The relatively new Vanilla OS will be based on Debian Sid in the next version, the project’s developers have announced. Currently, the Linux distribution is based on Ubuntu but Vanilla OS’s developers have decided to make the switch as they have identified several good reasons to use Debian over Ubuntu, such as greater flexibility.

The first reason outlined was that Debian uses a less modified GNOME Shell and the Vanilla OS team wants their distribution to use a vanilla version of GNOME. By switching to Debian, the Vanilla OS developers will not have to undo the changes Canonical has made which they describe as “time-consuming”.

Another reason cited is Ubuntu’s heavy use of snap packages. The Vanilla OS developers said that snaps have several issues including slow startups and centralization. Instead, they would prefer to use flatpaks primarily as these are more open and used by a wider array of Linux distributions. There were also technical problems with snap packages which caused some not to work properly in Vanilla OS.

Finally, by switching to Debian, the Vanilla OS team believe they have more control over how to release updates. Before, they had to follow the Ubuntu release cycle but by switching to Debian Sid they can push releases when they think they’re ready.

If this is the first time you’ve heard about Vanilla OS, it’s a new Linux distribution that comes with an immutable core. This ensures that you’re protected from unwanted changes and corruption to important system files which should make your system more stable and secure. For apps, it supports Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage to ensure you’re always running the latest versions of apps and as mentioned earlier, it comes with a vanilla version of GNOME – great if you’re a fan of that desktop environment.

Vanilla OS 2.0 will move to Debian base from Ubuntu

Now it looks like more ReFS-based features could soon be heading to Windows 11 later in the year. Twitter user and Windows enthusiast PhantomOcean3 managed to dig up some details regarding a new ReFS-based Dev Drive or devvol (presumably Developer Volume) inside the Dev build 25309 (which in itself is feature packed).

Another Twitter user and famed leakster Albacore revealed more details regarding this upcoming feature which is labelled "Dev Drive" and can be found inside the Privacy & Security section of the Settings app. This will seemingly allow developers to create virtual hard disks (VHD).

The images below show the steps to create a Dev Drive which starts off with the intuitive "Create Dev Drive" option (minimum 50GB), followed by location of the drive, a creating VHD window, and finally the option to format the newly created VHD Dev Drive or developer volume. ReFS based virtual drives do make sense as Microsoft states that this file system is optimized to accelerate VMs.

Speaking of VHD, Microsoft is also working on adding options to create VHD/VHDx virtual volumes, also in the Dev channel, that can be up to almost 2TB in capacity.

Source: PhantomOcean3 (Twitter) via Albacore (Twitter)

Microsoft quietly working on ReFS "Dev Drive" VHD volumes in Windows 11

Naturally, some Windows administrators and users wondered, whether Microsoft would continue to release major feature updates each year for the operating system.

This question, and several more regarding smaller and major feature updates, has now been answered. In Continuous innovation coming to Windows 11 in March, Microsoft employee Harjit Dhaliwal confirms that Windows 11 will receive an annual feature update in the second half of the calendar year.

This feature update continues to be tied to a support lifecycle, which is 24 months of support for Home and Pro editions, and 36 months of support for Enterprise and Education editions.

Microsoft released the second smaller feature update for Windows 11 as a preview in February already. The company plans to release it on March 14, 2023 as part of the March cumulative update for Windows 11. You can check out the new features and changes of the second feature update for Windows 11 here.

Feature update differences

Dhaliwal explains that Microsoft received feedback from customers that "they want more from their Windows experience". These smaller feature updates provide benefits such as "improved security, productivity and collaboration". The updates are delivered using trusted servicing technology and "without sacrificing quality".

Organizations may use a new policy to control the rollout of new features to Windows 11 outside the scope of the annual feature update. Some organizations may prefer to block the rollout of these smaller feature changes or at least delay them.

System administrators may check out the support article Commercial control for continuous innovation for instructions on that. Basically, Microsoft aims to give organizations control over features that modify Windows 11 in a significant way. The company mentions the removal of existing capabilities, new in-box applications, the overriding of configured settings, or new experiences and user interfaces specifically.

On managed devices, all features that are "behind the commercial control" will be off by default on managed devices.

The policy Enable features introduced via servicing that are off by default, gives system administrators control over this default behavior.

Closing words

Microsoft's strategy for Windows 11 going forward is simple: release an annual feature update for the operating system at the end of the year, and several smaller feature updates inbetween. The annual update includes all the features and changes of the smaller updates, and starts a new support lifecycle.

The original version of Windows 11 runs out of support at the end of 2023 for Home and Pro editions of Windows 11. These devices need to be updated either to the Windows 11 2022 Update, or to the Windows 11 2023 Update, which Microsoft will release at the same time.

Microsoft launched a new Canary Insider channel this month for Windows 11. It could be another indicator that it is planning to release Windows 12 in 2024.

Now You: do you use Windows? If so, which version?

