From its humble beginnings, Word has gone on to become one of the most popular office tools in the world, and pretty much everyone is familiar with it in one way or another. So, to celebrate its 40th birthday, we decided to take a look at how we got here and also share where we’re going.

The timeline with the history of Word showcases its notable milestones, such as the original release in 1983, Word 97 and 97 with AutoCorrect, Microsoft Word 2003 with its significant redesign, advanced image editing in Word 2010, better ribbon in Word 2013, and improved collaboration in Microsoft 365 alongside the long-anticipated dark mode.

Microsoft is now looking forward to what the next years will bring to its legendary word processor.

As we look to the future, we are committed to carrying the torch and building on the foundation that was put in place in 1983. Our unwavering focus is on ensuring that Word scales to support users as they complete any writing and reading tasks – anything from straightforward to complex – as efficiently as possible.

The company wants to focus on integrating Copilot into Word, improving Word for the Web, refining collaborative writing, and delivering better tools for developers to build "amazing experiences" with custom workflows.

Interestingly, the blog post also mentions the Apple Lisa and says it fundamentally re-imagined "what a personal computer could be."

By the way, we recently published a similar look-back story to commemorate 40 years of Microsoft Word, its confusing release dates, development history, and other interesting facts about your go-to text editor on Windows and other platforms.

Here to the next 40 years of Microsoft Word and Office!

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Here is the changelog:

What’s new in Build 25982

 

Copilot in Windows* in Preview

 

We are beginning to roll out Copilot in Windows in preview to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. Rolling this out in the Canary Channel to Insiders in the select global markets mentioned below will be gradual, so some Insiders will not see it immediately.

 

Copilot in Windows on Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25982.

 

As Yusuf mentioned in his blog post last month, you can use Copilot to get help with summarizing a web page, composing an email, changing your settings to dark mode, or generating an image for that unique idea in your head. Need to enable Bluetooth or connect a new pair of headphones? Copilot can help. Not sure of the best way to capture a screenshot? Ask Copilot to do it for you. Copilot in Windows can change the way you use your PC and inspire you to try new things that you may not have thought of before. It is where productivity and creativity meet.

 

To get started, look for the Copilot icon on the taskbar or simply press WIN + C to launch Copilot in Windows using the same Microsoft account (MSA) or Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) account that you use to sign in on Windows.

 

Just click the “…” icon at the top right of the side bar in Windows Copilot to submit feedback on any issues you run into.

 

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders in the Canary Channel just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

 

Availability*: Copilot in Windows in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

 

SMB client encryption

 

Starting with this build (Build 25982), SMB now supports requiring encryption of all outbound SMB client connections. With this new option, administrators can mandate that all destination servers use SMB 3 and encryption, and if missing those capabilities, the client won’t connect. This enforces the highest level of network security as well as bringing management parity to SMB signing, which allows both client and server requirements.

 

For more information on configuring this SMB client encryption, review https://aka.ms/SmbClientEncrypt. For more information on SMB encryption, review https://aka.ms/SmbEncrypt.

 

Changes and Improvements

 

[Networking]

 

• Discovery of Network-designated Resolvers (DNR) is an upcoming internet standard to discover encrypted DNS servers. Until today, Windows Insiders users had to find out the IP address of their desired encrypted DNS server and manually enter it to configure client-side encrypted DNS on their machine. DNR will enable Windows Insider users to use encrypted DNS protocols like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT) on the client-side without requiring manual configuration. Client-side support for DNR is now available in Windows Insiders Insider Preview Build 25982 and higher. For more information, read this blog post.

 

[Dev Drive]

 

• ReFS filesystem Block Cloning Support is now available in the Windows copy engine. ReFS already supports Block Cloning, so this feature adds native support to copy actions and APIs on Windows. This feature improves the performance of ReFS volumes including Dev Drive volumes for build scenarios or any other copy intensive scenarios, the larger the files being copied the larger the savings.

 

[Remote Desktop]

 

• We’ve updated Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe) to now support zoom options of 350, 400, 450, and 500%.

 

[Settings]

 

• If you’re in light mode, the show accent colour on Start and taskbar toggle is greyed out by design and we now show an information bullet that makes it more clear the setting is only available in Windows dark mode.

 

Fixes for known issues

 

• Fixed an issue causing voice access to crash for Insiders in the Canary Channel when dictating text.
• Fixed a few issues which could lead to hangs when launching File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue causing the print queue to be inaccessible and show an error if you tried to open it.

 

Known issues

 

Some popular games may not work correctly on the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on these builds.

You can check out the full blog post here.

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(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

• Well-respected software engineer David Cutler discussed Windows Longhorn and its development in a 9-minute-long video interview.
• He explains that a buggy codebase impacted the operating system's development, with the "worst code he has ever seen" causing severe bugs.
• Cutler started working on a new 64-bit system after AMD reached out with claims that it is less intrusive and can run 32-bit applications at speed on the 64-bit machine.

In a 9-minute-long YouTube interview, David Cutler, a well-respected software engineer responsible for spearheading the development of Microsoft Windows NT and beyond, got together with David William (better known as Dave's Garage across social media) and took a trip down memory lane talking all things Windows Longhorn and "the worst code" he's seen to date. 

What is Windows Longhorn?

You might remember the archaic Windows operating system dubbed Windows Longhorn if you're a long-time Microsoft follower. It was a codename used for its operating system under development between 2003 and 2005, set to be Windows XP's successor with Aero effects.

Initially, Microsoft envisioned it as a minor release, but it superseded the company's expectations in scope. Consequently, this influenced Microsoft's decision to ship it as the next major release of Windows in the form of Windows Vista. 

What happened to Windows Longhorn?

Windows Longhorn's glory days were albeit short-lived. But to understand this, we'll have to look at the moments leading up to its development through Davis Cutler's point of view. 

The interview starts in high gear with Dave's Garage referring to Windows Longhorn as "Windows Vista's precursor." Cutler quickly responded, "There's a big story behind that." He explains that the development team had just concluded Windows 2000, ugly aesthetics and all, highlighting that its workstation and server were based on the same codebase.

Shortly after, the development team was getting ready to make plans for developing the next operating system. Chris Jones was responsible for developing its workstation while the Dave Thompson Group was on the server side. At the time, the team disclosed that getting the servers for the next operating system up and running would take up to three years. Something unacceptable to Chris, who countered the offer, citing that he could achieve the same in one and a half years. According to Cutler, Chris indicated that "consumers don't expect the quality that server people do."

This caused the development team to split the codebase into two, with one team working on the servers while the other worked on the consumer vision. Cutler admits that the consumer branch ran into some hurdles along the way, citing that it could barely run. While the server branch had already made significant headway in development, fixing some security bugs. 

Windows XP's launch

(Image credit: Microsoft)

While there were some software development issues, Windows XP was finally shipped to consumers, and in Cutler's words, "it was widely successful, but buggy." The biggest issue affecting the OS was mainly centered around security.

He further disclosed that the development team used Windows XP's codebase for Windows Longhorn, which shipped as Windows Vista.

The rise of the 64-bit codebase

Cutler recounted when AMD reached out to him with a potential idea on 64-bit extensions, claiming that it's "less intrusive" and can run 32-bit applications at speed on the 64-bit machine.

