I’ve been covering Microsoft products for quite some time now, but there are still some tiny details I don’t know. For example, I have to admit that I was today years old when I found out you can’t natively create Desktop shortcuts for Edge user profiles. This has been possible in other browsers for more than a decade.

But that’s finally going to change soon. Microsoft just released a Microsoft 365 roadmap entry that promises an in-browser option to pin Edge user profiles to Desktop is coming.

Here’s what the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry 558311 says:

“A new toggle is added in the profile settings to give users the ability to create or remove the profile desktop shortcut. Available only for Windows devices.”

I don’t use Edge as my main browser, and I was genuinely surprised when I came across this roadmap entry. Apparently, you can now only create Edge profile shortcuts with a workaround that involves adding a custom shortcut to your Desktop and pointing it to the file path of your profile. Unbelievable.

Even though this is just a minor change for Microsoft Edge, it can prove extremely useful. Many people use multiple browser profiles to separate work and private stuff. So, having these profiles right on the desktop is a much simpler and faster way to access them.

Microsoft is pushing the latest technologies, like Copilot Cowork and other advanced AI tools, heavily, and users don’t always appreciate them. Maybe the way to win users back is actually improving and optimizing existing products, instead of trying to force novelties where they don’t necessarily belong. Even if we’re talking about something as small as a simple toggle.

The toggle for creating Edge profile shortcuts is only coming to Windows for now, and Microsoft will start rolling it out to users in May.

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Posted Thursday 12 March 2026 at 5:13 pm AEST (my time).

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Although the full-fledged versions of Microsoft's Office apps are present in the Redmond company's desktop suite for customers, many still prefer using the online versions of these apps. This is due to multiple reasons such as the fact that it's free to use as long as you have a Microsoft account, content created here can be accessed across any device, and it constantly saves your data, so you never need to worry about losing your work. Now, Microsoft has added a new feature to its online portals that will likely please many customers.

If you look at the screenshot at the bottom, this is what the online portal for Word looks like right now. The portals for Excel and PowerPoint are structured in a similar fashion. They contain templates at the center, followed by your recent content at the bottom. The header pane at the top of the page is fairly empty and primarily contains some controls to navigate across your Office apps or Microsoft 365 account:

The problem with this UX is that it does not offer a very basic capability, that is, a search bar in the header. Although there is a search bar in the bottom section, it is not intuitive to locate, so it's not user-friendly at all. Fortunately, Microsoft is finally remedying this issue by introducing a search bar in the header, as can be seen in the GIF below:

The search bar behaves as you would expect it to. You simply begin typing a file name, and relevant results start popping up. You can click on any of the surfaced items in the search bar to directly open it too.

This should make the lives of Microsoft 365 customers so much easier, and it's honestly surprising why Microsoft didn't utilize all the empty space in the header pane for the search bar in the first place, and instead, relied on a relatively obscure location.

Microsoft has begun rolling out this search bar UX for the online portals of PowerPoint, Word, and Excel customers. Right now, it is being deployed for commercial customers of Microsoft 365 only, it remains to be seen when general consumers will get this capability.

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Posted Thursday 12 March 2026 at 5:12 pm AEST (my time).

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Microsoft recently confirmed that the next-generation Xbox console will be able to play not just console games, but PC games as well. At the same time, the company is making its desktop operating system more friendly to gamers, and the new Xbox Full-Screen experience is one way to improve it. Debuted on the ASUS Xbox ROG Ally in 2025, this mode is now coming to all PCs as early as next month.

At Game Developer Conference 2026 (GDC), Microsoft announced that starting April 2026, Xbox mode will be available on all Windows 11 form factors, including laptops, desktops, and tablets. For those unfamiliar, Xbox mode gives your PC a gamepad-friendly launcher that makes it easier to jump into games whenever you want. You can even set your computer to boot directly to Xbox mode.

Microsoft does not plan to replace the traditional desktop environment with the new Xbox mode. Instead, it wants to give users "a clean, distraction-free interface, while still giving them the flexibility to seamlessly switch back to the Windows desktop at any time." In more familiar terms for PC gamers, consider it a Microsoft-made Steam Big Picture.

Microsoft started testing the Xbox Full-screen Experience in November 2025, and now, it is ready for its prime time. Microsoft promises to release it next month for users "in select markets." Besides a new gaming-friendly environment, Microsoft is improving bits and pieces under the hood to make the operating system better at gaming. Advanced Shader Delivery, a new system that debuted on the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, is now expanding to all game developers, allowing them to self-enable it through the Xbox Store. Developers can package shaders and let the Xbox Partner Center automatically deliver them to gamers with supported hardware.

For those unfamiliar, Advanced Shader Delivery improves game loading time, reduces CPU load, and removes stutters by precompiling shaders. This technology is supported on systems with NVMe drivers and GPUs that support DirectX 12 Ultimate. Speaking of NVMe, DirectStorage, another gaming technology on Windows 11, is getting Zstandard compression support to improve compression efficiency while simplifying asset conditioning. As a result, it becomes easier to stream large game assets, further reduce loading times, and make the experience more responsive.

Microsoft will talk about all these improvements at dedicated sessions at GDC 2026 on March 11-12, so expect to hear more details about gaming improvements coming soon to Windows 11.

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Posted Thursday 12 March 2026 at 7:08 am AEST (my time).

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Last year, Microsoft decided to leave Windows 10 on a deserted island with enough supplies to last for a year. This, of course, resulted in a lot of PC hardware unable to run Windows 11 being left behind.