Microsoft confirms that Windows 11 will receive annual feature updates

Aside from those bugs, many users would report that disabling MPO also fixed driver timeout issue that would generally happen on AMD Radeon systems, wherein a driver timeout would lead to the AMD Bug Report Tool popping up as a result of the driver crashing. On rare occasions, it would lead to Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and system freezes too.

While the driver would restart on its own most of the time, users may need to manually restart the display driver sometimes too. With its latest Windows WHQL-signed driver, AMD claims that it has fixed this issue, at least for its latest RX 7000 series cards, as the release notes mention:

Intermittent driver timeout, system freeze or BSOD may be observed using select displays on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.

Interestingly, it looks like this issue was not mentioned in previous AMD open issues which means the Radeon driver team was aware of it but probably did not have any ETA for the fix. Sadly, AMD does not mention RX 6000 or older gen cards, which means users will have to do with the MPO workaround for now.

AMD fixes a driver timeout issue that led to BSOD, system freeze on Windows 10, Windows 11

The official label for the new update is GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 531.26. Here are the release notes for the issues that this version fixes, which show that it also fixes another bug in the previous update:

• Higher CPU usage from NVIDIA Container might be observed after exiting a game [4007208]
• [Notebook] Random bugcheck may be observed on certain laptops with GeForce GTX 10/MX250/350 series GPUs [4008527]

You can download the new driver version from NVIDIA's web site for Windows 10 and 11. AMD also just released new graphics drivers for its Radeon graphics cards. Just a reminder: Radeon owners should not use the "Factory Reset" option when they download and update their drivers as that could cause their PCs to brick their Windows installation.

NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 531.26 for Windows 10/11 fixes high CPU usage bug

In a blog post, Stardock says that current Start11 owners can go ahead and update, but the new 1.41 version will be pushed out automatically in the next few days. Users who get the program on Steam should also see the update on that platform as well. Here's the full changelog:

• Addresses the issue with parts of the tray not painting when in experimental center mode on Win11 22H2 Moment 2 and a further tweak to taskbar transparency being lost due to an OS bug on the same update.
• Fix for taskbars without blur losing transparency after screen change events when on moment 2 due to a new OS bug
• Fix for Win10 menu mode being left in A-Z picker mode if closed when in that mode
• Fix for Win10/11 folder groups having the wrong order of icons painted when collapsed sometimes
• Fixed an issue with if you set a custom taskbar colour to black and then disable blur and set transparency to 0% (aka fully transparent) then the taskbar turned solid instead
• Updated localization files with new text.
• A fix for the taskbar controls being misaligned on the taskbar on a tablet when you have, at some point, used a custom scaling factor and have resized the taskbar.
• A tweak for resizing taskbars in that mode to workaround a rounding error and refreshes the taskbar blur after screen resolution changes etc.
• Adjusted small mode taskbar to have larger icons on ‘Moment2’ as the start button + taskview etc buttons are larger on that OS in that state so increased to match a bit better
• Fixes the position of the new search box on the taskbar with ‘moment 2’ when the multiline taskbar is enabled or the taskbar is on top.
• Small-mode taskbar items now have a wider active indicator bar under them
• A tweak to the detection of the touch-optimized taskbar capable hardware
• A tweak to swapping from large/small icons when switched to autohide mode
• Improved WB compatibility so a WB skin now correctly shrinks the start button
• Fixes a slow taskbar issue with enhanced taskbar on
• Makes the search box shift over correctly when clicked when the taskbar is showing the search box and Start11 is in experimental center mode
• Fixes a jump to invisible default buttons issue on the config when jumping to default buttons is enabled in some mouse driver
• Allows the taskbar to paint black
• Tweaks the sync pins code to see if that helps with a report of it looping.
• Forces autohide taskbars to medium bar size as the new Windows 11 taskbar only supports that
• Addressing compatibility issues associated with KB5022913
• Fixed the issue with the secondary taskbars when in only show buttons on the monitor the window is on mode and also a fix for the line on the taskbar not appearing over some parts of the taskbar correctly
• Updated S11 to 1.4 which (hopefully) will address the issues introduced with the new Windows taskbar in Windows 11 build: 22621.1324 and beta/dev channel insider

Stardock does state that this new version doesn't have any new features. However, it says that Start11 1.41 is still "a significant update under the hood as it brings compatibility to Microsoft’s latest updates to the taskbar and system tray."

You can download Start11 1.41 from your Stardock account or by heading to the "About" section within the application. The update is free for all existing customers, and newcomers can purchase Start11 for $5.99 on the official website or Steam (there is a free 30-day trial)

You can also download the entire Object Desktop package. Object Desktop includes programs such as Fences, Start11, Groupy, SoundPackager, DeskScapes and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

Start11 1.41 is out with support for the Windows 11 February 2023 "Moment 2" update

This is a patch release to fix issues in v68.0 to fix some bugs we deemed important for stability based on incoming rates. See v0.68.0 for full release notes.

