Right after installing Edge version 123.0.2420.53, users, including Neowin, noticed that the list of installed apps in Settings received a mysterious 8KB "Microsoft Copilot" entry. Checking another machine added to the suspicion that the unknown program arrived alongside the latest Microsoft Edge update (there is no Copilot app in the Microsoft Store).

Neowin reached out to Microsoft for comment, and the company told us that the program is intended to power the new Copilot experiences. None of those features are available in the Stable Channel, so seeing the unannounced app arrive with a stable Microsoft Edge update was quite odd. German blog Deskmodder spotted the same on their Release Preview machines.

It is possible that Microsoft accidentally shipped the app to all users and then had to revoke Edge 123 to fix the misfired release. As of writing this article, Microsoft Edge and its official website say version 122.0.2365.92 is the latest stable version. Interestingly, this is the second time Microsoft has pulled out an Edge update. A few weeks ago, the company called off an update after it broke websites with the "Out of memory" error.

If you are already on Microsoft Edge 123, you can check whether your system has the mysterious Copilot app by heading to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Uninstalling the app does not affect the ability to use Copilot in Windows 11, but Microsoft said it should be there for Copilot's new features.

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson said the update was paused to ensure compatibility with certain enterprise configurations:

The rollout for Microsoft Edge 123 was paused to ensure compatibility with certain enterprise configurations related to storage of user profile data. It was not related to Microsoft Copilot. We plan to resume the rollout of Edge 123 as soon as March 27, 2024.

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Microsoft is making some new Copilot announcements today, this time tied into its popular Teams online meeting and collaboration service. They include some additional Copilot enhancements specifically for people who attend Teams meetings.

Teams already includes a way for users to get summaries of meetings via Copilot under the label Intelligent Recap. Today's blog post states that Microsoft Teams will add a way for Copilot to include "information and insights from the meeting chat." That feature will roll out sometime in May.

In April, Microsoft plans to add a way for Teams users to access Copilot so they can get help with composing messages for meetings. Copilot will be able to create a longer message with just a few text prompts. The company is promoting this as a way to save time in writing messages in Teams meetings.

In June, Copilot's Intelligence Recap feature will be extended to voice messages for VoIP and Public Switched Telephone Network calls in Teams. This specific feature will be available for Teams Premium users.

In a separate blog post, Microsoft revealed even more features that will be added specifically for Teams Premium users. One of them that will be added in Apri will let organizers of Teams town halls get access to live translated captions in 10 different languages. Another feature that's launching right now is adding Copilot's Intelligent Recap feature for the Teams apps on iOS and Android.

Teams Premium admins now have the option to set up a background for meetings that cannot be changed by the meeting's attendees. Also, Teams Premium company subscribers can now add their company's logo and image to the Teams launcher screen.

Microsoft has also announced a new Teams app called Queues that lets users take customer calls in Teams. Microsoft says:

This collaborative call handling solution allows team members to manage customer calls and for team leads to manage queues, access reports, and analyze data. The familiar Teams interface eliminates the need for app-switching, enabling users to handle customer calls while staying in the flow of work.

The new app will be available sometime this summer.

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Chrome for ARM64 is rolling out this week to Windows PCs with Snapdragon processors. Google says customers who plan to buy the upcoming computers with the Snapdragon X Elite processor will get an "even bigger boost in performance." According to Qualcomm, preliminary benchmarks on Snapdragon X Elite reference devices show notable performance uplifts in benchmarks like Speedometer 2.1.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President at Google, said the following about the launch of Chrome for Windows on ARM:

We’ve designed Chrome browser to be fast, secure and easy to use across desktops and mobile devices, and we’re always looking for ways to bring this experience to more people. Our close collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies will help ensure that Chrome users get the best possible experience while browsing the Web on current ARM-compatible PCs.

While it is possible to run Chrome on PCs with ARM processors through emulation, native applications offer much better performance, responsiveness, and energy efficiency. The first version of Chrome Canary for ARM64 was spotted a couple of months ago, and now, the browser is ready for its public debut.

Making the most popular browser in the world ARM-friendly on Windows will help make ARM PCs much more appealing to customers who are not ready to switch browsers. Qualcomm itself claims that it will help "cement Snapdragon X Elite's role as the premier platform for Windows PCs." The first devices with the Snapdragon X Elite are expected later this Summer.

Microsoft is about to be among the first manufacturers to offer its flagship computers with the latest ARM chips from Qualcomm. The Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 are expected to be unveiled at a special event on May 20, 2024.

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While users started questioning the tech giant's motives behind it, Microsoft's Dustin L. Howett, who maintains and looks over the Terminal repo on GitHub, confirmed this was not Microsoft trying to block older CPUs, without those instructions, ie, Core 2 Duos, Core 2 Quads or even older parts, on purpose.

Howett commented on the issue:

Put away your conspiracy theories, folks.

 

There's a compiler bug in MSVC 19.38 that results in the output of the CPUID instruction being misinterpreted, among other things. It turns out that the 1057x build series of Terminal was built with MSVC 19.38.

In case you are wondering, Microsoft recently fixed a buggy Visual C++ Libraries (VCLibs) package implementation which wrongly mandated the need for SSE4.2. You can find the details about that update in our dedicated article here.

The full changelog for Windows Terminal Stable version 1.19.10821.0 is given below:

Bug Fixes and Changes

 

• We've rolled back to an older compiler to get Terminal working on Intel Core 2 Duo machines again (!) (#16907)

• ReadConsoleOutputCharacterW no longer fails on lines containing narrow surrogate pairs (#16898)
• Auto-detected URLs and search results are no longer pushed around by wide characters (oops) (#16787) (thanks @comzyh and @lhecker!)
• We will now display control characters literally if they were produced with the Windows Console APIs (#16825) (thanks @j4james!)
• Entering the tab switcher via the command palette no longer selects the wrong tab (#16858) (thanks @AlejandroBlanco2001!)
• All localizations are now checked into the project, so you can build any historic version with all of its original languages (#16835)

As such, the next preview version, 1.20.10822.0, is also out:

Bug Fixes and Changes

 

• We've rolled back to an older compiler to get Terminal working on Intel Core 2 Duo machines again (!) (#16907)

• ReadConsoleOutputCharacterW no longer fails on lines containing narrow surrogate pairs (#16898)
• Auto-detected URLs and search results are no longer pushed around by wide characters (oops) (#16787) (thanks @comzyh and @lhecker!)
• We will now display control characters literally if they were produced with the Windows Console APIs (#16825) (thanks @j4james!)
• So many of you have screenshots that contain our "set terminal as default?" banner, which we take to mean that you never noticed it. We got rid of it. Balance is restored. (#16873)
• Entering the tab switcher via the command palette no longer selects the wrong tab (#16858) (thanks @AlejandroBlanco2001!)
• All localizations are now checked into the project, so you can build any historic version with all of its original languages (#16835)

You can download the latest Windows Terminal Stable version from its GitHub page.

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At XDA, we're big fans of customization tools that let you make the most of your Windows PC. And one of the very best you can get has to be Start11, an app developed by Stardock that allows you to radically change your Windows 11 Start menu to suit your style and needs.

The Windows 11 Start menu has been the target of a lot of criticism, so there are more than a few reasons to use Start11 to improve your experience. Here are a few of my favorites.

5.  Bring back older Start menus

Get any style you want

The big headlining feature for Windows 11 is potentially one of the least interesting to me, but it's still a big deal. Start11 allows you to replace the Windows 11 Start menu design with a number of designs based on previous iterations, which many people love. Nostalgic for Windows 7? That option is here? More of a Windows 10 guy? You can get tiles, too.

