Microsoft sometimes seems like the worst advocate for its own products.

Right now the company appears, from the outside, to be in a good place. Sure, Windows 11 adoption could be broader and enthusiasm for apps like Office, Outlook and Edge could be higher, but Microsoft as a company seems to be in a position of strength. 

I say that for two reasons: AI and cloud computing. You see these words often in tech news these days, and while they're buzzwords that don't really mean what you think they mean, for Microsoft they both amount to the same thing: Relevance.

The company has long relied on the earnings of its Azure "cloud computing" business (a platform for hosting and moving data across a global network of data centers) to keep its coffers full. By investing billions in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, making Azure the only cloud computing platform ChatGPT uses, then integrating the chatbot-like AI into its new Bing with ChatGPT search engine, Microsoft has done something I never thought possible: Make Bing interesting and relevant.

Who knew we'd be talking about Bing this much in 2023? (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The company seems unlikely to stop there, and I fully expect to see a ChatGPT-like chatbot show up in Windows itself at some point down the line. If that happens, you may find yourself able to chat directly with Windows 12 in order to get things done.

What will it say back, I wonder?

If Microsoft's recent actions are any indicator, it'll likely squawk at you about how Edge is the best browser on Windows 12 and Bing is the only search engine worth using. It might also flash you an ad for a premium Teams subscription, or nag you to sign up for a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Frankly, that's a future I'd rather not live to see. It seems so tacky, so painfully silly, that I have a hard time imagining Microsoft would shoot itself in the foot so clearly by cluttering up its fairly decent software with ads for its other services.

And yet, that's exactly what the company keeps doing.

Microsoft, please stop

I'm thinking specifically here of the recent revelation that Microsoft intends to change(opens in new tab) its Outlook and Teams apps (at least, those tied to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family accounts) in Windows 10/11 so that all web links within them open in Edge by default.

"Stop trying so hard to get me to use Edge when I clearly don't want to. Stop trying to put Teams in my life when I clearly don't want it. Don't advertise OneDrive at me when I clearly barely use it."

 

The company has of course justified this change by claiming that it will eliminate "disruptive switching" in Outlook, allowing you to view a linked webpage side-by-side with whatever email led you to it. A similar justification for adding this feature to Teams assures us it will "help you stay engaged in conversation" as you browse the Internet. 

Note that this overrides your default browser setting in Windows, so even if you have a third-party browser like Chrome or Firefox as your default, you're going to see Edge pop up when you click a link in an email—at least, the first time you do so in Outlook after this change goes live.

To damn Microsoft with faint praise, it does at least clearly spell out how to undo this "improvement" if you'd rather not use Edge. Once your copy of Outlook starts doing this, simply click the File menu and navigate to File > Options > Advanced > Link handling, then select whichever browser you prefer.

But this is a clear example of how Microsoft regularly tries to promote its own products and services in its own products and services, to the point that it becomes garish and off-putting. 

This new move to start defaulting to Edge with Outlook and Teams links is actually fairly subtle, by Microsoft's standards. In the past, the company appears to have dallied with upselling other services via ads in the Start menu, ads in File Explorer and more.

Heck even Bing's chatbot is getting ads, by the looks of things, though those are likely to include more traditional ads for non-Microsoft services.

And of course, who can ignore the reminder that Edge really is the best browser for Windows which Microsoft causes to pop up whenever you use it to download a competing browser? I certainly can't despite my best efforts, so I end up reading it at least once a week when I unbox a new Windows 11 review unit and immediately download a different browser.

Each of these little tricks to try and boost Microsoft product adoption seems minor on its own, but when you look at the company's growing history of pulling these shenanigans it starts to look desperate. And right now, Microsoft should avoid looking desperate for market share at all costs.

This makes you look weak and needy

I say that not because Microsoft has a history of being punished for anti-competitive behavior and is currently embroiled in a complicated global PR campaign to convince regulators to let it acquire a multi-billion dollar game company, not at all. 

No, I say it because as bullish as everyone seems to be on Bing with ChatGPT and the coming chatbot-powered revolution in tech, there's no guarantee it will pan out to be anything bigger than a flash in the pan. And while Microsoft is well-positioned to take advantage of a growing market for such tech if it lasts, this constant devaluation of its products with pop-ups, ads and misleading warnings makes it harder and harder to recommend Microsoft services. 

Remember, Windows has been steadily losing market share to competitors for years. While it's hard to know by exactly how much since global sales figures are complex and it can be hard to account for PCs which are sold with Windows pre-installed, then retrofitted with another OS later, it's pretty clear Windows 11 isn't as popular as Windows 7 or Windows 10 were in their prime. 

According to StatCounter(opens in new tab), which tries to tally operating system market share by monitoring the OS used by billions of visitors to millions of websites in its tracking network, Windows market share has plummeted roughly 30% in the past decade. While the numbers may not be completely accurate, the slide from upwards of 90% adoption to around 60% seems too big to be a mistake.

Microsoft made the move from Windows 10 to 11 look smooth, but declining market share reveals it was a bumpy road. (Image credit: Microsoft)

I think the increasing quality and relevance of macOS and ChromeOS have a lot to do with this, but a lot of the blame also belongs to Microsoft. I like Windows 11 just fine, but after using it since the beta-testing period I have to say it feels like a superfluous upgrade from Windows 10.

Now, as we barrel towards Windows 12 and the dubious promise of an AI-assisted future for all (whether you want it or not), I dearly wish Microsoft would stop trying so hard.

Stop trying so hard to get me to use Edge when I clearly don't want to. Stop trying to put Teams in my life when I clearly don't want it. Don't advertise OneDrive at me when I clearly barely use it.

