing to test the company's non-security updates:

• New! This update adds a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings home page. This home page shows on Home and Pro editions when you sign in to Windows using your Microsoft account. The card appears if you actively play games on your PC.
• New! The show desktop button is on the taskbar again by default. To change this, right-click the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings. At the lower part of the page, you will find Taskbar behaviors.
• New! This update affects File Explorer. You can now create 7-Zip and Tape Archive (TAR) files using the context menu. When you right-click a file, a Compress to item gives you ways to compress a file using tools like gzip, bzip2, and more. There is also a new compression wizard in Additional options. It will help you choose more formats and add details. You can use different types of compression to add many files to archives in other TAR formats. You can also change the compression level and choose the types of data to store in each archive.
• New! This update adds support for Emoji 15.1. Windows supports Unicode symbol-like shapes for family groupings. But Windows will keep using people for them. Also, you can choose the right or left facing direction for some people emoji. The new emoji are:
  • Horizontal and vertical head shake
  • Phoenix
  • Lime
  • Brown mushroom
  • Broken chain
• New! You can now copy files from the Windows Share window. Just click the new Copy button.
• New! This update starts the rollout of the new account manager on the Start menu. When you use a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows, you will get a glance at your account benefits. This feature also makes it easy to manage your account settings.

And here are the features all Windows 11 users will get in KB5039302:

• This update addresses an issue that affects Snipping Tool. When you use it to record videos on some PCs, the audio has distortions.

• This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard. You cannot use it to enter special characters. This occurs when you use the Japanese 106 keyboard.

• This update addresses an issue that affects USB devices. Ejecting them using the Safely Remove Hardware option fails. This occurs when Task Manager is open.

To get KB5039302, open the Settings app, click "Windows Update," toggle on the "Get the latest updates as soon as they are available" option and check for available updates. Another option is to download a manual install package from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Windows 10 users are also getting a bunch of fixes and improvements. If you are on the previous-gen operating system from Microsoft, check out what is new in KB5039299.

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Here are the update highlights:

• This update addresses an issue that affects an app’s jump list on the taskbar. Completing actions from that list might fail. A jump list is a menu that appears when you right-click an app on the taskbar or Start menu. It gives you quick access to recently or frequently used app items.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the default Japanese Input Method Editor (IME). The candidate window stops responding when you do not expect it. Then, it goes back to a former composition state at random.
• This update addresses a known issue that might occur when you right-click some apps. Instead of running the task you choose from the context menu, an “Open with” dialog appears. It asks you, "How do you want to open this file?" This issue might affect any app that has tasks on a context menu. This issue also affects the icons on the taskbar and Start menu.

And here is the full changelog:

• This update addresses an issue that affects MSIX applications. When you install them from an HTTPS URI, they fail to open. This issue occurs when the download of the application is not complete. This damages the package.
• This update affects mobile device management (MDM). When you enroll a device, the MDM client sends more details about the device. The MDM service uses those details to identify the device model and the company that made it.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Direct Composition batched presentations. A brief flash of triangles or boxes show on the screen. This issue affects browsers, like Microsoft Edge, and other apps.
• This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
• This update addresses an issue that might stop your system from resuming from hibernate. This occurs after you turn on BitLocker.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). The issue copies unsigned WDAC policies to the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) disk partition. It is reserved for signed policies.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a folder context menu. When you choose the command that removes items, the command adds items instead. This occurs when a third-party service implements a sync feature.

Known bugs in this update still include a bunch of now-known bugs, some of which are over a year old now. Here they are with their respective workarounds:

You can get to the latest Windows 10 non-security update by navigating to Settings > Windows Update, clicking "Check for updates," and downloading KB5039299. Alternatively, head to the Microsoft Update Catalog and get the KB5039299 as a manual install package.

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We’re halfway through the patching year!

It’s time to install the June updates, which is why I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4. I’m not seeing any widespread issues or major impacts. Most side effects seem to be with Win11 Insider versions and 24H2.

It appears that new technology allowing you to sync your phone with your computer is causing a bit of a CPU hit in the 24H2 release. Microsoft is trying to fix this issue before it gets released to the rest of us. That’s good news.

In the very good news category is the delay in releasing Microsoft Recall, the much-hyped “reminder” software. The company pulled back at the last minute, due to concerns from security researchers and businesses.

Highlights

Be aware that Microsoft is rolling out a File Explorer fix for what many consider to be a step backward in functionality. Prior to this fix, as noted in an April Insider post, you could not drag and drop files to the breadcrumb trail in the Explorer address bar. This shortcut allowed a file to be moved up the directory tree to a different folder. Many also complained about the loss of the ability to click the icon to the left of the path; this turned the breadcrumb trail into a text version of the path to the current folder, which could be copied for other uses.