Since then, a lot of people have been searching for an alternative way to salvage old hardware that's perfectly usable despite not supporting Windows 11. E-waste remains a huge problem on our planet, and PCs certainly make up a fair share of what's tossed out each year.

Refurbished tech marketplace Back Market and Google have teamed up to create a new way to salvage old Windows PCs. This pilot program will see Back Market begin selling $3 USB sticks that, once plugged into an x64-based PC, make it super easy to install ChromeOS Flex.

You can, of course, create your own ChromeOS Flex installation USB at home, so this seems like more of a convenience and awareness play.

Back Market is the same company that began offering HP and Lenovo laptops with ChromeOS Flex installed in September 2025, one month before Windows 10 officially entered its end-of-life phase.

What is ChromeOS Flex, and why would I want it on my PC?

JayzTwoCents (4.3m subscribers)

March 11, 2026

Video length: 16m 04s

PC acting weird but you don’t know why? Windows already logs everything. In this video I show you how to use Windows Event Viewer to track down crashes, driver issues, and system errors so you can actually figure out what’s breaking your PC instead of guessing.

00:00 Intro to Event Viewer

02:09 What can Event Viewer help with?

03:47 Normal Events

04:24 Causing a GPU Crash

06:05 GPU Crash Errors logged

07:51 Causing a System Crash with GPU

09:42 System Crash Errors

11:01 What Event Viewer DOESN'T Tell You

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 12:47 pm AEST (my time).

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March 2026 Patch Tuesday updates are here. Microsoft released KB5079473 for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, with build numbers 26200.8037 and 26100.8037. As usual, these updates are mandatory, as they bring important security fixes and other changes.

Here is the changelog:

• [Secure Boot] With this update, Windows quality updates include additional high-confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.
• [File Explorer] Improved: This update improves File Explorer search reliability when searching across multiple drives or "This PC".
• [Windows Defender Application Control] Improved: This update improves how Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) handles COM objects allowlisting policies. COM objects were blocked when the endpoint security policy was set higher than the allowlisting policy. With this update, COM objects are allowed as expected.
• [Windows System Image Manager] Improved: This update improves the reliability of choosing trusted catalog files. It adds a warning dialog that helps you confirm that the file you select comes from a trusted source.

In addition to the changes above, the update contains all the new features and improvements from the February 2026 non-security update. That one contains plenty of new features and changes, including a built-in (sort of) network speed test for Windows 11, new camera controls, fresh emoji, and other changes. You can find the complete changelog in our dedicated article.

Microsoft says the update does not contain any known bugs. You can download it in Settings > Windows Update or in the Microsoft Update Catalog using this link.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:30 am AEST (my time).

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If your computer is enrolled in the Extended Security Updates program for Windows 10, you can now download this month's Patch Tuesday updates. KB5078885 is available for download with build numbers 19045.7058 and 19044.7058, offering users improved File History, graphics stability improvements, security patches, and further preparations for Secure Boot certificate updates.

Here is the changelog:

• [Windows System Image Manager] This update adds a warning dialog to help users confirm that the selected catalog file comes from a trusted source.
• [File History] Improved: File History in Control Panel when backing up files. New files with names containing some Chinese and Private Use Area characters can now be backed up.
• [Graphics] Improved: A stability issue affecting certain GPU configurations.
• [Secure Boot] With this update, Windows quality updates include additional high-confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. This targeting is based primarily on client device diagnostic data; due to limited data, servers are unlikely to qualify, though not explicitly excluded. Devices receive new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

Microsoft says the update does not contain any known bugs or issues. You can download the update by heading to Settings > Windows Update. Alternatively, get a standalone installer from the Microsoft Update Catalog using this link.

If you are on Windows 11, you can check out details for this month's Patch Tuesday updates here.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:28 am AEST (my time).

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Windows updates are usually installed automatically when they become available, though you can trigger them manually by navigating through Windows 11's Settings app and checking for available updates, which will start if available. While they can sometimes be controversial, automatic updates help with security patches, performance improvements, and feature enhancements — but you can still disable them if you want to.

Interestingly, there seems to be an increase in the number of reports upgraded to the latest version of Windows. And while it could be a bug or an issue with the settings, plenty of users affected have pointed the finger at Microsoft. IT expert Günther Born recently published a blog post that rounds up incidents of alleged forced Windows updates, which he called "too many coincidences."

Multiple users have now reported that their devices were updated from Windows 11 version 24H2 to version 25H2 without authorization. However, as my colleague Sean Endicott explained last year, Microsoft had announced plans to automatically install the latest feature update (25H2) on older Windows 11 releases such as 23H2, since those versions have reached end of service.

Microsoft isn't officially pushing upgrades from Windows 11 24H2 to 25H2 while 24H2 is still supported, but some users report being “forcefully” upgraded anyway. According to one of Born's readers:

"There are users who deliberately reject Windows 11! Not even because of the – in my opinion, awful – user interface, but simply because Windows 11 updates are a bit like playing the lottery. You might get lucky and it continues to run smoothly, but you might also be unlucky and have to reinstall everything!

