Speaking of which, today, the company has published a new guide on how to switch from a Local account to a Microsoft Account on your Windows 11 or 10 PC.

In case you may not be familiar with it, a Microsoft account is essential for various Microsoft products and services such as a Windows PC, Xbox console, and services like Office, Outlook.com, OneDrive, Xbox Live, Microsoft 365, Family Safety, Skype, Bing, Microsoft Store, and MSN (Microsoft Network).

You have likely come across a Microsoft Account sign-in prompt during the OOBE (Out of Box Experience) when you set up your Windows PC for the first time. Remember when Elon Musk almost lost his mind (not literally!) when he could not get past it?

The guide published by Microsoft is given below:

When you initially setup your Windows device, you might have opted to use a local account instead of a Microsoft account.

 

If you want to switch your local account to a Microsoft account, follow these steps:

 

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

   

  Your info

   

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

   

• Follow the prompts to switch to your Microsoft account

You can check the support article here on Microsoft's official website.

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After confirming taskbar issues in Windows 11 KB5037853, Microsoft updated its official documentation one more time to clarify another bug in the latest non-security update. This time, it affects customers using Windows 11 inside virtual machines on ARM-based Macs using virtualization software like the recently updated Parallels Dekstop 19. After installing KB5037853, your Windows 11 virtual machine will not boot.

Here is how Microsoft describes the problem:

After installing this update, you might face issues during the install process. This issue is mainly observed on Windows virtual machine (Parallels Desktop) running on Arm based Mac devices. After installing this update, you might encounter an error during the system restart and the device might roll back to the previous update installed.

After automatically undoing the update, Windows 11 will show the following error message in Settings > Windows Update:

2024-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems (KB5037853) Installation Error - 0x800f0845.

There are no temporary ways to fix this problem, so the best course of action is not to install KB5037853. If you are already there, your virtual machine will automatically get rid of the update. KB5037853 will become mandatory for all users later this month once it is out as part of June 2023 Patch Tuesday updates with additional security fixes. For now, you can safely ignore it unless you want those fixes. Full release notes for KB5037853 are available here.

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Mads Kristensen, from the Visual Studio team at Microsoft, posted in his X that Microsoft is looking to make it possible to deliver updates for its main integrated development environment (IDE) via Windows Update to keep users secure and up to date automatically in the background.

According to a post on the Developer Community for Visual Studio website, the proposed update mechanism applies to all supported Visual Studio releases and LTSC channels of Visual Studio 2022, 2019, and 2017. However, it does not apply to preview versions.

Starting in August 2024, Visual Studio security updates will be delivered through the Microsoft Update (MU) system, which is designed to run in the background in a non-intrusive manner. This means that Visual Studio will automatically receive and install monthly security updates on any computer that has opted into “receiving updates from other Microsoft products”. We encourage you to enroll in this feature, as it’s by far the easiest way to stay updated and secure on a monthly cadence.

Microsoft understands that it is very easy to upset developers and Windows users in general (the recent Recall scandal proved that one more time), so it does not plan to enforce the new update mechanism. Instead of making it the new default, Microsoft will let developers decide how to receive Visual Studio updates.

Moreover, you will be able to separate Visual Studio updates from the "Receive updates for other Microsoft products" toggle in the Settings app so that the IDE remains unaffected by that option if the user or IT admin prefers it.

You can already preview the new update experience by configuring a specific registry key:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup\PreviewAutomaticUpdates (REG_DWORD) = 1

Opting out requires changing another key:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Setup\VSthroughMUUpdatesOptOut (REG_DWORD) = 1

Microsoft will replace this rather crude method with a much more user-friendly option in August.

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The update notification was uncovered in the original Windows 11 24H2 rollout announcement post, which was published for Release Preview insiders on May 22. Here is everything Microsoft has to say about it:

UPDATE 6/7: We are temporarily pausing the rollout of Windows 11, version 24H2 to the Release Preview Channel. We will resume the rollout in the coming weeks.

Again, there is no information on what is behind the decision to pause the rollout of Windows 11 24H2 to Insiders. It is unknown whether it is related to the Recall adjustments Microsoft announced yesterday. Until the latest Canary and Dev builds, it was only possible to make Recall work on Release Preview builds. For now, we can only speculate what is the culprit here.

When asked about the update, Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Insider team, said there is nothing to share:

Windows 11 version 24H2 is expected in the Stable Channel later this year. This big feature update will deliver quite a lot of new features and improvements, such as HDR wallpaper support, Wi-Fi 7 support, Sudo for Windows, Rust in the Windows Kernel, the much-needed refresh button for the Wi-Fi flyout, and more.

Recall should also be a part of the update, but officially, it only works on the Copilot+ PCs, which are launching on June 18, 2024. However, if you already have an ARM-powered Windows computer with Windows 11 build 26100.712, you can try enabling Recall using this tool.

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Edge currently has two AI-generated Workspaces options, one specifically for Bing and the other presumably for other search engines, as you can see from the flags below. Microsoft started testing these in December last year (via Leopeva64 on X😞

In addition, Microsoft has also added that Edge Workspaces does not store users' search queries and that the feature has been developed following Microsoft’s Responsible AI (RAI) guidelines.

For those curious, Workspaces was added to Edge in October of 2022 for the enterprise, and later in April 2023, it opened up to consumers as a preview.

Here is what Microsoft has to say about Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces and the details surrounding it:

Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces

 

Edge Workspaces can be generated using AI through Bing.com. When you perform a web search on Bing.com, you might see an option to create a new Edge Workspace. Edge will use your search query to suggest relevant tab groups and websites. Microsoft Edge Workspaces does not store your search query.

 

What are Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces?

