Version 26.6 of the popular video editor, Shotcut, is now available, in Beta, for download. This release brings the usual set of bug fixes, as well as new stuff like OpenFX & VST2 Plugin support.

Support for OpenFX plugins finally landed after many years of users begging the Shotcut devs to add the open-standard API used for creating 2D visual effects. In the past, Shotcut relied almost exclusively on the frei0r plug-in API for its video effects, which felt pretty limited as it did not support advanced commercial tools.

VST2, on the other hand, is the industry-standard format for audio effects, and it lets users apply everything from advanced vocal compressors and EQs to de-essers and noise-removal tools like iZotope or ReaPlugs.

In the latest beta release, several UI elements have been moved around in the interface. For instance, the Declick Audio option shifted from the Time category to the Audio menu, while the External Monitor option hopped to the Player menu.

This menu now supports system displays, though this conflicts with the Use Old Video Output setting for Snapdragon X ARM systems. You also get a dedicated, full-screen capable Preview Window for HDR content, and you can change the dynamic range in custom Video Modes to standard SDR or HDR formats like HLG and PQ.

Some of the bug fixes Version 26.6 brings include:

• The team fixed a deadlock on the DeckLink HDMI/SDI external monitor.
• Exporting Ogg Vorbis files with cover art no longer fails.
• Marker actions no longer crash the app when nothing is open.
• Windows UNC paths now work properly with filters like GPS Graphic.
• Extended characters in custom export preset metadata no longer cause issues.
• The rebuild audio waveform function now saves properly on Windows.
• Tab focus now allows users to edit numeric fields in filters.
• Moving clips on the timeline no longer creates massive gaps.
• Timeline undo actions after changing video modes no longer corrupt data.
• Double-clicking project files in macOS Finder with Shotcut running works correctly.

As mentioned earlier, Shotcut is a very popular video editing program, and creators love it because it is open source and a great alternative to expensive, subscription-based software like Adobe Premiere Pro. It's been around since 2004, and in that time, it has gained features like native multi-format timeline editing, 4K resolution output, chroma keying, webcam capture, audio spectrum analysis, and advanced keyframe control.

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Posted Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 7:55 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft typically releases new Windows 11 preview builds every Friday. Less frequently, but still regularly, the company also pushes new ISO files (last time on May 19, 2026), allowing those who want to clean-install one of the recent builds quicker and easier, all without waiting for Windows Update to do its thing (in-place upgrades. Just like that, Microsoft today released its official images for the builds released last week.

As of right now, the latest Windows 11 preview builds are the following:

• Experimental Future Platforms (former Skip Ahead) - build 29599.1000
• Experimental 26H1 (former Canary) - build 28020.2207
• Experimental (former Dev) - build 26300.8553
• Beta - build 26220.8544

You can download all those builds from the official Windows Insider website. Just keep in mind that you need to log in with a Microsoft Account registered in the Insider program to get a link.

As for what is new, Microsoft brought some interesting and useful features with these updates. However, as usual, the most exciting changes are in the Experimental (formerly Dev) channel, which Microsoft uses as a test bed for new features. Those include a big Start menu update, which lets you resize the menu, toggle specific parts, and more. Microsoft also reworked the recommendation section, which you can now disable without affecting jump lists. We recently published a closer look at this upgrade, so check it out here.

In other news, Microsoft is hosting its annual Build developer conference this week, so expect plenty of developer-related news and some fresh Windows announcements, not just the new Surface Laptop Ultra powered by NVIDIA's latest processors for ARM PCs. We will cover all the most interesting news, so stay tuned.

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Posted Tuesday 2 June 2026 at 7:32 am AEST (my time).

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The last few weeks have been a bit eventful in the world of the Linux kernel. First, Torvalds complained that contributors using AI were reporting issues and not supplying fixes, then the week after, he had to tell people to stop submitting less necessary fixes late in the cycle.

Thankfully, he now says that things have quietened down for the sixth release candidate, which means next week’s may be the last one before the final release. This week, he said that this update was smaller than RC5, but it is still not exactly small, thanks to the use of AI tools. He also said that due to the more normal size, we could be on track for a normal release cycle.

This week, the changes for drivers are all over the place, affecting GPUs, networking, USB, serial, sound, and SCSI. There are also core networking and self-test updates. Aside from these, there are architecture fixes, filesystem fixes, and other random fixes.

In terms of specific hardware support, this release candidate improves support for the ASUS ROG RAIKIRI II, GameSir Nova 2 Lite, and Lenovo Go devices. It also fixes a bigger over-read in the Lenovo X12 Tab handler.

With the 7.1 release looking like it is back on track, the final release candidate should be next week, then after that, it will be pushed to stable to the public. However, you should wait for your Linux distribution to send out the update, as installing it yourself can lead to an unstable system, and it is a lot more complicated to do. Arch and Fedora users will be among the first to receive the update when ready.

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Posted Tuesday 2 June 2026 at 7:32 am AEST (my time).

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Not-so-long ago, something big happened at Microsoft. The company switched from shoving questionable features into Windows 11 to listening to feedback and implementing stuff that people had been asking for nearly half a decade. People coming from Windows 10 to 11 often complain about the taskbar and Start menu, and Microsoft is now scrambling to fix that. We recently published a closer look at the updated taskbar and its new features, and now it is time to look at the updated Start menu and its new customization options.

In 2025, Windows 11 received a major Start menu redesign. While the update addressed many complaints, certain quirks remain unchanged. You cannot resize the Start menu, use jump lists without recommendations, hide your username, and more. Microsoft recently promised to fix all that, and it took a few weeks to bring the first Windows 11 preview build with the promised changes.

Build 26300.8553, which was released on May 29, 2026, introduces new Start menu features, which include the following:

Modular design: You can now enable or disable parts of the Start menu, including pinned apps, recommendations (this section is now called "Recent"), and the All Apps list. Heck, Microsoft lets you turn off everything, and when you do, opening the Start menu shows a message that says "All Start menu sections are off" with a link to the Start menu settings. You can also make it fully blank by keeping the Pinned section and removing all pinned apps.

It is interesting to see Microsoft allowing you to remove the All Apps list. How are you supposed to pin apps to the Start menu if you do not have access to everything installed? However, here is a tip: you can pin apps from Windows Search. I am still not sure who would want no "All Apps" list, but hey, whatever floats your boat. I like customization, and I am glad that Microsoft is giving it, even when it makes little sense.