Microsoft has been the custodian of Windows for longer than I've been alive, so it's well-positioned to know better than almost anyone on Earth how I like to use my PC, what apps I prefer, what websites I visit, and so on. Why not use that power for good, rather than trying to sell me your other products?

Windows may own a large portion of the PC market simply by virtue of being the default OS for most desktops and laptops, but I also think it owes its success to the goodwill of its users. A significant chunk of that goodwill was earned by delivering an operating system that's highly customizable, with loads of options for fine-tuning how it looks, sounds and behaves.

"Maybe Microsoft won't ever go so far as to lock down its products the way Apple does, but it's already taken many worrying steps in the direction of less respect for its customers."

 

Little by little, Microsoft seems intent on eroding that customizability and turning Windows (as well as its other products and services) into an echo chamber where Microsoft products endlessly demand center stage. It reminds me a bit of the "walled garden" approach Apple takes with its products and services, which tend to support and reinforce each other while not playing well with apps and devices outside Apple's ecosystem.

Maybe Microsoft won't ever go so far as to lock down its products the way Apple does, but it's already taken many worrying steps in the direction of less respect for its customers. I'm grateful that changes like defaulting to Edge for Outlook links can at least be reversed by the user, if they know how, but that still requires someone to get annoyed and then spend precious time looking up how to stop Outlook from annoying them.

That's time you can't get back, and if Microsoft really respected its users, it would respect their time by making a change like this opt-in rather than opt-out. That is, you should be notified that Edge has gotten improved integration with Outlook that allows you to view webpages side-by-side in the same window if you want—but you should have the option to opt in if you want, rather than the hassle of having to figure out how to opt out once Microsoft changes your copy of Outlook.

Of course if Microsoft did that, it might not get the same boost in Edge usage that it's likely to get once these changes to Outlook and Teams go live. It might instead have to rely purely on the strength of its products to claim market share, and right now Microsoft doesn't look confident enough to do that.

Instead, it looks a little needy—and just a little desperate.

Source

New Slideshow Experience

• This was a top feature request we received from the community since launching the new Photos app in Windows 11 last Fall. You can now relive your memories and view photos in a slideshow format, complete with transitions, animations, and 25 original music soundtracks to choose from. Click on any photo to start the slideshow or choose multiple photos to watch them together.

Timeline Scrollbar

• This was another top feature request. We are re-introducing the timeline scrollbar to the All Photos, OneDrive, and iCloud Photos gallery views which groups photos by year and month. With the scrollbar, you can now easily jump to any point in time and find the photos you want.

Spot Fix

• Use the Spot Fix feature to remove blemishes or unwanted areas in your photo

Other Fixes and Improvements

• Auto Enhance is now available for use without having to install the 93MB add-on.
• When importing photos from external devices, you can now drag and drop to choose the photos you want and use the quick toggle to confirm the files that have been selected.
• Hidden iCloud Photos will no longer display in the gallery.
• Fixed an issue where audio on video files is muted by default. The app now plays the audio by default and persists user settings across videos.
• Copying and pasting a photo from the Photos app into Outlook and Teams now inserts the image inline by default instead of adding an attachment.
• Multi-select photos: hold down the SHIFT key while selecting photos in the gallery now selects multiple consecutive photos in a row; holding down the CTRL key selects multiple non-consecutive photos.

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels can now update their Photos app to version number 2023.11050.2013.0 or higher to get the new version.

New Windows Photo app update for Canary and Dev Insiders adds a slideshow feature and more

When a computer is running software, it loads much of the program into its memory.

If we managed to update that same software on the hard disk or solid state drive (SSD), then the program may panic as everything will be different – it won’t be able to find the files that were there a moment ago. The version in memory will not be compatible with the version on the hard disk or SSD. Lots of errors will be thrown and your computer may crash.

To prevent this, operating systems usually insist that when major updates are needed, we shut down the software being updated, then restart with the new software installed.

Source

Just considering the Windows 11 era, the company first came under fire due to the way it set up the default app options as it was seemingly quite tedious to go through the process. There have been aggressive ads and promotions as well, like the time Microsoft called Google Chrome "so 2008" and suggested that Edge was more secure than Chrome. This kind of ad once again appeared when trying to download Chrome, only this time it took up the full screen instead of being just a tiny prompt in the corner up top, which kind of showed how much it wants users to notice it exists. And of course, from time to time Edge also wants you to choose it as the default browser.

And if you thought Microsoft would try and pull something similar sooner rather than later, you'd be absolutely right. According to user reports online, the latest April Patch Tuesday updates for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 are now triggering the Default Apps Settings page when a web link is opened with Google Chrome. Hence when a user is opening a link with Chrome, the default app settings is trying to make users want to switch over to Edge instead.

Joris Geutjes posted this issue on the Google Chrome forum:

Since today, we have noticed on several Windows 10 users (version 22H2 with the latest updates from Microsoft that they released on patch Tuesday of April 11, 2023) that when starting the Google Chrome browser, the Default Apps settings are opened every time.

We have already set Google Chrome as the default browser several times. But that makes no sense at all. Restoring all Google Chrome default settings also has no effect.

Even uninstalling Google Chrome and reinstalling it does not provide a solution.

The issue is pretty widespread. It seems as if 387 people have upvoted this by choosing the "I have the same question" option. Over on the Microsoft forum, a user Todd Fuhrman1 posted the same question and it too has been upvoted by 87 people. On the same Google forum thread, a user offers a solution which is basically to uninstall the updates (Windows 11 22H2: KB5025239, Windows 11 21H2: KB5025224, and Windows 10: KB5025221). This seems to resolve the issue, indicating that Patch Tuesday indeed messed something up, perhaps even deliberately.

