We're investigating an issue where legitimate URL links are being incorrectly marked as malicious by the Microsoft Defender service. Additionally, some of the alerts are not showing content as expected. Further details can be found under DZ534539 within the admin center.

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) March 29, 2023

Over on Reddit, IT and system administrators are also discussing about the problems and in one of the threads, user x-64 has shared details about DZ534539:

DZ534539

Title: Admins may be receiving an unexpected amount of high severity alert email messages

User impact: Admins may be receiving an unexpected amount of high severity alert email messages.

More info: The high severity alert emails refer to 'A potentially malicious URL click was detected'. Additionally, admins may be unable to view alert details using the 'View alerts' link in the emails.

Current status: We're reviewing service monitoring telemetry to isolate the root cause and develop a remediation plan.

Scope of impact: Impact is specific to any admin served through the affected infrastructure.

We will keep you posted on further developments.

Source

In a Twitter post, Parakhin showed off a new and much better format for showing math solutions in Bing Chat. He stated that it's currently being tested by about 10 percent of Bing Chat users but it should go live to everyone else "soon."

If you are a lucky 10%er (like me :-)), you might see math actually formatted nicely. Coming soon to Bing Chat near you: pic.twitter.com/IMFXPEqTt2

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) March 29, 2023

Microsoft recently raised its daily chat turn limit to 200 and its per chat session turn limit to 20. The number one request of users has been for Bing Chat to add a way to save chat session histories. While there have been some online reports stating that feature has been added, Microsoft Vice President for Bing’s Growth and Distribution team, Michael Schechter, responded to our question about that subject on Twitter with two words: "Not yet".

Source

The announcement comes in form of a reply by Mozilla employee Mike Kaply, who had this to say on Mozilla's bug tracking website Bugzilla: "We will not be ending support for Windows 7/Windows 8 before the release of the Firefox 115 ESR, so the Firefox 115 ESR will support Windows 7/Windows 8 at least until 3Q 2024."

The next extended support release version of Firefox, Firefox 115 ESR, will support Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. The first Firefox 115 ESR version will be released on July 4, 2023. It will be supported for 15 releases until it runs out of support. Mozilla releases a new major version each four weeks, which means that Firefox 115 ESR will be supported for 60 weeks after its release in July.

Mozilla did not commit to ending support then, keeping its options open. Factors, such as the number of users and organizations who use Firefox on Windows 7 or 8.1 devices, will play a role in determining the fate of the browser then for these systems.

Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 and 8 in January 2023, and all Chromium-based browsers are no longer supported on the platforms, as Google decided to end support for these systems. Mozilla Firefox is one of the few browsers that continues to support these operating systems.

Closing Words

Mozilla has played its cards right this time. While it could also have ended support for Windows 7 and 8 with the end of this ESR cycle, which ends on August 29, 2023, it decided against this and continue support for at least another ESR cycle.

Mozilla's latest hardware survey shows that 13.44% of all Firefox installations run on Windows 7. It is second only to Windows 10, which has a commanding lead. The numbers will drop, likely, in the coming months, but it is a sizeable part of the entire userbase.

The move ensures that these Firefox users won't switch to another browser, as few as there may be. Also, and that may have also been a factor for Mozilla, it could entice Chrome users on these systems to switch to Firefox. Firefox continues to get security updates and bug fix updates for well over a year, which may be reason enough for some to make the switch.

As far as downsides are concerned, there are not many. Mozilla has to test Firefox builds on these platforms to make sure the browser runs stable and secure, but it has done so already in the past ten or so years.

Source

So while Windows 11 21H2 was considered a safe haven, it looks like the roles are reversed now as Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR 2) fails to launch on the original Windows 11 release. The issue is triggered when attempting to launch the title from the Rockstar Games Launcher wherein the game does not open when selecting the "Play" button from the Launcher.

Hence, for now, Microsoft says the only workaround to mitigate the issue for those affected is to upgrade Windows 11 21H2 systems to 22H2. The issues began since the KB5023774 update that was released earlier today.

On the Windows release health dashboard, Microsoft explains:

After installing KB5023774 or later updates, Red Dead Redemption 2 might not open. When attempting to open it from the Rockstar Games Launcher by selecting the "Play" button, it will switch to "Loading", but Red Dead Redemption 2 might not open, and the button will revert to "Play".

Workaround: To mitigate this issue, you can upgrade to Windows 11, version 22H2. If you are interested in moving to Windows 11, version 22H2, open Windows Update settings and select Check for updates. If your device is ready, you will see the option to Download and install.

Microsoft says the matter is being investigated and at the moment, there is no word on a fix.

Microsoft: Upgrade to Windows 11 22H2 if RDR 2 doesn't launch via Rockstar Launcher on 21H2

Starting off with Excel for the web, customers can take advantage of the Check Performance utility. This automatically gives suggestions to remove unwanted formatting from cells that may be slowing down your workbook's performance when you open it, but you can launch it manually by navigating to the Review tab too.