Microsoft is changing directions and restoring the old behavior. But even if the update is installed, you may not see this change right away, because it’s being enabled slowly on machines.

This month will be a very quick install, because no .NET updates were released. If you still have some deferred .NET updates because you missed my approval window back in May, go ahead and install the deferred .NET updates along with the June updates.

For all supported versions of Windows, the June updates include fixes for the Wi-Fi driver vulnerability (CVE-2024-30078). An attacker trying to gain access to your machine must be on the same network as you. I’ve seen reports that a threat actor has put an exploit up for sale for $5,000, but I’ve not seen reports that attacks are in active use at this time. I still think it’s easier to use a phishing attack than it is to use this exploit. Nonetheless, once you install the June updates, you’ll be protected.

Even though I regularly recommend not installing Windows updates right away, the same is not true for Apple updates. Back in mid-June 2023, Apple released fixes for two zero days that related to targeted attacks against Kaspersky employees and Russian diplomats. CVE-2023-38606 affected a particularly unusual hardware feature that was not actually used by iOS firmware — it’s been theorized that it was used in debugging. The attackers enabled this debugging mode in order to spy on or monitor transmissions.

Now we’re learning that Apple refused to pay a bug bounty to Kaspersky for reporting the flaw. That’s a concern because it removes an incentive for third parties to do the work to discover such security problems — and thus increases the risk that some problems will not see the light of day.

Most of the AskWoody readership would not be subject to these targeted attacks, but knowing about the situation showcases that even Apple’s secure platforms are not bulletproof. Make sure your phone is supported, and patch aggressively.

KB5039217 is causing some issues not only for Cloud servers but also for — perhaps — on-premises SQL databases running on Windows Server 2022. As Microsoft noted in its most recent “Windows Release Health” email:

Following the installation of the Windows security update released June 11, 2024 (the Originating KBs listed above), you might see an issue on cloud-based SQL servers where Azure Synapse SQL serverless Pool databases go on “Recovery pending” state. This issue is more likely to affect environments utilizing Customer-Managed Key (CMK) and Azure Synapse dedicated SQL pool. We have received reports that this issue might also affect SQL Server 2019 and SQL Server 2022 on-premises when running on Windows Server 2022 with the Originating KBs listed above installed. We are investigating these reports to confirm if on-premises scenarios are also affected.

So while Microsoft is rolling out the fix on the Cloud servers, it continues to investigate the impact on on-premises servers.

Businesses must be aware of beneficial tools that are, in turn, used for malicious purposes. One example is AADInternals, which can be used by attackers to pivot from on-premises to cloud. As Mandiant posts::

AADInternals, which can allow an attacker to vertically move from on-premises to Azure AD, establish backdoors, steal passwords, generate user security tokens, and bypass MFA protections. This PowerShell module has allowed attackers to maintain persistence in the tenant even after initial eradication efforts were conducted.

The risks to both Active Directory Federation Services and Cloud assets should be reviewed. You should ensure that Cloud admins log in only to Cloud properties and (as Microsoft suggests in its Learn post Protecting Microsoft 365 from on-premises attacks) that isolated systems are used to log in to cloud assets for management purposes.

For those of you who love any sort of tool that Mark Russinovich and his team have created, Microsoft released Process Monitor 4.0 and Sysmon 1.3.3 for Linux. Process Monitor includes “Process Start,” a new column that can be used to sort start times.

Resources

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Firefox 127.0.2 is here to save the day of YouTube users whose woes with the platform seem to be ever-going. With the latest version, Mozilla fixed the bug where a YouTube video live stream would stop after a while with audio still playing (bug 1900191). Another YouTube-related issue that is fixed in today's update is when the browser stops buffering a video, skips parts of a video, freezes, or shows artifacts on the screen (bug 1878510).

Finally, Mozilla says Firefox 127.0.2 fixes the problem with the browser displaying the Private Window icon on the taskbar when it should not.

Here are the official release notes for Firefox 127.0.2:

Version 127.0.2, first offered to Release channel users on June 25, 2024

 

• Fixed an issue where YouTube playback may experience stalling under certain conditions (bug 1900191, bug 1878510).
• Fixed an issue where the Private Window icon was displayed in the taskbar on Windows when browser.privateWindowSeparation.enabled was set to false (bug 1901840).

Besides those two fixes, there is nothing else in Firefox 127.0.2.

To update Firefox to the latest version, head to Menu > Help > About Firefox. Alternatively, get the installer from the official website or the Microsoft Store if you are a Windows user. You can also continue using the browser as is and wait for it to update itself in the background automatically.

For reference, here are the release notes for Firefox 127.0.1 (it fixed installation issues on Windows and other stuff) and Firefox 127.0 (a big update with a lot of changes).

