While the tech giant has not confirmed any major issues related to its Windows 10 and 11 Patch Tuesday updates, it has documented a major issue with the Server release. The company has confirmed an LSASS (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service) memory leak bug on domain controllers (DCs) while carrying out Kerberos authentication requests.

Microsoft says that in extreme scenarios, the memory leak bug can lead to the crashing of LSASS, which means an unscheduled reboot is triggered, much to the annoyance of IT and system administrators and users alike.

The LSASS helps authenticate users for local and remote sign-ins and enforce local security policies to prevent code injection that could lead to the compromise of credentials. It is part of the Local Security Authority (LSA) process.

On its Windows health dashboard website, Microsoft explains:

Following installation of the March 2024 security update, released March 12, 2024 (KB5035857), Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) may experience a memory leak on domain controllers (DCs). This is observed when on-premises and cloud-based Active Directory Domain Controllers service Kerberos authentication requests.

 

Extreme memory leaks may cause LSASS to crash, which triggers an unscheduled reboot of underlying domain controllers (DCs).

 

Note: This issue does not occur on Home devices. It affects only environments in organizations using some Windows Server platforms.

The good news is that the root cause has been identified, says Microsoft, and that it is working on a fix, which should be out in a few days.

Next steps: The root cause has been identified and we are working on a resolution that will be released in the coming days. This text will be updated as soon as the resolution is available.

You may find more details about the issue on this page on Microsoft's Windows health website.

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What is new in Microsoft Edge Dev 124.0.2464.2?

Added features:

 

• Added Copilot icon in the PDF viewer.

 

Improved Reliability:

 

• Fixed a browser crash on android.
• Fixed an issue where browser would crash upon opening a link from Outlook and signing out of an account in browser.
• Fixed an issue that caused browser to crash when clicking on autofill field.
• Fixed an issue that caused browser to crash when signed out from AAD account.

 

Changed behavior:

 

• Resolved a problem where the “Deleted favorites” section wasn’t showing the items or folders that were recently removed in the signed-in profile.
• Fixed an issue where the Copilot Theme display was incomplete.
• Fixed an issue where the “open in new tab” button should not be displayed on the toolbar.
• Resolved a problem where the screen reader was not providing any feedback upon retrieval of search results.
• Fixed a navigation issue where the keyboard focus became stuck when moving through the ‘Search Favorites’ edit field suggestions.
• Fixed an issue where, upon a cold start of the app on Android, the first chat initiated through omnibox defaulted to voice input rather than text input.
• Fixed an issue where site icons would overlap, and an icon appeared to track mouse movements after repeatedly dragging a transient icon.
• Resolved a problem where a default icon was needed for extensions while they were loading.

 

iOS:

 

• Fixed an issue on iOS where, after relocating the address bar to the bottom, an additional avatar would appear at the top when navigating from the New Tab Page (NTP) to any website.
• Fixed an issue where the camera icon was causing the browser to crash.

 

Android:

 

• Fixed an issue that caused the “OK” button to appear on the shopping UI for cash back upon refreshing the page on android.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the download completion dialog from appearing once a task was finished on android.

You can download the latest version of Microsoft Edge Dev from the official Edge Insider website. To update an existing installation, go to edge://settings/help. Edge 124 will be available in the Stable Channel on the week of April 18, 2024.

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What you need to know

• Notepad will soon support spell check and autocorrect, according to recent leaks.
• The app will allow you to enable or disable spell check and autocorrect separately and choose which file types will use the features.
• While Notepad is a basic app, Microsoft has worked on new features for it recently, including tabs, character count, and even AI.

Notepad for Windows 11 is a default app that's been around for over 40 years. It may not be the most-used app, but those who love it swear by it. Notepad development used to move around the speed of a glacier, but it's picked up over the last few years. Now, we know that Microsoft is working on spell check and autocorrect support for Notepad.

The features are not in public preview, so you'll have to know a few tricks to try them out. Luckily for Notepad aficionados, PhantomOcean3 shared some screenshots of spellcheck and autocorrect support in Notepad on X (formerly Twitter).

"Windows Notepad will be getting spell check/autocorrect soon! Here are some toggles in the app's settings page," explained PhantomOcean3.

PhantomOcean3 added in a follow-up post that it will be possible to choose which file types use spell check or autocorrect. That's a handy features, since people may want to spell check a .txt (text) file but probably don't want to spellcheck or autocorrect a .md (markdown) file. The image shared on X shows options for .txt, .md, .srt/.ass, .lrc, and .lic. 

Developing Notepad

Microsoft has added many features to Notepad since launching Windows 11. (Image credit: Future)

Notepad has always been a basic app with a straightforward feature set. Some would argue that Notepad is too basic, which is a fair claim considering that it didn't even receive character count support until recently. Tabs were only added to Notepad within the last couple of years. But Notepad does what it says on the label, you can use the app as a pad for notes.

The launch of Windows 11 sparked a push to develop Notepad. The app now has a dark mode and the previously mentioned additions, such as tabs. Autocorrect and spellcheck are long overdue features for an app used to input text, but as they say, better late than never.