Additionally, Excel for the web users can leverage Formula Argument Assistance cards which show up as you are writing a formula. They display more information about a calculation and its arguments so that you don't need to navigate to external resources for help. Finally, based on user feedback, Microsoft has implement drag-and-drop behavior in the Queries pane so that you can sort your queries and drag them between folders too.

Coming over to Excel for Windows, untrusted Excel XLL add-ins can be blocked for improved security. This feature was available only for Insiders last month.

Furthermore, in order to make collaboration easier, both Windows and Mac customers can utilize @mentions to assign tasks to members. Once this assignment is done, the assignee receives an email informing them that a task has their name on it.

What is your favorite Excel feature this month? What capabilities do you think Microsoft should add to the software in the future? Let us know in the comments section below!

Microsoft added performance boost recommendations and more to Excel in March 2023

In a statement on the Ubuntu mailing list, Łukasz Zemczak said:

“I'm happy to inform you that, per the Technical Board votes seen above (and confirmed on today's [Technical Board] meeting), Ubuntu Cinnamon has become an official Ubuntu flavour! Welcome to the family!”

For those who don’t know, Cinnamon is the desktop environment made by the Linux Mint developers and ships as the default environment on Linux Mint. While Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, the Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix is much closer to Ubuntu than Linux Mint. Cinnamon has some of the same underpinnings as GNOME 3 as it was forked from that project but took a different direction to maintain a traditional desktop look and feel.

One of the main differences between Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix and Linux Mint is the lack of Linux Mint’s XApps and backup tool Timeshift. According to OMG! Ubuntu!, the Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix could still do with a bit of polishing up before it’s officially released as the daily build contained no web browser and GIMP was set as the default image viewer.

Source: Ubuntu via OMG! Ubuntu! and Phoronix

Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix set to become official flavour

As a reminder, Microsoft is changing how it delivers preview versions of its cumulative updates. Beginning April 2023, the company will ship optional non-security updates every fourth Tuesday of the month. In other words, users now have two Patch Tuesdays—one mandatory and one optional.

KB5023778 adds a few visible changes you will spot right after installing it. The Start menu will start naggingreminding you to back up files using your Microsoft Account and perform other MSA-related things. Also, the taskbar search is now lighter when you use a custom colour mode (dark Windows mode and light app mode). Finally, the update fixes many bugs, such as PowerPoint freezing and issues with Notepad, Narrator, and USB printers.

What is new in Windows 11 KB5023778 (22621.1485)?

Here are the update's highlights:

• 

   

  New! This update introduces notifications for Microsoft accounts in the Start menu. This is only available to a small audience right now. It will deploy more broadly in the coming months. Some devices might notice different visual treatments as we gather feedback. See the example below.
• New! The search box on the taskbar will be lighter when you set Windows to a custom colour mode. This will occur when you set the Windows mode to dark and the app mode to light in Settings > Personalization > colours.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Notepad combo box in Settings. It fails to show all the available options.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft PowerPoint. It stops responding. This occurs when you use accessibility tools.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Narrator. It fails to read items in dropdown lists in Microsoft Excel.
• This update addresses an issue that affects USB printers. The system classifies them as multimedia devices even though they are not.

And here is the rest of the changelog:

• New! This update adds many new features and improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
• This update addresses an issue that affects complexity policy settings for PINs. They are ignored.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Fast Identity Online 2.0 (FIDO2) PIN credential icon. It does not appear on the credentials screen of an external monitor. This occurs when that monitor is attached to a closed laptop.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a Clustered Shared Volume (CSV). The CSV fails to come online. This occurs if you enable BitLocker and local CSV managed protectors, and the system recently rotated the BitLocker keys.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Active Directory Users & Computers. It stops responding. This occurs when you use TaskPad view to enable or disable many objects at the same time.
• The update addresses an issue that affects the Remote Procedure Call Service (rpcss.exe). The issue might cause a race condition between the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the Microsoft Remote Procedure Call (RPC) endpoint mapper.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft PowerPoint. It stops responding on the Azure Virtual Desktop. This occurs while you are using Think-Cell Features.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Search. Windows Search fails inside of Windows container images.
• This update affects the Group Policy Editor. It adds Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 to the list of protocols that you can set.
• This update affects the Arab Republic of Egypt. The update supports the government’s daylight saving time change order for 2023.
• This update affects jscript9Legacy.dll. It adds ITracker and ITrackingService to stop MHTML from not responding.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft HTML Application Host (HTA). This issue blocks code execution that uses Microsoft HTA. This occurs when you turn on Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) User Mode Code Integrity (UMCI) enforced mode.
• This update affects the Group Policy Management Console. It addresses a scripting error in the Group Policy Preferences window.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) client. The client returns an HTTP server error status (500). This error occurs when it runs a transfer job in the Storage Migration Service.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Desired State Configuration. It loses its previously configured options. This occurs if metaconfig.mof is missing.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) option 119 - Domain Search Option. The issue stops you from using a connection-specific DNS Suffix Search List.
• This update addresses a rare issue that might cause an input destination to be null. This issue might occur when you attempt to convert a physical point to a logical point during hit testing. Because of this, the computer raises a stop error.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) certificate. The system reports some SCEP certificate installations as failed. Instead, the system should report them as pending.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the new Windows Runtime (WinRT) API. This issue stops an application from querying for location information using MBIM2.0+.
• This update addresses a known issue that affects kiosk device profiles. If you have enabled automatic logon, it might not work. After Autopilot completes provisioning, these devices stay on the credential screen. This issue occurs after you install updates dated January 10, 2023, and later.