He then moved to embrace this project, which ultimately led him to use the server codebase to produce a 64-bit workstation alongside a 64-bit server. Later on, he was able to get the system running, which was complimented with a simulator (Sim Now) that allowed the development team to simulate the setup, which took 24 hours.

AMD shipped a system to Cutler's team with a CD, which, when plugged into the 64-bit workstation for the first time ever, ran smoothly without any interruptions or bugs. 

At this point, the team uncovered the new system's reliability, which prompted them to try and convince Microsoft.com to transition to the 64-bit server. The website only took a week to make the full transition, owing to previous frustrations while using the 32-bit server, which was rife with memory leaks and bugs. 

Later, the development team switched to the 64-bit codebase, as all their efforts to make headway in the operating system's development had proven futile. However, progress on this project halted as Windows XP's security had gone from bad to worse. Cutler states that his team alone fixed over 5,000 bugs while turning over some of the system's code. 

While trying to make the most out of a bad situation, Cutler found what he terms "the worst code he has ever seen," some IME code developed in Japan. He states that the code had no regard for bugs and that it got to a point where they couldn't fix some of the overflow plugs. However, Microsoft shipped a new update for Windows XP, coming in at around 250MB once it switched to the 64-bit codebase to address the bugs.

Check out the full interview and cast your mind back to the days of Windows XP. Do you remember hearing about Longhorn? Let us know in the comments!

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The beta update available on the Microsoft Store brings a new option to initiate conversations with unsaved phone numbers. As per WABetaInfo, you can go to the "New Chat" screen in the WhatsApp Windows beta app where you'll find an option called "Phone Number."

Here, you can enter the desired number with the help of an on-screen numpad. You can also type the number in the search bar on the New Chat screen to find a phone number which is similar to how it works on Android and iOS devices.

The feature is currently available to a limited number of testers running the latest beta update and it will be available to more testers in the coming future. It was introduced earlier this year on mobile devices and allows users to quickly initiate conversations with people they don't know so well.

The feature can be used in situations, for instance, when you need to have a quick chat with a delivery person. Before that, WhatsApp allowed users to text unknown phone numbers by creating "wa.me" URLs using their web browsers.

In recent news, it was reported that WhatsApp is testing a revamped user interface and a new reply bar for images and videos on Android devices. The instant messaging app also introduced view-once voice messages to testers on Android and iOS.

For those running the stable version of the app, WhatsApp rolled out the ability to use multiple accounts on one device, HD photo sharing, HD video sharing, etc. It also added some advanced search filters to the Channels feature which is now available globally.

Source: WABetaInfo

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Many of us get an invite on our calendar that we have to decline for a variety of reasons. However, it's possible that before the event happens, we may get an opportunity to attend, or we simply want to reminded of the event even if we cannot attend. If you use Microsoft's Outlook calendar, that declined event currently no longer shows up.

However, today Microsoft announced a new update coming to Outlook calendar users that will allow a declined event to remind in the virtual Outlook calendar.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated:

In Settings, once you turn on the feature, declined events will no longer disappear but remain on your calendar so you can easily recollect related info or docs, find associated chats, or even take actions like updating your previous response (RSVP) and forwarding it to someone else; all while keeping your agenda free at that time slot.

Once the Outlook update is released, users can go to Settings > Calendar > Events and invitations > Save declined events, and finally check the Show declined events in your calendar... option on. After that, any declined calendar events or meeting invitations will continue to show up on your Outlook calendar. This feature will also be visible in the classic Outlook for Windows app, along with Microsoft Teams, and third-party apps.

Microsoft says this new feature will begin to roll out sometime in the second half of November for Outlook users. Calendar events that are sent via the new Outlook for Windows app, along with Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Android, Outlook for iOS, and Microsoft Teams will be preserved if the user declines.

The only exception will be if a calendar invite is sent from the classic Outlook for Windows. If a user declines from that app, it will not be preserved in the calendar.

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Here is the changelog. You can check out the full blog post here:

What’s new?

 

Revamped Skype Call Screen for Mobile

 

We're super excited to bring our Skype mobile users a sleek, newly designed Call Screen. Experience seamless functionality that's not just on par with the desktop version, but an absolute joy to use on the go!

 

• Refined Layout & Controls: With an updated flex layout, the call controls have been revamped and reorganized in the footer, mirroring the sophistication of our new design.
• Intuitive Focus Mode: Just a tap on the call screen toggles between full-screen mode and call controls view. Your focus, your choice!
• Light/Dark Theme Consistency: Whether you're a fan of the light mode or in love with the dark, we've fixed theme inconsistencies to deliver a visually pleasing experience no matter your preference.
• Under-the-Hood Overhaul: We didn't just stop at what you can see. Our engineers performed a significant code cleanup, transforming a "spaghetti" mess into a streamlined, high-performance script that enhances call quality and reduces technical difficulties.
• Simplified Access to Features: Switching between cameras or viewing modes is now a breeze with the '...' call control menu. All while maintaining the clean look of your call screen.
• Dive into a more sophisticated call interface that combines beauty and functionality, all in the palm of your hand.

 

New Camera Experience in Skype!

 

We're bringing you a cooler, sleeker camera experience in our latest update on Android. We've revamped our camera feature for a smoother, crash-free experience to enable flawless photos with just a click!

 

• Snap, Tweak, Send: Camera layout and media flows have been revamped for faster snapping, editing, and sharing.
• Up Your Selfie Game: Refresh your profile pic and other pictures directly in the app with cool new filters and edits!
• QR Code Magic: Joining chats or logging in? Just scan a QR code, and you're in.
• Let's capture and share those memorable moments together! 📸

 

Introducing Bing in Your Skype 1:1 Chats!

 

We're thrilled to introduce Bing into your Skype 1:1 conversations, bringing a sprinkle of AI-powered enchantment and clever quips right into your chat window, on all platforms.

 

• Bing Joins the Chat: No more talking to yourself! @Bing is now your go-to chat pal, ready to engage with smart suggestions, fun facts, and witty interjections. Your 1:1 chats will never be the same again!
• AI-Powered Interaction: From quick trivia to insightful suggestions, Bing harnesses the power of AI to add a spark to your conversations. Whether you're discussing dinner plans or the mysteries of the universe, Bing's here to contribute!
• Freedom of Choice: Feeling crowded? No worries! Bing respects your space. You have the power to keep the chat going or ghost Bing at any point - no hard feelings. Your chat, your rules.
• Spice Up Your Chats: With Bing's arrival, expect your conversations to get a whole lot more interesting. Get ready for unexpected tidbits, laughter, and a richer, more interactive chat experience.
• Say goodbye to predictable chats and hello to dynamic discussions! Bing's in town.

 

Stability improvements & Bug fixes:

 

• No more endless waiting — Skype now loads past the splash screen on Android
• Say goodbye to crashes when switching apps during a call on iOS

If you use Skype and do not mind trying early updates before the public rollout, head to the official Skype Insider website to enroll in the program. Skype previews are available on Windows 10 and 11, macOS, Linux, and Android.

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As such, it is a big update that introduces new features and improvements. New and existing users of Sumatra may download the new release from the official website. It is available as an installer and portable version. New is support for ARM 64-bit builds, which users may now also download from the project website.

Existing users may also select Menu > Help > Check for updates to run a check for updates from within the client.