Personally, I'm not a fan of Windows 11, and although my PC is capable of running it, I'm switching to Linux after ESU! (TPM is also deliberately disabled!) Should Microsoft be so brazen as to activate the TPM without asking via an update and install Windows 11, all data will be backed up and Windows will simply be wiped clean…

It's enough that they've implemented a rule in the Microsoft Store that updates can only be paused for a maximum of 5 weeks. After this period, all apps will be updated whether you want them or not! Only after that is it possible to pause updates again…"

Windows Autopatch is a managed service for enterprise customers to automate updates while empowering IT admins to ensure that endpoints are healthy and compliant through ring-based, staggered deployments. IT admins also have the ability to reverse updates easily if something does go wrong. Now, Microsoft is enabling hotpatch security updates by default for Autopatch customers.

Starting from May 2026, eligible Windows PCs leveraging Autopatch through Intune or the Windows updates API in Microsoft Graph will begin receiving hotpatch updates by default. Up until now, when IT admins began rolling out security updates, they would have to wait a few days for devices to restart and apply the patches. However, with hotpatch releases, these security updates are installed as soon as possible, without requiring any restart. This results in faster compliance across environments, also because security updates delivered via hotpatch are typically quite small.

After April 1, 2026, devices that meet the prerequisites for hotpatch, and have applied the April security update will begin receiving hotpatch updates following May 2026. It is important to note that hotpatches are applied after a baseline is met. This means that Autopatch will first install the April security update and then restart, after which security updates won't require a restart. Meanwhile, hotpatch configurations, such as rings and deferrals, for quality updates will remain intact.

Microsoft says:

Windows Autopatch is enabling hotpatching by default because hotpatch updates are the quickest way to get secure. As such, we recommend keeping hotpatch updates enabled for your devices. If you're not ready for this change, you can opt out groups of devices or the whole tenant.

 

The tenant setting to opt out of hotpatch updates is scheduled to go live on April 1, 2026. And because April is a hotpatch baseline month, you have until May 11, 2026 before any hotpatch updates are deployed.

IT admins can find out more details about this change and how to enroll PCs into Windows Autopatch here.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:24 am AEST (my time).

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Mozilla has fully released a new bug-fixing update for the Firefox browser. While it is not the biggest update out there (do not expect the recently showcased redesign in today's update), it brings some useful quality-of-life improvements.

Firefox 148.0.2 is now available for download from the official website and on existing installations. Its changelog contains fixes for bugs with YouTube autoplay, video quality regression on PCs with NVIDIA graphics cards (a new display driver is out too), some bugs with search, and more.

Here is the complete changelog:

• Fixed an issue where searches entered in the Firefox Home search field were incorrectly redirected to the address bar for some users who had disabled search handoff behavior via advanced settings.
• Fixed an issue where some web-based rich text editors stopped applying formatting, such as bold or italic.
• Fixed an issue where videos could autoplay unexpectedly on YouTube despite autoplay being blocked, particularly impacting screen reader users.
• Fixed an issue that caused some absolutely positioned elements meant to be centered, for example, using margin: auto with inset: 0, to appear left-aligned on initial load.
• Fixed an issue where the “Switch to Tab” suggestion in the address bar appeared blank for pages without a title.
• Fixed an issue that could reduce video quality on Windows systems using NVIDIA GPUs with Video Super Resolution enabled.

In addition to that, Mozilla resolved three security vulnerabilities, particularly "CVE-2026-3845: Heap buffer overflow in the Audio/Video: Playback component in Firefox for Android," "CVE-2026-3846: Same-origin policy bypass in the CSS Parsing and Computation component," and "CVE-2026-3847: Memory safety bugs fixed in Firefox 148.0.2." All three vulnerabilities are of high risk, so update to the latest version as quickly as possible.

You can download the browser from the official website, the Microsoft Store (Windows 10 and 11), or Neowin's Software page. Full release notes are available here.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:22 am AEST (my time).

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Nvidia has a brand-new graphics driver available for GeForce customers to download. The WHQL-certified 595.79 Game Ready driver comes carrying support for two highly anticipated games on PC as well as a range of bug fixes.

Both of the newly supported games land on March 19, which are Crimson Desert from Pearly Abyss and the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach PC port from Sony and Kojima Productions. The games will feature DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation tech for RTX 50 series owners to use.

The 591.74 Game Ready driver adds 35 more displays into the G-SYNC Compatible list as well, including new models from ASUS, GIGABYTE, LG, AOC, Philips, and ViewSonic.

Coming into the bug fixes of this driver, Nvidia is probably hoping to not repeat what happened with the previous release here. The February NVIDIA 595.59 driver had to first be pulled back due to fan control issues, then re-released with apparent performance issues, before a hotfix landed with more solutions. Today's bugfix list includes what was in that hotfix too.

Here are the bug fixes in this driver:

• Crimson Desert: Game crashes when launched on R595 drivers
• Resident Evil Requiem: White glowing light/dots may appear in game when Subsurface Scattering is enabled
• Star Citizen: Game client crashes when launched
• When the graphics card is overclocked, GPU voltage may become capped, preventing it from boosting to expected levels
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed when playing multikey DRM content in a browser on HDCP 1.x monitors

Here are the open issues still being investigated:

• Enshrouded: Missing terrain in some areas
• Arknights: Endfield: stutter may be observed in some gameplay

The Nvidia 595.79 driver is now available for download from the Nvidia app. For those who want to download it directly, standalone links can be found here. Here are the official release notes (PDF).

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:20 am AEST (my time).