 

If you’re signed into Edge and perform a web search on Bing.com, you might see a widget on the Bing search page with an option to create a new Edge Workspace if your topic is on the limited list of queries. The limited set of queries includes Do-It-Yourself, Travel, Recipes, and Real Estate. If you choose to open the workspace, a new workspace window is generated for your topic with AI-generated relevant tabs automatically opened and organized into tab groups. Edge Workspaces does not store your search query. Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces are being developed in accordance with Microsoft’s Responsible AI (RAI) guidelines and tested to adhere to Microsoft RAI policies and RAI best practices.

 

What is the intended use for Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces?

 

AI-generated Edge Workspaces are a new way for you to jumpstart a project directly from a Bing search. The AI-generated workspace is populated with tabs and organized by tab groups that are relevant to the search topic.

 

What are the limitations of Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces and how I minimize them?

 

Currently, there is a limited list of search queries that, when typed into Bing search, will give you the option to create an AI-generated workspace. Because this is a limited list, queries outside the scope, such as inappropriate search terms, won’t trigger this feature. A limitation with having a fixed set of queries is that any query not in the set won't have an option to make a workspace. Additionally, you cannot generate more AI curated tabs to your workspace once it is created, although you can add tabs manually. Even though the queries are pre-screened, there is still a slight chance that the results produced may not match the topic.

 

What operational factors and settings allow for effective and responsible use of Bing AI-generated Edge Workspaces?

 

There is an explicit list of included search queries, and AI-generated workspaces will only be created for those queries. This raises the chance that the workspaces created from these are helpful and relevant to the query, while ensuring that any harmful queries do not generate workspaces.

You can find the support page here on Microsoft's official website.

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This immutable version of Ubuntu also delivers great security. It encapsulates every system component within containers, providing strict kernel-enforced confinement, seamless over-the-air updates, and failsafe rollbacks. Since lack of security is an eternal IoT problem, this alone makes Ubuntu Core 24 worth considering.

Canonical also has reduced the factory installation time required per device. The company managed this by enabling air-gapped factory installations to meet the demands of accelerated rollouts and secure global supply chains.

Ubuntu Core 24 also comes with validation sets -- signed documents that specify which applications and versions should be installed together. These validation sets can be updated over the air, ensuring that device updates are constrained to tested app combinations.

Because Ubuntu Core now supports Matter 1.3 -- the new smart-home IoT standard -- it becomes easier than ever to create interoperable home appliances. The standard now supports devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers, ovens, robotic vacuums, and electric vehicle chargers.

Ubuntu Core provides a secure and reliable foundation for running smart-home applications that are responsible not only for home appliances but also for critical infrastructure powering smart door locks, garage doors, and security systems.

The Ubuntu Core and Matter aren't just for IoT manufacturers, though. Ubuntu Core 24 is fully compatible with Raspberry Pi devices, including the latest Raspberry Pi 5. This compatibility extends to various models such as the Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4, and Compute Module 4 (CM4). For example, Canonical shows how to use Ubuntu Core to turn your Raspberry Pi into a Matter lighting device.

For robotics developers, Ubuntu Core 24 delivers production-ready integrations for deploying solutions with the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS). Canonical has made ROS foundational snaps available for modular deployments, which are maintained by Canonical, and they include sets of common ROS packages. This modular approach enhances security through strict application confinement and streamlines the deployment of ROS applications.

Dominik Nowak, co-founder and CEO of Husarion, praised the new features: "With Ubuntu Core powering our Panther robot, we ensure reliability and security, which are critical in today's legislative landscape. The ROS foundational snaps enhance security through strict application confinement and streamline the deployment of ROS applications."

The new Ubuntu Core also comes with improved GPU integration, making it an ideal platform for AI on IoT applications. Developers can now leverage the GPU interface to embed a variety of applications, from AI models running inference at the edge to graphics-intensive products. This release enhances hardware compatibility through updated graphics drivers and optimizes resource utilization via a shared userspace environment.

Canonical founder and CEO Mark Shuttleworth said, "In Ubuntu Core 24, we are excited to bring the full AI stack with a real-time kernel to the edge, enabling mission-critical decision-making for industrial, automotive, and security-sensitive embedded solutions."

Right now, AI is getting all the headlines. Just as worthy of attention, from where I sit, is how Ubuntu Core and other IoT Linux distributions, such as Zephyr, have the potential to revolutionize home IoT applications. They both make IoT devices far more secure and put the power of innovation into the hands of home users.

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

 

[General]

 

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

As we mentioned on Thursday, members of the Dev and Canary channels can also check out a new version of the Shipping Tool app. Here is what is included in that update:

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2405.24.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces automatic save for screen recordings. This feature works the same as automatic save for screenshots. Your recordings will automatically be saved to Screen Recordings folder (inside your Videos folder). You can choose to turn this off in Snipping Tool settings.

Just a reminder: Dev Channel members can choose to toggle gradual updates for their Windows 11 builds. Here's an explanation of how that works:

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.

You can check out the full blog post here. Microsoft is also releasing a new Windows 11 build for Insider members in the Beta Channel today.

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

Narrator users can now use voice access to dictate text hands-free

 

Narrator users can start using voice access in Windows 11 to dictate text with voice and hear what is dictated. In addition, you can also use voice access to give Narrator commands. For example, “Turn on Narrator,” “speak faster,” “read selection,” “read next line,” etc.

 

To know the entire list of Narrator commands supported with voice access, click help icon (?) on the voice access bar, select “View all commands” and choose “Narrator commands.”

 

What will work:

 

• Start and set up voice access which includes downloading a speech model.
• Read a list of voice access commands and Narrator commands from voice access help menu.
• Changing voice access microphone state.
• Dictating text with voice and hearing back what was dictated.

