Purchasing WindowBlinds 11 on Steam gives you a license to use the app on up to five devices. Also, you can bundle WindowBlinds with Start11, another must-have program for Windows 11 users (recently mentioned in our "Top 11 apps for Windows 11 users" article).

In addition to pushing WindowBlinds 11 to Steam, Stardock has released an update to optimize the installation process. According to a blog post on the Stardock website, the latest WindowBlinds 11 build should take about 30 seconds to install. The exact time will depend on how powerful your hardware is, but the improvement should be noticeable on any PC when compared with the previous version.

You can purchase WindowBlinds 11 on Steam for $19.99. Those owning Start11 on Steam can save a few dollars by buying the app in a bundle. Alternatively, WindowBlinds 11, Start11, Groupy, and other Stardock apps are also available on the official website.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship with Stardock

WindowsBlinds 11 can give Windows a classic XP or macOS look, now available on Steam

You can enable Split Screen in Microsoft Edge 110.0.1587.46 and newer. Although the feature is available for use, it still requires turning on an experimental flag. Therefore, expect to spot rough surfaces or bugs before Microsoft enables Split Screen by default. For example, clicking the Split Screen button on the toolbar leaves the tab in focus open and closes the other. Another bug is that the browser does not retain tab pairs when you close it.

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, Split Screen in Edge should hit general availability (GA) in April 2023, so the company still has time to polish the feature and iron out bugs.

How to enable Split Screen in Microsoft Edge Stable?

1. Update the browser to the latest version by navigating to edge://settings/help.
2. Open edge://flags and search for the Microsoft Edge Split Screen flag.
3. Set the flag to Enabled.
4. Restart the browser.
5. Click the Split Screen button on the toolbar and select the tabs you want to keep side-by-side. You can also launch Edge Split Screen by right-clicking a link and selecting Open link in split window.

Split Screen is not the only major change in Microsoft Edge. The company plans to give its browser a rounded corners treatment, which has already sparked some heat among Edge users. Those not fond of the idea can learn how to disable rounded corners in Edge in our dedicated guide.

Microsoft brings Split Screen to all Edge users in the Stable channel

Jump lists in Windows 11 already allow you to close an open window, but the option cannot end processes for specific apps that continue running in the background. Besides, the feature will not help you fix stuck apps that no longer respond. Hitting the new "End task" button will let you terminate the entire app and save a few clicks by not launching Task Manager. It is an interesting change, especially after Microsoft restored the ability to open Task Manager with a right-click on the taskbar.

The "End process" entry in jump lists is available in Windows 11 build 25300. However, it is disabled by default, and you need to use the Vivetool app to enable it. Another thing worth noting is that the feature does not work yet—clicking the new "End task" button will result in nothing. The current implementation is possibly an indicator of what's to come in future Windows 11 builds.

Caution: Unannounced features are often raw, unstable, or borderline unusable. Back up important data before enabling them 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 new "End task" option in Windows 11 build 25300?

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:42592269 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.

You can revert the change by repeating steps 2-6 and replacing /enable with /disable on step 5.

Do you think placing a dedicated process-killing button in jump lists is a good idea? Let us know in the comments.

Source: @PhantomOfEarth on Twitter

Windows 11 will soon let you end a process without launching Task Manager

This Tuesday was the second Tuesday of the month which meant it was Patch Tuesday time. Microsoft has confirmed however that the updates for Windows 11 22H2 may not have been offered by some of its Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers. The company says that although the updates would download to the WSUS servers, they would fail to propagate to client devices.

The Redmond company has confirmed that the affected WSUS servers are those which were recently upgraded to Windows Server 2022 from Windows Server 2016 and 2019. That's because some of those at the helm of the upgrade botched it when they accidentally removed the necessary Unified Update Platform (UUP) Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types.

On its health dashboard explaining the issue, Microsoft writes:

Updates released February 14, 2023 or later might not be offered from some Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers to Windows 11, version 22H2. The updates will download to the WSUS server but might not propagate further to client devices. Affected WSUS servers are only those running Windows Server 2022 which have been upgraded from Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. This issue is caused by the accidental removal of required Unified Update Platform (UUP) MIME types during the upgrade to Windows Server 2022 from a previous version of Windows Server. This issue might affect security updates or feature updates for Windows 11, version 22H2. Microsoft Configuration Manager is not affected by this issue.

Microsoft has also provided a workaround for the issue, which involves adding the necessary file types for the UUP on-premises update management. You can refer to this Tech Community article for guidance.

Microsoft confirms botched WSUS upgrade led to failing Windows 11 Patch Tuesday updates

What is new in Vivaldi 5.7?

The Window Panel = Windows Panel. Vivaldi's Window Panel is a unique feature that makes life easier for those working with multiple browser windows, tabs, and stacks. Previously, the Window Panel provided a tree view of the open tabs only in the current window, but now you can see and manage all your Vivaldi windows with tabs and stacks inside them. The updated Windows Panel now has a search box, so tab hoarders can find the page they need in their never-ending sea of tabs.

Auto-mark mail as read. Vivaldi's built-in Mail client is slightly different from mainstream email services, and it has two separate states for emails (seen and read) to provide customers with more powerful mail management. However, some customers are used to their mail providers automatically flagging an email as read, so Vivaldi now supports this feature. Previously, flagging mail as read was a manual action. 

Improved keyboard shortcuts. Vivaldi Mail now lets you assign custom keyboard shortcuts for flagging mail as spam or not spam. 

In addition to three major feature changes, Vivaldi 5.7 has a massive list of bugfixes and minor changes. You can find them in the official release notes.

The Vivaldi browser is available on the official website. You can download it on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.