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Firefox has a new AI chatbot sidebar feature, but there's no love for Microsoft Copilot.

(Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

• Mozilla has added a new AI chatbot sidebar into its Firefox browser. 
• Available on all platforms, the new feature is an experimental addition, currently only in the Nightly build of Firefox. 
• There are four different AI chatbots to choose from, but no sign of Microsoft Copilot. 

There's been a lot of talk of AI integration into web browsers in recent times, with Microsoft Edge being a particularly good example of how to do it. Firefox has decided to join the party now, with a new AI chatbot sidebar feature added to the Nightly builds track of Mozilla's browser. 

There are currently four different chatbots that Firefox users can try out in the new sidebar feature, but none of them are Microsoft Copilot. 

So far, there's a choice of: 

• Google Gemini
• ChatGPT 
• HuggingFace
• Mistral AI

To try it out, first, you'll need to download Firefox Nightly. Once installed, open up the browsers settings menu, head into the Nightly Experiments section and enable AI Chatbot. 

From here you're also given a dropdown menu to choose your preferred chatbot, but you can also switch on the fly from the sidebar if you want to try something else. 

And, well, it works as advertised. However, you don't get the slick integration between AI and browser that you get in Microsoft Edge using Copilot in the sidebar. This looks literally like Mozilla is pulling in the web app for each chatbot, and that's about it. 

For example, you're reading a review on Windows Central and want a quick summary of the article. In Edge with Copilot, you can just ask the AI to do that. In this current implementation on Firefox, the AI chatbot is unable to see the contents of the browser tab, so you still have to paste in the URL. At best, it simply makes using your favorite AI chatbot more convenient in Firefox. For now, anyway. 

Now, Mozilla has added the functionality in Firefox Nightly. This is the cutting edge development version of the Firefox web browser. Most features are added to Nightly first before they make their way into Beta and then Release versions of the web browser.

Note: features may change during development and some may even be pulled before they reach the stable version of the Firefox web browser. This is a first look at the feature as it stands right now.

Vertical tabs in Firefox

Once enabled, tabs are moved to the side. Firefox already supports displaying them on the left or right side. Tabs are displayed with their icons only by default, but you can expand the sidebar to display the first few characters of the website title as well.

These tabs have no hierarchy right now, which means that they are all displayed on the same level. The classic Tree Style Tabs extension for Firefox supported hierarchies, which showed relations between tabs. Yes, we reviewed it here in 2009 for the first time. It was turned into a WebExtension when Mozilla switched off the classic Firefox extensions system in favor of Chromium's WebExtensions system.

What you can do already is move tabs around and use other tab-related features, such as pinning. This works well already for the most part, but the introduction of tab groups will certainly add a new dimension to this. While you can drag & drop tabs in the horizontal tab bar as well, less tabs are shown at the same time by default on most systems.

Test vertical tabs in Firefox

Vertical tabs is clearly a work in progress. It may take a while before the feature lands in Firefox stable. If you want to give it a try right now, you need to do the following:

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Firefox Nightly on your system. You can grab a copy for all supported operating systems from Mozilla's website.
2. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
3. Select Accept the risk and Continue.
4. Search for sidebar.
5. Toggle the value of sidebar.revamp to True.
6. Toggle the value of sidebar.verticalTabs to true.
7. Restart the Firefox web browser.

Firefox should display vertical tabs right away. There is a "show sidebars" button to display open tabs and page titles. You may also select the customize option to move the sidebar from the left side to the right side.

Closing Words

Vertical tabs support is a much requested feature. While Firefox is not the only browser that supports it, it is always welcome if users get the option. Whether it is used is entirely up to the user, as nothing is being taken away from Firefox's horizontal tab bar.

Mozilla has yet to announce when the feature will make it into stable Firefox. It may be too early at this point to make such an announcement.

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Now, those setting up a new Windows computer the way Microsoft wants them to (in other words, connected to the internet and signed into a Microsoft account) will get to their desktops with OneDrive already syncing stuff from folders like Desktop Pictures, Documents, Music, and Videos. Depending on how much is stored there, you might end up with a desktop and other folders filled to the brim with shortcuts to various stuff right after finishing a clean Windows installation.

Automatic folder backup in OneDrive is a very useful feature when used properly and when the user deliberately enables it. However, Microsoft decided that sending a few notification prompts to enable folder backup was not enough, so it just turned the feature on without asking anybody or even letting users know about it, resulting in a flood of Reddit posts about users complaining about what the hell are those green checkmarks next to files and shortcuts on their desktops.

