This small bit in the Dev Channel build of Windows 11 strongly hinted that Microsoft was going to end support for VBScript in the near future. This week, Microsoft confirmed it would soon no longer be a part of future Windows releases.

In Microsoft's updated support page for deprecated features, the company stated:

VBScript will be available as a feature on demand before being retired in future Windows releases. Initially, the VBScript feature on demand will be preinstalled to allow for uninterrupted use while you prepare for the retirement of VBScript.

It's not hard to see why the company is finally making this move. VBScript was first created back in 1996 and was made to be an easy-to-use language. VBScript was also used in Microsoft's early versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

However, VBScript has also been used to help distribute malware by cybercriminals. Over the years, Microsoft has slowly been phasing out the use of the language in its products. It is not used in its new Edge browser at all, and in 2017, it disabled VBScript by default in IE 10 for Windows 10.

In 2019, Microsoft made the move to disable VBScript in its last version of Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. This week's move to set up a timeline to completely remove VBScript from future Windows versions is the final nail on the coffin for this scripting language, but it's very unlikely to affect too many developers.

Source

Specifically, the new Windows 11 Wi-Fi driver version 23.0.5 from Intel supports the company's Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE202 and Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 hardware. Here are the details:

Important Notice

 

• This software is dedicated only for the Intel Wi-Fi 7 products - Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE202 and Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200. Please do not install this software on the other Intel wireless products.
• The Wi-Fi 7 is not currently available because of pending OS support. As a result, after installing the drivers, the Intel Wi-Fi 7 products function with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities on Windows 11

Purpose

 

The 23.0.5 package installs the Windows 11 Wi-Fi drivers for the following Intel Wireless Adapters:

 

Windows 11

 

• 23.0.5.7 for Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE202 and Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200

Notes

 

• This software is dedicated only for the Intel® Wi-Fi 7 products - Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE202 and Intel® Wi-Fi 7 BE200. Please do not install this software on the other Intel wireless products.
• The Wi-Fi 7 is not currently available because of pending OS support. As a result, after installing the drivers, the Intel® Wi-Fi 7 products function with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities on Windows 11
• For installing Wi-Fi drivers on the other Intel wireless products, see Windows 10 and Windows 11 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters.

Which file to choose

 

WiFi-23.0.5-Driver64-Win11.exe for Windows 11

 

Note: Windows 11 is only supported in 64-bit.

You can find the full release notes in PDF format here. It includes this note:

This software release version 23.0.5 has been updated to include functional updates. There may be other minor issues addressed which will impact performance, stability, or vendor specific functionality not listed above. Users should update to the latest version.

At the moment, the Wi-Fi 7 standard is not quite official but is expected to finally clear certification sometime in 2024. Recent reports indicate that Microsoft does plan to add Wi-Fi 7 support in Windows 11 and Windows 10 as well. When the standard is finalized, it is expected that Wi-Fi 7 will offer wireless data speeds up to 2.4 times faster compared to Wi-Fi 6E products.

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You will probably come across a situation where you have to work with different versions of Java; when Linux is your development platform, you can easily switch between them. For instance, if a project requires Java 17, you can switch to that. When your next project requires Java 18, you can quickly make the switch. Let me show you how.

First, we’re going to install Java 17 and Java 18, so you can see how the switching is done.

1.  To install Java 17, open a terminal window and issue this command:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-17-jdk openjdk-17-jre -y

2.  After that installation completes, let’s install Java 18 with this command:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-18-jdk -y

Now Java 17 and Java 18 are installed on your machine, ready to help you build your projects.

3.  To switch between Java versions, issue this command:

update-alternatives --config java

This will present you with a list of the different versions of Java you have installed. Each version will be associated with a number, starting with 0.

4.  If you want to switch to Java 18, locate and type the associated number for Java 18 and hit Enter on your keyboard. The system will set Java 18 as the current version. You can verify the switch with the following command, where you should see Java 18 listed:

java --version

And that’s all there is to switching between versions of Java on Linux. You can install as many versions as you like and switch between them for different projects on the fly.

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Today, Microsoft is celebrating the 9th anniversary of the Windows Insider Program in a few ways. In today's Windows Insider Beta Channel blog post, the company stated that all members of the Insiders program would receive a special badge, showing what looks like a red velvet layer 9th birthday cake, in their Feedback Hub app.

Microsoft has also released two new wallpapers to celebrate the Insider Preview program's 9th anniversary. One has a light theme, while the other has a dark theme.

Microsoft stated in another blog post:

This wallpaper offers an inside view of our product-making and design versions with different aspirations. It symbolizes the journey that Windows Insiders are on with us, helping us build the product. It’s the invaluable contributions and feedback from you that have propelled our progress, showcasing the remarkable synergy between our team and the Insiders. Every line and detail in this image reflects the inspiring partnership that has turned concepts into a refined and exceptional reality.

