What is new in NVIDIA GeForce 536.40 WHQL driver?

Driver 536.40 introduces support for the GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card. However, if you already have a GPU from NVIDIA and do not plan to upgrade, you will benefit from the following fixes and improvements:

Fixed Gaming Bugs:

• [Street Fighter 6] Corruption during the fight start cutscene when MFAA is applied [4147907]

Fixed General Bugs:

• [Optix Denoiser] Addresses vignette effect that could appear on image border pixels.
• Not able to detect external HDMI display from NVCPL after driver re-installed [4085941]

Like every NVIDIA driver release, version 536.40 contains several known issues:

Open Issues:

• Increase in DPC latency observed in Latencymon [3952556]
• Applying GeForce Experience Freestyle filters cause games to crash [4008945]

Issues not caused by NVIDIA Drivers:

• Under Windows 10, clone mode across graphics processors is handled by the Windows OS, and not by the NVIDIA driver. Consequently, there are no controls for cross-adapter clone mode in the NVIDIA Control Panel under Windows 10. Functionality of some display controls in the NVIDIA Control Panel may be affected if cross- adapter clone mode is enabled through the Windows Control Panel. In this case, use the Windows Control Panel to adjust display settings.
• [Windows 10 Fall Creators Update][HDTV]: 12 bpc is automatically applied even on HDTVs that support only 8 bpc, resulting in a scrambled display. [2007663] To work around, open the NVIDIA Control Panel -> Change Resolution page, select “Use NVIDIA colour settings,” then set the Output colour depth to 8 bpc.

NVIDIA GeForce 536.40 supports the following graphics cards:

You can download the latest NVIDIA GeForce driver from the official website or the GeForce Experience app. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Mozilla, maker of Firefox and owner of Pocket, announced the change on the official blog of the organization. Pocket is available as a free and commercial service. It allows users to save articles that they find on the web, categorize them, and read and listen to the articles. Premium users get an ad-free experience, a full text search option and more.  Pocket includes discovery and recommendation features next to that.

Currently, Pocket users have four options to sign-up for the service. They may use a Firefox account or create one, sign-in with their Apple or Google account, or use any email address to sign-up. The option to sign-in with third-party accounts is removed in the coming months, leaving Firefox accounts as the only option.

Mozilla states that transitioned Pocket users benefit from a better privacy policy and that they still get additional security benefits such as two-factor authentication for sign-ins, which Firefox Accounts support. The security features may also be supported by third-party services.

Pocket users who sign-in with a third-party email address will be informed about the transition starting July 11, 2023. Users may transition to using a Firefox account right then and there, or continue signing in with their current accounts.

Google or Apple users are migrated automatically according to Mozilla. They may continue signing in with their Apple ID or Google login, but it will be a Firefox account that they are using from that moment on.

Users who have been using a third-party email to sign-in to Pocket need to select "upgrade my account" to start the transition to using a Firefox account to sign-in to Pocket. Users may select "I'm not ready" to skip this during this initial period.

Changing the account that is used to sign-in won't affect the saved articles, any other saved information of the Pocket account, or the Premium state of an account

Starting August 15, 2023, sign-ins with Google, Apple or third-party email accounts are no longer supported. Users need to switch to using a Firefox account at that time to continue accessing their data.

Mozilla published an extensive FAQ that answers popular questions that Pocket users may have about the transition.

Closing Words

The transition to allowing Firefox accounts only on Pocket cuts the tie to Google and Apple account services. Users who use third-party emails to sign-in to Pocket do not really gain anything by the transition. While it may be quick to create a new Firefox account or use one to sign-in, it still requires that they become active to complete the transition before the deadline day in August.

The organization did not reveal how many of Pocket's users are affected by the decision.

Source

Here is the changelog:

Highlights

This update addresses an issue that affects the on-screen keyboard. The issue stops it from opening after you lock the machine.

Improvements

This non-security update includes quality improvements. When you install this KB:

• New! This update adds many new features and improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
• New! This update improves several simplified Chinese fonts and the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME). They now support GB18030-2022. Characters in the Standard Chinese Characters List (GB18030-2022 implementation level 2) are available in Microsoft Yahei (regular, light, and bold), Dengxian (optional font: regular, light, and bold), and Simsun. The Simsun Ext-B font (GB18030-2022 implementation level 3) now supports Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs Extensions E and F.
• This update affects the Default Terminal settings. It adds “Let Windows Decide” as a default option.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. The issue stops Narrator from retaining your scan mode when you switch between browsers.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Intune push notifications. The issue stops devices that have less than 3.5 GB of RAM from getting them.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. It reads the wrong state when you cancel the selection of an option button you have selected.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a scheduled monthly task. It might not run on time if the next occurrence happens when daylight savings time occurs.
• This update addresses an issue that affects certain applications that use IDBObjectStore. They do not work in Microsoft Edge and IE mode.
• This update addresses an issue that affects all the registry settings under the Policies paths. They might be deleted. This occurs when you do not rename the local temporary user policy file during Group Policy processing.
• This update affects the Desktop Window Manager (DWM). It improves its reliability.
• This update addresses an issue that affects .msi files. A minor update is not installed. This occurs when you use the EnterpriseDesktopAppManagement configuration service provider (CSP) to distribute the .msi file.
• This update addresses an issue that affects msftconnecttext.net. It gets excessive HTTP traffic.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Spooler service. It stops working. This issue occurs when you print using a certain workspace.
• This update addresses an issue that affects devices that use the Network Protector for BitLocker. The device will not resume after it has been suspended..
• This update addresses an issue that affects a tib.sys driver. It does not load. This occurs when HyperVisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled.
• This update addresses an issue that affects TextInputHost.exe. It stops working.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 users. You might not see the right location for a Remote Desktop session in your virtual machine or Cloud PC.
• This update addresses an issue that affects HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. You can now set and maintain the correct default permissions for this directory path. When the permissions are wrong, Start menu, search, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication fails.
• This update addresses an issue that affects those who enable the “Smart Card is Required for Interactive Logon” account option. When RC4 is disabled, you cannot authenticate to Remote Desktop Services farms. The error message is, "An authentication error has occurred. The requested encryption type is not supported by the KDC.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. It might stop responding indefinitely. This occurs after you try to view the effective access permissions for files in File Explorer.
• If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22000.2110

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

After installing this or later updates, Windows devices with some third-party UI customization apps might not start up. These third-party apps might cause errors with explorer.exe that might repeat multiple times in a loop. The known affected third-party UI customization apps are ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack. These types of apps often use unsupported methods to achieve their customization and as a result can have unintended results on your Windows device.

Workaround

We recommend uninstalling any third-party UI customization app before installing this or later updates to prevent this issue. If your Windows device is already experiencing this issue, you might need to contact customer support for the developer of the app you are using. If you are using StartAllBack, you might be able to prevent this issue by updating to the latest version (v3.5.6 or later).

We are presently investigating and will provide more information when it is available.

You can check out the entire support page here.

Source

Microsoft says the bug affects 32-bit Office installed on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 (client versions 22H2 and 21H2, plus Windows Server 2022). Even though Microsoft changed the default Office installation from 32-bit to 64-bit in 2018, many people may still be using 32-bit Office. However, you need a specific antivirus and a specific version to experience the problem—according to Microsoft, the issue occurs on systems using Trellix Endpoint Security version earlier than 35.31.25.