Resizability: The Taskbar is now resizable, and so is the Start menu. You can switch between a large and a small Start menu, which directly affects how many apps you can pin or view. In large mode, the menu hosts eight columns of apps and four app categories across, while small mode has six columns of apps and three categories.

While I welcome this change, it is still a far cry from Windows 10's Start menu, which worked almost like a regular window: grab its corner and resize to your heart's content. I wish the Start menu were more flexible in this area, and if you think the same, you can use this useful Windhawk mod to fix that.

Before

After

Hide your username: If you are recording your screen or showing something during a video call, you can turn off your profile name. I do not have much to say about this change, but I guess someone among hundreds of millions of users will find it useful. Again, I do not mind additional customization, especially after years of Microsoft being stubbornly unwilling to do anything.

All these changes are great and welcome, but Microsoft still has some work to do. Clicking the search bar still switches from the Start menu to Windows Search, which feels a bit awkward with its jump from one UI to another—not to mention that Windows Search is still a mess. Plus, Microsoft should do something with the Category view.

This feature has apps hard-coded into specific categories, and Windows 11 often cannot figure out where to put an app outside that list, resulting in most third-party apps being thrown into the "Other" category. On my PC, Steam, Affinity, Slack, WhatsApp, and other programs are shoved into one undefined group, which simply makes the Category view unusable. I like the idea, and I feel like this area is a perfect spot for some light AI to figure out where to put each program.

Is there something you still want Microsoft to do to Windows 11's Start menu? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Posted Monday 1 June 2026 at 11:59 am AEST (my time).

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As we draw closer to the stable release of KDE Plasma 6.7, the KDE team has published a new issue of its "This Week in Plasma" newsletter, detailing a massive wave of changes that landed in the KDE ecosystem throughout the week. Let's take a look at some of the most notable.

Last Tuesday, the team released Plasma 6.7 Beta 2. In that release, the developers resolved an issue where users were accidentally dragging a window so far off a screen edge that it became impossible to click and drag back.

The update also fixed an issue where a renamed file on the desktop visually disappeared when multiple activities were active. You can now authenticate to 802.1x-protected networks using hardware keys, and the remote desktop server no longer freezes during clipboard transfers.

In addition to that, auto-hide panels are now compatible with edge-based desktop switching, and the application launcher lists programs case-insensitively to prevent the launcher from pushing lowercase apps down. When you install an app, the system immediately removes it from the history sections of all launcher widgets. Other adjustments clarify virtual screen options in the chooser dialog. Testers can also enable the brand-new Union theme engine globally under System Settings > Colors & Themes > Application Style.

The Union theme engine is a next-gen styling tool that provides a unified design for both old and new application frameworks. Because making separate theme files for different toolkits has always challenged designers, KDE developers built Union to use standard CSS. Union then takes this stylesheet and translates the style rules into native rendering paths for each toolkit. This change fixes the visual mismatch that occurs when older apps run next to modern layouts.

The KDE team also made quite a few changes slated for Plasma 6.8. They include a warning on the lock screen that shows when the "Slow Keys" accessibility feature is active, so you don't type incorrect passwords in confusion. To make logging in faster, the lock screen respects PAM timeout values directly without adding artificial delays, and Discover now warns you when a Flatpak replacement requires manual recreation of custom desktop shortcuts.

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Posted Monday 1 June 2026 at 7:39 am AEST (my time).

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Paint.NET is a particularly useful and powerful image editor, available for free on Windows. It was initially released in 2004 by university student Rick Brewster as a replacement for Paint on Windows, and it has evolved quite significantly in the past couple of decades. We cover its releases regularly here on Neowin Software. However, a notable flaw in Paint.NET was that it wasn't actually accessible from www.paint.net, but that is changing soon.

Up until now, the official place to download Paint.NET was from the www.getpaint.net website, because Brewster did not own the domain for his titular utility. However, after spending over 22 years trying to get procure the domain, Brewster is now the owner of the www.paint.net domain, finally.

As explained in a detailed post on X, Brewster had been trying to secure the domain for quite a while, but the previous owners had either declined to sell or were demanding a very high price for transfer of ownership. However, the latest owner made a mistake in December 2025, when they revamped the website to make it seem like it was the official portal for the Windows utility, deceiving existing and potential customers.

This meant that the situation turned into a classic case of copyright infringement and domain squatting as the owner was profiting off of the Paint.NET trademark. Brewster quickly got a lawyer involved, and long story short, Brewster finally got the domain that he had been vying for, for the past 22 years.

Right now, if you navigate to the website, you'll see a message asking you to download Paint.NET from getpaint.net, along with links to Brewster's post on X and BlueSky. However, this is only temporary as the developer is soon kicking off the migration process for the new website. It's unclear what will happen to the existing website, but it will likely redirect to the new one. Brewster hasn't detailed a migration timeline yet, but it should happen sooner rather than later.

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Posted Sunday 31 May 2026 at 10:55 am AEST (my time).

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OneDrive is a pretty powerful cloud storage service that also offers other functionalities such as offline access, Known Folder Move (KFM), Files On-Demand, and much more. Recently, Microsoft also shared some details about what's coming next for OneDrive, including hero links and OCR integration for PDF content in OneDrive mobile. Now, it has announced yet another useful feature for its service, which might save some time for many.

In its latest Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry, Microsoft has announced Suggested Rename for OneDrive. As the name suggests (pun intended), this is a Copilot-powered capability that offers meaningful file names for content uploaded on OneDrive. These descriptive, clear names will be provided after Microsoft's AI model analyzes the file's content, which means that the names will be context-aware.

Copilot will surface three recommended names for a file with a rename dialog box, and the user will be able to simply click and select the most suitable name. Presumably, they will also be able to dismiss the recommendations and retain their existing file name.

These recommendations will pop up in a toast notification after you upload a file to OneDrive, or when you attempt to rename a file manually. Suggested Rename will work for the following files:

• Microsoft Office documents
  • Word (DOCX)
  • PowerPoint (PPTX)
  • Excel (XLSX)
• Other document formats
  • PDF
  • Markdown (MD)
• Images

This feature is expected to land on the web version of OneDrive in June 2026, but it's worth highlighting that just because an upcoming capability is being tracked on the Roadmap doesn't mean that everything about it is set in stone. It may change significantly by the time of general availability, get delayed, or be canceled completely for any reason. Also, with regards to this particular feature, Microsoft hasn't clarified if users will have an option to disable Suggested Rename, as some users may find this Copilot utility a bit intrusive too.