I'm more interested in Notepad's AI-powered "Cowriter" feature. PhantomOcean3 was also the one to share details on that tool. When that leak happened, Cowriter didn't work, but the tool will be able to use AI to rewrite text, make text shorter or longer, or change the tone or format of text within the app. Microsoft has similar functionality available through Copilot, making it a natural evolution to integrate the feature into Notepad.

Microsoft also confirmed that a new "Explain with Copilot" feature is on the way to Notepad. That tool can break down text that's been highlighted by the user.

While Notepad is getting more love from Microsoft these days, it's far from the only app in its category. When comparing Notepad vs Notepad++ on Windows 11 it's clear that third-party developers can differentiate from Notepad's offering. Both of those apps are free, so there's no harm in trying them out and picking your favorite.

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If you do not like these things about the new app or simply prefer the Classic app, you can remove it with one click using Bloatynosy, a third-party utility that helps remove such applications from Windows with only one or two clicks.

The developer of the app, Belim, recently published Bloatynosy AI, which would do the same for Copilot. Although removing or uninstalling the New Outlook for Windows is not quite as tricky as Copilot, as you can simply do so from the Apps & features list inside Settings, it is still a nice option to have if you can trust a third-party utility on your PC.

While not a technical complaint, a lot of users were not much of a fan of the name of the app itself. The developer has been taking note of this and, as such, has renamed Bloatynosy to Winpilot. It also integrates Clippy, which is a nice touch to invoke nostalgia among Windows users.

Winpilot will pick up where Bloatynosy left off. The plan was originally just to rename the AI version, but this time we'll do it right and completely turn our backs on Bloatynosy. I've been playing around with a few names over the past few weeks, which are now making their way into Winpilot as plugins, such as CoTweaker and ClippySupreme, which also doubles as the main assistant in the Winpilot app designed as a chatbot.

Here is the changelog for version 3.1:

Changelog

 

• Deepening integration of the debloating plugin "Decrapify" into Winpilot for improved functionality.
• Optimized DPI scaling and improved UI responsiveness.
• Added new skills such as removing the new Outlook app for all users (Besides Zac Bowden, I'm also not vibing with the new Outlook app) and switching to the classic Mail and Calendar app. To achieve this function, all it takes is a chatbox query for 'outlook'.
• UI has been jazzed up a bit with a logo in the header and a temporary subheader 'Bloatynosy.'
• Numerous internal code enhancements.

Like on Bloatynosy AI, users can simply type "outlook" inside the box, and Winpilot will offer suggestions like "Want to go back to classic Outlook and remove the new Outlook app?" On clicking the suggestion, a word balloon by Clippy confirms that the new Outlook has been removed.

You can download Bloatynosy (Winpilot) version 3.1 from its GitHub page. As always, do keep in mind that this is an unofficial third-party app.

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The new driver adds support and optimizations for Diablo IV Ray Tracing Update, Dragon's Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West, and The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Here are the performance improvements you can expect after installing version 31.0.101.5379:

The driver fixes the following issues and bugs:

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• Counter-Strike 2 (VK) may experience an application crash while launching game.
• DOTA 2 (VK) may experience an application crash while launching game.

 

Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

 

• Serif Affinity Photo 2 may experience an application crash while running benchmark.
• Alan Wake 2 (DX12) may experience corruption while turning off global reflection settings.

You can find the list of known bugs in the official release notes (PDF). To download the latest beta driver from Intel, head to the official website. Version 31.0.101.5379 is available for Intel Irix Xe Discrete Graphics, Intel Arc A Series, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th Gen, and Core Ultra processors.

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Alongside that, Microsoft has also released new Windows Insider build for HLK (Hardware Lab Kit) under the same build number. The build is available on Microsoft's official website and the description of the build says (spotted by Xeno on X😞

Install Windows HLK Insider Preview

 

The latest Windows Hardware Lab Kit (Windows HLK) helps you ensure that the drivers and the system you develop are certified as compatible with Windows 10.

 

To get the RTM version, visit the Hardware Dev Center HLK download page.

If you are wondering why Windows "10" is mentioned, the tech giant has already acknowledged that it is an error on its behalf and the issue should be fixed soon.

The HLK comes under the gambit of the WHCP or Windows Hardware Compatibility Program. The HLK or Hardware Lab Kit is a test framework designed to aid hardware vendors and Microsoft partners to test and ensure the proper compatibility of hardware and drivers on Windows 11 and 10, among others, such that they can receive the WHQL or Windows Hardware Quality Labs certification.

Before this, Microsoft announced the RTM (release to manufacturing) HLK update for version 23H2 in September of 2023. However, the company had previously already confirmed there would be no hardware compatibility changes going from 22H2 to 23H2, which is also why the WHCP certification was not updated either and it continued to use the moniker for version 22H2.

However, things are likely to be slightly different this time around in terms of hardware compatibility, with Microsoft seemingly blocking off really old processors that lack the PopCnt instruction.

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Windows Insiders will soon be able to toggle on spell check so that the app can highlight misspelled words and offer suggestions. Moreover, Notepad will be able to autocorrect typos when the spell checker is on. Microsoft is even going to configure the exception list and specify what file types the built-in spell checker should ignore. The prebuilt list includes formats like txt, md, srt, ass (no joke), lrc, and lic. As of right now, there is no information on whether Microsoft will let you add other formats.