Source

According to the official release notes, Microsoft wants to improve the feature's discoverability by reducing the hover time required to invoke Snap Assist. In addition, there is descriptive text explaining what the feature does and the current app's icon. Here is how the old Snap Assist compares to the new one:

Microsoft wants Windows Insiders to test several variants of the updated Snap Assist. One option only reduces the timeout, and the other adds the description and app icon in the picked layout position. You can try both variants using the Vivetool app and share your thoughts with Microsoft via the Feedback Hub (via @PhantomOfEarth on Twitter).

Caution: 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 Snap Assist in Windows 11 build 25300?

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:40851068 /variant:1 and press Enter. This command will keep the old Snap Assist variant and decrease the hover time.

6. Type vivetool /enable /id:40851068 /variant:2 and press Enter. This command will add the "Snap this window" description and your current app icon.

7. Type vivetool /enable /id:40851068 /variant:3 and press Enter. This command will add the "Snap this window" description and your current app icon, plus reduce the hover time.

8. Restart your computer.

If you change your mind and want to restore the original Snap Assist, repeat the steps above and replace /enable with /disable in the commands on steps 5, 6, or 7, depending on which variant you have been testing.

This is not the first time Microsoft shipped improvements for Snap Assist. Last year, the company released the Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2) with significant enhancements for window snapping. You can learn more about the updated Snap Assist in Windows 11 22H2 in our comprehensive review.

Source

Bringing the volume mixer previously required opening the Quick Settings menu and clicking a button next to the volume slider. It is a much better and faster option than navigating to the Settings app only to adjust the volume for one app, but it still needs an extra click. Now you can open the volume mixed with dedicated shortcut keys: Win + Ctrl + V.

Windows 11 build 25300 will present you with the new shortcut every time you open the mixer (you can also spot the seconds in the tray clock, which is a feature Microsoft restored in the latest build) so you can remember it. Enabling the new mixer also turns on the shortcut in the previous Windows 11 build, 25295, but no one knew it was there as the public announcement has yet to come.

In addition to the shortcut, Windows 11 build 25300 slightly tweaks the mixer's UI with notably increased margins for a more polished look.

The new volume mixer is still hidden deep inside the operating system. However, you can enable it using the Vivetool app, as our dedicated guide describes. Remember that toying around with unannounced features might have unexpected consequences, so back up important data before experimenting.

Meanwhile, those sticking to stable Windows 11 releases can get a similar experience by using third-party apps, such as EarTrumpet. We recently covered it in our "Top 11 apps for Windows 11 users" article.

Windows 11 now has a dedicated shortcut for the new volume mixer

The latest Windows 11 build from the Dev Channel allows you to toggle on seconds in the taskbar clock if that is your thing. However, Microsoft has slightly tweaked the Settings app to warn customers that enabling seconds will cause their computers to use more power and drain batteries faster. Keep that in mind if you want to achieve the best battery life possible.

Unfortunately, Microsoft does not provide the exact power figures on this tremendously taxing feature, so one can only guess. Here is what the official changelog says:

The ability to show seconds in the clock on the system tray, first introduced with Build 25247, should return after updating to Build 25300 if it had disappeared for you after updating to Build 25295 last week.

If you are on Windows 11 build 25300, you can enable seconds on the taskbar clock in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Behaviors > Show seconds in system tray clock.

You can learn what is new in the latest Windows 11 Dev build in our dedicated post. As usual, the update contains unannounced hidden features, so stay tuned for the upcoming discoveries.

Microsoft brings back seconds with taskbar clock, warns about increased power draw

What’s new

Introducing live captions in more languages

Live captions helps everyone and people who are deaf or hard of hearing read live captions in their native language. The first release of live captions in the Windows 11 2022 Update provided captions in English, with a focus on English (United States). In this build, live captions gains the ability to also provide captions in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and other English dialects. We will add more languages as they become available.

Live captions in Japanese.

To get started, live captions can be turned on with the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut, or from the quick settings accessibility flyout via Quick Settings. When turned on for the first time, live captions will prompt for download of the required speech recognition support to enable on-device captioning. If speech recognition support is not available in your preferred Windows language or you want support in other languages, you will be able to download speech recognition support for live captions under Settings > Time & Language > Language & region.

We look forward to you trying out live captions in more languages and would love to hear your feedback.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Live captions.

Changes and Improvements

[Snap layouts]

• We are trying out different treatments for snap layouts with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. We are investigating ways to improve the discoverability and usage of the snap layouts such as decreasing the hover time required to invoke the flyout when you mouse over the maximum/restore button in an app’s title bar. In addition to a few other tweaks, you’ll notice some treatments will also pull in the icon of the app window you are working in and adding a descriptive title. If you see one of these treatments, give us feedback on what you think. As a reminder, it is normal for us to try out different concepts in the Dev Channel to get feedback.

Example of a snap layout treatment we’re trying with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

[Voice typing]

• The change to sync voice typing settings, Automatic punctuation and Voice typing launcher, across all devices signed in using the same Microsoft account that began rolling out with Build 25227 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. You can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows backup > Remember my preferences > Accessibility This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today with AAD support coming later.

[Settings]

• Updated Settings > Apps > Startup to make it easier to access more information about the apps listed.
• Right-clicking on a Win32 app in Start, or searching for the app, and choosing “Uninstall” will now take you to the Settings to uninstall the app.

[WSL]

• Improved the upgrade experience to the new Windows Subsystem for Linux Store app (mentioned in Build 25272), so it now prompts for installation if wsl.exe is invoked.

