Users noticed that the "Try the new Outlook" toggle is back in both versions, which means you can switch between the two applications whenever you feel like doing so. Moreover, you can run the Mail app and Outlook side-by-side.

The new Outlook program is the default email client in Windows 11 version 23H2 and newer. However, with the recent (and unannounced) change, you can head to the Microsoft Store, download the old Mail client, and stick to it. It may not have all the bells and whistles, but it also is not as controversial as Outlook with its data-mining probes that relay your info to more than seven hundred "external partners."

Still, the old Mail app will not stay with us for long. Microsoft plans to discontinue it on December 31, 2024. After that day, users will no longer be able to download the old email client from the Microsoft Store. Existing installations should also stop working as Microsoft migrates users to the new Outlook app. After going back to the previous version, you will be kindly reminded about that with a few banners.

There is no information on why Microsoft decided to backtrack a little with its new email app. Some speculate that the company received too many complaints about Outlook for Windows, so it decided to give users some choice. It will soon be taken back anyway.

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Besides offering a quick and modern UI for testing hardware, the new test utility lets you hear how your microphone sounds in communication and regular apps. In addition, some audio devices have extra audio effects in their drivers, so you can test those as well before joining a Teams or Zoom meeting.

How to test a microphone in Windows 11 build 26052 and newer?

1. The new microphone test utility is available in Settings > System > Sound.
2. There may be several microphones (a built-in array and an external mic, for example), so select the one you want to try.
3. Scroll down to the "Microphone test" section and select your test mode.
4. Click "Start test," say something nice to your computer, and click "Stop test."

    

   
5. Now you can play the recorded bit by clicking the "Play" button next to the "Recorded sample" option.

The new settings section is for testing purposes only, so you will have to change your microphone options in the corresponding settings section or its dedicated app if necessary.

In case you missed it, one of the earlier Windows 11 preview builds brought the Voice Clarity feature to all users. It is no longer Surface-exclusive, which means you can benefit from improved audio and better background noise suppression on systems with "traditional" x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Microsoft says Voice Clarity uses low-complexity AI models, and it works automatically in the background in apps that utilize the Communications Signal Processing Mode.

With the new microphone test utility, you can try Voice Clarity in action without using Teams, Zoom, or similar apps.

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With Copilot actions, Windows 11 keeps an eye on your stuff and plays a little animation whenever you copy text or drag a picture, indicating you can send it to Copilot and ask it to summarize, explain, or do something else. You can then hover the cursor over the Copilot button and select the action you want.

Microsoft is testing several indicators for Copilot actions, such as a fully animated Copilot icon and a much subtler dot-shaped indicator. Also, there is a variant for those preferring not to have any motion in the notification area (Microsoft recently moved the Copilot icon to the bottom-right corner of the screen).

Microsoft is gradually rolling out Copilot actions to Windows Insiders. As usual, you can force-enable it using the ViVeTool without waiting.

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViVeTool files using the CD command. For example, CD C:\vive.
3. Type vivetool /enable /id:45596742 /variant:X and replace X with 3 (a fully animated Copilot button), 2 (no animation), or 1 (just a dot).
4. Press Enter and Restart your computer.

If you are tempted to try Windows 11 build 26052, consider the fact that there are several notable issues and known bugs. Popular games crash to green screens of death, black screens appear out of nowhere, Dev Drives break during rollbacks, and more.

Check out the full release notes for Windows 11 build 26052 here.

Credit for the IDs goes to @PhantomOfEarth on X (Twitter).

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The company published a post on the official Windows Blogs website detailing recent optimizations for Edge on Macs with Apple Silicon processors. Microsoft says it recently turned on profile-guided optimization, resulting in up to 20% better scores in key browser benchmarks, which should also result in perceived performance.

Here is the performance comparison in Speedometer 2.1, a test that measures a browser's responsiveness and overall website performance:

Here is MotionMark 1.2, a rendering performance benchmark for complex web pages full of graphics and animations:

And here is JetStream, a test for comparing how quickly different browsers start and run web code. JetStream can show you which browser is better at handling "heavy" websites.

Profile-guided optimization is not a new thing in the browser world. This compiler technique tracks the most commonly used functions and prioritizes them over other, less-used processes. As a result, users get more efficient resource use and better overall performance.

Google implemented profile-guided optimizations in Chrome on Windows almost eight years ago in version 53, which increased new tab page load time by up to 14.8%, page load time by up to 5.9%, and startup time by up to 16.8%. As for Microsoft Edge on Windows, Microsoft added profile-guided optimization in March 2020 with Edge 81, followed by link-time optimizations in Edge 83. You can learn more about it in a post on the official Windows Blog website.

Mac users can download Microsoft Edge for macOS from the official website.

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Microsoft acknowledged the problem and published a heads-up in the official Windows Insider account on X:

Sadly, some users learned about the bug the hard way before Microsoft posted an update, which is yet another proof of why running Windows preview builds on a primary device is not a very good idea. Hard-hitting bugs and critical errors are expected in pre-release software, and they sometimes slip under the radar.

In addition to problems with Dev Drives, Microsoft added another known issue in build 26052. It is not as severe as the one wiping your partitions, but still, beware since it will crash the Settings app:

A Display Connection section is incorrectly showing up under Settings > System > Display > Graphics that when clicked, will crash Settings. This section will be removed in a future flight.

Other bugs in Windows 11 build 26052 include green screens of death when playing popular games, issues with playing streaming content in the Microsoft Store apps, and frequent black screens (you can resolve it by restarting the graphics with the Win + Ctrl + Shift + B shortcut). It's pretty buggy stuff, so it is better to check out build 26052 on a spare computer or inside a VM.

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One of Neowin's members took a closer look at the PC Manager app and noticed that one of the ways it "optimizes" your computer's performance is by purging the Windows Prefetch folder. It is listed under the "Deep cleaning" option, suggesting more aggressive and effective results. This is where problems begin.

Microsoft itself does not recommend touching the Windows Prefetch folder since messing with its contents may result in the opposite of what the PC Manager app promises. Instead of making your PC faster, cleaning Windows Prefetch could lead to apps taking more time to launch.