The latest Windows Insider Webcast that was posted on YouTube today also goes back in time to take a look at the history of the program, along with discussions of the current Insider builds, such as the inclusion of Copilot and more.

The Windows Insider Program was so successful, that Microsoft decided to launch other Insider programs for other parts of its business. That included the Xbox Insider Program which launched in 2016, and the Office Insider Program (later renamed as Microsoft 365 Insider Program), which first got started in 2015.

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Some bugs are just perennially out of reach. (We are aware this is not a red panda, but we lack for images illustrating such a creature being lightly annoyed by a particular kind of insect).

Getty Images

 

Back in June 2002, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth was experiencing space for the first time, the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Microsoft was reaching its final arguments, and Adam Price, using what was then called Mozilla on a Mac, had an issue with persistent tooltips.

 

"If I mouseover a toolbar link, and wait for a second, a little yellow box with the description of the link appears. If I now use command-tab to move Mozilla to the background, the little yellow box stays there, in the foreground. The only way to get rid of it is to put mozilla in the foreground again, and move the mouse off the toolbar," Price wrote on June 2. There were a few other bugs related to this issue, but Price set down a reproducible issue, confirmed by many others in the weeks to come—and months to come, years to come, and more than two decades to come.

 

Firefox tooltip lingering over an Applications window in Mac OS X, captured 12 years ago.

edrazaba / Mozilla

 

Over the years, people would check in on the thread or mark other bugs as duplicates of this one issue. It would occasionally seem fixed, only for coders and commenters to discover that it was just a little different in different versions or that prior fixes were seemingly accidental. Sometimes it seemed to appear in Windows or Linux, too. One commenter, denis, noted that at the 21-year mark: "I'm kinda partial to let it be forever. It feels like a relic from the past."

 

That relic is no more, as a fix to Bug 148624 was pushed in early September, with the fix appearing in build 119. I tried to replicate the tooltip on my not-yet-updated 118.0.1 Firefox browser on Mac but could not experience this rite of passage for myself. The patch itself is quite small, adding a check for whether a document has focus to the tooltip-showing code.

 

Yifan Zhu, who wrote the patch to Firefox's Tooltip Listener, wrote to Ars that they first encountered the bug in Thunderbird on Linux, as "seemingly random segments of text floating on my screen." Switching frequently between virtual desktops left subject lines floating on their screen, which was "extremely annoying." Zhu learned to switch back to either Firefox or Thunderbird and move their cursor before switching back.

 

But it grew on them, so they researched and sought to submit the bug, but "To my horror, I realized this bug report has been open for more than 20 years, and still hasn't been fixed." Because it was "a minor 'cosmetic' issue not causing crashes," there was a good chance nobody would fix it—"Unless I do it myself," Zhu wrote.

 

Zhu was motivated and knew how to program but had "zero experience in projects as complicated as the Firefox browser" and had "never contributed to open source projects before." But it was the summer before their PhD program started. "So, why not?"

 

Their start was inauspicious, to say the least. "I just searched for 'tooltip' in the entire code base, examined stuff for possible candidates, and inserted debugging print statements to follow the execution," Zhu wrote. This eventually bore answers. "When the mouse hovers over some element, a timer is started to display the tooltip. The timer would be canceled on a mouse-out event, which Firefox wasn't getting when I used keyboard shortcuts to switch windows or virtual desktops."

 

Zhu pushed a commit that made tooltip display based on Firefox losing focus, rather than the mouse leaving the application. In the next few hours, they heard from Emilio Cobos Álvarez, who refined Zhu's approach and helped get the commit into the code base. While the fix has created some regression, that bug is seeing work, too.

 

Zhu, born in 1999, just three years before this bug was submitted, had just finished their undergrad and Masters work at Stanford when they went work on it. They are just starting their PhD in electrical engineering. They can only guess why a bug like this has lasted for most of their life. Their guess it that it's both a cosmetic inconvenience and tricky to reproduce, leaving other, more serious bugs with perennially higher ranking.

 

Cobos Álvarez, who shepherded Zhu's fix into a commit, wrote to us that "this area is rather tricky," given various Firefox configurations and how they respond to different operating systems. Finding a solution that elegantly dealt with a lack of input on when a Mozilla app wasn't in focus, without guarantee of OS input, was tricky. "Pretty impressive for his first Firefox contribution!"

 

On social media, especially the Mastodon instances where you might expect to find people with opinions on Mozilla's XML User Interface Language, there was much rejoicing. Some noted their amazement that Bugzilla itself, the bug reporting tool, had lasted even longer than the bug (25 years as of August). Some suggested that this fix countered the prevalence of "stalebots," which single out old, unresolved issues for deletion. And one drafted a full hero's journey:

 

Not anyone can make a great commit, but a great commit can come from anywhere.