Fixes

[General]

• We fixed the underlying issue related to combase.dll, causing crashes with multiple apps using GetKnownFolder APIs after upgrading to Build 25290, including Notepad and Windows Terminal for IME users. This issue is also believed to be the root cause of some Insiders finding that certain actions in File Explorer were taking minutes to complete in these builds.
• We fixed the issue causing rendering issues and difficulty using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
• Fixed an issue where some users experienced issues authenticating into enterprise websites that require windows integrated authentication.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• The ability to show seconds in the clock on the system tray, first introduced with Build 25247, should return after updating to Build 25300 if it had disappeared for you after updating to Build 25295 last week.
• Fixed an issue that was causing taskbar to be cut off after resolution changes.
• We fixed an issue where when hovering over app icons on the taskbar could switch window focus unexpectedly.

[Widgets]

• As a result of fixing the issue causing third-party widgets to get unpinned when signed in with a Microsoft account across multiple Windows 11 devices, the most recent Widgets update in the Dev Channel will unpin third-party widgets. Insiders will need to go back to their widgets board and re-pin these widgets again. If you still see issues where widgets are being unpinned unexpectedly – please file feedback.
• The link for “Find more widgets” in the widgets picker currently is no longer broke and will point to the Store collection here.

[Input]

• We are beginning to roll out a fix for an issue where the IME candidate window and IME toolbar weren’t shown or cropped sometimes.

[File Explorer]

• Drag and dropping files and folders across tabs should work again.

[Task Manager]

• Process names typed into the search box should no longer unexpectedly get spellchecked.
• Fixed a couple of issues with how Narrator was reading out content in Task Manager.
• Fixed an issue where the dropdowns in settings might not match your currently selected theme.
• When using search on the App History page, results should no longer suddenly disappear.
• If you open the Default Start Page dropdown in settings, clicking the Task Manager window should make the dropdown disappear now.
• Dragging the window using the search box area should work now (like other areas of the title bar).
• Fixed an issue where ending processes in the Details tab wasn’t showing a confirmation dialog.
• Increasing the text scaling should no longer result in a “see more” button appearing with no contents.
• If you do a search and then press the down arrow, keyboard focus should now move from the search box into the results.
• If you have a contrast theme enabled and select one of the rows in the Processes page, that row should now show that it’s selected.
• Fixed an issue where focus might not get set properly to search, leading to Narrator not saying that focus was on the search box.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue where Narrator’s focus wasn’t going back to the Quick Settings’ window correctly when using the back button in the Cast page.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

• We are investigating an issue where some users are experiencing longer than expected update times installing recent builds. If you experienced this issue, please submit a new feedback item with logs in Feedback Hub.
• Some AAD (Azure Active Directory joined users are now seeing “Getting ready for you” screens when signing into Windows after updating the latest builds. We are investigating the issue.
• Launching Group Policy Editor may show an error about a displayName attribute not being found.
• Using Windows Hello to sign in with facial recognition may not work on Arm64 PCs. A workaround for this is to use the Hello PIN path.
• We are investigating reports that the Windows Insider Program settings page is showing that a newer build is available in Windows Update even though they are on the latest available build in the Dev Channel.
• [NEW] We’re investigating reports that the New button in Snipping Tool isn’t working for some Insiders after upgrading to Build 25295. If you are impacted by this, going to Settings > Apps > Default apps, and setting screen snipping as the default for ms-screenclip, it should resolve the issue.

[Widgets]

• We’re investigating an issue where under certain circumstances third-party widgets may not load as expected.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• App icons on the taskbar may appear on the wrong monitor for some Insiders with multiple monitors.

[Windows Spotlight]

The following known issues only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments of Windows Spotlight that began rolling out to Insiders with Build 25281:

• Clicking on a secondary monitor does not dismiss the full screen experience.

[Live captions]

• On Arm64 devices, enhanced speech recognition support will install incorrectly through the Language & Region settings page. Arm64 users who don’t have support for speech recognition with live captions in their preferred language can use this work-around: (1) Uninstall all “Speech Pack – ” app entries in Settings > Apps > Installed apps; (2) Temporarily set the first language in their preferred language list in Settings > Time & language > Language & region to an acceptable alternative language; (3) Launch live captions.
• Live captions for Chinese Traditional currently does not work on Arm64 devices.
• Certain languages shown on the Language & Region settings page will indicate speech recognition support (e.g., Korean) but don’t yet have support for live captions.
• When adding a language through the Language & Region settings page, language feature installation progress may become hidden, and you may not see install completion of “Enhanced speech recognition” (required by Live Captions). (You can use the language’s “Language options” to monitor progress.) If this happens, there may be an unexpected delay before the live captions setup experience detects this and lets you continue.
• The Language & Region settings page may not offer the necessary speech recognition language support for live captions for up to an hour after first login.
• Captioning performance may be degraded in non-English languages and missing out-of-language filtering in non-English (United States) languages which means that incorrect captions will be shown for speech not in the caption language.

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 Dev build 25300 has new Snap layouts, fixes WinRE issue, and much more

The bug was triggered since Linux 6.1 when hardware random number generators (hwrng) kernel multi-threading (kthread) was enabled for untrusted sources, ie, when hwrng source were set to a quality setting of zero. As the name suggests, random number generators help to generate random number used in creating cryptographic keys that aid in security functions like encryption.

Mario Limonciello, who is a Principal Member of Technical Staff at AMD, has recommended the disabling of hwrng for fTPM on affected Ryzen(and Athlon) systems:

AMD has issued an advisory indicating that having fTPM enabled in BIOS can cause "stuttering" in the OS. This issue has been fixed in newer versions of the fTPM firmware, but it's up to system designers to decide whether to distribute it.