After installing KB5027231 or later updates on Windows devices with certain antivirus, antimalware or security software installed, you might not be able to open Microsoft or third-party apps. Some known affected apps are Microsoft Outlook and other Microsoft Office apps. This issue only occurs with 32-bit apps running on 64-bit Windows with Trellix Endpoint Security version earlier than 35.31.25. When attempting to open an affected app, Event Log indicates an access violation with the error "module is unknown". This issue is not likely to be encountered by consumers using Windows devices in their home.

Affected customers can resolve the problem by updating Trellix Endpoint Security Agent to version 35.31.25 and newer. Although Microsoft has only mentioned Trellix Endpoint Security Agent, other antivirus apps might cause the same problem. Therefore, the company recommends that those using other anti-malware solutions and experiencing issues with Office apps should contact customer support of the security software they use.

You can learn more about the problem with Outlook not opening on Windows 10 and 11 after the June Patch Tuesday update in the official Windows Health Dashboard documentation.

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What is new in Microsoft Edge Dev 116.0.1938.1?

Here is the official changelog provided by Microsoft:

New Features:

• Added Lock tabs feature in Workspaces.

Improved reliability:  

iOS:

• Fixed browser crash when tapping on the search bar.

Changed behavior: 

• Fixed the Address bar and Close button not working while using Split screen.
• Fixed Workspaces menu not responding to clicks.

macOS:

• Sidebar now works when the browser is in full screen.

iOS:

• Fixed Face ID not working on autofill saved passwords.

Android:

• Fixed the address bar size in the InPrivate mode.

WebView2:

• Fixed old versions of WebView2 are not cleaned up (#3344)
• Fixed PrintAsync Function Bug if PrinterName contains Chinese characters (#3379)

For those unaware, Edge Workspaces is a productivity feature Microsoft officially unveiled during the recent Build developer conference. Workspaces allow you to create tab sets and invite others to work together within one workspace. In addition, with Edge Workspaces, you can track your team's progress and see changes as they happen in real-time. Currently, Edge Workspaces is in preview, and you can learn how to join the testing by heading to this article.

Edge Insiders can download Microsoft Edge Dev from the official website. The browser is available on Windows 10 and 11, macOS, Linux, and Android. According to the release schedule, Edge 116 will arrive in the Stable Channel on the week of August 10, 2023. Those using Edge Beta will get version 116 on the week of July 18, 2023.

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“The new version of DeskScapes is compelling both for animated and standard wallpapers,” said Brad Sams, Vice President of Stardock Software. “For fans of animated wallpapers, we include DreamMaker Pro, which is both powerful and easy to use for creating or enhancing desktop backgrounds. We also added seamless integration to cloud-based services for finding desktop backgrounds.”

DeskScapes 11 features a much more streamlined approach for users who love creating their own backgrounds, allowing them to build their ideal background right from within the app. There are dozens of customization options to choose from, plus users can combine as many effects as they want in order to create a truly custom look.

The new version of DeskScapes focuses on the user friendliness of the app above all, with popular Dream authors easily searchable from within the main menu and a new playlist feature that will allow users to create a list that plays through a sequence of backgrounds. The app has also been updated so that it runs more smoothly and uses less system resources.

And because images doesn't really do the app justice, here's an example animation (.mp4) and release trailer. You don't have to wait for Windows 12 to offer a similar feature natively, you can get it right now on Windows 10 and 11.

The included DreamMaker Pro tool is designed to make it easy to create animated backgrounds. It includes dozens of different effects, drawing tools, brushes, logos, particle effects, and much more. With DeskScapes 11, it has never been easier to create, organize, and enhance your desktop wallpaper for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

DeskScapes 11 is available now as a standalone app for $3.99, or through Stardock's Object Desktop suite of desktop enhancements. Object Desktop includes programs such as Fences, Start10 and Start11, Groupy, SoundPackager, and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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FireCube Studios launched its free preview version of Clippy in the Microsoft Store this week (via TechRadar) for Windows 10 and 11 users. With this version, Clippy is a way to get answers from OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, in this case the GPT 3.5 model. As the developer notes, you can pin Clippy to the desktop so you can access it for quick generative AI answers to questions.

The good news is that the Clippy app is available for free. The big catch, at least for now, is that you will need to purchase an OpenAI key in order for the Clippy app to actually work for you. The developers says they are trying to launch a new version where buying that key is not needed to use Clippy.

The app itself is open source, and you can get the code from GitHub. FireCube Studios says they are working on more improvements for its version of Clippy. That includes adding even more Office Assistant characters, including the truly infamous Bob.

Bob was basically a smiley yellow face with glasses. It was also the logo for Microsoft's software that was supposed to offer a version of Windows with a "friendlier" UI. It launched in March 1995, before the release of Windows 95, but it bombed hard and was quickly retired less than a year later.

While most people think back on Clippy with nostalgia, it's clear Microsoft doesn't want to bring a version of that Office Assistant again for Bing Chat or Copilot, even as an option. This unofficial version of Clippy will have to do for now.

Source

Locally hosted resources can include images or files needed or used by web programs on your device. Other local resources could include access to devices on your network, such as NAS instances, locally hosted servers, shared network printer files, shared network device/computer data, etc.

It is common for websites and local web apps to request access to local resources to fingerprint users or collect information about what software runs on a user's machine.

"Surprising though it may be, most browsers allow websites to access these local resources just as easily as they can access other resources on the web," explains Brave.

This practice has been documented since at least 2020 on websites such as eBay, Citibank, Chick-fil-A, and many more as part of an anti-fraud script used on the associated sites.

Ebay portscanning users in the past
Source: StackExchange

 

Brave says all major modern browsers, including Chrome and Firefox, allow websites to request access to local resources and use them without restriction.

Safari blocks these requests even when they come from secure public websites as a side-effect of its security measures rather than a specific design decision to stop this dangerous practice.

Brave is introducing a localhost access permission to tackle this problem while still permitting sites they trust to access local resources for a limited time.

New localhost resources permission prompt
Source: Brave

 

"Brave is the only browser that will block requests to localhost resources from both secure and insecure public sites, while still maintaining a compatibility path for sites that users trust," pledges the Brave team.

"Starting in version 1.54 (current is v1.52), Brave for desktop and Android will include more powerful features for controlling which sites can access local network resources, and for how long."

By default, no sites will be granted permission to access localhost resources, so users can give it manually by going to "brave://settings/content/localhostAccess" on the desktop or "Settings > Site settings > Localhost Access" on Android.

Besides this new permission mechanism, Brave will use filter list rules to block scripts and sites that abuse localhost access.

At the same time, Brave will maintain and update an allow-list of trusted sites that will be allowed to prompt users to permit them to access local network resources upon their first visit.

Requests to localhost resources from a localhost context will still be allowed to pass through without requiring special permissions.

Source

Here's the changelog:

GAMING HIGHLIGHTS

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

• AEW: Fight Forever
• Layers of Fear

Game performance improvements versus Intel 31.0.101.4502 software driver for:

Assassin’s Creed Unity (DX11)

• Up to 271% uplift at 1080p with Very High settings
• Up to 313% uplift at 1440p with High settings

F1 22 (DX12)

• Up to 36% uplift at 1080p with High settings
• Up to 20% uplift at 1440p with High settings
• Up to 10% uplift at 1080p with Ultra High settings and all Ray Tracing settings on

Deathloop (DX12)

• Up to 10% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Up to 8% uplift at 1440p with Very High settings

KNOWN ISSUES

Intel Arc Graphics Products:

• System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery.
• GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement.
• Streaming Dota 2 using XSplit Broadcaster may exhibit corruption in Game Capture mode.
• Blender 3.6 may experience an application crash during render operations when Hardware Ray Tracing is enabled

Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics Products:

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

Intel Core Processor Products:

• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios.
• Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire.
• Conqueror's Blade (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch.
• A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay.