Via: Gizmodo

Latest Windows 11 and 10 Patch Tuesdays are trying to coax Chrome users to switch to Edge

Last year in July, it was found that Microsoft had quietly reduced the quality of the startup sound on Windows 11 22H2. Depending on the compression algorithm used, be it Huffman or Arithmetic or something else, the difference may or may not have been perceptible even though it was sizable reduction in bitrate.

Likewise, right around the same time, Microsoft it seems, had also tweaked the Windows 11 Out of Box Experience (OOBE) animation and had reduced it. This time, unlike with the startup sound, the difference is likely perceptible as the framerate of this animation was halved from 60 fps down to just 30 fps.

As you can see in the image above, aside from the framerate, the data rate has also been reduced by around two and a half times from 1914 Kbps to 741 Kbps. The overall bitrate is down from 2235 Kbps to 1063 Kbps. There is no change in the audio fidelity though.

Source: Xeno (Twitter)

It's not just startup sound, Microsoft quietly reduced Windows 11 OOBE quality too

Google said its new checkmark will show up beside the email addresses of senders who have adopted BIMI and it "will help users identify messages from legitimate senders versus impersonators." As per the example image shared by Google, the verification badge is a blue-coloured icon with a white tick in the middle. When hovered upon, it reveals that the sender has verified their domain and the logo in the profile image.

The blue checkmarks will be visible to all users with personal Google accounts, all Google Workspace customers, and legacy G Suite users. Google said that end users don't need to take any action but interested admins can set up BIMI and get a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for their brand logo among various formalities.

It will take around three days for the checkmark to roll out across multiple versions of Gmail. The company notes that strong email authentication helps spot and prevent spam content, and enables senders to leverage their brand trust. This in turn boosts confidence in email sources.

Google has added blue verification checkmarks to Gmail

GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs are fully equipped with real-time AV1 hardware encoding, which is 40% more efficient on average than H.264, and delivers higher quality than competing GPUs. Even at higher resolutions, AV1 encoding is more efficient, making streaming 4K at 60 frames per second with 10 Mbps upload bandwidth possible, down from 20 Mbps with H.264.

See the comparison video by NVidia Studio below.

As a founding member of the Alliance for Open Media, NVIDIA has been at the forefront of developing the AV1 codec, working closely with industry leaders to push the boundaries of old video formats. The previous standard for live streaming, H.264, had limitations in terms of quality and was not suitable for higher resolutions. AV1 is changing the game by enabling creators to stream at higher resolutions with smoother frame rates, even in network-limited environments.

OBS Studio 29.1 allows you to capture your screen crystal clear

Support for AV1 on YouTube is made possible through the recent update to RTMP. The enhanced protocol also adds support for HEVC streaming, giving users access to new formats on the existing low-latency protocol used for H.264 streaming. Enhanced RTMP ingestion has been released as a beta feature on YouTube.

With NVENC, NVIDIA Broadcast, and GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, content creators can enjoy high-quality streaming with AV1 encoding support on the eighth-generation NVENC. NVENC offloads compute-intensive encoding tasks from the CPU to dedicated hardware on the GPU, making it easier for streamers to deliver higher-quality video.

OBS's new update will delight RTX 40 series graphics card owners

Chrome is updated automatically on most systems over time. Desktop users may speed up the process by loading chrome://settings/help in the browser's address bar or selecting Menu > Help > About Google Chrome.

The browser should download and install the update automatically when the page is opened. A restart is required to complete the upgrade.

The following versions should be listed on the page after the update:

• Chrome for Linux or macOS: 113.0.5672.63
• Chrome for Windows: 113.0.5672.63 or 113.0.5672.64
• Chrome Extended Channel for Windows or Mac: 112.0.5615.179
• Chrome for Android: 113.0.5672.76 or 113.0.5672.77

Chrome 113: the changes

Google fixed 15 unique security issues in Chrome 113. The publicly reported security issues have severity ratings of medium or low. Google does not mention any exploits in the wild either.

While the ratings are low, it is still recommended to update the Chrome web browser as soon as possible to protect the browser against potential attacks.

Developers may want to check out the official Chrome Platform Status listing, which reveals developer related changes. Several features are now enabled by default in Google Chrome. One of the most important ones is WebGPU.

We published information on the integration of WebGPU in Chrome in early April 2023. WebGPU is an API that allows web apps and games to better use graphics adapters of devices. While it will take a while before first applications and games will implement the functionality, it may improve the performance of these in the future.

Some features are behind flags and need to be enabled before they become available. Google is working on WebCodecs integration for WebGPU, which is one of these features.

Google's Chrome Enterprise and Education website lists other features and changes in Chrome 113. There, Google reveals that Chrome 113 introduces support for user controls for First-Party Sets.

First-Party Sets is a framework that may be used to declare relationships between domains. One of the main advantages is that all domains of such a set may access cookies. Google is preparing to remove third-party cookies support from Chrome, and First-Party Sets is one of the features that webmasters and developers may use instead for certain applications.

The chrome://settings/cookies page displays a new option under "block third-party cookies". The "Allow related sites to see your activity in the group" option may be toggled between on and off on the page. The feature is turned off in Incognito Mode automatically.

Another change promotes the Extensions and Chrome Web Store to the first level of the three-dot menu in the browser.