This issue has existed for a while, but is more prevalent starting with kernel 6.1 because commit b006c439d58db ("hwrng: core - start hwrng kthread also for untrusted sources") started to use the fTPM for hwrng by default. However, all uses of /dev/hwrng result in unacceptable stuttering.

So, simply disable registration of the defective hwrng when detecting these faulty fTPM versions.

You can find the set of Linux patches here (Patch 0/1 and 1/1) in the Linux kernel mailing list. Not everything, however, is bad news for AMD users on Linux. Recent testing comparing the performance of newer Linux kernel shows massive improvement over a two-year period.

Via: Phoronix

After Windows 11 and Windows 10, AMD Ryzen fTPM stutters and freezes now hit Linux

And although AMD took a long time to finally release new drivers for its 6000 series GPUs, the wait was worth it for Radeon owners as the company highlights excellent performance gains with up to 27% improvement compared to the Windows 11 21H2 launch drivers. In other games, AMD says there is anywhere between 9 to 21% betterment. The tests were conducted on a Radeon RX 6900 XT.

AMD says other Radeon 6000 cards will also benefit from the new drivers where the gains can be anywhere from as low as 6% on the Radeon RX 6400 to 20% in case of the more powerful cards and it makes sense as stronger GPUs face more driver overhead issues.

And although not highlighted separately by AMD, some Twitter users claim that the new 23.2.1 driver has huge gains in terms of ray tracing, sometimes by up to 40%. However, these gains may only be confined to synthetic benchmarks like those from UL Benchmarks. Twitter user @JirayD says they gained around 37% performance on an RX 6900 XT in 3DMark's DirectX Ray Tracing feature test with the new driver compared to the older 22.11.2 driver. Meanwhile the Port Royal benchmark only saw a 5% gain.

Another Twitter user DOer chimed in on the same thread claiming a 40% improvement, also on a 6900 XT.

Source: AMD via Twitter (1) , (2)

AMD's latest Windows 11 driver seemingly brings FineWine magic to ray tracing and much more

Summary

AMD Ryzen™ Master is a software tool that gives users advanced, real-time control of system performance. AMD Ryzen™ Master allows the user to control various clock and voltage settings in real time.

CVE-2022-27677

Failure to validate privileges during installation of AMD Ryzen™ Master may allow an attacker with low privileges to modify files potentially leading to privilege escalation and code execution by the lower privileged user.

The vulnerability has already been patched by AMD in December. However, the information regarding the security bug was disclosed earlier today. The company recommends Windows 11 and Windows 10 users to update to the latest version of Ryzen Master, 2.10.1.2287, as it fixes this flaw.

Aside from the the Ryzen Master 2.10.1.2287 also fixes some bugs and adds new features:

Release Highlights

• Adds support for setting Maximum Temperature

Fixed Issues

• Issue related to CPU Voltage range is fixed. Users can now apply voltages beyond 1.52V.

Known Issues

• Not all features are visible or supported on Legacy Processors.

You can download Ryzen Master from AMD's official website here. In somewhat related news, it looks like the fTPM stuttering and freezing issue on Ryzen, that initially affected Windows platforms, is now showing up on Linux as well.

AMD wants you to update to the latest Ryzen Master on Windows 11 and Windows 10

If you want your computer to work as well as it can and avoid privacy or security risks, sticking to an original Windows installation is your only option. However, some Windows modifications are worthy of your attention and some time to play around (maybe in a virtual machine or a spare computer). For example, Tiny11, a mod that allows you to run Windows 11 on less powerful hardware, or this absolutely wild Windows Experience Freestyle Update that turns Windows 10 into a virtually indistinguishable Windows XP replica.

Windows Experience Freestyle Update is a modified Windows 10 installation (version 1809) with a very thick coat of 22-year-old paint. It carefully replicates the look and feel of Windows XP, which many consider the golden era of Microsoft's operating system. There is the old File Explorer, Task Manager, Control Panel, Start menu (still better than the one in Windows 11), and Internet Explorer (just a reskinned Firefox). Even 3D Pinball and the OG Paint are available!

Of course, those who have experienced using Windows XP will be able to spot the differences. Also, some notable limitations and issues will prevent you from using the mod as a primary operating system. For example, any DPI above 100% will break everything, not all buttons and links in File Explorer work, and some parts of the OS look like butchered Windows 10. Still, it is safe to say the modification is the closest modern Windows XP replica that none of the third-party apps can achieve.

If you want to experience a "modern Windows XP," check it on the Internet Archive. Before downloading, mind the privacy risks and legal implications of using modified Windows ISOs (the mod is not activated, and it requires a genuine Windows 10 key). For most, admiring the project from a safe distance will be a better choice.

Speaking of other Windows XP-related news, a recently published video shows how much more data Windows 11 sends to questionable servers out of the box compared to its 23-year-old sibling.

This mod turns Windows 10 into an indistinguishable Windows XP replica

Firefox, like all modern web browsers, supports notifications. Websites may prompt users to enable push notifications, so that they may push messages to the user's devices. Most often, these notifications are used to inform users about updates. Here on Ghacks, users may receive notifications when certain articles are published, provided that they allow notifications here on the site.

Notifications have received bad press in the past because of abuse of the feature. Some sites use the feature to push advertisement or even malware. It has gotten this annoying that browser makers decided to make push notification requests less aggressive in their browsers.

Many browsers nowadays may hide notification requests in the address bar of the browser, instead of displaying the prompts directly to the user.

Current versions of Firefox display notifications as a small overlay in the browser window. This window is closed automatically, and there is no option currently to look up previous notifications. Support for Windows' notification feature moves notifications on Windows to the operating system.

There, users get to see the notifications based on their configuration of the feature. They may also access previous entries, but there is no full log available natively on Windows.

Tip: check out our guide on blocking notifications on Windows 11 devices.