A Windows 11 app explains how Prefetch works in... Windows XP

A quick search on the Internet will show you fifteen-year-old or even older threads on Microsoft's official forums, with moderators and qualified experts warning against manually cleaning the Windows Prefetch directory. However, the PC Manager says those files "do not need to be kept." So which is it, Microsoft?

Besides offering maintenance of questionable benefits, there are some odd-looking links. By default, the Toolbox section contains two affiliate links (with tracking parameters) to Chinese software websites. Mind you, we are talking about an official Microsoft-made app under the "Microsoft Corporation label," which promises to be "pure without disturbance."

The former offers some kind of PowerPoint assistant for making slide decks, and appears to be operated by a company named Microsoft Mobile Lianxin Internet Services Co., Ltd., which sounds like a Chinese joint-venture of Microsoft's. The latter appears to be operated by a company named Hainan Chuangye Star Technology Co., Ltd. and offers a PDF editor that appears to copy Microsoft Word's user interface and PDF editing functionality. Looking at these URLs, they both appear to contain some kind of referral code links, which could mean that Microsoft, or at least the author(s) of this application, are collecting some revenue from visits to or purchases made through those web pages.

Although these findings by no means render the Microsoft PC Manager app explicitly harmful, you still better think twice before using it on your system. This story shows that even Microsoft-made "optimizers" are not immune to shady stuff, so maybe we do not need all those cleaners and boosters after all.

But hey, there is a carbon emission counter that shows how much tons of CO2 this app saved.

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Starting with build 26052, users who work with different color profiles can adjust the settings they need in Settings > System > Display > Color Profile. This page lets you set per-display options, load color profiles, change existing profiles, and calibrate your displays.

In addition, the new Color Management page is now home to the Auto Color Management feature (ACM). Microsoft introduced ACM in recent Windows 11 feature updates, allowing users with supported displays to enjoy more accurate colors. Auto Color Management can also improve the image quality on unsupported screens using different techniques, such as dithering. In the current version of Windows 11, you can find ACM under Settings > Display > Advanced Display.

It is worth noting that the new Settings page in Windows 11 build 26052 does not replace the legacy Color Management feature. You can still access it using the colorcpl command or Windows Search. It is not uncommon for Microsoft to remove old Windows parts after replacing them with modernized alternatives, but Color Managed seems to be spared, at least for now.

Speaking of new sections in the Settings app, build 26052 also adds a new accessibility page. Called "Speak for Me," it will soon let you train Windows 11 to speak for you using your voice. It does not work yet, but you can turn off its Settings page using a special command as described in our separate article.

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There is a palatable amount of buzz when we talk about when we explore concepts based on older Windows versions or instances where we cover ways to go back to an earlier Windows OS like in this example using a PowerShell script. Market share data, courtesy of Statcounter, also seems to confirm this, as a lot of people still appear reluctant to make the move over to Windows 11.

For those with old activation keys, though, who seem to have finally decided to take the leap, things have not been looking up. Back in October, Microsoft quietly announced that activation of Windows 11 builds using Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 was no longer possible, something that had been known to work before.

Despite the transition creating problems, Microsoft has stuck to this decision. Obviously, not every user out there is an enthusiast or follows Microsoft news religiously. Such users are being caught off guard by the change.

And even if you did, having a local account instead of a Microsoft Account (MSA) could prove like a bad bet now as the past Windows 10 activation information was not stored, meaning Windows 11 activation with the same key that worked previously on 10 was no longer possible.

A reader of The Register found this out, and apparently, Microsoft support wasn't too helpful about it:

Spoke to Microsoft tech support, and that was of no use – sounded like the guy was trying to get me to purchase a digital license.

The Register reached out to Microsoft and received the following statement from a company spokesperson:

We have no additional information to share beyond what has already been communicated. Customers experiencing technical difficulties should contact Microsoft customer support directly for assistance.

Hence, it looks like Microsoft has simply reiterated what was already confirmed previously. And those who used a local account may not be able to get around this even though it worked previously with Windows 10.

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The company published the announcement in the release notes for Windows 11 build 26052, which was pushed out in the Dev and Canary Channels on January 8, 2024. From now on, builds 26XXX are labeled as version 24H2 in the Settings app and winver. If you are already on 26052, press Win + R and type winver to see it yourself.

Starting with Build 26-xx today, Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels will see the versioning updated under Settings > System > About (and winver) to version 24H2. This denotes that Windows 11, version 24H2 will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

The announcement of Windows 11 version 24H2 as this year's annual feature update also shows that we probably should not expect anything beyond that in 2024. This month, the "Moment 5" update will bring a few small changes, with much more coming in version 24H2. Everything else, including the rumored Windows 12 (if that is even a thing), should be left for 2025 and later. Despite the expected arrival of groundbreaking AI features, Windows 11 will remain Windows 11 for a while.

In case you missed it, users recently discovered a notable jump in build numbers in Microsoft's internal Canary Channel. 27547 now exists, but the public arrival of builds 27XXX might take some time.

You can find all the changes in the latest Windows 11 preview build 26052 in our dedicated coverage. There are also some hidden features and taskbar improvements, so be sure to check them as well.

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For some reason, Windows 11 lost subtle animations, which were introduced in Windows 7 alongside taskbar thumbnails. Interestingly, Windows 11 plays a neat animation when you hover the cursor over the Task View button while app thumbnails open without any fancy effects. This odd omission is finally getting addressed in the latest Windows 11 preview builds.

Windows 11 build 26052 lets you enable thumbnail animations using the ViVeTool app. Still, the feature seems not ready for its prime time since Microsoft has not mentioned it in the release notes. There is also a bug where thumbnails appear in light mode while the rest of the taskbar is in dark mode (ignore the choppiness on the GIF below, it was captured on a virtual machine).

In addition to animations, Microsoft improved thumbnail titles for File Explorer. You can now see how many tabs are open in each File Explorer window alongside the currently open folder name. For example, "Downloads and 5 more tabs."

Here is how to enable taskbar thumbnail improvements in Windows 11 build 26040:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack it wherever convenient.
2. Open elevated Command Prompt (run as Administrator).
3. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, CD C:\Vive.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:29532725 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer.

Other hidden changes in the latest Windows 11 preview build include a new accessibility feature that will make Windows 11 speak with your voice.