Not only do you have a lot of styles available, but Start11 offers a lot of customization options for each style, greatly expanding their capabilities beyond what the original iterations did. For example. you can have a Windows 7-style menu that still has the overall feel of the Windows 10 design language, so you can blend these elements to create the style you prefer.

4.   A floating taskbar

And a lot more options

Start11 may be known for customizing the Start menu, but it has some cool changes for the taskbar, too. For example, you can change the color and transparency of the taskbar to get the look you want, or even use a custom texture. But one of my favorite things it does is give you the option to turn the taskbar into a floating UI, something I know many Windows enthusiasts have wanted for a long time, myself included.

This gives the taskbar rounded corners and makes it float on the screen, with options to choose how much padding there should be so you don't waste a ton of pixels. You can also move the taskbar to the top of the screen, if that's your thing.

And if you want to really get into the weeds, you can enable advanced customization options like resizing the taskbar and even changing the font of the labels on the taskbar (if you choose to enable them). There's a ton to play around with here.

3.   No more opening Edge by accident

Disable web search altogether

I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally opened Edge because I was trying to search for something and Windows decided to perform a web search instead. Windows 11 has an annoying tendency to show different results as you type so if you type "pho", it might open Photoshop, but if you type "photo", it may open the Photos app, and this sometimes includes searching the web instead.

Start11 solves this by replacing the built-in Windows Search with its own search engine that's focused exclusively on local files and programs. It usually does a better job of digging up more hidden files, too, so I prefer it in many ways. And you can make it even better since it supports Everything, a third-party lightweight search engine for Windows.

2.   So many customization options

You have all the freedom you could want

I already mentioned the Start menu styles above, but customization as a whole deserves its own category here because there's just so much to Start11 that allows you to make the Start menu look exactly how you want it to. Beyond choosing the classic Start menu styles, Start11 v2 includes some brand-new ones, like a Launcher style that just features the apps you want, or a Windows Pro style that includes your pinned apps and access to numerous settings pages and dialogs.

But that's just the beginning. Start11 has so many options, including the ability to change the color and transparency of the menu itself, but also change the colors of individual app icons, so you can truly get the look you want. You can also use custom textures to be the background of the Start menu, rather than just flat colors. With the ability to create groups, you can also change the background color for each one, and make it so that all the icons inside it have a specific color as well. You can even change the Start menu icon itself, with the ability to download icons from the internet to use to your heart's content. You can also pin folders and files to the Start menu, and much more. There are just a ton of options to get the look and feel you want.

1.   It's a big productivity boost

There's more to it than looks

Personalization seems to be the big focus with Start11, but the single biggest reason to get this app is how much more productive you can be thanks to it. While you can change a lot about how the Start menu looks, what really makes the difference is what you can change about how it works.

I mentioned groups above, which make it easy to organize your apps, but you can also create tabs for groups, each with completely different criteria, colors, and apps. This allows you to pack the Start menu as densely as you want to get to everything you need more quickly. You can also add folders from File Explorer to the Start menu so you can access their contents quickly. You can turn their sub-folders into menus so all the navigation is always in the Start menu and you have a single place where you get to everything you need.

And then you can also create multiple pages of the Start menu, each with its own groups, tabs, folders, and anything you want. The Start menu is supposed to be the launchpad for everything you do on windows, but it's Start11 that can truly make it be that. Everything you want can be in your reach in a few clicks.

It's one of the best Windows tools out there

There's no doubt in my mind that Start11 is one of the best Windows customization tools out there. It offers so much functionality and so many options that it can truly change how you use Windows and make you work faster than ever. And, of course, it can make Windows look like whatever you want, too. It's hard to ask for much more than that.

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What you need to know

• Finebits released Eppie, a new email client that works with Outlook, Gmail, and several other popular services.
• Eppie is also the first native desktop client to fully support Proton Mail, a popular email service due to its end-to-end encryption.
• Eppie is available in preview through the Finebits AppPack, which also includes 8 Zip Pro, Files&Folders Pro, and Torrex Pro.

Finebits just announced a new email client to give Windows users a new way to use Proton Mail. Email client Eppie is now in preview, making it the first native desktop client with full support for Proton Mail. Eppie also works with Outlook, Gmail, and several other popular email service providers.

While full support for Proton Mail may be the headline feature in the eyes of many, giving Windows users an alternative to the web-based Outlook app is arguably more interesting. Our Senior Editor, Zac Bowden, hates the new Outlook and is not alone. Some of the issues with Microsoft's new Outlook app are poor performance, an interface that's missing features, and unreliable push notifications.

Perhaps Eppie can fill the void created by the poorly received new Outlook app. We'll take a closer look at Eppie over the coming weeks to see how it stacks up as an email client. The first 100 people who use this link will receive Finebits AppPack from the Microsoft Store for free, allowing you to try out Eppie and use other apps within the suite.

What is Proton Mail?

Proton Mail is a privacy-focused email service that is end-to-end encrypted. The company highlights how zero-access encryption ensures that only you can see your emails. "Not even Proton can view the content of your emails and attachments,' explains the company's website.

In addition to end-to-end encryption, Proton Mail lacks trackers that send information to advertisers and ads.

While Proton Mail is available on Android and iOS through dedicated apps, there is no first-party client for Proton Mail on Windows. Of course, you can use the service through your browser, but some prefer a dedicated app. 

Our colleagues at TechRadar gave the email service high marks in their Proton Mail review. The interface of the service and its security features were among the highlights of the service. Proton's customer support also earned high marks. 

"Proton Mail is one of the best secure email platforms you can choose. Its encryption has been tested several times by law enforcement and found secure," said TechRadar's Desire Athow. "For instance, Proton Mail won a 2021 Swiss court victory ruling that secure email services aren't subject to data retention requirements imposed on telecoms services."

Unlike many email services that earn revenue from ads or other means, Proton Mail requires a subscription for unlimited use. The individual plan costs $11.99 per month, and the family plan costs $29.99 per month. Paying for 12 or 24 months upfront will get you a significant discount.

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The feature, which has been under testing for a while now, works similarly to how you can forward or rewind a video in streaming apps like Netflix and YouTube. The ability to forward/rewind a video is now shipped with WhatsApp's latest update for iOS available on the App Store.

Here's the changelog of WhatsApp for iOS v24.6.77:

• You can instantly record and send video messages in chats. Long press the camera next to the text field in chat to get started
• You can quick forward/rewind by double tapping the edge of a video
• New design for the attachment tray in chat

WhatsApp says in the changelog that these features will roll out to everyone in the coming weeks. Although there is no mention of it on Google Play, WhatsApp's video forward/rewind functionality works on its Android version. Alternatively, you can go forward or backwards in a WhatsApp video by manually dragging the progress bar in the video player.

Apart from that, the update lets you start and share video messages by long pressing the camera button. The Video Messages feature was introduced in July last year on Android and iOS to send minute-long videos. It was previously accessible via the microphone button in the chat UI.

The Meta-owned messaging platform is working on some other features, including Favorites, default media upload quality, filtering group chats, and sharing status updates from companion devices.

WhatsApp is also readying integration with third-party messaging apps. A video surfaced recently showing the possible onboarding process of the underdevelopment feature. It is working to add Passkey support to iOS that lets users into WhatsApp without passwords.

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The popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu, will now receive a total of 12 years of security and support coverage on LTS releases starting with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. To avail these extra years of support, Ubuntu Pro subscribers will have to purchase the new Legacy Support add-on.

Canonical has not provided pricing details of the add-on but instead requests customers get in contact to find out more. The optional Ubuntu Pro is a paid service for businesses but also free for personal use on five machines - it still supports 10 years of security updates if you don’t buy the new add-on.