Here is a list of other changes in the browser:

• Deprecation Trial for unpartitioned third-party Storage, Service Workers, and Communication APIs
• Launching FastCheckout for Checkout experiences
• Updated Password Management Experience on iOS in Chrome 113. Chrome users signed-into Chrome but without sync enabled may now use and save passwords in iOS.
• Chrome Desktop New tab page: Journeys card
• Discover Feed on iOS and Android. Some users may see a prompt to see more personalized content.
• Adopt Android media picker.
• Partial translate support on iOS.

Not all Chrome users who upgraded to version 113 may see the listed changes immediately. Most are rolling out over time.

Google Chrome 113 is here with 15 security fixes and WebGPU support

Why is Microsoft making this change?

• To improve your experience between email and browsing—letting you see them both at the same time, in the same place. No more switching back and forth between apps.

• To provide a unique experience—at Microsoft, we strive to create the best customer experience across our products.

• To reduce task switching and improve workflow and focus—by opening browser links in Microsoft Edge, the original message in Outlook can be viewed alongside web content to easily access, read, and respond to the message, using the matching authenticated profile.

   

IT admins and system admins became aware of this when they came across Microsoft 365 (M365) Message Center IDs MC548092 and MC541626 that detail these changes (via hume_reddit on Reddit). Below is a part of the message that explains how organizations will be affected by this change. However this message is not visible to every tenant it seems as Microsoft is gradually rolling it out, and appears to be testing the waters before jumping all in:

How this will affect your organization:

Web links from emails in the Outlook for Windows app will open side-by-side with the email in Microsoft Edge so users can easily reference the link and email without switching back and forth between apps. The email will open in the Outlook app in the Edge sidebar. Links will open in Microsoft Edge even if it is not the system default browser in Windows.

• Only links set to open via a web browser are affected. Links that are set to open in a client app or within Outlook itself will continue to do so.

• User experiences will vary by policy configuration; please see the next section.

• Web links from all accounts in the Outlook for Windows app will open in Microsoft Edge, but the side-by-side experience is not available for non-AAD or non-MSA accounts at this time.

Teams will not receive the change at this time.

Overall, from the looks of it, users, at least on Reddit, don't seem too pleased.

"Sounds anti competitive like back with IE and browser choice..." says postbox134 on a Reddit thread. Meanwhile, another user justenoughslack writes "This has been going on for some time now with Outlook on Android. It completely bypasses the default browser setting and opens all links in Edge. It's annoying." BarelyAirborne says "Just what I needed, a dozen more Edge processes running that I did not ask for and do not want."

Outside of desktops, this change is also already here on the mobile side of things as well. M365 Message Center ID MC531738 explains (via alanjmcf on Reddit😞

Currently users open links automatically from Outlook for iOS and Android in their default browser. This change will prompt users to choose their browser instead. Users can choose their default browser if they prefer and configure that preference in their Outlook Mobile settings.

There is a silver lining for all this though. Microsoft does allow users to opt out of this and choose their default browser to open links with as you can see in the image below:

To do that, open Outlook, select File > Options > Advanced > Link handling and choose your preferred browser from the dropdown menu.

Source: Reddit (1), (2), (3) via Petri

Outlook, and soon Teams links to open in Microsoft Edge by default; users aren't too pleased

For more than two decades, one of the most famous computer expo trade show in the world was COMDEX. For the time in ran, it was known for announcements of great products in the world of tech by hardware and software companies.

In 1983 at COMDEX Spring, just about around this time of the year, Microsoft introduced a product which would surprise many. Microsoft introduced it’s very first mouse, named Microsoft Mouse.

Microsoft Mouse was a mouse with two green (left and right) buttons with a slightly curved shape, which was different from other boxed mice back then. It used a steel tracking ball back then and used to cost $195. Many people at the expo had not heard much about the computer mouse before.

So where does the text editor notepad come here. Thing is, it’s understandable that Microsoft had to provide a software for the mouse in order to showcase the abilities of it. This is where Notepad comes.

Introducing Notepad

During the COMDEX debut of Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft advertised that the mouse would come with some bundled software with it. Three of them were, an on-screen tutorial, a practice app and something that Microsoft called “Multi-Tool Notepad”.

Multi-Tool Notepad, which was the original name for Notepad, was not the first text editors in the world. Many text editors existed back then. What it did, however, was to support mouse in it, something which was unheard of before. Because back then, you can only edit text in a text editor with keyboard, by going forward or backward. You couldn’t select text with a mouse, as other text editors didn’t support it. In Multi-Tool Notepad, you could and that changed things around.

Richard Brodie, who is best known for creating Multi-Tool Word, which would later go on to become Microsoft Word, also created Multi-Tool Notepad. So impressed was Bill Gates with Richard Brodie’s inventions, that Bill Gates made him his assistant.

Later, the words like Multi-Tool were removed from Notepad and it became just Notepad. Since then, it is found in every version of Microsoft Windows.

Notepad For Microsoft Windows

Originally made for DOS, Microsoft ported the Notepad to Microsoft Windows starting Windows 1.0.

The version which shipped with it had a limited buffer size of just 16kb. This meant only smaller sized text files could be opened in it. It also showed how much space is left in the buffer.

To be honest, until recently, Notepad had a hard time opening larger text files too.

Initially, Notepad didn’t support fonts either, something which was later added to Notepad.

Modern Day Notepad

In modern days, the Notepad has become one of the most well known software in Microsoft Windows. With the ability to create and edit .txt files, it can edit many other different text files, including .html, .cfg, .ini among others.

It’s not the most feature rich text editors around, there are many out there which offer far more features. A list of features which are too long to even mention. What Notepad, however, excels is in editing files quickly and easily. The simplistic software, which is great in what it’s does.

