In addition to providing access to existing features, Browser Essentials will give you a general score of how the browser performs. This will help you better understand Edge and know if you need to toggle on or off specific features, close a resource-hogging tab, etc.

Another addition to Browser Essentials is SmartScreen reports and scanning results. It will show you how many websites and downloads SmartScreen analyzed, giving detailed insights into your browsing security. Besides your personal security details, Browser Essentials displays general information about protective measures in Edge, such as how many malicious websites and downloads it has blocked.

Microsoft plans to expand the new tool based on customers' feedback, so expect more to show in future updates. Right now, the Browser Essentials tool is available to all Canary users and about half the users in the Dev Channel. You can access Browser Essentials using a heart-shaped button on the main toolbar. Like most early changes in Edge, you can let Microsoft know what you think using thumbs-up/down buttons.

Edge gets 'Browser Essentials' tool to help you monitor performance and security

What is new in Edge Dev 113.0.1774.3?

New features:

• Now you can edit images from the context menu or visual search menu.
• Added Show Discover option in the Sidebar settings.
• Added filter options in the address bar.

Android:

• Added Wallpaper Center.

Enterprise:

New policy: (Note: Updates to documentation and administrative templates may not have occurred yet)

• Added EdgeLockedViewModeEnabled policy.
• Added PDFRestoreView policy.
• Added New PDF viewer policy.
• Added policy to disable quick action menu on iOS.
• Added policy to always show Downloads button on toolbar.
• Added policy to disable the Read Aloud feature.

Improvements and fixes:

• Fixed browser crash when clicking on the Cancel button from the sign-in dialog.
• Fixed browser crash when removing a site from Sidebar.
• Fixed browser crash when clicking on Quit app from the Sidebar’s context menu while playing a video.
• Fixed browser crash when launching the browser.
• Fixed browser crash when opening InPrivate window.
• Fixed browser crash when clicking on Create new workspace button.
• Fixed browser crashing when launching.
• Fixed browser crash when playing a video in certain scenarios.
• Fixed browser crash when ungrouping a tab after changing the group colour or title.
• Fixed browser crash related to WebAuthn Conditional Mediation request.

iOS:

• Fixed browser crash when opening Favorites while in the InPrivate tab.
• Fixed browser crash when closing an InPrivate tab.

Other changes:

• Fixed the middle click on the Extensions toolbar button not opening the Extensions page.
• Fixed Open link in New Tab and Open link in New Windows opening twice.
• Fixed the disabled Copy link button in Workspace.
• Fixed web contents not scaling when maximizing a Workspace window.
• Fixed missing Collections in certain scenarios.
• Fixed DevTool device emulation not working.
• Fixed Favorites bar Show icon only setting reset on browser restart.
• Fixed rounded corner flags not working.
• Fixed tabs merging together after turning off vertical tabs.
• Fixed opening a blank page when clicking on Open link in new tab button From Sidebar pane header.
• Fixed Outlook sidebar dark mode.
• Fixed Sidebar mini music controls not displaying.
• Fixed can’t open tab context menu when using touch.
• Fixed the missing Picture-In-Picture overlay button in PWA.
• Fixed Immersive reader not rendering Wikipedia pages correctly.
• macOS:
• Fixed the missing green Update arrow icon when there is an update.

iOS:

• Fixed Cancel, Done and Delete buttons not working when editing favorites.
• Fixed always start with new tab settings not working correctly.
• Fixed the New Tab Page displaying a white screen.

Android:

• Fixed Remember my choice option not working when certain websites want to open external app.
• Fixed MSA sync turned off after switching accounts.
• WebView2:
• WebMessageObject API has now been promoted from the experimental stage to public.
• CookieManager API has now been promoted from the experimental stage to public.
• Fixed Shift + Tab trapped focus inside WinForms (#2835)
• Fixed application running WebView2 disappears unexpectedly (#3062)
• Fixed Editable PDF form temp data are getting cached (#3274)

Microsoft plans to release Edge 113 in the Beta Channel on the week of April 11, 2023. As for the Stable Channel, expect Edge 113 to land on the week of May 4, 2023. You can download Edge Dev 113 from the official website.

Edge 113 is now available in the Dev Channel with new features, fixes, and policies

WebGPU is a new web standard and instruction set for hardware-accelerated graphics and computing developed by engineers from Google, Apple, Mozilla, Microsoft, and other companies. Like DirectX, Metal, and Vulkan, WebGPU allows rendering directly on a graphics processing unit (GPU), with access to more advanced features (unlike WebGL). WebGPU promises to reduce the JavaScript workload for the same graphics and more than 3x improvements in machine learning model interfaces.

Developers can draw images using WebGPU with highly-detailed scenes and many different objects (CAD models, for example), execute advanced algorithms for drawing realistic scenes, and run machine learning models more efficiently with better access to the GPU.

The new API is the result of more than six years of joint development (the initial design was developed in 2017). The first implementation is now available in Chrome, with Firefox and Safari to follow suit soon. WebGPU supports Windows PCs with DirectX 12, macOS, and ChromeOS with Vulkan support. Google says Android and Linux support will arrive shortly.

Developers can learn more about WebGPU support in Google Chrome in a blog post on the official Chrome Developers blog. It also includes links to additional resources, such as W3C specifications, best practices, MDN documentation, etc.

Chrome 113 finally delivers WebGPU support, enabling high-performance 3D graphics on the web

Microsoft Teams is more than just an online chat and video meeting service. It can also help people keep track of their assignments with its Tasks by Planner and To Do app. This week, a new feature was added to that app called My Day. It's a simple addition but should be very effective for folks who have a lot of daily work and personal commitments.