Changelog:

• #24446 - Support Ctrl+V as activation shortcut for Paste As Plain Text, as requested by some users. Warning: Overriding a default system shortcut might have unintended consequences.
• #24437 - Paste As Plain Text - Support pasting multiple times as Ctrl+V does (on pressing activation key while holding modification keys)
• #24491 - Set Paste As Plain Text default shortcut to Ctrl+Win+Alt+V to avoid conflicting with new Windows volume mixer shortcut.
• #24600 - Add PowerToys Run setting to disable thumbnails generation for files in order to narrow down the root cause of the crash.

You can download PowerToys 0.68.1 from the Microsoft Store using this link or the official repository on GitHub. If you already have PowerToys installed on your computer, the app will notify you about available updates, or you can manually update from settings. As noted above, you can also learn about changes in the previous 0.68 release.

If you are unfamiliar with PowerToys, it is a set of advanced utilities provided by Microsoft and the open-source developer community. It contains various tools, such as an app launcher, bulk file renamer, colour picker, a utility to customize shortcuts, etc. Microsoft frequently updates PowerToys with new features and fixes.

Microsoft PowerToys 0.68.1 update adds Paste as Plain Text and PowerToys Run settings

That happened last year, and things might finally be changing as Microsoft may be starting to do some work on making the taskbar movable. Twitter user and Windows enthusiast Albacore stumbled upon a scenario where they noticed that the Taskbar can now be moved up to the top in the Dev channel.

However, at the moment the implementation is fairly basic and one has to wonder if this was even intentional or if it is just a (good) bug at this point. Though the good thing is that even with the taskbar at top, the UI does not break when it is interacted with. With the new Canary channel in place, perhaps Microsoft will begin experimenting with such features more readily, or at least one can hope.

Bug or feature? Microsoft might be working on movable Taskbar on Windows 11 after all

The WHQL-certified AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.3.1 driver is a recommended install for anyone jumping into Halo Infinite following its biggest content update yet, Season 3: Echoes Within, that's launching today. While developer 343 Industries is yet to reveal ray tracing as a part of the update, this is the second time AMD has confirmed it to be a new feature incoming with it.

Team Ninja's latest souls-like action RPG Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty launched last week, and AMD is finally come through with a driver update. The company hasn't gone into any details on what sort of game-specific improvements installing this release will bring, but it is a recommended install the game.

Here are the bug fixes included in the 23.3.1 release:

• Metrics overlay may intermittently re-size to 50% after gameplay.
• Application crash may be observed while opening Premium Gold Packs in EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23.
• Intermittent driver timeout may be observed in Halo Infinite™ in certain scenes with ray tracing enabled.
• Corruption may be observed in Dying Light™ 2 around certain light sources.
• Corruption may be observed in Returnal™ in certain scenes with ray tracing enabled on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs.
• Intermittent driver timeout, system freeze or BSOD may be observed using select displays on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.

As for known issues, here are the problems AMD is still working on resolving:

• 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.
• Connection failure or black screen may be observed using Parsec client with AMD decoder setting.
• Application crash may be observed while playing UNCHARTED™: Legacy of Thieves Collection on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• The Performance Metrics Overlay may intermittently resize across the display on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6600M. As a temporary solution, users encountering this are recommended to disable the Performance Metrics Overlay.
• The Performance Metrics Overlay may have some missing units when enabled, or situationally become truncated after changing display scaling settings.

The AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.3.1 WHQL driver is now available and can be downloaded via the Radeon Settings app on Windows. A standalone download link can also be found on the release notes page here. As per AMD's instructions, keep in mind to not use the "Factory Reset" option when updating drivers, as background Windows updates may cause operating system corruption issues.

AMD 23.3.1 WHQL driver has Halo Infinite ray tracing and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty support

You might think, well it's in the recycle bin, I can just restore it? Yes, that's true, if you know it's there.

What if you were to run an app such as CCleaner (just to name one) which during part of it's cleaning routine empties the recycle bin? Now its gone unless you notice it soon enough and run some data recovery software to get it back.

Luckily that option is easy enough to turn back on. Here's how to do it.

• Right click the Recycle Bin
• Left click Properties

• Put a check mark in "Display confirmation dialog box"

• Click OK

That's it! Now when you press the delete key you will be prompted if you wish to delete the file.

Happy Computing!

If you learned something today, great! If not, maybe share your own tech tip in the comments below!

I'm Adam, I'm known as Warwagon on the forums. For the past 19 years, I've been operating my own computer repair business. In doing so, I deal with the average computer user on a day-to-day basis.

Every bit of information I provide for people I do so with the lowest common denominator in mind. It's a common misconception that everyone who joins or browses a tech site is a techie. Some people are just looking for guidance. That is why for some, these tech tips may seem a bit too simplistic but they are educational for others.

How to enable the delete confirmation dialog box in Windows

Sidekick is a relatively new Chromium-based project that will benefit not only those with ADHD (the project was founded by a person diagnosed with ADHD). Thanks to removed trackers, memory optimizations, and tab suspension, developers promise better speed, reducing the temptation to distract while a webpage is loading.