INTEL ARC CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES

• Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files.
• With Intel Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate.
• May observe “could not stop Highlights” notification when stopping Auto-Game Highlights.
• The Camera on-screen preview may incorrectly persist when switching between Desktop and Overlay modes.
• The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP when using an HDMI display connection.
• Arc Control may become unresponsive after a driver upgrade. A workaround is to perform a clean driver installation using Display Driver Uninstaller.

You can check out the full release notes for the graphics drivers here (PDF) and download the beta drivers here.

Source

Here's the changelog:

Highlights

New! This update expands the roll out of notification badging for Microsoft accounts on the Start menu. A Microsoft account is what connects Windows to your Microsoft apps. The account backs up all your data and helps you to manage your subscriptions. You can also add extra security steps to keep you from being locked out of your account. This feature gives you quick access to important account-related notifications.

New! This update improves the sharing of a local file in File Explorer with Microsoft Outlook contacts. You now have the option to quickly email the file to yourself. In addition, loading your contacts from Outlook is better. This feature is not available for files stored in Microsoft OneDrive folders. OneDrive has its own sharing functionality.

New! This update adds live captions for the following languages:

• Chinese (Simplified and Traditional)
• French (France, Canada)
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal)
• Spanish
• Danish
• English (Ireland, other English dialects)
• Korean

To turn on live captions, use the WIN + Ctrl + Lkeyboard shortcut. You can also use the Quick Settings accessibility flyout menu. When you turn it on for the first time, Windows will ask you to download the required speech recognition support. Speech recognition support might not be available in your preferred language, or you might want support in other languages. You can download speech recognition support from Settings > Time & Language > Language & region. To learn more, see Use live captions to better understand audio.

New! This update redesigns the in-app voice access command help page.Every command now has a description and examples of its variations. The search bar allows you to quickly find commands. The new categories provide further guidance. You can access the command help page on the voice access bar from Help > View all commands or use the voice access command “what can I say?” Note that the help page might not include all commands. Also, the supplementary information might be inaccurate. We plan to update this in the future. For a list of all Voice Access commands, see Use voice access to control your PC & author text with your voice.

New! This update adds voice access command support for the following English dialects:

• English (United Kingdom)
• English (India)
• English (New Zealand)
• English (Canada)
• English (Australia)

When you turn on voice access for the first time, Windows will ask you to download a speech model. You might not find a speech model that matches your display language. You can still use voice access in English (US). You can always choose a different language from Settings > Language on the voice access bar.

New! This update adds new text selection and editing voice access commands. S

New! This update adds a VPN status icon, a small shield, to the system tray. It displays when you are connected to a recognized VPN profile. The VPN icon will be overlayed in your system’s accent colour over the active network connection.

New! You can now choose to display seconds in the clock on the system tray. To turn this on, go to the Taskbar behaviors section in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. You can also right-click the taskbar to quickly get to taskbar settings.

New! This update provides a copy button for you to quickly copy two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. These are in notification toasts you get from apps installed on your PC or from phones linked to your PC. Note that this feature only works for English.

New! This update adds access key shortcuts to File Explorer’s context menu. An access key is a one keystroke shortcut. You can use it to quickly run a command in a context menu using your keyboard. Each access key corresponds to a letter in the display name of the menu item. To try this out, you can click on a file in File Explorer and press the menu key on your keyboard.

New! This update adds multi-app kiosk mode, which is a lockdown feature. If you are an administrator, you can specify the apps that can run on a device. Other apps will not run. You can also block certain functionalities. You can configure distinct types of access and apps to run for different users on one device. Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people use the same device. Some examples are frontline workers, retail, education, and test taking. Some lockdown customizations include:

Limit access to Settings, except certain pages, such as Wi-Fi and screen brightness

Show only the apps that are allowed on the Start menu

Block certain toasts and pop-up windows

Currently, you can enable multi-app kiosk mode using PowerShell and WMI Bridge. To learn more, see Set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 11 and AssignedAccess CSP. Support for Microsoft Intune, mobile device management (MDM), and provisioning package configuration is coming soon.

New! This update introduces live kernel memory dump (LKD) collection from Task Manager. Using LKD, you can gather data to troubleshoot an issue while the OS continues to work. This reduces downtime when you must investigate an unresponsive program or high-impact failures. To learn more, see Task Manager live memory dump.

To capture an LKD, go to Task Manager > Details. Right-click the System process. Select Create live kernel memory dump file. This capturesa Full live kernel or Kernel stack memory dump. The dump will be written to a fixed location: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\TaskManager\LiveKernelDumps. You can also go to the Task Manager Settings page to view or edit the settings for live kernel memory dumps.

New! This update replaces the settings for Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached. These are located at Settings > Time & language > Typing > Touch keyboard. A new dropdown menu gives you three options to control whether tapping an edit control should open the touch keyboard. The options are:

Never. This suppresses the touch keyboard even when no hardware keyboard is attached.

When no keyboard attached. This shows the touch keyboard only when you use the device as a tablet without the hardware keyboard.

Always. This shows the touch keyboard even when the hardware keyboard is attached.

New! This update enables Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) to run on laptops and 2-in-1 devices. This feature dims or brightens areas of a display based on the content. It tries to strike a balance between saving battery life and providing a good visual experience. You can adjust the feature setting from Settings > System > Display > Brightness & colour. Thedrop-down menu gives you three options: Off, Always, and On Battery Only. For battery powered devices, the default is On Battery Only. Because the device manufacturer must enable CABC, the feature might not be on all laptops or 2-in-1 devices.

New! This update adds a USB4 hubs and devices Settings page. You can find it at Settings> Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 Hubs and Devices. This new page provides information about the system’s USB4 capabilities and the attached peripherals on a system that supports USB4. This information helps with troubleshooting when you need manufacturer or system administrator support. Some features include:

You can view the tree of the connected USB4 hubs and devices.

You can copy details to the clipboard to share them.

If your system does not support USB4 with the Microsoft USB4 Connection Manager, this page will not appear. On systems that support USB4, you will see USB4 Host Router in Device Manager.

New! This update adds a presence sensor privacy setting in Settings > Privacy & security > Presence sensing. If you have a device that has compatible presence sensors, you can now choose the apps that can access those sensors. You can also choose the apps that do not have access. Microsoft does not collect images or metadata. The device hardware processes your information locally to maximize privacy.

New! This update improves the performance of search within Settings.

New! This update changes the default print screen (prt scr) key behavior. Pressing the print screen key opens the Snipping Tool by default. You can turn off this setting from Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. If you have previously changed this setting, Windows will preserve your preference.

New! This update introduces a limit of 20 most recent tabs in Settings > Multitasking. This affects the number of tabs that appear when you use ALT + TAB and Snap Assist.

New! This update improves the cloud suggestion and the integrated search suggestion. This helps you to easily type popular words in Simplified Chinese using the Input Method Editor (IME). The cloud suggestion adds the most relevant word from Microsoft Bing to the IME candidate window. The integrated search suggestion gives you additional suggestions that are like what you see on a Bing search page. You can insert a suggestion as text or search for it directly in Bing. To turn on these features, select a chevron button in the upper right of the IME candidate window. Then select the Turn on button.