Sumatra PDF Reader 3.5

One of the new features of Sumatra 3.5 is support for a dark mode interface. There are actually two dark mode options, called dark and darker, which you may enable under Menu > Settings > Theme. A tap on the key i on the keyboard inverts the colours to match the background and text colour of the rendered PDF document.

The developer notes that it does not work well for images. Pure text PDFs on the other hand benefit from this, as the background and font colours are manipulated to improve the reading experience.

The official changelog lists several other improvements in the new PDF reader version. Notable  is support for Adobe Reader's syntax for opening files, image orientation support using EXIF metadata in JPEG and PNG images, and support for opening .AVIF images. The latter works individually but also for embedded images in CNZ or CBR files.

PDF documents may now be dragged to a location outside of the original Sumatra instance to create a new window and tabs support context menus now. There is also a new handy mouse shortcut to exist full screen and presentation modes. All that it takes is to double-click the left mouse button to do so.

Annotations have three new display options in the settings, which are still mostly handled via a plain text file.

Closing Words

Sumatra PDF Reader is a fast and easy to use PDF Reader. The release 3.5 has not changed the fact, which all users will welcome. Support for dark mode is the main new feature, with ARM 64-bit support the second in this release.

Sumatra is an ideal application for reading PDF documents in a save environment.

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Or, as Spotify put it, the quarter marked a “return to profitability.” Which is an interesting way to describe a net loss. But in looking over Spotify’s numbers and statements, I can see that this claim is based on €32 million in operating income in the quarter. Operating income is defined as net income minus non-operating expenses, such as interest and taxes. Apparently either can be defined as a “profit’ if the number is positive, but I’ve never seen a company use that number for this purpose.

“The business delivered strong results in Q3 as all of our key indicators exceeded guidance and we returned to profitability,” Spotify’s announcement reads. “Monthly Active Users were up 26% to 574 million and 2 million ahead of guidance. This represents our second largest Q3 net addition performance in history.”

The service now boasts 226 million paid subscribers, up 16 percent year-over-year (YOY), and 361 million ad-supported monthly active users (MAUs), up 32 percent, which explains that 574 million MAU figure. So about 39 percent of Spotify customers are paying subscribers.

As is always the case, those paying subscribers delivered far more revenue than the freeloaders: €2.9 billion of Spotify’s €3.4 billion in revenues came from paying subscribers in the quarter. Ad-supported MAUs delivered just €447 million in revenues. Premium and ad-supported revenues were up 10 and 16 percent, respectively, in the quarter.

It’s unclear if Spotify’s expansion into other audio services like podcasts and audiobooks has paid off or ever will. But the firm’s adjusted strategy now involves becoming the “world’s number one audio network,” and it revealed earlier this month that Spotify Premium, its paid subscription offering, would include instant access to 15 hours of audiobook streaming each month from a library of over 150,000 titles.

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Core new features of Firefox 119 include Encrypted Client Hello support for all users, extensions imports from Chrome, improved tracking protection and new PDF editing capabilities.

All developer versions of Firefox are updated around the same time. This means that Firefox Beta and Dev move to version 120 and Firefox Nightly to version 121.

Executive Summary

• Encrypted Client Hello is now supported.
• Mozilla patched security issues in Firefox 119.
• Firefox 119 includes privacy improvements.

Firefox 119.0 download and update

Firefox 119's and Firefox 115.4 ESR release date is October 24, 2023. Depending on when you read this, it may not be released yet.

Later today, the new Firefox releases will become available via the automatic updating functionality of the browser. Downloads are also offered on Mozilla's official website then.

To display the current version, select Menu > Help > About Firefox. Doing so displays the installed version and runs a check for updates.

Here are the official download locations:

• Firefox Stable download
• Firefox Beta download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download
• Firefox for Android on Google Play

Firefox 119.0

Encrypted Client Hello Support

Firefox 119 supports Encrypted Client Hello officially now. You can check out the full article on the introduction.

Encrypted Client Hello improves the privacy of connections by encrypting information about the domain name during connection attempts. Previously, anyone listening in on network traffic, including ISPs, could monitor the information.

Some ISPs sell information about user activity on the Internet, others may use DNS-based blocking to prevent access to certain sites. With Encrypted Client Hello, DNS-based blocking is no longer effective.

Note that servers need to support this well to work.

Privacy Improvements

Mozilla implemented several privacy enhancements in Firefox 119. The two core additions are the partitioning of Blob URLs and limited visibility of fonts that websites have access to.

The first mitigates a potential tracking vector that third-parties may utilize for tracking purposes. This was the only state partitioning test at Privacy Tests that Firefox failed at.

The limitation of fonts improves Firefox's defenses against font fingerprinting by restricting sites to system fonts and language pack fonts.

Firefox View displays more content

A click on the Firefox View icon in the leftmost section of the tab bar displays the interface.

Firefox users see all content there now from all open browser windows. Synced tabs will also show up and the browsing history can now be sorted by date or site.

Other changes and fixes

• Storage Access API updated "to improve security while mitigating website breakages".
• Firefox's PDF Viewer is getting options to add images and alt text. This is rolling out gradually to the entire population.
• Firefox may now import some extensions from Google Chrome when migrating data.
• Recently closed tabs persist between sessions, if automatic session restore is not enabled.
• Media sniffing is no longer applied to files served as type application/octet-stream.
• Windows users may notice that the mouse pointer is no longer displayed. This happens if a specific mouse properties setting (Hide pointer while typing) is enabled on the system.
• Firefox is now available in Santali.
• Mozilla fixed a scroll position jumping issue on Facebook.

Developer changes

• The <input> element no longer supports the non-standard mozactionhint attribute.
• The attr() CSS function fallback value is now supported.
• The Object.groupBy() and Map.groupBy() static methods are now supported.
• The SVG attributes that accept a <length> value now support level 3 length CSS data types for all SVG elements.
• The credentialless directive of the Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy HTTP response header is now supported on desktop platforms.
• The Credential Properties Extension (credProps) of the Web Authentication API is supported.
• The getAuthenticatorData(), getPublicKeyAlgorithm(), and getPublicKey() methods of the AuthenticatorAttestationResponse interface are now supported.

Enterprise changes

Security updates / fixes

Not yet released.

Outlook

Firefox 120 and Firefox ESR 115.5 will be released on  November 21, 2023.

Firefox extension reviews and news

• Firefox Beta for Android lifts restrictions for Extensions

Recent Firefox news and tips

• Firefox will soon tell you if product reviews are reliable
• Firefox is getting a button to Reset Private Browsing Sessions

Additional information / resources

• Firefox 119 release notes
• Firefox 119 for Developers
• Firefox 119 for Enterprise
• Firefox Security Advisories
• Firefox Release Schedule

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The October updates have been either mildly annoying or downright hostile.

Stop the presses: I’m urging caution by lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 3.

A big reason for this is that many folks are experiencing multiple reboots after patches are applied. We normally expect one reboot — one reboot only — when we patch. In theory, all updates should download the parts they need, install the updates, and then reboot. Only when all are installed and the system is ready should it reboot.

But not this month. Some of us received three updates, each of which triggered a reboot.