 

This story was updated with responses from Yifan Zhu at 5:45 pm ET on October 10. It was also updated to correct an error in the headline regarding Zhu's age.

 

Source

This update includes improvements that were released at the end of September as part of the Moment 4 update.

Windows 11 22H2

Highlights

• This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

   

Improvements

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5030310 (released September 26, 2023). When you install this KB:

 

• To protect against CVE-2023-44487, you should install the latest Windows update. Based on your use case, you can also set the limit of the RST_STREAMS per minute using the new registry keys in this update.

   

  Registry key	Default value	Valid value range	Registry key function
  Http2MaxClientResetsPerMinute	400	0–65535	Sets the allowed number of resets (RST_STREAMS) per minute for a connection. When you reach this limit, a GOAWAY message is sent to client for the connection.
  Http2MaxClientResetsGoaway	1	0-1	Disables or enables the GOAWAY message to send when you reach the limit. If you set this to 0, the connection ends as soon as you reach the limit.

 

If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

 

For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the October 2023 Security Updates.

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22621.2423

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Known issues in this update

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

This update is available through Windows Update and should install automatically in time, however, if you need to download them for offline installation, get them from the Microsoft Update Catalog (22H2).

Source

The major highlight of the release as usual is security updates for Windows 10.

Highlights

 

This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

This is one of those rare occasions where there are no known issues as Microsoft writes:

Known issues in this update

 

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

Some of the older Windows 10 versions have also received updates today which have been listed below with their respective release notes (KB) linked as well as links to download them at Microsoft's Update Catalog:

It is noteworthy here that Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 10 1909 reached the end of servicing. Some editions of 21H2 have also reached the end of servicing.

Source

Here we go again with the monthly updates for Windows.

Just a reminder that end of life for Server 2012 and 2012r2 is hitting. You can opt for 0Patch, or plan on upgrading and migration.  See resources at this page.

Already I’ve seen a “what the?”  In the notes of this patch it has   “To protect against CVE-2023-44487, you should install the latest Windows update. Based on your use case, you can also set the limit of the RST_STREAMS per minute using the new registry keys in this update.”

This is related to that DDOS attacks vulnerability that has been discussed.  First off for consumers, this is NOT an issue. But for those in businesses, I’m going to have to digest this a bit and see if we can get a consensus as to when and where we might want to use these settings.

IF you plan to be part of the patch Tuesday install today crowd (which I don’t recommend but I know that we do have beta tester folks) ALWAYS insure that you have a full backup BEFORE you install updates. Remember this October updates in the Windows 11 22H2 has the copilot code. Remember we CAN remove the icon from our computers – even Windows 11 Home machines.  I’ll be keeping track of the side effects on the Master Patch List page and start recapping the issues tonight as the reports come in.

Source

Microsoft released Windows 11 version 21H2 to the general public on October 5, 2021. Besides sporting much more modern looks, the operating system introduces several productivity-focused features and improvements, such as Snap Layouts, Windows Subsystem for Android, better external display support, Windows Widgets, and more.

However, the reception was lukewarm and overshadowed by steep hardware requirements, rendering plenty of still capable computers unable to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11. In addition, many users openly despised the redesigned taskbar and the Start menu, which lacked numerous features due to the rushed release.

It took Microsoft two years to polish Windows 11 and address the biggest stumbling blocks in its latest operating system. The latest Windows 11 version, 22H2, and its "Moment 4" feature update are much better and more user-friendly to those migrating from the soon-to-be-dead Windows 10.

If your computer is still on Windows 11 version 21H2, you can update to 22H2 and the Moment 3 update. The latter will introduce you to numerous features and improvements described in our dedicated reviews:

• Windows 11 version 22H2
• Windows 11 Moment 1
• Windows 11 Moment 2
• Windows 11 Moment 3

You can also pull the trigger and download Moment 4, a non-security optional update with several much-anticipated features, such as taskbar regrouping, a redesigned volume slider, native RGB controls, Copilot, and more. Microsoft will automatically update most Windows 11 users to the Moment 4 update in November 2023. Click here to learn how to install Windows 11 Moment 4.

Later this year, Microsoft will release Windows 11 version 23H2 with almost zero changes. It will get two years of support like the original release and version 22H2.

Source

The Windows 11 Moment 4 update Microsoft released to the general public in late September brought one of the biggest updates to File Explorer since the initial release. In February, we published an article detailing the top 10 features and changes Windows 11 users want Microsoft to add to File Explorer. Now, it is time to compare the requests with what Microsoft delivered.