In a blog post, Microsoft says:

My Day' view brings together tasks from various sources such as Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner (tasks assigned to you in Plans), and flagged emails from Microsoft Outlook. Now, you can view all your tasks in a single, unified interface. If you’re concerned about a task today, just add it to My Day by right clicking the tasks and selecting the ‘Add to My Day’ option.

My Day lists can also be organized by priority or by the due date. When one task is complete on the list, you can mark it off, and it will go away so you can clearly see what tasks still need to be finished.

If you are unfamiliar with the Tasks by Planner and To Do app in Microsoft Teams, you just open Teams, find and click on the Apps tab in its left-hand sidebar, and finally search and click on the Tasks by Planner and To Do app. When you want to use the new My Day feature, just right-click on a task and then select the Add to My Day option.

Microsoft Teams adds new My Day feature in Tasks by Planner and To Do app

On September 18, Canonical will institute a beta freeze on Ubuntu 23.10 so that hardly anything changes in the run-up to September 21 when the beta is issued. The public will be invited to try out the beta release and supply feedback on issues encountered so they can be addressed before the final release a few weeks later on October 12.

As a non-LTS version, Ubuntu 23.10 will be supported for just nine months. This is great for people who want to keep their computer up-to-date with all the latest goodies Ubuntu has to offer but people who don’t like doing regular upgrades are better off sticking with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS until Ubuntu 24.04 LTS arrives in April 2024.

For those who do want to jump on these latest releases, Canonical is due to release Ubuntu 23.04 on April 20. The beta was released at the end of March so you can give that a whirl if you like but be warned that there could still be issues.

Ubuntu 23.10 beta and final release dates unveiled in newly published schedule

This is a legacy driver and does not add anything new, since last year Intel has only provided security updates for 6th-10th gen Intel CPUs as well as fixing a number of undisclosed issues. You can check out the full changelog below:

version 31.0.101.2121 changelog:

Known Issues

• Vertical collage mode not functional using the Intel Graphics Command Center.
• May observe two combined displays visible as not combined displays in the Intel Graphics Command Center

According to a post on Reddit, this driver also appears to have trouble installing on Skylake (6th gen) Intel CPUs with Gen9 GPUs, which include Iris and Iris Pro graphics.

You can download the driver by heading over to Intel's official website at this link. The driver is compatible with Intel 6th-10th Gen processor graphics.

Source: Release Notes (PDF) via Intel

Intel graphics driver 31.0.101.2121 (WHQL) for 6th-10th gen Intel CPUs released

While the development around ReFS is impressive, support around NTFS still goes strong as Ventoy, which is a popular utility used for making bootable media similar to Rufus, has now gained the ability to recognize greater than 64kB cluster sizes. What this essentially means is that Ventoy can now read volume sizes greater than 256TB (NTFS goes all the way up to 8PB on Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 1709 and newer).

Speaking of NTFS, a Fedora boot error related to the file system has also been fixed. Here is the full changelog for Ventoy version 1.0.91:

Ventoy 1.0.91 changelog:

 

• Add support for FreeBSD 14-CURRENT.
• Fix the issue for booting Bliss OS 15.x
• Fix a bug that Fedora boot error if Ventoy partition is NTFS.
• Add Recognition for NTFS with large cluster size (greater than 64KB).
• Improve grub2 mode process for legacy BIOS mode.
• languages.json update.

 

You can download the software from Neowin or from Ventoy's official website.

Source

Google published an early draft of Manifest V3 for Chrome extensions in January 2019. Manifest files define the capabilities of browser extensions, and any changes made to them can make or break extensions.

In Google's case, Manifest V3 was clearly intended to limit content blockers. Several extension developers stated back then that if Manifest V3 would roll out like initially intended, it could mean the end of content blocking in Chrome.

Google tweaked and changed the draft and postponed testing and the rollout of Manifest V3, and the retirement of Manifest V2 support, several times.

In 2021, for instance, Google announced that it would stop accepting new Manifest V2 extensions by January 2022 and would disable these extensions in June 2023 in Chrome. Google planned to disable support for running Manifest V2 extensions by January 2023, but announced in December 2022 that it would postpone the change.

In December 2022, Google announced that it would postpone the January 2023 changes and all following changes.

Now, three months later, Google provided a bit of clarity in a post on the official mailing list. Google admits that it is "still working on the timeline of the MV2 phase-out plan" and that it plans to publish a new timeline in the coming months.

Chrome extension developers will have "sufficient migration time" before any changes are made to Manifest V2 support in Chrome. Google will give developers at least 6 months "of heads-up" before it will even start experimenting with turning of Manifest V2 support in the browser.

It appears that Manifest V2 support will be removed sometime in 2024 now at the earliest, but it is still possible that the change will be delayed again.

The official Manifest V2 sunset page on the Chrome Developer website was updated already to reflect the decision.

Google states that it remains "committed to the rollout of MV3 to improve security, privacy, and performance" for users of Chrome. The company wants to phase out support for Manifest V2 in a timely manner, but that did not work out too well up until now.

Closing Words

Most Chromium-based browsers will follow Google in ending support for Manifest V2 extensions, once the changes land in Chromium. Mozilla, maker of Firefox and one of the few browser makers not dependent on Chromium, will support Manifest V2 and V3 extensions in the Firefox browser.

Google's Manifest V3 implementation remains highly controversial, that is for sure.

Source

Brave Browser desktop users may check the installed version by loading brave://settings/help in the browser's address bar. The browser displays the installed version and runs a check for updates at the same time. It should pick up the Brave 1.50 update and install it automatically.

Brave 1.50: the major changes

Brave Browser 1.50 comes with a relatively large set of new features and improvements. Some of these are specific to certain operating systems, others may have been available in an off-state previously, but are now enabled for all users.

Starting with these, Brave users now find the screenshot option attached to the browser's share menu. A click on the screenshot option of the share menu, which users find attached to the address bar, gives users the option to draw a rectangle around content displayed in the browser to copy it to the clipboard.

