Since the officially supported processors were fairly modern, people were generally expecting decent performance out of their Windows 11 PCs. Although an SSD is not a requirement, most systems have one nowadays; and you can not blame the users' expectations here either as Microsoft itself had claimed that's what Windows 11 was designed to do.

However, despite all this, users have continued to complain about how their Windows PC just does not feel fast enough even on relatively powerful systems. As such, many have resorted to make the switch to Linux, which is receiving a massive AES encryption performance boost, or using tweaked Windows 11 versions like AtlasOS.

Former Microsoft engineer Andy Young is one of those who have noticed the slow and laggy nature of Windows 11 and decided to call out the Redmond giant. Young remarks he has a $1600 Intel Core i9 PC with 128 GB system memory, and yet the Start menu's performance is "comically bad."

Young later clarified that he does not hate Windows as he had helped build parts of it during his time at the company. However, he feels Windows 11 in its current state is unfinished.

One of the reasons for such performance may have to do with the ads and promotions Windows 11 has via its Recommended section. The company is currently contemplating adding a dedicated button for that.

It is hard to say at this point if the upcoming version, 24H2, will be any better. The Insider builds still exhibit performance issues as highlighted (below) by Windows Insider and enthusiast Albacore, even though it apparently is part of the version 24H2 RTM branch.

Interestingly enough, users and enthusiasts have found ways to fix such performance problems with simple tweaks, and sometimes even a bug has helped boost the performance. Meanwhile, a Registry tweak can aid in making the Windows 11 File Explorer load large files quicker.

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Stardock says version 2.07 will bring improved taskbar animations and fix related bugs. The latest version is also more stable when performing complex search queries.

Although we are still a few months away from the release of Windows 11 version 24H2, Start11 v2 is already offering customers under-the-hood optimizations for the upcoming Windows update.

With this release, we are primarily focusing on improvements to animations on the taskbar and squashing a few bugs that have been reported by the community. Also in this release, we are improving stability for complex search queries as well as a continued focus on the upcoming release of Windows that is currently known as Windows 11 24H2.

The latest Start11 v2 update comes right after Microsoft started blocking various UI customization apps and even preventing upgrades on systems with programs like StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher without any warning. However, Start11 v2 users are not affected by Microsoft's slightly odd crusade.

Unlike StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, which rely on legacy Windows code to tweak the user interface in Windows, Start11 uses its own code to do its software magic. Therefore, removing the Windows 10-era taskbar from Windows 11 version 24H2 should not break Start11 or prevent you from getting to the latest release once it is available.

Later this year, Microsoft will be releasing as significant update to Windows 11 that is referred to as 24H2 and as part of this release, it looks like Microsoft will be removing legacy code from the OS. The removal of this code is impacting any Windows 11 application that leveraged this functionality but Start11 and Start11 v2 are not impacted.

You can learn more about the latest Start11 v2 update on the official website.

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There is not that much information about what exactly "Advanced Paste with Local AI" is supposed to be, but the session explanation says the following:

Learn how PowerToys leverages AI through the use of AI backed APIs and on device ML models to power the new Advanced Paste feature.

Clint Rutkas, the lead of developer experience on the Windows team, confirmed that PowerToys is indeed about to get some AI treatment. Again, details are scarce, but Clint said the feature is "pretty neat."

In addition, the Build conference will shed more details on other next-gen Windows features. Developer session descriptions mention "the next generation of Windows on Arm," "a brand-new Windows AI feature," and other intriguing things.

A recent report revealed that Microsoft is pretty sure about its AI PCs powered by ARM chips, so expect to hear more about that at Build 2024. One description says about "new experiences for Arm-powered Windows" and apps that utilize "rich capabilities of the NPU." Some of those capabilities could be the rumored AI File Explorer.

Microsoft is cooking a lot of stuff to showcase at its flagship developer conference, so expect plenty of news about multiple parts of Windows and how AI can supercharge them. The Build 2024 conference is scheduled for May 21-23, just one day after the special event, where the company is expected to announce new Surface devices for consumers.

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What is new in Intel Wireless Bluetooth Driver 23.40.0?

Here is the official changelog:

• Improvements for specific scenarios when using both BR/EDR and LE connections observed in 23.10.0.
• Advertisement Data Info in Periodic Advertising feature improves platform power saving when host/OS changes are available and is a pre-requisite for LE Audio Aura cast.
• Intel® Wireless Bluetooth® 23.40.0 driver has been updated to include functional and security updates. Users are encouraged to update to the latest version for best performance.

You can download the Intel Wireless Bluetooth driver version 23.40.0 from the official website. It works on systems with 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 with supported Intel network cards (full list below). Full release notes are available here (PDF).

Intel's latest Bluetooth driver is available for systems with the following network adapters:

If you do not know what network card is installed on your computer, check out Intel's official help page, where the company describes how to identify your wireless adapter and its driver version. You can also use the Intel Driver and Support Assistant tool for automatic detection and driver installation.

To update your Intel Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers, download the latest versions from the official website and run the executables.