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Posted Sunday 31 May 2026 at 7:25 am AEST (my time).

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A couple of weeks ago, we reported that several people are facing installation failures while trying to apply May's Patch Tuesday updates (KB5089549) on Windows 11. This issue was triggered under certain conditions, but it was particularly annoying as it impacted consumers across Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2. Now, Microsoft has confirmed that it has finally resolved this bug.

Fortunately, the patch for this problem is quite simple as impacted customers only need to install the non-security preview update released as KB5089573 a couple of days ago. Once that is installed, this issue should be resolved automatically and no further action or workaround is required beyond that point.

This should come as a relief for impacted Windows 11 customers as Microsoft's previous workarounds involved modifying the Windows Registry or performing Known Issue Rollback (KIR). The former method can be quite stressful for newbies as any incorrect modification to the Windows Registry can cause major system issues.

Prior to the latest patch, impacted users would be greeted with error code 0x800f0922 when trying to install May's Patch Tuesday update, typically around the 35-36% completion mark of the reboot phase. This was a bit of a nuisance as the error message ambiguously stated that "Something didn’t go as planned. Undoing changes.", and simply roll back. Microsoft confirmed that this was happening on devices with 10MB or less free space available on the EFI System Partition (ESP).

It's also interesting that the fix for this issue involves installing the KB5089573 non-security update. This release introduces a ton of major features including performance boosts through Low Latency Profile, Shared Audio, enhancements to Task Manager, Windows Search upgrades, and a lot more. You can check out the details here, and either install the preview update or wait for it to become generally available with April's Patch Tuesday on April 9.

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Posted Saturday 30 May 2026 at 7:57 am AEST (my time).

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A few weeks ago, when Microsoft released a big upgrade for Windows 11's taskbar, the company confirmed that users can expect more improvements to the Start menu. Today, Microsoft is bringing those improvements. The latest build from the Experimental Channel (formerly Dev) is here under number 26300.8553, and it brings the ability to toggle on or off specific parts of the Start menu without affecting other features. Now, you can remove recommendations and continue using jump lists, resize the Start menu, and more.

Here is the changelog:

[Start menu]

This update brings a number of improvements for the Start menu as first outlined in the Making Taskbar and Start more personal Insider blog. This includes:

• Renamed "Recommended" section to "Recent" in Start and Settings page
• Section-level toggles to independently show or hide Pinned, Recommended, and All.
• Choose between a small and large Start menu, in addition to "Automatic (default)" setting option that's already available today
• The option to hide your name and profile picture in Start
• Redesigned Start menu settings page

[Search]

• Search by Substring: Files with compound names or content (e.g., MeetingNotesApril, ProjectStatusReport) are now easily discoverable by typing “april” or “status”.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed a few small visual polish issues when using the taskbar in alternate positions. Thanks Insiders that have been sharing feedback so far!
• You can now use a touch swipe to invoke the taskbar when using alternate taskbar positions.

Known issues include the following:

[Reset PC]

• [Fixed] Resetting your PC may get stuck when using "Reset this PC." To complete the reset successfully, choose the cloud download option (Cloud PBR) instead of local.

For those in the Beta Channel, Microsoft released build 26220.8544 with the new spinners and other changes:

[Windows design]

• We are introducing consistent solid (donut) spinners across key Windows scenarios including Boot, Logon, Restart, Shutdown, and Update. This update replaces legacy spinner visuals to deliver a more cohesive and modern experience aligned with Windows design standards. Users will now see a unified spinner behavior with corresponding status text (e.g., "Restarting", "Working on updates", "Welcome") across these flows, improving perceived reliability and visual consistency.

[Search]

• Search by Substring: Files with compound names or content (e.g., MeetingNotesApril, ProjectStatusReport) are now easily discoverable by typing “april” or “status”.

[Windows Ready Print]

• Last month, we introduced a change where new printer installations use IPP by default when supported to simplify setup and improve reliability (see our third-party driver deprecation timeline: End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows). This month, we're adding a new toggle in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Default install printers using Windows Ready Print to give you control over this behavior.
• When enabled, Windows installs supported printers using IPP by default. When turned off, Windows may use other available installation methods.
• This experience is part of our modern print platform, now called Windows Ready Print, designed to deliver a more consistent, reliable, and simplified printing experience.

You can find the release notes for build 26300.8553 here and build 26220.8544 here.

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Posted Saturday 30 May 2026 at 7:56 am AEST (my time).

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Nope, there will be no Windows 12 reveals next week. With Computex and Build 2026 kicking off next week, users anticipate plenty of PC-related announcements, including, perhaps, a new version of Windows. However, Microsoft decided to clarify things a little and help consumers adjust their expectations.

Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, published a cryptic teaser of what is coming next week at Build 2026. Pavan made it clear that the company is not going to announce a new operating system or "Windows 12." Instead, look out for plenty of developer-related news and even new hardware.

Speaking of hardware, the official Windows account also published a teaser, claiming that "a new era of PC" is coming, with coordinates pointing to Taipei Music Center in Taiwan.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced new Surface for Business computers powered by the Intel Core Ultra 300 Series. Back then, the company confirmed that consumer-focused Surface devices were coming later this year. The current-gen Surface lineup powered by Snapdragon X1 chips is now two years old, and it is time for Microsoft to show refreshed devices. OEMs are now launching their Snapdragon X2-powered devices, and NVIDIA is also getting ready to enter the CPU market with its N1 lineup, so stand by for plenty of announcements from NVIDIA and Microsoft next week.

As for Windows 12, Microsoft is currently busy fixing Windows 11 and its shortcomings with features like movable taskbar, low-latency mode, additional Start menu customization, Windows Update changes, and more. With Windows 11 soon turning five, it would make sense for Microsoft to announce Windows "12," but it is now clear that the company wants to fix Windows 11 instead of dropping a new version.

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Posted Saturday 30 May 2026 at 7:55 am AEST (my time).

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In a not-so-surprising turn of events, HP recently revealed that 3 out of 10 of its installed user base is still running Windows 10, despite . The move left approximately 400 million PCs in the lurch because they didn't meet Microsoft's stringent hardware requirements to upgrade to Windows 11.

Notably, the number of Windows 10 holdouts has slightly decreased from September 2025, when HP and Dell indicated that up to 50% of PCs were still running on the operating system, prompting the PC makers to suggest that users won't upgrade to Windows 11 overnight, and the process could even be expected to roll over into 2026.