But that doesn’t mean Notepad hasn’t gotten any updates. Throughout the years, Microsoft has introduced many features to it. For example, until recent years, the Notepad couldn’t correctly open a text file saved in Linux (sometimes including Android). If you did that, you would find that the Notepad wouldn’t have lines between paragraph, to put it in simple words. Recently it was fixed.

Recent versions of Notepad have gotten many updates. It supports different theme modes. The newer Notepad has an enhanced Find and Replace. It also has an ability to show the status bar with word wrap enabled, something which couldn’t be done together due to a bug which Microsoft seems to have fixed. Though our viewers can confirm if otherwise. Microsoft is also adding tabs to it.

One great thing about the Notepad is that it’s a simple text editor, not a rich text one. Which meant that if one copied a text with a lot of rich stuff and you don’t want that rich text, one can simply paste that rich text in the Notepad and convert it into simple text. While yes, there are simpler ways to do that, it’s still a good option.

Because of all this, Notepad remains our favorite text editor out there.

Our Favorite Text Editor Notepad Turns 40

No ETA for the release of Linux Mint 21.2 and LMDE 6 has been published yet but they will release quite close to one another. LMDE is short for Linux Mint Debian Edition and a new one comes along following a major Debian release. Debian 12 is due in June so LMDE 6 should follow hot on its heels.

According to the blog post, LMDE 6 will come out after Linux Mint 21.2 so we sort of get a rough estimate of the release time - somewhere around June. Linux Mint releases usually come after a 2-week beta period, so we’ll hear about that first.

In recent years, the Mint team has been quite preoccupied with modernizing the Cinnamon desktop used by default in Linux Mint. This month, the company has decided to show off new tooltips and notifications that use the accent colours you’ve chosen. They are quite full-on and will definitely grate some people. Based on the comments section of the blog, some visually-impaired users already do not like the decision. They say the text is too difficult to read.

One of the users that complained about the new notifications and tooltips suggested that they should be optional. This would be a good enhancement as it would give users more control over their desktops. Only time will tell if that gets implemented.

Finally, for anyone out there who is planning to install Linux Mint, it’s recommended to turn off secure boot. It seems Canonical updated Ubuntu’s shim-signed package that enables secure boot and now Ubuntu derivatives aren’t working with secure boot. The Linux Mint team is working on a fix for future ISOs but for now, just disable secure boot.

Linux Mint 21.2 and LMDE 6 are to be available within a month of each other

Microsoft's official support forums (and Feedback Hub) have multiple complaints from users reporting issues when linking their Spotify accounts to the Clock app: clicking the button results in Windows 11 showing a blank login screen, with nothing being able to fix it. You can spot the same reports on Spotify's forums.

After offering multiple methods to fix the app to no avail, a Spotify representative revealed that the problem is on the Windows side—an expired certificate prevents the Clock app from connecting to the service.

Hey all! Spotify support has officially confirmed this is a Windows issue.

"We've checked around and it looks like this is a known limitation on Windows' side at the moment due to an expired certificate such that the oATH header being sent to the Spotify API is no longer valid. Please reach out directly to Microsoft Support for more detailed and info on any possible updates about the focus assist clock integration."

It seems the integration went down early this year, about three months ago (or even more). Usually, problems like this do not require extensive fixing, so it is hard to explain why it takes so long to resolve the issue. And it is not like nobody is using Windows 11's Spotify integration—many users are pleading with Microsoft for a fix. Unfortunately, for now, Windows 11's game-changing feature is not working, and nobody knows when it will return.

We reached out to Microsoft for a comment and will update the article once we have a response.

'Game-changing' Windows 11 feature broken for three months due to expired certificate

How to hack the right-click menu in Windows 11

One of the latest changes on the M365 roadmap shows that Microsoft is working on the support for ICS file format in the new Outlook. With ICS or Internet Calendaring and Scheduling file (iCalendar), Microsoft hopes to make the new Outlook client mimic the experience that is offered on the classic Outlook for Windows. In case you haven't been following, the new Outlook began rolling out in March.

The M365 roadmap says:

Outlook: New Outlook for Windows - ICS support

ICS is a file format that holds event and calendar information and enables users to share that information through email. With full ICS support in the new Outlook for Windows, users will be able to view local ICS files and import them to their calendar. This mimics the experience currently available in classic Outlook for Windows.

The feature ID for this change is 128028 and the classic Calendar in New Outlook will be generally available in a few months' time by October.

Microsoft revamping New Outlook for Windows with classic calendar style (ICS)

When you use Google's Chrome web browser, you are also likely familiar with the "lock" icon that appears next to a web site's URL. Many people believe that icon means that a site is safe to check out on Chrome. In fact, that is not the case, and that's the reason Google is going to be changing that icon soon.

In a post on its Chromium blog, Google stated:

The lock icon is meant to indicate that the network connection is a secure channel between the browser and site and that the network connection cannot be tampered with or eavesdropped on by third parties, but it’s a remnant of an era where HTTPS was uncommon.

A site that uses HTTPS is now the normal order of things on the internet. However, the lock icon no longer means a site is safe to browse on Chrome. Google stated:

This misunderstanding is not harmless — nearly all phishing sites use HTTPS, and therefore also display the lock icon. Misunderstandings are so pervasive that many organizations, including the FBI, publish explicit guidance that the lock icon is not an indicator of website safety.