 

Tips:

 

• If you don’t use headphones for listening to the screen reader, the audio output from the screen reader may get picked up by voice access microphone, leading to unwanted behavior.

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

 

Auto Restart for Voice Access & New Voice Access Command for Windows Search

 

We are introducing auto restart for voice access in Windows 11. This feature ensures that voice access will automatically restart if it encounters any issues so that individuals with limited mobility can get back to using voice access as quickly as possible. Customers will no longer need to rely on alternative assistive technologies or assistance from others to reactivate voice access. Should voice access automatically restart due to a crash, we are making it easier to report those crashes once voice access restarts so the team can investigate and work on fixes.

 

We are introducing a new command for searching directly with Windows search. Users can now say the command Search “Entity”; Search Windows for “Entity”; or Search for “Entity” to search for their desired application or file in Windows (“Entity” is replaced with whatever application or file you want to search.)

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

 

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

 

[Search on the Taskbar]

 

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

New option to share a local file highlighted in a red box in the search results from the search box on the taskbar.

 

[Windows Share]

 

• If you are in China and turn on nearby sharing, you will receive a notification asking to allow turning on Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth should these settings be off as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are required to be enabled for nearby sharing to work.

 

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

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue where when pressing WIN + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
• Fixed an issue which was causing CTRL + F to sometimes not start a search in File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost sometimes when doing Shift + Tab in File Explorer.

 

Known issues

 

[General]

 

• We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
• We’re investigating an issue where Settings is crashing when trying to look at Wi-Fi properties.

 

[Start menu]

 

• [NEW] Clicking your profile icon on the Start menu and choosing “Change account settings” will not open account settings. Should you need to adjust your account settings, you can navigate directly to them via Settings > Accounts.

 

[Settings]

 

• [NEW] Attempting to install an optional feature via Settings > System > Option features may crash Settings. Should you need to install an optional feature, please do so before taking the update to Build 22635.3720.

 

[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.

 

Introducing Suggested Replies in Phone Link for Android

 

We’re excited to announce the addition of a new feature to the Phone Link app for Android users: Suggested Replies. Powered by our cloud-based intelligent suggestion model, this feature is designed to make your messaging experience seamless and more efficient.

 

Suggested Replies as shown in Phone Link when replying to a message.

 

With Suggested Replies, you’ll see 3 contextually relevant reply bubbles to choose from when you receive a message. The feature is turned on by default, so you can start using it right away. Simply select a suggested reply and it’ll be sent immediately.

 

Suggested Replies are beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders across all channels with Phone Link version 1.24051.98 and higher.

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.

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

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Microsoft has not mentioned that in the official release notes for build 26231, but there is a new profile picture editor with a few AI-powered effects. Like the current "Your info" section in the Settings app, the reworked editor lets you take a photo, choose an existing one, and remove your current image. What is new is the ability to apply additional effects, such as background blur, portrait lighting, and upscaling. In addition, there are a few built-in filters for basic editing.

Image credit: PhantomOfEarth on X

If your computer runs the latest Windows 11 Canary Channel build and you want to try the new profile picture editor, here is how to turn it on using the ViVeTool app (remember to back up important data in case something goes sideways):

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:45189370,47364920 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.
7. Go to Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Keep in mind that changing the profile picture in Windows 11 requires system activation.

Speaking of profile pictures, Windows 11 and 10 were recently experiencing an odd bug where attempting to change the profile picture for an offline account resulted in an 0x80070502 error. Microsoft fixed that bug in Windows 11, but for Windows 10 users, it is still there.

Credit for the finding goes to @PhantomOfEarth on X.

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For starters, Recall is now a clear opt-in feature. During the onboarding experience (the initial setup or OOBE), Windows 11 will ask whether you want Recall on or off. The best part is there are seemingly no tricky words or caveats: just two plain buttons with “No” and “Yes.” This should ensure there will be no customers unaware of their PCs screenshotting almost everything that is happening on their screens.

The description also makes it clear that Windows will be taking snapshots of your screen every few seconds. Again, for transparency and clear understanding.

Next, Windows 11 will require Windows Hello authentication to enable Recall and review your timeline.

Finally, there will be additional protection mechanisms to prevent someone from sniffing your entire Recall database. Windows 11 will use just-in-time encryption, ensuring snapshots and the search index database are decrypted only after you authenticate with Windows Hello and its enhanced security measures.

In line with Microsoft’s SFI principles, before the preview release of Recall to customers, we are taking steps to increase data protection. Copilot+ PCs will launch with “just in time” decryption protected by Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS), so Recall snapshots will only be decrypted and accessible when the user authenticates. This gives an additional layer of protection to Recall data in addition to other default enabled Window Security features like SmartScreen and Defender which use advanced AI techniques to help prevent malware from accessing data like Recall.

Microsoft also reminded customers about the existing privacy measures it implemented, such as storing snapshots locally and not sharing them with anybody (even with Microsoft), notifying the user when Windows 11 takes a snapshot, DRM and InPrivate support, the ability to filter, pause, and delete what was saved, and more.

You can find more about the latest changes in the official blog post.

Do you think these changes are enough to regain the lost trust in Recall? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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There is a much lesser-known alternative called NanaBox which was released in 2022, and the utility has finally received TPM 2.0 support. In contrast, VirtualBox and VMware started having solutions in 2021 itself, right after the release of Windows 11. To be fair though, NanaBox was only released in July of 2022 but it did still take quite a lot of time for TPM to go from the known issues to the list of new features.

Speaking of known issues, there are still plenty of them that remain. The full changelog for the latest version of NanaBox, 1.2 Update 2 (1.2.797.0), is given below:

This update introduces the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support for virtual machines in Windows Server 2022 or later Host OS. (Tested under Windows 11 Version 24H2.).