The System Settings page, found under brave://settings/system, has a new Power option, but only if the device is having a battery.

Brave users who download content regularly may notice the new download bubble; this moves downloads under a new icon at the top of the Brave interface. Previously, Brave displayed downloads at the bottom of the browser window.

There is also a new HTTPS by Default mode that Brave describes as an intermediate between the browser's HTTPS-Only mode and traditional handling of websites. It basically tries HTTPS first and if that fails, attempts to fall back to HTTP to load the site.

The feature is powered by Brave Shields, which users may configure globally or for individual sites.

Brave users who install the browser anew or for the first time will have all local content blocking scripts enabled by default now. Previously, Brave enabled only one of them. These can be checked and managed by loading brave://settings/shields/filters in the address bar.

Other changes include a new keyboard shortcut, Command-B, to show or hide the sidebar on macOS, and a new Mute Tab option, also on macOS.

Brave Browser users who use the browser's sync feature may enable the experimental flag brave://flags/#brave-sync-send-all-history to add the browsing history to Brave Sync, so that it becomes available on all devices.

The new version includes several fixes, including an "excessive CPU usage" on a specific website and an error when logging into the T-Mobile account website.

Chromium has been upgraded to 112.0.5615.49, which is the same version that Google Chrome was updated to a few days ago. This update addresses several security issues in Chromium, which are now fixed.

The full release notes listing is available here. They do include a large section for Web3 and Brave Rewards changes.

Source

The Chrome team is thrilled to announce that WebGPU is now available by default in Chrome 113, which is currently in the Beta channel. WebGPU is a new web graphics API that offers significant benefits such as greatly reduced JavaScript workload for the same graphics and more than three times improvements in machine learning model inferences. This is possible due to more flexible GPU programming and access to advanced capabilities that WebGL does not provide.

This initial release of WebGPU is available on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows. Support for other platforms is coming later this year.

#A new dawn for web graphics

WebGPU is a new API for the web, which exposes modern hardware capabilities and allows rendering and computation operations on a GPU, similar to Direct3D 12, Metal, and Vulkan. Unlike the WebGL family of APIs, WebGPU offers access to more advanced GPU features and provides first-class support for general computations on the GPU. The API is designed with the web platform in mind, featuring an idiomatic JavaScript API, integration with promises, support for importing videos, and a polished developer experience with great error messages.

This initial release of WebGPU serves as a building block for future updates and enhancements. The API will offer more advanced graphics features, and developers are encouraged to send requests for additional features. The Chrome team also plans to provide deeper access to shader cores for even more machine learning optimizations and additional ergonomics in WGSL, the WebGPU Shading Language.

WebGPU is the result of a collaborative effort by the W3C's "GPU for the Web" Community Group, which includes contributions from major companies such as Mozilla, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft. After six years of development (90 contributors, 2000 commits, 3000 issues), from the initial design in 2017, the first implementation is now available in Chrome, with support for Firefox and Safari in progress.

Both the Dawn library for Chromium and the wgpu library for Firefox are available as standalone packages, and they offer great portability and ergonomic layers that abstract OS GPU APIs. Using these libraries in native applications also makes it easier to port to WASM through Emscripten and Rust web-sys.

#Browser support

This initial release of WebGPU is available in Chrome 113 on ChromeOS devices with Vulkan support, Windows devices with Direct3D 12 support, and macOS. Linux, Android, and expanded support for existing platforms will come soon.

WebGPU is currently a work-in-progress in Firefox and Safari, in addition to the initial implementation in Chrome.

#ibrary support

Many widely used WebGL libraries are already in the process of implementing WebGPU support or have already done so. This means that using WebGPU may only require making a single line change:

•     Babylon.js has full WebGPU support already, see demo.

•     PlayCanvas announced initial WebGPU support.

•     TensorFlow.js supports WebGPU-optimized versions of most operators.

•     Three.js WebGPU support is underway, see examples.

#Resources

WebGPU is a significant technology, and we recommend the following resources to learn more:

•     Check out the W3C specifications for WebGPU and WGSL.

•     Experiment with samples and explore WGSL with a tour.

•     Look at the MDN documentation.

•     Read the official explainer and best practices.

•     Learn about GPU compute and more.

#Acknowledgments

Many thanks to all Chromium contributors and especially to Intel folks for their invaluable support in making this possible.

Source

In mid-March, Microsoft offered people in the Windows Insiders program a way to get a free USB drive so they could perform a clean install of Windows 11. Now it looks like those drives are starting to reach some Insiders' mailboxes.

Twitter user Noah_will (via XenoPanther) posted an image of his USB drive, which as you can see has the Windows Insider logo on it. The drive has 64GB of storage on it, according to Noah. Microsoft previously said shipments of the drives could take between six to eight weeks. So it looks like those shipments are actually taking a lot less time to reach some people.

Just a reminder: Microsoft originally offered to send these drives to Insiders because it had just launched the Canary Channel. However, Insiders on the Dev build automatically got "updated" to the Canary Channel, which means that if they wanted to stay with the Dev builds, they would have to perform a clean install of Windows 11. The drives Microsoft sent out will allow those users who want to stay on the Dev channel to perform that new install.

Some Windows Insiders are getting their USB drives for Windows 11 clean installs

The QAT was previously hidden by default when Microsoft announced a visual refresh of its Office desktop apps in 2021. However, that move was apparently not liked by many Office users. Microsoft stated:

Through surveys and in-app feedback, you let us know that this change was disruptive and slowed your workflow. Specifically, you mentioned that the placement of the Undo and Redo commands on the Home tab required extra clicks and tab navigation. Additionally, some of you also missed being able to hide the AutoSave command from the title bar.