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Google didn’t waste time integrating Gemini into its popular Workspace apps, but those AI features are now getting an overhaul. The company says its new Gemini features for Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides will save you from the tyranny of the blank page by doing the hard work for you. Gemini will be able to create and refine drafts, stylize slides, and gather context from across your Google account. At this rate, you’ll soon never have to use that squishy human brain of yours again, and won’t that be a relief?

If you go to create a new Google Doc right now, you’ll see an assortment of AI-powered tools at the top of the page. Google is refining and expanding these options under the new system. The new AI editing features will appear at the bottom of a fresh document with a text box similar to your typical chatbot interface. From there, you can describe the document you want and get a first draft in a snap. When generating a new document, you can rope in content from sources like Gmail, other documents, Google Chat, and the web.

This also comes with expanded AI editing capabilities. You can use further prompts to reformat and change the document or simply highlight specific sections and ask for changes. Docs will also support AI-assisted style matching, which might come in handy if you have multiple people editing the text. Google notes that all Gemini suggestions are private until you approve them for use.

Gemini in Google Workspace.

Gemini is also getting an upgrade in Sheets, and Google claims the robot’s spreadsheet capabilities are nearing those of flesh-and-blood humans in recent testing. Similar to text documents, you can tell Gemini in the sidebar what kind of spreadsheet you need and the AI will use the prompt (and whatever data sources you specify) to generate it. Gemini can also allegedly fill in missing data by searching for it on the web. In our past testing, Gemini has had a lot of trouble with spreadsheet layouts, but Google says this revamp will handle everything, from basic tasks to complex data analysis.

Sides is getting added Gemini functionality, but not all at once. Google says Gemini can now build an entire slide from a prompt, with the same ability to pull context from your files and emails (if you enable this for the prompt). You can also have the AI edit or rework a slide if it doesn’t look the way you want. In the future, Google plans to give Gemini the ability to create entire presentations with multiple slides from a single prompt, but this won’t be available during the initial rollout.

Just ask Gemini

While Google has mostly focused on the changes coming to individual Workspace apps, the way you find and interact with your files is also getting an AI makeover. The search bar will rely more heavily on AI to find your files, and searches will also come with an AI Overview right at the top. This text will summarize the most relevant information for your search with citations for the associated documents.

AI overview in Google Drive.

You’ll also see “Ask Gemini” buttons around the interface, including in search results. Those let you ask deeper questions about the documents in a particular folder or a batch of search results. You can export the resulting AI outputs to a new document where you can, again, use Gemini to expand and edit the content.

Like most of Google’s new AI expansions, these Workspace features will come first to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers. The Docs, Slides, and Sheets features will roll out gradually over the spring globally, but only in English. The Drive search changes will also arrive in the coming months, but this will be limited to the US at first. If you don’t want any part of this, you can disable “Smart Features” in Workspace, which kills Gemini but also turns off things like Gmail package tracking and pulling calendar events from Gmail.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:19 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft has announced the availability of Visual Studio Code version 1.111, the first of its weekly stable releases. In this update, the company enhanced the agent experience with agent permissions, agent-scoped hooks, easier agent debugging and troubleshooting, and more.

The headline feature in the latest update is Autopilot and agent permissions (found under the setting chat.autopilot.enabled). The new permissions picker in the Chat view now lets you decide how much autonomy to give to the agent. The permission levels apply per session and can be changed at any time by selecting a different level from the permissions picker.

The permission levels you can pick are Default Approvals, Bypass Approvals, and Autopilot (preview), here is an outline of what each does:

• Default Approvals: Uses your configured approval settings. Tools that require approval show a confirmation dialog before they run.
• Bypass Approvals: Auto-approves all tool calls without showing confirmation dialogs and automatically retries on errors.
• Autopilot: Auto-approves all tool calls, automatically retries on errors, auto-responds to questions, and the agent continues working autonomously until the task is complete.

Another new feature in this update is debug events snapshotting. This helps you to understand and troubleshoot agent behavior by allowing you to attach a snapshot of agent debug events as context in chat by using #debugEventsSnapshot. Microsoft says you can use it to ask the agent about loaded customizations, token consumption, or to troubleshoot agent behavior.

With version 1.111, Microsoft has also added chat tip improvements to help you keep up with all the new options available in the rapidly evolving chat interface. Microsoft said it has redesigned the chat tips experience so that they show more relevant tips at the right time. When you first start using VS Code, you’ll be shown structured onboarding tips and after those are done, you’ll be shown quality-of-life tips like experimental settings.

You can read about the full list of changes in the release notes. If you already have VS Code, you can go to Help > Check for Updates to install the latest version or wait for it to install automatically. If you don’t have VS Code, you can download the latest version now.

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Posted Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 5:17 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft has announced that Outlook for Windows users will soon be able to add file attachments to emails while offline, sending them as soon as internet connectivity is restored. When this feature was announced last July, the General Availability completion date was expected for February, however, this is delayed now until April-May 2026 with the Targeted Release beginning at the end of this month.

This feature is tagged as MC1125491 on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and as Roadmap ID 496371 on the M365 Roadmap. By letting users add attachments, even when there is no internet connection, will make Outlook for Windows function like other office applications (such as Google Docs) that allow you to do most of your work, even when offline.

With the updated schedule, the Targeted Release for Worldwide customers will be complete by late March, the General Availability (Worldwide) will be complete by late April, and then the GCC General Availability will be complete by late May. Microsoft published this updated schedule on March 9.