 

Known issues

 

• Due to Host Compute System API and Host Compute Network API limitations, there are some limitations from them also applied to NanaBox:
  • NanaBox only supports create UEFI Class 3 or UEFI without CSM or Hyper-V Gen 2 virtual machines.
  • NanaBox needs elevated privilege via UAC.
  • The automatic switch between Enhanced Session Mode and Basic Session Mode won't be implemented.
  • You shouldn't put your virtual machine configuration file at the root of the drive, or you will meet the access denied error.
• Due to the Microsoft Store Licensing API implementation, you will find NanaBox will try to access the Internet beginning with NanaBox 1.2 because NanaBox needs to use that to check the Sponsor Edition addon licensing status.
• For optimizing the user experience, NanaBox will only check the Sponsor Edition addon licensing status at the first time your launch NanaBox. You can click the sponsor button if you want to refresh the status after you have purchased or redeemed the Sponsor Edition addon.

 

Release Notes

 

• Introduce the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support for virtual machines in Windows Server 2022 or later Host OS. (Tested under Windows 11 Version 24H2.)
• Backport the documentation changes from M2Team/NanaZip#435. (Thanks to sirredbeard.)

If you wish to try the application, you can download it from here on its official GitHub repo.

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Despite promising privacy, things escalated quickly and turned into a true PR nightmare for Microsoft.

But where Microsoft fails, third-party developers thrive. There are already third-party alternatives to Recall that let you try the idea on your existing hardware. OpenRecall is one such option, which promises the same while being open-source and free for everyone.

Like Recall, OpenRecall stores everything you do with your computer by taking snapshots (glorified screenshots with extra bits of data), which are then processed, OCRed, and structured for quick search. You can scroll stored snapshots and get back to any captured moment.

OpenRecall captures your digital history through regularly taken snapshots, which are essentially screenshots. The text and images within these screenshots are analyzed and made searchable, allowing you to quickly find specific information by typing relevant keywords into OpenRecall. You can also manually scroll back through your history to revisit past activities.

What makes OpenRecall stand out is that it is fully open-source and cross-platform so that you can use it on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Also, it does not require new hardware and works on existing computers without fancy neural processing units (NPUs).

Developers also claim that the project is privacy-focused, but this is where you should start questioning things. Although data is stored and processed locally, there is no option (yet) to password-protect and encrypt it. Therefore, you should accept the potential risks of storing everything you do on your computer using tools made by third-party developers (even though open-source). In a nutshell, the same concerns and questions that customers ask Microsoft about Recall still apply to OpenRecall.

If you are curious to give OpenRecall a try, head to its GitHub repository and check it out.

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When Microsoft named its new Windows feature Recall, the company intended the word to refer to a kind of perfect, AI-enabled memory for your device. Today, the other, unintended definition of “recall”—a company's admission that a product is too dangerous or defective to be left on the market in its current form—seems more appropriate.

On Friday, Microsoft announced that it would be making multiple dramatic changes to its rollout of its Recall feature, making it an opt-in feature in the Copilot+ compatible versions of Windows where it had previously been turned on by default, and introducing new security measures designed to better keep data encrypted and require authentication to access Recall's stored data.

“We are updating the set-up experience of Copilot+ PCs to give people a clearer choice to opt-in to saving snapshots using Recall,” reads a blog post from Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Windows and devices. “If you don’t proactively choose to turn it on, it will be off by default.”

The changes come amid a mounting barrage of criticism from the security and privacy community, which has described Recall—which silently stores a screenshot of the user's activity every five seconds as fodder for AI analysis—as a gift to hackers: essentially unrequested, preinstalled spyware built into new Windows computers.

In the preview versions of Recall, that screenshot data, complete with the user's every bank login, password, and porn site visit would have been indefinitely collected on the user's machine by default. And though that highly sensitive data is stored locally on the user's machine and not uploaded to the cloud, cybersecurity experts have warned that it all remains accessible to any hacker who so much as gains a temporary foothold on a user's Recall-enabled device, giving them a long-term panopticon view of the victim's digital life.

"It makes your security very fragile,” as Dave Aitel, a former NSA hacker and founder of security firm Immunity, described it—more charitably than some others—to WIRED earlier this week. “Anyone who penetrates your computer for even a second can get your whole history. Which is not something people want.”

In addition to making Recall an opt-in feature, Microsoft’s Davuluri also writes that the company will make changes to better safeguard the data Recall collects and more closely police who can turn it on, requiring that users prove their identity via its Microsoft Hello authentication function any time they either enable Recall or access its data, which can require a PIN or biometric check of the user’s face or thumbprint. Davuluri says Recall’s data will remain encrypted in storage until the user authenticates.

All of that is a “great improvement,” says Jake Williams, another former NSA hacker who now serves as VP of R&D at the cybersecurity consultancy Hunter Strategy, where he says he's been asked by some of the firm's clients to test Recall's security before they add Microsoft devices that use it to their networks. But Williams still sees serious risks in Recall, even in its latest form.

Many users will turn on Recall, he points out, partly due to Microsoft’s high-profile marketing of the feature. And when they do, they’ll still face plenty of unresolved privacy problems, from domestic abusers that often demand partners give up their PINs to subpoenas or lawsuits that compel them to turn over their historical data. “Satya Nadella has been out there talking about how this is a game changer and the solution to all problems,” Williams says, referring to Microsoft's CEO. “If customers turn it on, there’s still a huge threat of legal discovery. I can’t imagine a corporate legal team that’s ready to accept the risk of all of a user’s actions being turned over in discovery.”