So Microsoft has now brought the QAT back by default. People who had QAT hidden will now see the AutoSave, Save, Undo, and Redo commands above the ribbon. People who previously had the QAT visible by default should now see the AutoSave, Save, Undo, and Redo commands on the left side of the app. It's available for Office Insiders who have Version 2305 (Build 16403.20000) or later installed.

Microsoft returns the Quick Access Toolbar default for Office apps by popular demand

First discovered by Albacore, it appeared in Developer build 23419, which Microsoft released in late March 2022. Microsoft did not reveal that change in the changelog on the official website.

The screenshot shows an error badge on the profile icon in the Start Menu. A click on the icon displays the following message, or order: "Sign in to your Microsoft account. You'll be able to back up your device and keep it more secure".

Microsoft has been testing promotional messages in the very same spot. All previous promotions, some would call them advertisements, were displayed to users signed in with a Microsoft account on the device.

Windows 11 users have two options to sign-in to the device: use a Microsoft account or a local account. Microsoft has been pushing hard to get customers to use Microsoft Accounts and not local accounts. It started to hide the local option for many users during initial setup, but there are workarounds to create local accounts during Windows 11 setup.

The profile icon, displayed when the Start Menu opens, lists options to switch to another account, sign-out of the current account, lock the screen, or open the account settings.

Previous Start Menu promotions, those that targeted Microsoft Account users, displayed an exclamation mark badge on the profile icon. All advertised Microsoft's OneDrive service. OneDrive is free to use, but Microsoft is earning money through commercial plans that increase storage and add other tools and features for subscribers.

The local account badge makes it appear as if there is a major issue with the account or the operating system. Users who click on the profile icon to find out more about that issue, get an advertisement for Microsoft accounts and also OneDrive, which is probably not what they expect.

To Microsoft's credit, it is testing these changes in developer builds of the operating system. Whether these will make it into stable builds is up for debate. Microsoft is apparently working on a setting to block these new promotions from being displayed.

Instead of using an already existing setting, Microsoft appears to have cooked up a new preference, but it is not yet integrated into the Developer builds of Windows 11.

Closing Words

The new profile icon badges for local and Microsoft account users advertise OneDrive. Microsoft has not revealed its intention, but getting more users to use a Microsoft account and OneDrive, for backups, may certainly get more customers to pay for extra storage.

Deceptive promotions like these should not find their way into an operating system, but only time will tell if this one will find its way into stable builds of Windows 11.

Microsoft testing error badge in Windows 11 to promote Microsoft accounts

Microsoft added Bing Image Creator inside Bing Chat a couple of weeks ago. It also created a stand alone site for the AI generated art maker. Now it looks like Microsoft might expand the reach of Bing Image Creator to its Edge browser, specifically its sidebar.

In a Twitter post this morning, Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft's head of Advertising and Web Services, stated they are testing Bing Image Creator in the Edge sidebar. He stated that it could be used to create art, and then insert it into "whatever you happen to be editing." He posted an image showing a "vintage computer" image that was placed inside Outlook.

Parakhin stated that if this new feature doesn't get a lot of use, it could still be moved "behind the plus sign", However, this seems to be a very nice addition to the Edge sidebar so hopefully it will be added to the public version soon.

Microsoft released Bing Image Creator with some pretty hard guardrails for content. Indeed, it refused to make an image based on the word "Bing" early in its public release. Parakhin stated at the time that this was done "to be on the safe side at launch." He posted earlier today that it is "rapidly improving - it is much better than when we first released it."

Microsoft is testing Bing Image Creator in the Edge sidebar

According to Stella Fudge, a Twitter leaker, Apple plans to shut down its online services for older devices. Almost all services will be unavailable for older iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS versions, with the exception of iCloud.

The leak also says that users who are using older software will be notified of the situation and asked to update their devices if that is possible. Most older phones don't support the latest iOS versions.

Stella Fudge's leak looks legit, as Apple recently said: "Some older software versions will no longer support Apple Services like the App Store, Siri, and Maps. Update your software to the latest available version to continue using these services."

Older devices will no longer use online services

The company hasn't specified why, but most iPhone users won't be affected. According to a report from MacRumors, Apple announced that only 8% of actively used iPhones run iOS14 or older. You might want to double-check your software version if you are one of them. Apple plans to shut down its online services for devices running the versions below:

• iOS 11-11.2.6
• macOS 10.13-10.13.3
• watchOS 4-4.2.3
• tvOS 11-11.2.6

Just like any other smartphone company, Apple also cuts its support for older devices after some time. With the developing technologies, it becomes harder for older devices to keep up with, and the solution is to stop their updates, as well as push people to buy the latest models. Apple has been giving online service access to older devices for a long time; however, this is expected to change soon.

Almost all of Apple's services are connected to its operating systems, like iOS and macOS. That is one of the main reasons the company allowed older devices to use online services. Unfortunately, there is a strong possibility that this will change very soon.

iOS 17 is almost out, and a recent rumor showed that Apple devices that won't have support. iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad (5th gen), 9.7-inch iPad Pro (1st gen), and 12.9-inch iPad Pro (1st gen) are the rumored devices. For more information, check out our article!