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In this support post, Google stated that starting on May 15, it will open up the Magic Editor functions in Google Photos to more Android, Chromebook, and iOS owners which meet the following requirements:

Your device must be a Chromebook Plus with ChromeOS version 118+ or have at least 3 GB RAM and Android 8.0/iOS 15 or higher

Magic Editor lets users handle some fairly big photo editing tools with some generative AI assistance. The catch is that people who don't have the latest Pixel phones will be limited to 10 free saves each month. If you want more saves, you will either have to purchase a new Pixel phone or pay for a Google One plan that includes 2 TB or above of cloud storage. They start at $9.99 a month.

Google will also roll out more features for Google Photos to more owners on May 15 for free including:

• Magic Eraser
• Unblur
• Sky suggestions
• Color pop
• HDR effect for photos & videos
• Portrait blur
• Portrait light
• Add light/Balance light features in the Portrait light tool
• Cinematic photos
• Styles in collage editor
• Video effects

It may take several weeks for all of these new features to reach all of the supported Android and iOS devices.

This change comes just a few weeks before Google I/O 2024 occurs on May 14. It's likely that the company will be showing off some new or upcoming AI based features for many of its services, including Google Photos, during the mostly virtual developer conference.

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What you need to know

• Windows 11 may soon show promoted apps within the Recommended section of the Start menu.
• The functionality was spotted in testing recently when a keen-eyed user noticed a subtle change in the text description of a Windows 11 setting.
• Microsoft has promoted apps in the Start menu before, though that decision proved controversial.
• Windows 11 pins some promoted apps within the Start menu when you install the operating system, but the new option would allow ads to appear within the Recommended section as well.

Windows 11 may soon have another way to promote apps through the Start menu. A setting that's now in testing by Microsoft will allow Windows 11 to show promoted apps within the Recommended section of the Start menu. The option was shown by X user PhantomOfEarth, whose screenshots show that the functionality can be enabled or disabled with a toggle.

"Looks like the Start menu's Recommended section will be getting app promotions, similar to suggested apps in Start in Windows 10," said PhantomOfEarth. "This can be toggled off from Settings (Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more)."

The concept of promoted apps is not new to Windows. Microsoft had apps appear in Windows 10, drawing criticism and causing controversy. While it was possible to uninstall the promotional apps and disable app suggestions in the Windows 10 Start menu, many were unhappy with Microsoft listing apps that users had shown no interest in.

Windows 11, even in its current state, is not immune from promoted apps. Clean installs of Windows 11 have several apps pinned to the Start menu. Many of those are not actually installed on your system, but instead are shortcuts to installing the app in question with a single click. The new option spotted recently is about promoted apps within the Recommended section of the Start menu.

Windows 11 can show apps in the Recommended section of the Start menu, but only newly installed apps. The setting currently reads "show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more." If you install an app on Windows 11, it can appear in the Recommended section of the Start menu if you'd like.

The phrasing shared by PhantomOfEarth states "show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more." It seems safe to assume that app promotion would be for apps you don't have installed.

The change would give Microsoft yet another way to promote apps through the Start menu. Assuming the company goes forward with the change, you'd see some promoted apps pinned to the Start menu when first installing Windows 11 and then more promoted apps in the Recommend section.

What's an ad?

Windows 11 may soon show promoted apps within the Recommended section of the Start menu.

(Image credit: Future)

The definition of an ad is surprisingly fuzzy these days. For example, just over half of polled participants (52.47%) considered a prompt in the Start menu to back up files to OneDrive an ad. 

Even Microsoft seems unsure if it should call app recommendations ads. According to PhantomOfEarth, some previous beta builds of Windows 11 referred to the recommendations as ads. The current text in testing refers to them as "app promotions." I'd certainly qualify the promotion of an app an ad, but I've been surprised by how people view prompts in Windows before.

Microsoft shifted its business model regarding Windows years ago. The operating system is no longer just a way to access popular programs. It is a pathway to monetization through Microsoft services. The addition of app promotion creates another revenue stream for Microsoft through its operating system.

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In January, members of the Windows Server Insider Program started getting new builds that branded them as Windows Server 2025 for the first time. While Microsoft's own changelogs for the Insider builds have not been very descriptive, the company did reveal a lot more about its plans for Windows Server 2025 during its recent online Windows Server streaming event.

Today, the company published a blog post that offers a summary of what was revealed during the event, concentrating on the new features and improvements that are planned for Windows Server 2025.

One big feature that will likely make users happy is the ability to get security updates for the server OS without the need to reboot it. Microsoft says this will be handled "by modifying in memory code without restarting the process." This will be available for every version of Windows Server 2025, including the standard and data center editions. Standard updates for the OS will still require a reboot.

Another big improvement for the new server OS will optimize the Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVME) for SSDs. Microsoft showed a demo of Windows Server 2022 versus Windows Server 2025 and showed a big 70 percent increase in Input/output operations (IOPs) with the 2025 edition.

Microsoft will also offer the OS in a new subscription-based business model, although it will still be offered with a perpetual one-time license as well.

Some of the other new additions and improvements coming to Windows Server 2025 include:

• New Arc integration wizard
• Wi-Fi support for edge scenarios
• Upgrade from Windows Server 2022 to 2025 with no downtime

Of course, the best way to check out these features before Windows Server 2025 reaches RTM status is by joining the Windows Server Insider Program. Microsoft usually releases new builds every two weeks or so (in fact, we are due to get a new build sometime this week).