The newly discovered Notepad features are not available for public testing, and getting them to work requires some unknown software magic. Therefore, we will have to wait for Microsoft to start rolling out the update for Windows Insiders.

Meanwhile, the company released a redesigned Settings page with neat animations and sections. The page is now divided into three categories: Appearance, Text formatting, and Opening Notepad.

Last year, Microsoft killed WordPad, the former default rich-text editor in Windows 11 and 10. Now, Notepad is trying to take its place by introducing new capabilities, such as tab support, text formatting, session saving, and more. While it is great to see the app evolving, some users argue Microsoft should have kept Notepad intact so it could remain a bulletproof app for the most basic text editing.

Do you like the new features Microsoft brought and will introduce in Notepad?

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Capcom's upcoming RPG epic, Dragon's Dogma 2, is releasing on March 22, and this is the driver that's recommended to AMD graphics card owners interested in jumping in. Check out our review of the game here, where we give it high praise.

As for the other two games, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is coming out on March 21 as Sony's latest PC port, while Outpost: Infinity Siege drops in on March 26. Unfortunately, AMD hasn't provided any data on what kind of performance differences players can see after installing this driver.

AMD's own one-click tuning tool 'HYPER-Tune,' whichenables frame generation, anti-lag, and other software features, is now supported across more games too. This driver adds HYPR-Tune support for Dragon's Dogma 2, Diablo IV, Ghostrunner 2, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

There are also many fixed issues included in this driver; here's everything AMD announced today:

• Excessive micro stutter may be intermittently experienced after enabling AMD Fluid Motion Frames for select games.
• Improvement to intermittent driver timeout or application crash experienced while playing HELLDIVERS™ 2 on AMD Radeon™ RX 7900 series GPUs.
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Starcraft II™ on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Improvements to reduce initial loading times while playing World of Warcraft with DirectX 12 API on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6800.
• Purple corruption may be observed while playing Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition with Radeon™ Boost and Raytracing enabled.
• Some characters may appear invisible or have missing textures while playing Cossacks 3.
• Flickering lights may be observed while playing Space Engineers in certain indoor environments.
• The maximum memory tuning limit may be incorrectly reported on AMD Radeon™ RX 7900 GRE graphics products.
• Shader caching may fail for Windows usernames containing accented characters.
• FPS performance metric may incorrectly report values while a game is minimized.
• GPU Acceleration may be missing/greyed out in Adobe Premiere Pro on some hybrid graphics systems.
• Performance drop may be observed while using some DirectML workloads in Topaz AI.

There are quite a few known issues AMD is working on fixing too, and there are handy resolution targets attached to most of them:

• Intermittent driver timeout or application crash may be experienced while playing HELLDIVERS™ 2 on dual monitor setups on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• Intermittent application crash may be observed while playing Lords of the Fallen and entering certain areas on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs. [Resolution targeted for 24.4.1]
• Artifacts may appear in certain mud environments while playing SnowRunner on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6800. [Resolution targeted for 24.4.1]
• AMD SmartAccess Video may be incorrectly reported as “Available” on some systems with the Parsec Virtual Display Driver installed. [Resolution targeted for 24.5.1]
• Audio and video may intermittently become out of sync while recording using the AV1 codec in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition. [Resolution targeted for Q3]

The WHQL-certified AMD Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 driver can now be found in the Radeon Settings app on Windows for installation. Those looking for standalone download links can find them on AMD's release notes page here.

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Anyone that’s keen to try GNOME 46 will not have to wait very long. In April, Fedora 40 will be released first with GNOME 46 and then about one week later Canonical will release Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with GNOME 46.

One of the improvements in GNOME 46 that readers of Neowin may appreciate is the addition of Microsoft OneDrive to GNOME’s Online Accounts feature. In this release you will be able to connect a Microsoft 365 account in Settings and your OneDrive will appear in your Files sidebar where you can browse through it alongside your local files and folders.

Some deeper changes in GNOME 46 include reduced memory usage for search, better screen recording performance, more efficient resource handling by Image VIewer, and speed improvements in GNOME’s terminal apps.

The Image Viewer app and GNOME’s search technologies also feature better protection against malware - malware isn’t very widespread on Linux but these proactive measures will further help to protect users.

If you’re sensitive to rendering, then you’ll be glad to hear that GNOME 46 includes sharper interfaces, crisper on-screen text, and clearer UIs when using fractional display scales. These improvements are dependent on GNOME apps using the latest GTK version.

Aside from the search improvements in Files, the file transfer dialog has been improved somewhat in this update. In previous versions, the transfer dialog would be hidden in a small button on the upper left of the window that gradually filled as the file was copied and for users it wasn’t very clear if their file transfer had begun.

GNOME 46 now has the old file transfer button occupied by the search button and the file transfer dialog is moved to the bottom of the sidebar. Users will now see a circle that fills up as the file transfer progresses but also a bit of text that says files are being copied.

To learn more about GNOME 46, you should check out the extensive release notes that are available now.

SourceL GNOME

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With this release, Microsoft has not added new features but there are many major bug fixes, including for one that caused the 0x80070002 error when trying to install Dev channel builds. There are also fixes related to shutdown, sleep and hibernation, among others.