Thank you, @PhantomOfEarth, for sharing the findings and feature IDs.

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Speak for Me does not work in build 26052, but you can still enable its settings page to check out the upcoming feature and its description. The idea is to let users teach the operating system how to speak with their personal voices. Apple recently implemented the same feature, and it is now coming soon to Windows 11.

According to the feature description in the Settings app, Windows 11 will let you "create your own voice avatar or preserve your own voice" and then use it for in-person or online meetings. You will be able to type something, and Windows 11 will pronounce it using your own synthesized voice, not a random lifeless robot voice.

Like other accessibility features, Speak for Me has a dedicated shortcut for quick access. According to the Settings app, pressing Win + Ctrl + T will work as a toggle for the Speak for Me feature.

There are also a few links for explaining how the thing works, but like the feature itself, they do not work and only lead to generic documentation and Microsoft's Privacy statement. Microsoft will update them once the feature is officially available.

If you want to check the new Speak for Me feature yourself, update your system to build 26052 and do the following:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack its files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator.
3. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, CD C:\Vive.
4. Type vivetool /enable /id:47123936 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer.

Now you can launch the Settings app and go to Accessibility > Speak for Me.

Credit for the finding and the ViVeTool feature ID go to @PhentomOfEarth on X.

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Here is the light variant in its high-resolution glory:

And here is the dark variant, also with plenty of pixels to look good even on the best monitors:

Interestingly, Windows 11 still does not support automatic theme switching, so users are forced to use third-party apps if they want to switch between dark and light modes at sunrise or sunset (or custom hours).

Luckily, there are a few great third-party apps for such purposes. Auto Dark Mode can toggle themes and change wallpapers, and WinDynamicDesktop lets you switch between backgrounds using custom schedules or sunrise/sunset hours.

If you want more interesting wallpapers, check out the following:

• A recently uncovered an unused variant of the stock Windows 10 wallpaper.
• An early prototype of Windows 11's default "Bloom" wallpaper.
• A couple of stunning dark variants of the standard Windows 11 backgrounds.
• A macOS Ventura-like mod of "Bloom."
• And even more stock Windows 365 wallpapers.

For those unfamiliar, Windows 365 is Microsoft's cloud service that lets you keep a Windows computer in the cloud and access it from other devices, such as iPads, Macs, and more. Windows 365 is also integrated into Windows 11, and those using the service can switch between their local PCs and Windows 365 like they switch virtual desktops. The upcoming Windows 11 update will also bring several new features and improvements for Windows 365.

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The new drivers also resolved several bugs:

• Arcade Paradise (DX11) may exhibit color corruption during gameplay.
• Ghostrunner 2 (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance.
• Starfield (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance.

The list of known issues includes the following:

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

 

• Starfield (DX12) may experience an intermittent application crash while launching the game.
• Helldivers 2 (DX12) may experience application instability using certain display panels when opening the game options.
• Palworld (DX11) may experience an intermittent crash during extended gameplay sessions.
• Dead by Daylight (DX11) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement.

 

Intel Core Ultra with Intel Arc Graphics Products:

 

• Helldivers 2 (DX12) may experience application instability using certain display panels when opening the game options.
• Diablo 4 (DX12) may exhibit corruption on the terrain during gameplay.
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may experience application crash after loading into gameplay.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (DX12) may experience an application crash after loading into gameplay on certain maps.
• Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 (DX12) may exhibit corruption in game menu and during gameplay.
• Autodesk Maya may experience an application crash while running SPECAPC benchmark.
• Blender may experience an application crash while rendering some scenes on certain system memory configurations.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement.
• Serif Affinity Photo 2 may experience application crash while running benchmark.

 

Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics Products:

 

• Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel Iris Xe + Iris Xe MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation.

 

Intel Core Processor Products:

 

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

Intel's latest GPU drivers are available on systems with 64-bit Windows 10 version 22H2 and newer or Windows 11 version 21H2 and newer powered by the following Intel products:

You can download drivers 31.0.101.5194 and 31.0.101.5252 from the official Intel website. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Today, the official Windows Insider blog announced that both Snipping Tool and Notepad have new versions for people in the Canary and Dev Insider channels. As predicted by the leaks, the Snipping Tool update adds shape support for image captures. The Notepad update includes a Copilot generative AI tool.

Here is the blog post:

Snipping Tool (version 11.2401.32.0)

 

With this update, we are adding the ability to add shapes to captures in Snipping Tool, so that you can quickly add rectangles, ovals, lines, and arrows to mark up your screenshots.

 

Snipping Tool window open with the new shapes toolbar activ

 

To get started, select the new shapes button in the toolbar, and select the desired shape (you can change the fill or outline color if you’d like). Click and drag anywhere over your image to draw a new shape. You can resize, move, or change your shape color before clicking away. Once the shape is deselected, it will merge with your image, but you can still remove shapes with the eraser tool or undo your annotations.

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

 

Notepad (version 11.2401.25.0)

 

In this update to Notepad, we are adding a new feature that helps you quickly understand content in your text files. With “Explain with Copilot”, you can ask Copilot in Windows to help explain log files, code segments, or any selected content directly from within Notepad.

 

Notepad app open showing new “Explain with Copilot” action on selected content.

 

To try it out, highlight any text, right-click, choose “Explain with Copilot” from the menu or use the new Ctrl + E keyboard shortcut, and a detailed explanation will appear in Copilot. This feature is available on devices that have Copilot in Windows, but there is a known issue where some users might not see this new feature in Notepad right away.

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Notepad.

It will be interesting to see the reaction to these app updates, especially the Notepad Copilot addition.

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In a blog post, Microsoft stated that if an online meeting is created from either Outlook or Teams, but with Microsoft Teams as the option, Outlook users will be able to join that Teams meeting without having to leave the email app.

The company added that Outlook users can start a meeting chat from a number of different screens in the app, such as "calendar peek, meeting details, context menu, My Day, and reminder."

The meeting chat policies that the organizer of any Teams meeting sets will also apply when a person joins the meeting via Outlook, according to Microsoft. That means if an organizer has disabled chat until a Teams meeting starts, that also would affect the people joining the meeting via the new Outlook for Windows app.