New! This update improves your computer’s performance when you use a mouse that has a high report rate for gaming. To learn more, see “Reduced game stutter with high report rate mice” in Delivering Delightful Performance for More Than One Billion Users Worldwide.

This update addresses an issue that affects the on-screen keyboard. The issue stops it from opening after you lock the machine.

This update addresses an issue that might affect your computer when you are playing a game. Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) errors might occur.

This update addresses an issue that affects certain apps. In some instances, video flickering occurs.

This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer (explorer.exe). It stops working.

This update addresses an issue that affects some earbuds. They stop streaming music.

This update addresses an issue that affects the Recommended section of the Start menu. When you right-click a local file, it does not behave as expected.

Improvements

This non-security update includes quality improvements. When you install this KB:

New! This update adds many new features and improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

New! With this update, you can now authenticate across Microsoft clouds. This feature also satisfies Conditional Access checks if they are needed.

New! This update affects virtual memory ranges. They are now added to kernel-generated minidumps after a stop error. These ranges are marked by a KbCallbackTriageDumpData BugCheck Callback Routine.

New! This update improves several simplified Chinese fonts and the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME). They now support GB18030-2022. Characters in the Standard Chinese Characters List (GB18030-2022 implementation level 2) are available in Microsoft Yahei (regular, light, and bold), Dengxian (optional font: regular, light, and bold), and Simsun. The Simsun Ext-B font (GB18030-2022 implementation level 3) now supports Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs Extensions E and F.

This update affects the reliability of Windows. It improves after you update the OS.

This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Intune push notifications. The issue stops devices that have less than 3.5 GB of RAM from getting them.

This update addresses an issue that affects certain apps. It stops working when it tries to scan a barcode.

This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. The issue stops Narrator from retaining your scan mode when you switch between browsers.

This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. It reads the wrong state when you cancel the selection of an option button you have selected.

This update addresses an issue that affects Teams. The issue stops Teams from alerting you about missed calls or messages.

This update addresses an issue that affects a scheduled monthly task. It might not run on time if the next occurrence happens when daylight savings time occurs.

This update addresses an issue that affects certain applications that use IDBObjectStore. They do not work in Microsoft Edge and IE mode.

This update addresses an issue that affects all the registry settings under the Policies paths. They might be deleted. This occurs when you do not rename the local temporary user policy file during Group Policy processing.

This update gives user accounts the ability to open an elevated Windows Terminal. This only works if they use an admin account that has not signed in before.

This update affects the Desktop Window Manager (DWM). It improves its reliability.

This update addresses an issue that affects .msi files. A minor update is not installed. This occurs when you use the EnterpriseDesktopAppManagement configuration service provider (CSP) to distribute the .msi file.

This update addresses an issue that affects msftconnecttext.net. It gets excessive HTTP traffic.

This update addresses an issue that affects the Spooler service. It stops working. This issue occurs when you print using a certain workspace.

This update addresses an issue that affects devices that use the Network Protector for BitLocker. The device will not resume after it has been suspended.

This update addresses an issue that affects a tib.sys driver. It does not load. This occurs when HyperVisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled.

This update addresses an issue that affects TextInputHost.exe. It stops working.

This update addresses an issue that affects Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 users. You might not see the right location for a Remote Desktop session in your virtual machine or Cloud PC.

This update addresses an issue that affects HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. You can now set and maintain the correct default permissions for this directory path. When the permissions are wrong, Start menu, search, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication fails.

This update affects Active Directory event ID 1644 processing. It now accepts events of greater than 64 KB in length. This change truncates Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) queries contained within event 1644 to 20000 characters by default. You can configure the 20K value using the registry key "DEFAULT_DB_EXPENSIVE_SEARCH_FILTER_MAX_LOGGING_LENGTH_IN_CHARS."

This update addresses an issue that affects those who enable the “Smart Card is Required for Interactive Logon” account option. When RC4 is disabled, you cannot authenticate to Remote Desktop Services farms. The error message is, "An authentication error has occurred. The requested encryption type is not supported by the KDC.”

This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. It might stop responding indefinitely. This occurs after you try to view the effective access permissions for files in File Explorer.

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

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22621.1916

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

IT Admins

Using provisioning packages on Windows 11, version 22H2 (also called Windows 11 2022 Update) might not work as expected. Windows might only be partially configured, and the Out Of Box Experience might not finish or might restart unexpectedly. Provisioning packages are .PPKG files which are used to help configure new devices for use on business or school networks. Provisioning packages which are applied during initial setup are most likely to be impacted by this issue. For more information on provisioning packages, please see Provisioning packages for Windows.

Note Provisioning Windows devices using Windows Autopilot is not affected by this issue.

Windows devices used by consumers in their home or small offices are not likely to be affected by this issue.

Workarounds

If you can provision the Windows device before upgrading to Windows 11, version 22H2, this will prevent the issue.

We are presently investigating and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

You can check out the full support page here.

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Here is the changelog:

Highlights

This update addresses an issue that affects the on-screen keyboard. The issue stops it from opening after you lock the machine.

Improvements

New! This update adds many new features and improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

New! With this update, you can now authenticate across Microsoft clouds. This feature also satisfies Conditional Access checks if they are needed.

New! New! This update improves several simplified Chinese fonts and the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME). They now support GB18030-2022. Characters in the Standard Chinese Characters List (GB18030-2022 implementation level 2) are available in Microsoft Yahei (regular, light, and bold), Dengxian (optional font: regular, light, and bold), and Simsun. The Simsun Ext-B font (GB18030-2022 implementation level 3) now supports Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs Extensions E and F.

This update addresses an issue that affects a scheduled monthly task. It might not run on time if the next occurrence happens when daylight savings time occurs.

This update addresses an issue that affects all the registry settings under the Policies paths. They might be deleted. This occurs when you do not rename the local temporary user policy file during Group Policy processing.

This update affects the Desktop Window Manager (DWM). It improves its reliability.

This update addresses an issue that affects .msi files. A minor update is not installed. This occurs when you use the EnterpriseDesktopAppManagement configuration service provider (CSP) to distribute the .msi file.

This update addresses an issue that affects the Spooler service. It stops working. This issue occurs when you print using a certain workspace.

This update addresses an issue that affects a tib.sys driver. It does not load. This occurs when HyperVisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled.

This update addresses an issue that affects NCryptGetProperty(). When you call it with NCRYPT_KEY_TYPE_PROPERTY, the system returns 0x1 instead of 0x20. This occurs when the key is a machine key.

This update addresses an issue that affects HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. You can now set and maintain the correct default permissions for this directory path. When the permissions are wrong, the Start menu, search, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication fail.

This update addresses an issue that affects those who enable the “Smart Card is Required for Interactive Logon” account option. When RC4 is disabled, you cannot authenticate to Remote Desktop Services farms. The error message is, "An authentication error has occurred. The requested encryption type is not supported by the KDC.”

This update addresses an issue that affects HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. You can now set and maintain the correct default permissions for this directory path. When the permissions are wrong, Start menu, search, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication fails.

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

Windows 10 servicing stack update - 19045.3025

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

Devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. This issue is only encountered when custom offline media or ISO images are created by slipstreaming this update into the image without having first installed the standalone servicing stack update (SSU) released March 29, 2021 or later.

Note Devices that connect directly to Windows Update to receive updates are not affected. This includes devices using Windows Update for Business. Any device connecting to Windows Update should always receive the latest versions of the SSU and latest cumulative update (LCU) without any extra steps.