This change will affect users with offline mode enabled. In the new Outlook for Windows, users will be able to attach files to draft emails while offline. These emails, including attachments, will be sent automatically once the device reconnects to the internet. The feature may be on or off by default, depending on your current configuration of the OWAMailboxPolicy-OfflineEnabledWin policy. The update will not affect any existing configurations.

To enable this functionality, you should ensure several settings are properly configured in Outlook. Under Settings > General > Offline, enable offline email, calendar, and people and ensure “Include file attachments” is toggled on. Admins can manage this feature using the aforementioned policy.

This feature will be extremely useful for anybody who wants to work on the go or live in a country with unpredictable power outages as it will allow you to at least get more work done while you wait for the internet to come back.

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Posted Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 5:41 pm AEST (my time).

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Last month, AMD released a new chipset driver version 8.01.20.513. The package added Windows 11 25H2 support for several of the included drivers like the 3D V-cache optimzer, and more. If you are wondering, these chipset drivers are crucial updates which can add support for upcoming features like the new performance boosting feature we covered earlier today.

With the previous update, AMD had noted that a couple of drivers like those for the AMS Mailbox  and S0i3 filter were not included. Today the company has published a new driver with these baked in, and the previous optimizations are also there as it's a cumulative release. Thus if you did not update last time, you need not worry as only this latest driver is necessary.

Here is what is new in the release:

For those who may not be familiar with it, the S0i3 or Modern Standby is one of the S0ix system idle standby power states wherein the exit state of S0i3 is around ~3ms, and allows the system to quickly wake if the user wants to actively use the system again. The Host System Management Port (HSMP) interface via mailbox registers helps control these and other such power management functions via the commands and requests it receives.

Speaking of power management, the PMF or Platform Management Framework driver has also received an update. It aids in making dynamic adjustments to performance, fan curves, and power distribution based on real-time sensor data and user behavior. The necessary sensor data is obtained via the AMD SFH or sensor fusion hub. It is a dedicated low power coprocessor assigned to collect sensor data only, similar to the Intel Integrated Sensor Fusion Hub (ISH).

Here is the the full release notes for the new driver:

Release Highlights

• Bug fixes included.
• This package includes AMS Mailbox driver and S0i3 filter driver support.

Known Issues

• After installing the AMD Chipset Installer version “7.xx.xx.xx”, users cannot install version “6.xx.xx.xx” or earlier.
  • Workaround: Un-install the latest version of the AMD Chipset installer (version 7.xx.xx.xx or later).
  • Delete the “Qt_Dependencies” folder located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD\Chipset_Software\".
  • Install any older version of the AMD Chipset installer (version 6.xx.xx.xx or earlier).
• On a non-English OS, some driver names may appear in English. 
• Occasionally, Ryzen PPKG may not install or upgrade.
• AMS and S0i3 filter driver has issues on non-English OS

You can download the 8.02.18.557 driver from this page on AMD's official website. It supports all modern Ryzen processors except the newest 400 series parts.

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Posted Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 5:38 pm AEST (my time).

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Windows 10 used to have a convenient feature where you could see your agenda in the taskbar calendar and even add new events. Unfortunately, that thing did not make it to Windows 11 when Microsoft decided to rework the taskbar from the ground up. With Windows 11 now pushing five, the taskbar calendar remains critically underwhelming, and Microsoft's promise to fix it is now taking more time to materialize.

In 2025, Microsoft confirmed that the agenda view is returning to Windows 11. It was expected to arrive for all users in December 2025, but fast forward to March 2025, and the feature is still nowhere to be seen. The good news is that Microsoft did not give up on it. Instead, the company decided to postpone it in order to refine the experience. Here is what a Microsoft spokesperson said about it:

"[We are] actively refining the foundational aspects of the experience to ensure it meets our quality standards before it reaches customers. We’re focused on delivering a reliable, high‑quality feature at the time of public preview or general availability."

While it is disappointing to see the delay, you should consider it a sign of better times ahead. The original announcement of the agenda view for the taskbar in Windows 11 was met with loud criticism, as users discovered that it was nothing but another WebView component. These are usually slower and heavier on resources, which, in the times of crazy component prices, is particularly disappointing.

Recently, Microsoft confirmed that the user feedback is not falling on deaf ears, and the company is going to fix Windows 11 in 2026 by addressing the key "pain points" (do not expect Windows 12 this year), so this delay, alongside the promise to fix things, could indicate that Microsoft decided to ditch WebView for a faster, more efficient native experience. Unfortunately, at this point, it is anybody's guess.

A clearer sign of "refining the foundational aspects of the experience" was discovered by @phantomofearth. Microsoft is working on the ability to hide the agenda view for those who want their UI a little more minimalist:

If the agenda view is something you want right here and right now, you can always switch to third-party apps like Calendar View. While they are not as seamless as the native experience (you have to click a dedicated icon on the taskbar), they are pretty good at giving what Microsoft took away. Hopefully, a native experience will not take too long to arrive.

Via Windows Central

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Posted Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 4:47 am AEST (my time).

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Be it Windows or Linux, AMD processors and their performance and power scaling are done by the OS through a feature called the CPPC. CPPC or Collaborative Processor Performance Control is part of the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and it helps the OS manage the P-states or C-states of a processor.

If you are not familiar, P-states or performance states handle CPU voltage-frequency scaling, C-states deal with CPU sleep states so that some of the CPU functions, which are not necessary at that moment, are disabled. The P-states and C-states work together to make the processor run more efficiently. It helps the OS and apps determine which cores can be parked.