Commenting on the news, Maximilian Morgan, Global VP of Support Engineering at Canonical, said:

“We’re thrilled to offer our customers additional years of security maintenance and support for Ubuntu LTS releases. Drawing on 20 years of excellence in open source, Canonical delivers expert security maintenance and support for customers around the world.

 

With Legacy Support, we empower organisations to navigate their operational needs and investments into open source with confidence, ensuring their systems remain available, secure, and supported for many years to come.”

While the availability of this add-on is a good thing for businesses, it’s largely irrelevant for average users who ought to be upgrading their LTS systems every two-and-a-half to five years to ensure they’re using more up-to-date software.

Even though Ubuntu is free to install for anyone, the reason Canonical is extending support isn’t down to cost, but rather, software support. The extended support will enable businesses to update their applications, services, and systems to run on the latest version of Ubuntu.

Canonical is being paid for this added support but it’s unclear how long it'll be willing to keep pushing out support. If we cast our minds back to 2014 when Ubuntu 14.04 LTS came out, there were also discussions about Windows XP’s retirement as it seemed to Microsoft that it had been living on well past its expiry date but was still being heavily used so it had a difficult time killing it off.

As a reminder, next month will see the launch of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (get the wallpapers here). Without Ubuntu Pro (which is the case for most people), it will get five years of support until 2029. If you’re on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, there’s a good chance you won’t be offered the upgrade until later in the year with the release of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS, this gives Canonical time to fix bugs and test the upgrade path to ensure your system’s stability.

Source: Ubuntu

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Open Old Task Manager in Windows 11: Run

You can open the old Task Manager in Windows 11 by pressing Win + R and typing the "taskmgr -d" command. It will tell the operating system to launch Task Manager without its new XAML user interface.

Pressing Win + R and typing the command every time you need Task Manager is not the most convenient option, so you can pin the old variant to the taskbar:

1. Right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut.
2. Type taskmgr-d into the "Type the location of the item" box.
3. Click Next and give your shortcut a proper name.
4. Click Finish and drag the shortcut to the taskbar to pin it.

Now, you can launch the old Task Manager with a single click on its taskbar icon.

Open Old Task Manager in Windows 11: SysWOW64

Open File Explorer and navigate to Drive C > Windows > SysWOW64. Find the Taskmgr file and double-click it. There goes your old Task Manager from Windows 10.

You can also right-click the file and select Show More Options > Send to > Desktop (create shortcut). Drag the shortcut to the taskbar to pin it or keep it in any other convenient folder.

You might find guides describing how to replace Task Manager in Windows 11 with the old one so the OS can launch it when you press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, Ctrl + Alt + Delete, or right-click the taskbar. However, we do not recommend messing with this part of Windows. Pinning the old Task Manager is a much safer option that does not compromise your system's integrity. Of course, you will have to teach yourself to open Task Manager using a pinned icon on the taskbar.

And of course, staying on Windows 10 is still a viable option until at least October 2025.

Credit for the command goes to λlbacore on X.

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You are probably familiar with the Format dialog in modern (and not-so-much) Windows versions. It is a tall window with several options, such as file system, allocation size, and more. If you wonder why it looks slightly out of place in modern Windows versions, here is the answer: the UI is a temporary solution that has lasted for almost 30 years.

Dave Plummer, a long-term Microsoft veteran who created legendary things like Task Manager, Windows Pinball, native ZIP support (implementing which resulted in buying a red Corvette), and more, shared on his X account the story of creating the Format dialog.

In 1994, Dave and other software engineers were busy porting "the bajillion lines of code" from Windows 95 to NT. The latter contained plenty of changes to justify a UI rework for the Format dialog, so Plummer grabbed a piece of paper, jotted down the list of necessary features, and then fired up the Resource Editor in VC++2.0 to create a simple stack.

A vertical layout was chosen so that you could tick all the boxes in the approximate correct order. The final product was not meant to be beautiful, and according to Dave, it was implemented until "the elegant UI" arrived.

Almost 30 years later, Windows users are still waiting for the promised elegant UI. The temporary solution has stuck around for decades, and even the latest Windows 11 preview builds still use it with no signs of upgrades.

That was some 30 years ago, and the dialog is still my temporary one from that Thursday morning, so be careful about checking in "temporary" solutions!

 

I also had to decide how much "cluster slack" would be too much, and that wound up constraining the format size of a FAT volume to 32GB. That limit was also an arbitrary choice that morning, and one that has stuck with us as a permanent side effect.

You can read the full story on Dave's X.

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According to a page on the Chrome Platform Status, the lack of user adjustments for text rendering has been a "long-standing user complaint," with some posts dating back to 2015.

The problem is that Chromium uses Skia text rendering with hard-coded contrast and gamma values for each platform, making adjustments and customizations impossible. As a result, text in Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers look much thinner and lighter, especially on CJK characters (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages), which use a lot of anti-aliased pixels in each rendered glyph. You can also see the difference by comparing Chrome with Edge or Firefox.

Here is more technical information from Microsoft:

Like many native Windows applications, Legacy Microsoft Edge utilized the DirectWrite framework to render glyphs to the screen. The benefit of using DirectWrite is that certain system-wide user settings are respected and use the same rendering pipeline across all other native Windows applications.

 

Chromium, by contrast, only utilizes DirectWrite for part of the text-rendering pipeline: font enumeration, glyph information retrieval, and glyph bitmap generation; it handles its own text shaping, layout, and rendering. This enables code reuse across platforms, but on Windows, the results are typically different than the rest of the system’s text rendering.

 

The final compositing of glyph bitmaps in Chromium is handled by the Skia graphics library and does not respect the Windows system settings for contrast enhancement and gamma correction of anti-aliased text.

Microsoft wants to help Chrome in this regard by making Skia capable of "picking" and applying ClearType Text Tuner settings. The Chrome Platform Status page says the feature will be available in Chromium version 124.

If you are using Edge and want to try improved text contrast, head to edge://flags and turn on the "Enhance text contrast" flag. You will notice better gamma and contrast right after restarting the browse. For more drastic results, press Win + R and type cttune or search for "Adjust ClearType text."

Microsoft planned to make its text render improvements turned on by default in version 92, but today, in the recently released version 123, the flag still defaults to "Disabled."

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We have covered quite a few of them here at Neowin in the past. The one that helps reset the display driver can be quite useful in case you are having display-related issues like black screen or glitching or fizzling.

One of our senior reporters Taras Buria wrote up a guide talking about 11 such handy shortcuts he uses daily in his workflow.

While Windows is already a pretty mature OS, Microsoft keeps adding some new shortcuts from time to time, though not all of them may be all that useful for the general audience. For example, the company, some time around September last year, added a shortcut that would launch LinkedIn on your default browser.

Recently, a couple of new shortcuts were added on Windows 11 that can help to resize column width inside File Explorer on Windows 11. These were added to the list of keyboard shortcuts Microsoft maintains on its official website sometime around the end of February or early March.

• Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow: Decrease column width.

• Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow: Increase column width.

Sizing column widths inside File Explorer is easy enough using the mouse pointer in addition to the new keyboard shortcuts provided above. However, there is another way to do so by putting in exact pixel (px) values inside the "Width of selected column (in pixels)" box if you want precise column sizes.

Microsoft has a guide about it on its website as well.

In related news, recently, a new secret shortcut inside Windows OOBE was discovered when the source code was cut open.

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Microsoft Outlook - New admin security features are coming and more

If you are an admin who works at a company that uses the classic Outlook for desktop, Mac, and/or mobile devices, you are getting some new security options soon:

The appearance and behavior of Report Phishing/Report Junk actions in Outlook can be controlled by admins using User Reported Settings in security.microsoft.com. Admins will be able to control whether these Report actions appear in Outlook, where these messages get reported to, and whether the user is prompted when they report phishing or junk. Admins will also be able to customize text and other aspects of the dialogs that appear before and after users' report phishing or junk.