As we mentioned, the published change logs may not include all of the new features that the company has added to the build. Microsoft will likely release the "final" version of Windows Server 2025 sometime later this year.

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The ability to add emojis to screenshots in the Snipping Tool app will join the recently introduced shapes and forms. In addition to drawing squares, circles, lines, and arrows, Snipping Tool will offer users a seemingly limited set of emojis to spice up screenshots and make them a little more fun: stars, hearts, eyes, thumbs up/down, and more.

Another great upcoming addition is QR code support. Windows 11 will finally have a built-in on-screen QR reader, sparing you from pulling out your phone every time you want to scan a QR code. Take a screenshot with Snipping Tool, and it will present you with a "QR Codes" button in the bottom-right corner.

Finally, Snipping Tool will allow you to correct screenshots taken on HDR monitors so that they look good on SDR displays. In case you missed it, Windows 11 preview builds received HDR wallpaper support about a year ago, and the feature should be available in the Stable Channel in version 24H2.

Microsoft has not announced any of those changes yet. Still, a public release in the Windows Insider Program should not take too long.

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What you need to know

• Beeper is a free app with an optional future paid subscription model that connects up to 14 chat services into a single desktop and mobile app.
• Previously charged $10 per month, the release version dropped its fee and iMessage support after Apple implemented a block.
• Compatible with Windows and Android, among other popular platforms, Beeper supports messaging, group chats, images and videos, and other rich chat elements.

After a period of exclusive access restricted by a waitlist, Beeper has opened its universal chat app to everyone across multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Android devices. The public launch follows Automattic's acquisition of Beeper, which already owns website builder WordPress, blogging platform Tumblr, and survey creator Crowdsignal.

Previously named Beeper Cloud, the truncated version also drops its more obvious aesthetic inspiration of 1990-era pagers in favor of a more vibrant, all-encompassing chat network theme as the official Beeper Android app leaves its beta status and stands alongside versions for Apple's iPhone, iPad, macOS, and even ChromeOS alongside Windows and Linux.

Unfortunately, while iOS and macOS are supported, iMessage isn't included after the development team had to abandon their efforts when Apple blocked Beeper to 'protect' the service. Still, it's arguably the best option to consolidate your long list of chat apps into one accessible place with a universal inbox, connecting up to 14 different networks, including:

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Beeper is available to download for free, following a business model that its developers announced in March 2023, removing a $10 monthly fee. It won't necessarily stay that way forever, as the app's FAQ page describes a plan to "offer an optional paid subscription at some point in the future." Thankfully, the key word there is "optional," which implies basic functionality will remain for free users, and "additional features like being able to add multiple acounts per network" will be reserved for paid, premium users.

I tested Beeper for Windows and Android, and it couldn't be easier to set up

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

I regularly use at least six of the fourteen chat apps that Beeper supports, potentially pushing that to eight if I really want to read some unusual private messages on 'that' ex-bird network. Admittedly, I don't have each installed as a dedicated app on my Windows 11 desktop, so I'm often slow to reply to chats on a handful of the more web-centric networks (sorry, LinkedIn.) Now, I don't have much of an excuse, as those conversations are grouped, albeit in a tidy manner, with a separate icon on a sidebar, with the likes of Instagram DMs.

Setting up Beeper on Windows 11 first is the best approach, as following up with the Android app on my Google Pixel smartphone relieved me of any hard work other than entering my username and password once. Telegram and WhatsApp both make admiral use of QR codes to authorize logins, while most of the others stick with a traditional login, which is made easier with saved passwords on Microsoft Edge or whatever browser you choose.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

Beeper's instructional messages rightly suggest that you keep your original chat apps installed but mute their notifications (except for voice and video calls; those aren't supported yet). Allowing the Beeper app to display its notifications instead and access your contacts helps with relevant profile photos to identify contacts at a glance, whether or not you choose the 'Pro' view (as I do), highlighting per-network badges.

Once you're finished with set up and everything works, it'll feel familiar and even nostalgic to those like me who used Trillian around the turn of the millennium, which offered a similar solution to contacting friends fractured over chat networks like MSN Messenger, ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.

Naturally, technology has progressed significantly since then, and a focus on privacy and safety has become a priority for Beeper's development team as they lean on the open-source 'Matrix' networking protocol for zero-access encryption and local recovery keys. However, end-to-end encryption may still be more effective per-app for specific apps like WhatsApp and Signal.

Personally, I dig it. The desktop app is simplistic without looking ugly, and the benefit of never missing a message on a rarely visited service is self-explanatory. The only downside is that now I have to reply to all of my friends and colleagues who have been left on read for too long (or do I?).

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In a blog post, Opera says the Cyberpunk 2077 mod for the Opera GX browser has the following features:

• Dynamic Wallpaper: Witness V and his iconic Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech against the backdrop of Night City in a wallpaper that can react to the time of the day, shifting seamlessly from rain-soaked nights to neon-drenched bustle.
• Custom Themes with RGB Sync: Match your browser’s look to your rig’s lighting with themes compatible with Logitech, Razer, Asus, and Corsair products.
• Immersive Soundscape: Background music and custom keyboard/browser sounds plunge you fully into the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
• Shader effect: undergo mild symptoms of Cyberpsychosis while browsing with the optional shader effect.