For Microsoft, the Recall rollback comes in the midst of an embarrassing string of cybersecurity incidents and breaches—including a leak of terabytes of its customers' data and a shocking penetration of government email accounts enabled by a cascading series of Microsoft security slipups—that have grown so problematic as to become a sticking point given its uniquely close relationship with the US government.

Those scandals have escalated to the degree that Microsoft's Nadella issued a memo just last month declaring that Microsoft would make security its first priority in any business decision. “If you’re faced with the trade-off between security and another priority, your answer is clear: Do security,” Nadella's memo read (emphasis his). “In some cases, this will mean prioritizing security above other things we do, such as releasing new features or providing ongoing support for legacy systems.”

By all appearances, Microsoft's rollout of Recall—even after today's announcement—displays the opposite approach, and one that seems more in line with business as usual in Redmond: Announce a feature, get pummeled for its glaring security failures, then belatedly scramble to control the damage.

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After acquiring VMware, Broadcom swiftly enacted widespread changes that resulted in strong public backlash. A new survey of 300 director-level IT workers at companies that are customers of North American VMware provides insight into the customer reaction to Broadcom's overhaul.

The survey released Thursday doesn't provide feedback from every VMware customer, but it's the first time we've seen responses from IT decision-makers working for companies paying for VMware products. It echos concerns expressed at the announcement of some of Broadcom's more controversial changes to VMware, like the end of perpetual licenses and growing costs.

CloudBolt Software commissioned Wakefield Research, a market research agency, to run the study from May 9 through May 23. The "CloudBolt Industry Insights Reality Report: VMware Acquisition Aftermath" includes responses from workers at 150 companies with fewer than 1,000 workers and 150 companies with more than 1,000 workers. Survey respondents were invited via email and took the survey online, with the report authors writing that results are subject to sampling variation of ±5.7 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Notably, Amazon Web Services (AWS) commissioned the report in partnership with CloudBolt. AWS's partnership with VMware hit a road bump last month when Broadcom stopped allowing AWS to resell the VMware Cloud on AWS offering—a move that AWS said "disappointed it." Kyle Campos, CloudBolt CTPO, told Ars Technica that the full extent to which AWS was involved in this report was helping underwrite the cost of research. But you can see why AWS would have interest in customer dissatisfaction with VMware.

Widespread worry

Every person surveyed said that they expect VMware prices to rise under Broadcom. In a March "User Group Town Hall," attendees complained about “price rises of 500 and 600 percent,” according to The Register. We heard in February from ServeTheHome that "smaller" cloud service providers were claiming to see costs grow tenfold. In this week's survey, 73 percent of respondents said they expect VMware prices to more than double. Twelve percent of respondents expect a price hike of 301 to 500 percent. Only 1 percent anticipate price hikes of 501 to 1,000 percent.

“At this juncture post-acquisition, most larger enterprises seem to have a clear understanding of how their next procurement cycle with Broadcom will be impacted from a pricing and packaging standpoint,” the report noted.

Further, 95 percent of survey respondents said they view Broadcom buying VMware as disruptive to their IT strategy, with 46 percent considering it extremely or very disruptive.

Widespread concerns about cost and IT strategy help explain why 99 percent of the 300 respondents said they are concerned about Broadcom owning VMware, with 46 percent being "very concerned" and 30 percent "extremely concerned."

Broadcom didn't respond to Ars' request for comment.

Not jumping ship yet

Despite widespread anxiety over Broadcom's VMware, most of the respondents said they will likely stay with VMware either partially (43 percent of respondents) or fully (40 percent). A smaller percentage of respondents said they would move more workloads to the public cloud (38 percent) or a different hypervisor (34 percent) or move entirely to the public cloud (33 percent). This is with 69 percent of respondents having at least one contract expiring with VMware within the next 12 months.

Many companies have already migrated easy-to-move workloads to the public cloud, CloudBolt's Campos said in a statement. For many firms surveyed, what's left in the data center "is a mixture of workloads requiring significant modernization or compliance bound to the data center," including infrastructure components that have been in place for decades. Campos noted that many mission-critical workloads remain in the data center, and moving them is "daunting with unclear ROI."

"The emotional shock has started to metabolize inside of the Broadcom customer base, but it's metabolized in the form of strong commitment to mitigating the negative impacts of the Broadcom VMware acquisition," Campos told Ars Technica.

Resistance to ditching VMware reflects how "embedded" VMware is within customer infrastructures, the CloudBolt exec told Ars, adding:

In many cases, the teams responsible for purchasing, implementing, and operating VMware have never even considered an alternative prior to this acquisition; it's the only operating reality they know and they are used to buying out of this problem.

Top reasons cited for considering abandoning VMware partially or totally were uncertainty about Broadcom's plans, concerns about support quality under Broadcom, and changes to relationships with channel partners (each named by 36 percent of respondents).

Following closely was the shift to subscription licensing (34 percent), expected price bumps (33 percent), and personal negative experiences with Broadcom (33 percent). Broadcom's history with big buys like Symantec and CA Technologies also has 32 percent of people surveyed considering leaving VMware.

Although many firms seem to be weighing their options before potentially leaving VMware, Campos warned that Broadcom could see backlash continue "for months and even years to come," considering the areas of concern cited in the survey and how all VMware offerings are near-equal candidates for eventual nixing.

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One of the key talking points of the benchmark was how it was developed through an industry-wide collaboration such that all major browser engines like Blink/V8, Gecko/SpiderMonkey, and WebKit/JavaScriptCore would be supported. To make it possible, the likes of Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Intel, and Apple were all involved.

Later on, an independent study showed why such a benchmark was necessary as various modern-day websites were tested on different Arm-based SoCs with varying power, and even an 8-core CPU was seen failing to load some large and heavy sites.

Hardware capabilities aside benchmarks like these also help browser companies make optimizations and improve the performance of their software and Google says it has done just that.