Now, here are the File Explorer changes Microsoft introduced in the Moment 4 update:

• Gallery. A new section where you can browse all your photos stored locally and in OneDrive.
• Details Pane. A redesigned Details pane with extra information about a file and related activity.
• Better OneDrive integration. You can click the OneDrive icon in the address bar to check your storage, sync status, backup files, and more.

At the end of the day, we have three feedback pieces addressed fully or partially. The six most popular requests remain unchanged, and one took a massive step back. In addition, Microsoft introduced three new features to improve your productivity.

File Explorer is now more capable, but its performance issues and the lack of drag-and-drop support for the address bar will make many users think twice before upgrading. You might not care about the latter (Microsoft claims few people use it), but you will surely notice that the new Explorer is not fast and snappy. With performance improvements being the most popular request, Microsoft failed the only job it had.

Interestingly, there is no escape from the new Explorer—Moment 4 will become a mandatory update in November 2023. Whether you want it or not, Microsoft will force-update your Windows 11 PC unless you are willing to mess with Windows Update settings and stay away from security updates.

Hopefully, things will change for the better. Almost every Windows 11 preview build contains File Explorer-related improvements, so maybe the hope is not lost.

Source

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 25967.1010 (KB5032106). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline for builds in the Canary Channel.

Original story - Microsoft has released the latest Windows 11 Insider build for members of the Canary channel. The build number for this release is 25967, It includes the new Settings homepage and also removes the Cortana app from Windows 11.

Here is the changelog:

What’s new in Build 25967

 

Introducing the new Settings homepage

 

We’re introducing a new homepage in Settings that offers you a dynamic and personalized experience. It provides an overview of your device, quick access to key settings, and helps manage your Microsoft account.

 

New Settings homepage.

 

We created interactive cards that represent various device and account related settings, grouped by commonly accessed functions. Each card is optimized to offer the most relevant information and controls at your fingertips. In this release, you’ll see up to seven cards, with more coming soon.

 

Here’s an overview of each card:

 

1. Recommended settings: This card adapts to your specific usage patterns, providing timely and relevant settings options. It’s designed to streamline your settings management and save you time.
2. Cloud storage: Gives you an overview of your cloud storage use and lets you know when you’re nearing capacity.
3. Account recovery: Helps keep your Microsoft account more secure by helping you add additional recovery info so you never get locked out of your account, even if you forget your password.
4. Personalization: Brings customization to the forefront by offering one-click access to update your background theme or change your colour mode.
5. Microsoft 365: Provides a quick glimpse of your subscription status and benefits, along with the ability to take some key actions right in Settings instead of going to the web.
6. Xbox: Similar to the Microsoft 365 card, you’ll be able to view your subscription status and manage the subscription from the Settings app.
7. Bluetooth Devices: To simplify your Bluetooth device management experience, we’ve brought this to the forefront so you can quickly access and connect to your favorite Bluetooth-enabled devices.

 

You can take swift actions directly from this page with just a click, making device and account management seamless and efficient. What sets the homepage apart even further is that it’s more than just a landing page—it evolves and learns with you. As you use your device, it’ll adjust to provide the most relevant and useful information based on your usage and preferences.

 

NOTE: This experience will only be available on Windows 11 Home and Pro editions and not on devices managed by organizations.

 

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

 

Changes and Improvements

 

[General]

 

• The Cortana app is removed after updating to this build. We have ended support for Cortana – see this page for more information.

 

[Quick Settings]

 

We are trying out a scrollable view of quick settings to some Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel as part of evaluating effectiveness of different layouts. As part of the change, rather than having to edit the list to add new quick actions, the user now has a scrollable list of quick actions that can be rearranged.

 

A scrollable view of quick settings.

 

[Settings]

 

• System Components currently listed in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps page, have moved to its own page under Settings > System > System Components.

New System Components Settings page.

 

• Xbox Game Bar is now Game Bar under Settings > Gaming.

 

[Windows Subsystem for Linux]

 

• The September 2023 update for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) has been rolled out and includes networking improvements in the latest Insider Preview builds. See this blog post for more details.

 

Fixes for known issues

 

• Fixed an issue which was causing Insiders to see bugchecks (green screens) in recent Canary Channel builds when shutting down, logging out, or restarting.
• Fixed a white flash when opening File Explorer in dark mode, as well as an issue where File Explorer could get stuck with the wrong colours after switching between light and dark mode.
• Fixed a few issues that were leading to explorer.exe crashes.
• Fixed an issue where File Explorer sorting changes wouldn’t persist in folders after you navigated away and back.
• Fixed an issue which was causing icons on the desktop to turn into white generic icons until you refreshed the desktop.
• Did some work to help improve File Explorer performance, including fixing a memory leak which would impact performance over time, and fixing an issue where the tab would get stuck with a loading icon even though loading was finished.