This feature is being rolled out first to Outlook for Android and iOS in April, followed by the classic Outlook for Windows in May, and for the Mac version in June.

The new Outlook for Windows will be able to launch a Teams chat from an email later in March.

This will allow users to start a Teams chat directly from an email message with the sender or all of the recipients in the email, the Teams chat opens in Outlook - so users can chat and continue their workflow in Outlook.

The new Outlook for Windows and on the web will get a new feature in April:

Search Folders will now display a folder tag within the message list, indicating the folder to which each email belongs. This enhancement provides users with quick and easy access to contextual information, improving navigation and organization within their mailbox.

Finally, the new Outlook for Windows will add a new "Share to Teams" button in April in its ribbon when " they select an email in the reading pane."

Other apps - OneDrive on the web will add a new way to view hidden files and more

OneDrive users on the web will get a new way to view hidden folders later in March.

This feature allows you to view files and folders you have hidden in the “Shared with you” view in OneDrive for Web. You can quickly access files and folders you have hidden by clicking on the 'Hidden' button in the filter bar. You can also 'Unhide' files and bring them back to the 'Shared with you' view.

Microsoft Teams on the desktop and Mac will get a new way to save meeting recordings in May:

With this change Teams meeting recordings will be saved to the meeting organizer’s OneDrive for Business instead of to the OneDrive for Business folder of the person who initiated the recording. This improves the compliance of recordings as meeting organizers can then manage access permissions and recording file management.

Teams on the desktop, Mac, and the web will get additional Live Share support in April:

Microsoft Teams applications that use Live Share for building real-time collaborative experiences – previously limited to Meeting Stage and Side Panel tabs – will be able to extend to Chat, Channel, and Collaborative Stageview tabs on desktop and web. Live Share enables collaborative features such as co-watching, co-creating, and co-editing content in real time. All applications enabled in your tenant using the existing Live Share permission will be eligible for this feature.

That's it for this week's look back at the Microsoft 365 roadmap. Come back next Sunday as we reveal what Microsoft added to the roadmap in the next week.

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A series of unscheduled updates is now available on the Microsoft Update Catalog for several Windows Server versions. Windows Server 2022 received KB5037422, Windows Server 2016 received KB5037423, and Windows Server 2012 R2 received KB5037426. Microsoft says the update for Windows Server 2019 will arrive "in near term."

Microsoft has identified an issue that affects Windows Server domain controllers (DCs), and has expedited a resolution that can be applied to affected devices. Out-of-band (OOB) updates have been released for some versions of Windows today, March 22, 2024, to addresses this issue related to a memory leak in the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). This occurs when on-premises and cloud-based Active Directory domain controllers service Kerberos authentication requests.

 

Updates are available on the Microsoft Update Catalog only. These are cumulative updates, so you do not need to apply any previous update before installing them, and they supersede all previous updates for affected versions. If your organization uses the affected server platforms as DCs and you haven’t deployed the March 2024 security updated yet, we recommend you apply this OOB update instead. For more information and instructions on how to install this update on your device, consult the below resources for your version of Windows:

It is worth adding that the problem with memory leaks in LSASS should not bother regular home users with personal devices. The issue was only observed in Windows Server, plus domain controllers are not something regular customers use on their computers.

What does affect most Windows 10 and 11 users is the expanded rollout of Copilot. Microsoft recently published a notification that its new AI-powered assistant is rolling out to more eligible devices. The rollout is scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2024.

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What is new in Microsoft Edge 123?

The official release notes for Microsoft Edge 123 do not list every bug fix and improvement. However, you can find more details in the changelogs for each Edge Dev 123 release:

• Microsoft Edge Dev 123.0.2380.1

• Microsoft Edge Dev 123.0.2400.1

• Microsoft Edge Dev 123.0.2420.6

   

Edge 123 also includes Chromium security updates and two Edge-specific patches (CVE-2024-26247 and CVE-2023-29057).

Here are the new features:

Customize organizational branding using the Microsoft Edge management service. Admins can customize their organization's branding assets onto Edge for Business through the Microsoft Edge management service. This branding can help users signed in with an Entra ID (formerly known as Azure Active Directory) more easily differentiate between multiple profiles and browser windows through visual cues on the profile pill, profile flyout, and Edge for Business taskbar icon.

 

This Microsoft Edge management service feature will give admins an enhanced experience to configure, preview, and customize how Edge for Business shows the following organization brand assets:

 

• Organization name
• Accent color
• Organization logo
• Edge for Business taskbar icon overlay

 

Note: This experience is in public preview and can be accessed by opting in to targeted release in the M365 admin center. For more information, see Microsoft Edge for Business.

 

Automatic profile switching controls for Microsoft Edge for Business in the Microsoft Edge management service. The Microsoft Edge management service will provide admins with the ability to configure settings for automatic profile switching in the Microsoft Edge browser. This can help enforce context separation between their end users' work and personal browsing. Note: This experience is in public preview and can be accessed by opting in to targeted release in the M365 admin center.

You can update Microsoft Edge to the latest version by heading to edge://settings/help. Alternatively, keep using it as usual, and the browser will update itself automatically upon the next restart.

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While a lot of our files are stored in the cloud, there are still many ones and zeros that get stored locally. But as the capacity of the drives used by our desktops and laptops has increased, finding files has gotten that much harder. How many photos and videos do you have stacked up in your computer? How many documents and downloads?

 

Personally, I tend to neglect file management because there’s so much storage space available. But when I do need a file, especially one I haven’t used for a while, the old phrase about finding a needle in a haystack comes to mind. It’s even worse if I don’t remember much about what it was called.

 

Don’t despair. Windows has the tools you need to track down what you’re after. And if the built-in options aren’t enough, there are third-party programs you can turn to as well.

Before you start: Windows indexing

You can set Windows to search in Classic or Enhanced mode; the latter is slower but more thorough.

 

By default, Windows only indexes the files in four areas of your PC: Documents, Pictures, Music, and Desktop folders, plus any subfolders branching off of them. If you want it to search in other places as well, you can change this.

 

• Open Settings from the Start menu, then go to Privacy & security > Searching Windows.
• Under Find my files, you will probably find that the Classic type of search has been automatically selected. With Classic chosen, you can then click Customize search locations > Modify to add folders to the list of indexed locations by checking the appropriate boxes. 
• Alternatively, you can choose Enhanced instead of Classic to have your entire PC included in queries. Microsoft says this may affect CPU usage and battery life, so you may not find it worth the tradeoff.

 

Farther down the same screen, you’re able to exclude certain folders from search. If there are folders you know you’re not going to need to search, excluding them can speed up the indexing and searching processes.

 

When you’ve decided which folders you want Windows to index, you’re ready to actually do some searching.

The basics of finding files on Windows

You’re able to search right from the taskbar.

 

There’s a search box or icon right there on the taskbar, just to the right of the Start menu button, which you can use to start your file search. Just type as much of the file name as you remember, and results appear as you type. If you prefer, you can also use the search box that you get when you open up the Start menu.

 

When you start to type, Windows will bring up a dialog that shows you what it considers the best match, and then more matches below that. Above the best match, you’ll find a series of tabs with various categories, including Documents, Photos, or Folders, which you can use to narrow down your search if you don’t immediately find a match. Depending on your search words, Windows may prioritize results from the web and / or the Start menu ahead of files, so you may need these extra filters.

 

If all you want to get to is a recently installed app or recently opened file, you may not need to do any searching at all. Click on the Start menu button on the taskbar, and under the Recommended heading, you’ll see apps and files you’ve recently accessed.