While Speedometer 3.0 was released just this year, Google adds that its development started back in May of 2022, and ever since, the company has been using the data to improve its performance. Google claims a 72% improvement in performance over this near-two year period, starting from Chrome version 101 all the way up to Chrome 127.

On a blog post on the Chromium website, it writes:

.. by carefully tracking its recent performance over time as the updated benchmark was being developed. Since the inception of Speedometer 3 in May 2022, we've driven a 72% increase in Chrome’s Speedometer score - translating into performance gains for our users

 

[...]

 

By looking at the workloads in Speedometer and in which functions Chrome was spending the most time, we were able to make targeted optimizations to those functions that each drove an increase in Chrome’s score.

Google's claims are in fact correct. Recently when reviewing a TeamGroup DDR5-7600 RGB memory kit, we noted that Chrome was consistently the fastest browser against Microsoft's Edge and Mozilla's Firefox, and this is despite Edge being based on the same engine as Chrome. You can check out the review here.

Aside from workload-specific optimizations, Google says it also improved V8 code tiering and garbage collection. You can find more technical details here on Chromium's official blog.

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In today's Windows blog that announced the new Canary Channel Insider build, Microsoft added a paragraph and screenshot of the new Snipping Tool update:

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2405.24.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces automatic save for screen recordings. This feature works the same as automatic save for screenshots. Your recordings will automatically be saved to Screen Recordings folder (inside your Videos folder). You can choose to turn this off in Snipping Tool settings.

 

Snipping Tool showing new banner for screen recordings now automatically being saved to your Screen Recordings folder.

As with Windows 11 builds for Insider members, Canary and Dev Insiders are asked to provide feedback for this new version of the Snipping Tool in the Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool. There's no word on when this new version will become generally available for all Windows 11 users.

Microsoft has been quite busy adding new features to its Snipping Tool app for Insiders to try out. Just in the last few months, it has added support for adding shapes to screenshot captures. In May, it added a way for the app to detect any QR codes that might appear in your screenshots so you can access that link on your PC. It also added support for putting emojis on any screenshots.

Most recently, the Snipping Tool app was updated so it could use the Bing search engine to perform a visual search for images that you might have in your screenshot that was generated in the app.

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Here is the changelog;

What’s new with Build 26231

 

Narrator users can now use voice access to dictate text hands-free

 

Narrator users can start using voice access in Windows 11 to dictate text with voice and hear what is dictated. In addition, you can also use voice access to give Narrator commands. For example, “Turn on Narrator,” “speak faster,” “read selection,” “read next line,” etc.

 

To know the entire list of Narrator commands supported with voice access, click help icon (?) on the voice access bar, select “View all commands” and choose “Narrator commands.”

 

What will work:

 

• Start and set up voice access which includes downloading a speech model.
• Read a list of voice access commands and Narrator commands from voice access help menu.
• Changing voice access microphone state.
• Dictating text with voice and hearing back what was dictated.

 

Tips:

 

If you don’t use headphones for listening to the screen reader, the audio output from the screen reader may get picked up by voice access microphone, leading to unwanted behavior.

 

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

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

 

Auto Restart for Voice Access & New Voice Access Command for Windows Search

 

We are introducing auto restart for voice access in Windows 11. This feature ensures that voice access will automatically restart if it encounters any issues so that individuals with limited mobility can get back to using voice access as quickly as possible. Customers will no longer need to rely on alternative assistive technologies or assistance from others to reactivate voice access. Should voice access automatically restart due to a crash, we are making it easier to report those crashes once voice access restarts so the team can investigate and work on fixes.

 

We are introducing a new command for searching directly with Windows search. Users can now say the command Search “Entity”; Search Windows for “Entity”; or Search for “Entity” to search for their desired application or file in Windows (“Entity” is replaced with whatever application or file you want to search.)

 

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

 

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

 

Changes and Improvements

 

[Windows Share]

 

We are beginning to roll out the ability to copy files from the Windows share window. Just click the new copy button.

 

New copy button for copying files in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box

 

[Settings]

 

The change that updates the visuals for the “Rename your PC” and “Change date and time” dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals that began rolling out with Build 26217 should now be available to everyone in the Canary Channel.

 

Rename your PC dialog with refreshed design to match the Windows 11 visuals.

 

Fixes

 

[File Explorer]

 

• As some Insiders have noticed, we’ve done some work to improve how the new icon labels in the context menu display for non-English languages.

 

[Task Manager]

 

• Updated the units (from MHz to MT/s) for DDR speed.
• Fixed an issue where the Safely Remove Hardware option for ejecting USB devices wouldn’t work if Task Manager was open.
• Did some work to ensure Task Manager releases process handles quickly when terminating processes.
• Made some more improvements to help with Task Manager reliability.
• We have improved the performance when changing the sort order.
• Made multiple improvements to overall accessibility of Task Manager, including improving keyboard focus, tab navigation, text scaling, names of items read out by screen readers, and more.
• We made it a little easier to resize Task Manager when trying to resize by grabbing the top of the window.

 

Known issues

 

[General]

 

• [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

You can check out the full blog post here.

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If you are running Ubuntu 23.10, you need to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by July 11, 2024, if you want to continue receiving security updates. While Linux is a pretty secure operating system, it’s still not a good idea to use an OS that is no longer receiving security patches.

While you’ll probably be alright just after security updates end, the longer you wait the more vulnerable your system will become. Ubuntu upgrades are straightforward, fast, and hassle-free so it’s best to do a backup of your data now and get updated.

What’s nice about Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is that it’s supported for five years so if you don’t want to upgrade again soon, you don’t need to. You could even skip Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and wait for Ubuntu 28.04 LTS in 2028 before upgrading if you like.