The official Cyberpunk 2077 browser mod is currently available from the Opera GX store for free.

Since its launch five years ago, the Opera GX browser has added some interesting features. One of them is "Fake My History," which offers a false web browser history if you die or are inactive on your browser for two weeks or more. The entries in the fake browser history are supposed to be pleasant ones for your friends and loved ones to view. The browser also recently added support for Opera's own generative AI chatbot, Aria.

The most recent "interesting" new feature for Opera GX users is the Panic Button. Pressing the F12 key while the browser is on the screen will bring up a new window with so-called "safe content," so your bosses, friends, or family members can't see what you are really browsing on the internet.

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When sending pictures in Messenger, you’ll now notice a HD toggle in the top right of the image picker area. As usual, you can select multiple images to send them, all in HD now.

In addition to sending HD images, you can create shared albums with your contacts. To do this, you need to select multiple images in the chat composer, tap Create album (you can also long press a photo in the chat and tap Create album). If you want to add more photos to an album, just tap Add to album.

Once an album is shared to a chat, everyone in the chat can view, add, delete, and download pictures and videos from the album. If you need to rename the album, tap the album, tap the three dot menu, tap Edit Name, then confirm the new album name. To find albums at any time, tap your group chat name then go to Media.

Next up is adding contacts via a QR code. Now you do not have to type a name or number to add them on Messenger, just ask them to pull up their QR code from the Messenger Settings and then scan it with your camera or ask them to share their link by tapping Share under the QR code.

Finally, Messenger will now let you send files of up to 100MB. To do this, just press the + button in Messenger and choose a file to send. Meta says that all major file formats are supported including Word, PDF, and Excel. While it doesn’t match the file sending capabilities of Telegram, you can at least stop resorting to sending emails for larger files.

These features will gradually arrive over the coming weeks so be on the lookout for them. In our testing, all of the features are available except for shared albums.

Source: Meta

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First introduced in the original release (21H2), the company has made tweaks and changes to it over time, trying to find the right balance. Once, it was also contemplating renaming the Recommended portion to "For You," perhaps to appeal to more of the casual audience out there who are familiar with it elsewhere like Instagram or Twitter (now X) or TikTok.

However, it is not unfair to say that most of the enthusiast kind don't really find it too appealing. Searches about removing the Recommended content from the Start menu are generally a top result on Google, which shows that there are certainly quite a few out there that don't like it. Neowin has also published a guide on that if you want to check it out.

There is a good reason why users are so annoyed by it. Microsoft added recommended websites under this section, something which it removed in a consequent build. However, the recommended websites were not dead yet, as the tech giant brought it back again in May this year, where webpages were suggested to users.

And Microsoft later added Settings menu toggle for new apps, tips, shortcuts, and such. The option is now being tweaked as it will also add 'app promotions' too.

Meanwhile, the toggle tweak above is not the worst thing Microsoft may be looking to do. The company is seemingly contemplating on whether to add a new "Recommended button on the Taskbar. Interestingly, it is unfinished at the moment, or perhaps Microsoft is just not sure if it should proceed with this button at all.

It must be added that not every change Microsoft has made related to its Recommended section has been bad. Last year, it made a really useful UX change such that hovering over a Recommended item would display its location.

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These ads have the form of so-called Quests that can be displayed on the bottom left corner and are based on the user’s gameplay, age, and location.

As you can probably tell already, these are not some typical banner ads. They are interactive promotions that motivate players to higher engagement in return for small gifts. Rewards will be awarded for users completing advertised in-game tasks while at least one of their friends is watching the stream.

However, if you still find this form of advertising annoying, the good news is that Discord actually allows you to turn it off. That applies to every single user, not just Nitro subscribers, and it is very simple:

1. Press the cogwheel in the bottom left corner of your Discord desktop/browser app to navigate to your User Settings.

 

2. Then select the Privacy & Safety tab in the left-hand panel and scroll down to the How We Use Your Data section.

 

3. Disable the In-game rewards (aka Quests) setting by selecting the toggle.

After disabling the promotions, you can still access Quests through the Gift Inventory in User Settings. You may also see Quests shared by your friends or reflected in their activity status on Discord.

If you don’t mind the ads, but for some reason you get annoyed by an individual promotion, you can hide specific Quests, too:

Press the three dots on the Quest in-app promotion (upper right corner) to access the menu and then select Hide This to hide this particular in-app promotion.

 

Once you've done this, you will no longer receive notifications about this particular Quest in that particular in-app promotion style.

 

If you encounter a different in-app promotion for that same Quest (for example, you may also see the Quest in the Active Now section of the Discord app) you can hide those by following the same steps.

The same applies here: even after disabling a specific promotion, you can still view and complete the Quest in your Gift Inventory.

Ads on Discord are still in an early phase. The popular platform is currently promoting just a single Quest in a free-to-play combat game The Finals. The players can receive a “Skill Issue Set” for streaming 15 minutes of The Finals using the Go Live feature.

For now, Discord Quests are only available on the desktop and browser app. Also, they don’t work on Linux as of yet – another way how to avoid them.

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If you want to try out the new unified experience before May, you can download Preview 3 right now and try it out. You will need to activate a GitHub Copilot subscription to use the feature, if you don’t want to pay, you can use a free trial.