Microsoft says this new feature is rolling out now. All users of the Outlook Windows app should be able to join Teams meetings sometime later in February 2024.

Back in November 2023, Microsoft released a long list of upcoming features for the new Outlook for Windows that it planned to add to the app over the coming months. It also stated it is working to try to improve the overall performance of the new Outlook Windows app.

Microsoft still plans to replace the classic Outlook Windows app with the new version eventually. It will also replace the current Mail and Calendar apps that are included in Windows 10. Those apps are currently scheduled to shut down by the end of 2024.

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Windows computers with ARM chips can run any modern browser, even if it does not support ARM natively. However, emulation comes with some notable downsides, such as worse performance, inferior compatibility, and higher energy consumption. Developers can get rid of all that nastiness by optimizing their projects for ARM. That is just what Brave developers did.

With the latest release for Windows on ARM, the Brave browser joined Mozilla and Microsoft in the list of browsers offering native versions for ARM. Chrome will follow suit soon. Google recently released the first ARM version of Chrome Canary, finally making ARM-friendly the most popular browser in the world.

You can download Brave from its official website. The browser is also available in the Microsoft Store and on GitHub. For those tired of mainstream browsers and their questionable practices, Brave offers the same level of compatibility paired with improved privacy controls and advanced built-in features, such as ad-blocker, VPN, private search, and more. There are even additional services and apps that let you make free video calls, create customizable news feeds, and more.

With Qualcomm planning to launch its new Snapdragon X Elite platform for Windows PCs, it is great to see more developers joining the ranks of apps optimized for ARM64. Windows on ARM is not a new thing (it was announced almost eight years ago), but it seems like it is just about to get some notable traction.

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The previous Windows Server preview build release for 26040 was also the first to support the recently added Server Flighting feature for faster updates. It also got branded with the new Windows Server 2025 name. The new 26052 has nearly the same change log as the 26040 release notes, with the exception of one additional known issue. Here is the changelog:

Announcing Windows Server Preview Build 26052

 

Hello Windows Server Insiders!

 

Today we are pleased to release a new build of the next Windows Server Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) Preview that contains both the Desktop Experience and Server Core installation options for Datacenter and Standard editions, Annual Channel for Container Host and Azure Edition (for VM evaluation only). Branding has been updated for the upcoming release, Windows Server 2025 in this preview - when reporting issues please refer to Windows Server 2025 preview.

 

What's New

 

Windows Server Flighting is here!!

 

If you signed up for Server Flighting, you should receive this new build automatically later today.

 

For more information, see Welcome to Windows Insider flighting on Windows Server - Microsoft Community Hub

 

Join Server Flighting

 

To set up flighting on Server (build 26010 or later), just navigate to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program to opt in your device. Flighting will only be available for the Canary Channel and flights for Server begin with build 26040. Our intention is to flight the same builds as client (desktop) for Server flights but the schedule in which we release Server flights might differ slightly (for example – Server releases bi-weekly). Flighting for Server applies to the Desktop Experience only.

 

 

The following new features are specific to Windows Server with Desktop Experience only. Some of these will require running the OS on physical systems AND having the right drivers on hand.

 

Additions to Accounts: Email & Accounts is now consistent with Windows 11. Please note, domain join will still be necessary for most scenarios.

 

• Call to action: Please try adding Microsoft accounts and/or work accounts along with relevant apps that take advantage of this.

 

Increased coverage for Bluetooth devices. Many of you want to use BT to connect mice, keyboards, and audio devices at the Edge. Please try out your favorite keyboard, mouse, headphones, or other BT peripheral!

 

• Wi-Fi present by default. Many of you want to connect servers to Wi-Fi networks at the Edge. While Wireless LAN service has been present in Windows Server, it was disabled by default. Wi-Fi support is now currently enabled by default for Edge scenarios. You will need the appropriate hardware and drivers handy. Please verify that your wireless devices work properly. When hardware and the correct drivers are present, see the corresponding Settings and Taskbar experiences. Let us know what you think!

 

SMB over QUIC alternative server port

 

Starting with Insider Build 26040, the SMB server now supports listening on an alternative network port for SMB over QUIC instead of hardcoded default. Previously, SMB over QUIC only supported QUIC(UDP)/443, but now you can choose any unused port from 1-65535. Windows Server Insider does not support configuring alternative SMB server TCP or RDMA ports at this time; if you organization has scenarios where it would be useful to configure those ports, message Ned Pyle, SMB PM, at About Ned Pyle - Microsoft Community Hub.

 

You can specify an alternative SMB over QUIC server port using the New-SmbServerAlternativePort PowerShell cmdlet.

 

For more information on using this option, review https://aka.ms/SMBAlternativePorts.

 

Known Issues

 

Flighting: The label for this flight may incorrectly reference Windows 11. However, when selected, the package installed is the Windows Server update. Please ignore the label and proceed with installing your flight. This issue will be addressed in a future release.

 

 

Setup: Some users may experience overlapping rectangle voids following mouse clicks during "OOBE" setup. This is a graphics rendering issue and will not prevent setup from completing. This issue will be addressed in a future release.

 

WinPE - Powershell Scripts: Applying the WinPE-Powershell optional component does not properly install Powershell in WinPE. As a result, Powershell cmdlets will fail. Customers who are dependent on Powershell in WinPE should not use this build.

 

The new Feedback Hub app is not functioning properly in this release due to known issues. These will be addressed in a future release. Please continue to submit feedback as described in the "We value your feedback!" section below.

 

If you are validating upgrades from Windows Server 2019 or 2022, we do not recommend that you use this build as intermittent upgrade failures have been identified for this build.

 

This build has an issue where archiving eventlogs with "wevetutil al" command causes the Windows Event Log service to crash, and the archive operation to fail. The service must be restarted by executing "Start-Service EventLog" from an administrative command line prompt.

 

If you have Secure Launch/DRTM code path enabled, we do not recommend that you install this build.

 

Available Downloads

 

Downloads to certain countries may not be available. See Microsoft suspends new sales in Russia - Microsoft On the Issues

 

Windows Server Long-Term Servicing Channel Preview in ISO format in 18 languages, and in VHDX format in English only.