If the temptation is still too high to overcome, Sidekick can help you stay focused with the distraction blocker feature. You can set rules to redirect social media websites to your work or creativity-related pages. For example, an attempt to open Instagram will result in Gmail appearing on your screen. There is also a Task Manager with the ability to pin tasks as sticky notes on the desktop and a built-in Pomodoro timer to balance work and rest cycles.

The browser also wants to win users' hearts by offering advanced productivity features. It provides integrations with popular services like Slack, Gmail, Telegram, Skype, Notion, and more. Besides, users can connect multiple accounts to stay on top of things. A split-screen mode allows you to work with two tabs in one window, plus a session manager for tab grouping. Finally, a dedicated focus mode can silence all notifications to reduce distractions even more.

If you frequently attend meetings, calendar integration will ensure you get a notification two minutes before the meeting with a one-click option for joining.

The Sidekick browser is available for free on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Those wanting more can opt for Sidekick Pro, a subscription service that offers more features for $8/mo. It includes password sharing, unlimited sidebar apps, split view, multiple workspaces, and more. It is not easy for a browser to set itself apart in the market dominated by Chrome and Edge. Still, Sidekick's productivity and focus-oriented features may tempt users to try the project.

Sidekick promises a modern, 'distraction-free' cross-platform browser

The screenshot was published on a Chinese website (via), showing about fourteen different-shaped gestures. Each gesture can be customized to your liking and assigned a specific action. For example, close the current tab by holding the right-click button and making an L-shaped gesture.

This feature provides an easy way for users to complete tasks like scroll forward or backward, open new tab, refresh page, etc. They can finish a task by pressing and holding the mouse right button to draw certain patterns on a webpage, instead of clicking the buttons or using keyboard shortcuts.

According to the source, mouse gestures are currently available to some Edge testers in the Dev Channel. Therefore, insiders can expect the company to announce the much-anticipated feature soon. Microsoft Edge is a feature-rich browser with menus that have grown to head-scratching sizes. Adding mouse gestures will help customers use those features faster and with fewer clicks.

New screenshot reveals more than 14 custom mouse gestures coming soon to Edge

Previously, macOS users had to sign up for a paid Microsoft 365 subscription in order to get access to Outlook, but that barrier has now been done away with. Microsoft says:

Whether at home, work or school, Mac users everywhere can easily add Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! or IMAP accounts in Outlook and experience the best mail and calendar app on macOS. The Outlook for Mac app complements Outlook for iOS – giving people a consistent, reliable, and powerful experience that brings the best-in-class experience of Outlook into the Apple ecosystem that so many love.

The app itself has also received a makeover, and Microsoft says it's also been optimized to work well on Macs with "Apple Silicon" meaning the company's M1 and M2 in-house chips. Microsoft says those users can expect "snappy performance and faster sync speeds than previous versions"

If you also use Outlook on your iPhone or iPad, you can use the Outlook Handoff feature so you can keep track of your emails from both devices and keep working where you left off when you switch between products. Microsoft says more features are in the works for the Outlook Mac client.

Microsoft makes Outlook for Mac completely free to use

The buggy driver is the GeForce Game Ready 531.18 WHQL driver released on February 28th that introduced support for RTX Video Super Resolution.

This comes after customers have been complaining for days on the company's forums and on social media that the Nvidia Game Session Telemetry Plugin (NvGSTPlugin.dll) loaded by the Nvidia Display Container service leads to CPU spikes of 10% or more on Windows systems after closing games or rendering apps.

In the Nvidia forum thread asking for feedback on this driver version, users are also reporting experiencing constant blue screens on up-to-date Windows installations and that reverting to an older driver version fixes the BSOD problems.

"After performing a "clean installation" of this latest driver on a Lenovo P17 running fully upgraded Windows 11 with an NVIDIA RTX A5000, I then encountered three hard kernel crashes (BSOD), as well as two game crashes (Hogwarts Legacy) in the three days I ran this release," one user said.

"I had none of these issues prior to this release, and after reverting back to the previous release, I have yet to reencounter any of the issues again; it appears this driver release is the clear culprit (please advise if I can provide any diagnostics that would help resolve this)."

Bug fix coming tomorrow

Nvidia already has added this to its list of open issues for this driver version which says that "higher CPU usage from NVIDIA Container might be observed after exiting a game."

GeForce Game Ready Drivers SPM Sean Pelletier says a fix is in the works and will be released as soon as tomorrow in the form of a hotfix driver.

Until the issue gets addressed, users can kill the NVIDIA Container process via the Windows task manager to get rid of the general OS lagginess.

If you are also experiencing Windows BSODs, game crashes, reduced in-game performance, and, in some cases, games not launching, you should roll back to your older driver.