If you do not want your computer to back up everything on your desktop or other folders, here is how to turn the feature off (you can also set up Windows 11 in offline mode):

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the tray area, click the settings icon and then press Settings.
2. Go to the "Sync and Backup" tab and click "Manage backup."
3. Turn off all the folders you do not want to back up in OneDrive and confirm the changes.
4. If you have an older OneDrive version with the classic tabbed interface, go to the Backup tab and click Manage Backup > Stop backup > Stop backup.

Microsoft is no stranger to shady tricks with its software and operating system. Several months ago, we noticed that OneDrive would not let you close it without you explaining the reason first (Microsoft later reverted that stupid change). A similar thing was also spotted in the Edge browser, with Microsoft asking users why they downloaded Chrome.

As a reminder, you can always just uninstall OneDrive and call it a day.

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Restore WordPad in Windows 11

The idea is simple: all you have to do is copy a bunch of files from a pre-Windows 11 version 24H2 to the target system.

1. On a system with Windows 11 version 23H2 and older, go to C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories (copy the path and paste it into the address bar to get there faster) and locate three files: WordpadFilter.dll, wordpad.exe, and a localization folder (en-US, for example). If you do not have access to a computer with a pre-24H2 Windows 11, get those files here.

   

2. Copy all three items (there may be more folders if you have more than one language pack installed) and move them to the target system. You can paste the files into any convenient folder.
3. Right-click the wordpad.exe file and select Show More Options > Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).

   

4. Copy or cut the newly made shortcut and go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.
5. Paste the shortcut and rename it if necessary.
6. Open the Start menu, click "All Apps," and scroll down to find WordPad. Now, you can pin it to the Start menu or taskbar.

   

Now, you might want to make the restored WordPad the default app for its supported formats, which include RTF, ODT, XML, and TXT. Here is how to do that:

1. Right-click the file you want to open in WordPad and select Open With > Choose another app.
2. Select "Choose an app on your PC" in the "Select an app to open this file" window.

   

3. Go to the folder with the WordPad files and select wordpad.exe.
4. Select Windows Wordpad Application and click Always.

There is another way to do that:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Apps > Default apps.
2. Type the file format you want to bind to WordPad in the "Set a default for a file type or link type" box. For example, RTF.

   

3. Click "Choose a default."
4. If WordPad is not there, click the "Choose an app on your PC" link and find the WordPad's executable on your computer.
5. Select "Windows Wordpad Application" and click "Set default."

   

6. Repeat those steps for all the other formats you want to open in WordPad.

That is it. Now, you can use WordPad on a system with Windows 11 version 24H2 and newer. Keep in mind that Microsoft might throw a wrench into the system to prevent users from restoring WordPad. Although that seems unlikely, do not be shocked if the app stops working at some point in the future.

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The enablement of Wayland on Nvidia systems comes following improvements to the proprietary Nvidia driver. With this change to Wayland, Nvidia users will benefit from smoother performance, enhanced security, less screen tearing, and better support for display enhancements like HDR. Behind the scenes, Wayland has a simpler codebase, which makes it easier to maintain, so fewer bugs should crop up.

The exact patch notes read the following:

“Remove the Ubuntu-specific rules that made Xorg the default for Nvidia. Updated Revert-data-Disable-GDM-on-hybrid-graphics-laptops-with-v.patch to ensure Nvidia 5xx drivers always get Wayland as the default unless there's a stronger reason why it won't work (like modeset has been disabled on the kernel command line). Also refresh the patch description with a more recent justification.”

The good thing about switching on Wayland for Nvidia users in 24.10 is that it can be tested in the real world over several Ubuntu releases before Ubuntu 26.04 LTS drops. Most production machines will be running the more stable long-term releases as they’re supported for longer, and it’d be bad to introduce a potentially buggy Wayland experience in one of those releases; by introducing it in October, Canonical has 18 months to polish it up.

In other Ubuntu news, if you are still rocking Ubuntu 23.10, you really need to think about upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS soon. Neowin reported earlier this month that 23.10 would be reaching the end of life on July 11, so it won’t get any more security updates, leaving systems potentially vulnerable to exploits and other security issues.

Source: Launchpad via Phoronix

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Here is the list of fixes in driver 31.0.101.5592 WHQL:

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• PugetBench Extended Preset Benchmark may fail to complete on certain Adobe Premiere Pro Processing Tests.

And that is it for today's driver, just one fix. However, there are still plenty of known bugs that Intel has to resolve in future updates, so beware of the following:

Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• No Man’s Sky (VK) may experience an application crash during gameplay while changing window context with Alt + Tab.
• Enshrouded (VK) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Doom Eternal (VK) may exhibit intermittent flickering corruption in the game menu and during gameplay.
• 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:

 

• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may experience an application crash on loading to gameplay.
• PugetBench Extended Preset Benchmark may fail to complete on certain Adobe Premiere Pro Processing Tests.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors on running certain benchmark tests.
• Procyon AI may experience an application crash while running benchmark with precision float32.
• Launching a game with Endurance Gaming engaged may result in VSync persisting on after disengaging Endurance Gaming during gameplay. A workaround is to relaunch the application.