Therefore, that lock icon will soon be replaced with a version of the tune icon for site addresses. Clicking on it will send users to settings and controls in the browser. Google feels this is a more neutral icon that doesn't indicate any "trustworthiness" for the site. It added:

Our research has also shown that many users never understood that clicking the lock icon showed important information and controls. We think the new icon helps make permission controls and additional security information more accessible, while avoiding the misunderstandings that plague the lock icon.

The new tune icon is available now in the Chrome Canary channel and will officially launch as part of Chrome 117 for desktops in early September 2023. It will also be replaced for the Android version of Chrome and it will be removed completely from the iOS version.

The "lock" icon in Chrome is about to change but there's a good reason

Lincoln DeMaris, Principal Group Product Manager of Microsoft Lists, has penned a blog post on the Microsoft Tech Community forum. He writes:

To kick things off, we’ll share our favorite update: we’ve supercharged Lists in the browser, in the PWA, and inside Teams to load in half the time. Whether you’re driving Lamborghinis or Lists, performance is the ultimate feature. So if you stop reading here, and don’t change a thing about how you work with Lists, you’re still going to enjoy a summer of lightning-fast views, forms, and fields. But wait, there’s more! These performance updates are coupled with a bunch of optimizations to the user experience that put people, content, and essential actions front and center.

Aside from the speed improvements and UX updates, the new Lists is also receiving updates in other areas. These are given below:

• Calendar View Improvements: Calendar view – week layout

• Fantastic Forms: A new forms experience to collect information

• Turnkey Templates:

  • Approvals integration

  • Custom list templates

  • Flows packaged into custom List templates

• Commenting (iOS)

   

The Tech Community blog post goes into a lot more detail about each of these features. You can view the article on Microsoft's website.

Microsoft announces major update for Lists promising double the speed, UX optimizations

This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games including Redfall featuring DLSS 3 technology. Additionally, this Game Ready Driver supports the launch of titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS 2 technology including Showgunners and the upcoming Diablo IV Server Slam.

Aside from game optimization, the driver also fixes a couple of bugs and also confirms some more. You can view the full changelog below:

Fixed Issues in Version 531.79 WHQL

• [RTX 30 series] Application crash may be observed while playing Battlefield 2042/The Last of Us/Unreal Editor [4013983]
• [Asus VG27WQ][Acer XV253Q] Highest monitor refresh rate is missing from the NVIDIA Control Panel after updating to NVIDIA display driver 531.41 [4072741]

Open Issues in Version 531.79 WHQL

• Toggling HDR on and off in-game causes game stability issues when non-native resolution is used. [3624030]
• Monitor may briefly flicker on waking from display sleep if DSR/DLDSR is enabled. [3592260]
• [GeForce RTX 4090] Watch Dogs 2 may display flickering when staring at the sky [3858016]
• Increase in DPC latency observed in Latencymon [3952556]  Applying GeForce Experience Freestyle filters cause games to crash [4008945]

You can download the Nvidia GeForce 531.29 WHQL driver at the links below:

Desktop GPUs:

• GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH [US version]

Notebook GPUs:

• GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH [US version]

You can view the release notes for the driver here (PDF).

Nvidia 531.79 WHQL driver is optimized for Redfall, Showgunners, Diablo IV Server Slam

• Samsung is restricting the use of so-called generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT for employees after the company discovered such services were being misused.

• The South Korean technology giant confirmed to CNBC Tuesday that it is temporarily restricting the use of generative AI through the company’s personal computers.

• Samsung told employees to take precautions when using ChatGPT and other products outside of work and advised workers not to enter any personal or company related information into the services.

Samsung  is restricting the use of so-called generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT for employees after the company discovered such services were being misused.

The South Korean technology giant confirmed to CNBC Tuesday that it is temporarily restricting the use of generative AI through the company’s personal computers.

Employees of one of Samsung’s biggest divisions were informed of the move in a memo at the end of April after there had been cases of misuse of the technology.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that some staff had uploaded sensitive code to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is a viral AI chatbot that is trained on huge amounts of data and is able to generate response to user queries. It is a form of so-called generative AI.

Samsung does not have its own generative AI product yet. ChatGPT is developed by U.S. firm OpenAI which is backed by Microsoft
 while other generative AI products include Google’s Bard. Inputting sensitive company data into these foreign-owned services could be a concern to companies worried about leaks of crucial information.

Samsung told employees to take precautions when using ChatGPT and other products outside of work and advised workers not to enter any personal or company related information into the services.

In a Samsung company-wide survey conducted last month, 65% of those who responded said there was concern about security risks when using generative AI services.

Samsung is not the only company restricting use of the technology. U.S. investment bank JPMorgan

 reportedly restricted use of ChatGPT among staff earlier this year. And Amazon this year reportedly warned employees not to upload confidential information, including code, to ChatGPT.

Companies are assessing ways in which generative AI capabilities could be used within their business. ChatGPT can help engineers to generate computer code for example, to speed up their tasks. Software developers at Goldman Sachs have been using generative AI to help generate code.

Despite the latest restrictions, Samsung is looking for ways in which generative AI could be used safely to enhance employee productivity and efficiency.

Source

Microsoft issued a Windows update that broke a Chrome feature, making it harder to change your default browser and annoying Chrome users with popups, Gizmodo has learned.

An April Windows update borked a new button in Chrome—the most popular browser in the world—that let you change your default browser with a single click, but the worst was reserved for users on the enterprise version of Windows. For weeks, every time an enterprise user opened Chrome, the Windows default settings page would pop up. There was no way to make it stop unless you uninstalled the operating system update. It forced Google to disable the setting, which had made Chrome more convenient.