To do that, you have to go through this procedure on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices:

1. Click the Start button
2. Search for and open "Device Manager"
3. Double-click on Display Adapters
4. Double-click on your NVIDIA GPU
5. Select the Driver Tab
6. Click on Roll Back Driver

Nvidia working on driver fix for Windows BSOD, high CPU usage

A new article in the Financial Times focuses on Amazon's big hopes with Alexa. Voice commands were supposed to help you turn your lights on and off, play music from your smart speaker, order items from Amazon's site and control your TV and security systems.

As it turns out, there's reportedly not much money to be made developing those kinds of voice assistants, and they didn't work as well as advertised. An Amazon spokesperson told FT that over 50 percent of its customers use the voice assistant to purchase items. However, earlier this year, Amazon laid off 18,000 employees, and the Alexa team was reportedly hit harder than normal.

Microsoft's own voice assistant, Cortana, didn't really get off the ground. Back in 2016, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was praising voice assistants, even going so far as to say, "Bots are the new apps." That prediction didn't come true and in 2021, Microsoft removed the Cortana mobile app from circulation.

Now, Nadella gets real in the FT article about voice assistants in general, including Cortana. He's quoted as saying: "They were all dumb as a rock." He added, "Whether it’s Cortana or Alexa or Google Assistant or Siri, all these just don’t work. We had a product that was supposed to be the new front-end to a lot of [information] that didn’t work.”

As such, Microsoft is now switching its strategy towards generative AI programs like Bing Chat in the hopes it will work the way Cortana did not. We have commented about how Microsoft's previous attempts at chatbot AI have been mixed. It remains to be seen if Bing Chat will be a true revolution in interacting with technology, or if it will go the way Cortana did.

Source: Financial Times

Even Microsoft's CEO now admits voice assistants like its own Cortana are "dumb as a rock"

The Canary Channel for the Windows Insider Program will get releases much faster. In fact, Microsoft has hinted that it may get new features as soon as they are built, with incomplete documentation and validation. They may contain major modifications to the Windows kernel and APIs, requiring a longer lead time before general release, which is why the idea is to get these changes into the hand of volunteering customers for testing as soon as possible. Previously, such features were made available through the Dev Channel.

Microsoft hasn't outlined a frequency for Canary builds yet, but has noted that they probably won't be released daily (unlike Microsoft Edge Canary). In the same vein, there won't be a blog post for every Canary release, only for those which contain new features. The company has emphasized that since Canary will be getting new releases in a relatively unvalidated state, your PC may face major errors and you might even be required to reinstall Windows if something does go awry. And just like the Dev Channel, there is no guarantee that a Canary feature will eventually roll out generally.

Meanwhile, the Dev Channel is being "rebooted", but there aren't any major changes. It's meant for Windows enthusiasts who are eager to try out new features that are not tied to a specific OS release. It will enjoy a higher stability than Canary.

You can also find out what Insider Channel best suits you by taking a look at the infographic below:

Moving forward, the build numbers for each Insider Channel will be as follows:

• Canary Channel: 25000 series
• Dev Channel: 23000 series
• Beta Channel: 22000 series
• Release Preview: Released versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11

Current Dev Channel Insiders are being migrated to the Canary Channel and they will be informed of this change via an email too. Unfortunately, those who want to remain on the Dev Channel will need to perform a clean-install which is usually the case when switching to a lower Channel. Those currently enrolled in the Beta Channel but want to test out newer features are recommended to join the Dev Channel instead; no clean-install needed.

Although the Canary Channel is supposed to get new releases and features the fastest, Microsoft has interestingly noted that the Dev Channel may still receive new capabilities earlier than Canary, due to its A/B testing process. The company says:

[...] We control the state of individual features and experiences included in the builds released to Windows Insiders across the channels. We do this with Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) technology. This allows us to roll out features in stages to monitor quality and your feedback in addition to trying out different variations of features (often referred to as "A/B testing").

With this level of control over individual features and experiences, we may release a build to the Dev Channel with a feature enabled but intentionally disabled in a build released to the Beta Channel or Canary Channel. We will enable features in the builds when we are ready to do so. We will only communicate about features that we are purposefully enabling for Insiders to try out and give feedback on. We will communicate to Insiders about new features and experiences that get enabled across all the Insider Channels via blog posts on the Windows Insider Blog including the Canary Channel. But as we mentioned above, we will offer only limited documentation for the Canary Channel.

If you are a Dev Channel Insider who does not want to be moved to Canary, follow this guide to perform a clean-install. However, if this doesn't work, Microsoft says that in its email about the changes to the Windows Insider Program, it will also include instructions on how you can order a "clean installation kit".

Microsoft is introducing a new Canary Channel to the Windows Insider Program

In v8.5 release, new explorer context menu entry “Edit with Notepad++” is added for WINDOWS 11 (via installer). Also a regression of notepad replacement problem has been fixed, and there are more bug fixes and new added enhancements.