 

Intel Core Processor (12th -14th Generation) Products:

 

• Dragon Quest X Online (DX9) may experience sporadic application crash during gameplay

Intel's graphics drivers are compatible with 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 and the following graphics cards or processors:

You can download the Intel 31.0.101.5592 WHQL driver from the official website. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Here is what is new in Files 3.5:

User interface improvements and more rounded corners: The Files app now has more rounded corners for additional user interface surfaces, which makes the UI more consistent. You can now spot them on the toolbar, content area, and preview pane. Dual Pane mode also has a more visible shadow for the active pane.

More info when hovering the cursor over items: Hover the cursor over a picture, and the tooltip will show you more information about the file. In addition to name, type, modify date, and size, it now displays image dimensions.

Open batch files in Notepad: Upon selecting a batch file, the Files app will place an "Edit in Notepad" button on the toolbar for some extra convenience, saving you a few clicks.

Network location widget: The Home page now has a dedicated widget for network drives.

Other changes in Files 3.5 include the ability to close the left pane in Dual Pane mode, a new OneDrive sync status indicator, and video durations in the Details pane. Finally, the app now features several improvements for crash reporting and metrics.

You can check out the full release notes for Files 3.5 on the official website. This file manager for Windows is available in the Microsoft Store for $8.99, but you can also get it for free from the official website. The Microsoft Store version is out there for those who want to support the developer and their hard work.

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A new update for Outlook is now available that Microsoft hopes will make things clearer for users. This update adds the word classic to the desktop version of Outlook. The version was named Outlook only until now.

Here is a screenshot of the old status quo:

If you have not paid attention to Microsoft's announcements, and most users have not, then it is confusing to see two Outlook apps installed on the device.

The idea behind the name change, likely, is to make it clearer to users that the desktop Outlook that some have used for decades is not the one that they should use. While classic Outlook won't be deprecated until at least 2029, it is a clear indication that it will go away at one point.

The new Outlook is the future, according to Microsoft. It is not liked universally though, as it lacks features that classic Outlook supports. It seems likely that Microsoft will remove "new" from its name at one point to complete the switcheroo.

As for Mail and Calendar, these will be crippled starting July (via Dr. Windows). The app will be set to read-only mode by Microsoft. In other words, you can't use it anymore to retrieve or send emails.

This is the first step to push Windows users to use the new Outlook version. It remains to be seen how well this works out for Microsoft. There are several other email programs out there, including classic Outlook but also the free Thunderbird, that could be used as replacements.

Not the first time Microsoft is making confusing changes

Microsoft has a habit of making confusing decisions. Remember the Teams fiasco? There was a Microsoft Teams for consumers and one for businesses. Problem was, it was never clear which would open when you clicked on links that were designed to open in Teams. They even had the same name in Start and an icon that was nearly identical as well.

Another example was the release of a new OneNote, which sat next to the classic OneNote app for a long period. The two apps, OneNote 2016 and OneNote for Windows 10, even had the same icons. Microsoft decided furthermore that it would be a great idea to rename OneNote 2016 to just OneNote.

Closing words

Windows users who do not need one or both of the Outlook apps may uninstall them. This is done with a right-click on them in the Start menu, or under Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Eventually, users of the desktop Outlook app, and Mail and Calendar, are forced to make a decision.

What about you? Do you use an email application?

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ExplainingComputers (1.02M subscribers)

June 23, 2024

Video length: 20m 54s

00:59 Edubuntu

02:57 Kubuntu

04:52 Lubuntu

06:23 Ubuntu Budgie

08:41 Ubuntu Cinnamon

10:14 Ubuntu Kylin

11:53 Ubuntu MATE

13:56 Ubuntu Studio

16:12 Ubunty Unity

18:14 Xubuntu

20:05 Wrap

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Let's start with a feature that won't be rolled out until November in preview form and will be generally available in December. The new Outlook for Windows app and Outlook for the web will add support for pinning folders:

Easily access your most-used folders by pinning them at the top of your Left Nav Bar in the New Outlook for Windows and Web. This feature streamlines navigation, ensuring your important folders are always within reach.

Another feature coming to the new Outlook for Windows app is due in August:

In the new Outlook for Windows, users can now open attachments of all types in their respective desktop app by double clicking them.

If you use the Word app on your iOS device, you will be able to open PDF documents in that app, and also convert them to Word files, sometime in July.