 

Windows Server Datacenter Azure Edition Preview in ISO and VHDX format, English only.

 

Microsoft Server Languages and Optional Features Preview

 

Keys: Keys are valid for preview builds only

 

• Server Standard: MFY9F-XBN2F-TYFMP-CCV49-RMYVH
• Datacenter: 2KNJJ-33Y9H-2GXGX-KMQWH-G6H67
• Azure Edition does not accept a key

 

Symbols: available on the public symbol server – see Using the Microsoft Symbol Server.

 

Expiration: This Windows Server Preview will expire September 15, 2024.

You can still download the new Windows Server preview from Microsoft's site. You can check out the full blog post here.

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GOOGLE’S CEO SUNDAR Pichai still loves the web. He wakes up every morning and reads Techmeme, a news aggregator resplendent with links, accessible only via the web. The web is dynamic and resilient, he says, and can still—with help from a search engine—provide whatever information a person is looking for.

Yet the web and its critical search layer are changing. We can all see it happening: Social media apps, short-form video, and generative AI are challenging our outdated ideals of what it means to find information online. Quality information online. Pichai sees it, too. But he has more power than most to steer it.

The way Pichai is rolling out Gemini, Google’s most powerful AI model yet, suggests that much as he likes the good ol’ web, he’s much more interested in a futuristic version of it. He has to be: The chatbots are coming for him.

Today Google announced that the chatbot it launched to counter OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bard, is getting a new name: Gemini, like the AI model it’s based on that was first unveiled in December. The Gemini chatbot is also going mobile, and inching away from its “experimental” phase and closer to general availability. It will have its own app on Android and prime placement in the Google search app on iOS. And the most advanced version of Gemini will also be offered as part of a $20 per month Google One subscription package.

In releasing the most powerful version of Gemini with a paywall, Google is taking direct aim at the fast-ascendant ChatGPT and the subscription service ChatGPT Plus. Pichai is also experimenting with a new vision for what Google offers—not replacing search, not yet, but building an alternative to see what sticks.

“This is how we’ve always approached search, in the sense that as search evolved, as mobile came in and user interactions changed, we adapted to it,” Pichai says, speaking with WIRED ahead of the Gemini launch. “In some cases we’re leading users, as we are with multimodal AI. But I want to be flexible about the future, because otherwise we’ll get it wrong.”

Sensory Overload

“Multimodal” is one of Pichai’s favorite things about the Gemini AI model—one of the elements that Google claims sets it apart from the guts of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistants, which are also powered by OpenAI technology. It means that Gemini was trained with data in multiple formats—not just text, but also imagery, audio, and code. As a result, the finished modal is fluent in all those modes, too, and can be prompted to respond using text or voice or by snapping and sharing a photo.

“That’s how the human mind works, where you’re constantly seeking things and have a real desire to connect to the world you see,” Pichai enthuses, saying that he has long sought to add that capability to Google’s technology. “That’s why in Google Search we added multi-search, that’s why we did Google Lens [for visual search]. So with Gemini, which is natively multimodal, you can put images into it and then start asking it questions. That glimpse into the future is where it really shines.”

Google has also been running a parallel experiment with using AI to remake its core search interface, launching a generative search experience that serves up chatbot-like answers ahead of the familiar list of ads and links.

The company said just a few weeks ago that it doesn’t anticipate a “lightswitch moment” when the generative search experience fully replaces Google Search as we know it. But Google plans to push “the boundaries of what’s possible,” and to think about “which use cases are helpful” and “have the right balance of latency, quality, and factuality,” Liz Reid, vice president and general manager of Search, said at the time. Like Pichai, she seems to think it’s time to experiment with some radical alternatives to Google’s established model.

Pichai says that Google is focused right now on getting the generative AI experience right, but that he is “open to possibilities around both” paid and ad-supported generative AI experiences. He declines to say whether the paid Gemini offering will remain totally ad-free, but pointed to another Google-owned product where it’s possible to banish ads entirely.

“YouTube has been a very good example of this,” Pichai says, a reference to the paid, ad-free tier that YouTube started experimenting with several years ago. “Ads allow us to give products to more people, but there will be cases of subscriptions that allow people to get a different experience.” He adds, “I can imagine the same user going back and forth between free search and a Gemini subscription.” In other words, generative search would no longer be a side dish to search, but a main menu item—albeit a more expensive one.

Caution Advised

There’s another big reason why Google might want to charge money for its AI services: It helps defray the massive computing costs associated with training and running a large language model.

“We’re able to project forward over our 25 years—if something on day zero costs this much, then what will it cost to perform the same task a year from now, and so on?” Pichai says. “We’ve factored in the efficiencies we’ll gain on the underlying models, and then we price it in a way that we think makes sense.”

Whatever Google’s motivations behind selling subscriptions to a chatbot, the technology it serves up has to work reliably. Pichai acknowledges that Google Gemini, even the advanced version, still risks hallucinating the way Bard did or as other generative AI apps have. “We want people to be aware of that,” Pichai says. “I think the technology is useful for many people. But it has to be used in the right way and I still have concerns about people relying on it.”

Pichai says, of course, that Google is trying to reduce the models-gone-wild phenomenon. But he also cautions that the word “hallucinate” should be used carefully, and suggests hallucinating was a feature as well as a bug, which is a fascinating rebranding of misinformation. He believes the technology should be grounded in factualness, but if you dial it down too much, your chatbot gets real boring real fast.

A generative AI experience should be “imaginative,” Pichai says. “Like a child who doesn’t know what the constraints are when they’re imagining something.” Kind of like the early days of the web.

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An international company must deal with the jurisdictions in which it operates. Microsoft is no different.

February is always marked on my calendar as the month in which Microsoft is back in full force, holidays behind them. That means we’ll see a rash of updates. I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2 as a result.

Some of those updates will deal with the requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Economic Area (EEA). Microsoft published a post in the Windows blog on this subject. The necessary changes to bring Windows into compliance will be dribbling out until the deadline — March 6, 2024 — and will be seen in updates to Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2.

The major change is the ability to uninstall built-in Windows apps such as Camera, Cortana, Photos, Edge, and Web Search from Bing. The operating system will respect chosen default types as well as identify those apps that are specifically system applications.