There are several other fixes as well. The full changelog is given below:

Change log:

1. Fix notepad replacement opening file name containing white space regression. (Fix #13032)
2. Fix regression about visual glitch of Find in Files progress window & Document Switcher.(Fix #13185, #13053)
3. Update to Scintilla 5.3.3 and Lexilla 5.2.2. (Implement #13082)
4. Add new explorer context menu entry “Edit with Notepad++” for WINDOWS 11. (Fix #10320, #10565, #4368, #8786, #10640, #10856, #10653, #7747, #6169, #92)
5. Add show non-printable characters command. (Fix #827, #4731, #8284)
6. Apply tab colours to document list items, and add groups to document list. (Fix #12155, #12689, #13026)
7. Add middle mouse click ability to close doc in Document List. (Fix #12949)
8. Add Begin/End Select in Column Mode command. (Fix #12833, #12832)
9. Add option to make auto-completion list brief. (Fix #12783)
10. Remove duplicate items in function/word list of Auto-completion. (Fix #13061)
11. Fix missing items in word autocomplete. (Fix #13060)
12. Fix autocomplete to sort case insensitive issue. (Fix #12495)
13. Change behaviour: make Select and Find (Next/Previous) always in normal search mode. (Fix #3229)
14. Change behaviour: make volatile Find uses least-strict option settings. (Fix #13145)
15. Change behaviour: Don’t populate in Find what if a stream selection more than 1024 characters. (Fix #12603)
16. Fix wrong value set in Preferences->Performance->“Define Large File Size”.(Fix #13280)
17. Fix untitled document number jumping or repeated problem. (Fix #8677, #11704, #13194)
18. Fix dock-able panels not restoring for mono instances when Notepad++ is in the tray. (Fix #9454)
19. Fix panels not restored from systemtray with “Edit with Notepad++” in admin mode. (Fix #13041)
20. Fix hit text in search results not being scrolled in the view issue. (Fix #13129)
21. Add new notification NPPN_EXTERNALLEXERBUFFER for lexer plugin with buffer ID when a new lexer is applied to the buffer in question. (Fix #12351)
22. Fix Synch H/V Scrolling commands not sync with 2 views. (Fix #5250, #13071)
23. Add several GUI enhancement. (Fix #11695, #13176, #13187, #13162)
24. Make several GUI items translatable. (Fix #13175, #8020, #8858, #13088, #8927, #10876, #9343, #8004)

You can download Notepad++ v8.5 either from GitHub or from the official website.

Notepad++ just got Windows 11 right-click context menu option, and a whole bunch of bugfixes

Always-on display is a feature Windows Phone users enjoyed long before it arrived in modern Android smartphones (remember Glance Screen on Lumias with IPS displays?), not to mention Apple's iPhones. Nowadays, even inexpensive smartphones have high-refresh-rate OLED displays capable of always showing a clock, notifications, and even wallpapers. Still, the feature has not made it to tablets and PCs, even though many configurations have OLED screens with dynamic refresh rates. Can Microsoft give such devices the always-on display feature?

Here is a simple concept imagining the always-on display feature for computers running Windows 11. It borrows the idea from Apple's implementation with dimmed lock screen backgrounds and the ability to toggle wallpapers on or off.

Microsoft's desktop operating system has had a screensaver feature since the dawn of dinosaurs (it sits hopelessly neglected in modern Windows versions), so one may argue Microsoft can upgrade it to AOD on compatible hardware. On the other side, the lock screen is not something people with Windows 11 PCs use very often, and its notification capabilities are extremely limited compared to smartphones.

Recent findings in Windows 11 preview builds show that the company is considering bringing interesting changes to its operating system, such as AI-powered effects for the desktop background. AOD probably does not need the power of AI to operate, but it would surely find its enjoyers in the continuously growing customer base.

What do you think about the idea of having an always-on display on a Windows PC? Would you use this feature? Let us know in the comments.

This concept imagines always-on display for Windows 11, do you think the OS needs it?

The icons' overall design remains the same, but now they feature slightly different shades and colours with improved contrast on dark and light backgrounds. Microsoft says the higher contrast ratio and new tones make the information clearer, especially for users with low sight. You can see the difference between the two sets of icons in the screenshot below.

Microsoft updates Windows 11's widgets using the so-called Windows Web Experience Pack from the Microsoft Store. It allows adding new features to all Windows 11 releases. Therefore, you can expect the updated weather icon to show up on Windows 11 22H2 and 21H2 once the company is done with testing them in the Dev Channel.

Besides making the taskbar easier to read, Windows 11 build 25309 expands the Auto colour Management feature to more users. Microsoft's latest operating system can display better colours in all apps on 10-16 bit monitors and even improve the image quality on lower-spec displays with 8-bit panels.

You can learn about other changes introduced in Windows 11 build 25309 in our dedicated coverage.

Microsoft experiments with new theme-aware weather icons for Windows 11's taskbar

The biggest one is adding the new Bing to Skype. If you are a part of the new Bing Chat testing group, this new Skype Insider build will allow you to have conversations with the chatbot, and you can even add it to group conversations.