While recently speaking to investors, Ketan Patel, president of personal systems, claimed the slow transition to Windows 11 from Windows 10 was giving HP a financial boost (via The Register😞

"Windows 11: 30 percent of the installed base is still to be refreshed. That's one tailwind which we see as an opportunity in the short run."

HP's CFO, Karen Parkhill, reiterated the same sentiments while indicating that the trend was regional and particularly strong in EMEA and APJ for the company's FY26Q2, which ended on April 30. For context, the company's revenue grew 9% year-on-year to $14.41 billion.

A new version of Calibre, version 9.9, is now available for download. Let's take a look at everything that's new in this release.

For users who maintain a lot of virtual libraries, there is now the option to retain the current search query when switching between tabs, a configuration found under the searching preferences.

The update also brings more accurate page counting of fixed-layout EPUB files to help populate the pages column, and the metadata downloader will now ignore spacing around the colon separator when you paste an ASIN or ISBN from your clipboard.

The bug fixes in this release include a fix for SSL certificate loading on the recently released Fedora 44. In addition to that, the internal e-book viewer no longer suffers from incorrect search match offsets when scanning text with non-BMP Unicode characters.

The bulk metadata dialog now allows the backspace key to function in number input boxes even when set to undefined, and the content server now properly applies null metadata when serving book files.

Calibre is a very powerful open-source suite of e-book management tools that has been around since 2006, when creator Kovid Goyal first released it as libprs500. Since then, it has grown to support features like a built-in editor and a versatile e-book viewer. Millions of active readers rely on the platform to sort, tag, categorize, and build virtual libraries that span thousands of books. Users can also convert e-books to and from almost every format in existence (EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, TXT, KEPUB, etc.)

This year, so far, has seen the addition of new features like an all-new "Bookshelf" view (version 9.0) that arrived in January. This layout simulates a physical wooden bookshelf with rows of books displaying their spines, complete with adjustable fonts and dynamic spine widths that reflect actual page counts.

There is also now an (opt-in) AI module that lets you right-click any item to select "Discuss selected book with AI". This chat system connects to popular cloud providers (like OpenAI) or runs entirely locally using offline AI models (via LM Studio or similar OpenAI-compatible local providers).

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Posted Saturday 30 May 2026 at 7:52 am AEST (my time).

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The Rocky Linux team recently released version 9.8, bringing tools like PostgreSQL, Grafana, and more.

The Image Builder in this release now allows you to create WSL2 images and inject Kickstart files when building ISOs while also handling advanced disk partitioning. It also removes the separate /boot partition for system images like AWS and KVM. The Image Builder in Rocky Linux is a really handy tool that compiles custom operating system images for various platforms. Red Hat first introduced it upstream during the RHEL 8 cycle, and Rocky Linux developers have marked it generally available since Rocky Linux 8.4.

Moving on to the system packages, this release introduces OpenSSH 9.9 to replace the older version 8.7, offering many security fixes. Developers also gain access to MariaDB 11.8, Node.js 24, Ruby 4.0, and PostgreSQL 18 for building modern web applications. Here's the rest of the software updates that ship with this release:

• OpenSSH 9.9 patches security bugs and communication vulnerabilities.
• GnuTLS 3.8.10 and p11-kit 0.26.1 resolve cryptographic weaknesses by adding post-quantum algorithms.
• The fapolicyd 1.4.3 package resolves execution policy bypass bugs.
• The upgraded crash and kdump utilities fix kernel debugging failures.
• GCC Toolset 15 provides GCC 15.2 and Binutils 2.44, while Go Toolset 1.26.2 and Rust Toolset 1.92.0 update compiler features.
• The PCP 6.37 and Grafana 10.2.6 integration fixes server monitoring bugs.

If you're on an older version of Rocky Linux 9 and want to upgrade, just run sudo dnf -y upgrade. You can also use desktop tools like GNOME Software or KDE Discover to apply the updates. The developers recommend a fresh installation for users moving from Rocky Linux 8 to Rocky Linux 9.

Rocky Linux is a community-developed open-source Enterprise Linux distro that companies can adopt when seeking the rock-solid stability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) but do not want (or need) to pay for Red Hat's commercial support licenses, because developers designed Rocky to be a 100% "bug-for-bug" compatible, drop-in replacement for RHEL.

Gregory Kurtzer (the original creator of CentOS) announced the project merely hours after Red Hat killed the traditional CentOS stable release model in December 2020. AlmaLinux, another Enterprise Linux distro, also shared a similar origin, as its creators announced it within days of the Red Hat decision to fill the massive void left by CentOS.

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Posted Friday 29 May 2026 at 5:27 pm AEST (my time).

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Fedora 42, which was released in April 2025, has just reached end of life. This was supposed to happen on May 27, but got pushed back a day to May 28 due to a “slight delay.” This means that your Fedora 42 installations will receive no more updates of any kind, including security updates or security announcements.

Due to this, all Fedora 42 users must upgrade to Fedora 43, which will get updates for one month after the release of Fedora 45. If you are running the Workstation version of Fedora 42, you should be able to go to the Software Center and head to the Updates tab, where you should be offered the upgrade to Fedora 43.

If you’re not familiar with Fedora, it’s quite a large Linux distribution that goes head-to-head with Ubuntu. It is stable for desktop users but focuses on the latest stable software. Red Hat also uses Fedora as a testing ground for super-stable software that eventually ends up in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

Fedora usually gets two major versions per year, which users are expected to keep up with via in-place upgrades. Each version is supported until one month after the next plus one release. So if you take Fedora 42, it was supported through Fedora 43, then hit the end of life one month after Fedora 44 arrived.

This is in stark contrast to Ubuntu, which maintains two upgrade tracks, one for the Long Term Support (LTS) releases and one for the interim upgrades that are made optionally available every six months. Most Ubuntu users get the LTS versions and then remain on that for years at a time before upgrading. The main downside to this is that you might not always get the most cutting-edge software that Fedora gets.

So, if you are still on Fedora 42, now is the time to upgrade. If it only lets you go to Fedora 43, it might be worth taking the jump to Fedora 44 after completing the first upgrade.

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Posted Friday 29 May 2026 at 4:11 pm AEST (my time).