Known issues in KB5023778

How to download KB5023778?

You can download KB5023778 by heading to Settings > Windows Update and clicking Check for updates. Hit Download and install once Windows detects the update. As a reminder, today's release is optional, which means it will not install itself automatically. The changes KB5023778 brings will be mandatory in next month's Patch Tuesday update.

Alternatively, you can get KB5023778 in the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Windows 11 KB5023778 adds improved taskbar search bar, Microsoft Account notifications, more

Having a portable version of terminal makes it easy to copy paste on machines some times on servers. Having to install from store is not convenient.

The issue was heavily upvoted showing that it was something people were certainly interested in. Fast forward to 2023, it looks the feature could finally be arriving soon. Spotted by Twitter user and leakster Xeno, a new pull request (#15051) related to Windows Terminal "portable mode" was pushed by Dustin L. Howett. Here's what the pull request (PR) for the new portable mode says:

This pull request implements portable mode for Windows Terminal, which
will make side by side deployment of different versions generally more
feasible.

Portable mode was specified in #15032.

There are three broad categories of changes in this PR:

1. Changes to settings loading.
2. A new indicator in the settings UI plus a link to the portable mode docs.
3. A new application display name, Windows Terminal (Portable), which users will hopefully include in their bug reports.

A new documentation page for Windows Terminal Portable mode is already present on Microsoft's website, though at the moment it does not contain any information as the feature is not publicly available yet.

Looks like Microsoft is finally working on "Portable Mode" for Windows Terminal

Bodhi Linux has always held a soft spot in my heart. Not only is it a beautiful, user-friendly operating system, it reminds me of my earlier days with Linux. That is mostly because the default "Moshka" desktop is based on one of my all-time favorites, the Enlightenment window manager.

How about a little terminology to start the day? You see, all desktops are made up of a number of pieces, one of which is the window manager. The window manager is in charge of drawing, layout out, and remembering windows.

For example, open the Firefox web browser. You'll notice a title bar and a window border. You can grab the title bar and move it around the desktop. You can grab the border and resize the window. You can close Firefox, re-open it, and it'll open in the same location and the same size. That's the window manager in action and they all have a different take on how the user interacts with the rest of the desktop.

As far as window managers are concerned, Enlightenment was always one of my favorites because I found it to be equal parts artistic and efficient. One of the main reasons for Enlightenment's efficiency (that Moshka takes advantage of) is the desktop menu. (See above.) With most operating system desktops, you either left-click on a menu button (either in a corner of the desktop or at the end of a panel) to open the menu, where you can then click to open applications.

With both Enlightenment and Moshka, you can left-click anywhere on the desktop to open that menu, which means you're dragging your mouse around the desktop far less. That equates to efficiency.

But Bodhi isn't just about efficiency. It's also about ease of use and beauty. Even the default theme for Bodhi is quite well done. And, if you don't like the default theme, left-click anywhere on the desktop, go to Settings > Theme, and select from the various pre-installed themes.

No, you won't find nearly the desktop eye-candy the likes of which is to be had in KDE Plasma, but Bodhi's Moskha desktop offers plenty of configuration options. And even though there might be too many options for a user who is new to Linux (especially if you open the Settings window and go to the Advanced tab, where you'll find configurations for things most users won't want to touch), that doesn't mean users who've spent zero or little time toying with the Linux operating system should avoid this distribution.

Bodhi includes a number of pre-installed themes.
Image: Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Why? It's too much fun to not try.

When you first log into the latest release of Bodhi Linux, you get to experience the wonder of what it was like when you first used a computer. All of a sudden, you feel the possibilities are endless and you'll absolutely enjoy the ride.

Along with the standard tools and behaviors, you'll also find a really cool feature (yet another inspiration from Enlightenment) called Shading. Imagine you have a number of apps open and you don't want to minimize them all to the panel, but you need them out of the way. If you right-click the title bar of a window and select Shade, the window will roll up until only the title bar remains. You can do that with as many windows as you need.

Window shading has always been a favorite feature of mine.
Image: Jack Wallen/ZDNET

I take this one step further and configure (via Settings> Input > Mouse Bindings), so that if I double-click the window title bar, the window shades up. Another double-click and the window shades down. With this handy feature, I can have as many application windows open as I need, without getting lost in the fray.

What you'll find in Bodhi Linux

The first thing to know is that Bodhi Linux can be used like a traditional desktop. It has a bottom panel, a traditional menu button (along with the "floating" desktop menu), a system tray, a clock, launchable icons on the panel, favorites in the menu, and much more.

As far as pre-installed applications are concerned, you'll find the likes of LibreOffice, the Chromium web browser, Leafpad text editor, the GIMP image editor, Audacious music player, and a few other odds and ends. Fortunately, there's also both the Bodhi AppCenter and the Synaptic Package Manager, both of which are GUIs for locating and installing from the thousands of available free applications.