Users of the Skype Android app will also get a new launch animation with this Insider build. In addition, the Skype Insider build has new Skype-to-Skype call support for the Touch Bar on Mac PCs. Here's are some more details:

Control includes; mute/unmute, toggle video, end call. Control is enabled: if the user is the call initiator, as soon as the call is initiated, and even before the other user answers and during the call. If the user is a call receiver, control is enabled: only when the call is answered.

Finally, a few bugs have been fixed in this new Skype Insider build:

• If a user received a pdf with a long name, it would push out the share button from view on all Platforms
• Crashing when you click 'Translate' on Mac
• Account was 'forgotten' regardless of what you clicked in the Sign Out dialog on Desktop

If you want to check out these new features, you can grab the latest Skype Insider version from Microsoft's website.

New Skype Insider build 8.95.76.207 adds the new Bing and more

In this article, we gathered the ten most requested features and changes Microsoft has brought to Windows 11. It is based on posts in the Feedback Hub with the "Changes Made" flair indicating a completed complaint, request, or suggestion. You can click each feedback to open its page in the Feedback Hub.

1. Right-click the taskbar to open Task Manager - 11,100+ upvotes.
   The ability to right-click the taskbar and launch Task Manager has been delivered in the Windows 11 2022 Update. Moreover, Microsoft is considering adding a new option to the jump lists to let you kill a process without invoking Task Manager.
2. Add tabs to File Explorer - 10,500+ upvotes.
   Windows 11's File Explorer received tabs support in the Moment 1 Update released in October 2022. It is worth noting that the implementation is a bit wonky, but Microsoft is working on fixing the most annoying quirks.

   

    

3. Drag files onto apps on the taskbar - 8,800+ upvotes.
   You can now drag a file onto an open app on the taskbar to bring it to the foreground. Besides, you can drag an object to the bottom-right corner to move it to the desktop. This feedback was addressed in the Windows 11 2022 Update released in the second half of 2022.
4. Add folders to the Start menu - 7,100+ upvotes.
   Here is another piece delivered in the Windows 11 2022 Update. You can now arrange apps and shortcuts in folders inside the Start menu.

   

    

5. Allow displaying the taskbar clock on all monitors - 6,100+ upvotes.
   Windows 11 displays the date and time on all connected monitors since September 2022, when Microsoft released the Windows 11 2022 Update.
6. Add Dark Mode support to Notepad - 5,800+ upvotes.
   Notepad is now easier on your eyes thanks to dark mode support added at the end of 2021. Notepad users will also be delighted to know that the app now supports tabs.

   

    

7. Allow pairing Bluetooth devices from the Quick Settings Menu - 4,100+ upvotes.
   No more opening the Settings app to add a new Bluetooth device. The Windows 11 2022 Update allows connecting a new Bluetooth peripheral from the Quick Settings menu (Win + A).

   

    

8. Add Dark Mode support to Task Manager - 4,000+ upvotes.
   You can now set Task Manager to follow the system theme or use light/dark mode regardless of the global settings. Microsoft addressed this request in a massive Task Manager overhaul released in the second half of 2022. Also, the Windows 11 Moment 2 Update introduced a few other needed changes.

   

    

9. Better PC Health Check app - 3,300+ upvotes.
   The app for checking if your computer can run Windows 11 now displays the exact requirements it does not meet, like TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot.
10. Allow pinning apps to the taskbar by dragging them - 2,700+ upvotes.
    This change arrived in Windows 11 in the initial release of version 22H2. However, it is worth noting that it is a bit weird—you can only pin an app from the "All apps" list, not the Start menu.
11. Bonus: Seconds on the taskbar clock - 4,570+ upvotes.
    Microsoft has yet to release this change to the general public, but you will soon be able to enable seconds on the taskbar clock. One caveat is worth noting: Microsoft says turning on this option may result in higher energy consumption.

Those were the most popular requests addressed during Windows 11's first 18 months. One may note that most of them are things Microsoft took away and brought back with much fanfare. However, the company admitted that it needs to restore some of those capabilities and heed customer feedback. The result is a modern, beautiful, and feature-packed operating system that is also more comfortable for those upgrading from Windows 10.

Bonus: Wallpaper

Here is the wallpaper we used in this article:

Credit for the wallpaper goes to dpcdpc11.

Top 10 most requested features Microsoft has already brought to Windows 11

According to @XenoPanther and @PhantomOfEarth, Windows 11 build 25309 contains several strings hinting at AI-powered effects for the desktop background. The build mentioned "Depth effects," "Parallax Background," and "WallpaperMotion." Another line suggests Microsoft wants to use AI to add depth effects to background images on compatible devices. Unfortunately, build 25309 does not allow you to enable any of that, so we must sit tight and wait for Microsoft to announce the new features in upcoming builds. Meanwhile, you can check out a recent Windows 12 concept imagining a revamped desktop background system that adapts to the content on the screen.