Apple to pull plug on devices running older software

You can find the full changelog below:

• Fixed a crash when attempting to start an NVENC encoding session when using the FFmpeg encoder [RytoEX]
• Fixed an issue where Properties would scroll incorrectly when toggling options [derrod]
• Fixed an issue where Game Capture would display compatibility notices unnecessarily [derrod]
• Fixed various issues with remuxing & auto remuxing the new fragmented video formats [derrod]
• Fixed CBR padding when using NVENC AV1/HEVC [derrod]
• Fixed AV1 padding data being removed from RTMP streams [notr1ch/derrod]
• Fixed an issue where replay buffer and automatic file splitting would not work when using fragmented video formats [derrod]
• Added AMD AV1 encoder to simple output mode [notr1ch]
• Improved default buffering behavior for most Elgato video capture devices on Windows [FBirth]
• Various improvements and fixes to Decklink performance [jpark37]
• Fixed transparent windows capturing incorrectly on Wayland using PipeWire [asahilina]
• Fixed an issue where the Settings window could be closed without selecting a video encoder [gxalpha]
• Fixed macOS build not packaging correctly [PatTheMav]
• Added more applications to the DLL blocklist on Windows [notr1ch]
• Fixed an issue with the source rotation handle when source is flipped [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue with FFmpeg NVENC producing invalid DTS when using b-frames [RytoEX/flaeri/derrod/tt2468]
• Fixed an issue with Qt where incompatible encoders could still be selected on macOS [gxalpha]
• Added codec logging for the QSV encoder [RytoEX]
• Fixed an issue where loading an SRT stream in Media Source could cause rendering/UI freeze [tt2468]
• Fixed HEVC encoded RTMP streams not playing back correctly when b-frames are enabled [YouTube]

New Features

• Added a DLL blocking feature for Windows. This allows OBS to block problematic DLLs from attaching to OBS and causing freezing or crashes, for example 3rd party overlay hooks and outdated video capture devices. [notr1ch]
  • This blocks old versions of popular VTubing software virtual cameras that are known to cause freezes when accessing video capture device properties. If you are affected, please update to the latest version of your VTubing software.
• Added Update Channels on macOS and updated Sparkle for smaller and faster updates going forward [derrod]
• Added settings to select the audio encoder for streaming and recording [tytan652]
• Added an option to preload media sources used in Stingers to memory, to avoid frame skips during transitions [Jim]
• Added compatibility notices in the Window and Game Capture sources for Windows [derrod]
• Added the ability to zoom browser docks with Ctrl - and + and the right click menu [WizardCM]
• Added a setting to record in fragmented MP4 and MOV formats [derrod]
  • These offer greater compatibility than MKV while providing similar resilience against
    data loss due to crashes, running out of space, etc.
  • Fragmented MP4 and MOV files can be remuxed to regular MP4/MOV in cases where the
    former may not be read correctly (e.g. in older editing software)
  • The default recording format has been tentatively changed to fragmented MP4/MOV,
    please submit your feedback on Discord or the Forums if you run into any issues!
• Added support for surround sound for AJA capture cards [paulh-aja]
• Added ProRes 4444 (XQ) support for VideoToolbox encoder on macOS [jpark37]
• Added lossless audio recording options (FLAC/ALAC/PCM including 32-bit float) [derrod]
• Added indicator if an audio source is unmuted, but not assigned to any audio tracks [derrod]
• Added support for streaming AV1/HEVC over RTMP [YouTube/yuriy-chunak]
  • Currently only supported by/enabled for YouTube
  • HDR is not yet supported, this restriction may be lifted during the OBS 29.1 beta
    testing period
• Added support for multiple audio tracks in Simple output recording [pkv]