Searching for files in File Explorer

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7File Explorer can search inside files, if needed.

 

For more advanced searches, open up File Explorer and use the search box that’s up in the top-right corner. Here are a few tips:

 

• Note that your location in File Explorer matters: the search will run on the folder you’re currently viewing, along with any subfolders. If you want to search your entire PC, first click This PC in the navigation pane on the left. Type out the name of the file you’re looking for in the search box and hit Enter. Matches will then fill up on-screen as they’re found.
• If you’re not sure of the full file name, you can use an asterisk as a wild card that represents any combination of characters. So searching for am* could return files named “amstrad,” “america,” and “am8811!g.” 
• You can also use a question mark as a single-letter wild card. Searching for am? would give you files named “amy,” “amd,” and “am3.”
• Another trick is to add the file extension, if you know it. Run a search for *.jpg, and you’ll get back all the JPEG files in the current folder, along with its subfolders. You can apply the same wild cards to the extension after the period if you need to.
• Boolean operators are supported as well. For example, use “samsung or google” to get matches for both, “samsung and google” to find files where both words are included or “samsung not google” to get files that have Samsung in the name but not Google.
• If you want to filter your search even more, look for Search Options up at the top of the File Explorer window. (You may need to click on the three dots on the right side to find it.) Click on that to get a list of various search variables you can use. For example, you can limit your search based on file size or when the file was last edited (which can be very useful if you’re getting overwhelmed with results). There’s also a File contents option, which you can use if you want Windows to look inside your files for matches — it’s a lot more thorough, but it obviously takes more time.

Getting help from third-party utilities

SearchMyFiles gives you a host of search options.

 

There are numerous third-party utilities out there, ready and willing to lend a hand with your searches. While the features they offer are pretty similar to what you’ll find in File Explorer, they’re presented in a way that you might find more intuitive.

 

• Agent Ransack is a speedy and slimline file searcher for Windows, which lets you search for matches in file names and in file contents at the same time. It’s really easy to pick search locations, and wild cards and Boolean operators are supported, too.
• Then there’s Everything, which is the most lightweight and straightforward file search tool for Windows that I’ve found. (It can be run as a portable app, too, right from a USB drive.) It also has its own set of advanced features, including options for matching upper and lower case in file names and being able to save searches for future use.
• SearchMyFiles is another free third-party search utility worth a look. As well as displaying results super quickly, it offers a convenient search options panel, where you can limit your file matches based on file size, file date, and file attributes (such as read only). It’ll even help you hunt down duplicate files.
• Last but not least, PowerToys Run from Microsoft can give you a search experience similar to Spotlight on macOS. Hit Alt + Space to bring up the search box in the center of the screen, then type out the name of the file you’re looking for. It’s useful to have on hand for those times you need to get to a specific file as quickly as possible.

 

Source

Microsoft will turn off password payload in MPR in Windows 11 version 24H2 (coming later this year as Windows 11 "2024 Update") using a group policy for NPLogonNotify and NPPasswordChangeNotify APIs. Although the APIs will remain available for some time, Microsoft says it will remove them at some point in a future Windows release, which is what happens to most deprecated features.

Here is how the official documentation describes the APIs:

NPLogonNotify function (npapi.h)

 

MPR calls this function to notify the credential manager that a logon event has occurred, allowing the credential manager to return a logon script. The NPLogonNotify function is implemented by a credential manager DLL (see Remarks).

 

NPPasswordChangeNotify function (npapi.h)

 

MPR calls this function to notify the credential manager of a password change event. The NPPasswordChangeNotify function is implemented by a credential manager DLL.

The main reason for deprecating NPLogonNotify and NPPasswordChangeNotify APIs is security. According to Microsoft, those APIs allow the caller to retrieve users' passwords, "presenting potential risks for password exposure and harvesting by malicious users."

Naturally, some customers might still need the deprecated APIs, so Microsoft allows including password payloads in MPR notifications via the EnableMPRNotification policy.

Password payloads in MPR notifications are only the third feature Microsoft deprecated this year. In 2023, the company announced the end of the road for many more Windows 10 and 11 components. Check out our comprehensive list of every Windows feature Microsoft deprecated in 2023.

Source

If you’ve been using Intuit’s Mint app to help you budget, automatically collect your expenses, put them in useful categories, and remind you to pay them, then you were probably a bit shocked to find out that Intuit will be folding Mint into its other financial service, Credit Karma. Originally, the final date was going to be January 1st, 2024, but now, Mint will officially disappear on March 23rd, 2024.

 

Credit Karma’s main service is to offer advice about financial products based on your credit score, which means this may be a good fit depending on how many of Mint’s features will be moved to Credit Karma. But it’s too soon to tell. (According to Intuit, “some of the most popular Mint-like features are available on Intuit Credit Karma,” which isn’t the most encouraging phrase I’ve ever seen.)

 

This could be a problem for a lot of current Mint users. The service, which became part of Intuit’s library of financial software in 2009, has been popular as an app for people who don’t know that much about finances and don’t really want to know. It tracks expenses, helps you create a budget, and warns you if you’re getting into trouble. (It also, like many free commercial financial apps, keeps up a constant drumbeat of promoting various credit cards, bank accounts, and other products.)

 

Luckily, there are now other apps out there that can also offer similar services. None of them are free, and none of them are quite Mint-like, but they could be useful if you need something to help you stay within a budget or save toward a goal. Here are five worth checking out.

 

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How about just using a spreadsheet?

If you want to just get all of your data out of Mint and into something simple like a spreadsheet, you can. Intuit has offered instructions on how to download your data in CSV (spreadsheet) format using the web version of Mint.

 

In short, once you’re in Mint, you click on Transactions in the left column and filter it in any way you want using the Filter drop-down option. You then scroll down and click on Export [number] transactions.

 

Pay attention to the number! You can export up to 10,000 transactions at a time, but no more, so if you’ve been using Mint for a while, you may need to filter it by date or via some other method and then download by section.

 

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Quicken Simplifi

Quicken Simplifi’s dashboard organizes your finances into several easy-to-understand categories.

 

Quicken is, of course, one of the better-known financial app companies, and it has a load of different products. Quicken Simplifi is the most basic, and obviously, the company is hoping that it can gain some users from Mint’s exit. How do I know? Because you can now have one year at 50 percent off.

 

Like Mint (and most of these products), Simplifi pulls info from your various accounts in order to help you track your finances. (You can also import the CSV file from Mint, although you will lose your categories.) The top-page dashboard gives you a rundown of several aspects of your finances, including how much you’ve spent recently; upcoming automatic payments; a spending plan that you can use to see if your outgoing finances are outstripping your incoming finances; a spending watchlist, which you can use to watch specific categories, tags, or payees; and trackers for investments or savings goals. You can select each to get more details, but all are also separately accessible via a side panel.

 

I found Simplifi quite easy to get used to. Its interface isn’t quite as friendly as Mint’s was, but it does offer a great deal for a little under $50 a year, especially if you’re looking for a way to easily track your finances.

 

Cost: First year, $24 billed annually; after that, $47.88 a year.

Tiller

Tiller uses Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to help you organize your finances.

 

Tiller is also looking to pick up a few ex-Minters; at the time I wrote this, the front page announced that it was time for Mint users to “graduate” to Tiller. The question is, of course, whether they want to — while Tiller has a lot of advantages, it also has a rather steep learning curve.

 

Unlike most apps, which give you the choice of either associating with another account or creating an email and password, Tiller only lets you sign in with either a Google or Microsoft account. You do need to register a credit card to sign up.