If many of these changes sound like a really good thing, I agree! I’m hoping that they will make it into all Windows releases.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up our dear friend KB5034441, the source of much consternation in January and the spark that lit up our extensive coverage. Although we had hoped for a quick fix, as of this Alert Microsoft has not released an update. If you used the tools at BlockAPatch to hide the update, remember to remove the block once you hear from us that the fix is in.

Over the last several weeks, it’s been interesting to see many review the default WinRE partition location in the various releases of Windows 10. You’ll recall that all versions of Windows need this WinRE partition patch, but Windows 10 has been the primary victim of update failures for the patch.

Over the years, Microsoft has not been consistent about where the recovery partition was located. I’m still hoping — no, that’s not right — I expect Microsoft to come up with a permanent solution to the problem. In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye out for any changes and re-releases.

My fingers are crossed that the February updates will be nice and boring — or, to put it another way, not so eventful as the unexpected havoc in January. I anticipate many security fixes in both Windows and Office, now that Microsoft is fully back in the office.

One thing we do know about is a problem with Outlook, as described in the Microsoft support post Outlook unexpectedly has an App Search bar above the message list. I guess “unexpectedly” is Microsoft’s new word for “bug.” At any rate, the post provides workarounds to roll back to a prior version of Outlook or put the Reading Pane at the bottom of your view. That last one sounds a bit weird.

As usual, I recommend that, at a minimum, you defer updates until we get a better picture of what lies ahead. Whether you prefer to use the toggle to defer by date, or any of the tools to manually control updates, the main thing to consider is burrowing like groundhogs and not coming out for updates until we know what to expect. We’ll keep you up to date.

For those of you who also manage or maintain Apple devices in a business setting and have tried out the new Stolen Device Protection, remember this: when the feature is turned on, more-sensitive operations require a Security Delay — a successful Face ID or Touch ID, an hour-long wait, and then an additional successful biometric authentication. Security Delay helps prevent someone from making changes to settings that can lock you out of your iPhone or Apple ID account. The time period for the delay is not configurable. In addition, I’ve seen reports that, after this policy is turned on, you can’t install management certificates. Thus test before deploying in a business setting.

If you manage many printers in a network setting, here’s some follow-up guidance that came across my desk the other day. In the post A Practical Guide to PrintNightmare in 2024, itm4n points out that there are some trade-offs to make if you want users to be able to install shared printers. If you are struggling to come up with a good compromise between usability and security, I’d recommend reviewing that post.

As you may be aware, Microsoft has been infiltrated several times within the past year, most recently when an malicious OAuth application was given rights it shouldn’t have. My recommendation to Microsoft? Use your own tools. Take the time to review the CISA Microsoft 365 secure configuration guidance. Then make sure your users do not have the right to install third-party apps and that they must have an admin approve the prompt. (See Microsoft’s Managing user consent to apps in Microsoft 365 post.)

Also, log in to your Microsoft 365 account and review which applications are already listed as having rights to your tenant. Go to entra.microsoft.com in the Applications settings, and look for App registrations. Ensure you have identified and recognized the applications listed. Don’t panic if you see a P2P Server listed — it’s a placeholder for the first AD-joined machine. But vet and investigate any other application.

Resources

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(That's 15 news posts in 38 minutes. Enjoy...)

On Windows 11, the Widgets dashboard in the experience appears from the screen's left side when clicking the Taskbar icon (or using the "Windows key + W" keyboard shortcut), giving you quick access to various types of informational content (weather, news, sports, stocks, traffic, entertainment, tasks, and family activities) right at your fingertips. 

However, the true potential of the feature lies in its customization capabilities, allowing you to curate a news feed that resonates with your unique preference and lifestyle. Otherwise, you will end up with only clickbait and those typical headlines designed for the media to sell news without adding value.

In this how-to guide, I will walk you through the steps to customize the news feed to get the most out of the Widgets experience on Windows 11.

How to customize Widgets news feed on Windows 11

The Widgets feature allows you to customize the feed in a couple of ways, and if you still don't like the experience, you can completely turn off the feed to use the feature with only the available app widgets.

Choose your news interests

To customize the news feed to see more interesting stories, use these steps:

1. Open Widgets dashboard.
2. Click the Settings (gear) button from the top-right corner.
3. Click the Personalize your content setting.
4. Click the Microsoft Start option.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

5. Click the See more button.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

5. Choose the topic to customize from the "Discover interests" pane.
6. Click the Plus button for the interests you like.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

7. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to customize your interests for the Widgets feed.
8. (Optional) Click on Followed list from the left pane.
9. Review your current sources and news topics.

• Quick note: You can click on any of the items to remove them from the list.

1. (Optional) Click on Blocked list from the left pane.
2. Review the contents you previously blocked. 

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

• Quick note: You can click the Unblock (red) button to make the source available again in the feed. Or you can click the Plus button to follow the news source again.

Once you complete the steps, the news feed will start showing stories based on your interests.

If you are still coming across stories that are not relevant, you will have to train the feed manually with the steps below.

Train the news feed 

To train the news feed to see more stories tailored to your liking, use these steps:

1. Open Widgets dashboard.
2. Click the Thumb Up to like the story and let the system know the content you like, or click the Thumb Down to see fewer stories of this type.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

3. Click the X button to hide a specific story.
4. Click the menu (three dots) and choose to follow or block the source. 

• Quick tip: Hovering over the story will also reveal an option to follow the new source.

After you complete the steps, your input will help to improve the news feed experience.

Disable the news feed

To turn off the news feed permanently for the Widgets dashboard, use these steps:

1. Open Widgets dashboard.
2. Click the Settings (gear) button from the top-right corner.
3. Click the "Show or hide feeds" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

4. Turn off the Microsoft Start toggle switch.
5. Click the Turn off button.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Once you complete the steps, the news feed will no longer be available in the Widgets dashboard.

It's important to note that Microsoft is testing this last feature, meaning that if you don't find it, you may have to wait a little longer, depending on when you're reading this guide.