Who is Bodhi Linux for?

For the longest time, my take on Bodhi Linux was that it wasn't the best desktop operating system for the masses. However, with the latest release (which is based on the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS OS), I can happily say that just about anyone could enjoy and be productive with Bodhi Linux.

Sure, there are configuration options and features that might confuse some users, but those aren't exactly front and center. A user new to Linux would have to dig through the Settings app to get into any kind of trouble or confusion and that's not likely to happen (at least not until they've become familiar with the desktop).

Although Bodhi Linux does offer some features that are unique within the realm of the desktop PC, nothing should trip up the average computer user of today. It's as simple to use as any desktop operating system and offers just enough extra "fun" to make it a joy to use.

I highly recommend you download the ISO, burn it to a USB drive, and install it on a spare computer you have lying around. And given that Bodhi Linux can make an aging computer feel brand new, it's less likely that old desktop machine will wind up in a landfill somewhere.

Source

Now a new report claims Microsoft is working on a new Windows project that could allow for faster updates and more secure features.

Windows Central, citing unnamed sources, claims Microsoft is now working on something with the code name "CorePC". The story claims that it is a "modular and customizable variant of Windows" that's been designed to work with different kinds of devices and form factors. It will reportedly be similar to iOS and Android in that it will have read-only partitions. This should allow the CorePC OS to be more secure and update faster, again like on closed systems that Apple and Google use for their mobile operating systems.

This makes the recently leaked UI for "Windows 12" make more sense if its being developed more like a closed system.

The article claims that Microsoft is working on a version of CorePC that would compete with Google's ChromeOS for low-cost notebooks. It states:

A version of Windows that only runs Edge, web apps, Android apps (via Project Latte) and Office apps, designed for low-end education PCs is already in early testing internally, and is roughly 60-75% smaller than Windows 11 SE.

There's also another version reportedly in the works that runs has the same features as Windows OS on the desktop but with those "state separated" functions for better security and faster updates. The story says CorePC does not yet have a final date for release, but that Microsoft would like for it to be completed for its next major Windows OS release, which may happen in late 2024.

Keep in mind Microsoft has not confirmed or denied any of these plans, so take it with a grain of salt. It's also possible that even if these reports are accurate, Microsoft could make changes in these plans down the road, in terms of features and release dates.

Source

Last year, around October, Microsoft, perhaps accidentally, had revealed a new Windows 11 UI but with a floating taskbar and the notification area on top. While it wasn't as clear with the first leaked image, an updated, enhanced version distinctly showed the texts "Next Valley Protoype Design".

Interestingly, Microsoft, it seems, is gradually making its way towards such a design goal. The company had quietly added strings in Dev build 25300 which added the options to:

• Hide taskbar clock
• Hide time and date in the System tray
• Turn this on to hide your time and date information in the corner of your taskbar

Brad Sams, who is the Vice Principal and General Manager of Stardock software, pointed out this in his recent YouTube video titled "Windows 12 in the Daylight". Sams believes that this change was introduced as Microsoft may be testing the floating taskbar UI for Next Valley, and when you think about it, it does tend to make a lot of sense.

Here's how Windows 11 looks with those strings enabled:

Aside from the the UI of Windows 12, Microsoft seems to also have made some slight progress in terms of functionality. Senior exec Panos Panay explained that the next-gen Windows 11 and Windows 12 will be a blend of cloud-powered and AI-driven experiences, and Microsoft is slowly making some progress toward it. In aspects of security, the company is killing off legacy components like MSDT, as well as VBScript, which has been exploited in the past.

In case you are wondering what kind of hardware requirements could be awaiting us, we may already have some hint of that, and thankfully, it seems quite similar to what we have on Windows 11.

More recent clues suggest this may really be Microsoft's Next Valley (Windows 12) prototype

The updated widgets experience is not available to all insiders—it is yet another feature with a gradual rollout that helps Microsoft to monitor feedback before pushing it to a broader audience. However, you can force-enable it using the ViVeTool app (via @thebookisclosded on Twitter).

Caution: Back up important data before using the ViVeTool app. It can break things and make unstable Windows builds even more buggy!

How to enable the updated Windows Widgets in build 25324?

1. Launch Microsoft Store and update Windows Web Experience Pack to version 523.8200 or newer.
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:43028164 and press Enter.
7. Restart your computer.

Microsoft says the updated widgets will help users quickly access glanceable content from their favorite apps and services. Also, it enables users to "take a high-value break with personalized news content," which is a somewhat questionable statement considering what Microsoft promotes in the feed. Also, giving news two columns and only one to widgets says much about what Microsoft considers more important.

In addition to the redesigned layout, Microsoft is experimenting with animated widget icons and the ability to move widgets to the right on the taskbar.

Do you like the redesigned Widgets Board? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft tests redesigned and better-organized Windows Widgets, here is how to enable them

u/Leopeva64-2 spotted the new Mica variant in the latest Microsoft Edge Canary builds. The browser applies the effect to its entire page, including the toolbar and sidebar, creating a more unique and beautiful design. The implementation is currently very buggy and undercooked—it randomly disappears and leaves parts of the UI with the old solid background. Unfortunately, there is no way to enable it manually, so Edge Insiders must wait for the company to start rolling out the change once it gets more stable.