Business patchers saw some updates triggering an issue where Hyper-V client servers would fail to start after the installation of updates. The issue appears to be related to Veeam Backup & Replication software, which uses Hyper-V’s Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) and results in virtual machines’ failure to start. You then must decide whether to uninstall the update or rename or delete MRT/RCT files.

If you had a Windows 10 machine and removed the desktop search box (or made it smaller), the October updates arbitrarily reset your change and turned on a notification about it.

Most of the issues I’m tracking are (thankfully) in the business patching space, not the consumer space. So if you are a patcher in a home or standalone setting, I recommend that you install updates. Just be careful.

I do want to stress that you must have backed up your system, just in case. As with anything, having a backup ensures that you can recover from ransomware, a failed hard drive, or even a misbehaving update.

Microsoft acknowledged that some machines might fail to install KB5031356, the October Windows 10 update. Microsoft fixed the issue with a known-issue rollback but didn’t explain why some machines were hitting error 8007000D (ERROR_INVALID_DATA). Normally, that means some sort of problem with the update package.

KB5001716 reminds you that your machineneeds updates. Given that I recommend that you stay updated, I don’t see a need for this update. If you have already installed the update, leave it installed — I don’t see it triggering abnormal behavior.

Business patchers this month have to tiptoe a bit more carefully. In addition to the possible failure of Hyper-V clients to boot after installing updates, we have several other business-only patching issues.

VMware ESXi servers with the latest updates are seeing blue screens of death after the October updates. The trigger appears to be Windows Server 2022 with VBS enabled on AMD servers which breaks after installation of KB5031364.

If you use Veeam software, be aware there is an interaction between services with Veeam and the October server updates for 2019 and 2022. You will need to either not patch your Hyper-V hosts until this is rectified, or review this guidance. The fix is to delete the .mrt and .rct files in same directory as the VHDs.

Next, if you still run WSUS on your servers, note that it may not offer up May updates on Windows 11 22H2 machines. So you may have to change the group policy on the Windows 11 22H2 machines to a new group policy in order to get it to point to WSUS. Note that this may impact config manager as well.

Windows 11 machines with BitLocker may receive an error in Microsoft Intune after patches are installed, as noted by Microsoft. You can mitigate this issue by setting either  the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or the “Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives” policy to Not configured.

If you’ve been installing updates since July on certain HP computers and have been able to boot each month,review this month HP’s list of impacted models. Without a needed BIOS update, you may brick the computers and need a replacement system board. Follow these steps to prevent any issues.

If you’ve ever purchased a phone or a tablet and then had to wait to get it fully up to date, you may be in luck in the future. Apple appears to be testing a pad device that can turn on an iPhone or iPad and update it to the latest software. As noted in this Bloomberg post:

The company has developed a proprietary pad-like device that the store can place boxes of iPhones on top of. That system can then wirelessly turn on the iPhone, update its software and then power it back down — all without the phone’s packaging ever being opened. The company aims to begin rolling this out to its stores before the end of the year.

My hope is that this tool will be developed in such a way that it cannot be hijacked by attackers and used to inject something malicious, whereupon the device is sold to an unwitting consumer. But it sounds good — it could save the Apple Store from selling devices that must be patched out of the box, individually, and perhaps by the consumer. It would mean delivering fully patched devices every time.

Of course, time will tell.

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Here is the changelog;

GAMING HIGHLIGHTS:

 

Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc A-series Graphics for:

 

• Alan Wake 2
• Cities: Skylines 2
• WRC
• Ghostrunner 2 - For the best gaming experience, it is recommended to launch the game using DirectX 12 option.

 

Game performance improvements versus Intel 31.0.101.4887 software driver for

 

Alan Wake 2 (DX12)

 

• Up to 20% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings
• Up to 22% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Medium settings

 

Cities: Skylines 2 (DX11)

 

• Up to 34% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings
• Up to 26% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Medium settings

 

KNOWN ISSUES:

 

Intel Arc Graphics Products

 

• Ghostrunner 2 (DX11) may experience sporadic application crash during gameplay.
• Total War: PHARAOH (DX11) may exhibit corruption after changing resolution in game on certain displays.
• Starfield (DX12) may exhibit corruption when using Dynamic Resolution Scaling. A workaround is to change the Render Resolution Scale slider value.
• Halo Infinite (DX12) campaign may experience an application crash on some system configurations.
• Dead by Daylight (DX11) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement.

 

Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics Products:

 

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

 

INTEL ARC CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES:

 

• Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files.
• The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP* when using an HDMI* display connection.
• May observe “stream has already ended” pop-up after the power events with Capture/Highlights/Broadcast toggle on.
• Arc Control may not retain overall application settings in Overlay mode after system reboot. A workaround is to use Desktop mode of Arc Control.

 

Intel Arc Control Performance Tuning (BETA):

 

• Intel Arc Control Performance Tuning is currently in Beta. As such, performance and features may behave unexpectedly. Intel will continue to refine the Performance Tuning software in future releases.

You can download the beta drivers here and read the full release notes here in PDF format.

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While many thought, including Neowin, that the September 26 feature update was 23H2, the reason being the tech giant had earlier disclosed a Q4 release time frame for the update, Microsoft clarified later that it had been planned for a different date (also in the same quarter). However, Microsoft did roll out a bunch of 23H2 features early with the Moment 4 update (We had an in-depth look at all such features back in early September).

Following that, the company announced the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) certification for Windows 11 version 23H2 to ensure system compatibility. Microsoft has also announced upgraded Microsoft 365 testing for Windows 11 23H2.

Now that most of the groundwork has been laid out, Microsoft is seemingly quite ready to release the feature update. ISO download links for Windows 11 23H2 and Windows 11 23H2 Home China editions have been spotted on the TechBench dump website (via Deskmodder).

While one can not download the update yet since the links aren't live, their presence confirms the general availability (GA) rollout of the 23H2 feature update for Windows 11 is quite close. In the case of Windows 11 22H2 and Windows 10 22H2, the links were also added just a few days ahead and a couple of weeks before their releases respectively.

One thing many Windows enthusiasts and fans hope for is a faster, snappier File Explorer experience and Microsoft looks to be making active efforts towards just that. The latest Dev build too has received additional File Explorer performance improvements.

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Last weekend, we noticed that an attempt to download Google Chrome using Microsoft Edge results in the latter opening its sidebar with a poll, asking you to explain to Microsoft how you could dare try downloading Google Chrome. Of course, the exact wording is more tame, but you get the idea.

Now, besides dismissing several banners and a full-size ad injected on the Chrome website, Edge wants you to answer a questionnaire with the following options:

We love having you!

 

Can you please take a minute to tell us why you are trying another browser?

 

• I can't search Google easily
• I can't access my Google documents
• I don't have my favorites or passwords here
• Too many ads and pop-ups
• I don't like the news feed
• It's too slow
• My websites don't work on Microsoft Edge
• My reason is not listed

It is interesting to see Microsoft listing some of the most popular complaints, such as the news feed full of yellow press and often harmful or fake stories and "too many ads and pop-ups." You can turn off the news feed and forget about its existence, but pop-up banners will test your patience to the limit. Try the Dall-E image generator, try another new tab page layout, try Bing Chat instead of Bard, download Edge on mobile, enable shopping experiences, share your browsing data with us to improve your experience, do not download Chrome, enable Microsoft rewards, switch to Bing, and so many more.