If you use Excel you will get two new Copilot themed features in July. One will let Excel users ask Copilot "for more specific charts and PivotTables, including specifying the x and y axis of charts." The other will let users access Copilot for summaries of columns in the app:

Copilot can analyze columns of text to give you summaries of the information. For example, Copilot will find the main themes in survey responses from open-ended questions.

Microsoft will add some Teams Rooms features features in August, One will be for both Windows and Mac versions:

Using people count information, the room video tile is dynamically re-sized in Gallery view. If there is only one user in the room, the video tile will be the same size as the remote participant tile. If there is more than one user in the room, the room video tile will be 4x the size of the remote participant tile. Admins will be available to turn on/off the people count capability.

The other upcoming feature is just for the Windows users of Teams for now:

When joining a meeting in a Microsoft Teams Room on Windows with a companion device, in-room participants will be grouped under the room node. Participants must join through Proximity Join with Microsoft Teams Rooms.

That's our look back at the last seven days on the Microsoft 365 roadmap site. You can return next Sunday as we will check out what new entries will be added in the coming week.

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According to the Linux Mint Community website’s ISO Images page, the Mint 22 Cinnamon edition ISO began testing 17 hours ago and is still being tested. Provided that this test passes, we should see a few other spins be tested and a couple of day later, the beta should be released. The beta testing will go on for a couple of weeks for bugs to be found be a final release is made available.

Linux Mint 22 is a new major version of Mint, the last version was 21.3 and based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS which is now two years old. Linux Mint 22 switches to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as its base so should feature newer software packages. This version, along with the successive point releases every six months, will be supported for five years until 2029.

Linux users have a reputation for distro hopping frequently but if you’ve got to that stage now and just want to settle on one distro and actually be productive then Linux Mint is a great choice because of how long each version is supported for.

When the beta gets released in the next week or so, we should have a list of new features to share with you directly from the Linux Mint team. There will be download links too in case you decide to try out the beta on your machine, however, it’s probably best to only install it on secondary machines in case there are any serious bugs. As mentioned before, the final release usually arrives after two weeks of beta testing.

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Microsoft, this month, quietly published quite a few guides as well as requirements on its official website. The most recent ones have been about Wi-Fi 7 and printer support.

On the other hand, the guides include ones on how to Save, Use and Manage Windows 11 Passkeys, how to enable TPM and VBS-powered Enhanced Security Sign-in (ESS), and one which talks about passwordless sign-ins using the Microsoft Account (MSA).

Speaking of MSA, Microsoft recently published a guide on how users can switch from a Local account to a Microsoft account on their Windows PC. After posting the guide though, the company also updated it to then include a separate section for migrating from a Microsoft Account to a Local account.

Microsoft published the guide despite clearly not liking it as it explained in a portion of the article why it still "recommends a Microsoft Account" over a local one. It wrote:

Important: Microsoft recommends using a Microsoft account, not a local account, when signing in to Windows. Using a Microsoft account in Windows allows for seamless integration of Microsoft services, enhanced security, and sync across devices, unlike a local account.

However, since then, this portion and the entire section which contained the guide for switching from an MSA to a Local account has been removed entirely. If you are wondering, here is what Microsoft had posted:

You can use the Settings app to switch your Microsoft account to a local account.

 

Important: Microsoft recommends using a Microsoft account, not a local account, when signing in to Windows. Using a Microsoft account in Windows allows for seamless integration of Microsoft services, enhanced security, and sync across devices, unlike a local account.

 

• In the Settings app on your Windows device, select Accounts > Your info, or use the following shortcut:

   

  Your info

   

• Select Sign in with a local account instead. You'll see this link only if you're using a Microsoft account

   

• Type the username, password, and password hint. The username must be different than any others on the device

   

• Select Next, then select Sign out and finish. Sign back in with your new local account

At the moment it is unclear if the previous version of this support page will back up again in the case Microsoft is making some changes to the guide. However, it would seem unusual as the guide itself is simple and comprehensive.

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Microsoft has not mentioned any of those features in the official release notes for build 22635.3790, but you can make them work using the ViVeTool app. @PhantomOfEarth has shared the IDs on his X account:

Here is how to turn on the new taskbar customization features in Windows 11 build 22635.3790:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. Switch Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile with the Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcut or by clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.

    

   
4. 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.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:48525682 and press Enter. This will turn on the shortened data option for the system clock.
6. Type vivetool /enable /id: 49082522 and press Enter. This will turn on the ability to hide the notification bell.
7. Restart your computer.

After your computer restarts, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors and tick the "Show shortened time and date" and "Show notifications bell icon" options.

In other taskbar/Start menu news, Microsoft announced a new Phone Link sidebar for the Start menu. It will show you information about your Android phone and provide additional links for some extra convenience.