Workaround

To avoid this issue, be sure to first slipstream the SSU released March 29, 2021 or later into the custom offline media or ISO image before slipstreaming the LCU. To do this with the combined SSU and LCU packages now used for Windows 10, version 20H2 and Windows 10, version 2004, you will need to extract the SSU from the combined package. Use the following steps to extract the SSU:

Extract the cab from the msu via this command line (using the package for KB5000842 as an example): expand Windows10.0-KB5000842-x64.msu /f:Windows10.0-KB5000842-x64.cab

Extract the SSU from the previously extracted cab via this command line: expand Windows10.0-KB5000842-x64.cab /f:*

You will then have the SSU cab, in this example named SSU-19041.903-x64.cab. Slipstream this file into your offline image first, then the LCU.

If you have already encountered this issue by installing the OS using affected custom media, you can mitigate it by directly installing the new Microsoft Edge. If you need to broadly deploy the new Microsoft Edge for business, see Download and deploy Microsoft Edge for business.

You can check out the full support page here.

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The FTC filing (via Windows Central) shows a heavily redacted Microsoft document dated June 2022. In a slide labeled "Modern Life strategy and priorities", it shows the company's fiscal year 2022 goals of increasing growth in Windows 11 PCs along with online services like Microsoft 365, Xbox Game Pass, and more.

However, in a section with the name "Long Term Needle-Moving Opportunities," we get a glimpse of Microsoft's possible future plans for Windows. It states:

Move Windows 11 increasingly to the cloud: Build on Windows 365 to enable a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device. Use the power of the cloud and client to enable improved AI-powered services and full roaming of people's digital experience.

This possible future for the Windows business should not be a huge surprise. Microsoft has been trying to move other products like its Office lineup of productivity software to the cloud for years, followed by its Xbox and PC games via its Xbox Cloud gaming (a.k.a. XCloud). Offering a full Windows PC experience for the consumer at a monthly subscription price is the logical next step. Indeed, Insider versions of Windows 11 have added Cloud PC options to Settings.

We will point out that this internal document was created a number of months before Microsoft decided to go all in on generative AI products like the current Bing Chat and its Copilot features for Windows and Microsoft 365, among others. Offering a full Windows experience on the cloud may not be as big of a priority for the company now as it was a year ago at this time.

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What you need to know

• Bing Chat in Microsoft Edge's Sidebar has received some useful new features.
• A new export feature allows you to convert Bing Chat's findings into various formats.
• The "Mentioned" section provides images in relation to important concepts that have been mentioned.

Bing Chat in Microsoft Edge gained more tools to improve the experience whilst using the AI-powered tool in the Sidebar. The bot gained the ability to export text and a section below the main body of the Chat text called "Mentioned", which adds images from highlighted words.

Twitter user Leopeva64, a well-known Edge expert, brought these features to our attention. The tweet shows how there's an export button allowing you to send your findings straight to a Word document, text file or PDF, which is pretty neat. Similar functionality made its way to Bing Chat earlier this month, but it was limited to when anyone used the chatbot in a dedicated tab.

In addition to the new sharing option, there is now a "Mentioned" section. It shows related content to things Bing Chat highlighted in a chat as important. This serves as a nice visual indicator of the key takeaways from a conversation instead of only providing text.

The export option is arguably the bigger addition to Bing Chat. Being able to export your findings, be it for research or to simply get ideas for some project you're working on, can speed up whatever work it is you're doing. Leopeva64 mentions that this was first shown last month, but that this is the first time it he has seen it implemented.

The Bing Chat train shows no signs of coming to a halt any time soon so you can expect more features like this to keep rolling out to Edge as Microsoft keeps refining the experience.

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Undoubtedly, Skype is widely popular globally as a widely-used application for video calling, video conferencing, and voice calling. However, like any other app in its category, Skype is prone to encountering bugs or errors.

A specific instance involves users encountering difficulties making video calls after installing the v8.95 update. Currently, some individuals are facing challenges when trying to initiate calls to mobile devices or landlines.

A significant number of Skype users are currently facing the "Skype your connection is too weak error" when they try to make calls to mobiles and landlines. This error typically occurs due to a poor or unstable connection. Users report receiving an error message that states, "Your connection is too weak, please try later," when initiating calls via Skype.

Adding to the frustration, some individuals are also encountering sudden call disconnections within seconds of starting the call, further aggravating the problem. This persistent issue has been ongoing for the past few days, primarily affecting users making calls to China.

Interestingly, the Skype your connection is too weak error is not limited to users calling from outside China. Surprisingly, even individuals with phone numbers from China itself are experiencing this problem.

Individuals living in the US and the UK are experiencing issues with both incoming and outgoing calls on Skype. This situation is undeniably frustrating for those who heavily depend on Skype to connect with their colleagues for professional purposes or to keep in touch with family members who reside in other countries.

“Recently I got message “Your connection is too weak, please try later” when calling China. I chatted with Skype service associate and was informed that China has restricted calls from Skype,” stated a Redditor.

“I have subscribed to skype for unlimited landline calling but when I try calling on any UK number, I won’t get a call to be connected or not even ringing but asking for the credit. I need to resolve this issue ASAP please,” another Redditor added.

Despite their attempts to resolve the issue, the affected users have tried various troubleshooting methods, including adjusting settings, using different phone numbers, and attempting different devices, but none of these measures have proven successful. Interestingly, when seeking assistance from the Skype support team, users were informed that the inability to make calls to Chinese numbers from Skype is actually a result of a restriction imposed by the Chinese government. This recent revelation provides insight into the root cause of the problem.

How to fix the Skype your connection is too weak error?

Unfortunately there's no official method to fix this error right now. Although, Skype has acknowledged the presence of this issue and has taken responsibility for its resolution. The Skype team is actively working to address the "Skype your connection is too weak error." However, they have not yet provided an estimated time for when the bug fix will be implemented. Rest assured, Skype is putting in considerable effort to rectify the problem and restore normal functionality, aiming to ensure a seamless calling experience for its users.

“We have identified the cause of this incident and are actively working on fixing it. Some users might be experiencing problems when calling mobiles and landlines from Skype. Unexpected call drops might also occur. Users may be unable to make Skype Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls to Chinese numbers,” stated Skype.

It is crucial for Microsoft to acknowledge and prioritize the concerns of its users, ensuring a smooth and reliable calling experience on Skype.

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Zoom isn’t the same as it used to be. Without a wide-ranging pandemic keeping everybody at home, and with more companies demanding their workers slog to the office, the video conference company is trying to angle its software to increasingly hybridized workplaces. Now, the company is adding features to ensure everybody in a meeting is seen up close and personal, no matter how hard they try and avoid eye contact during regular company meet-and-greets.

On Tuesday, Zoom announced its new Intelligent Director feature, meant to allow more people in mid-to-large sized board rooms to appear present in a meeting, even if they’re trying to squirm far away from the evil eye of a camera within a giant screen at the head of the room. Zoom’s software will focus on each participant’s face, display their face in a box on screen, then track them as they move. The company claimed this new system avoids the “bowling alley effect” seen in a lot of large board room video meetings where most participants sit as far away from the camera as possible like all the cool kids hiding in the back of the class. Intelligent Director is available now but only available on a case-by-case basis, and companies need to individually contact Zoom through the website to sign up.