Currently this function of the CPPC is called the "Preferred cores" which allows the OS to schedule tasks to the faster available core by prioritizing it. However, AMD is adding a new CPPC feature soon which will be available in the company's upcoming Zen 6 CPUs. As shown in a recent Linux kernel patch, the new feature is called "Performance Priority", and it is again designed to maximize the performance and efficiency of AMD Zen 6-based Ryzen 10000 (Olympic Ridge) processors.

The patch reveals that the new CPPC Performance Priority extension will allow high priority cores to maintain a higher minimum "floor" performance level, compared to a lower priority core. Thus, thanks to this new feature, the main task in hand should be completed faster. The patch notes says:

"This patchset adds support to the amd-pstate driver for a for a new feature named "CPPC Performance Priority" that will be available on some of the future AMD processors.

This feature allows userspace to specify different floor performance levels for different CPUs. The platform firmware takes these different floor performance levels into consideration while throttling the CPUs under power/thermal constraints."

Typically, Windows is generally ahead in terms of getting these CPU-specific optimization features out, and if this trend continues, then Windows 11 users should also see these benefits on the upcoming versions 26H2 or 27H2 as it is reasonable to expect them with such releases.

Microsoft has been alternating how it ships Windows 11 as each alternate version of the OS is based on the same underlying codebase, this has been repeated twice now with 23H2 (eKB5027397) and 25H2 (eKB5054156), and it is likely the pattern will repeat with 26H2 and 27H2 as well.

AMD's Zen 6 EPYC processors for servers could land later this year, while desktop and mobile consumer variants are rumored to be out early next year in 2027 (via BenchLife). So it would also make sense to have CPPC Performance Priority support on Windows 11 26H2, if such rumors hold true.

Source: LKML

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Posted Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 4:46 am AEST (my time).

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Linus Torvalds, the founder of the Linux kernel, has just released the third release candidate of the upcoming Linux kernel 7.0. Torvalds recounted the fact that the second release candidate was concerningly big and put it down to random timing or “just happenstance”. Now he says that was not the case based on the fact that RC3 is also big.

Torvalds said that RC2 was one of the biggest releases in recent history and that RC3 is even bigger, which makes him think something is wrong. Torvalds’ new thesis is that Linux 6.19 got dragged out an extra week with the addition RC8 release and more features got added during the merge window and subsequent release candidates are larger as they’re fixing more items.

For the meantime, Torvalds is not worried about the size of these updates, but he is hoping that things start to calm down in the coming weeks as it could necessitate another prolonged development cycle. The main reason he has given this week for not being too worried is that a big portion of RC3 is selftests (they make up about 20% of the patch) and nothing looks particularly “scary”. He said that many of the commits in this update are trivial, mainly small cleanups or adding hardware IDs or quirks.

Among the improvements in this update is support for OneXPlayer APEX, X1z, X1 Air, and Aokzoe A2 Pro platforms. There is also support for Omen 14-fb1xxx and Victus 16-d0xxx. Several devices got additional support in this update including the ASUS G733QS, GX650RX, and FA401UM. It also brings G-Mode for M18 laptops. There are also enhancements for the Tegra238 HDA codes and Dell 14 Plus/16 Plus.

Other items in this update include bug fixes and race condition improvements that benefit the overall stability and robustness, kernel selftests and validation for display devices, network, and hardware quirks, and fixes related to use-after-free, memory leaks, and other stability issues.

A typical Linux kernel cycle runs for seven release candidates, but given the size RC2 and RC3, you should prepare to see an eighth release candidate. Once the stable version is out then Linux distributions will begin rolling it out to users, if that is their policy.

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Posted Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 4:44 am AEST (my time).

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Windows 11 is almost 5 years old now, but it's just subtly gaining broad adoption, which can arguably be attributed to Microsoft's unpopular decision to pull the plug on Windows 10 last year, on October 14.

As a result, Windows 11's market share is steadily growing despite user complaints about Microsoft's stringent hardware requirements and flawed design elements.

In 2022, my colleague, Zac Bowden, broke the story about Microsoft transitioning to a new engineering schedule for Windows, returning to a three-year release cadence for major versions of the operating system and feature drops in between.

With this in mind, users naturally started speculating when the tech giant would ship Windows 11's successor, potentially Windows 12. Microsoft has remained quiet about development of Windows 12, but subtle hints and rumors have slipped through the cracks.

While a recent report claimed that Microsoft is planning to ship Windows 12 later this year as a modular and AI-powered OS, the report appears to be a tad far-fetched. Admittedly, the company did highlight its plans to evolve Windows 11 into an agentic OS with AI-powered capabilities that let your PC take control and complete tasks on your behalf.

Bowden's sources dismissed the claims about Microsoft shipping Windows 12, further revealing that the company's roadmap for Windows this year mainly revolves around fixing Windows 11 pain points highlighted by users and reevaluating its AI strategy, which may include streamlining its user experience across its ecosystem and even removing Copilot in apps like Notepad and Paint.

While Microsoft is doubling down on its efforts to improve the general user sentiment around Windows 11, it's hard to discount that "Windows 12" could actually happen in the future. Perhaps next year at the earliest.

That said, as a longtime Windows user and enthusiast, there are some key features and experiences I'd like to see ship as part of Windows 12, whenever that is. And here's what that would look like...

Give me more customization options with less Copilot in Windows 12 ... they already exist in the wild

Back in early 2024, Microsoft announced that it was updating Secure Boot keys as they were going to become 15 years old in 2026, when they would expire. As such, in June last year, the company shared a timeline of the change.