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A couple of days ago, we reported that Microsoft is working on a "Copilot Design System" led by veteran Jon Friedman who is taking on the role of Chief Design Officer. Through this initiative, the company aims to develop UX that truly makes Copilot a thought partner that is easily accessible and helps boost your productivity without feeling too intrusive. Now, it seems like some more fruits from this labor have started to make their way to Microsoft 365 customers.

Within the Copilot app, the size of the prompt box has been increased and it now offers tools and controls below this UX so you can get work done faster. Microsoft believes that this simplified interface powers a faster and more responsive experience. The company says that it understands that an interface that can't keep up with the user's demands or gives quick but incoherent answers isn't really useful.

This is why it has reworked the Copilot interface to enable principles of "progressive disclosure" through the Work IQ intelligence layer. You get an expandable pane for extra items on the left, and a prompt box that offers inline formatting options. Microsoft emphasizes that more capabilities and integrations are surfaced with context rather than being presented all at once to reduce cognitive load and make the experience easier to navigate and understand. Check it out below:

Responses are broadly grounded through Work IQ and users also have the option to choose between different AI models. These capabilities allows Copilot to adapt to your needs and surface more options as the complexity of your demand and the situation grows. Microsoft has also boasted that the Copilot app is now twice as fast and response time for complex questions has been boosted by 10%.

The Redmond tech giant is also touting strong momentum when it comes to Copilot adoption in Office apps. It claims that after rolling out new Copilot experiences, Copilot usage has increased by 27% in Word, 33% in Excel, 43% in PowerPoint, and 30% in Outlook. However, if you look at the fine print, these findings are based on sample data obtained only within a couple of days after rollout so it captures only short-term gains which may not be indicative of long-term trends.

Copilot now offers agentic experiences with new entry points, but as we know, not all of them have been very popular and the company is planning on rolling at least one of them back.

Microsoft has highlighted that its redesign highlights a shift from "individual features to connected experiences". This is also why its Copilot revamp isn't only focused on making the experience faster and decorative, but also more human. You can read additional details here.

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Posted Friday 29 May 2026 at 4:10 pm AEST (my time).

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On Windows 11, the Low Latency Profile is still a feature under development, and Microsoft hasn't fully detailed how it works or how it'll behave across all possible scenarios. As a result, there's a lot of confusion around what it actually does, when it activates, and whether users can control it.

This roundup addresses the most common questions and clears up what we currently know about the feature, including how it improves responsiveness, its impact on battery life, device support, and what you can realistically expect once it becomes widely available.

What is Low Latency Profile on Windows 11?

On Windows 11, Low Latency Profile is a new system optimization feature Microsoft is testing as part of the Windows K2 initiative to improve responsiveness and reduce delays during specific tasks.See the video above that we created to demonstrate how effective it actually is.

Based on the available information, the feature temporarily maxes out (or near-maxes) the CPU frequency for short bursts during foreground interactions, helping the operating system respond more quickly to actions such as opening menus, switching apps, launching programs, and handling input events.

In practice, it seems designed to make Windows 11 feel snappier by allowing the system to react more aggressively during bursts of activity.

How does Low Latency Profile work on Windows 11?

Low Latency Profile temporarily maxes out (or near-maxes) the processor frequency for one to three seconds for interactive tasks on Windows 11. Instead of focusing on sustained performance, the feature appears designed to reduce delays during actions like opening apps or opening flyouts, such as the Start menu.

The boost can result in up to 40 percent faster launch times for applications and up to 70 percent faster interaction times with system features, such as opening or context menu.

In addition to working with first-party apps such as Outlook and Microsoft Edge, the available information suggests this will also work with traditional third-party apps.

Does Low Latency Profile affect battery life on laptops?

Yes, it'll affect battery life, especially on laptops and tablets. However, sources familiar with the feature's development said that the battery life and thermal impact will be minimal, since the burst lasts only a short moment (from milliseconds to three seconds max).

It's also important to understand that Windows and apps already constantly request processor time for background and foreground workloads. The Low Latency Profile doesn't introduce an entirely new type of workload. Instead, it changes how the system temporarily prioritizes and schedules existing tasks to improve responsiveness when user interaction is detected.

Is Low Latency Profile enabled automatically on Windows 11?

Yes, once the feature becomes available on your computer, it'll be enabled automatically by default. Microsoft is designing the Low Latency Profile as a background system optimization that works without requiring user configuration or manual activation.

Like many other performance and scheduling features, Low Latency Profile operates silently in the background, activating only when the system detects short, interactive workloads that may benefit from faster responsiveness.

Why won't you find an option to manage the Low Latency Profile?

Let's get one thing straight. You won't find any "Turn on Low Latency Profile" toggle in the "Power" settings page or "Power Options" in the Settings app or Control Panel.

This is an automated feature that triggers in the background only when it's required. In other words, it's completely invisible to the end user.

How do you know if the Low Latency Profile is on Windows 11?

Since there's currently no option in the Settings app to manage or monitor the feature, the only way to get an idea of whether the Low Latency Profile is active is through the "Performance" tab in Task Manager.

The idea is to perform interactive actions, such as opening the Start menu, launching File Explorer, or opening the Notification Center, while monitoring CPU speeds. If the feature is working, you may notice the processor briefly boosting to its maximum or near-maximum clock speed for a short moment before quickly returning to normal levels.

However, it's important to understand that these short processor bursts are not exclusive to the Low Latency Profile. Existing apps, background services, and system processes can also trigger similar processor behavior, making it difficult to accurately isolate the feature's impact.

You also have to consider that the operating system already includes optimization technologies such as the SysMain service (formerly Superfetch), which preloads frequently used apps into memory to improve launch times and responsiveness. As a result, some performance gains users notice may come from existing mechanisms rather than the Low Latency Profile alone.

Can you turn off Low Latency Profile on Windows 11?

According to the available information, it's unclear whether you can turn off the Low Latency Profile enhancements in Windows 11.

We'll have to wait if the company adds a Group Policy or Registry setting to manage this feature.

Which Windows 11 versions support Low Latency Profile?

Although the company hasn't officially shared much information about this feature, it's gradually rolling out with the June 2026 update for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2 and is in current Windows Insider builds.

Does Low Latency Profile help low-end PCs more than high-end PCs?

The responsiveness improvements will vary depending on the hardware. Devices with lower-end or older components may notice the biggest difference because these systems typically struggle more with interface responsiveness, app launches, and short bursts of activity.