Firefox 11: native Windows notifications support

Mozilla plans to launch the feature in Firefox 111, which is scheduled for a release on March 14, 2023. It is interesting to note that Firefox supported native notifications functionality on Windows for several years, but that Mozilla never made the feature available publicly.

One of the requirements for native notifications support is that Windows users or administrators have not turned notifications off. Notifications need to be enabled and Firefox needs to be allowed to use the functionality as well.

Two preferences in Firefox determine whether the native Windows notifications backend is used by the web browser.

1. Load about:config in the address bar of the browser.
2. Use the search field to find the following preferences:
   • alerts.useSystemBackend
   • alerts.useSystemBackend.windows.notificationserver.enabled
3. Make sure both are set to TRUE. This means that the system is enabled and will be used by the Firefox web browser.
4. A restart of the browser may be required if preferences are changed.

Closing words

Support for native notifications on Windows in Firefox is a welcome feature addition. While it is limited to Windows 10 and 11, it is making notifications more accessible, especially since these may be looked at again after the initial display.

Mozilla plans to release the new feature in Firefox 111, and it looks ready enough already in development editions of the web browser. There is always the chance of delays though, as last minute bugs may require additional development time.

Now You: do you subscribe to push notifications on certain websites? (via Techdows)

Firefox Gets Native Windows Notifications Support

This is the second development build after the Windows Package Manager 1.4 build for Windows 10 (1809+) and Windows 11. This build will be released to Windows Insider Dev builds and Windows Package Manager Insiders.

Experimental features are enabled in this release. The experimental feature for package pinning is now supported and included in this release.

Run winget features to see which experimental features are enabled or disabled.

Add the following to your settings (winget settings) file to enable the experimental features including package pinning:

    "experimentalFeatures": {
	  "pinning": true,
	  "dependencies": true,
	  "directMSI": true,
	  "uninstallPreviousArgument": true,
    },

This release includes an early preview of our Microsoft.WinGet.Client PowerShell module. Improvements to the PowerShell module have been made in this release to enhance the output of the cmdlets. Information about getting started and usage can be found here.

Features

• Pin a package #476 by @florelis
• Open log files or provide path as output #2355 by @Trenly
• Show which admin setting has been enabled/disabled in confirmation string #2846 by @Trenly

What's Changed

• Make --Open-Logs Stable by @Trenly in #2841
• Add --custom argument for passing additional installer arguments by @Trenly in #2832
• Add database for tracking pins and base implementation for pin commands by @florelis in #2769
• Show which admin setting has been enabled/disabled in confirmation string by @Trenly in #2846
• Refactor some code into shared library by @JohnMcPMS in #2844
• Add rest interface 1.4 to supported list by @yao-msft in #2853
• Block msix provisioning api calls where known OS bugs exist by @yao-msft in #2855
• Allow Version Listing through 'Winget Search' by @Trenly in #2847
• Refactor arg validation by @florelis in #2862
• Rename privacy.md to PRIVACY.md by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2907
• fix: remove extra space by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2904
• chore: remove blank line by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2906
• feat: update pr template by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2905
• feat(template): update title + desc for feature request by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2915
• feat(template): update title + desc for docs report by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2914
• feat(template): update title + desc for bug report by @WilliamDavidHarrison in #2913
• Remove use of Invoke-Expression in test script by @florelis in #2921
• Show Enabled Admin Settings in --info by @Trenly in #2901
• Update zlib library in Pure project by @ryfu-msft in #2923
• Fix GetFullNameFromFamilyName for non-elevated context by @yao-msft in #2922
• Allow multiple apps in a single command by @florelis in #2861
• Use C# wrapper objects for PowerShell cmdlet output by @ryfu-msft in #2871
• Fix behavior for user settings scope preference/requirement for portable install by @ryfu-msft in #2918
• Fix Summary telemetry event by @yao-msft in #2941
• Implement package pinning by @florelis in #2813
• Spec for package pinning by @yao-msft in #2611
• Fix spelling from pinning spec by @yao-msft in #2946
• Give admin access to temp folder by @yao-msft in #2945
• Down sampling telemetry events by @yao-msft in #2950
• Add support for elevation requirement in COM by @ryfu-msft in #2919

You can head over to GitHub to download the latest Windows Package Manager version 1.5.441 preview update.

Latest WinGet 1.5 preview from Microsoft brings PowerShell module improvements, and more

The new driver brings improved support for Forspoken and Deadspace and a bunch of other game titles including the recently released Hogwarts Legacy. It also brings additional Vulkan extensions, and more. Unfortunately, some of the high power usage bugs still remain.

The full release notes, including the open issues and a couple of important notes, are given below:

Fixed issues

• AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition may fail to launch with the error message “Delayed Write Failed” on Microsoft® Windows® 11 version 22H2.
• Poor performance and load time may be observed while playing SpaceEngine™.
• Corruption may be observed while scrolling the points shop in STEAM™ on Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs.
• Performance drop may be observed during Fortnite™ and YouTube playback with Enhanced Sync enabled on some AMD Graphics Products such as AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT.
• Corruption or game crash may be observed while playing Door Kickers 2™.
• Missing or flickering textures may be observed while playing Emergency 4™.
• Application crash may be observed when launching Baldur's Gate 3™ using Vulkan® API on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Stuttering may be observed while playing Sea of Thieves™ on Radeon™ RX 6000 and above series GPUs.
• Corruption may be observed while playing Battlefield™ 4 with Post Process Quality settings set to high or ultra on Radeon™ RX 6000 and above series GPUs.
• White foliage may be observed while playing Hogwarts Legacy™ on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• Intermittent system stuttering or UI flickering may occur when two videos are simultaneously playing using chromium-based browsers on some multi-display configurations.