The full changelog is given below:

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

 

• The new pointer indicator accessibility setting for low vision Windows users introduced with Build 26052 has been temporarily disabled with Build 26085. We plan to re-enable this feature in a future flight after fixing some bugs. Thanks to Insiders for all the feedback on this!

 

[Settings]

 

• Windows Insiders who have Bluetooth LE Audio capable assistive hearing devices can now set up and manage their devices via Settings > Accessibility > Hearing aids. This new accessibility settings page allows users to check their PC’s compatibility for Bluetooth LE Audio and pair/manage a set of hearing devices for a more streamlined configuration. Please note that this page is a work-in-progress, and the contents of this page may change over time. (Note this change was first introduced in Build 26080.)

 

Fixes for known issues

 

[General]

 

• Fixed the underlying issue believed to be the cause of shutdown and hibernation not working in the previous flight.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue where the context menu in File Explorer was missing an acrylic background.
• Fixed an issue where when opening the context menu in File Explorer, the icons might appear out of place and overlapping text.
• Fixed an issue which was causing File explorer to leak GDI objects and heap memory for every folder navigation, leading to stability and rendering issues over time.
• Fixed a memory leak when interacting with archive folders in File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue causing thumbnails in File Explorer to sometimes unexpectedly be black in the previous flight.

 

[Sudo]

 

• Fixed an issue believed to be the cause of the setting to enable sudo (under System > For Developers) not working for some Insiders.
• Fixed an issue where if you ran the command “sudo pwsh”, it wasn’t working properly in recent builds.

 

[Windows Security]

 

• Fixed a high hitting Windows Security app crash in the previous flight, which is believed to potentially be the cause of Insiders reporting that the Windows Security app icon in the system tray was sometimes missing in that flight.

 

[Input]

 

• With this build, the recent issues with the mouse cursor disappearing, and other recent issues related to the mouse cursor behaving abnormally should be fixed.

 

[Settings]

 

• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Settings to freeze sometimes so you couldn’t interact with any of the pages.
• Fixed an issue where the list of Bluetooth devices under Bluetooth & Devices wasn’t being read out by screen readers in recent builds.

 

[Windows Update]

 

• Fixed the issue causing Insiders in the Dev Channel to see error 0x80070002 when trying to install cumulative updates.
• Fixed an issue where using “Update and Shutdown” wasn’t shutting down your PC upon completion.

 

[Other]

 

• Fixed an issue that was causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION recently.
• Fixed an issue which was causing Voice Access to crash on launch for some Insiders in recent builds.
• Fixed an issue where after renaming your printer, it might not work with print support app association.

 

Known issues

 

[General]

 

• [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GAMERS] Most popular games should work correctly again in the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary and Dev Channels. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on the latest builds. We will be removing this note with the next Canary and Dev Channel flight.
• [UPDATED] We’re continuing to investigate reports of rollbacks (with error code 0xC1900101) when installing the latest builds.
• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see File Explorer unexpectedly using the previous design and have no tabs in the latest builds.

 

[Copilot in Windows*]

 

• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
• When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.
• With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, you may not be able to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

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

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ObjectDock is an animated dock for Windows that enables you to quickly access and launch your favorite applications, files, and shortcuts. ObjectDock can also automatically hide itself when not in use and reappear when you move your mouse to its position.

You can also choose from a number of skins included with ObjectDock, or visit the WinCustomize community to download free member-submitted skins.

Perhaps more importantly, it puts you in control of how big or small your dock is, and how many icons populate it. In addition to the animations when mousing over icons, you can decide where you want it on the desktop, up top, on the left or right, or as a complete replacement of the Windows taskbar at the bottom (which you still cannot move around in Windows 11). You can even add a second dock to another screen.

Stardock told Neowin that the popular app had to be completely overhauled in order to work with Windows 11, but the underlying UX/UI will be familiar to users.

Here’s what’s new in this enhanced version of ObjectDock 3.0:

• Support for high-resolution displays
• Support for UWP applications on the dock
• Improvements to animations like Zoom
• Under-the-hood improvements
• The app is now 64-bit

The app is now available to download, and if you already have a license to ObjectDock 2.2, you qualify for an upgrade license. You can view more screenshots of the app in action below:

ObjectDock is available now starting at $3.99 (upgrade) or a standalone license for $9.99. It is also included in the award-winning Object Desktop suite. For more information, visit the ObjectDock website here.

You can also download the entire Object Desktop package. Object Desktop includes programs such as Fences, Start11, Groupy, SoundPackager, DeskScapes and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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The latest Windows 10 build from the Release Preview Channel contains a hidden feature ID, which, when turned on, adds more widgets alongside the weather forecast, making it look more like an MSN home page. The new widgets include traffic, sports, stocks, and other stuff you can find in the News & Interests flyout. Each widget has a "See more" link, which, naturally, opens the MSN website.

Besides adding more widgets, build 19045.4235 adds blur to the widgets' background and changes the default font to make everything look more on par with the rest of the user interface.