As an interim release, Ubuntu 23.10 (Mantic Minotaur) is only supported for nine months in contrast to five years for long-term releases. Ubuntu 23.10 came out on October 12, 2023, so nine months put the end of life date at July 11.

Ubuntu 23.10 acted as a foundation version for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. It introduced the new App Center to make it easier to find new apps. It also had preview support for hardware-backed full-disk encryption. The new App Center was designed to be fast, intuitive, and user-friendly with support for both snap and deb package formats. The new App Center also grabbed rich metadata from the Canonical Snap Store to show more information about apps users search for.

Canonical also made a security change in that update so that the kernel would support an additional mode that forces programs to use an AppArmor Profile where they use unprivileged user namespaces. This helped to address significant security vulnerabilities.

To upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, just open the Update Manager and you should see a message telling you to upgrade. You can read more here.

Source: Ubuntu

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When will it stop raining?

Remember the old Star Trek episode titled “The Trouble with Tribbles?” Well, we’ve got trouble with dribbles, leading me to raise the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

Changes are coming to Windows, both 10 and 11, but not necessarily to everyone. I find this to be the most annoying part of recent updates to Windows. This “you may see it; you may not see it” is part of nearly all recent changes. If you want to trigger this after installing the June updates, you’ll just have to be patient.

The June update for Windows 10 adds a new Snipping Tool feature. It is available when you link your Android mobile device to your PC. When you take a photo or screenshot on your Android device, a dialog on your PC prompts you to open Snipping Tool. To turn on this experience, go to Settings | Mobile devices. Choose to allow your PC to access your mobile devices, and select Manage devices. Your PC will get a Cross Device Experience Host update in Microsoft Store, which is needed to allow this feature to work. Finally, use the Add device option to link your Android phone.

This is definitely a case of “you may or may not” see this change to your machine.

The June security updates include many changes that will gradually roll out. For example, all the following will be dribbled to you:

Needless to say, that’s a lot of dribbles.

Fasten your seatbelts: Artificial intelligence is expected to come to Apple’s Siri next week. The Worldwide Developers Conference for Apple takes place early next week, and iOS 18 is expected to include enhancements. There is a rumored business partnership with Chat GPT and Apple. We’ll have more details once the actual release is out. I’ll be on the lookout to see whether I’ll need to update my iPhone 14 Pro Max or can continue to use it for my daily needs. It will also be a good time for you to review your tablet needs and decide whether Apple can entice you to update.

Reminder: If you are running Windows 11 Professional or Home editions, you must plan to upgrade your machine to Windows 11 23H2. As I’ve mentioned before, I recommend using the enablement package to upgrade from Windows 11 22H2 to 23H2. You can script it and easily trigger the update to 23H2, or you can review your patching tools and your options to update Windows 11 22H2 Professional. Keep in mind that 22H2 is supported only for Professional and Home PCs until October. This does not apply to Enterprise or Education editions.

Resources

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With the latest update, Parallels fixed problems with installing Windows 11, specific app compatibility issues, blue screens of death when installing LabVIEW, and more. Also, Parallels Desktop 19.4.0 introduces a new method to run Microsoft SQL Server.

Here is the list of Windows 11-specific fixes:

• Brings the redesigned version of shared Mac folders which are now symlinks, which act like pointers to the files in your Mac folders while still appearing to be located on the Windows’s local disk. To learn more, read our KB article here.

• Fixes the issue that prevented NinjaTrader from starting correctly due to a shared folder issue.

• Fixes the issue that prevented Mathematica and other apps from running correctly due to a shared folder issue.

• Fixes the issue that prevented a Windows 11 virtual machine from installing correctly if the user attempted to open a .exe file on their Mac during the installation process.

• Fixes the issue that triggered Windows crash (BSOD) when installing LabVIEW in Windows 11 virtual machines running on Apple Silicon Macs.

• Fixes the issue of right-click context menus disappearing in Coherence view mode for apps like Delphi IDE, Solidworks, etc.

And here are general fixes in Parallels Desktop 19.4.0:

• Adds OS badge to app icons displayed in macOS Spotlight search results, a helpful visual cue that tells you exactly which app you are about to launch.
• Fixes the issue of USB devices not showing up correctly in virtual machines when connected to USB 2.0 ports. The fix requires macOS 14.5 beta or newer installed on your Mac.
• Introduces a new way to run Microsoft SQL Server for your development or learning needs. To learn more, read our KB article here.

Parallels Desktop 19.4.0 is now available as a free update for existing users. The app costs $99 per year, and you can try it for free for 14 days.

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Aside from that, the company has also issued another update to a support article today where it has published three important guides about using Passkeys. The feature was introduced in Windows 11 with version 23H2.

An entire new section has been added to the document which briefly describes how passkeys help users go passwordless and also how to Save, Use, and Manage them. An additional FAQ section has also been added.

Save passkeys on Windows 11:

• Open a website or app that supports passkeys

• Create a passkey from your account settings

• Choose where to save the passkey. By default, Windows offers to save the passkey locally if you're using Windows Hello. If you select the option Use another device, you can choose to save the passkey in one of the following locations:

   

  • This Windows device: the passkey is saved locally on your Windows device, and protected by Windows Hello (biometrics and PIN)

  • iPhone, iPad or Android device: the passkey is saved on a phone or tablet, protected by the device's biometrics, if offered by the device. This option requires you to scan a QR code with your phone or tablet, which must be in proximity of the Windows device

  • Linked device: the passkey is saved on a phone or tablet, protected by the device's biometrics, if offered by the device. This option requires the linked device to be in proximity of the Windows device, and it's only supported for Android devices

  • Security key: the passkey is saved to a FIDO2 security key, protected by the key's unlock mechanism (for example, biometrics or PIN)