At the time, the tech giant informed that new certificates would be installed on user PCs via Windows Update, and in fact, the company has already rolled out those with the February 2026 Patch Tuesday updates.

These are the latest Patches on Windows and you can read more about them here (Windows 11 KB5077181, KB5075941| Windows 10: KB5075912). Microsoft says that the new certs must be installed before June 2026 so make sure to get the February update.

For guidance, the company also published a useful support article which is essentially an FAQ (frequently asked questions) that's meant to help users and admins alike about doubts and enquiries they may have regarding updates to the boot manager.

Microsoft had put up the article in September last year, and a bit bizarrely, Neowin noticed that the company had, for some odd reason, deleted a crucial piece of information from this page. An earlier version of this article had a couple of questions that answered what would happen if such boot components were not updated in time, highlighting the dangers of not doing so. The article had stated:

"Q3: What happens if Secure Boot certificates aren’t updated before expiration?

The computer will still start Windows normally, even if the Secure Boot certificates are not updated.
The computer will eventually stop receiving certain Windows security updates from Microsoft including Boot Manager and Secure Boot component security updates. This will put the device at risk of BootKits that could take full control of the computer."

And:

"Q5: What happens to a device that does not have the new certificates after the old certificates expire.

After the certificates expire, the device will continue to boot without change, however the device will stop getting security updates for the boot manager and the Secure Boot components. This will put the entire device at risk of “bootkit” malware that can affect all aspects of security on the device."

This information is key to understanding why the Secure Boot updates are necessary for a system, as they can get compromised by bootkits otherwise, but Microsoft may have thought these sections were redundant and deleted them from the very FAQ meant to serve such information to its users.

While Neowin readers and other tech-savvy users out there probably already know this, we should not expect everyone to understand why and how certain Windows 11 security requirements like Secure Boot and TPM help.

Thankfully, someone at the Microsoft headquarters noticed this and the information has been restored again. The presentation has actually been improved this time, as the description has been expanded, and in fact, this is the very top question now showing that the Redmond company understood its significance, so props to Microsoft for doing so. Here is what the restored information says now:

"Q1: What happens if my device doesn’t get the new Secure Boot certificates before the old ones expire?

After the Secure Boot certificates expire, devices that haven’t received the newer 2023 certificates will continue to start and operate normally, and standard Windows updates will continue to install. However, these devices will no longer be able to receive new security protections for the early boot process, including updates to Windows Boot Manager, Secure Boot databases, revocation lists, or mitigations for newly discovered boot level vulnerabilities.

Over time, this limits the device’s protection against emerging threats and may affect scenarios that rely on Secure Boot trust, such as BitLocker hardening or third-party bootloaders. Most Windows devices will receive the updated certificates automatically, and many OEMs have provided firmware updates when needed. Keeping your device current with these updates helps ensures it can continue receiving the full set of security protections that Secure Boot is designed to provide."

You can find the updated FAQ at the source link below on Microsoft's website.

Source: Microsoft (link1, link2)

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Posted Monday 9 March 2026 at 6:15 am AEST (my time).

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Early Windows 11 versions, like the predecessor, Windows 10, allowed users to customize what controls appear in the Action Center. These quick action tiles let you toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, enable Night Light, and more. At one point, Microsoft removed the ability to add/delete tiles, turning the control center into a scrollable list of all available toggles. While you can rearrange them, it is not that difficult to find user complaints and requests to bring back the ability to edit quick actions.

Good news: Microsoft appears to be listening.

Recent Windows 11 preview builds have the ability to edit quick actions hidden inside, hinting at a possible return in future updates. This was spotted by @phantomofearth, who shared the observation on X:

In addition to that, Microsoft is adding a new submenu to the control center, splitting the energy saver button. Now, if you press the arrow button next to it, Windows 11 will show you a list of features that could help you save some battery. Those include Dark Mode toggle, Eco Brightness, Power Mode, and Screen Contrast:

In case you missed it, recent improvements to the tray area in Windows 11 include a new indicator for shared audio, which can quickly get you into the feature's menu and its new separate volume sliders for each connected device. You can learn more about that here.

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Posted Monday 9 March 2026 at 6:13 am AEST (my time).

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Over the past few years, we have highlighted several futuristic Windows concepts such as Windows 12, Windows 12.2, Windows Classic Remastered, and more. Most of these concepts have come from prolific YouTuber AR 4789, who has been sharing his creations with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Now, the concept creator come up has reimagined File Explorer if it was rebuilt for "Windows 12", and it doesn't just contain cosmetic changes.

The revamp follows Fluent Design principles, complete with rounded corners and transparency effects. You'll notice the pretty aesthetics with vibrant colors, along with "zones" for logical separation of views. It gives the overall UX a much cleaner and modern look.

In terms of new functionalities, the YouTuber has introduced a "Collectzone", which essentially allows you to drag and drop related items into a collection that gets pinned to the navigation pane on the left. It's not clear what functional benefits this offers over a traditional folder experience, but the aesthetics are certainly pretty.

Next, we have a Files Panel, which has been described as a "new way to navigate files". It's an optional UX that you'll see on the right side of the File Explorer which surfaces some of your recent and pinned content. It seems to be heavily inspired by the Start menu with its tiled interface.

After that, we have the integration of Widgets in File Explorer. But these are not just any random Widgets, they seem to be tailored to File Explorer itself. Apart from highlighting content and collections, they also contain details about storage utilization.