 

Known issues

 

• [NEW] If you need to roll back to the previous build (Build 25951) if this build has issues, you may experience an issue where the Start menu or Settings do not work. See this forum post on how to get out of this state. After updating to the next set of builds in the Canary Channel, this issue will be resolved for rolling back.
• We’re investigating reports that the print queue is no longer accessible.
• 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.

Source

You may have noticed there is not a separate build for Beta Channel Insiders that don't have the latest features. That's because Microsoft is ditching that method in favor of just one build for all Beta Channel users. Instead, Beta Channel Insiders who would rather have new features gradually added will get a new toggle. Microsoft states:

Instead, we will be enabling new features via Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) technology to Insiders in the Beta Channel on Build 22635, the revision number incremented with each weekly update (the .2419 is the revision number for example with today’s flight and this is what will increment with future flights). It should not be assumed that this build number will be used beyond the Beta Channel.

 

For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.

 

Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes gradually rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. Please note that for today’s flight to the Beta Channel, there are no new features or improvements rolling out specifically for Insiders who have turned on the toggle.

Here's the changelog for the new Beta Insider build

New features gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

 

Windows Ink Improvements

 

In Build 22631.2271, the new Windows Ink experience allowing users to ink directly onto edit fields was disabled in the Beta Channel to allow for additional bug fixes. Today, we are re-enabling this feature with an update that includes a number of fixes and we are excited for you to try it out. As before, the experience supports English (U.S.) only and can be managed via Settings > Bluetooth and devices > Pen & Windows Ink under “Shell Handwriting”.

 

Use your pen to handwrite anywhere you can type in Windows such as the search box in Settings.

 

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

 

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Pen input.

 

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

 

[Copilot in Windows**]

 

Copilot in Windows now shows the new icon on the taskbar.

 

New Copilot in Windows icon on the taskbar.

 

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

 

• Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing for Insiders in the previous flight when you tried to open File Explorer by using Open File Location in an app.
• This update addresses an issue that causes delays when you sign in. This occurs when a tablet pen is connected to your device.
• This update addresses an issue that affects iCloud Calendar and Contacts. Outlooks fails to properly sync them when you use the iCloud for Windows app. To resume syncing, follow the steps in this Apple Support article.

You can find the full blog post here.

Source

With the latest driver, Lords of the Fallen can output more than double the standard frame rates when running on a system with an RTX 40 Series graphics card using DLSS 3 Frame Generation tech. You can find more information and detailed performance uplifts in Lords of the Fallen in a post published on the official NVIDIA website.

Here is the complete changelog:

Game Ready for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

 

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS technology. This includes the launch of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Open Beta, Forza Motorsport, and Lords of the Fallen.

 

Fixed Gaming Bugs

 

• Add Microsoft Store/Xbox Game Pass application profile for Lies of P [4290286]

Fixed General Bugs

 

• [GeForce RTX 4060] GPU monitoring utilities reporting incorrect idle power usage [4186490]
• Increased DPC latency may be observed when GPU is connected over HDMI 2.1 FRL at 10bpc/12bpc [4253581]

NVIDIA's latest driver supports the following graphics cards:

You can download the NVIDIA 537.58 WHQL driver from the official website or using the GeForce Experience app. Note that NVIDIA's latest drivers are only available on systems running 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11. 32-bit Windows 10 and Windows 8.1/8/7 are no longer supported.

Full release notes for the 537.58 WHQL release will be later available here (PDF document).

Source

This product hasn't officially been announced yet by Intel, but online reports from websites like PC Gamer indicate that third-party companies ASRock and Sparkle are preparing to start selling cards with the Arc A580 GPU at any moment. The new models will reportedly have 8GB of video RAM, along with 24 ray tracing units. Hopefully, we will get some official info from Intel soon.

Aside from the support for the new GPU, these beta drivers add support for three upcoming games; Total War Pharaoh, Lords of the Fallen, and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III beta test that's coming this weekend. It also has a couple of Starfield performance improvements.

Here is the changelog:

HIGHLIGHTS:

 

• Support for Intel Arc A580 Graphics.

 

GAMING HIGHLIGHTS:

 

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

 

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Beta
• Total War: PHARAOH
• Lords of the Fallen

 

Game performance improvements versus Intel 31.0.101.4885 software driver for:

 

• Starfield (DX12)
  • Up to 117% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
  • Up to 149% uplift at 1440p with High settings
• Forza Motorsport (DX12)
  • Up to 8% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings

 

Game performance improvements versus Intel 31.0.101.4826 software driver for:

 

• F1 23 (DX12)
  • Up to 12% uplift at 1440p with Ultra High settings
  • Up to 136% uplift at 2160p with Ultra High settings

 

FIXED ISSUES:

 

Intel Arc Graphics Products:

 

• Minecraft (DX12) may exhibit colour corruptions in night scenes when ray tracing setting is on.