The system can currently track up to 16 meeting members, the company said. The machine learning that powers the software can also decide what best camera to use to track participants head-on—as long as there’s multiple cameras set up in the space. The feature is essentially an extension of the existing Smart Gallery video feeds, though now it can use multiple cameras to make sure there’s be no chance of avoiding eye contact in a meeting.

In a demonstration, the company showed that the cameras will automatically pick up on any figure that has a face or shoulders, even cardboard cutouts of people like Michael Scott from The Office. Zoom Chief Product Officer Smita Hashim claimed its system doesn’t collect any kind of biometric data, but simply detects if the people in front of the camera have the requisite proportions.

Zoom stressed this lack of data gathering to Gizmodo. Earlier this year, rights groups criticized the company after an executive mentioned the company was interested in potentially incorporating emotion-tracking AI into the Zoom experience. While Zoom described the new Director as AI, its more like a highly focused machine learning-based head-tracking algorithm. Earlier this year, Zoom announced it was adding other AI features from OpenAI’s API that can summarize chats, whiteboard sessions, and creating meeting agendas.

There are limits to this system, however. The AI cannot differentiate between who is in a room and who remains outside. A person walking by a meeting room window will briefly appear as a talking head in the meeting until after they disappear out of view. The company said it is working on iterating with this feature in the future to fine tune its ability to only recognize figures meant to be in the meeting.

This new system won’t work with any off the rack webcam. Certain cameras like the AVer Cam550, the Poly e70, and the Yealink UVC 86 are designed to work with Intelligent Director. The minimum specs require a computer running an Apple M1 chip or an Intel i5 processor. It’s also only supported on Windows and Mac platforms, though Zoom promised wider availability in the future.

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Your woes with email might be with your current email client but there’s nothing to stop you from getting a new one. If you’re looking for ways to be way more productive, we have the perfect combination for you — Vivaldi Mail built into the Vivaldi browser. It takes two to tango!

The best email clients are focused on getting things done quickly, have customizable keyboard shortcuts, and give you features like search, filter, and more.

Vivaldi Mail does all of the above and more! We’ve always believed in the power of an email client integrated with the browser. Needless to say, this makes the whole experience powerful and productive.

Unlike most email clients, Vivaldi Mail does all the heavy lifting for you – automatically detecting mailing lists and mail threads, as well as offering a powerful search feature. Vivaldi Mail is one of the most powerful email clients on the market, and it achieves its magic all on your local device.

You can use multiple email accounts in Vivaldi Mail, so you don’t have to toggle back and forth between different apps. You get the tools to organize multiple inboxes and identities in one place.

But there’s simply more to the advantages of this Mail+Browser combo. Here are five quick tips to make the most out of the combined browsing and email experience:

#1 – Reply with tiling

By hitting “Reply” your message will open in a new browser tab. You can use Tab Tiling to put your email reply and whatever web tabs you need to compose your answer side-by-side.

In addition, if you’d like to view multiple messages at once you can open each message in a new tab by double clicking on them. Now you can tile all the emails, replies, forwarded, or new messages you’d like. All at once.

Another benefit is that you can scroll up and down in a long message, and write a reply simultaneously without losing your place. Worth a try!

#2 – Add links to the Reading List

Right-click on a link in a message and add it to the reading list. Voilà!

Skim-read your newsletters, pick out what looks most interesting to you, and put them in the Reading List for later. This way you can quickly extract the best out of a pile of newsletters and move on to your next task.

We built the Reading List into the browser to save pages you want to read later. You can use it instantly – no service signup is required. You’ll discover it in the browser’s side Panel.

#3 – Open links in tabs and Workspaces

As part of our design philosophy, we give different ways to use a feature or an action in the browser. This helps us adapt to the unique workflows of users.

Therefore point no. 2 (above) has variations too! You can right-click on the link in an email to open it in the background tab.

This, like the Reading List, allows you to process/skim through incoming emails with links, and open the important and valuable ones in the background. The downside of using an external client is that you have to open links in the foreground and change back and forth between different apps.

Open links in Background Tabs.

But we can do better! Let’s try using Workspaces. For example, perhaps you are working on a sales newsletter with a new game or some nice shoes, and you also have a Workspace named ‘Shopping’. You can simply open the link in the shopping workspace.

Similarly, you can go through links that are work-related or private, or represent your hobbies, and open them into their respective Workspaces. This is not possible in external mail clients as they would always open links in the currently open workspace.

Open links in Workspaces

Pro-tip: We recommend using Workspaces in Vivaldi because it will help you tame your tab jungle beautifully and efficiently.

#4 – Translate messages

Open a message in a foreign language, select the text, right-click the selection, and choose “Translate” from the menu.

This may not be unique but what makes it special is that our translation tool is privacy-friendly. The translation engine is hosted on Vivaldi servers in Iceland. This means there are no third-party servers involved. And it also means you don’t have to share what you read with ‘prying eyes’.

Pro-tip: You can get extra perks by trying “Copy To Note” and “Add as Calendar Event” when right-clicking on the text that you highlighted.

Translate a selection of text quickly.

#5 – Quickly quote any text on a website in an email

Simply select a text on a website and right-click to ‘send by Mail’.

For example, when you find an interesting piece of content on a website that you can’t wait to share, you can simply highlight the text, right-click, and pick “Send by email”. The highlighted text and link to the website will then be copied into a new email for you ready to edit and send once you’ve added some recipients.

Share a text on a website through an email easily.

Now that you have learned a thing or two about Vivaldi Mail and its ease to work with the browser’s functionality, you may ask yourself, “Great, but how do I set it up in the browser?”

It is an easy process: start by downloading the Vivaldi browser. New users are asked to set up their email on the first run.v Already enjoying Vivaldi? Enable Mail from “Settings → Mail → Enable Mail, Calendar and Feeds”. From here, you can also add your email accounts.

Setting it up comes with the added benefit of an integrated Vivaldi Calendar, which makes it a snap to manage schedules and coordinate meetings, and a built-in Feed Reader where you can subscribe to feeds on websites straight from the Address Bar.

Finally, this might just come across as a relief to you — it does not lock you in the ecosystems of Big Tech. So if you are one of those who want to take control of your email situation, Vivaldi Mail will leave things in your control.

Get Vivaldi Mail and Calander when getting started with the Vivaldi browser.

Every story looks forward to its reactions from its readers. And rightly so, we are also looking forward to knowing which Mail+Browser combo you use or have used earlier. Or, is there a unique way in which you use Vivaldi Mail with the browser?

Let’s get the discussion going in the comments below!

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And as is often the case, there are major bugs affecting it as well. On Windows 11, Patch Tuesday was causing Malwarebytes to go a bit haywire and block Google Chrome. Meanwhile, users reported that Windows 10 updates were having installation issues.

Microsoft has now also patched an issue related to how the .NET Framework runtime update on June 13 would affect the imports of X.509 Certificates. Unlike how they functioned before, there the additional validation could now lead to CryptographicException error.

Description of change

Prior to the June 13, 2023, change, when .NET Framework and .NET is presented with a binary certificate blob for import, .NET Framework and .NET would typically delegate validation and import of the blob to the underlying OS. For example, on Windows, .NET Framework and .NET would typically rely on the PFXImportCertStore API for validation and import.

As of the June 13, 2023, change, when .NET Framework and .NET is presented with a binary certificate blob for import, .NET Framework and .NET will in some circumstances perform additional validation before handing the blob to the underlying OS. This additional validation performs a series of heuristic checks to determine if the incoming certificate would maliciously exhaust resources upon import. Since this is additional validation beyond what the underlying OS would normally perform, it may block certificate blobs which would have successfully imported prior to the June 13, 2023, change.