 

Once you’ve entered the info for your first account, you are invited to set up your first spreadsheet, which will be in either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. (A pop-up questionnaire assesses your skill level with spreadsheets.) Once you’ve added all your accounts, you then get to install the Tiller Money Feeds add-on, which is basically a template attached to your spreadsheet.

 

Tiller moved my accounts into a Sheets spreadsheet without issue. This is actually an advantage, especially for those of us who have experienced too many app disappearances — even if Tiller went away tomorrow, all of your data would already be there and available.

 

After you’ve installed the template, Tiller runs you through a step-by-step lesson on how to use it. Each tab on the spreadsheet handles a different feature, such as spending trends, transactions, yearly budget, etc. Each time you launch the extension, it will automatically update your accounts (although there was a warning that there are a few accounts that will have to be manually updated).

 

In short, if you’re comfortable (or even prefer) managing your finances via a spreadsheet, then Tiller’s template should make things a whole lot easier for you. However, if you’re an ex-Minter who wants something that’s simple and automated, Tiller may not be for you.

 

Cost: Free 30-day trial (with a credit card), then $79 a year.

YNAB

YNAB uses colors to help you figure out when you’ve gone over the line budget-wise.

 

YNAB (for You Need A Budget), like Mint, is for people who want to create a budget and track their expenses as easily as possible. When you start it up for the first time, you go through three steps. First, you set your budgetary targets by filling out a form that covers a variety of possible outlays, including rent, utilities, grocery spending, money for vacation, entertainment, etc. Then you add your various savings or checking accounts — you can either link to those accounts or fill them in manually. Finally, you assign that money to your various expenses — and if you’re in a hurry, there’s an auto-assign button that does it for you. You can then look them over and tweak any of the expenses, categories, or assigned payments that are there.

 

Once that’s done, you’ve got your main budget page, which gives a clear indication of where you are financially. Under each expense, a green line means it is covered or you’re on track to cover it while an uncovered expense gets a gray line, and any expense that is only partially covered gets a yellow one. The amount of money that you have left is shown on top.

 

If you’ve assigned more money than you have (either manually or through automatic uploads), that amount on top goes negative — and bright red, so you can’t miss it. A button called “Fix this” lets you “unassign” money from one of the categories — for example, from your entertainment budget.

 

YNAB imports QFX, OFX, QIF, or CSV files and will export your data in CSV format should you want to.

 

I was really impressed by YNAB’s friendly interface and flexibility. It costs more than the other apps listed here, but if you’re looking for a simple way to try to stay within your budget, this may be worth the few extra dollars.

 

Cost: Free 34-day trial (no credit card needed), then $14.99 a month or $99 a year.

Copilot

Copilot’s dashboard gives you a rundown of your monthly spending and lets you review each transaction.

 

Copilot is definitely pushing for the new Mint crown — the front page says that it is working on a direct transfer of Mint data and has a waitlist for those who don’t want to switch until then. One caveat: this one is only for macOS and iOS systems. Once you download the app, you can sign up with your Apple account or an email.

 

Like YNAB, you can either connect to your accounts or fill in your data manually. There is, nicely, also a demo account to practice with if you’re not sure whether you want to fill in your own quite yet.

 

Copilot divides your transactions into three types: regular (such as rent, subscriptions, or groceries); internal (money you move between two accounts, such as when you pay a credit card bill); and income.

 

Your dashboard is where you’ll see a summary of all your transactions: how much you’ve spent that month against how much you’ve budgeted for, your recent transactions, your top spending categories, and what you’re expected to be paying over the next couple of weeks, among others. You are invited to review each transaction and check it off — or, if you need to, change its category or type or delete it. According to Copilot, it uses an AI system that will become more familiar with how your expenses are categorized after a while. In addition, you can mark a transaction as recurring and (via the menu on the side) see how many of your recurring transactions still have to be paid that month.

 

If your spending goes above that month’s budget, the monthly spending line chart on your dashboard will go up into the red; you can also be notified. (Copilot offers a variety of notifications, including when you get paid, if you’re getting close to an overdraft fee, or when a large purchase has hit, among others.)

 

Copilot is an interesting financial app. It wasn’t as simple to set up and understand as YNAB, but others have found its AI features to be very useful over time. If your devices fall into the Apple ecosystem and you’re willing to spend a little time “teaching” Copilot how to treat your finances, it could be a rewarding experience.

 

Cost: Free one-month trial (credit card needed), then $13 a month or $95 a year.

Monarch

Monarch is simple to set up and work with.

 

Monarch was not originally part of this roundup but was suggested by several of our commenters as a good Mint alternative. And obviously, the company (like several of those covered above) also thinks so: it has extended its usual seven-day free trial period to 30 days and is offering a 50 percent discount for the first year with the code MINT50. It even has a special “Move from Mint to Monarch” option that imports the Mint CSV file and allows you to confirm your categories and tags.

 

As you set Monarch up, you’ll be guided through a process of registering your accounts, customizing your categories, creating a goal, and creating a plan. The process takes a while, but it’s easy to understand. You can set up notifications, share with family members or financial advisors, and set goals (such as paying down credit cards or saving for a vacation) and then allocate specific amounts to those goals. A calendar lets you see all your recurring expenses (paid and unpaid) at a glance. You can even create rules — for example, you can recategorize anything spent above a certain amount at a specific merchant.

 

A list of features on the left lets you view your accounts, your various transactions, and your cash flow; you can even get some advice on how to reach your goals.

 

I was impressed with Monarch’s interface and its ease of use; the only time I had to resort to its help files was to find out how to import my Mint data, and that was quickly explained, accompanied by a (largely unnecessary) video. While Monarch isn’t exactly Mint, it is geared toward Mint users — in other words, those not familiar and / or comfortable with financial dealings. I would put Monarch and YNAB on the same level; which of the two you should choose depends largely on your own preferences.

 

Cost: Free seven-day trial (credit card needed), then $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

 

Update March 22nd, 2024, 5:05PM ET: This article was originally published on November 9th, 2023, and has been updated to add Mint’s closing date.

 

Source

On Windows 11, if you prefer Microsoft Edge over other browsers to access the internet, there are some configuration changes every user should make for the best experience.

When you install Windows 11 or set up a new computer, Microsoft Edge loads a set of default settings, but some of the default selections are questionable. For example, out of the box, the browser comes with "Do Not Track" disabled, but targeted advertising is enabled. 

The browser also comes with many unnecessary features turned on by default, such as those for shopping and recommendations, and a sidebar that adds even more clutter and reduces the available space. However, not all the features are "bad." Some are great, but they come disabled by default.

In this how-to guide, I'll walk you through the settings I consider to be the most optimal for most users on Windows 11.

Best Microsoft Edge settings for Windows 11

You should consider applying these settings on your Microsoft Edge browser.

To get started, click the "Settings and more" (three dots) button from the top-right and choose the "Settings" option.

Profiles

On the "Profiles" page, you should use the default configuration, but it's recommended that you connect your Microsoft account to sync your browsing activities, credentials, and other information across devices. To do so, you only have to click the "Sign in to sync data" button and sign in with your Microsoft account.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Profile settings" section, click the "Share browsing data with other Windows features" setting and turn off the feature to prevent Windows 11 from making online activities searchable from the Search experience.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Privacy, search, and services 

On the "Privacy, search, and services" page, you should turn on the "Tracking prevention" with (at least) the "Basic" setting.

As part of the privacy features, Microsoft Edge includes "Tracking prevention" that allows you to block websites from minimizing the amount of information they collect about your online activities. 

The feature provides three configuration levels: "Basic," "Balanced," and "Strict." You should at least use the "Balanced" setting to block harmful website trackers. The "Strict" setting blocks the majority of trackers, but it can break the site, so I wouldn't recommend using it.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You can use the "Exceptions" setting to prevent the browser from blocking specific websites.