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Here's is the changelog:

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

 

[Copilot in Windows]

 

We are making a change where the Copilot icon is shown on the right side of the system tray on the taskbar to make the entry point to Copilot more clear and easily accessible by being closer to where the Copilot pane opens. As part of this change, we have defaulted the “show the desktop” behavior for the far-right corner of the taskbar to off and this can be re-enabled in the taskbar behaviors section under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar (you can simply right-click on the taskbar to get to this). This is just beginning to roll out to Insiders in the Canary Channel so not every will see this change right away.

 

The Copilot on the right side of the system tray on the taskbar.

 

[Start menu]

 

We’re trying out grouping recently added apps on your PC into a folder under the Recommended section of Start with some Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Note that this is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Beta Channel will see this right away.

 

Grouping of recently added apps under the Recommended section of the Start menu.

 

For people logged into Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise editions with a Microsoft Entra ID account, we are trying out the ability to view and join upcoming Microsoft Teams meetings directly from the Start menu. The next online Teams meeting will show up as a Recommended item 5 minutes before it begins, clicking the meeting recommendation will open the join meeting flow in Teams. Note that this is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Beta Channel will see this right away.

 

Join upcoming Microsoft Teams meetings directly Start menu.

You can check out the full blog post here:

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According to a post in the official documentation, the server-side update is available for computers with Windows 11 version 23H2 and the latest cumulative updates, which Microsoft released on January 9, 2024 (KB5034123, build number 22631.3007). Microsoft lifted the compatibility hold on February 7, which means eligible users with Windows 10 and older Windows 11 versions should now be able to update to Windows 11 version 23H2.

It is also worth noting that it might take up to 48 hours before the update propagates to affected systems. Therefore, if your multi-monitor computer still cannot find Windows 11 version 23H2, give it a few more hours and try again.

Interestingly, the fix is not available for Windows 10 users. Microsoft says it is still working on a resolution for Windows 10 version 22H2 and will provide an update in an upcoming release." Meanwhile, Copilot for Windows 10 on devices with more than one monitor might not be available.

Microsoft also highlights that the problem with jumping icons is only observed when using Copilot on computers with more than one display. If you are a happy single-monitor Windows consumer, Copilot and Windows 11 version 23H2 should be available for you without any issues or compatibility holds.

In case you missed it, Microsoft recently resolved a problem with Windows 11 failing to connect to specific Wi-Fi networks. The December 2023 Patch Tuesday updates broke 802.1x authentication in enterprise, education, and public Wi-Fi networks. The company fixed the bug in last month's cumulative updates.

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While Version 22H2 had multiple Moment updates, Windows 11 23H2 will reportedly however have only such feature update with Moment 5, and according to a report by Windows Central, the feature update lands later this month on February 27.

Windows 11 23H2 in itself was not a major update over what we had with 22H2 and it was mostly built atop the earlier Windows version. Users only needed to download and install it via an Enablement Package (EKB5027397).

And it also looks like it is going to be a similar affair with Moment 5 as well. Users should not be expecting to see many new features with Moment 5. You can learn a bit more about these changes in this article.

You can instead expect a lot more oomph from the next major feature update which is expected to be in the form of version 24H2 and is purportedly arriving to the general public in September 2024.

The tidbits and traces of Windows 11 24H2 began to surface towards the very end of last year, first inside a DMSA Group Policy and we also had a reaffirmation of it again very recently on official Microsoft documentation.

Interestingly enough, there appears to be another major Windows update in the works that is set to arrive sometime in the middle of the year as per Qualcomm. However, at the moment, it is not quite confirmed what that will be as none of the rumored release dates for either Windows 11 24H2 or Windows 11 23H2 Moment 5 seem to align with it.

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Many people—like, say, journalists—are understandably antsy about what generative artificial intelligence might mean for the future of their profession. It doesn’t help that expert prognostications on the matter offer a confusing cocktail of wide-eyed excitement, trenchant skepticism, and dystopian despair.

Some workers are already living in one potential version of the generative AI future, though: computer programmers.

“Developers have arrived in the age of AI,” says Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub. “The only question is, how fast do you get on board? Or are you going to be stuck in the past, on the wrong side of the ‘productivity polarity’?”

In June 2021, GitHub launched a preview version of a programming aid called Copilot, which uses generative AI to suggest how to complete large chunks of code as soon as a person starts typing. Copilot is now a paid tool and a smash hit. GitHub’s owner, Microsoft, said in its latest quarterly earnings that there are now 1.3 million paid Copilot accounts—a 30 percent increase over the previous quarter—and noted that 50,000 different companies use the software.

Dohmke says the latest usage data from Copilot shows that almost half of all the code produced by users is AI-generated. At the same time, he claims there is little sign that these AI programs can operate without human oversight. “There’s clear consensus from the developer community after using these tools that it needs to be a pair-programmer copilot,” Dohmke says.

Copilot’s power is in how it abstracts away complexity for a programmer trying to work through a problem, Dohmke says. He likens that to the way modern programming languages hide fiddly details that earlier, lower-level languages required coders to wrangle. Dohmke adds that younger programmers are particularly accepting of Copilot, and that it seems especially helpful in solving novice coding problems. (This makes sense if you consider that Copilot learned from reams of code posted online, where solutions to beginner problems outnumber examples of abstruse and rarified coding craft.)

“We’re seeing the evolution of software development,” Dohmke says.

None of that means demand for developers’ labor won’t be altered by AI. GitHub research in collaboration with MIT shows that Copilot allowed coders faced with relatively simple tasks to complete their work, on average, 55 percent more quickly. This increase in productivity suggests that companies could get the same work done with fewer programmers, but companies could use those savings to spend more on labor in other projects.

Even for non-coders, these findings—and the rapid uptake of Copilot—are potentially instructive. Microsoft is developing AI Copilots, as it calls them, designed to help write emails, craft spreadsheets, or analyze documents for its Office software. It even introduced a Copilot key to the latest Windows PCs, its first major keyboard button change in decades. Competitors like Google are building similar tools. GitHub’s success might be helping to drive this push to give everyone an AI workplace assistant.

“There's good empirical evidence and data around the GitHub Copilot and the productivity stats around it,” Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, said on the company’s most recent earnings call. He added that he expects similar gains to be felt among users of Microsoft’s other Copilots. Microsoft has created a site where you can try its Copilot for Windows. I confess it isn’t clear to me how similar the tasks you might want to do on Windows are to the ones you do in GitHub Copilot, where you use code to achieve clear objectives.