If you’re a bit out of the loop on what Copilot can do for programmers, it offers an interactive experience in Visual Studio through chat in a separate window and directly in your code. Copilot can give you context-aware code completions, suggestions, entire code snippets, writer commit messages, debug your code, generate unit tests, and more.

Explaining some of the other features, Microsoft writes:

• Speeding up your coding tasks with Copilot generated snippet, methods, and even entire programs.
• Improve your code quality with Copilot’s optimization feature “/optimize” in Copilot Chat to improve your code’s performance, readability, and security.
• Learn new coding patterns, languages, and frameworks by getting explanations and documentation for the suggested code from Copilot.
• Focus on more satisfying and creative work by allowing Copilot to handle the repetitive, boilerplate, or tedious code, and conserving your mental energy and flow.

Microsoft says that Copilot is included out of the box in Visual Studio 17.10 and will be installed on update or install. If you need to install GitHub Copilot later, you can do that from the Visual Studio Installer by searching for GitHub Copilot in the Individual Component tab.

If you are on Visual Studio 17.8 or 17.9, you can still install the GItHub Copilot Chat and GitHub Copilot Completions extensions from Extension Manager but to get the latest features you’ll need to update to 17.10.

Source: Microsoft

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Beeper's new apps are now available, without waitlist, across nearly all mobile and desktop platforms.

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The "Moment 5" update was first released on February 29, 2024, for "seekers" or those willing to install Windows updates manually from the Settings app. In March, Microsoft expedited the rollout, making the "Moment 5" update available to all as the latest optional non-security update. Now, it is a mandatory update for all Windows 11 users.

Unlike previous updates, "Moment 5" is a rather small release with a few notable changes and new features. The most notable changes in the update include smart predictions for Snap Layouts, all sorts of improvements for the Settings app, and a few updates for existing accessibility features. You can learn more about the update in our dedicated Windows 11 "Moment 5" review.

To get the latest Windows 11 features, head to the Settings app and open "Windows Update." Click "Check for updates" and wait for your system to find, download, and install KB5036893 (build number 22631.3447).

Interestingly, "Moment 5" features are available not only for Windows 11 version 23H2 users but also for those still on version 22H2. However, the upcoming Windows 11 version 24H2, which was recently confirmed to be this year's feature update, will be a full build update (allegedly build 26100). It is also worth noting that some apps, such as StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, are currently preventing users from upgrading (full list can be found here).

Customers who prefer stability over new features will be glad to know that Microsoft is getting ready to ship the first LTSC build of Windows 11. It was recently leaked ahead of its official announcement, and Microsoft itself later confirmed its existence in the official documentation.

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Here's what's new:

23H2 and 22H2

Highlights

Tip: The content is within collapsible sections. Click or tap the category name to expand the section.

 

Voice access

 

• New! You can now use voice access with the following languages:

   

  • French (France, Canada)

  • German

  • Spanish (Spain, Mexico)

     

    When you turn on voice access for the first time, Windows will ask you to download a speech model. You might not find a speech model that matches your display language. You can still use voice access in English (US). You can always choose a different language from Settings > Language on the voice access bar.

     

• New! You can now use all voice access features on multiple displays. These include number and grid overlays that, in the past, you could only use on the primary display. While you are using the grid overlay on a screen, you can quickly switch to another display. To do that, use the alphabet or NATO phonetic in your command. For example, “B” or “Bravo” are both valid for the display that is assigned that letter.

   

  You can also use the “mouse grid” command to quickly move your mouse to a specific point on a display. For example, in the screenshot below, the command will be, “mouse grid A 114.” Finally, you can use the drag and drop feature to move files, apps, and documents from one display to another

 

• .

   

• New! This update introducesvoice shortcuts or custom commands. You can use them to create your own commands in the supported English dialects. To start, say “what can I say” and click the “Voice shortcuts” tab on the left panel. You can also use the command “show voice shortcuts” to open the Voice shortcuts page. Click Create new shortcut. Use your voice or other input to create a command. Give it a name and select one or more actions. After you fill in the necessary information, click Create. Your command is now ready to use. To view all the voice shortcuts you have created, go to the command help page or use the voice command, “show voice shortcuts.”

   

Narrator

 

• New! You can now listen to a preview of the ten natural voices before you download them. See the Narrator section of the September 2023 update for the list. These voices use modern, on-device text-to-speech. Once you download them, they work without an internet connection. However, to listen to a preview, you need an internet connection. To add and use one of the natural voices, follow the steps below.

   

1. To open Narrator settings, press the WIN+CTRL+N hotkey.

2. Under Narrator’s voice, select Add, which is next to Add natural voices.

3. Select the voice you want to install. You can install all voices, but you must install them one at a time.

4. The preview will play automatically as you browse the list.

5. If you like the preview, click Download and Install. The new voice downloads and is ready for use in a few minutes, depending on your internet download speed.

6. In Narrator settings, select your preferred voice from the menu in Narrator’s voice > Choose a voice.

    

• New! This update adds a new keyboard command to move between the images on a screen. Now, you can use the keys G or Shift+G to move forward or backward between images in Scan mode (Narrator key+space bar).