The new feedback request seems the least offensive among other questionable practices Microsoft uses to make you stay with Edge. Besides, it seems the company is testing the poll, so not everyone can see it when downloading Chrome. If only Microsoft could admit that some people just want to use Chrome.

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This article is not about the tech aspects of Windows 7. Rather, this is about the huge marketing and promotion campaign that Microsoft held for the public release of the OS. The biggest launch event was in New York City on October 22. Steve Ballmer, then the CEO of Microsoft, was the host and he revealed that a total of 15 million people had tried out the beta versions of the OS (a precursor to the Windows Insider Program).

Ballmer revealed that 91 percent of the people who tested the Release Candidate version of Windows 7 would recommend it to friends.

In the UK, Amazon tried to compare the pre-orders of Windows 7 to the release of the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series that launched a few years earlier. In our story, we wrote:

Managing director of Amazon, Brian McBride said, "The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone's expectations, storming ahead of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time at Amazon.co.uk, and demand is still going strong." McBride added, "Over the past three months, only Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol has sold more copies than Windows 7, which is an incredible achievement for a software product."

In the Netherlands, we wrote about another odd Windows 7 promotion. Microsoft gave away 777 copies of the OS to residents of the town of Zevenhuizen, which translates to "Seven Houses".

Microsoft selected a number of people to host Windows 7 parties, and even shipped them "party packs" that included a copy of the OS, along with puzzles, posters, playing cards, napkins, and tote bags. Microsoft France opened up a pop up cafe in Paris to promote the OS as well.

Over in Japan, Burger King teamed up with Microsoft to launch a "Windows 7 Whopper" with seven burger patties that would be sold for only a few days. You can actually watch someone try to eat this truly monster hamburger, if you can stomach it.

Speaking of Japan, Linux creator Linus Torvalds was in the country when Windows 7 launched. He went into a Windows 7 promotion location and took a picture of himself giving a very sarcastic thumbs up for the OS.

One promotion for the OS that ended up not happening as planned was a team up with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the TV show Family Guy, among other things. The plan was fo Fox to air "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" on November 8.

As we reported at the time on October 14, 2009:

The show will feature no commercial ad time, no network promotions and no commercial breaks -- and instead will feature unique humor with original animation, live-action performances of "Family Guy's" most memorable musical numbers, comedy sketches and surprise celebrity guests. It's expected the sketches will focus on simplifying your PC and how easy and fast Windows 7 is to use.

However, on October 26, Microsoft did a 180 and pulled its sponsorship for the show. A Microsoft spokesperson stated at the time that after it reviewed an early version of the show "it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." The special did air as planned with trailers for the films Sherlock Holmes and Ninja Assassin.

Windows 7 ended up being a big success for Microsoft, and when Windows 8 launched with its poor response, many people decided not to upgrade. Microsoft eventually ended its official support for the OS in January 2020, over 10 years after in launched. However, the company still updates part of the OS. Just a few weeks ago, it updated Microsoft Edge for Windows 7 to fix some security issues.

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Although Windows 11 has many different editions, there are only two main flavors, including "Windows 11 Pro" and "Windows 11 Home," and the decision of which one to use comes down to the available features each edition offers and pricing. 

Usually, the "Home" edition is designed for consumers, while the "Pro" edition includes additional features aimed towards professionals and businesses. The correct edition for you depends on your individual needs and requirements. If you're a home user primarily interested in using the device for personal tasks, such as browsing the web, checking emails, and playing games, the "Home" edition is likely sufficient.

On the other hand, if you have to connect the computer to a business network, work remotely, or need extra security and virtualization features, then "Pro" is the edition you need.

In this guide, I'll dive into the main differences between the main editions of Windows 11.

Breaking down the differences between Windows 11 Home and Pro

To understand the differences between the editions of the operating system, we have to look at the pricing, features, and the different support they offer. 

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro pricing 

Although most users typically acquire a new license for Windows 11 at no extra cost when purchasing a new computer, if you plan to install the operating system on a device that never had a version of Windows 10 or 11, you may need to buy a new copy. 

Windows 11 Home retail price usually costs $139.99, while the Windows 11 Pro costs $199.99. If you already have a device with the "Home" edition, it's possible to upgrade to "Pro" for an extra $99.99. 

You can purchase this product through the Microsoft Store or other online retailers, such as Best Buy, Amazon, and many others. 

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro features comparisons 

Regardless of the edition, the operating system comes packed with many features, but the table below rounds up the most significant features that will make you decide the edition to choose. 

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro hardware support

Regarding hardware support, both editions of the operating system come with support for most components. However, the "Pro" edition can support many more processing cores, memory, and server-grade hardware. 

For example, Windows 11 Home supports up to 128GB of RAM, while the "Pro" edition supports up to 2TB of RAM. Also, while the "Pro" edition of Windows 11 supports up to 128 processing cores and up to two processors, the "Home" edition only supports one processor of up to 64 cores.

Although the hardware support is noticeable, the support available on Windows 11 Home is more than enough, even for the most demanding applications that a professional "usually" requires.

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro gaming

When it comes to gaming, either edition will do the job since both offer the latest technologies to play games with the latest version of DirectX and support for 4K gaming.

If you plan to build a computer exclusively for gaming, Windows 11 Home should be enough, and you can invest the extra money in a more powerful graphics card. 

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro virtualization

One advantage of Windows 11 Pro is Hyper-V, the hypervisor from Microsoft that allows you to set up virtual machines to run Windows 11 alongside other versions of the operating system and even Linux distributions. 

(Image credit: Future)

As part of the virtualization stack, the operating system also comes with Windows Sandbox, a feature that creates temporary lightweight virtualization of Windows that allows you to test applications and browse unknown websites without putting your computer at risk. Once you're done using Sandbox, you can close it, and the instance gets deleted.

In the case of Windows 11 Home, you don't get Hyper-V or Windows Sandbox, but this edition includes some virtualization features, including the Windows Subsystem for Linux. 

However, if you choose the "Home" edition and need to work with a virtual machine, you can install third-party apps like VirtualBox from Oracle that allow you to bring virtualization to the devices to run Windows 11 Home alongside other operating systems, including Linux.

Finally, on Windows 11 Pro, you also have access to Microsoft Defender Application Guard, which is another virtualization feature similar to Windows Sandbox. However, in this case, the feature virtualized an instance of Microsoft Edge to browse untrusted websites. (You can also consider this another security feature.)

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro remote desktop

Although on Windows 11 Pro and Home, you have access to the Remote Desktop app to connect to other devices remotely, only the "Pro" edition includes the features to enable the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to allow other devices to connect remotely. 

If you must access the computer remotely through the local network or over the internet, perhaps Windows 11 Pro is the version for you. 

I said "perhaps" because there are third-party solutions that can enable you to remote into a device, such as Google's Chrome Remote Desktop. 

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro security 

When it comes to security, both editions of Windows 11 come with the latest security innovations from Microsoft. 

(Image credit: Future)

For example, "Pro" and "Home" include Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Firewall to protect your devices and data against malware and malicious individuals. Also, Windows Hello is part of both editions to add biometric authentication to the operating system using facial recognition, fingerprint, or PIN.