Changes

• Output rescaling is ignored if the scaled resolution matches the current video output resolution [notr1ch]
• NVENC error messages now include more details [notr1ch]
• Changed the default FFmpeg AAC encoder to twoloop which has higher quality [norihiro]
• Allow symbolic links for VST paths [tuduweb]
• Implemented QVBR for AMF encoders [flaeri]
• Expanded support for subtitle tracks in VLC source (up to 1000) [jjm2473]
• The Hotkeys tab in settings is no longer loaded until switched to, resulting in the Settings window opening much faster for large scene collections [derrod]
• Switched various internal data structures to use hash tables for lookups, resulting in significant performance and loading/saving time improvements with large scene collections [derrod]
• Exported scene collection JSON is now pretty-printed and sorted, allowing for easier tracking via git or other versioning mechanisms [derrod]
• Added a "What's New" entry in the help menu to manually open the post-update changelog dialog [derrod]
• Clicking the "Defaults" button in properties will now ask for confirmation before resetting [derrod]
• Improved Windows OBS updater speed and reduced download size by using Zstandard compression [derrod]
• Added platform-specific "What's New" notifications to better communicate changes or issues not affecting all operating systems [derrod]
• Added option to force SDR Window Capture capture in Windows 10+ mode [jpark37]
• Improved YouTube thumbnail preview by using bilinear scaling [derrod]
• Incompatible audio/video encoders will now be disabled based on the selected format [derrod]
• Added HEVC and HDR support to VA-API encoder [yuriy-chunak]
• Added HDR capture support for DeckLink sources [jpark37]
• Video-related items in the right click menu of audio sources in the Sources list will no longer appear [cg2121]
• Native macOS dialogs now respect OBS being set to dark themes [gxalpha]
• Significantly improve screen capture performance on Intel dedicated GPUs on Linux [kkartaltepe]
• JACK inputs on Linux will now display "OBS Studio" in their name to clarify their origin. This may cause existing configured devices to stop working until updated by the user [univrsal]
• The system colour selection dialog is now used on macOS [gxalpha]
• Various improvements to the t-bar for a more predictable user experience [gxalpha]
• Plugins installed system-wide are no longer loaded when OBS is run in Portable Mode [gxalpha]
• Hardware Decoding of Media Sources can now use CUDA [rjgtav]
• Improved DeckLink performance [jpark37]
• Python 3.11 is now supported in Scripting [RytoEX]
• Added FDK AAC support on Flatpak [tytan652]
• Browser docks now provide a "Copy page address" option [WizardCM]
• Increased the maximum resolution of browser sources to 8192x8192 [fungiboletus]
• OBS Websocket has been updated to 5.2 [RytoEX]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed output silently not starting when using multi-track audio at higher frame rates [kkartaltepe]
• Various fixes for monitoring when using PulseAudio [kkartaltepe]
• Fixed a crash on shutdown with virtual camera on Linux [kkartaltepe/norihiro]
• Fixed an issue in the V4L2 source on Linux where a capture device's frame rate could be invalid, resulting in incredibly large log files [9p4]
• Fixed the listing of PulseAudio monitoring devices incorrectly listing inputs [jp-bennett]
• Fixed Screen Capture crashing in the Flatpak with old versions of PipeWire server [tytan652]
• Fixed encoder settings not being updated if the encoder is changed in settings [tytan652]
• Fixed Windows-only RTMP options (e.g., Network Optimizations) causing issues if the profile was imported on non-Windows with those enabled [tytan652]
• Fixed security software status logs showing as blank when running on non-English locales [notr1ch]
• Fixed a crash that could occur when using a video source that frequently changed its resolution (e.g. a VLC playlist) [notr1ch]
• Fixed an issue with RTMP timeouts that could cause a server to think OBS has cleanly ended the connection instead of it disconnecting due to an error, and not activating features like "disconnect protection" [notr1ch]
• Fixed dynamic bitrate changes not working when using NVENC presets p6 or p7 [pkv]
• Fixed AAC encoding of 2.1 audio [pkv]
• Fixed an issue with negative gain in upward compressor [pkv]
• Fixed several bugs in FFmpeg custom output related to colour conversion [flaeri]
• Fixed UI unresponsiveness when searching for hotkeys and duplicate key assignments in large collections [derrod]
• Fixed properties being cut off until window is resized [derrod]
• Fixed portable Windows versions not restarting in portable mode after an update [derrod]
• Fixed updating of an install being blocked by unrelated OBS instances running [derrod]
• Fixed excessive config reads when sources are selected in the preview [derrod]
• Fixed audio track assignments of sources provided by third-party plugins being reset when the plugin could not be loaded [derrod]
• Fixed invalid rescaled resolutions being allowed when they shouldn't be [tuduweb]
• Fixed presets in the Expander filter not applying changes immediately [tuduweb]
• Fixed the virtual camera on Windows reporting the incorrect resolution to external apps, resulting in stretched images [exeldro]
• Fixed the ability to drag and drop scenes after clicking Rename and not changing the name of the Scene [cg2121]
• Fixed a crash on macOS that would occur when an external display with an active Projector was disconnected [PatTheMav]
• Fixed an issue where remuxing a .ts file would fail [tuduweb]
• Fixed an issue with the VLC source where large videos (e.g. 4K) would get squashed horizontally [CoalZombik]
• Fixed spacing helpers appearing incorrectly when a source is rotated and flipped [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue where the preview would display incorrectly when zoomed too far in either direction [cg2121]
• Fixed the macOS virtual camera potentially crashing external apps and recordings to be the wrong length [mac-cain13]
• Fixed the preview having the ability to scroll infinitely out of view when scaled manually [cg2121]
• Fixed the Async Filters list showing incompatible async filters for synchronous sources [gxalpha]
• Fixed an issue where the cursor would not properly disappear in certain games on Wayland [rmngr]
• Fixed an issue where certain filters would not properly update when clicking the Defaults button [gxalpha]
• Fixed an issue where pressing Space would unexpectedly pause the active media source when the main window was focused [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue where duplicating scenes would lose colour coding on sources [cg2121]
• Browser dock Inspect will now remember settings and customizations [WizardCM]

You can download OBS Studio 29.1 Beta 2 from GitHub, or you could also wait the final version.

OBS now blocks rogue Windows DLL files, gets improved AV1 support on AMD and Nvidia

You can block media autoplay in Microsoft Edge by heading to edge://settings/content/mediaAutoplay and selecting Block from the drop-down. Alternatively, go to Settings > Cookies and Site Permissions > Media Autoplay. The restored feature is rolling out gradually to Canary users, so it may take a few days to appear on your computer.

It is worth noting that what Microsoft has announced is anything but new. All Microsoft Edge users, including the Stable Channel, can restore the "Block" option for media autoplay controls by enabling an experimental flag using the edge://flags/#edge-autoplay-user-setting-block-option link. Once enabled (you must also restart the browser to apply the changes), you can go to media autoplay permissions and select the "Block" option. You can also fine-tune your preferences by adding websites to the exceptions list as described in our "How to block video autoplay in Microsoft Edge" guide.

The gist is that Microsoft wants to remove the need to use experimental flags to limit autoplay on all websites regardless of previous usage (the "Limit" option manages media autoplay, depending on your choice). It is a small change, but it will help more users make their browsing experience better and less annoying.

Source

Neowin forums are generally buzzing with Microsoft and Windows enthusiasts, and the comment section on the Windows 12 system requirements article saw some enthused but healthy discussion. One of the comments by a long-time Neowin forum member RejZoR caught my attention, which stated that TPM Attestation on their new AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D system was broken, even though it worked perfectly fine with their previous 5800X processor. The issue is slightly reminiscent of another bug where Windows Security fails to detect the TPM even when the security chip is present.

When I looked around the internet, it indeed looked like a fairly common issue, with plenty of forum posts online talking about the same problem on the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. And while there are also some mentions of other AMD Ryzen CPUs, as well as some Intel chips, it seems the 5800X3D is by far the most affected part. This is pretty bizarre as AMD's 5800X3D should have no problems with TPM attestation as it comes with TPM version 2.0.

Here's the status of TPM attestation on my own Ryzen 7 5700G, which shows as "Ready":

Perhaps Microsoft may be aware of the bug as the known issues list, at least for Windows Autopilot, notes that TPM attestation for AMD may fail with an error code "0x80070490". The issue says:

TPM attestation for AMD platforms with ASP firmware TPM may fail with error code 0x80070490 on Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems. There's currently no update available to resolve this issue.