• New! This update improves Narrator’s detection of text in images, which includes handwriting. It also improves the descriptions of images. To use this feature, you must have an active internet connection. You must also turn on the setting to get image descriptions in Narrator settings. To try this experience, select an image and press the Narrator key+CTRL+D.

• New! In Microsoft Word, Narrator will announce the presence of bookmarks and draft or resolved comments. It also tells you if accessibility suggestions exist when it reads text in the file.

• New! You can now use voice access to open applications, dictate text, and interact with elements on the screen. You can also use your voice to command Narrator. For example, you can tell it to, “speak faster,” “read next line,” and so on. To get started, search for “voice access” in Windows search and set it up.

   

Windows share

 

• New! This update changes the apps that appear in the Windows share window. The account you use to sign in affects the apps that are in “Share using.” For example, if you use a Microsoft account (MSA) to sign in, you will see Microsoft Teams (free). When you use a Microsoft Entra ID account (formerly Azure Active Directory) to sign in, your Microsoft Teams (work or school) contacts show instead.

• New! The Windows share window now supports sharing with WhatsApp in the “Share using” section. If you do not have WhatsApp installed, you can install it from the Windows share window.

   

Nearby Share

 

• New! This update affects how Nearby Share turns on and off. You can use quick settings or the Settings app to turn on Nearby Share. If you do and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are off, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will turn on to make Nearby Share work as you expect. If you turn off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, Nearby Share turns off as well.

• New! This update improves Nearby Share transfer speed for users on the same network. Before, users had to be on the same private network. Now, users must be on the same public or private network. You can use quick settings to turn on Nearby Share. Right-click a local file in File Explorer and choose “Share.” Then choose to share to a device listed in Nearby Share in the Windows share window.

• New! You can now give your device a more friendly name to identify it when sharing. Go to Settings > System > Nearby sharing. There, you can rename your device.

   

Casting

 

• New! This update helps you to learn about the Cast feature and discover when it is available; see the examples in the list below. To cast means to send content that is on your device’s screen to a nearby PC, TV, or other external displays. This happens wirelessly.

   

  • You might often switch between windows to complete a task or use Snap Assist to organize your screen space. When you multitask like this, a notification will suggest that you use Cast.

  • The Cast flyout menu in quick settings gives you more help to find nearby displays, fix connections, and more.

     

Snap Layouts

 

• New! This update adds suggestions to  Snap Layouts.  They help you to instantly snap multiple app windows together.

• New! You can hover over the minimize or maximize button of an app (WIN+Z) to open the layout box. When you do, app icons will display various layout options. Use them to help you to choose the best layout option.

   

Windows 365 Boot

 

• New! This update adds dedicated mode for Windows 365 Boot. When you sign in on your company-owned device, doing that also signs you in to your Windows 365 Cloud PC. This occurs using passwordless authentication, like Windows Hello for Business.

• New! This new dedicated mode also provides the fast account switcher experience. With it, you can quickly switch profiles and sign in. You can also personalize the experience for your username and password. This includes choosing a custom display picture for the lock screen, storing your username, and more.

• New! A company can customize what users see on the screen when they sign in to Windows 365 Boot. In shared mode, you can add company branding from Microsoft Intune.

• New! This update adds a fail fast mechanism for Windows 365 Boot. It helps while you are signing in to your Cloud PC. Thesmart logic tells you to address network issues or complete app setup so that Windows 365 Boot does not fail.

• New! You can now manage the settings of your physical (local) PC from your Cloud PC. Windows 365 Boot makes it easy to directly access and manage sound, display, and other device settings.

   

Windows 365 Switch

 

• New! It is now easier for Windows 365 Switch to disconnect. You can use your local PC to disconnect from your Cloud PC. Go to Local PC > Task view. Right-click the Cloud PC button and select Disconnect. This update also adds tooltips to the Cloud PC Start menu. They appear on the options for disconnecting and signing out and help you to learn how each one works.

• New! This update adds desktop indicators for Windows 365 Switch.You will see the term “Cloud PC” and “Local PC” on the desktop indicator when you switch between them.

• New! The time to connect to Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PC from Windows 365 Switch might be long. While you wait, the screen will show you the connection status and the timeout indicator for the Cloud PC. If there is an error, use the new copy button on the error screen to copy the correlation ID. This helps to address the issue faster.

Improvements

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

 

Windows 11, version 23H2

 

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

 

This security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

 

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

• No additional issues are documented for this release.

   

Windows 11, version 22H2

 

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5035942 (released March 26, 2024). When you install this KB:

 

• This update makes miscellaneous security improvements to internal OS functionality. No additional issues were documented for this release.

   

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

 

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

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22621.3447 and 22631.3447

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

 

Known issues in this update

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

21H2

Highlights

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

Improvements

This security update includes improvements. When you install this KB:

 

• New! This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine. To do this, they can turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.

• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Palestine. To learn more, see Interim guidance for DST changes announced by Palestinian Authority for 2024, 2025.

• This update supports DST changes in Kazakhstan. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.

• This update supports DST changes in Samoa. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.

• This update addresses an issue that affects a network resource. You cannot access it from a Remote Desktop session. This occurs when you turn on the Remote Credential Guard feature and the client is Windows 11, version 22H2 or higher.

• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.

• This update addresses an issue that affects Name Service Provider Interface (NSPI) queries. They might fail. If they do, lsass.exe stops responding on a domain controller.