Windows 11 Pro also comes with BitLocker, which is the technology that Microsoft uses for full device encryption to protect your files from unauthorized access. BitLocker not only allows you to encrypt any system drive, but you can also encrypt external storage.

Windows 11 Home doesn't include BitLocker, but it comes with "Device Encryption," which is basically a limited version of BitLocker that allows you to encrypt the entire system, but you don't have the same management tools as when using BitLocker. 

It's important to note that these are some of the security features, as connecting the device to a business network unlocks many additional security features when leveraging other services, such as Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro business features

Another big difference between both editions of the operating system is that Windows 11 Pro comes with different features specifically designed for a business network.

For example, Windows 11 Pro comes with the components to connect a computer to the organization's network through Active Directory or Azure ID. 

Also, the "Pro" edition includes access to Windows Update for Business, Kiosk mode setup, mobile device management, Dynamic Provisioning, Assigned Access, Microsoft Store for Business, Enterprise State Roaming with Azure, Windows Autopilot, and more.

One of the biggest differences between the two main editions is that Windows 11 Pro comes with the Group Policy Editor, allowing more granular operating system configuration. For example, through the Group Policy Editor, network administrators can manage different policies to enable, configure, or disable various features that otherwise wouldn't be possible through the Settings app.

If you must connect the device to a business network, Windows 11 Pro is the edition that will make more sense.

Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 

Microsoft also offers an additional edition of Windows 11 Pro known as "Workstations," which includes everything from the two editions, plus some extra features for people who have to work with the operating system on even more capable hardware. 

For example, Windows 11 Pro for Workstations can support up to 6TB of memory and up to four processors. As for more specific features, this edition supports SMB Direct for faster file sharing, persistent memory technology, and the Resilient File System (ReFS). However, the latest version of the operating system brings ReFS in the form of virtualization storage to Windows 11 Pro and Home.

Windows 11 Home vs. Pro conclusion 

The bottom line is that you don't need the "Pro" edition because it's more expensive and includes all the features since you may not use most of the advanced functionalities.

As I previously mentioned, if you're a home user using a computer for personal tasks, such as browsing the web, checking emails, and playing games, the "Home" edition should be enough.

If you have to connect the device to a business network, you will benefit from the Remote Desktop Protocol, or you need access to the additional features, then the "Pro" edition is for you.

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Tom's Hardware has found that the default software-based BitLocker encryption (XTS-AES 128, where XTX stands for XEX Tweakable Block Cipher with Ciphertext Stealing and AES is Advanced Encryption Standard), which is enabled by default on pre-built PCs like laptops and notebooks, among others is hitting the performance of SSDs pretty hard. The outlet notes that the impact can be as bad as up to 45%. This report comes hot on the heels of another one where we saw that Linux (Ubuntu) has continued to grow its lead over Windows 11 and in some cases, it is more than twice as fast.

Tom's Hardware says:

We reached out to several OEMs, and Dell, HP, and Lenovo told us they ship systems with Windows 11 Pro with software-based encryption unless a user orders an SSD that has hardware-based encryption available. It's not clear if they always enable hardware encryption on every SSD that supports the feature, but if you don't pay extra for such a drive, you'll likely end up with reduced storage performance. We haven't received a response from several other OEMs yet, but we suspect most have similar policies in place.

To test the performance hit, one of the fastest PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSDs in the form of the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB was used. The least impact was seen in the sequential peak speed tests. In a DiskBench 50GB file copy test, the drive with software encryption had a 13% performance loss since unlike the hardware-accelerated Opal solution, the software one uses the CPU to do the encryption.

The performance hit is far worse on random reads and writes though especially in the Queue Depth 1 (QD1) tests. In the 4KB QD1 random read test, there is a 21% slowdown in the IOPS (input/output operations per second). The impact is even greater in the case of random writes as the 990 Pro sees a 46% hit compared to hardware encryption and a 43% hit compared to no encryption:

When the QD is changed to 256, the impact is different as hardware and software both see big slowdowns in performance when talking about writes:

The 4TB 990 Pro tested here comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 DRAM cache as well and despite that, the slowdown in randoms is very prominent. You can find the full test results at the source link below.

If you have an OEM pre-built system that came pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro, chances are it has software BitLocker enabled. You can check that by running an elevated command prompt (CMD as an admin) and entering the command: "manage-bde.exe -status".

When you do so, the Protection status will be displayed as "Protection On" and in the case of software encryption, the encryption method is set to "XTS-AES 128". A device with BitLocker disabled will display "Protection Off" and the Encryption method will be "None".

Another way to do so is to launch the Disk Management console and check to see if the drives show "BitLocker Encrypted" in brackets.

Source and images: Tom's Hardware

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In 2020, scientists decided just to rework the alphanumeric symbols they used to represent genes rather than try to deal with an Excel feature that was interpreting their names as dates and (un)helpfully reformatting them automatically. Yesterday, a member of the Excel team posted that the company is rolling out an update on Windows and macOS to fix that.

 

Excel’s automatic conversions are intended to make it easier and faster to input certain types of commonly entered data — numbers and dates, for instance. But for scientists using quick shorthand to make things legible, it could ruin published, peer-reviewed data, as a 2016 study found.

 

Microsoft detailed the update in a blog post this week, adding a checkbox labeled “Convert continuous letters and numbers to a date.” You can probably guess what that toggles. The update builds on the Automatic Data Conversions settings the company added last year, which included the option for Excel to warn you when it’s about to get extra helpful and let you load your file without automatic conversion so you can ensure nothing will be screwed up by it.

 

The updated Excel settings.

Image: Microsoft

 

Microsoft’s blog adds caveats, such as that Excel avoids the conversion by saving the data as text, which means the data may not work for calculations later. There’s also a known issue where you can’t disable the conversions when running macros.

 

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Martin Goetz, who joined the computer industry in its infancy in the mid-1950s as a programmer working on Univac mainframes and who later received the first U.S. patent for software, died on Oct. 10 at his home in Brighton, Mass. He was 93.

His daughter Karen Jacobs said the cause was leukemia.

In 1968, nearly a decade after he and several other partners started the company Applied Data Research, Mr. Goetz received his patent, for data-sorting software for mainframes. It was major news in the industry: An article in Computerworld magazine bore the headline “First Patent Is Issued for Software, Full Implications Are Not Known.”

Until then, software had not been viewed as a patentable product and was bundled into hulking mainframes like those made by IBM. Ms. Jacobs said her father had patented his own software so that IBM could not copy it and put it on its machines.

“By 1968, I had been involved in arguing about the patentability of software for about three years,” Mr. Goetz said in an oral history interview in 2002 for the University of Minnesota. “I knew at some point in time the patent office would recognize it.”

What Mr. Goetz called his “sorting system” is believed to have been the first software product to be sold commercially, and his success at securing a patent led him to become a vocal champion of patenting software. The programs that instruct computers on what to do, he said, were often as worthy of patents as the machines themselves.

The issuance of Mr. Goetz’s patent “helped managers, programmers and lawyers at young software firms feel as if they were forming an industry of their own — one in which they were creating products that were potentially profitable and legally defensible as proprietary inventions,” Gerardo Con Díaz, a professor of science and technology studies at the University of California, Davis, wrote in the 2019 book “Software Rights: How Patent Law Transformed Software Development.”