 

KNOWN ISSUES:

 

Intel Arc Graphics Products:

 

• 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.
• Starfield (DX12) may exhibit texture corruptions on certain objects and light sources during gameplay.
• 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 X 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 check out the full release notes here in PDF format.

Source

In any event, options to bypass Windows 11 system requirements check have been discovered relatively early. Tools like Ventoy or Rufus prepare installation media specifically for the bypasses, but there are also manual options that users have.

You can check out the bypass TPM check during Windows 11 installation guide and this guide on installing Windows 11 on PCs with unsupported processors.

These bypasses allow users to upgrade nearly any device that is compatible with Windows 10 to upgrade to Windows 11. While Windows 11 will run fine for the most part, some features of the operating system may not work as it requires certain hardware. These are not critical components.

Microsoft put up a, rather scary, disclaimer on its website that is designed to keep users from installing Windows 11 on unsupported devices. The company states that there is no guarantee that incompatible devices receive updates in the future, including security updates. It even indicates that PC damages "due to a lack of compatibility aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty".

This command bypasses Windows 11 hardware checks during setup

Twitter user Bob Pony revealed a new trick this week that allows users to bypass system requirements check during the installation of Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system.

All that needs to be done is to run the installation with the parameter /product server. One option to do so is to open a command prompt window, switch to the Windows installation media drive and run setup /product server to start the process.

While the parameter suggests that a server edition is installed, this is not the case.

The trick is one of the easiest option to bypass Windows 11 hardware compatibility checks during installation. Users who have installed Windows 11 on incompatible hardware may run into issues when installing dynamic updates. This script should take care of this as well, so that new feature updates may be installed, even on devices with incompatible hardware.

Closing words

A simple command, setup /product server, bypasses the system requirement checks of the Windows 11 operating system during installation. It may be useful to users who want to upgrade to Windows 11, but can't, because of hardware requirements. The rumored Windows Refresh of 2024 won't change hardware requirements for the better. While it seems unlikely that Microsoft is introducing even stricter requirements, it is clear that Microsoft won't loosen hardware requirements.

Now You: is your PC compatible with Windows 12?

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According to Microsoft, a "65000" error code is being displayed in the "Require Device Encryption" setting on Intune for Mobile Device Management (MDM). The tech giant notes here that other than Intune, similar third-party apps may be affected too.

It explains:

Using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in mobile device management (MDM) apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the "Require Device Encryption" setting for some devices in your environment.

 

Affected environments are those with the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or "Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives" policies set to enabled and selecting either "full encryption" or "used space only". Microsoft Intune is affected by this issue but third-party MDMs might also pe affected. Important: This issue is a reporting issue only and does not affect drive encryption or the reporting of other issues on the device, including other BitLocker issues.

Although Microsoft has not been able to devise a resolution for this issue yet, the company has provided a simple workaround that can mitigate it. It involves changing the policy settings to "not configured".

Workaround: To mitigate this issue in Microsoft Intune, you can set the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or "Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives" policies to not configured.

 

Next steps: We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

You can read more about the issue on Microsoft's health dashboard website.

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So for us, it's something of a surprise that Google has not had support for sending emoji reactions in its Gmail desktop website or in its mobile apps. That will finally change later in October. After weeks of rumors, Google has officially revealed that emoji reactions will be rolled out to both mobile and desktop Gmail users sometime very soon.

Google's blog post stated:

Starting this month, those with personal Gmail accounts will see a smiley face icon appear below their messages on mobile and desktop. Click on it to select an emoji from the menu, then simply tap one to send. Or if another recipient already responded with the perfect emoji, just click that one to pile on.

The blog post adds that if you get a Gmail email with an emoji reaction and receive it in another email client like, for example, Microsoft Outlook, you will get both the message and the emoji reaction in separate emails.

Google has already announced it is adding emoji reactions to Google Sheets comments. So adding this same kind of support for Gmail messages seems like a no-brainer.

Google's support article on the new Gmail emoji feature it mentions that you can remove an emoji reaction in an email after you send it by tapping or clicking on the Undo option in the notification at the bottom of that message. You can go into the “Undo Send” settings feature in Gmail to set up how long you will have before you can't unsend the emoji anymore (between 5 to 30 seconds)

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According to a blog post published on the official Microsoft 365 Insider website, the ability to add checkboxes to cells is a top customer feature request. It can simplify data entry and reduce user errors when working with spreadsheets and formulas involving TRUE and FALSE values.