Under the "Privacy" section, turn on the "Send "Do Not Track" requests" setting to signal to websites that you don't want them to collect or share your browsing data.

Although it's a good practice to turn on this feature, the only caveat is that the site can ignore your request. I have created another guide that shares more details about this privacy feature.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Search and service improvement" section, turn off the "Help improve Microsoft products by sending the results from searches on the web" setting to minimize the data you send to the company.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Personalization & advertising" section, turn off the toggle switch of the feature to prevent Microsoft from using your online activities, favorites, and web content to show targeted ads, search, shopping, and news.

Under the "Security" section, turn on the "Block potentially unwanted apps" setting to allow the browser to block downloads that can harm your installation. (It's important to note that this setting can cause false positives. You can leave this option off if you're a tech-savvy user.)

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You should also turn on the "Enhance your security on the web" setting and set the option to "Balanced." This is another security layer that implements several mitigations to protect the browser from malware attacks.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

On the "Manage enhanced security for sites" page, you can add or remove sites manually. This option comes in handy when you want to use this feature, but a specific website doesn't work correctly. 

Another feature worth turning on is the "Microsoft Edge Secure Network" feature, a free VPN (Virtual Private Network) service that Microsoft offers at no extra cost in partnership with Cloudflare. 

The secure network feature adds an extra layer of security by rerouting your browser traffic through the VPN server, adding encryption to the connection, hiding your public IP address, and protecting your browsing activities.  

You can enable it by turning on the "Microsoft Edge Secure Network" toggle switch and choosing one of the available options, including "Select Sites," "Optimized," and "All Sites."

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

I agree with Microsoft that "Optimized" is the best option, as it will automatically protect you on public and unsecure networks and websites automatically. However, you can always turn on the VPN option for a specific site using the "Manage Secure Network sites" page or turn on the "VPN" toggle switch from the browser's essential side panel.

The only caveat is that it only offers 5GB of data per month. 

Under the "Services" section, you can manage different features and services that may only end up cluttering the browsing experience. 

On this page, you should turn off the "Save time and money with Shopping in Microsoft Edge" toggle switch to prevent constant offer notifications in the address bar. (Sure, saving some money when shopping online is good, but constant reminders can lead to interruptions and buying things you probably don't need.)

Some other features you can turn off include:

• Show suggestions to follow creators in Microsoft Edge.
• Show opportunities to support causes and nonprofits you care about.
• Get notifications of related things you can explore with Discover.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

If Bing is your preferred search engine, you can click the "Address bar and search option" setting and select your preferred engine from the "Search engine used in the address bar" setting. 

Finally, on this page, you may want to enable the "Save screenshots of sites for history" toggle switch. The feature will show an image preview of the site when hovering over links in the history tab.

Appearance

On the Appearance page, in addition to switching between the dark and light color modes and changing themes, you can also customize various aspects of the toolbar, context menu, sidebar, and more.

Under the "Customize toolbar" section, you should turn off the "Show tab actions menu" toggle switch to remove the tab menu button from the top-left corner. (You will rarely use this menu.)

Turn off the "Show profile icon in the title bar" toggle switch to move the profile menu to the address bar, freeing up space in the tabs area.

Choose the "Always" option in the "Show favorites bar" setting to list favorites under the address bar. In the favorite bar, that's where you should save your more frequent websites (like WindowsCentral.com).

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You should also turn off the "Show Workspaces" toggle switch to disable the feature.

Turn on the "Home button" setting to show the button next to the address bar. The default option is the "new tab" page, but you can use the "Set button URL" option to specify any website.

Turn off the "Collection button" toggle switch if you don't use collections.

Other useful features you may want to enable on this page include:

• History button: Quick access to your activity history.
• App button: Quick access to install or access web apps.
• Downloads button: Gives you access to the download history.
• Screenshot button: Gives you faster access to the option to take page screenshots.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Context menu" section, you can customize the menu behaviors.

For example, on the "Hover menu" page, you should turn off the "Show hover menu on image hover" and "Show Visual Search in context menu" features. When these features are disabled, images on web pages no longer show extra elements, making the page less cluttered.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You should also turn off the "Show mini menu when selecting text" toggle switch to prevent the secondary menu from popping up automatically. You can always right-click the selection to access the available options.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Customize browser" section, you may turn on the "Ask before closing a window with multiple tabs" toggle switch to prevent some tabs from closing by accident.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Fonts" section, you can change the default text size without having to change the scaling or zoom settings, and inside the "Customize fonts" page.

Sidebar

On the "Sidebar" page, you can completely disable the sidebar and Copilot. 

You can disable the sidebar by turning off the "Always show sidebar" toggle switch. (You may also have to turn off the "Show sidebar button" toggle switch after disabling this Copilot button.)

Also, turn off the "Personalize my top site in customize sidebar" and the "Allow sidebar apps to show notifications" settings.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

If you want to remove the Copilot button, click the "Copilot" setting, turn off the "Show Copilot" toggle switch, and click the "Restart" button.

While on this page, you should also turn off the "Show shopping notifications" toggle switch to prevent the chatbot AI from suggesting shopping deals.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Start, home, and new tabs

On the "Start, home, and new tabs" page, you can control a couple of settings regarding the startup behavior and the home button (which is also available on the "Appearance" page).

On this page, you only want to choose the "Open tabs from the previous session" option. If you prefer closing the tabs, leave the "Open the new tab page" option selected.

You can also refer to my other set of instructions on how to customize the "new tab" page.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Share, copy and paste

On the "Share, copy and paste" page, you want to select the "Plain text" option to copy and paste links in the plain text instead of a short link with the page title. 

You should also turn off the "Use the format selected above when copying links within web pages" toggle switch. 

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Downloads

On the "Downloads" page, you should only consider turning on the "Ask me what to do with each download" toggle switch to allow the browser to ask you whether to save or open the download without saving.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Languages 

On the "Languages" page, the default settings are optimal, but you can make some customizations if you speak more than one language and the browser dictionary.

In the "Preferred languages" setting, click the "Add languages" button, choose the new language, and click the "Add" button. 

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You will have to repeat the steps to install additional languages.

Once you complete the steps, websites will appear in the first language in the list they support. 

If the browser keeps marking specific words as incorrect, when they're correct, you can add those words to the Microsoft Edge dictionary so that they won't be marked as incorrect. 

Under the "Writing assistance" section, click the "Customize dictionary" setting, insert the word, and click the "Add word" button.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

System and performance 

On the "System and performance" page, you can customize multiple features related to how the browser operates. 

If you're having trouble loading a page, such as a video with a black or green screen, you can try turning off the "Use graphic acceleration when available" toggle switch. 

If the laptop is running on battery, turn on the "Efficiency mode" toggle switch. This feature will help to preserve the battery, but you will notice a drop in performance. (When you turn on this feature, you won't be able to control the sleeping tabs functionality.)

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Under the "Optimize Performance" section, the "Save resources with sleeping tabs" should be turned on, and then you should choose the lowest setting you feel comfortable with before the browser puts the tab to sleep after some time of inactivity with the "Put inactive tabs to sleep after the specified amount of time" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

If you have a few websites that you prefer to keep running all the time, you can click the "Add" button to add them to the list in the "Never put these sites to sleep" setting.

For any setting I'm not mentioning in this guide, I recommend leaving it with its default configuration unless you understand it and have a different opinion.

Also, these are only recommendations. If you already use some of the features, disabling them is unnecessary.

If you want to customize the new tab page, refer to my other instructions.

On the "Languages" page, the default settings are optimal, but you can make some customizations if you speak more than one language and the browser dictionary.