Also, the lack of additional information makes it difficult to predict whether the effects require dedicated neural processing units. However, the "use AI when available" line implies no luck for those with traditional x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Windows 11 can already apply a parallax effect to the lock screen wallpaper, which requires a simple accelerometer. Perhaps, Microsoft will figure out how to make the desktop background a little fancier for those not ready to upgrade their PCs.

AI-powered backgrounds are yet another mention of machine learning powering new features in Microsoft's operating system. In a recent interview with The Verge, a Microsoft representative revealed that the company is actively investigating how to incorporate AI into Windows to give customers more powerful experiences. Such experiences may include smart window snapping, fancy effects for the desktop background, studio effects for video calls, and more. Microsoft also claims Windows 11's latest feature update has AI built into the taskbar, but in reality, that is nothing but a brainless shortcut to Edge and Bing.

Microsoft wants to make its operating system more intelligent, so it needs better integration with the hardware powering it. A recent leak revealed that Intel is reportedly already aware of the upcoming Windows 12, and it could be ready for the public debut by the end of 2024.

Windows 11 might soon get AI-based effects for desktop backgrounds

According to AMD, using the "Factory Reset" option when updating Radeon Software causes the Inaccessible Boot Driver error, rendering the entire operating system completely bricked. The company says the issue occurs when the user updates the driver while installing Windows updates, such as the recently released Moment 2 update. Therefore, AMD recommends not using the Factory Reset option and ensuring Windows Update is not operating before installing a new driver.

We have reproduced an issue that can occur in an extremely small number of instances if a PC update occurs during the installation of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, and we are actively investigating. We recommend users ensure all system updates are applied or paused before installing the driver, and that the “Factory Reset” option is unchecked during the AMD driver installation process. We are committed to resolve issues as quickly as possible and strongly encourage users to submit issues with AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition via the Bug Report Tool.

PCWorld says Windows' automatic recovery tools should fix the issue and get affected computers back into the working state. Alternatively, users can try using a system restore point. If nothing helps, reinstalling Windows 10 or 11 is the only way out.

Source: PCWorld via VideoCardz

AMD confirms updating Radeon GPU drivers can brick your Windows installation

Meanwhile, over on the Dev channel, Windows Insiders are getting a taste of features and changes that should be in the Moment 4 Update. It is expected that Moment 4 will release in the second half of 2023 and will be the Windows 11 version 23H2 feature update. The latest Dev build 25309 brings in many big changes, including a move to WinUI 3 from WinUI 2, a new OOBE, and many more improvements. The previously leaked volume mixer is also available now.

Aside from these announced features, build 25309 also has some unannounced features too, one of which happens to be the option to uninstall VBScript. The uninstall option also cautions users about the security vulnerabilities of VBScript.

VBScript or Visual Basic Script is a legacy active scripting language and engine that has been exploited several times to spread malware, which led Microsoft to disable it inside Internet Explorer. Overall, it looks like Microsoft is trying to make the next gen Windows 11 more secure, seeing how it follows the recent official announcement of the MSDT deprecation.

Source: Xeno (Twitter)

After killing MSDT, Microsoft looks to add VBScript removal in Windows 11 23H2 (Moment 4)

Meanwhile, since Intel moved to its hybrid x86 CPU design approach with 12th Gen Alder Lake, scheduler changes were made to Windows 11, though with time, performance data suggests those improvements have made their way into Windows 10 as well.

However, if you are not quite happy with how Windows 11 and 10 handle stuff you throw at them, especially games, the latest feature from CapFrameX could help. The feature, dubbed "Thread Affinity Controller" basically sets predefined affinity to Intel and AMD processor threads such that the CPUs may provide the best performance. It's a simple toggle inside the CapFrameX app and is available with beta version 1.7.2. For example on Intel 12th Gen and newer hybrid chips, the Thread Affinity Controller prioritizes the Bigger P-cores over the Big E-cores.

Here are the release notes for the CapFrameX v1.7.2 beta:

New features

• Implementation network ping overlay entry
• Thread affinity controller (Intel hybrid architecture, AMD Ryzen with 2 CCDs)

Thread Affinity

• Intel: default -> P-cores -> E-cores -> default
• AMD: default -> CCD0 -> CCD1 -> default

The thread affinity during Hogwarts Legacy gameplay is visible in the screenshots above. For example on the Intel side, it is the P-cores doing the heavy lifting.

In terms of performance, on Dead Space remake, there are some good gains to be had:

However, CapFrameX has issued a warning about games with large thread pool (ie, games that use lots of threads like Doom Eternal and Ashes of the Singularity) stating that such instances could lead to performance loss as using half the available CPU resources will adversely impact the performance. In such cases, it is best to leave it to Windows itself and toggle the Thread Affinity Controller off.

Source: CapFrameX (Twitter)

If you're unhappy with Microsoft's Windows 11 and 10 scheduler, this CapFrameX tool may help