This petty chapter of the browser wars started in July 2022 when Google quietly rolled out a new button in Chrome for Windows. It would show up near the top of the screen and let you change your default browser in one click without pulling up your system settings. For eight months, it worked great. Then, in April, Microsoft issued Windows update KB5025221, and things got interesting.

“Every time I open Chrome the default app settings of Windows will open. I’ve tried many ways to resolve this without luck,” one IT administrator said on a Microsoft forum. A Reddit user noticed that the settings page also popped up any and every time you clicked on a link, but only if Chrome was your default browser. “It doesn’t happen if we change the default browser to Edge,” the user said. Others made similar complaints on Google support forums, some saying that entire organizations were having the issue. Users quickly realized the culprit was the operating system update.

For people on the regular consumer version of Windows, things weren’t quite as bad; the one-click “Make Default” button just stopped working. Gizmodo was able to replicate the problem. In fact, we were able to circumvent the issue just by changing the name of the Chrome app on a Windows desktop. It seems that Microsoft threw up the roadblock specifically for Chrome, the main competitor to its Edge browser.

Microsoft didn’t answer questions on the subject, but shared a link published before it messed up Chrome.“For information on this, please see this blog post about Microsoft’s approach to app pinning and app defaults in Windows. Microsoft has nothing further to share,” said Miranda Davis, a Microsoft spokesperson. The post describes the company’s “long-standing approach to put people in control of their Windows PC experience.”

Mozilla’s Firefox has its own one-click default button, which worked just fine throughout the ordeal. But according to Steve Teixeira, chief product officer at Mozilla, this isn’t the first anti-competitive move from Microsoft in recent years.

“When using Windows machines, Firefox users routinely encounter these kinds of barriers, such as overriding their selection of default browser, or pop-ups and misleading warnings attempting to persuade them that Edge is somehow safer,” Teixeira said. “It’s past time for Microsoft to respect people’s preferences and allow them to use whatever browser they wish without interfering with their choice.”

In response, Google had to disable its one-click default button; the issue stopped after it did. In other words, Microsoft seems to have gone out of its way to break a Chrome feature that made life easier for users. Google confirmed the details of this story, but declined to comment further.

This is part of a pattern of behavior for Microsoft as it wages war on non-Windows web browsers and the people who use them. Chrome is, it bears repeating, the world’s preferred internet browser, with a reported 66% market share. Earlier this year, Microsoft started inserting full-size ads into the search results if you looked up Google Chrome, saying “There’s no need to change your default browser.” Microsoft went as far as sticking ads for Edge on the Chrome download website itself, stating “Microsoft Edge uses the same technology as Chrome, with the added trust of Microsoft.”

There were other bizarre messages to would-be Chrome users as well, with some suggesting Chrome is worse for online shopping, or referring to Google’s browser as “so 2008.”

When Microsoft shipped Windows 11 in 2021, it included several dark patterns that ignored users’ choices and made it harder to change defaults. Windows users had to change the default web browser for almost a dozen different types of web links: HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, XHT, XHTML, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS (as if anyone wants a different browser for HTTP and HTTPS pages). There was no way to change all the defaults all at once, you had to do it manually.

Windows 11 also gave you one single chance to change your defaults when you opened a new web browser for the first time. You’d see a popup, but it didn’t actually work unless you checked a tiny box that said “Always use this app.” If you missed it, you’d never see the popup again.

It seemed like things were improving. Months after releasing Windows 11, Microsoft relented and added a setting that opened things up a bit, letting you change your default browser all at once instead of going through 11 annoying drop down menus.

History fans will note this sounds a lot like the monopoly behavior that once landed Microsoft in court. In the ‘90s, the US Department of Justice sued the company for its efforts to stymie competition for Internet Explorer, the web browser Microsoft finally retired last year.

Source

And here is what iPadOS users have:

The updated widgets picker is rolling out gradually, which means some will receive it much later than others. If you do not want to wait, here is how to enable the new widget experience using the ViVeTool app (via @thebookisclosed).

Caution: Back up important data before using ViveTool. Remember that using stable Windows builds is the best way to ensure your system remains as bug-free as possible.

How to enable the new widgets picker in Windows 11 preview builds?

1. Launch Microsoft Store and update Windows Web Experience Pack to the latest version (523.11500.0.0 or higher). Note that the updated variant is only available in the Canary and Dev channels.
2. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
3. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
4. Switch Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile with the Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcut or by clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.

    

   
5. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
6. Type vivetool /enable /id:43040593 and press Enter.
7. Restart your computer.

To revert the changes, replace /enable with /disable on step 6 and restart your computer.

Do you like the new variant or tend to prefer the old one? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Microsoft is testing iOS-like widget picker for Windows 11, here is how to enable it

Disclaimer: Participation in the survey is optional and is not offered to all users. The primary goal is to provide a platform average picture and help developers tailor their games and technology investments. The survey is never 100% accurate.

According to Valve, in April 2023, Windows 11 gained 10.98%. Such a radical boost helped the OS reach its highest market share of 33.39%. Windows 10 remains number one with a 61.21% share, which lost 12.74 points compared to the previous month. Combined, Windows 10 and 11 hold 94.6% of all Steam customers who agreed to participate in the survey.

1. Windows 10 64-bit - 61.21% (-12.74)
2. Widnows 11 - 33.39% (+10.98)
3. Windows 7 64-bit - 1.28% (+0.22)
4. Windows 8.1 64-bit - 0.31% (+0.11)
5. Windows 7 - 0.08% (+0.03)

Now to the hardware side of the report, which, similarly to operating systems, is all over the place:

You can find more information on the Steam Hardware & Software Survey page.