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On Windows 11, you can take screenshots in multiple ways with different apps. However, the Snipping Tool is perhaps the best option for most users since it includes the tools to capture the screen in different ways, including the ability to screenshot a selected area of the screen.

Technically, using the Snipping Tool app, you have at least three ways to take a screenshot from a region. You can use the rectangle, freeform, and the option to screenshot a specific window.

In this how-to guide, I'll explain the steps to take screenshots but only from a selected area, not in full-screen, on Windows 11.

How to take screenshots from a region of the screen

The instructions below will help you take screenshots using the rectangle and freeform, as well as the option to screenshot a specific window.

Rectangle screenshot

To take a screenshot from a selected area on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Snipping Tool and click the top result to open the app.

• Quick tip: You can use the "Windows key + Shift + S" keyboard shortcut to bring up the app tools.

Speaking of UI, the Winpilot setup now integrates a GUI (graphical UI) for MSEdgeTweaker, a recently released unofficial script that allows disabling various stuff on Edge you may feel is bloat. Hence now, you can tweak and turn off Windows and Edge "bloat" all from one place.

Besides these, the developer of the Winpilot utility, Belim, also announced recently that the application was now a Win32 desktop app, moving away from being a WebView2 web app. The full changelog for Winpilot version 2024.6.21 is given below:

Winpilot has cut ties with WebView2 and is no longer a web app! More details here

• The Setup module now features a full-fledged GUI solution for TheBobPony's MSEdgeTweaker script, available at https://github.com/TheBobPony/MSEdgeTweaker
• Fixed a critical bug in the Setup/CoTweaker module where Clippy automatically set recommended settings with admin rights
• Seamless integration of several modules into the chat window, such as Apps Installer and Plugins (see the preview)
• The Refresh now also updates its recommendations
• Resolved several bugs in AI classes related to Copilot
• Clippy can now theoretically be replaced by other mascots like Copilot. Just place PNG files of your choice into the app/assets folder and configure it in your settings
• Numerous UI refinements

In a past update, Winpilot also added the ability to remove Recall, a somewhat controversial feature. Here is a rundown of the features Winpilot brings per the developer:

• Ask to add a device

• Ask to add Microsoft Account

• Ask to backup

• Ask to take a screenshot

• Ask to change your background image

• Ask for system (winver) or device information

• Ask to clean storage

• Ask to empty recycle bin

• Ask to show startup apps

• Ask for your IP address

• Ask to install apps

• Ask to uninstall apps

• Ask to uninstall Microsoft Software

• Ask to remove bloatware

• Intelligent "AI" driven bloatware detection

• Set up Privacy options

• Search for AI/Copilot features on Windows

• Turn off AI/Copilot features

• Ask to toggle dark/light theme

• Ask to snap a window

• Ask to run Windows updates

• Ask to run quick scan in Windows Security/Defender

• Ask to control options (like taskbar) directly. Turn widgets on and off, arrange taskbar icons, etc.

• Ask to reset system

• Ask to show available space

• Ask to show processes with high RAM usage

• Access to third party plugins and scripts, like Chris Titus app

• Chat with Microsoft Copilot

• Ask to restart Windows Explorer and Taskbar

• Ask to run vive tool feature configurations (static)

You can download Winpilot version 2024.6.21 at this link on the app's official GitHub repo. As always though, keep in mind that this is a third-party application.

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Here is the changelog:

Added Features:

 

• Introduced a ‘Learn More’ feature within the translation settings toggle.

 

Improved Reliability:

 

• Fixed an issue causing a crash when a local tab group was deleted.
• Resolved an issue that caused the browser to crash when the Fullscreen button was clicked on a YouTube video.
• Fixed an issue that caused the browser to crash when submitting feedback.

 

Changed Behavior:

 

• Resolved an issue where restarting the browser caused grouped tabs to be displayed as URLs instead of their respective tab names.
• Resolved an issue that caused a workspace to open with all tab groups unfolded, despite being closed in the previous session.
• Resolved an issue to ensure the expanded or collapsed state of a tab group is saved within a workspace.
• Fixed an issue where changing the tab orientation would leave the menu open but remove the active state from the Tab action menu button.
• Fixed an issue where the tab key did not allow for the selection of an item or folder downwards in the favorites hub.
• Mac: The problem where hovering over the Copilot icon caused all app icons to become unresponsive has been fixed on mac.

 

iOS:

 

• Resolved an issue where the user interface for the search results displayed through the search function was inaccurate on iOS.
• Resolved an issue resulting in the Read Aloud toolbar not displaying all its content fully on iOS.

 

Android:

 

• The issue of a toolbar appearing on the New Tab Page (NTP) on Android has been resolved.
• The issue where two translation columns appeared after using the ‘Find on page’ feature following a translation has been resolved.