Microsoft has not announced the update lock screen for Windows 10 yet, so the exact details remain unknown. However, if you run the latest Windows 10 Release Preview build (KB5035941, 19045.4235), you can try the new widgets without waiting for an official announcement. All you need is the ViVeTool app and a feature ID generously provided by @PhantomOfEarth:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator.
3. 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:48801541 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer and load the News & Interests flyout. After that, you can lock your system and check out its new widgets.

Sadly, the current implementation does not allow selecting what widgets appear on the lock screen. You can have either everything or none, which is indicated by the "Weather and More" option in the lock screen settings section.

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For those unfamiliar, Dev Home is a relatively new app. Microsoft introduced it in 2023, aiming at giving developers a centralized location for installing apps and packages, various useful widgets (get this thing if you want to monitor specific parts of your hardware), GitHub integrations, and more. Later, Microsoft also brought Dev Home to Windows 10 users.

Accessibility fixes

 

• You can now use mouse navigation in Dev Home.
• Manage extension toggle now has an accessible name and Feedback is no longer clipped when text is scaled.
• Accessible names have been added to the buttons on the Introducing Dev Home page.
• Combo boxes in widgets should now have accessible names.
• The close button on the popular applications page in machine configuration now has an accessible name.
• Narrator should now announce the selection state of list items in widget tiles.
• Widgets now have more accessible colors for error messages and proper button styling.

 

Changes

 

• You can now select which app version you'd like to install when installing applications through machine configuration.
• Extension settings have been removed from the Settings page and are now only accessible through the Extensions page.
• WinAppSDK has been upgraded to version 1.5.

 

Bug fixes

 

• Memory widget dark mode screenshot now has the proper text and scaling when going to pin.
• The order of widgets should now be maintained on reboot after deleting and adding new widgets.
• Installing an extension should now update the Extensions page without needing to relaunch Dev Home.

You can download Dev Home 0.12 Preview from GitHub or the Microsoft Store. Alternatively, get it using winget by executing the winget install --id Microsoft.DevHome -e command.

The app also comes bundled with every clean Windows 11 version 23H2 installation (build 22621.2361 and newer).

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However, the Windows 12 hype has died down recently due to conflicting reports and it is believed Microsoft has had some changes to such plans. There is still a new version of Windows in work as confirmed by multiple companies including Qualcomm and Intel. But they are likely referring to Windows 11 24H2, which is the next major feature update for Windows 11.

It does not mean the speculations of a Windows 12 were baseless though. Reports suggest Microsoft altered its roadmap after the departure of ex-Windows and Surface head Panos Panay.

As hard to believe as it may be for some of you folks who recently got into Windows, there was a time when the Redmond giant had decided that it was going to stick to Windows 10 forever. Perhaps the skipping of Windows 9 made Microsoft feel awkward about the situation and hence it wanted to do away with such numbers entirely (Fun fact: References to Windows 9 have been found inside Windows 11).

The first such reports came out in April of 2015 and then a month later, Microsoft itself confirmed at Ignite that it viewed Windows 10 as "the last version of Windows". Well, obviously that did not stick as Microsoft announced Windows 11 in June of 2021.

However, the company was still undecided on that even until mid-2017. The 7th Edition of the company's Windows Internals book published in that year shows this. One of the pages in the book (available for purchase at the Microsoft Press Store) talks about future Windows versions.

Windows 10 and future Windows versions

 

With Windows 10, Microsoft declared it will update Windows at a faster cadence than before. There will not be an official “Windows 11”; instead, Windows Update (or another enterprise servicing model) will update the existing Windows 10 to a new version. At the time of writing, two such updates have occurred, in November 2015 (also known as version 1511, referring to the year and month of servicing) and July 2016 (version 1607, also known by the marketing name of Anniversary Update).

We have no way of knowing when exactly Microsoft had this change of heart or why. One major reason could be the update to system requirements it introduced in order to make Windows more secure, and such efforts have continued.

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The full changelog for the new build is given below:

This update includes the following features and improvements:

 

• New! This update adds Windows Spotlight to your desktop background. This feature displays new images as your desktop wallpaper. If you want to know more about an image, click or tap the Learn More button, which takes you to Bing. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Background > Personalize your background. Choose Windows spotlight. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.

• 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 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.
• When you sign in, you might see a message that invites you to upgrade to Windows 11. This message only appears if your device is eligible for an upgrade. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.

• 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 daylight saving time (DST) changes in Kazakhstan. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.
• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Samoa. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.
• This update changes the English name of the former Republic of Turkey. The new, official name is the Republic of Türkiye.
• 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 Microsoft Edge. It fails to open on Surface Hub (Team OS).
• This update affects the Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) AmsiUtil class. It helps to detect the bypass of the AMSI scan. This update also addresses some long-term issues that expose your device to threats.
• 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 the touch keyboard. It does not open sometimes.
• 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 scanners. They stop responding when you connect to them using eSCL over USB.
• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
• 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 a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.

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

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UPDATE 3/19: Microsoft has published an update to its blog post, originally published on 2/29 that it has expanded the rollout introducing the ability to use your Android phone or tablet camera in any video application on your Windows 11 PC to all Windows Insiders across all Insider Channels.

The original article continue below, and now applies to all Windows 11 Insider Preview editions.