Robin Feldman, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, said by phone, “The world we live in now, with app stores and software invented in someone’s garage, is a credit to Goetz’s vision, his scientific innovation and dogged persistence.”

(Revenues of the worldwide software market were about $610 billion in 2022, according to Statista, a data and business intelligence firm.)

Mr. Goetz and his company took another step to open the software market. In April 1969, Applied Data Research filed an antitrust lawsuit against IBM, accusing it of illegally setting a single price for its equipment and software — essentially giving away the software for free — and called for their unbundling. The lawsuit was part of a barrage of legal actions, taken within four months of one another by Applied Data Research, two other companies and the U.S. Department of Justice.

That June, IBM agreed to the unbundling.

Applied Data Research nonetheless continued its lawsuit. It was settled in August 1970; the terms included an agreement to supply one of its programs, Autoflow, to IBM.

“He not only got what he wanted,” Ms. Jacobs said, “A.D.R. started selling more products and opened the doors to the independent software industry.”

In 1976, Mr. Goetz was a government witness in the Justice Department’s case against IBM.

“I had the opportunity to tell the world why IBM’s unbundling was a godsend for the user community,” he wrote in 2002 in a two-part memoir published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Annals of the History of Computing. “It was a great experience for me and A.D.R.”

Martin Alvin Goetz was born on April 22, 1930, in Brooklyn. His father, Jacob, lost his men’s clothing store during the Great Depression and then sold ties on street corners until his death in 1943. His mother, Rose (Friedman) Goetz, worked at the store and, after her husband’s death, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II.

After his father’s haberdashery went out of business, the family moved six times to successively lower-priced apartments. When Marty was 12, he began delivering meat for a butcher.

He attended the elite Brooklyn Technical High School. His college education — first at Brooklyn College and then at the City College of New York — was broken up by his service in the Army with the Second Armored Division in Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree in business statistics from City College in 1953, and a master’s in business administration from the same school eight years later.

After graduating, he worked as a supervisor at A.C. Nielsen, analyzing radio ratings. He then answered a newspaper ad for a programmer at Remington Rand’s Univac division, where he spent 12 weeks as a trainee, learning how to program the pioneering mainframe.

“I loved it,” he wrote in the 2002 memoir, “and used to program in my head as I drove my car.”

He spent four years at what became Sperry Rand (Remington Rand merged with the Sperry Corporation in 1955), working with clients like the pharmaceutical manufacturer Parke-Davis and the New York utility Consolidated Edison. He created his first sorting program for Con Edison’s billing system.

“I just sort of fell into it,” he said in the oral history. “I really had never thought about sorting until there was a need for it within Con Edison.”

He left for a job at IBM’s applied programming group in 1958, but he didn’t stay long: He and his partners started Applied Data Research the next year.

The company went public in 1965 and became a leader in the software industry. Mr. Goetz was named president in 1984, after 10 years as senior vice president and director of the software products division.

“I don’t expect my life to change much,” he told The New York Times after his promotion. “I’ve been running 85 percent of the business. The promotion really just adds to my responsibilities rather than changing them.”

In 1985, the regional telecommunications company Ameritech acquired Applied Data Research for $215 million; a year later, Mr. Goetz moved to a new position as the company’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. He stayed through early 1988, when he became the chief executive of Syllogy, a software company.

He left that position in mid-1989 and became a consultant to software companies and venture capital firms, as well as an investor.

Mr. Goetz was inducted into the Mainframe Hall of Fame, which cited him as the “father of third-party software.” In 2007, he was named an “unsung innovator” of the computer industry by Computerworld.

In addition to Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Goetz is survived by his wife, Norma (Wiener) Goetz; another daughter, Ruth Malloy; and five grandchildren.

Mr. Goetz continued to write into his 90s about software patentability and the need for patent protection for software. That, Professor Feldman said, was part of his legacy.

“He understood how powerful players might abuse the legal system to distort innovation, and how the legal system could be used to fight back,” she said. “He was an eternal optimist — he truly believed patents could protect real innovation and help society.”

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Of course, we are talking about Microsoft Minesweeper, which most people just refer to as Minesweeper. The game is simple to play but, like most great and addictive video games, is hard to master. The premise is simple. You see a grid of squares. Some have mines. The object is to click on every square that doesn't have a mine. Some squares have numbers that show how many mines are adjacent to that square.

While there were simple video games released before 1998 that were similar to Minesweeper in terms of gameplay, GameSetWatch says that it was the work of two men at Microsoft, Robert Donner and Curt Johnson, who came up with the game that so many of us know and love today. Johnson has said that he was inspired by another game when he and Donner came up with Minesweeper, but he claimed he has forgotten what that game actually was.

In any case, the simple design of Minesweeper, combined with the use of logic and deduction to avoid hitting a mine, was the perfect time sink. In 1990, the game was included in a software game collection, Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1 which also had a Microsoft Windows version of Tetris. However, the game didn't become mega-popular for PC users until 1992, when Microsoft added Minesweeper to every copy of Windows 3.1.

According to Business Insider, Microsoft co-founder and then-CEO Bill Gates quickly became obsessed with Minesweeper. Microsoft product manager Bruce Ryan stated that Gates had uninstalled the game from his own PC because it was taking up too much of his time to play.

Ryan stated that at one point his team created a macro for Minesweeper that clicked on one corner of the game's grid and then reloaded the game. This macro kept this up until it found a way to solve the game with just one click.

Ryan reportedly then emailed Gates, stating "Sorry, you got eclipsed by a macro." Gates wrote back, stating, "When machines can do things faster than people, how can we retain our human dignity?". We do have to wonder, with the rise of AI, if he still feels this way,

With the addition of Minesweeper in Windows 3.1, followed by several other Windows releases, the game continued to get popular. It also ran into some controversies due to its name. The Cutting Room Floor reports that in 1999, a group in Italy got together to protest the game, feeling it was offensive to real victims of minefields. Microsoft renamed the game Flower Fields for the Italian version of Windows 2000, ME, and XP, with people now uncovering flowers instead of mines.

For the version of Minesweeper that was released for Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to give the game's development over to a third-party team at Oberon Media. Windows 8 was the first version of the OS that did not have Minesweeper bundled with it. Instead, a free version of the game was added as a downloadable app and that's where it remains today.

It includes the "classic" game but also includes a story-themed "Adventure mode" along with other features and, unfortunately, some ads as well unless you pay to get rid of them.

Perhaps one day Microsoft will simply include the classic versions of Minesweeper and Solitaire in a future version of Windows with no ads. We suspect both will be massive time sinks all over again.

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The tech giant published a blog this week debuting new features for your Chrome address bar that should improve your search abilities. Everyone could likely use some more efficiency online. And while you can read the whole piece from Google, here are few of the new features the company dropped.

1. There is improved autocomplete

Google searches in Chrome should now anticipate the URL you actually want when you begin searching. As an example, Google noted that simple typing "flights" into the search bar will give you the option of autocompleting to Google Flights, even though the ultimate destination URL actually begins with "google.com/travel." That should be a helpful upgrade when you know where you want to end up, even if you don't know the actual URL.

Credit: Google

2. Say goodbye to URL typos

We've all been there before. You try to type in something simple like, say, Mashable.com, but you end up typing "mashavel." Google said it has improved its autocorrect in URLs so detect these sorts of typos and automatically redirect you to the correct destination.