However, sadly, as the note says above, there is no resolution for this issue. Meanwhile, AMD also does not seem to have any solution for the bug. There are a lot of unanswered forums online where TPM attestation would apparently no longer work after a CPU change or upgrade. The only way around the issue it seems is to purchase a standalone TPM module.

Source: Neowin forum via AMD, Microsoft forums (1) , (2) , (3) , (4)

Microsoft, but mostly AMD, silent on Windows 11 TPM Attestation bug even on supported Ryzen

The new Outlook for Windows app has been in a public preview for nearly a year, as Microsoft continues to add new features to the email client. Today, Microsoft announced that the preview version of Outlook for Windows is finally starting to add support for third-party email accounts.

In a blog post, Microsoft said that they are starting third-party support with the obvious choice: Google's Gmail. In addition, Outlook for Windows users can also get support for Google Calendar and Contacts in the app, which is something that the older Outlook client could not support. It added:

Soon, we will also add support for Yahoo and iCloud, as well as the ability to connect your mailbox through IMAP. It’s our intention that every person be able to access all of their emails – in one spot – on any Windows 10 or Windows 11 device.

Users can start adding their Gmail account just by choosing the Add account option at the bottom of the folder pane. They can also do the same thing by going to Accounts, then selecting Email accounts, followed by Settings to input their Gmail account. Presumable that will also be the case when the other third-party email accounts are supported.

Microsoft has added even more features to the Outlook for Windows preview version. They include:

• Rich editing, spelling, and auto complete suggestions powered by Microsoft Editor.
• The ability to send emails with polls to help make decisions quicker. (Work and School accounts only)
• Delay the delivery of an email for up to 10 seconds so you have a chance to “undo” sending – always an excellent feature if you have a typo or accidentally forgot someone on an email – or just want to make a few quick changes.
• The ability to join a Skype or Teams call directly from the new Outlook for Windows.
• The ability to pin important emails to the top of your inbox – helping ensure you don’t forget to follow up on those most important messages.
• The ability to add multiple shared calendars
• Supporting multiple time zones
• Adding daily weather in Calendar view
• The ability to track packages and check in to flights directly from your Inbox.
• Reminders about important messages that still need a reply.
• Search folders for quick and easy access to all of your emails.
• The ability to customize your email density and views.

Microsoft is also working on some upcoming features which include

• Numerous  visual updates and personalization options so you can create your preferred email experience.
• We’re giving our calendar surface a fresh new look with bolder colours and better readability. Whether you’re scanning your day or organizing your month, your calendar will look beautiful.
• Offline support so you can get things done and access content even when not connected to the Internet.
• Native ICS file type support.

If you have yet to try out the new version of Outlook for Windows, you can open the current version and simply toggle on  Try the new Outlook  in the upper right-hand corner of the app.

Outlook for Windows preview adds support for Gmail accounts, with more to be added soon

Every month, the head of the Linux Mint project, Clement Lefebvre, writes up a blog post detailing what work has been going on behind the scenes. This month he states that the next iteration of Cinnamon, the main desktop environment for Linux Mint, will feature something called styles which allow you to choose between mixed, dark, or light themes and combine colours that work well together.

The new styles will be located in theme settings and will give you the choice to pick a desktop style such as Adwaita, Mint-X, Mint-Y, and so on. You can also pick a mixed, dark, or light appearance, and then from the advanced settings, you can pick colours and combinations to change the tint used for the close button, icons, and more. Users should see a “new” theme in the style drop-down called Mint-L, which stands for Mint-Legacy; this is just the Mint-Y-Legacy theme which has been renamed.

With the last release of Linux Mint, stripes were attached to folders that reflected the theme colour you picked. These received criticism from the community, though, because they were predominantly yellow and didn’t reflect the theme colour the user picked well enough. In the next version of Cinnamon (and by extension, Linux Mint), the stripes will be replaced by two-tone icons that fully reflect the user’s choice of theme colour.

For all of you out there who like the Yaru theme from Ubuntu which mixes purple, orange, and dark grey, you’ll be glad to hear that Yaru will be a theme option in the next version of Cinnamon. With the Yaru theme, the icons will still be in the same shape as the Papirus icons but they use the colours found in the Yaru theme on Ubuntu.

Linux Mint 21.2 should be available around May or June and will be easy to upgrade to from Linux Mint 21.1. Like other 21.x releases, this version will still be based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, rather than Ubuntu 23.04 which is coming later this month.

Linux Mint team adds styles to Cinnamon desktop

Microsoft is working on a solution to effectively get rid of those messages in the Activity feed with just a click. The software giant is developing the "Mark all as read" feature for Teams. Marking all notifications as read will give Teams users an easy way to get rid of unimportant messages more quickly. You will no longer have to open those unimportant notifications to get rid of those bold texts on the Activity page.

The ability to mark all as read on the Activity feed page is a long-requested functionality. Users have been asking for it ever since people rushed to use Teams in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Some Teams users also wanted Microsoft to add a "Requires follow-up" or "Mark as unread" option so that it is possible to get back to notifications later, even after opening them.

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, "Mark all as read" will be available to Teams for Windows and Mac next month, in May. However, the page does not provide information on when the "Requires follow-up" or "Mark as unread" option will be available in the software.

Regarding what's already been rolled out, Microsoft recently introduced a green screen feature to Teams so that any virtual background looks better. Functionalities such as support for 3D avatars and faster performance have also been added to Teams in the last few weeks. Hopefully, the company will also add more useful features to Teams in the coming days.

Teams users will soon be able to get rid of unread notifications quickly

AMD's last driver update, 23.3.2, already brought support for The Last of Us Part 1, but this one is specifically bringing "game optimizations" to it. The company hasn't detailed what sort of benefits players will see in this driver over the previous release, but it is a recommended install for anyone jumping in.

With all the issues the Naughty Dog game is seeing on PC, fans will probably appreciate any help they can get to stabilize the highly-anticipated port.