After announcing the initial rollout of the Windows 11 Moment 5 update, Microsoft unwrapped a big new feature for Windows Insiders. Its first traces were spotted in Windows 11 preview builds many months ago. Now it is finally official: Microsoft's operating system now lets you use your Android smartphone as a high-quality webcam.

Cameras in modern Windows laptops are pretty alright, but they are still a far cry from what even inexpensive Android smartphones offer. Therefore, those wanting a better webcam should either purchase a discrete camera or use third-party, often premium, software to turn their smartphones into webcams. With today's update for Windows Insiders, Windows 11 can natively use your Android device as a webcam.

Windows Insiders can connect their phones to their PCs and enjoy much better image quality with the ability to switch between cameras, pause the stream, and apply on-device effects. In addition, there is no need for any cables—the experience works wirelessly over Wi-Fi. When using a smartphone as a webcam, Windows 11 will present you with a special toolbar containing additional options to switch cameras, pause video, turn on HDR, and more. Also, you can check your device's battery.

If you want to try using an Android smartphone as a camera for Windows, update the Link to Windows app to version 1.24012 or newer. Besides, your phone should run Android 9.0 or greater. After that, go to your PC's Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mobile Devices, choose "Mobile Devices," and allow your computer to access your Android phone. After that, Windows 11 will prompt you to install an update for Cros Device Experience Host.

iPhone users are sadly unsupported, but they can get the same experience using third-party apps. Also, macOS lets you use an iPhone as a webcam without additional software.

Since Microsoft no longer owns a mobile platform, it is good to see the company making good use of Android and providing users with advanced features.

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This issue frequently and intermittently causes the Jave process to terminate without warning on impacted Macs with M1, M2, and M3 processors.

It affects all Java versions, from Java 8 to the latest early access builds of JDK 22, and there are no workarounds available at the moment.

"There is no workaround available, and since there is no easy way to revert a macOS update, affected users might be unable to return to a stable configuration unless they have a complete backup of their systems prior to the OS update," warned Aurelio Garcia-Ribeyro, Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle.

This is caused by how macOS running on Apple silicon responds when a JAVA process attempts to access memory in protected memory regions. In previous versions of macOS, the operating system would send a SIGBUS or SIGSEGV signal to the process and let it decide how to continue.

However, in macOS 14.4, the operating system now responds with a SIGKILL signal that terminates the process attempting to access protected memory. According to Garcia-Ribeyro, since the Java Virtual Machine uses dynamic code generation and accesses memory in protected memory regions to ensure correctness and performance, its process will be terminated after deploying the macOS 14.4 update.

Oracle has already alerted customers, Apple, and their OpenJDK partners and advises Apple users to delay updating until the issue is fixed.

"We recommend that users of Java on ARM-based Apple devices running macOS 14 delay applying the update until this issue is resolved," Garcia-Ribeyro said.

More issues caused by macOS 14.4

Mac users who already installed macOS 14.4 Sonoma have also reported experiencing other problems besides Java getting killed unexpectedly, as MacRumors reported.

Other issues that users who want to update to macOS 14.4 should be aware of:

• Printer drivers, especially for HP printers, might get removed or corrupted.
• Those who utilize "Optimize Mac Storage" may lose all previously saved file versions if it is removed from iCloud Drive's local storage.
• Some users have reported connectivity problems with USB hubs and monitors with USB ports.
• Apple silicon Macs running macOS 14.4 may have compatibility issues with PACE products, including the iLok License Manager.

An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer today.

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Microsoft has also often claimed performance benefits of Windows 11, though some kernel digging has suggested that not all such claims are true, implying staying on Windows 10 isn't so bad, at least from the performance side of things.

Plus there are bugs and issues that pop up from time to time and do so fairly frequently.

One area though where Windows 11 certainly deserves praise is in the case of native file archive support.

Microsoft announced support for more archive formats in May last year, though performance really was nothing to write home about when we tested it later in August. Regardless, it is a nice addition for those who don't need to regularly compress or decompress large volumes of files or data.

Performance-aside, the company has been making improvements to it regularly. In November 2023, Microsoft added support for 7z and TAR, and earlier this year in January, "Additional Options" with support for more compression methods were added.

Though 7-Zip probably still beats Windows 11's native file archiving performance, in terms of file support though, the former is lagging and is having to play catch-up.

With beta version 24.01 released at the end of January, 7-Zip added support for ZSTD or Zstandard data compression algorithm, though the firm notes it is not exactly Facebook's. It writes:

7-Zip doesn't use original Zstandard (ZSTD) code from https://github.com/facebook/zstd

7-Zip's code does similar things, but it's another implementation of ZSTD decoder. So 7-Zip can have another bugs in code and another performance.

Here is the full changelog for 7-Zip version 24.01:

• 7-Zip now can unpack ZSTD archives (.zst filename extension).

• 7-Zip now can unpack ZIP, SquashFS and RPM archives that use ZSTD compression method.

• 7-Zip now supports fast hash algorithm XXH64 that is used in ZSTD.

• 7-Zip now can unpack RAR archives (that use larger than 4 GB dictionary) created by new WinRAR 7.00.