The updated Mica treatment is not the only visual change coming soon to Edge. Microsoft also plans to add the Acrylic effect to the browser's flyouts, such as History, Downloads, Favorites, etc.

All these cosmetic improvements are part of Microsoft's upcoming major Edge rejuvenation. The company announced it a couple of months ago, and you can already test some of its bits in preview channels, such as Dev and Canary.

Mica effect might soon return to Edge in a better variant

What is new in macOS Ventura 13.3?

• New emoji: macOS 13.3 brings 21 new emojis, including animals, hand gestures, and objects

• Remove background in Freeform lets you isolate the subject in images.

• The duplicate detection feature is now available for photos and videos in iCloud Shared Photo Library.

• Maps in the Weather app now support VoiceOver.

• Your Mac can now dim the brightness when a video contains bright flashes or strobe effects.

• The update fixes a bug when Ask to Buy requests from children fail to appear on a parent's or caregiver's device.

• Added transliteration support for Gujarati, Punjabi, and Urdu keyboards.

• Added new keyboard layouts for Choctaw, Chickasaw, Akan, Hausa, and Yoruba.

• Fixed a trackpad issue where gestures may stop responding.

• Fixed a bug causing VoiceOver to stop responding after using Finder.

What Macs support macOS Ventura 13.3?

You can install macOS Ventura 13.3 on all Macs compatible with the previous versions of the operating system. Supported models include the following:

• iMac 2017 and newer
• iMac Pro 2017
• MacBook Air 2018 and newer
• Macbook Pro 2017 and newer
• Mac Pro 2019 and newer
• Mac Studio 2022
• Mac Mini 2018 and newer
• MacBook 2017

To download and install macOS Ventura 13.3, go to Settings > Software Update.

macOS Ventura 13.3 is now available with new emoji, trackpad fixes, and other improvements

Along with today's announcement of the new Microsoft Teams Windows desktop app, the company is also finally launching a long awaited new feature for all Teams users: 3D avatars. Microsoft first announced it would add this feature to teams way back in November 2021. It went into a private preview in October 2022.

The avatars use Microsoft's Mesh platform to allow Teams users to create a 3D animated version of themselves if they don't want to appear on camera during video meetings. Microsoft's blog post states that only 30 percent of Teams meeting participants use their camera. The avatars can be controlled by users to express themselves without the need to go on camera.

Microsoft says that since the private preview in October, it has made some improvements to the Teams avatars. They now have better and more realistic lighting, and there are more customization options for their appearance and clothes. There's also a way for your avatar to use Teams emojis:

If you react using the Teams emoji reactions, your avatar will mimic that reaction with their body. For example, if you utilize the raised hand reaction, your avatar will also raise their hand.

You can get more information on how to activate the new avatars in the Teams public preview, along with customization tutorials, how to use expressions, and much more, on Microsoft's support site. General availability of avatars in Teams is scheduled for May.

Microsoft Teams 3D avatars are finally available in public preview

As rumored a few weeks ago, Microsoft has just announced a new version of Microsoft Teams for Windows desktop users. It's now available in a public preview, and promises to not only include a ton of new features, but some major performance improvements.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated it used an independent testing team, GigaOm, to test the performance of the new Teams Windows app compared to the older version. The stats include:

• Launch app up to 2X faster
• Join meetings up to 2X faster
• Switch chats/channels up to 1.7X faster
• Consume up to 50% less memory
• Consume up to 70% less disk space

In addition to the coding improvements that have resulting in faster performance, Microsoft says that the revamped Teams app for Windows has a ton of other new improvements and features. Some of those improvements have tried to make using Teams simpler:

• Streamlined Actions: Less clutter simplifies notifications, search, messages, and channels
• Personalized experiences: Threaded conversations, customizable group chats, and interactive emojis give users more expressive collaboration
• Simplified meetings: Updates to the pre-join experience, gallery view, and screen sharing remove barriers to effective meetings

The new Teams will also allow users to stay signed into the app, even if they use it with different accounts and organizations. Users will be able to get notifications on all of their Teams accounts in the apps.

The Channels section in Teams is also getting a refresh, with these features and more:

• The compose box and recent posts will appear at the top of the page. So now, it’s much easier to start a new post, keep up with the latest conversations and participate - giving you the confidence that they’ve not missed anything.
• Every post is now a true conversation you can focus on. You can navigate to a conversation view that makes the discussion more engaging and synchronous, just like a chat. You can also pop out the post, keep an eye on the discussion, while continuing to work on other topics.

Some of the many new features in the new Teams include Speaker Coach, which will give users private feedback on their presentation skills, either in real time or after a meeting. Users can also set up their emergency location in Teams via the Calls app.

There's lots of other features we haven't mentioned here so check out Microsoft's blog post for all the info. The public preview will expand to Mac users later this year, and general availability of the new Teams will also launch later in 2023. More info on new features coming to Teams Rooms and Devices will be revealed on Tuesday.