Known issues

• 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.
• Application crash may be observed while opening Premium Gold Packs in EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23.
• Some virtual reality games or apps may experience lower-than-expected performance on Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• AMD Bug Report Tool pop-up or system hang may be observed after driver upgrade on some hybrid graphics notebooks. Users are recommended to use the factory reset install option as a workaround.
• Corruption may be briefly observed when moving Netflix video between displays or minimize-to-fullscreen on some AMD Products such as AMD Ryzen™ 7 6800U.
• Certain videos played with Movies and TV may briefly show corruption when moving the window between displays on some AMD Graphics Products such as AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Brief display corruption may occur when switching between video and game windows on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Maximum encode bitrate is limited to 100Mbps for certain applications.

Important notes

• AMD Link users running Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs will need to update to a newer version of AMD Link now available on various platforms.
• AMD is working with the game developers of Hogwarts Legacy™ to resolve performance issues when enabling ray tracing.

You can download the new Radeon Adrenalin 23.2.1 driver from here.

AMD Radeon 23.2.1 driver out for Radeon RX 6000 and 7000 series GPUs

Highlights

• This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

Improvements

• This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5022360 (released January 26, 2023).
• This update makes miscellaneous security improvements to internal OS functionality. No additional issues were documented for this release.
• If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.
• For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the February 2023 Security Updates.

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22621.1190

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Highlights

• This update addresses an issue that might occur when the Input Method Editor (IME) is active. Applications might stop responding when you use the mouse and keyboard at the same time.

• This update addresses an issue that might occur when you convert or reconvert Japanese Kanji using a multibyte character set (MBCS) app. The cursor might move to the wrong location when you type.

• This update addresses an issue that affects picture files you find using search on the taskbar. This issue stops you from opening those pictures in the photo application you choose.

• This update addresses an issue that stops you from searching for a file based on the file’s contents.

• This update addresses an issue that affects some game controllers. When the game controller is connected to the computer, the computer might not go to Sleep mode.

   

Improvements

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

• New! This update changes the experience for preview .NET Framework updates. After you install this update, all future preview (optional) .NET Framework updates will display on the Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates page. On that page, you can control which optional updates you want to install.

• This update addresses an issue that affects searchindexer.exe. It randomly stops you from signing in or signing out.

• This update addresses a resource conflict issue between two or more threads (known as a deadlock). This deadlock affects COM+ applications.

• This update addresses an issue that affects conhost.exe. It stopsresponding.

• This update addresses an issue that might affect the Domain Name System (DNS) suffix search list. When you configure it, the parent domain might be missing.

• This update addresses an issue that might affect FindWindow() or FindWindowEx(). They might return the wrong window handle.

• This update addresses an issue that affects certain systems that have firmware Trusted Platform Modules. (TPM). This issue stops you from using AutoPilot to set up those systems.

• This update addresses an issue that affects mstsc.exe. It stops responding while connecting to a RemoteApp and Desktop Connection.

• This update addresses an issue that causes Windows Server 2022 domain controllers (DC) to stop responding. This occurs when they process Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) requests.

• This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS) MSba tag. The issue causes a nonpaged pool leak.

• This update addresses an issue that affects the ReFS. The issue causes high nonpaged pool usage, which depletes system memory.

• This update addresses an issue that affects devices that are subject to Microsoft Exploit Protection Export Address Filtering (EAF). Some applications stop responding or do not open. These include Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader.

• This update addresses an issue that might affect applications that use Microsoft Edge WebView2 to display content. Applications that use WebView2 include Microsoft Office and the Widgets app. The content might appear blank or greyed out.

• This update addresses an issue that affects a Group Policy for Expanded Toasts.

• This update changes how you enable the Windows diagnostic data processor configuration in preparation for EU Data Boundary support. To learn more, see Enable Windows diagnostic data processor configuration.

   

Known issues

The latest update should start rolling out today and become available via Windows Update, or you can simply wait and your Windows 11 PC will do it for you. If you need to install the patch on an offline machine, you can download the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

Windows 11 Patch Tuesday (KB5022845 ) fixes image search in the Taskbar and more

The major highlight of the release as usual is security updates for Windows 10.

Highlights

This update addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

And as is generally the case, the Redmond company has also listed the known issues in the update, which is always handy. Here are the symptoms and their respective workarounds:

Some of the older Windows 10 versions have also received updates today which have been listed below with their respective release notes (KB) linked as well as links to download them at Microsoft's Update Catalog:

It is noteworthy here that Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 10 1909 reached the end of servicing.

Microsoft releases Windows 10 February 2023 Patch Tuesday (KB5022834) update

If you prefer using Windows 11 with a local account, opening the Widgets Board will present you with the default widgets layout and a news feed. You can remove existing widgets and add new ones by clicking the button with a plus icon. Of course, the company still wants you to use a Microsoft Account, so you get an extra banner with a prompt to sign in.

Getting the latest Windows Widgets improvements requires installing the Windows Web Experience Pack version 423.3000.10.0 or newer. You can download it from the Microsoft Store using this link. If you are not a fan of Windows Widgets and prefer to keep them off, uninstalling the Web Experience Pack using winget is one way to get rid of them.

Unfortunately, Windows Widgets remain mixed with often poor-quality articles (40 secrets you should keep from your mother-in-law sounds exciting and noteworthy, amirite?), which, to put it mildly, do not improve the user experience. The ability to turn off the feed is the most popular user request, and one can only hope Microsoft will eventually deliver what its customers want.