• This update addresses an issue that causes your device to shut down after 60 seconds. This occurs when you use a smart card to authenticate on a remote system.

• This update addresses an issue that affects the display of a smart card icon. It does not appear when you sign in. This occurs when there are multiple certificates on the smart card.

   

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

 

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

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22000.2899

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

Known issues in this update

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

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

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The major highlight of the release as usual is security updates for Windows 10.

Highlights

 

This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

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

Known issues in this update

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

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

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What is new in Intel PROSet/Wireless Wi-Fi Software 23.30.0?

The official changelog includes fixes for the following issues:

And here are the supported network cards and their driver versions:

Note that Intel no longer releases Wi-Fi and Bluetooth driver updates for Windows 8.1, 8, and 7. The final update was version 21.50.1, which you can get here.

You can download Intel Wi-Fi driver 23.40.0 from the official website. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Aside from CPUs, TPM version 2.0 was also made mandatory. Again, Microsoft reasoned that such were the strict security characteristics Windows 11 brought.

Regardless, people have continued to use bypasses so as to be able to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. Interestingly, Microsoft too, made a registry bypass official, though with a fair amount of warning.

Back in October 2023, we reported about a single command trick that allowed users to bypass the Windows 11 system requirements check during the setup process. While we only came across it in October, this trick had been doing the rounds from back in 2022 itself.

A similar trick has been discovered wherein a user will be able to bypass the system requirements, though this works on Windows 11 LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel). It's a one-click trick that works by choosing the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC option in the OS selection during setup.

For those that have not kept up with LTSC news, recently, Microsoft officially confirmed "Windows 11 2024 LTSC" as well as KMS (Key Management Solutions) client product keys, following the leaked images of the same. The tech giant had promised an LTSC edition for Windows 11 back in April last year.

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The issue was first noticed by Christoph Kolbicz who is an IT consultant. It was brought to his attention by users who noticed that Kolbicz's SetUserFTA and SetDefaultBrowser were not working anymore.

SetUserFTA and SetDefaultBrowser are command-line utilities that allow IT and system admins to easily set the default Windows file type associations (FTA).

Digging into the issue further, Kolbicz understood that a new filter driver introduced by Microsoft, UCPD.sys, short for User Choice Protection Driver, was responsible for the blocks as they prevented writing to UserChoce registry keys.

In case you are wondering, Microsoft introduced "UserChoice" registry key hash values with Windows 8 to improve OS security. The specific hash value is used to prove that the UserChoice ProgId value is set by the user themself and not by malicious means.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice

In his blog post, Kolbicz explained:

Starting in February, multiple people reported on my blog that setting http and https protocols with SetUserFTA and SetDefaultBrowser stopped working for them – means, changing the Default Browser was not possible anymore with my tools.

 

I have compiled a debug version to get more information from the affected users/machines and to my surprise, writing to the corresponding registry keys returned ACCESS_DENIED and it was also not possible to edit those keys with regedit, reg.exe or PowerShell anymore.

 

...

 

Changing the default browser was still working by using the Settings app in Windows, but modifying those keys by scripts or tools seemed to be blocked somehow.

IT scholar, Gunnar Haslinger, found during his investigation that the following Registry keys are filtered by the new UCPD driver:

• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoiceLatest
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoicePrevious
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoiceLatest
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoicePrevious
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoice
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoiceLatest
• Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoicePrevious

It is speculated that this was done as a result of the EU DMA compliance changes that Windows is undergoing. You can read more technical details about the UCPD driver at the source links below.

Source: Christoph Kolbicz via Gunnar Haslinger

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Microsoft had launched Windows 3.0 two years previously, and it turned out to be a big success. The previous versions of Windows were not huge financial successes, as many people thought they were still behind the user interface efforts of Apple's Macintosh OS. However, Windows 3.0 was different, and even Time magazine said back in June 1990 that "Microsoft seems to have got it right this time." It ended up selling 10 million copies in its first two years, according to Extreme Tech.

The development of Windows 3.1 was handled under the code name Janus at Microsoft. Some of the new additions and improvements that were included compared to Windows 3.0 included support for the popular TrueType scalable font standard. Multimedia was also a major focus of Windows 3.1, which included support for Windows Media Player and screensavers with the boxed version of the OS. SVGA color support was also included, which meant that it could support more advanced PC monitors that used SVGA.

Let's not forget Minesweeper. It debuted as a free game in Windows 3.1 and became a major time sink at work and home. You can check out our article on Minesweeper for a more detailed look at its origins as part of the OS.

The release of Windows 3.1 was considered a major success, with three million box copies sold in its first three months on sale. Well over a year later, in November 1993, Microsoft released Windows 3.11. It was a minor release that fixed some bugs and included no major new features. However, it is still being used to help run parts of the German ICE railroad network, as we mentioned in a news story just a couple of months ago.

In the end, Windows 3.1 was the end of the first era of Windows at Microsoft. It had reached a point where its user interface was familiar to most people who used PCs in the workplace as well as at home. The second era of Windows was still to come, as Microsoft would handle a complete overhaul of the UI and add many more features for the launch of Windows 95 in August 1995.