The Microsoft Teams revamp has been revealed with faster performance and a simpler layout

Not only that, the latest Ventoy release, version 1.0.90, adds support for a lot of new ISOs, taking the total to more than 1,100. Aside from that, the new update is also said to improve Fedora boot process, addresses a Ventoy remount bug on Linux kernel 5.18 and newer, and a few other changes too.

You can find the full changelog of the release below:

• Fix the issue that VTOY_LINUX_REMOUNT option can not work for (Kernel 5.18+) + (Intel Gen11+ CPU).

 

• Support LibreELEC 11.0+. (#2281)

 

• Fix the issue that Fedora Rawhide install media not detected. (#2283)

 

• Add support for chimera linux. (#2309)

 

• Optimization for Fedora boot process.

 

• languages.json update.

 

• New iso support. (Total 1100+)

Source

The company released the first new update for O&O ShutUp10++ of 2023 today. It includes several new features and improvements, including a reworked user interface and support for disabling the sidebar in Microsoft Edge.

The program is a quick download from the developer's website. It runs right after execution and displays the available tweaks in orderly fashion in the interface. Tweaks are sorted into categories, such as Privacy, Microsoft Edge or App Privacy, which users may disable to get a long ungrouped listing of tweaks. There is also a search to find specific tweaks quickly.

Each tweak is listed with a recommendation and an option to display a description of it with a click on it.

Tweaks can be applied for the active user or for the entire local machine. The latter would apply them for all users who sign-in to the device.

The Actions menu displays several automation options. There is one option to enable all recommended tweaks, reset all changes, and an option to create a system restore point. It is recommended to create one, but the application prompts for the creation of a system restore point whenever a change is made.

The interface looks modernized, but without taking away functionality or making things more complicated to configure in the process. It looks cleaner, as you may see on the screenshot above.

O&O Software have added two new tweaks in the update. The first adds the aforementioned option to disable the sidebar in the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser. The second adds an option to disable Windows Media Player Diagnostics.

Just two tweaks, but the software is more or less feature-complete.  Our last review dates back to 2021, and a lot has happened since then. The new local machine option for tweaks was mentioned already, but there is more. Next to dozens of new tweaks, many for Windows 11, the developers have also improved the dark mode feature, proper recognition of user-defined language combinations, improved Windows screen reader support, and more.

Interested users may check out the full changelog on the developer website.

Closing Words

O&O ShutUp++ is a well designed tweaker that makes it a lot easier for users to apply a number of tweaks to Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices. Most of the tweaks are privacy related, but there are also tweaks for annoyances and turning off features that some users may not require.

Source

Microsoft is believed to have moved back to its three-year release cycle which means Next Valley or Windows 12, whatever you want to refer to it as, is likely to roll out to the general public sometime in the second half (2H) of 2024.

Aside from the release date itself, another area that will certainly generate loads of interest is the system requirements for Windows 12. The ones for Windows 11 are often considered pretty stringent as Microsoft deemed CPUs, only a few years old, as incompatible. Recent rumors suggested that Intel's 14th Gen Meteor Lake-S desktop processors would debut with support for Windows 12 out of the box. However, based on the evidence we have so far, it is unlikely to happen as the expected release dates for Meteor Lake and Next Valley don't seem to match. Moreover, there is almost no trace of Meteor Lake-S at the moment, which suggests the processor requirements are probably not finalized yet.

In terms of some of the other requirements like Trusted Platform Module (TPM), German outlet Deskmodder claims that the version requirement for the security crypto-processor will be the same as in Windows 11, ie, TPM 2.0. Interestingly, Microsoft just debuted SHA-3 support on its recent Insider Build.

The report also suggests that the Pluton co-processor, which made its debut with Ryzen 6000 mobile CPUs, may not be a common thing. Meanwhile, the minimum RAM requirement could increase to 8GB.

It says (Google translated to English):

Some will surely wonder if the hardware requirements will continue to increase. According to our information, it should stay with TPM 2.0. It is still too early for Pluton

.. the requirement for RAM could increase to 8 GB.

To sum it up, these are what the system requirements for Next Valley (Windows 12) might be:

• Supported processor (may still be undecided)
• TPM 2.0 (Pluton may be optional)
• 8GB RAM

Although there is nothing to go about in terms of the minimum required disk space, which is 64GB on Windows 11, Microsoft might give the option for ReFS installation. In fact, the company seems to be making decent progress as it recently updated the ReFS version. A rumor had once suggested that Microsoft could update the system requirements for Windows 11 and make SSDs mandatory for boot. While that didn't happen, the Redmond giant may start doing so with Windows 12 (and that would actually be a good thing seeing how SSD prices continue to fall).

Some alleged system requirements for Microsoft's Next Valley (Windows 12) are here

The following features are listed in no particular order, and the list is by no means complete. Also, future builds will bring much more, so we will keep publishing articles like this every few months. Finally, if you think another change in Windows 11 preview builds is more exciting, spread the word and let everyone know in the comments.