There are other potential side effects of tools like GitHub Copilot besides job displacement. For example, increased reliance on automation might lead to more errors creeping into code. One recent study claimed to find evidence of such a trend—although Dohmke says that it reported only a general increase in mistakes since Copilot was introduced, not direct evidence that the AI helper was causing an increase in errors. While this is true, it seems fair to worry that less experienced coders might miss errors when relying on AI help, or that the overall quality of code might decrease thanks to autocomplete.

Given Copilot’s popularity, it won’t be long before we have more data on that question. Those of us who work in other jobs may soon find out whether we’re in for the same productivity gains as coders—and the corporate upheavals that come with them.

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I don't think I'm alone in my desire to spruce up my Windows 11 desktop. Live wallpapers are the Ritz of customization options. Nothing is worse than having a perfectly cable-managed PC setup with matching accessories, lighting, and room accents, only to have a boring default Windows wallpaper. 

If you're looking for the crème de la crème of wallpaper options on the market, these are the two applications worth checking out. But do you really need to shell out $4 for Wallpaper Engine, or is Lively Wallpaper punching above its weight class? Let's take a look. 

Wallpaper Engine vs Lively Wallpaper: Features

Wallpaper engine admittedly has more tweakable performance options than Lively Wallpaper. 

(Image credit: Wallpaper Engine Team.)

Before you drop down the $4 for Wallpaper Engine on Steam, let's take a look at the features available with Lively Wallpaper compared to Wallpaper Engine. 

Wallpaper Engine vs Lively Wallpaper: Using the apps

Both apps come with pre-loaded live wallpaper options. (Image credit: Future)

It's pretty hard to judge the difference between the usability of the apps and the overall GUI experience. I prefer the simplicity and layout of LIvely Wallpaper more. Still, Wallpaper Engine has many more options to help you find exactly what you're looking for, and the 'Discover' tab in Wallpaper Engine is a huge bonus. 

Besides a few basic pre-loaded wallpapers that come with Lively Wallpaper, any other wallpapers you want to use must come from outside the app. This is a bit of a bummer compared to Wallpaper Engine and does require a bit more work, but in the long run, it means it supports a vast range of different inputs, such as websites, YouTube videos, and nearly all video files. If you're looking for ideas or help with Lively Wallpaper, they have an active subreddit with users uploading new wallpaper creations and offering assistance in true open-source fashion. 

The Discover tab in Wallpaper Engine is its best feature.  (Image credit: Wallpaper Engine team)

If you're looking for convenience and ease of use, Wallpaper Engine's Discover tab does all the work for you, showcasing awesome wallpapers from different categories. It's almost impossible not to find a great-looking Wallpaper for any taste. Of course, the Workshop tab also allows you to search for anything you are dying to place from and center on your PC setup.  

• TL;DR app usability: While Lively Wallpaper has an overall cleaner aesthetic, in my opinion, and is very easy to drive and move around, the actual act of finding, downloading, and 'installing' wallpapers is much easier on Wallpaper Engine due to the Discover and Workshop tabs that feed community-created content directly into the app and offer 'one-click shopping' for the avid wallpaper connoisseur. 

Wallpaper Engine vs Lively Wallpaper: Performance

I was seeing 15 to 30% GPU utilization while running basic pre-installed live wallpapers from Wallpaper Engine

on an RTX 4070 Super.  (Image credit: Future)

I was surprised to see how much running a live wallpaper affected my GPU. I purchased the recently reviewed NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super, and I thought I would have a ton of overhead running these live wallpapers. That doesn't seem to be the case, though. Any live wallpaper I tried had my GPU utilization showing between 15% and 30%, but it was over 20% most of the time. This was the same across both Wallpaper Engine and Lively Wallpaper. 

Lively Wallpaper also had a pretty big ding on my GPU utilization usually sitting around 30% but sometimes

getting up to 40%. (Image credit: Future)

Lively Wallpaper also uses a lot of GPU when running a live wallpaper. It is important to say that I have no reason to doubt either of these apps' claims that they will reduce utilization to 0% during gaming. I didn't notice any slowdown or drop in frames while gaming with live wallpapers enabled from either of these applications. 

That being said, I  have a hard time wanting to run a live wallpaper 24/7 on a brand new GPU that is just going to be adding cycles and wear and tear to my GPU. The real use case here will be if I'm recording videos of my desktop setup or showing people around my office, I can have one up and running. If you're somebody who usually puts your PC to sleep when you aren't using it, GPU wear and tear won't be as big of an issue. 

• TL;DR performance: Both Wallpaper Engine and Lively Wallpaper will substantially utilize your GPU. If you're running integrated graphics it could end up in a scenario where your browsers don't have enough GPU overhead to load YouTube videos or other basic tasks. That being said, I didn't notice any impact on my gaming with either wallpaper app enabled. Wallpaper Engine seemed to have a slightly lower average utilization than Lively Wallpaper, so it gets a slight edge in performance. 

Wallpaper Engine vs Lively Walllpaper: Which should you install?

Some of the community-made live wallpapers on Wallpaper Engine are just out of this world.  (Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Honestly, I'm torn. Before starting this, I thought that Lively Wallpaper, undoubtedly the best free alternative to Wallpaper Engine on the market, would be able to win. Still, after using both, I think the most significant deciding factor is the Workshop and Discover tabs in Wallpaper Engine. This might not be the case for everybody, but for me, $4 is not worth the extra time it would take to scour Bing trying to find the perfect video, GIF, or other media to make a wallpaper through Lively Wallpapers. 

But if you're looking for a free solution and want to get involved in making and creating custom wallpapers, the Lively Wallpaper community is active and alive and always looking for more users to jump in and assist in improving it. 

I understand if $4 is too much for you to spend on a wallpaper app, and Lively Wallpaper is an excellent option for anybody who wants to use it. Still, if you just want to download an app, find a gorgeous wallpaper, and enjoy Geralt of Rivia bobbing up and down on your desktop, Wallpaper Engine is easily worth the $3.99.

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