On the other hand, computers with modern high-end processors, fast SSDs, and plenty of memory may not see dramatic improvements because the hardware already delivers fast response times under normal conditions. In those cases, the Low Latency Profile may simply make the experience feel slightly smoother rather than significantly faster.

Is this a "lazy" fix or a real optimization for Windows 11?

There's significant backlash against calling this new performance improvement a band-aid for underlying bloat within the operating system. Microsoft defends it as standard industry practice for perceived responsiveness.

Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman defended the approach on X, saying that many modern operating systems, including Apple's macOS and Linux distros, already use this approach to make the experience feel snappier.

Does it impact gaming performance, FPS, or latency?

Gamers are notoriously protective of their processor cycles and worry that unexpected background clock spikes could cause frame drops, stuttering, or one percent lows in competitive titles.

Now, while there is no official word from Microsoft, the reality is that the Low Latency Profile specifically targets core shell experiences and interface flyouts, such as the Start menu, Notification Center, and File Explorer. When a game is running in full-screen, you aren't interacting with the operating system shell, meaning the feature trigger logic remains dormant.

Windows Central's Take

I've seen the software giant take this kind of behind-the-scenes approach before, and the Low Latency Profile feels like another step in that direction. In theory, it should make Windows 11 feel snappier without users needing to touch anything, which is usually a good thing for mainstream users.

That said, I'm not expecting dramatic real-world changes for most people. On modern hardware, the difference will likely be subtle, while older systems may benefit more during those short bursts of activity where the system tends to feel sluggish.

What I'm watching more closely is the lack of visibility and control. Microsoft is clearly leaning into automatic system tuning here, which can work well, but also makes it harder to understand what's actually driving performance improvements.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft handling features like this behind the scenes in Windows 11? Let me know in the comments.

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Posted Friday 29 May 2026 at 7:50 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft finally decided to listen to users and bring one fundamental but still-absent feature to Outlook for Windows. After years of requesting and complaining, Outlook users on Windows will finally get a unified inbox view. The feature, also called All Accounts view, was added to the roadmap yesterday, with rollout set to begin in August.

So, if you have multiple email accounts, you can see all your inboxes in one place without actually merging them. Each account stays separate underneath, but the view pulls everything together so you can access and manage emails without switching between mailboxes. You can read, delete, move, archive, and mark messages across accounts from that single view.

It’s kind of ironic how the company keeps forcing the latest AI features upon users, but sometimes neglects the fundamentals that are actually more useful for everyday users.

It’s worth mentioning that we’re still not getting the entire package. The roadmap entry says that the initial release will only support searching within your primary account. Cross-account search and shared mailbox support are listed as coming in later releases. Copilot integration is included from the start, and it will build upon the recent Copilot features that Microsoft has been rolling out in Outlook this year.

This has been a sore point for a while. Unified inbox has existed on Outlook for Mac and on mobile for years, but the new Outlook for Windows, which Microsoft has been pushing as the replacement for the classic desktop client, somehow lacks it. People have been filing feedback, complaining online, and coming up with various workarounds just to have a version of a unified inbox view. Microsoft is now finally committing to fixing that.

The feature is listed for worldwide rollout on the web (which means it will be present both in the browser and Windows versions) under general availability, with no preview period mentioned yet.

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Posted Friday 29 May 2026 at 7:48 am AEST (my time).

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On Windows 11, as part of Microsoft's broader "" initiative to improve the operating system and rebuild user trust, the company has the first wave of Start menu changes that will soon begin rolling out through the Windows Insider Program.

The upcoming improvements focus heavily on customization and usability. Some of the most notable changes include the ability to resize the Start menu, show or hide individual sections, and separate file recommendations from recent activities.

Start menu gets long-requested improvements

When the software giant introduced Windows 11, the company replaced the classic Windows 10 Start menu with a completely redesigned experience. The new design removed Live Tiles and the secondary pane layout in favor of a simplified, centered menu that only included traditional app icons.

We are reaching the end of the month, which means that it is time yet again to recap all the new capabilities that Microsoft introduced in Excel during the course of the past four weeks. April 2026 was a relatively quieter month with only a handful of Copilot functionalities, and this month seems to be no different with just three features announced across all platforms.

Starting off with Windows and Mac, Microsoft has introduced new entry points for Copilot and reduced them to just two. One of these is the Dynamic Action Button (DAB), which is essentially a floating Copilot button on the bottom-right of Excel. However, as we know, this has been quite controversial among Excel users who feel that the AI service is being forced down their throats, while also highlighting that the button's placement intrudes upon their workflows.

Following negative feedback from customers, Microsoft has decided to backpedal this implementation to some extent, and will allow users to restore Copilot to the ribbon instead of placing it on the canvas. That said, that may not be the end of this chapter as the Redmond tech giant is working on a "Copilot Design System" through which the firm will be integrating Copilot in non-intrusive ways into workflows. It hasn't been very successful so far.

Next, Excel Insiders on WIndows and Mac can search the web through the =COPILOT function and ground results based on this live data. This capability is also available for Frontier customers on the web.

Finally, Excel for web has received a UX change that makes Copilot edits in Excel sheets more visible. This is done through the Show Changes card which now attributes changes to Copilot as well. Microsoft believes that this will make the collaboration process transparent for all users.

That's all there is to it this month. Once again, a decent month for Copilot users, but others who don't rely on the AI assistant as much will be hoping that the next month is better.

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Posted Thursday 28 May 2026 at 7:58 am AEST (my time).

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System76, the company behind PopOS and COSMIC Desktop, has released version 1.0.14 of its desktop environment, bringing keyboard shortcut support for non-Latin layouts, automated external monitor brightness adjustments, integrated VPN handling, a cursor idle-hide timeout, and more.

In the COSMIC store, the devs introduced an rpm-ostree backend to allow users of Fedora atomic desktops to perform system upgrades directly from the app manager. This backend parses native rpm-ostree terminal commands under the hood, checking for available updates with 'upgrade --check' and verifying staged files with the 'status' command so that the interface does not show redundant update prompts after queuing an install.

COSMIC 1.0.14 also ships with an improvement to the settings daemon that enables users to control their external monitor brightness levels using DDC/CI (Display Data Channel / Command Interface) protocols directly from the system settings panel. Users will notice that the settings application now requests these brightness values much more reliably from the hardware daemon after a system reboot.