As for fixed issues, there is good news for those who have been experiencing blurry videos in browsers while using some GPUs from the red team:

• Video playback in browsers using hardware acceleration may appear blurry on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XT.
• Mouse cursor may appear invisible in Citrix Workspace™.
• Performance Metrics Overlay may intermittently disappear when playing full-screen videos from STEAM™.

Here are the known issues being worked on by AMD's engineers:

• High idle power has situationally been observed when using select high-resolution and high refresh rate displays on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Video stuttering or performance drop may be observed during gameplay plus video playback with some extended display configurations on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Some virtual reality games or apps may experience lower-than-expected performance on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Brief display corruption may occur when switching between video and game windows on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Water corruption in Hogwarts Legacy™ may occur on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 580.
• Blocky water corruption in Red Dead Redemption 2™ may occur using Vulkan® API.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.4.1 driver can now be upgraded to via the Radeon Settings app that's available on Windows. A standalone installation can also be performed by downloading the driver from the link found in the release notes here. The Factory Reset option is still disabled from use in this release as AMD performs fixes on an operating system corruption issue.

Download from the FrontPage:

AMD 23.4.1 driver has Last of Us Part 1 optimizations and a blurry browser video fix

Microsoft is starting to roll out a new version of its popular OneNote note-taking app for Windows. It's currently available for Insiders members who are using Version 2302 (Build 16118.20002) or later. It includes some improvements in the app's Quick Note features.

Microsoft's blog post stated many OneNote users told the team they wanted a faster way to take notes and capture content like screenshots. This new version is designed to offer those kinds of improvements. They include the following additions:

• Incorporated a sleek new toolbar with useful text formatting options and inking capabilities.
• Given you faster access to screen clipping.
• Made it easier to transition to OneNote on Windows through the overflow menu.

Right now, the new toolbar and features are only available for OneNote for Windows. They are not included in any other version, including the OneNote Windows 10 app. Right now there's no word on when this new update will be made available for all OneNote Windows users, nor is there any information on if the new toolbar will be incorporated with OneNote apps on other platforms.

Microsoft OneNote for Insider users gets new Quick Note toolbar for faster note capturing

Planning a vacation can be a fun and exciting experience. But sometimes, using Google to find flights, lodging, and activities can lead to tons of open tabs and massive confusion. To alleviate the headache this tedious task can cause, Google announced a new way to use its search engine for all your travel needs.

In Google's new update, users can more easily browse hotels, compare flight prices, and find new adventures to take on. Here are all of Google's new travel tools and how they can help you plan your next vacation.

Flight prices

Plane ticket prices depend on several factors, like the day of the week, your destination, and upcoming holidays. Some people like buying plane tickets months in advance to take advantage of lower prices, while others want to wait until a better deal comes up.

To help solve this problem, Google Flights now has price guarantees for flights in the U.S. If a flight has a guaranteed price badge next to its price, that means Google believes the price will stay the same until the flight is scheduled to take off.

If the flight's price does decrease before you're scheduled to leave, Google will reimburse you the difference via Google Pay. This feature is only available for Book on Google itineraries that depart from the U.S.

Hotel browsing

Google can help you find a hotel with the right price, ratings, and location that you're looking for. But it can be a hassle to use Google to find hotels on your phone, so Google came up with a solution.

Instead of clicking on a hotel you're interested in and being redirected to a new tab, Google will redirect you to view hotels in your desired location in a swipeable story format. And instead of seeing details about the hotel's location or reviews in a new tab, those details are available in one tap. To keep looking at other options, swipe up.

Finding a new activity

When you're visiting a new city for fun, it's paramount that you see the city's most notable tourist attractions. On the other hand, some people are more interested in visiting the most obscure attractions a city offers. Either way, Google offers a better method to discover your next outing.

Also: How to create multiple Google Calendars (and why you should)

When you search a city's attractions or tour company on Google Maps or Search, their prices and a link to its booking site will appear on their Google listing. Plus, if you're looking for multiple things to do, Google will suggest related attractions and experiences for you to try.

Source

The VLOOKUP function searches a piece of information in the following area and gives information from a different column that corresponds. You can use it when you need to find things in a table or a range by row. Let's cut to the chase and look at how to use VLOOKUP in Excel.

How to use VLOOKUP function in Excel

Microsoft says its simplest explanation is: =VLOOKUP(What you want to look up, where you want to look for it, the column number in the range containing the value to return, return an Approximate or Exact match – indicated as 1/TRUE, or 0/FALSE). There are three must-have arguments, and they are:

• Lookup Value: The value that you want to find in a table.
• Table Array: Where you want to search for the lookup value.
• Column Index Number: The table's column number that has the return value.

Organize your file

Make sure that your data is well organized before using the function so that it will work without any issues. You must make sure that the data you want to extract corresponds to the information you want to search for, which should be to the left of it. Unfortunately, VLOOKUP only works from left to right. Otherwise, you won't get the results you are looking for.

Microsoft

Enter data

Now that you made sure your data is well-organized and aligned to the left, it is time to tell the VLOOKUP function what to look up. Type "=VLOOKUP()" and start filling in the parentheses by selecting the cell that has the information you want to look up.

Show Excel where to look

You must show Excel where to look for the specific information. You could either select the whole file or a specific area, depending on what you need and your preferences.

Let Excel know which column to pull data from

Excel needs to know which column contains the information you want the VLOOKUP to output. In this step, you must put the column number in the range that contains the return value.

Microsoft

Specify if you want an approximate match or exact match

The application offers you two different options to pick from. First, you could end the formula by typing "TRUE," if you want an approximate match. You can also type "FALSE" if you want an exact match of the return value. This is optional, and you can pick one of them according to your preferences and needs.

If you still have questions about how to use VLOOKUP in Excel, you can also check the official Microsoft blog.

Source