Windows 11 restores its Steam share, climbs to all-time high of 33%

Not since the introduction of Windows Autopatch have we had a blog so full of impactful news. This is a parade of public previews for powerful new features now available in Windows Autopatch, so keep reading to get a glimpse at the latest additions to the service. The theme of this release is responding to real enterprise needs – all because we've heard from Autopatch customers and would-be customers about what they want from the service. So here they are: new capabilities, controls, and reports, all geared towards helping IT administrators improve security and productivity with less effort.

One of the reasons for saying this is because the May 2023 Autopatch will now bring greater control over how IT admins and system admins are able to deploy feature updates. For example, certain updates can be configured for specific Autopatch groups only, meanwhile for others these updates can be rolled out in a staggered manner. These various Autopatch groups are identified as "Deployment rings".

The latest Autopatch update also brings alerts and notifications for when it detects missing or modified policies inside the Tenant Management section. Reporting about both Feature Updates and Quality Updates has also been improved. You can find more details on the new features and additions in official blog post.

Microsoft says latest May 2023 Windows Autopatch update is its most "impactful"

There were a lot of new Teams Rooms and certified devices added too. The full list of changes has been listed below

Meetings

• Automatic lowering of a user’s raised hand after speaking
• Ultrasound Howling Detection
• Video Closed Captions in PowerPoint Live
• Green screen in Teams meetings

Teams Phone

• Federated group calling for GCCH and DoD

Teams Rooms and Devices

• Audiocodes RXV81 video collaboration bar for Microsoft Teams on Android
• Yealink Meeting Board Camera 6X for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android
• Bose Videobar VB-S for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows
• DTEN D7X 55” for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android
• Q-SYS NC 110 camera
• Q-SYS Certified Teams Rooms Bundle
• Aver TR313V2 Camera, Back of Room Presenter’s Camera
• Lenovo ThinkVision MC60 Monitor Webcam

Frontline Workers and Vertical Solutions

• Microsoft Teams: Approvals - Sequential Approvers Support

Mobile

• Attach cloud files in chat and channel from teams mobile

Platform

• App Geo Fencing
• Auto Install Approved Apps

Events

• Reminder Emails for Webinars

Teams for Education

• Viva Connections for Education – Now Generally Available

Government

• Support PSTN dial-in, dial-out, and call-me attendees in meetings to join Breakout Rooms for DoD and GCC High

You can read about all the features in more depth in the Tech Community blog post here. You can also go through our own Teams coverage here where you may find some updates on upcoming, as well as already announced, features.

Check out all the features Microsoft Teams received in April 2023

A video published on the Addy Visuals YouTube channel imagines the next Windows version with a dock-like taskbar split by sections for widgets, pins, and quick settings. Since only some would be fans of such a change, the concept proposes letting users switch between the default, joined, classic, or compact view. In other words, something for everyone.

The lack of such an approach is one of the reasons people dislike Windows 11—they are not happy with Microsoft imposing questionable changes without alternatives (the recently updated widgets board is a perfect example of Microsoft doing the opposite of what users want).

Another great feature the video suggests is creating app folders on the taskbar to keep the area tidier and better organized. Also, it shows an intelligent dock with quick actions you can apply to selected files and folders.

Like a similar concept we covered several months ago, this one features widgets you could place on the desktop, plus a better layout for the Start menu with dedicated sections for pins, most used apps, widgets, and the list of all programs.

Finally, no Windows concept is complete without a redesigned File Explorer. The one created by Addy Visuals features beautiful visuals and a neat "drop zone" where you can temporarily store your files and folders, sort of Clipboard 2.0.

As usual, ideas in videos like this have tremendously slim chances of being adopted by Microsoft and brought to real life (Microsoft itself is a master of fancy concepts that often have very few things in common with the final product). Although we are unlikely to see Addy's ideas in the next Windows, the video shows what people want from Microsoft's operating system: choice, flexibility, and consistency.

Bonus: You can download wallpapers from the video using this link to Google Drive.

This concept imagines Windows 12 with a taskbar to please everyone and more

Disclaimer: Third-party reports are never 100% accurate. Learn how Statcounter gathers its data in a post on the official website.

According to the April 2023 report, Windows 11 has reached its all-time high of 23.01%, a 2.06 points increase compared to March 2023. Despite steady growth, dethroning Windows 10 with its massive 71.45% market share, which is slowly going down after a sharp rise that followed the end of Windows 7 support, remains an almost unreachable goal for Windows 11, especially when you consider rumors about Microsoft releasing Windows "12" in late 2024.

Another dramatic change in Microsoft's approach to releasing "large" Windows versions may result in Windows 10 turning into another Windows 7—an OS people refuse to leave, even in sight of the incoming end of support in October 2025 (Microsoft has already confirmed version 22H2 is the last feature update for Windows 10).

Windows 10 and 11 hold 94.46% of the market, leaving just a tad more than 5% to the remaining now-dead releases, such as Windows 7 and 8. Windows 7 has 3.78% (+0.05 points), and Windows 8.1 is still on 0.85% of all PCs (-0.01 points). Unsurprisingly, people still access the internet from computers running various Windows XP versions. Statcounter says about 0.35% of the market runs the OS Microsoft put to its final rest almost one decade ago.

1. Windows 10 - 71.45% (-0.09 points)
2. Windows 11 - 23.01% (+2.06 points)
3. Windows 7 - 3.78% (-0.05 points)
4. Windows 8.1 - 0.85% (+0.01 points)
5. Windows 8 - 0.44% (-0.07 points)

You can find more information about Statcounter's latest OS figures on the official website.

Statcounter: 23% of all Windows computers run Windows 11