     

• Select Next and complete the process on the chosen device

Use passkeys on Windows 11:

• Open a website or app that supports passkeys

• Select Sign in with a passkey, or a similar option

• If a passkey is stored locally and protected by Windows Hello, you're prompted to use Windows Hello to sign in. If you select the option Use another device, you can choose one of the following options:

   

  • This Windows device: use this option to use a passkey that is stored locally on your Windows device, and protected by Windows Hello

  • iPhone, iPad or Android device: use this option if you want to sign in with a passkey stored on a phone or tablet. This option requires you to scan a QR code with your phone or tablet, which must be in proximity of the Windows device

  • Linked device: use this option if you want to sign in with a passkey stored on a device that is in proximity of the Windows device. This option is only supported for Android devices

  • Security key: use this option if you want to sign in with a passkey stored on a FIDO2 security key

     

• Complete the passkey unlock process on the chosen device

Manage passkeys on Windows 11:

You can use the Settings app to view and manage passkeys saved for apps or websites.

 

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

 

Manage your passkeys

 

• A list of saved passkeys is displayed and you can filter them by name

   

  

   

• To delete a passkey, select > Delete passkey next to the passkey name

   

Note: some passkeys for login.microsoft.com can't be deleted, as they're used with your Microsoft Account for signing in to the device and Microsoft services.

You can view the support page here on Microsoft's official website.

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Automatic Super Resolution or Auto SR can be enabled inside Settings and it works by default in games that support the feature. Speaking of support, the company recently added some games on its Auto SR support page, though a full list is available on a third-party website called Worksonwoa.

This is the third support page following two other where one is about a USB4 connectivity problem and one where Microsoft has shared official guides on Passkeys.

Microsoft writes:

Auto SR is applied by default to a set of games verified by Microsoft. At launch, Auto SR automatically enhances BeamNG.drive, Borderlands 3, Control (dx11), Dark Souls III, God of War, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 and The Witcher 3.

Microsoft has also added that in order to update the Auto SR version, users need to "visit Microsoft Store to check if an update is available for the Auto Super Resolution Package."

The support page also lists the system requirements for Auto SR and currently, Copilot+ PCs are supported only. The full requirements are given below:

System requirements

 

Your device must meet the following requirements for Auto SR:

 

• A Copilot+ PC with a Snapdragon® X Series processor with Hexagon NPU and an integrated GPU.
• Windows 11, version 24H2 or later.
• Latest graphics and neural processor drivers. To manually check for updates, go to Start > Settings > Windows Update, then select Check for updates.
• A display resolution of 1080p or greater.
• Latest version of Auto Super Resolution Package.

 

Game requirements

 

Auto SR is supported in most games that run on:

 

• DirectX 11 or DirectX 12
• Emulated x64 or Arm64 native platforms.

There is also the option to use Auto SR in games that are not supported by default by opting in. You can view the full support article here on Microsoft's official website.

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Though it is unclear when exactly Microsoft added USB4 support on Windows 11, in May 2023, the company finally added a dedicated Settings page for USB4 devices with the version 22H2 Moment 3 update KB5026446 (build 22621.1778). The option is under "USB4 Hubs and Devices" inside the 'Bluetooth & devices' section.

While USB4 device management finally became more convenient, Microsoft did not have any dedicated support page, like a basic troubleshooting FAQ, which would advise users about USB4 issues. However, that is no longer the case as, finally, the company has posted possible workarounds for a rather common USB-related problem wherein a system would throw up an error message that reads "USB4 device functionality might be limited".

The company has provided a list of possible solutions for the issue as well as what may be causing it so that a user may be able to address the root cause itself instead of just the symptom:

Try these solutions	Possible causes
Make sure your PC supports USB4 to get the best experience from the attached USB4 device or dock.	Your device or dock supports USB4, but it's plugged into a port on your PC that doesn't support USB4. The attached device might have limited functionality because it's not using USB4.
Make sure you use the cable provided by your device or dock manufacturer or a certified USB4 cable.	You're using a cable that doesn't support USB4.
Connect your USB4 device or dock directly to your PC or only to USB4 docks.	You're connecting your USB4 device or dock to a dock that doesn't support USB4.

We are not sure what prompted this change. Perhaps it was on Microsoft's to-do list for a long time. Maybe it was the recent addition of USB4 2.0 support, or it could also be the announcement of AMD's new X870E and X870 boards, where every board will have USB4 connectivity.

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With the latest Firefox Nightly update, getting tab previews to work no longer requires tinkering with the browser's internals. In this matter, Firefox is now on par with Chrome, Edge, and other browsers with their tab preview feature.

It is worth noting that there is no need to risk using unstable updates to get tab previews in Firefox. The feature arrived in Firefox 123, but getting it to work requires enabling a few options on the about:config page. If you want to try that out, go to about:config and change the following parameters:

• browser.tabs.cardPreview.enabled—set the value to "true"
• browser.tabs.cardPreview.showThumbnails—set the value to "true"
• browser.tabs.cardPreview.delaMs—specify delay time in miliseconds

With the latest Firefox Nightly release, enabling tab previews no longer requires adjusting the parameters mentioned above—they are now turned on by default for all users, making the feature more accessible to inexperienced users. You can download Firefox Nightly from the official website.

In case you missed it, Mozilla recently announced a few upcoming features and changes that will make the browser easier to use, faster, and more accessible. Firefox will soon get tab grouping, vertical tabs, a new profile management system, more customization, reworked privacy settings, streamlined menus, faster loading times, and new accessibility features. Speaking of accessibility, Firefox 130 will bring automated image caption generation.

More information about what is coming soon to Firefox can be found in a post on the Mozilla Connect website.

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