Seeing new changes in Windows 11 (especially long-anticipated or much-requested) is exciting and may cause one to upgrade from a stable release to a preview. Before you do that, remember that pre-release Windows builds (especially from the Canary and Dev channels) are often raw and unstable. Therefore, running them on mission-critical devices is not the best idea. Back up important data and be prepared for the unexpected.

1. New Volume Mixer

Windows 11 preview builds have a brand-new volume mixer. It lets you adjust the volume per app, select the output device, and enable additional effects, such as spatial audio, without opening the Settings app or installing third-party apps (RIP EarTrumpet). Open the Quick Settings menu and press a button next to the volume slider. Alternatively, press Win + Ctrl + V.

Although Microsoft announced the new volume mixer in version 25309, it is rolling out gradually, so you might not get it after installing the latest Dev or Canary build. If that is your case, check out our guide showing how to enable the new volume mixer in Windows 11 preview builds.

2. Better colour output

Auto colour Management (ACM) is a little less mainstream than other features in this article. Still, many users will benefit from a better colour output, even on less expensive 8-bit monitors. Windows 11 preview builds now allow applications access 10-16 bit colour precision (depth), resulting in more accurate and better colours. 8-bit displays can also benefit from ACM thanks to additional techniques, such as dithering.

You can access the new feature in Settings > System > Advanced display. Note that your PC must meet hardware requirementsto benefit from Auto colour Management.

3. A faster way to copy 2FA codes

This a small but great change that lets you quickly copy two-factor authentication codes. The operating system now displays a "copy to clipboard" button whenever it detects a two-factor authentication code in a notification. Note that this feature is not limited to the stock email client and should work in other applications.

4. Widgets improvements

There is no doubt that Windows Widgets are in dire need of improvements. Although there are rumors of Microsoft allowing users to place widgets on the desktop, Windows 11 users must now deal with what the OS can offer. Fortunately, Windows 11 preview builds have a couple of neat widget-related changes:

• Redesigned and better-organized Widgets Board: Widgets are now separated from the news, making it easier to get the necessary information at a glance and avoid reading all the yellow press Microsoft shoves into that area ("Ariana Grande: "I love gross stuff" and other trash).

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• Theme-aware icons: Microsoft has introduced two icon sets to make widgets more accessible and improve their visibility when using dark and light modes.
• Animated icons: Hovering the cursor over the widget button or clicking it makes the forecast on the taskbar display a cute little animation. This is by no means groundbreaking stuff (this may even spark some radical negativity among Windows enthusiasts missing some taskbar features from Windows 10), but it pairs well with other fluent animations across Windows 11.
• New home for Windows Widgets: If you are a fan of the left-aligned taskbar, then you can move Windows Widgets to the right, making the taskbar more Windows 10-like. Note that this change is hidden, and enabling it requires a third-party tool, as described here.

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5. Better tabbed File Explorer

Windows 11's tabbed File Explorer is imperfect at best. It is buggy and lacks many basic features, such as dragging tabs between different windows. Updating to a Windows 11 preview build can give you a better experience in this area. After enabling a few hidden IDs (this article describes how to do it), you will be able to move a tab to create a new window or send it to an existing one.

Honorable mention: Live kernel memory dumps in Task Manager

Developers with the latest Dev/Canary build can generate live kernel memory dumps in Task Manager. This feature can gather information to troubleshoot abnormal situations while letting the OS continue its operation. More details about live kernel memory dumps are available in the official documentation.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the new features in early Windows 11 builds.

Here are five cool Windows 11 features to try in preview builds

The following paragraphs provide step-by-step instructions on changing the startup location of File Explorer on Windows 11 to that hidden option, and to one of the three default options.

Switch between Home, This PC and Personal folders

The built-in options are accessible via File Explorer's Folder Options.

1. Open File Explorer on the Windows 11 device.
2. Select the three-dots menu and then Options from the context menu that opens.
3. The setting "Open File Explorer to" determines the startup location of File Explorer.
4. Select one of the available options and then OK to apply the change.

The three options are:

• Home -- This displays Quick Access folders, pinned files and recent files when launched. Microsoft is working on adding more content to it, including work-related content for Enterprise and Education accounts.
• This PC -- displays all connected drives and devices.
• Personal -- The user's personal or work OneDrive folder.

Some Windows 11 users may prefer to set a different startup location for File Explorer. While there is no way to set a custom folder, there is at least a hidden option to make the Downloads folder the startup folder on the system.

Making the Downloads folder the default File Explorer folder on startup

Note: this change requires making an edit to the Windows Registry. While it is perfectly save, it is recommended to create a backup of the Registry or the entire system before proceeding.

Here are the required steps:

1. Open the Start Menu on the Windows 11 device, type regedit.exe and select the Registry Editor result.
2. Confirm the UAC prompt with a click on the Yes button.
3. Paste the following path into the location field in the Registry Editor window: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
4. Right-click on Advanced and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
5. Name it LaunchTo.
6. Double-click on the Dword and set its value to 3.

The change takes effect immediately, a restart of the PC is not required. If everything was done correctly, File Explorer should launch the Downloads folder from now on whenever it is opened.