Source: @PhantomOfEarth on Twitter

Windows 11 Stable gets the updated Widgets that no longer require a Microsoft Account

Hardware-accelerated video processing in Windows Subsystem for Linux is available in any application that uses the VAAPI and Mesa 3D D3D12 backend (Gstreamer and FFmpeg, for example). It requires a Windows Subsystem for Linux version 1.1.0, a Linux distro like Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, enabled systemd, and a set of compatible hardware. According to the release post, users need the following PC components to use hardware-accelerated video in WSL:

If you want to see D3D12 GPU video acceleration in Windows Subsystem for Linux in action, check out the official announcement blog post, where Microsoft lists various use-case scenarios and commands to perform them.

Microsoft brings D3D12 GPU video acceleration to Windows Subsystem for Linux

If I'm reinstalling one application or all their applications after a Windows reinstall, I'll ask them for a product key and they will have absolutely no idea where it's at.

Then we proceed to log into the website where they purchased the software from (if it's even still around), but they usually can't remember their password for the site.

All of this could have been easily avoided had they kept good records.

Today I'm going to share with you the way I record my product keys.

This is not the only way to do it but it's the way I do it.

The first thing I do is create a folder called "Product Keys". Inside that folder, I right-click and create a new text file with the name of the application.

Inside that text file, I record the name and version of the program I purchased, as well as the product key and any other information required to install / activate the software.

I'll usually add multiple version numbers inside the same text document.

I make sure to back that folder up to an external device such as a hard drive or USB flash drive.

When it comes time to reinstall an application or reinstall Windows and all my applications, this makes everything so much easier. I can have all my software reinstalled in no time without having to hunt down and locate all the product keys.

Should you need to locate a product key, there are a couple places to look:

• Search your email for the name of the product you are reinstalling, maybe they emailed it to you.
• If you created an account on the site you purchased the software from, log in and see if they have a copy of your product key.

Happy Computing!

If you backup your product keys in a different way, share it 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 back up product keys for your software purchases

Part 1  Some Linux veterans are irritated by some of the new tech: Snap, Flatpak, Btrfs, ZFS, and so forth. Doesn't the old stuff work? Well, yes, it does – but not well enough.…

Why is Canonical pushing Snap so hard? Does Red Hat really need all these different versions of Fedora? Why are some distros experimenting with ZFS if its licence is incompatible with the GPL? Is the already bewildering array of packaging tools and file systems not enough?

No, they aren't. There are good justifications for all these efforts, and the reasons are simple and fairly clear. The snag is that the motivations behind some of them are connected with certain companies' histories, attitudes, and ways of doing business. If you don't know their histories, the reasoning that led to major technological decisions is often obscure or even invisible.

The economics of the computer software industry has changed massively since some now-widespread tools were originally invented.

Techniques and methods that made good commercial sense decades ago don't any more, and some of this applies to Linux more than it does to Windows. Modern Windows is based on Windows NT, the first version of which was released in July 1993 and was a modern, hi-tech OS from the start. Its developers had already learned lessons from its forerunners: less DOS and 16-bit Windows, more as OS/2 1.x and Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX/VMS.

Linux is quite a different beast. Although many Unix fans haven't really registered this yet, it's a fact: Linux is a Unix now. In fact, arguably, today Linux is Unix.

As a project in its own right, Linux is roughly the same age as Windows NT. Linux 0.01, the first public version, appeared in late 1991, it went GPL with version 0.99 in late 1992, and version 1.0 was released in March 1994. FreeBSD is about the same age, and so is NetBSD. All of them are fairly traditional, monolithic, Unix-like OSes in design. This means that it inherits many of its design choices from earlier, mostly proprietary Unix OSes.

The thing is, solid, carefully made decisions that worked for commercial Unix in its heyday may not be such a good fit any more. In the 1970s and 1980s, proprietary Unix boxes cost lots of money. The companies that bought them – and it was a big-business level of expenditure – could afford to pay for highly trained specialist staff to tend and nurture those machines.

Windows NT came out 30 years ago and created a lively commercial market of relatively inexpensive 32-bit PCs, powered by x86 processors, open-standard fast expansion buses and low-priced mass storage. Cheap mass-produced PCs were just about good enough, and so were cheap mass-developed OSes for them.

Since then, Windows has been good enough, and it runs on commodity kit. So the commercial mainstream, always looking for savings, moved to Windows. The result is that Windows tech staff became cheap and plentiful – which implies fungible – while Unix techies remained more expensive.

This cheap, mass-market hardware in turn has aided the evolution of open source Unixes. Linux has done well partly because its native platform is the same cheap kit that was built to run Windows. This is a huge and vastly diverse market and, as we recently described, software is a gas: it expands to fill the hardware. The result is that, to support the most diverse computer platform ever, Linux is big and complicated.

Yes, it's a Unix-like OS, and Unix has been around for over 50 years. But Linux isn't just another Unix. It's free for everyone, and the same kernel runs on everything from $5 SBCs to $50 million supercomputers. Proprietary Unix was expensive, exclusive, and mostly ran on expensive, high-quality hardware that was designed for it, while Linux mostly runs on relatively cheap devices that were designed to run Windows.

When Unix ruled the datacenter, computer resources were limited, and proprietary platforms strictly controlled what was on offer. Now that disk and memory are cheap, the PC hardware is uncontrolled and proliferates as wildly as kudzu. Linux supports most of it, meaning that it's much bigger and more complex than any proprietary Unix ever was… and to a good approximation, nobody fully understands the entire Linux stack: it's just too big. Real experts are scarce, and that means that they command top dollar.

But the mass adoption of Linux has changed the economics somewhat. While the top-tier gurus remain pricey, ordinary mortal techies aren't.