• 7-Zip now can unpack DMG archives that use XZ (ULMO/LZMA) compression method.

• 7-zip now can unpack NTFS images with cluster size larger than 64 KB.

• 7-zip now can unpack MBR and GDP images with 4 KB sectors.

• Speed optimizations for archive unpacking: rar, cab, wim, zip, gz.

• Speed optimizations for hash caclulation: CRC-32, CRC-64, Blake2sp.

• The bug was fixed: 7-Zip for Linux could fail for multivolume creation in some cases.

• Some bugs were fixed.

Microsoft had confirmed its Windows 11 implementation is based on the open-source libarchive project and hence has had support for Zstandard since libarchive version 3.6.2, and already supports Zst, and Tzst formats.

And hopefully, in the future, we will see better performance optimization as well.

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What is new in Files 3.3?

• Redesigned layout picker. The new layout picker now features a single row of larger buttons with the current option highlighted. There is also a new slider that lets you manually tweak the item sizes for different views, such as List, Grid, Columns, etc.

• 

   

• Thumbnail improvements. Users should now encounter fewer issues with thumbnails. In addition, the app now displays a neat animation when thumbnail loading takes longer. Finally, icons on the home page, tabs, and sidebar received proper DPI support.
• New layout settings. The settings page now features a dedicated page for layout options. Previously, those options were located in the Folders page.

• 

   

• Continue where you left off. This feature now works when you restart Windows. Previously, it only worked if you closed the app before restarting the system.

Here is the rest of the changelog:

• Updated the project to WinAppSdk 1.5
• Renamed the “Favorites” section on the sidebar to “Pinned”
• Added a header to the home page
• Replaced the string ‘Layout mode’ with the simplified term ‘Layout’
• Added a link to our Discord server on the about page
• A prompt for credentials will now be displayed when access is denied to a network share
• Added support for opening and extracting mrpack files
• Removed the icon placeholder for web shortcuts in favor of the new shimmer animation
• Removed the transition when loading items in the Grid View and List View layouts
• Fixed issue where item selection wasn’t working properly the List View layout
• Fixed issue where the “Open with” and “Send to” submenus didn’t appear properly in Widgets
• Fixed issue where copying an item from an archive didn’t work
• Fixed issue where hashes weren’t able to calculate
• Fixed issue where some files failed to load properties
• Fixed icon overlay alignment in the Details View layout
• Fixed issue where items couldn’t be dropped from 7-zip
• Fixed issue where drag and drop from Edge didn’t work
• Fixed issue where video bitrate was displayed in plain text
• Fixed issue where the window wasn’t always brought to the foreground
• Fixed issue where focus would incorrectly switch to new tab
• Fixed issue with drag and dropping items onto .ahk files
• Fixed SocketException in GitHelpers.RequireGitAuthenticationAsync
• Fixed NullReferenceException in Item_Opening
• Fixed NullReferenceException in CloseTab
• Fixed NullReferenceException in ShareItemsAsync
• Fixed NullReferenceException in DuplicateSelectedTabAction.ExecuteAsync

You can download Files 3.3 from the Microsoft Store. The $8.99 price tag is there to support developers, but they also let everyone download the Files app for free from their official website.

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Version 124.0, first offered to Release channel users on March 19, 2024

 

New features:

 

• Caret browsing mode now also works in the PDF viewer. (Learn more)
• In Firefox View, open tabs can now be sorted by either recent activity or tab order. Recent activity is the default setting.
• Firefox now populates the Windows taskbar jump list more efficiently, which should allow for a smoother overall browsing experience.
• Firefox on Mac now uses the macOS fullscreen API for all types of fullscreen windows. This should better match the expected macOS user experience for fullscreen spaces, menubar and the Dock.
• As of Firefox 124, Qwant's availability has been expanded to all languages in the France region along with Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.

 

Fixed

 

• Various security fixes.

 

Enterprise

 

• You can find information about policy updates and enterprise specific bug fixes in the Firefox for Enterprise 124 Release Notes.

 

Developer

 

• Developer Information is available here.

 

Web Platform

 

• Added support for AbortSignal.any.

• You can now use HTTP(S) and relative URLs when creating WebSockets.

In addition to Firefox 124, Mozilla released Firefox 115.9.0 ESR (extended support release) with security fixes. Firefox 115 is currently the only mainstream browser that supports Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 Mozilla plans to cut support for old Windows versions support in September 2024.

You can download Firefox 124 from the official website. To update an existing installation, head to Menu > Help > About Firefox. You can also continue using the browser as is and it will update itself automatically in the background.

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Canonical's wallpapers

Mascot

Fuwafuwa Nanbatto-san by @amaral

Little numbat boy by @azskalt

Digital art

Province of the South of France by @orbitelambda

Monument Valley (Arizona) by @orbitelambda

Nature

Mount Fuji, Japan by @amaral

Northern Lights by @mizuno-as

Others

Lightbulb Rainbow by @audioaddict

Clouds by @moka-hun

This selection of wallpapers will feature in the upcoming Ubuntu release in a potentially higher quality than above. If you would like to check out the rest of the wallpapers that were submitted as part of the Wallpaper Competition, just head to the Ubuntu Discourse thread where you can view and download the entries.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is due for release on April 25, 2024. It will get standard support until May 31, 2029, and extended security maintenance until April 25, 2034. The long life of Long Term Support (LTS) releases makes them ideal for people who just want to install an operating system and then get down to work rather than perform upgrades every year or so as is the case with the interim releases.