In the "Preferred languages" setting, click the "Add languages" button, choose the new language, and click the "Add" button. 

You will have to repeat the steps to install additional languages.

Once you complete the steps, websites will appear in the first language in the list they support. 

If the browser keeps marking specific words as incorrect, when they're correct, you can add those words to the Microsoft Edge dictionary so that they won't be marked as incorrect. 

On the "Languages" page, the default settings are optimal, but you can make some customizations if you speak more than one language and the browser dictionary.

In the "Preferred languages" setting, click the "Add languages" button, choose the new language, and click the "Add" button. 

You will have to repeat the steps to install additional languages.

Once you complete the steps, websites will appear in the first language in the list they support. 

If the browser keeps marking specific words as incorrect, when they're correct, you can add those words to the Microsoft Edge dictionary so that they won't be marked as incorrect. 

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As of right now, Copilot is reaching more Windows 11 PCs with supported versions (23H2 and 22H2). In version 23H2, Copilot is turned on by default, and vice versa in 22H2. Microsoft also adds that the rollout respects previously set Copilot policies by IT Admins.

Eligible Windows 10 version 22H2 users with non-managed devices will start receiving Copilot later this month. As a reminder, Microsoft began rolling out Copilot to Windows 10 in November 2023 and plans to deliver it to all users by the end of May 2024 (that also applies to Windows 11 users).

In addition to making Copilot available to more users, the company made it possible to make up to 10 requests to try Copilot's capabilities without signing in with a Microsoft Account or Entra ID.

How do you know your computer has received Copilot? After restarting, you will notice a Copilot button on the taskbar in the system tray. Although Microsoft will not ask if you want it there, the Settings app lets you hide the Copilot button in Personalization > Taskbar. You can also invoke Copilot with the Win + C shortcut. Note that the button also turns off the ability to show the desktop by clicking the bottom-right corner of the screen. You can also fix that in the Settings app.

Microsoft recently announced a new division called "Microsoft AI," which will govern the company's AI efforts, including Bing, Copilot, and Microsoft Edge. Therefore, expect Microsoft to press on with Copilot and AI-powered experience across all of its products.

Click here to find out if Copilot is available in your region, and what features can be used. Microsoft says that by default, all Copilot features are available in the North America region only.

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Back in October, we reported that Brave was installing VPN services for all users on Windows. Most Brave browser users do not use Brave Software's VPN service, but they still got the VPN service installed on their machines without consent or any intention of using the VPN.

Brave Software responded to the allegations. It confirmed that the VPN services were installed on user devices on Windows. These were set to manual, which meant that they would not start unless started by the user. Furthermore, the VPN services would not submit any data to Brave Software.

The company promised to change the behavior in the future. Fast forward six months and the release of Brave 1.64. The latest release of the browser does not install the VPN service anymore on Windows.

Brave notes in the changelog: "Fixed Brave VPN to not install VPN services until VPN is purchased or enabled."

I confirmed the new behavior on two test systems. Both were upgraded to Brave 1.64 from earlier versions. A check of the Services manager in Windows confirmed that the two VPN services Brave VPN Service and Brave VPN Wireguard Service were not installed on the devices.

These services will only get installed when a user purchases the VPN from Brave Software or enables it on the device from now on. They will also get removed on systems, provided that the VPN is not used.

Brave Software confirms the change and new behavior on GitHub. There it states that the services do get removed for users if they have not purchased a VPN subscription or enabled it in the settings of the browser.

Other changes in Brave 1.64

Brave 1.64 includes several interesting changes. There is a new "bring all tabs to this window" option to move all tabs from all other windows to the active one.

Brave Leo, the integrated AI component, has a new text right-click context menu. Highlight text on a webpage and select Brave AI Tools to get several options, including getting a summary of the text or using rewrite options courtesy of the integrated large language model.

Brave Software highlights two security and privacy improvements. The first improves Tor functionality in Brave by reaching feature parity with Tor browser regarding stream isolation for third-party subresources. The second improves the storage partitioning feature of Chromium by "making it compatible with Brave's ephemeral storage implementation".

Now You: have you tried Brave 1.64 already? What is your impression of the new release?

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Today, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 update in the Release Preview Channel. In addition to quite a lengthy list of fixes, the build contains the new Lock Screen widgets. Although the release notes do not mention it, you can turn on those widgets using the ViVeTool app (just back up important data before experimenting).

As you can see in the screenshot, the new widgets on Windows 11's Lock Screen look almost identical to those in Windows 10. The only exception is that they align in the middle to match the rest of the operating system's aesthetics. The behavior is also the same: clicking a "Show more" link gets you to the Microsoft Edge browser and the MSN website (even though Windows 11 has a dedicated Weather app), and you do not get to choose what widgets appear on the Lock Screen (it is either all or none).

Here is how to turn on the updated Lock Screen in Windows 11:

1. Update your system to build 22631.3371 (KB5035942).
2. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
3. Run Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:47921515,47921574 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer.
6. Go to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen > Lock Screen Status and select "Weather and more."
7. Press Win + L and watch the Lock Screen turn into an MSN home page check out the new widgets.

Credit for the IDs goes to @PhantomOfEarth on X.

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Besides those, a bug has been fixed which would prevent new apps and features from being available. There is much more in this release. You can view the full changelog below:

This update includes the following features and improvements:

 

• New! This update adds more content to your lock screen. In addition to weather, sports, traffic, and finance content will appear. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.
• New! This update turns on the Autopilot 2.0 feature.
• 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.
• New! This update improves the Remote Desktop Session Host. You can now set up its “clipboard redirection” policy to work in a single direction from the local computer to the remote computer. You can also reverse that order.
• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland. To learn more, see Greenland 2023 time zone update now available.
• 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 affects MSIX applications. It helps their UI to localize correctly for all languages when you upgrade your OS.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the COM+ component. Some applications that depend on it stop responding.
• This update addresses an issue that stops some apps and features from being available. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 11.
• This update addresses a deadlock issue in CloudAP. It occurs when different users sign in and sign out at the same time on virtual machines.
• 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 addresses an issue that affects Containers that you create or deploy. Their status does not progress past “ContainerCreating.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects the time service. You can configure it using mobile device management (MDM) or a Group Policy Object (GPO). But the Windows Settings app does not match what you have configured.
• This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard and the candidate window for the Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IME). They do not show after you come out of Modern Standby. To learn more, see Microsoft Japanese IME and What is Modern Standby.
• This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use LoadImage() to load a top-down bitmap. If the bitmap has a negative height, the image does not load and the function returns NULL.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Settings app. It stops responding when you use it to remove Bluetooth devices.
• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Notepad. It fails to print to certain Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printers when you use a print support app.
• This update addresses an issue that affects USB audio. It fails on some processors. This occurs after you pause, play, or resume from sleep.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It prevents a stop error that occurs when you apply more than 32 policies.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the existing AppLocker rule collection enforcement mode. It is not overwritten when rules merge with a collection that has no rules. This occurs when the enforcement mode is set to “Not Configured.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Group Policy service. It fails after you use LGPO.exe to apply an audit policy to the system.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Secure Launch. It does not run on some processors.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels setting. The app labels in the taskbar sometimes do not have the correct length, which cuts off the label text. This occurs when this setting is set to “When taskbar is full” or “Never.”
• This update addresses a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.
• This update addresses an issue that affects some wireless headphones. Bluetooth connections are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Transport Layer Security (TLS), version 1.3. It causes Azure App Services to fail. This occurs when the web server attempts to connect to a third-party Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
• This update addresses an issue that affects dsamain.exe. When the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) runs evaluations, it stops responding.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) PowerShell module. It does not load.

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

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