Microsoft has also detailed the symptoms of the issue:

Symptom

When using the X509Certificate, X509Certificate2, or X509Certificate2Collection class to import a PKCS#12 blob containing a private key, the calling application may observe the below exception.

System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException: PKCS12 (PFX) without a supplied password has exceeded maximum allowed iterations.

This failure affects PKCS#12 blobs which have been exported [e.g., via X509Certificate.Export(X509ContentType.Pfx)] without a password. The failure may occur non-deterministically.

A workaround for the problem had been deployed on affected systems, though the company states that any registry changes made to work around the problem must be reverted:

Workaround

Microsoft has released updated installers for .NET Framework and .NET to address this issue. These installers can be applied to the affected machine regardless of whether the machine has already applied the original June 13, 2023, .NET Framework and .NET security updates.

Important:

If you previously used the registry switches documented at KB5025823 Change in how .NET applications import X.509 certificates to work around this issue, please remove those registry switches before installing the new patch. Run the two commands below from an elevated command prompt to remove the registry switches.

reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework" /v Pkcs12UnspecifiedPasswordIterationLimit /reg:32

reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework" /v Pkcs12UnspecifiedPasswordIterationLimit /reg:64

These issues are addressed on Windows 10 as well as Windows 11, and more with the following out-of-band updates that can be manually downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

You may find more details about the issue on Microsoft's official website on this page (KB5028608).

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Microsoft Edge Canary version 116.0.1934.0 has a hidden "EdgePhoto" feature you can enable using a command line argument. Like many other changes in Canary, the first EdgePhoto implementation is extremely raw, buggy, and unstable. Still, it is enough to give you a general idea of what Microsoft is cooking in its labs. Here is how you can test it:

1. Update Microsoft Edge Canary to version 116.0.1934.0 or later.
2. Right-click the browser's icon and select Properties.
3. Click the Target field, press Spacebar, and type --enable-features=msEdgePhoto.
4. Save the changes and open Edge with the modified shortcut.
5. Open a picture by dragging it into Microsoft Edge. You will notice that the browser will locate other images from the same folder, similar to the standard Windows Photos app. In addition, there is a Pop-out button for opening images in a dedicated window without the browser's UI.

Microsoft has yet to announce the Edge Photo feature, so it is hard to explain the reasoning behind it, especially considering that Windows, macOS, and Linux have built-in photo viewers. Finally, it is worth reminding that changes in Canary may not see the light of day in more stable releases.

Speaking of images, one of the recent Microsoft Edge Canary updates clarified how the built-in image enhancer works. The browser sends URLs of the pictures you view online to Microsoft's servers for processing and enhancement. You can find more about it in our dedicated article.

Source: HotCakeX | Microsoft Tech Community Forums

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The recently released JavaGPT for Windows XP is an excellent example of such work. Still, despite being unsupported for almost a decade, Windows XP remains considered a relatively modern OS with a decent for its age market share. How about something more ancient? Here is an app that lets you use ChatGPT on PCs running Windows 3.1, an operating system released over 30 years ago.

WinGPT is a third-party app written in C using standard a Windows API from its era, and the standard set of controls. The only non-native UI element is the status bar, which the developer had to implement manually. Despite having a native status bar in Windows 3.1, Microsoft did not make it available to developers, so the WinGPT creator had to use custom code from 1997 to achieve the needed result.

What is more impressive is that the program connects to the OpenAI API server natively using TLS 1.3, an encryption standard released in 2018. This removes the need for a proxy machine with a modern operating system to establish and maintain communication. You can learn more about implementing TLS 1.3 in a 16-bit OS here.

As one may expect, WinGPT has some notable restraints. For example, due to limited memory support, WinGPT receives brief responses that do not consider the conversation context.

You can download WinGPT from the dialup.net website (try not to have a nostalgic shock when visiting it). The app will work on any 16 or 32-bit Windows version beyond 3.11 with an implementation of Winsock. Also, you need to enter your OpenAI API key to get WinGPT operating.

Learn more about the process of making WinGPT here.

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As revealed on the official Microsoft Teams blog, one of the two new features is the ability to customize captions in meetings. It was added to the public preview version of Teams in May. At the time Microsoft stated:

We have introduced a new Captions settings pane that allows you to customize the font colour and size, increase the number of lines that are displayed, and change the positioning of the captions in the meetings window. We have also added the ability to scroll through the most recent captions.

The other new feature, which was added to the public preview version of Teams in April, adds a new toggle for controlling profanity use in meetings. Microsoft stated:

With the newly introduced toggle for turning on or off profanity filtering in live captions in Teams meetings, you are now able to control whether you want to continue to leverage the profanity filtering capability provided out of the box, or if you prefer to see every word as they were spoken.

The Microsoft Teams division has already offered a number of other new features in its public preview edition that will roll out to all users in the near future. They include a new payments app for letting businesses take money from clients directly in Teams meetings. It's also testing a new way to allow team members in meetings to work together on writing notes and other content during a session.

Finally, just a few days ago, Microsoft 365 Insiders could start checking out the new support for animated backgrounds for users in Teams meetings.

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The Windows 11 Development Environment is a set of virtual machines you can use without activation for free for 90 days. The project's main purpose is to provide developers with all the necessary tools to start making apps for Windows, which include the following:

• Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition with USP, .NET Desktop, Azure, and Windows App SDK for C# workloads enabled.
• Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 enabled with Ubuntu installed and pinned to the taskbar.
• Windows Terminal installed.
• Windows Developer mode enabled.

WDE version 2306 is based on Windows 11 Enterprise SKU with build number 22621.1848, the latest release currently available in the stable channel. Version 22621.1848 is also known as the "Moment 3" update. Check out our full review to learn what is new in the Windows 11 "Moment 3" update.

It is worth noting that Microsoft is gradually rolling out "Moment 3" features. Therefore, the updated virtual machines have the new features disabled by default, but you can bypass that with the corresponding toggle in Windows Update settings.

The Windows 11 Development Environment version 2306 is valid until September 13, 2023. Microsoft notes that you cannot activate these virtual machines since they are evaluation-only.

Developers and enthusiasts can download the latest Windows 11 Development Environment virtual machines for free from the official Microsoft Developer website. Available configurations include VMWare (Workstation and Player), second-generation Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and Parallels (sadly, there is no ARM version of the project). Note that you will need at least 70GB of free disk space and a minimum of 8GB of RAM.

If you do not need all the developer tools Microsoft provides in WDE, check out the company's Windows 10 and 11 Enterprise "clean" evaluation images.

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Alongside the release of Ventoy 1.0.93, the developer has also released a new tool dubbed "iVentoy". The "i" could be indicative of the internet as iVentoy will allow users to install the OS through the network. The dev says the new software is essentially an "enhanced version" of the PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) server.