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The driver was quietly introduced to users worldwide as part of the February updates for Windows 10 (KB5034763) and Windows 11 (KB5034765).

IT consultant Christoph Kolbicz was the first to notice the change when his programs, SetUserFTA and SetDefaultBrowser, suddenly stopped working.

SetUserFTA is a command line program that lets Windows admins change file associations through login scripts and other methods. SetDefaultBrowser works similarly but is only for changing the default browser in Windows.

Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new system for associating file extensions and URL protocols with default programs to prevent them from being tampered with by malware and malicious scripts.

This new system associates a file extension or URL protocol to a specially crafted hash stored under the UserChoice Registry keys.

For example, the default web browser assigned to the HTTPS URL protocol is found under:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice]
"ProgId"="ChromeHTML"
"Hash"="N3eikAB1HhI="

If the correct hash is not used, Windows will ignore the Registry values and use the default program for this URL protocol, which is Microsoft Edge.

Kolbicz reverse engineered this hashing algorithm to create the SetUserFTA and SetDefaultBrowser programs to change default programs.

However, with the Windows 10 and Windows 11 February updates installed, Kolbicz noted that these Registry keys have now been locked down, giving errors when edited outside the Windows settings.

For example, using the Windows Registry Editor to modify these settings gives an error stating, "Cannot edit Hash: Error writing the value's new contents."

After further research, Kolbicz discovered that Microsoft introduced a new Windows filter driver (c:\windows\system32\drivers\UCPD.sys) as part of the February updates.

This driver is described as a "User Choice Protection Driver," and when loaded, prevents direct editing of the Registry keys associated with the HTTP and HTTPS URL associations and the .PDF file association.

The associated Registry keys are:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoice

It should be noted that in BleepingComputer's tests, the driver was rolled out to our Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices, but it only locked down the Registry keys on our Windows 10 devices.

In a blog post, Kolbicz explains that while you cannot unload the driver, you can disable it in the Registry.

However, a blog post by Gunnar Haslinger explains that a newly created 'UCPD velocity' scheduled task under \Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient will automatically enable the service again if disabled.

Due to this, the only way to disable the driver is to turn it off via the Registry and delete/disable the Scheduled Task.

Possibly related to DMA compliance

Kolbicz believes this change may be to comply with Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to ensure fair competition and the prevention of anti-competitive practices by six large companies, known as "gatekeepers."

These designated gatekeepers are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, who had until March to comply with the new regulations.

In November 2023, Microsoft outlined changes coming to Windows in March 2024 to comply with the new DMA regulations.

These changes included new default browser policies for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) that force Windows to use users' default browser when opening a link rather than using Microsoft Edge.

"In the EEA, Windows will always use customers' configured app default settings for link and file types, including industry standard browser link types (http, https)," explained Microsoft.

"Apps choose how to open content on Windows, and some Microsoft apps will choose to open web content in Microsoft Edge."

However, this new driver has also rolled out to Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices in the USA that do not have to comply with the DMA act, shedding doubt on this theory.

Furthermore, even when the Registry settings are locked down and the device's default browser is Google Chrome, Windows still opened operating system links in Microsoft Edge in our tests.

BleepingComputer contacted Microsoft about the lockdown of these Registry keys in March, but they said they had nothing to share at this time.

Update 4/7/24: Clarified lede to explain that manually meant manually through registry modifications. Added further information on locked down browsers being ignored for operating system links in our US-based tests.

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German blog Deskmodder has dug into the appraiser.sdb file in build 26100 and discovered that Microsoft expanded it with new programs that could theoretically block you from getting to Windows 11 version 24H2. The list includes apps like StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, which Microsoft recently blocked on 24H2 builds.

• ConisioAdmin.exe (Solidworks PDM)
• EaseUS Disk Copy.exe (EaseUS Disk Copy Application)
• ep_dwm.exe (ExplorerPatcher) Included since 22H2
• iCloudServices.exe (iCloud files shared in Explorer via WhatsApp) from 23H2
• RadeonSoftware.exe (AMD GPU perf settings) From 23H2
• StartAllBackCfg.exe (StartAllBack) Included since 22H2
• Multi-mon + Copilot (Microsoft)
• MergeSdb (Microsoft)
• Intel IntcOED.sys (Intel)
• Intel IntcAudioBus.sys (Intel) (%WinDir%\System32\drivers\IntcAudioBus.sys)
• Realtek 8192su Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter (Realtek) (%WinDir%\System32\drivers\RTL8192su.sys)

It is worth noting that Microsoft can block specific versions, such as the Windows 7 version of VLC. Therefore, newer versions of those apps may work just fine on version 24H2. Usually, the company notifies users about major update blocks in its official documentation, and Neowin constantly keeps an eye on it to report to you on time.

Also, we are still months away from the public release of Windows 11 version 24H2, so expect Microsoft to ship many bug fixes and patches (they are definitely needed).

While software blocks are not hard to bypass (you can always update to a newer version or uninstall the problematic app), hardware blocks are more difficult to deal with. Version 24H2 will be the end of the road for those running Windows 11 on very old computers whose processors do not have the SSE4.2/4a instruction set (including the POPCNT instruction).

We have a separate article describing how to check if your PC has the necessary instructions to run Windows 11 version 24H2, so go see it out if you plan to use the OS on unsupported hardware.

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