If you are keen to use the upcoming version of Ubuntu, a beta is currently scheduled to be released on April 4. As this will contain bugs, it goes without saying that you should not install it on a production machine until the final release.

Source: Ubuntu

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Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition is finally hitting the PC platform in a few days on March 21. Anyone with Nvidia graphics looking to jump into the Guerrilla Games-developed action game is recommended to install this driver for optimal performance. The title ships with Nvidia DLSS 3, DLAA, and Reflex technologies on day one. Head here to see the system requirements.

Next, Portal with RTX now supports DLSS Ray Reconstruction and NVIDIA RTX IO, making it one of the latest DLSS 3.5-supporting games. Surprisingly, this driver carries no mention of adding support for Dragon's Dogma 2. The Capcom title is releasing on March 22. Perhaps another Nvidia driver will land just before then.

Here are the fixed gaming and general issues in this release:

Fixed Gaming Bugs:

 

• [Advanced Optimus] Notebook may not wake up from sleep when in NVIDIA GPU only display mode [4454524]
• [Hitman 3] Stutter observed in some Advanced Optimus notebooks [4443236]

 

Fixed General Bugs:

 

• RTX HDR uses saturation and tone curve that matches Gamma 2.0 instead of 2.2 [4514298]
• RTX Digital Vibrance incorrectly detects Paint.net app as a supported app [4539617]
• [Acer XZ272] When parsing the invalid EDID of the monitor, the PC will bugcheck/go into system reboot [4487078]

The open issues still being worked on are the following:

• GeForce GTX 10/RTX 20 series: PC may randomly freeze when Windows Hardware- Accelerated GPU Scheduling and NVIDIA SLI are both enabled [4009884]
• Tekken 8 may randomly crash during gameplay on GeForce GTX 10 series graphics cards [4503216]

The Nvidia 551.86 Game Ready driver is now available to download and install via the GeForce Experience app on Windows, while standalone links can be found below. Here are the release notes (PDF).

Desktop GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH [US version]

Notebook GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH [US version]

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We are starting to roll out two servicing updates to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Both these updates do not include anything new and are designed to test our servicing pipeline for Windows 11, version 24H2. Most Insiders in the Dev Channel will receive Cumulative Update Build 26080.1300 (KB5037139). However, Insiders that have Virtualization Based Security (VBS) turned on will receive Build 26080.1400 (KB5037140) and may not experience a restart upon installing the update. Arm64 devices, even with VBS turned on, will only receive Build 26080.1300 (KB5037139).

Original Story - March 15 - If you are a member of the Windows Insider Program in the Dev Channel, you will see a new update rolling out today. However, according to a Microsoft blog post, this is not a major new release.

The blog post states:

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 26080.1201 (KB5037135) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline.

This is, of course, not the first time this has happened. Microsoft occasionally releases these service updates to test its Insider update system.

This has been a very busy week for Windows updates. It began on March 12 with new Patch Tuesday releases for both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

On March 13. Microsoft released a joint Windows 11 update for Dev and Canary channel users with the build number 26080. This was a huge update that offered the first public preview release of the unified Microsoft Teams app for Windows, which will allow users to seamlessly switch between personal and business Teams accounts. This new version will even let users access both their personal and work Team accounts at the same time via new icons on the taskbar.

The new Dev-Canary build also includes some more Copilot additions and improvements, including Power Automate. There was also a new Windows Server Insider Preview 26080 build released the same day, but it only removed one known issue from previous versions.

On March 13, a new Windows Insider Beta channel build, with the number 22635.3350, was also dropped. This was a fairly small update that added a feature that puts the most frequently used app in the Windows 11 Start menu.

Finally, on March 14, a new Windows 10 Release Preview build, with the number 19045.4233, was released. It added the Windows Spotlight feature for the desktop background, more content to the lock screen, and a number of bug fixes.

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A few days ago, Microsoft updated the original announcement post with new details about the removal of the old PDF engine (via Deskmodder).

According to the revised document, the old PDF engine powering Edge's built-in PDF reader will be kicked out of the browser in early 2025. Later this summer, the company will start rolling out the new engine and an opt-out policy to managed devices.

When will the legacy PDF engine in Microsoft Edge be removed? (Updated March 4, 2024)

 

The PDF engine in the Microsoft Edge built-in PDF reader is scheduled to be removed no sooner than Early 2025 (date to be updated ASAP).

Here is the current timeline:

Microsoft is now rolling out the new Adobe Acrobat PDF experience to regular Edge users. You can speed things up by navigating to the edge://flags page and enabling the "New PDF Viewer" flag. Note that turning it on will also place an "Edit with Adobe" ad promoting the Adobe Acrobat subscription ($15.59 per month when paid annually) and its features like editing PDF, merging files, adding items, and more. The flag is available on Windows and macOS.

If you do not like the new PDF experience, you can turn it off and revert to the old variant. Just keep in mind that it will soon be removed from the browser.

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