You can download Microsoft Edge Dev for your system from the official Edge Insider website. If you already use Edge and you want to join the ranks of Insiders (you can run preview builds alongside the stable release), go to edge://settings/help and click "Learn more" under the Microsoft Edge Insider section.

Microsoft Edge 127 is expected in the Stable Channel on the week of July 27, 2024.

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In May, Neowin reported on an early version of the new GNOME OS installer. At the time, the installer was extremely rough and it didn’t have a proper name. As of the latest This Week in GNOME update, however, it’s now called GNOME Setup and has a completed language page, EULA page, and significant progress has been implemented in the state of disk selection flows.

The work on the disk selection pages isn’t complete yet but work has been done on detecting and warning about Intel Rapid Storage technology, various possible behaviour mockups for the disk selection pages have been created, and work has begun on reading the data from udisks but this isn’t reflected in the UI yet.

You can see a mockup of GNOME Setup below:

Aside from GNOME Setup improvements, libadwaita has been updated to support customisable accent colours. This means that all apps that leverage libadwaita will be able to inherit the system theme for better integration. The developers warn not to use the hardcoded blue colour in apps where the system accent colour would make more sense.

While libadwaita works with GNOME accent colours, it will also pick up accent colours when running supported apps in elementary OS or KDE.

Some other changes include improvements for Key Rack, a new secrets manager which aims to replace Sea Horse, and oo7 which is a new secret service provider that aims to replace gnome-keyring and libsecret.

The final change worth mentioning is that the Disk Usage Analyser has adopted some changes that affect the interface. The biggest change is that it has adopted a path bar similar to the Nautilus file manager.

If you're interested in finding out what else changed this week, head over to This Week in GNOME for a full rundown.

Let us know what you think of the changes in the comments below.

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Microsoft has allowed Android owners to link their mobile devices to Windows operating systems for a while now with the Phone Link app. Today, Microsoft is taking this a step further with a more integrated way to monitor your Android smartphone or tablet with Windows 11. This may also be the reason behind the high CPU usage bug.

As part of the new Windows 11 Insider Beta Channel build 22635.3790 (KB5039307), the company is testing out a new feature that integrates the features found in the separate Phone Link app to the Windows 11 Start Menu. Here is how the company describes it in its Windows Insider blog post:

We are gradually rolling out a new feature, which allows you to use your mobile device directly from the Start menu on your Windows 11 PCs, to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. With this feature, you can stay connected and effortlessly access your mobile device’s functionalities right from the Start menu.

 

Key features include:

 

• Effortless Connectivity: View your phone’s battery status and connectivity right from the Start menu on your Windows 11 PC.
• Unified Communication: Access your phone messages, calls, and photos directly from Start, ensuring you never miss an important update or moment.
• Continuity of Experience: Pick up where you left off with the latest activities from your phone, all seamlessly integrated into your Start menu experience.

 

This feature is gradually rolling out to the Windows Insider community and available only for Android users on Windows 11 who are already connected via Phone Link. iOS support will be coming at a later date. This experience can be managed via Settings > Personalization > Start (support link).

Members of the Windows 11 Insider Beta Channel who have the preview build 22635.3790 or higher, and who also have the Phone Link app version 1.24052.124.0 or higher can check out the new Android mobile device management features in the Start menu. You can send feedback to Microsoft on this feature in the Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Start Menu.

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The new build also has other improvements and changes too. The full changelog is given below:

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

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

[Phone Link]

 

• We are gradually rolling out a new feature, which allows you to use your mobile device directly from the Start menu on your Windows 11 PCs, to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. With this feature, you can stay connected and effortlessly access your mobile device’s functionalities right from the Start menu. See this blog post for more details.

[Copilot in Windows**]

 

• The evolved Copilot experience on Windows where it is pinned to the taskbar and behaves like an app is now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11. We updated last week’s Beta Channel flight blog post with more details.

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

[File Explorer]

 

• Addressed contrast issues of certain elements in File Explorer (left navigation pane, view pane/folder view, status bar buttons on the bottom right) in light, dark, and high contrast themes. E.g., adjustments to make it easier to see when a file or folder is selected.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

 

• We fixed the issue where Settings was crashing when trying to look at wi-fi properties.

 

[Settings]

 

• Fixed an issue where when attempting to install an optional feature via Settings > System > Option features, it might crash Settings in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build in the Beta Channel.

Known issues

[Start menu]

 

• [NEW] We are investigating an issue where the All apps list isn’t being read out by screen readers.
• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some apps to not be sorted correctly in the All apps list when using certain display languages.

 

[Voice Typing]

 

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing.

 

[Widgets]

 

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

 

• Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

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

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