A PXE server hosts Windows PE (WinPE) boot files, among others, such that the client computers in the network can be booted by downloading and installing them with the help of DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) client-server protocols.

iVentoy will work with WinPE, Windows, Linux, VMWare, and more. In total, it is said to support more than 110 types of operating systems (Full list). And in terms of UEFI and BIOS, the iVentoy supports x86 legacy BIOS, IA32 (Intel Architecture 32-bit), x86_64 or AMD64 UEFI, and ARM64 UEFI.

iVentoy ISO boot menu

The major highlights of iVentoy are given below:

iVentoy is an enhanced version of the PXE server.
With iVentoy you can boot and install OS on multiple machines at the same time through the network.
iVentoy is extremely easy to use, without complicated configuration, just put the ISO file in the specified location and select PXE boot in the client machine.
iVentoy supports x86 Legacy BIOS, IA32 UEFI, x86_64 UEFI and ARM64 UEFI mode at the same time.
iVentoy support 110+ common types of OS (Windows/WinPE/Linux/VMware)

The latest version, 1.0.03, increases the "update max client number limit from 5 to 20" for the free edition and from "5 to 50" for the Pro edition. The full changelog is given below:

• Free Edition: update max client number limit from 5 to 20.

• Pro Edition: update max bound machine number per license from 5 to 50.

• Add a running tip label when start iVentoy.

• Now can refresh image list when service is running.

• Update some tip messages.

• New support for some ISO files.

• Bugfix, comments and suggestions are welcome.

   

Head over to the official website of iVentoy project in case you want to give the tool a try.

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WSA settings (Image credit: Future)

The Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) is a virtualization solution that, in combination with the Amazon Appstore, allows you to run Android apps on Windows 11.

Although the default configuration of the WSA environment should be enough for most users, it's possible to change some of the settings to get the most out of the experience. For instance, you can enable file-sharing to access your files from Android apps. It's also possible to control how much memory the subsystem uses, choose the graphics card, enable anti-malware scanning, and you can even change the behavior to make the subsystem always available for quick access to your apps.

This how-to guide will walk you through some essential settings you must consider changing when using WSA on Windows 11.

How to enable File Sharing on WSA

File Sharing is a feature that adds the ability to make available files from the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, and Videos folders to Android apps.

To enable WSA File Sharing, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on Advanced settings.
4. Click the Experimental features setting.
5. Turn on the "Share user folders" toggle switch to enable the feature.

6. (Optional) Turn off the "Share use folders" toggle switch to disable the feature.

Once you complete the steps, your Windows 11 profile folders will appear inside the "Windows" folder in the "sdcard" location.

How to change memory usage on WSA

If you have a system with more than enough memory, you can change the Windows Subsystem for Android settings to increase memory usage to improve app performance. You can also consider changing the settings to limit memory usage on less powerful systems.

To specify the amount of memory that WSA can use for the platform and apps, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on Advanced settings.
4. Click the "Memory and performance" setting.
5. Under the "Memory allocation" setting, choose one of the available options, including "Low (2GB)," "Default (4GB)," "High (8GB)," or "Custom (MB)."

• Quick note: The "Custom" option allows you to assign virtually any amount of memory, and you must specify the amount in megabytes.

6. Click the Apply button.

After you complete the steps, the system will dedicate the amount of memory you specified and nothing more.

How to keep platform running continuously on WSA

When you are not actively using Android apps, the subsystem will go into sleep mode to save system resources and battery. The only caveat with this approach is that launching an app can take a long time since it must wait until the subsystem spins up before it can run. If you want to start apps faster, you can use the system resources settings to keep the subsystem running all the time.

To maintain WSA running continuously, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on Advanced settings.
4. Click the "Memory and performance" setting.
5. Select the "Continuous" option to keep the subsystem running all the time, allowing you to open apps quickly.

• Quick note: The "As needed" option starts the subsystem on demand when trying to launch an application. And the "Partially running" keeps the subsystem running using minimal resources.

Once you complete the steps, the Windows Subsystem for Android will run continuously, making launching apps quicker. (This option is not recommended for devices running on battery.)

How to assign specific graphics card on WSA

WSA, by default, uses the graphics card with the highest performance installed on the computer, but you can always choose the card you want the subsystem to use.

To assign a specific video card to WSA, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on Advanced settings.
4. Click the Graphics preference setting.
5. Choose the graphics card to assign to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, including "High performance," "Power saving," and the "Specific GPU" allows you to select from any of the available cards.

After you complete the steps, the subsystem will use the graphics card you specified to render Android apps.

How to enable malware scan on WSA

The Windows Subsystem for Android can use the Microsoft Defender Antivirus available on Windows 11 to scan apps prior to installation to make sure that no malicious code hijacks the system. If the feature is already enabled, you can also turn it off to prevent the antivirus from blocking an app you know is trusted. 

To turn on or off the Microsoft Defender Antivirus for WSA apps, use these steps. 

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Windows Subsystem for Android and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click on System.
4. Turn on the "Block installation of malicious apps" toggle switch to enable the feature.

• (Optional) Turn off the "Block installation of malicious apps" toggle switch to disable the feature.

Once you complete the steps, the antivirus will scan Android apps before installation to ensure they won't compromise the system.

After changing the settings, it's recommended to restart the Windows Subsystem for Android. You can do this by restarting the computer or from the "System" settings page, clicking the "Turn off" button, and then clicking the "Turn on" button from the "Turn off Windows Subsystem for Android" setting.

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As it turns out, people like having numbers next to major new OS releases. Two years ago, on June 24, 2021, Microsoft broke away from that "last version of Windows" model, when it officially revealed Windows 11.

We are not going to go into all the new features that were added to Windows 11, nor its currently mixed reception among users. This quick look back is all about the rumors of new versions of Windows between the release of Windows 10 and the official reveal of Windows 11.

Even before the launch of Windows 10, rumors hit the internet that Microsoft was going to issue online feature updates for the OS at a faster rate compared to previous versions of the OS. They would be created under the internal code name Redstone, which was first leaked out in April 2015. These updates would be small in size and in feature updates and launched every few months after the release of Windows 10. Officially they would get names like the Anniversary Update or the Creators Update.

These small feature updates would be offered to members of the Windows Insider Program before they would become generally available. This pattern would continue for Windows 10 for the next several years, as Microsoft stuck with its idea of offering the OS as more of a service.

In October 2019, Microsoft announced Windows 10X, a new version of Windows designed to work specifically on dual-screen and foldable devices. Microsoft clearly thought that at the time, these kinds of PC products were the next big thing. Indeed, the company also revealed the Surface Neo dual-screen PC running on a version of Windows 10X. The plan was to launch both Windows 10X and Surface Neo by the end of 2020.

However, just a few months later Microsoft's plans changed, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2020, it was revealed that Windows 10X would launch on single-screen PCs first. Also, the Surface Neo release would be delayed "indefinitely". In addition, Windows and Devices chief Panos Panay stated that the company would be making major updates to Windows 10 between "this holiday and the next."

As it turned out, Microsoft's plans for Windows 10X fell apart in the next year. In May 2021, Microsoft officially announced that the development of Windows 10X had ended and that it would take some of its features and put them into future versions of the normal Windows.

We didn't have to wait very long to learn more about Microsoft's future Windows plans. Just a few weeks later, on June 2, 2021, Microsoft revealed it would hold an online event on June 24 where it would reveal "what's next for Windows". People started speculating that this would be the reveal of Windows 11, thanks in part to a promo image that showed the Windows logo appear to create "11" from its light source.

Just a few days later, screenshots from an early Windows 11 build hit the internet, followed by an actual ISO leak of the OS itself. Microsoft even sent Google DMCA complaints to have them remove articles from its search results that show how to download the ISO leak.

In the end, Microsoft did officially reveal Windows 11 on June 24, with a revamped UI, support for running Android apps, and a free upgrade offer for Windows 10 users. The plan to make Windows 10 the "last version of Windows" was officially over.

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