The Insert tab on the ribbon now features a new group called Cell Controls. There is only one "Checkbox" option for now, but Microsoft promises to add more in future updates. The feature is rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders running version 2310 (build 196924.2000 or later) from the Beta Channel.

Here is how to add checkboxes to cells in Excel:

1. Select a range of cells to feature checkboxes.
2. Go to the Insert tab and locate the Cell Controls section.
3. Click the Checkbox button.

All selected blank cells will get checkboxes defaulting to FALSE, and all existing values and formulas will remain unchanged. Also, it is worth noting that checkboxes only work with boolean values and blank cells. To place a checkmark, click the box or highlight the cell and press Spacebar.

The new checkbox feature is in preview, and there is one known issue where you cannot remove checkbox formatting directly. To remove a checkbox, select the cell and click Home > Clear > Clear Formats.

Like other new features in the Microsoft 365 Insider program, cell checkboxes are rolling out gradually. Here is how Microsoft describes this approach:

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

You can learn more about the latest addition to Excel in a blog post on the official website.

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Tabs play an important role for most users who use a desktop or mobile web browser. All modern browsers support tabs, which essentially allow users to open multiple websites and services at once in a single browser window.

There has been some progress recently when it comes to usability. Besides the ancient question of whether vertical or horizontal tabs are the better option to display tabs, it is tab groups that has seen an introduction in the world of Chromium-based browsers.

Most support basic tab grouping functionality by now. Right-click on a tab and select "add tab to group" to create a new one. You may then add more tabs to it and expand or collapse groups individually.

Google appears to be working on a new tab related feature for Chromium. As revealed by Leopeva64 on Twitter, Google is working on a new tab organization feature in Chrome and Chromium.

It uses an algorithm to create tab groups in the browser automatically. Whether it uses AI or not is unclear. Once created, tab groups work like any other tab group in the browser: users may rename them, delete them, remove tabs from them or add tabs to them.

The feature is still in active development and it is unclear if users get a say in the matter, or if Chrome will handle this automatically. Most likely, it is suggesting to put certain tabs into a group, and users may select to do so, or not. Also unclear is if Chrome needs to contact a server on the Internet for this process or if it happens locally only.

Google is not the only browser maker that is working on a tab organizing feature. Microsoft has been testing a very similar feature in its Edge web browser that uses AI, according to Microsoft.

It is called Group Similar Tabs and available in Microsoft Edge Canary as a preview. Select the Tabs Action Menu in Microsoft's web browser and then Group Similar Tabs (Preview) from the menu.

Microsoft Edge tries to find tabs that it can group and displays those that it discovered during the process to the user.

There is a chance that Edge's AI can't group any tabs, which happens when all open sites and services appear unrelated.

Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers will likely use a similar system to suggest tabs to group to the user.

Let the browser handle the organization, or not?

Should the web browser handle the tab organization in the future? Admittedly, the feature is fully optional and users who don't want to use it can simply ignore it. Nothing lost in that case.

It is unclear if the processing happens locally, which would be the privacy-friendly way, or remotely. The Google Chrome feature is still in active development and not available to all users of Chrome, even if the latest Canary version is installed.

How helpful is the automatic sorting? Users may create tab groups manually already and put tabs into those groups. Automation may speed up the process, especially if lots of tabs are open. The time it takes to verify the suggested groups increases with the number of tabs though.

Now You: would you use automatic tab organizers in your browser of choice?

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The main purpose of point releases is to create new ISO images with all the latest updates included. This can help you save time if you’re performing a clean install of either Debian release.

It’s important to point out that there are no significant changes being made to Debian with these point releases, they are all about convenience when installing Debian. If you have old Debian installation media such as Debian 12.x or Debian 11.x, there is no need to throw this away but you will have more updates to install but this shouldn’t take too long.

Some of the packages that have been updated in Debian 12.2 include Calibre, ClamAV, Electrum, Linux kernel, MariaDB, OpenSSL, and many more. You can find full lists for Debian 12.2 and Debian 11.8 here.

Debian 12 and 11 were released on 10 June 2023 and 14 August 2021, respectively. Both versions will get five years of support when including long-term support.

Unless you have a specific reason to use Debian 11, such as certain software dependencies, then it’s best to go with Debian 12. Unlike Ubuntu, which is based on Debian Unstable, stable versions of Debian are rigorously tested so you should have a good experience using it.

One of the biggest drawbacks with using such extensively tested software is that Debian tends to ship with slightly older kernels. If you are on older hardware, everything will be fine, but if you just bought a brand new graphics card then you might want to use an OS with a newer kernel. Debian 11 has Linux 5.10 and Debian 12 has Linux 6.1.