Libcosmic, the custom Rust widget toolkit that serves as the System76 answer to stuff like libadwaita, received key bind support for non-Latin keyboard layouts to make shortcuts work for international users. Other changes COSMIC 1.0.14 brings include volume progress markers, alphabetized VPN connections, sorted startup applications, and proper natural scroll direction settings. The developers also fixed several notable bugs that disrupted the workflow in earlier builds:

1. A crash that occurs when a user resizes a window in an X11 environment.
2. Fullscreen X11 games opening as floating or tiled windows instead of taking up the entire screen.
3. Desktop groups that block context menu actions for internal applications.
4. Zombie shell processes that linger in the background during applet execution.
5. Wayland pipe connection failures that freeze cosmic-applets instead of allowing a graceful exit.
6. Window snapping failures where the compositor forgets the original coordinates after a user drags a window.

COSMIC is a free and open-source modern desktop environment created by System76, and the project had its first major standalone alpha release, Epoch 1, last December. System76 chose to write the DE in Rust to leverage its incredible performance and memory safety guarantees. It was created after its developers got tired of GNOME updates constantly breaking heavily customized extensions like Pop Shell that shipped with PopOS.

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Posted Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 4:31 pm AEST (my time).

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The AlmaLinux team has released AlmaLinux 10.2 "Lavender Lion" today, bringing Btrfs boot support, x86-64-v2 architecture options, re-enabled frame pointers, and native SPICE support for client applications alongside i686.

Starting with i686, the release provides userspace packages for specific workloads, such as building legacy software or running CI pipelines that require 32-bit glibc versions. Since the team only provides the userspace, you will not find a bootable 32-bit installer or a 32-bit kernel in this version.

As the team noted back when Kitten 10 shipped, the decision to keep i686 alive solves problems for people dealing with proprietary software that only ships in 32-bit i686 formats. While many modern systems have moved on, some still require these packages for their internal tooling and system components. The community will maintain this stream through the year 2035 to ensure that long-term projects do not lose access to the environments they require.

Firefox and Thunderbird in the system repositories now ship as regular RPM packages, and the team included a list of updated developer tools. You will see GNOME 49, Python 3.14, Ruby 4.0, PHP 8.4, and PostgreSQL 18 available for your web stacks while the kernel sits at version 6.12.0. Security updates include OpenSSL 3.5.5 and OpenSSH 9.9p1, plus the team re-added drivers for hardware like the HP Smart Array and several Mellanox ConnectX adapters. The update also brings GCC Toolset 15 and Rust Toolset 1.92.0 for developers needing the latest compilers.

If you're on Kitten (AlmaLinux 10), you can upgrade to the stable release by running a simple dnf upgrade command. Existing 10.2 beta testers follow a similar path, like so:

$ dnf install https://repo.almalinux.org/almalinux/almalinux-{release,repos,gpg-keys}-latest-10.$(uname -m).rpm
$ dnf upgrade -y

AlmaLinux, if you've never heard of it, emerged as a community-driven project after the company Red Hat announced it was killing the traditional, stable CentOS release in favor of the rolling-release "CentOS Stream."

It used to be a one-to-one clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but things shifted after the upstream source code went behind a paywall in 2023. The OS is now Application Binary Interface (ABI) compatible with RHEL, meaning that any software, script, or app certified to run on RHEL will run perfectly on it.

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Posted Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 4:30 pm AEST (my time).

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Microsoft is rolling out a new non-security update (also known as C-update) for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. KB5089573 with build numbers 26200.8524 and 26100.8524 is now available for download in Windows Update and the Microsoft Update Catalog, offering a now-traditionally long list of new features, quality improvements, bug fixes, reliability enhancements, and more.

The most notable changes in KB5089573 are shared audio support for more devices (you can stream music to two headphones), improved NPU tracking in Task Manager, multi-camera support (several apps can use a single camera), the new low-latency mode, and more. Here is the changelog:

• [Shared Audio] New! Shared Audio enables two people to listen to the same audio from a single Windows 11 PC at the same time. It uses Bluetooth® LE Audio broadcast technology to make sharing easy. For example, you can watch a movie while traveling or listen to music while studying together. To start sharing audio, open Quick settings from the taskbar, select Shared Audio, choose two supported, paired, and connected devices, and then select Start sharing. To learn more about Shared Audio, see Extending Bluetooth® LE Audio on Windows 11 with Shared Audio.

[Magnifier in Windows]

• New! Magnifier now provides clearer and more consistent announcements when working with a screen reader. You’ll hear helpful announcements when you zoom in or out, switch views, turn color inversion on or off, or turn Magnifier on or off. This makes it easy to stay oriented while you work.
• New! Magnifier now supports magnification of permitted protected content.
• This update improves smoothness when moving the Magnifier in lens mode.

[Task Manager]

• New! Task Manager now offers improved visibility into NPU usage on PCs with an NPU. New optional NPU and NPU Engine columns are available on the Processes, Users, and Details pages, along with NPU Dedicated Memory and NPU Shared Memory optional columns on the Details page. Neural engines that are part of a GPU now appear on the Performance page, providing a more complete view of AI‑related activity. A new optional Isolation column on the Processes and Details pages shows which apps are running in an AppContainer. You can add any of the new columns by right‑clicking a column header in Task Manager and selecting them from the menu.
• This update improves CPU speed display on the Performance page of Task Manager for VMs, so it doesn’t show higher than expected numbers after resuming from hibernation.

[Camera] New! Windows 11’s Multi-App Camera feature allows multiple applications to access your camera stream at the same time. Basic Camera mode in Windows 11 enables simplified camera functionality, useful for troubleshooting or improving stability when your camera is not working correctly. Enterprise admin can now set Multi-App Camera mode or Basic Camera mode through Group Policy, under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Camera > Configure Camera Options.

[Windows Setup] New! You can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page during Windows setup. The updated experience makes it easier to select a custom name during setup only. If this step is skipped, Windows uses the default folder name and continues setup as usual. User folder names must follow standard Windows naming requirements.

[General Performance] This update accelerates app launch and core shell experiences such as Start menu, Search, and Action Center.

[Windows Hello]

• This update optimizes the Windows Biometric service (WinBio) to help improve performance when your device resumes from Modern Standby.
• This update reduces unexpected authentication blocks in Windows Hello Enhanced Sign‑in Security by resolving missing secure enrollment metadata.
• This update improves sign‑in behavior on the lock screen and sign‑in screen. When Windows Hello face or fingerprint is set up and available, it is now the default sign-in method every time you sign in, even if you used a different method previously. If you need to use your Windows PIN instead and use it three times in a row, Windows will stay with PIN until you switch to another sign-in method.