And as expected, we have a dark mode too, but it seems to follow a more refined color scheme rather than just being black.

The Properties UI has been modernized too, and is a lot more colorful and icon-based, rather than being walls of text.

AR 4789 has also introduced a file restoration experience, but of course, the impact on storage might not make this a feasible implementation in reality.

Meanwhile, the Gallery now has a "Filmstrip" view, which is actually a carousel that allows you to move between images. This could actually be useful.

And, of course, you simply can't have a piece of software in 2026 without AI integrated in some way. So, the concept creator has introduced AI-powered search results, which rely on the semantic meaning of your prompt rather than doing a lexical matching with file names.

There are other smaller changes in tow too, such as colored folder icons and tags. You can check them out in their full glory in the YouTube video below:

All that said, it is always important to keep in mind that concepts are one thing and reality is another. It is relatively easier to photoshop a bunch of pretty interfaces, but a lot more difficult to build an actually functional piece of software that will work seamlessly for over a billion customers without breaking compatibility and without requiring a steep learning curve. As such, it is OK to enjoy and praise these aesthetic concepts, while also being wary that they might be too radical or confusing for the masses, were they to launch in real life.

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Posted Monday 9 March 2026 at 6:12 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft and NVIDIA have together turned me into someone I no longer recognize. Months of chaotic Windows 11 patches and NVIDIA GPU driver issues have resulted in me disabling automatic updates and ignoring new patches on my gaming PC.

I know, I know; it's not exactly a controversial take. Despite some security concerns, many PC users do the same, and have done so for a very long time. Why fix something that isn't broken?

What's really getting under my skin lately is the fact that the companies that are supposed to be improving the products they sold me are consistently introducing problems that get in the way of a smooth experience.

I'm talking about two of the most valuable companies in the world: Microsoft and NVIDIA. I should be able to leave automatic updates enabled and not worry about what they're going to do to my PC.

Why has the quality of Windows and NVIDIA updates declined so rapidly?

A new This Week in Plasma update from the KDE team is here, with a huge focus on bug fixes and a couple of small UI improvements here and there.

Starting with Plasma 6.6.2, which dropped last Tuesday, the arrows in Discover's "See More" buttons are finally in the right place, pointing in the correct direction for both left-to-right and right-to-left languages.

As for the bug fixes, the team sorted out a crash in Spectacle that happened when you tried to share a rectangular screenshot using KDE. People using Plasma's remote desktop server from a Windows client should also see a number of issues resolved. And that slightly off icon for bridged Ethernet networks has been replaced with the correct icon.

Moving on to Plasma 6.6.3, the next bug fix release for Plasma 6.6, the team removed the Panel Spacer Widget from the widgets sidebar, since its only real use is on panels where a dedicated button already exists. The team also allowed some labels in the Task Manager tooltips to wrap to multiple lines instead of getting cut off. The bug fixes Plasma 6.6.3 is expected to bring include:

• Fixing a KWin crash when changing a virtual screen's resolution with kscreen-doctor.
• Resolving a Plasma crash on login that affected certain multi-monitor setups.
• Correcting an issue that prevented some monitors from automatically dimming at the right times.
• Stopping Spectacle from sometimes crashing when you quit the app.

The "You do not have permission to overwrite that scheme" message that you get when trying to save a system color scheme has been removed in Plasma 6.7. It has been replaced with "This scheme is read-only. Please save the modifications with another name" because the development team felt the former message sounded a bit "accusatory."

Here are the bug fixes Plasma 6.7 will bring:

• Fixing a Wayland protocol error that would cause Plasma to quit when certain monitors woke from sleep.
• Correcting a bug where file transfer progress notifications would claim the total file count was 0 when the actual number was extremely large.
• Stopping auto-hidden panels from unexpectedly un-hiding when the password dialog appeared with the screen dimming effect active.

For more information, check out the full This Week in Plasma blog post.

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Posted Monday 9 March 2026 at 6:05 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft releases new Windows Defender update packages very frequently to protect against various newly discovered malware. Once a while every three months or so, the company also pushes out these updates to Windows images (WIM and VHD) and ISOs, that are used to install Windows.

This update package is necessary as a Windows installation image may contain old, outdated anti-malware definitions and software binaries. Aside from better security, these updates can also provide improved performance benefits in some cases.

When a new Windows installation is set up, there may be a temporary security risk due to outdated Microsoft Defender protection in the OS installation images. This happens because the antimalware software included in these images might not be up to date. Thus Microsoft says that these updated definitions essentially help close this protection gap.

Microsoft delivered the latest security definitions for Windows images via security intelligence update version 1.445.6.0. The Defender package version is also the same. It applies to Windows 11, Windows 10 ESU, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021, Win 10 Ent LTSC 2019, Win 10 Ent LTSB 2016, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft writes: "This package updates the anti-malware client, anti-malware engine, and signature versions in the OS installation images to the following versions:

• Platform version: 4.18.26010.5
• Engine version: 1.1.26010.1
• Security intelligence version: 1.445.6.0"

From Microsoft's security bulletin, we learn that the security intelligence update version 1.445.6.0 was released early last month and adds threat detections for various malware like trojan, backdoor exploits, AutoKMS, and more.

For those wondering, the latest intelligence update is version 1.445.415.0 at the time of writing.

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Posted Sunday 8 March 2026 at 6:22 pm AEST (my time).

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