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Here's a look at some of the other new posts made on the roadmap in the last seven days:

Teams - Forward messages in chats and more

Microsoft Teams's new Windows and Mac app may have officially launched last week, but the online chat and collaboration service is getting even more features soon. One that will roll out in November will let users forward messages to other chats:

Forward messages quickly from one chat to another using the right-click menu. You can add additional content to the message to provide context and clarity for the recipient. You can forward messages to 1:1 chats and group chats.

Another new addition that will roll out later in October will include a new custom background feature.

Teams users will be able to create engaging custom backgrounds for channel announcements in just a few clicks. Powered by Microsoft Designer, use generative AI to create expressive images.

Finally, there's a new feature coming to Teams on Android and iOS in November:

This feature enables you to quickly capture content shared in a Teams meeting on a mobile device and save it in your photo gallery or share in Teams and other apps. We’ll honor privacy choices set in the meeting.

Outlook - Follow a meeting in the new Outlook app

Microsoft launched the new Outlook for Windows app in September, but a new feature that's due in March 2024 for both Windows and the web will let users let others know they want to follow an online meeting without attending:

Follow is a new meeting response (RSVP) option that goes beyond the traditional Accept, Tentative and Decline choices geared towards individuals with high meeting loads and conflicting meetings each day. Follow is the ideal RSVP option for meetings you can't attend but still want to stay engaged and receive info about. Other attendees will be able to see if you are following a meeting. This feature will be available in the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web.

OneDrive - The web version will soon let users add shortcuts

Microsoft revealed a major revamp of its OneDrive file storage service earlier this week. However, the Microsoft 365 Roadmap showed a new feature coming to the web version of OneDrive in October.

This feature will let you create a shortcut to files stored in other people's OneDrive and document libraries to be able to easily find it within your OneDrive. These file shortcuts can be moved, renamed, or deleted without impacting the source content, and they will show up in OneDrive for Web, Android, iOS, and sync client endpoints.

That's all we have this week, but we will have another look at the roadmap next Sunday.

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The latest evidence for such an update came not from an unnamed source inside Microsoft but from a public quote from an Intel executive. Seeking Alpha posted a transcript of a recent event during the Citi 2023 Global Technology Conference (via PC Gamer). The transcript has an interview with Intel CFO David Zinsner.

Zinsner felt the company will have a solid 2024 in terms of sales, and he stated part of the reason is due to Microsoft. He is quoted as saying:

The phrase "Windows refresh" is almost certainly a reference to the next major edition of Microsoft's OS, rather than just a feature update for Windows 11.

Microsoft has not talked publicly about its future plans for a Windows update. However, Windows Central has a new report claiming, via unnamed sources, that development of the next Windows "was kicked up a notch over the last couple of months." It adds that the update is now in full development and it should be completed sometime in mid-2024.

That timeline is certainly in line for an official launch sometime in the fall of 2024. It will be interesting to see if the departure of former Windows and Surface division head Panos Panay a few weeks ago will affect the development.

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Google said in a blog post that emoji reactions are meant to increase collaboration "by enabling you to quickly and creatively express your opinions about spreadsheet content." It has started rolling out to Rapid Release domains and its launch for Scheduled Release domains is planned for October 19. Emoji reactions will be available to all Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts.

To add an emoji reaction to a Google Sheets comment, hover your mouse over the comment and a smiley icon will appear on its right side. After that, you can select your preferred reaction which will appear below the comment. This is similar to how emoji reactions work for comments in Google Docs which received the said functionality earlier this year.

In addition to comments, Google Docs lets you add emoji reactions to a highlighted text in a document. As per a support document, you can add emoji reactions if you have permission to comment or edit a Google Sheet or Doc.

While you wait for the feature to arrive on your Google account, you can reply to an existing comment with an emoji using the built-in emoji panel on your computer or phone. The difference here is the emoji reaction will appear as a new comment.

Google has also announced two new field types for filtering in Connected Sheets for Looker. The 'filter only fields' and 'parameters' options will "give you even more ways to explore the semantic layer of your data as you will now be able to recreate advanced filtering in Looker explorers or dashboards using Connected Sheets for Looker," the company said.

Earlier this week, Google added some more Workspace features, including a new Activity tab in Google Drive that consolidates all your recent activity into one place. With new buttons at the top of the Google Doc page, building blocks for different content types are now easier to access.

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There is a dedicated blog post for this new release. However, it has the same release notes as the previous ones for builds 25931, 25941, and 25951, with one small exception. The change is that this new build won't expire until September 15, 2024. Having said that here is the changelog:

The Windows Server Preview currently is on the same build number as the current Windows 11 Insider Canary channel, which might indicate we won't see a new Server version until 2024 when Windows 12 is expected to be released.

Here's some more important info on this release:

You can download the build here, and find the official announcement here.

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