[Windows Search Box] Windows Search will now find and prioritize files with as few as two characters.

[Storage]

• The dialog box for creating a Dev Drive now supports specifying the size in gigabytes (GB) instead of only megabytes (MB). This option is also available when resizing volumes in Settings > System > Storage.
• In Settings > System > Storage, you now see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt only when you choose to view temporary files, instead of immediately when opening the page.

[USB]

• This update improves reliability for displays attached to USB4 docks and hubs. These displays now light up more consistently, particularly when coming out of standby.
• The USB3 stack is updated to have additional resiliency and recovery measures in place against certain unexpected hardware faults and conditions. Users will experience higher reliability with USB devices.

[Sensors] This update improves resiliency against apps that could keep the sensor hub powered on and drain power, impacting battery life.

[Human Interface Device (HID)] This update improves battery life related to the HID and Input stack for failed HID devices. Power hygiene is also improved against applications that might initiate HID transfers during standby.

[Input] The update improves:

• Reliability of the touch keyboard on the sign‑in screen, including when entering or changing a password.
• Reliability of explorer.exe when closing the input switcher.
• Performance when opening or navigating to the clipboard history.

[Fonts] The Times New Roman font family is updated to improve the rendering of combining diacritical marks across Greek and Cyrillic scripts. This update provides more accurate and visually consistent text by addressing mark positioning issues. These changes improve readability, reduce rendering inconsistencies, and provide better support for global language users working with Greek and Cyrillic content.

[Task Scheduler] Task Scheduler now saves column width adjustments in task list view across sessions.

[Desktop icons] This update improves the reliability of loading desktop app shortcuts.

[Microsoft Store]

• This update includes underlying changes that improve download performance and bandwidth usage.
• This update improves error reporting when downloads fail due to Windows Update group policy settings being enabled.

[Reliability] This update improves Windows reliability on the sign-in and lock screens, in File Explorer, when using touch gestures on touchscreen devices, and when changing themes in Settings.

You can download KB5089573 by heading to Settings > Windows Update or via the Microsoft Update Catalog. The update is optional, so you have to click "Download and install" manually. All the features in today's release will be available as part of the June 2026 Patch Tuesday update.

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Posted Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 12:16 pm AEST (my time).

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A newly published document has revealed that Microsoft is planning to ship Windows 11's new Ask Copilot Taskbar feature this summer, after months of testing with Insiders. The feature, which was first announced last year, will see Copilot replace the Taskbar's search box with a dynamic chat box that users can interact with at all times when enabled.

In the document, Microsoft describes the Ask Copilot feature as bringing "Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI agents directly into the taskbar and Start menu through the new Composer experience. This means faster action, less context switching, and AI that feels like a natural part of Windows."

The new Ask Copilot search experience replaces the current Windows Taskbar search UI with a floating popup that you can use to search for local files or interact with Copilot itself. In our testing, we found that the new Ask Copilot search UI was actually more accurate at finding local files and apps compared to the current Windows Search.

Mozilla has released a big bug-fixing update for Firefox 151. Following the release of version 151.0.1, which addressed bugs on certain Intel processors, Mozilla is delivering ten more fixes to resolve issues with Split View unexpectedly closing tabs, crashes on Windows with certain input methods, and more under-the-hood improvements.

Here is the changelog:

• Fixed an issue on macOS where smart cards and security keys could fail to load certificates automatically.
• Fixed an issue where adding another tab to an existing Split View could unexpectedly close it.
• Fixed an issue where Split View would close instead of switching tabs when using the "Switch to Tab" option from the address bar.
• Fixed a crash on Windows that occurred when using the Sogou input method to type Simplified Chinese.
• Fixed an issue where Firefox stopped caching new content once the disk cache was full, causing pages and resources to be re-downloaded from the network on every visit.
• Fixed an issue where some websites could render incorrectly or fail to load when they used JavaScript to insert WebKit-specific style rules.
• Fixed an issue where clicking and selecting text in some input fields and text areas did not work on pages that styled them with certain CSS rules.
• Fixed an issue where the up and down buttons on number input fields could overlap and hide the value when sites sized the field to fit its contents.
• Fixed an issue where sorting strings that include numbers could produce an incorrect order on some websites and web applications.
• Fixed an issue where dropdown menus would not open for "select" elements created inside an iframe and then moved into the parent page.

Firefox 151.0.2 is now available on Mozilla's FTP, and the update will be available to all users shortly. As for release notes, you will find them on the official website here. Firefox is available for download from the official website, the Microsoft Store, and Neowin's Software page.

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Posted Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 7:43 am AEST (my time).

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Earlier today, Nvidia published the Game Ready Driver 610.47 release for GeForce graphics users, bringing support for fresh games and bug fixes. However, it also made a change to how drivers from the vendor have been functioning for two decades, marking the ever-present and familiar Nvidia Control Panel as officially retired.

On a note in the new graphics driver's announcement page, Nvidia revealed that the change is happening due to it moving all the currently supported features from the Control Panel over to the Nvidia App.

"After 20 years of dedicated service, the classic NVIDIA Control Panel is officially retiring for Game Ready and Studio Drivers," confirmed the company. "For NVIDIA RTX PRO users, the NVIDIA Control Panel will continue to be supported until we have migrated professional features to the NVIDIA app."

Anybody who already has the Nvidia Control Panel installed on their machine will be able to keep using it. However, a clean installation of Nvidia drivers will wipe this, removing both the software and the familiar shortcut that appears on a desktop right click.

Nvidia added that the Control Panel will continue to be offered via the Microsoft Store as an optional download, but no more bug fixes or features will be made to the current version going forward.

"With the introduction of our most recent NVIDIA app update, all actively supported NVIDIA Control Panel features for GeForce users have been modernized and transitioned to the new client," added Nvidia. "The NVIDIA app contains all of the modern functionality of the NVIDIA Control Panel available for GeForce RTX GPUs, and much more, while running faster and more efficiently."

Nvidia introduced the Nvidia App back in 2024, combining several of its apps to let users manage them more easily. Over the years, the company has continued to add new features and port over important aspects from the classic Control Panel.

For anyone who still wants to go back and use it, the official Nvidia Control Panel download can be found on the Microsoft Store here.

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Posted Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 7:42 am AEST (my time).

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