You can undo the change at any time by deleting the LaunchTo key, or by using the built-in options menu to set the start location to one of the three defaults.

Now You: if you could choose freely, which location would you select to launch at File Explorer start?

Display the Downloads folder when you open File Explorer in Windows 11

When hardware acceleration is enabled, the browser uses the graphics card (GPU) to Increase the speed of playing videos and running any graphically intense pages. It works by offloading some of the work from your central processing unit (CPU) to the GPU. Sometimes the acceleration isn't properly utilized by the browser causing it to have errors. 

How Does Hardware Acceleration Work in Firefox?

As already mentioned it works by offloading from the CPU to the GPU. Hardware acceleration comes highly recommended if you like playing games,  watching videos, and using other web applications. It works by increasing performance in the process.

Disabling this feature means all work is done by the CPU. This could slow down your device, especially when accessing web pages as well as the overall system performance. In simple terms enabling hardware acceleration means the GPU  does the hard work. However, sometimes you need to disable it. 

Hardware Acceleration in Web Browsers

Commonly hardware acceleration is enabled by default in most browsers and works just fine. but sometimes you need to toggle it on or off. There are no rules that stipulate when to turn it on or off.

The reasons can vary based on the PC build,  service, and network connectivity. The steps I will list below can be used to enable or disable hardware acceleration in Firefox. The exciting part is that the feature can be toggled on or off in other browsers as well. Just find the option in the respective settings section.

Enabling or Disabling Hardware Acceleration in Firefox

If you find some of your web pages freezing or slowing down you might need to either enable or disable hardware acceleration in Firefox. Here are the steps. 

To either switch it on or off in Firefox: 

1. Launch Firefox on your device
2. On the browser click the menu icon on the right corner
3. Click Settings>  then click Hardware acceleration
4. On the left select General
5. Scroll down the left column to the Performance section and uncheck the Use Recommended Performance settings option
6. You'll then have access to hardware acceleration settings
7. To disable it check the Use hardware acceleration option
8. To enable hardware acceleration,  check the Use hardware acceleration when available box

How to Enable or Disable Hardware Acceleration in Firefox

In Windows 10, the News and Interests feature, the spiritual predecessor to what we have in Windows 11, sits at the right side of the taskbar next to the notification area. In Windows 11, the weather widget and its periodical notifications remain the left corner all the time. Microsoft wants to change that—the company experiments with moving widgets to the right when users switch to the traditional left-aligned taskbar.

Microsoft has yet to announce a new home for Windows Widgets. However, you can try the new variant using the ViVeTool app (via @PhantomOfEarth on Twitter).

Caution: Unannounced features are often raw, unstable, or borderline unusable. Back up important data before experimenting with the ViVeTool app. Remember that using stable Windows 11 is the best way to ensure your system remains as bug-free as possible.

How to enable the updated Widgets in Windows 11 build 25324

1. Download ViVeTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. 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.

    

   
4. 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.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:43214488 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.
7. Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors and set taskbar alignment to the left.
8. Watch Windows Widgets go to another side of the taskbar.

As usual in articles like this, the updated "widgets entry point" (that is what Microsoft calls the widgets button on the taskbar) is a little undercooked—clicking it or pressing Win + A still results in the widgets board sliding from the left side. Maybe Microsoft will fix that in future updates.

Windows 11 may soon let you move Windows Widgets to the right

Some Edge Canary users noticed that the "x" button now sits at the left side of a tab next to its favicon. Besides, the close button remains visible, even with the vertical tabs pane collapsed. It is a small change, but it makes closing tabs much quicker and more apparent, something fans of the vertical tabs feature will surely welcome.

Microsoft will soon make it possible to close webpages and perform other in-browser actions with a new long-awaited method. The company is working on adding mouse gestures to Edge, allowing you to close a tab, open a new page, reload, add to favorites, and execute other commands while holding the right-click button and moving the mouse in a specified direction.

Microsoft is making vertical tabs in Edge easier to use

Additionally, this is also the final Rufus version which will support Windows 7 ISO files. The release also fixes an SSD issue, adds SHA-1 and SHA-256 acceleration, and more. Find the full changelog below:

• Add SHA-1 and SHA-256 x86 acceleration on CPUs that support it (#2090, courtesy of Jeffrey Walton)
• Add an option to disable BitLocker device encryption in the Windows User Experience dialog (#2121)
• Add a cheat mode (Ctrl-P) to preserve the log between sessions
• Fix potential media creation errors by forcing the unmount of stale .wim images (#2199)
• Fix potential access errors in ISO → ESP mode by forcing Large FAT32 formatting
• Fix user-specified label not being preserved on error/cancel
• Fix some large SSD devices being listed by default (#2164)
• Fix processing of Rock Ridge CE fields
• Work around the use of Rock Ridge symbolic links for Linux firmware packages (Debian)
• Remove the ISO download feature on Windows 7
• Note: This is the last version of Rufus that can run on Windows 7

You can download Rufus 3.22 final version from the GitHub page.

Alongside Windows 11 TPM, Secure Boot, MSA removal, Rufus now adds BitLocker disable option