3. Chrome will help you get to the right website

Similar to its typo-fixing feature, Chrome should now be better at directing users to popular websites. Basically, if you start typing a site — even if you've never visited it before or if you spell the site incorrectly — Chrome should give you the option to go to the correct, popular website. No more accidentally ending up at some fake site that is almost the correct spelling of a popular website.

Google listed a few other new features in its blog, but rest assured, users' Chrome experience searching should be improved from here on out.

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If you find yourself making typos sometimes when you’re trying to type a URL into Chrome, we’ve got some good news for you: The browser now has autocorrect.

Google on Friday announced several updates for its browser aimed at making it simpler and more efficient, starting with an updated autocorrect.

Previously, Google would only autocomplete URLs you typed on its desktop version when you typed the beginning of the site’s URL exactly as it appears. Now the browser will instead associate words you’ve previously used to get to a site and complete the URL, ZDNet reports.

Chrome is also keeping an eye out for typos you might accidentally make while typing in a URL. Now if you type an address wrong on desktop, iOS, or Android, Chrome can detect the error and suggest what it thinks you might have been trying to type based on your previous browsing history. It will also offer suggestions for popular sites, even if you haven’t previously visited them.

When it comes to sites you visited previously, Chrome also now allows you to search through a specific bookmarks folder. A new drop-down menu will also help you figure out a URL you might have been to before but forgotten.

And finally, the desktop version of Google Chrome is expected to be more responsive now. When you start typing in a URL, the browser will instantly provide results, ultimately making it easier and faster to get where you’re going.

All of the updates are available now and don’t require you to update Chrome to access them.

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Steep hardware requirements cannot stop a true enthusiast from installing Windows 11 on an unsupported PC, but it looks like the list of available bypasses just lost one option.

Users recently discovered a new command that lets you skip the TPM requirement by "pretending" you are using a server edition. Windows 11 "thinks" you are about to set up a server edition, skips hardware checks, and proceeds to install your Home or Professional edition without limitations.

In Windows 11 build 25977, released in the Canary this week, the setup.exe / product server command no longer works. An attempt to use it results in Windows 11 showing a command parsing error. However, you can still execute the command to perform an in-place upgrade to the latest stable version. As for build 25977, Deskmodder reports that the setupprep /product server can do the trick instead of the old, now-broken command.

Luckily, there is no shortage of other methods to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. Rufus, a popular utility for making bootable media, can remove CPU and TPM requirements before creating an install drive using official Windows 11 images. The recently updated tiny11 version 23H2 is another option, which, in addition to removed requirements, gives you a much lighter and debloated installation. There are also plenty of other hacks, scripts, registry tweaks, and slightly more technical methods that can get your unsupported PC to Windows 11.

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What is new in VMware Workstation Pro and Player 17.5?

New features and changes:

New Security Enhancement

 

This release introduces new security enhancement by providing an improved encryption scheme (XTS instead of CBC) for maximum protection with a reduced performance overhead. Please see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/93071 for more information.

 

This release resolves CVE-2023-34044. For more information on these vulnerabilities and their impact on VMware products, see VMSA-2023-0022.

 

Control Virtual Machines using the VMRUN Commands

 

You can now control virtual machines using the VMRUN command line utility in Workstation Player. You can use commands to perform various guest operations such as power on or off, capture snapshots for data backup, manage network adapters, run an executable program, manage files and directories, manage processes running on the operating system, and so on.

 

Import and Export Virtual Machines with vTPM device

 

You can now import or export a virtual machine with a vTPM device enabled using the OVF Tool. You can export a virtual machine with vTPM device into an OVF file, and then use the OVF file to import the virtual machine with a vTPM.

 

Manage Power Operations of Encrypted Virtual Machines using VMREST API

 

You can now power on/off, suspend, pause, unpause, or retrieve the state of an encrypted virtual machine using the VMREST API service.

 

VMware Hardware Version 21

 

• Support for up to 256 NVMe devices: 4 controllers and 64 devices per controller
• Support for NVMe 1.3 in the following guest operating systems:
  • Microsoft Windows 11
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2022

And here is what was fixed:

The cursor does not appear in the VNC client while remotely controlling a virtual machine

 

When you configure a virtual machine as a VNC server, the VNC client does not correctly show the mouse cursor for the virtual machine you control.

 

Cannot start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN

 

Unable to start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN command without nogui

 

Wireless bridge connection might not work on a Windows host with DHCP configured

 

If you use Workstation 17.0.1 or above on a Windows host with DHCP mode configured, a wireless bridge connection might not work on the host operating system.

 

Cannot access an encrypted virtual machine with remember password option enabled

 

While creating an encrypted virtual machine with Windows guest operating system, if you check the option to remember the password, the virtual machine might prompt you to enter the password again when you try to log in.

 

Cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility of a virtual machine

 

On Workstation Pro 17.0.1 or above, a user cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility version of a Windows 95/98 VM without VMware Tools installed.

 

Virtual machine shows BSOD when USB is enabled

 

When you enable USB in Workstation Pro, the virtual machines fail to start with a BSOD error.

 

The mouse cursor offsets from the point of event in Visual Studio

 

When you use Microsoft Visual Studio on a Windows 10/11 guest operating system, the mouse does not click where the mouse pointer is positioned.

 

Linux-based guest operating system boots slowly with the default RAM and CPU for a virtual machine

 

When you install the following Linux-based guest operating system, the virtual machine might boot slowly or fail to boot:

 

• Fedora
• AlmaLinux
• Debian
• SLES15
• Oracle Linux
• Photon OS

 

Unable to decrypt or re-encrypt a virtual machine after changing the disk split value

 

After you change the value of a disk split for an encrypted virtual machine, you cannot decrypt or re-encrypt the virtual machine.

 

Security Issues

 

• Pixman has been updated to 0.42.2
• LibTIFF has been updated to 4.5.1
• SQLite3 has been updated to 3.42.0
• curl has been updated to 8.3
• OpenSSL has been updated to 3.0.10

You can update to version 17.5 by launching VMware Workstation Pro or Player and clicking Player > Help > Software Updates.

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[Taskbar & System Tray]

 

[ADDED] The network icon in the system tray now animates when a connection is in progress. This animation replaces the disconnected globe when a network is taking time to establish internet.

According to Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program Manager from the Windows Insider Program team, developers planned to ship those icons in the next build. However, as it turned out, they slipped into yesterday's build 25977, giving users a better indicator for when Windows 11 connects to a Wi-Fi network or initializes a wired connection.

Interestingly, Windows 7 was the last version to feature animated network icons. Microsoft ditched them in favor of static indicators in Windows 8 and kept things so throughout the last ten years. Now, animated network icons are returning in Windows 11 build 25977.

Other network-related changes in Windows 11 build 25977 from the Canary Channel include a new option for sharing Wi-Fi passwords using QR codes (also works for connecting a mobile hotspot), a button to install network driver during the initial setup, new privacy controls for managing access to the list of available Wi-Fi networks, and additional access control options for SMB over QUIC. Full release notes for build 25977 are available here.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time we see Microsoft toying around with animated icons in Windows 11. In 2022, Microsoft experimented with motion for the Settings app's sections. Sadly, those cute little animations never made it to the stable release. Gone, but not forgotten.

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