Smart curious folks who can work out how to stack some components together like construction toys, and get it more or less working. Then you push it out into someone else's datacenter, add some tools that will arrange for it to scale out – if you're lucky enough to need it, and for it to work… those folks aren't so pricey. Which implies that the building blocks of that stack need to be tough, to match the levels expected over in Windows land, and they need to just plug together.

The flipside of this coin is the famed DevOps model: treat servers as cattle, not as pets. It's not all about servers – but it's server distros that pay. So desktop distros use lots of tools designed for servers, and phone distros are being built from the same components.

When the software and the hardware are cheap, but the skills are expensive, the cost centers become support and maintenance – which is a large part of why the big enterprise Linux vendors sell support, not software. The software is free, and if you don't mind compiling it yourself, you can have the source code for nothing. To get the ready-to-use version, though, you have to buy a support contract.

What that means is that the evolutionary selective pressure is to reduce the cost of providing that support in order to maximize the profitability of the support contracts. That requires making the OSes as robust as possible: to prevent faults from occurring, so you don't have to pay someone to fix them. If possible, to prevent whole categories of system failures. Better still, to make the OS able to recover from certain types of fault automatically, without human intervention.

If you want to deploy a lot of a cheap or free OS, without hiring a lot of expensive gray-bearded gurus, a core part of the economic proposition is to build Linux distros that can cope, even thrive, without constant nurture. For example, making them able to fetch and install their own updates.

The goal is to make them able to cope with their own problems, and heal their own injuries, just as farm animals must in their short, miserable lives.

One aspect of this is visible as multiple parallel efforts to contain and manage the vast and ever-growing complexity of modern Linux: to encapsulate it, and if possible, even eliminate parts of it. This shows up in several places. The first was in file system design, but the first set of such changes was relatively minor and caused little disruption. Now another round of modernization is being worked on. There are also major changes in how software is packaged: how packages are built, how they're distributed, and how they're stored, installed, and upgraded. A further aspect is how they are uninstalled again or upgrades reverted.

This is a complex, interlocking set of problems, and not only is there not one single best way to tackle it, but the approach each company takes is guided by the tools which it has or favors. For various reasons, not all vendors are spending their R&D money in the same directions. Some are working on file systems, some on packaging, some on distribution, some on more than one of these at once.

In the second half of this feature, we'll offer an executive briefing on the different efforts, and why different distro vendors are addressing the problems in different ways. ®

Source

All Firefox development channels and Firefox for Android receive updates at the same time. Firefox for Android is also updated to version 110. Firefox ESR, the Extended Support Release, receives an update to version 102.8. Firefox Beta, Developer and Nightly editions are moved to version 111 and 112 respectively.

Executive Summary

• Firefox 110 continues to support Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, even though both operating systems are no longer supported by Microsoft.
• The Firefox update addresses 19 different security issues that are rated high or lower.

Firefox 110 download and update

You can check the installed version by selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox. Firefox 110 is available already and it should be installed automatically on most systems. Users may speed up the update on desktop systems by opening the About Firefox page.

Here are the official download locations:

• Firefox Stable download
• Firefox Beta download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download
• Firefox for Android on Google Play

The small team of developers plans to release Thunderbird 115, codename Supernova, in July 2023. The dedicated team wants to improve Thunderbird in three main areas in the coming three years, beginning with this one: modernize the aging code base of the free email client, create an interface redesign, and start to release new versions of the email client on a monthly basis, similar to Firefox's release schedule.

Product design manager Alessandro Castellani compared Thunderbird's current base to an "old, fragile LEGO tower". The tower is still standing, but it is difficult to replace parts that are no longer needed or need modernization. Castellani explains in a blog post that Thunderbird is practically "a bunch of code running on top of Firefox". The project benefits from its Firefox code significantly, as it gets features such as cross-platform support, a web renderer, JavaScript compiler, security fixes or extensions system automatically from it.

Dependence on Firefox comes at a cost, however, as Thunderbird relies heavily on Firefox code. If Mozilla's massive army of developers makes changes to the code, Thunderbird's much smaller team needs to review these to make sure that they don't affect functionality in the client. Things break regularly because of the many changes that Mozilla makes on a daily basis, and while these apply to development builds of Thunderbird for the most part, dealing with them binds resources.

Mozilla developed Thunderbird next to Firefox for almost the first then years of the email client's existence. Back in 2012, Mozilla announced that it would hand over Thunderbird to the community to turn it into a community-driven model. Thunderbird development suddenly peaked as new supporters and contributors contributed to the project. While that meant a growing community and keeping Thunderbird alive, it also meant that coordination was challenging. It turned out as well that long-term success and sustainability was not guaranteed at that time.

The new Thunderbird: out later this year

One of the outcomes of the community-drive approach to development was that the user interface was inconsistent. This changed when MZLA Technologies was formed, a subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation. Thunderbird is developed and maintained by employees of MZLA Technologies.

Now, after nearly six years, the team is ready to deliver an optimized email client, and the first major step is the launch of the modern, consistent interface.

Judging from the team's openness regarding development, it appears that they want to strike the right balance between modernizing the interface and making sure that users have choice when it comes to it.

A recently published video by Castellani on YouTube highlights how this may look like. He talks about the email client's new Folder Pane, and highlights that users get different options regarding the style of it. Users get to choose between three density settings, from compact to wide, to make the interface look like they want it to look.

Thunderbird users who want to help test the upcoming release or just check it out find the latest releases here. Note that it is beta software and should not be installed in production environments.

Now You: what do you expect from the Thunderbird redesign?

Source

Two-factor authentication is a security feature that is used widely by apps, websites and services. It is an optional feature in most cases that adds a second verification step to the authentication process. When users sign-in to a site, app or service with their username and password, they are prompted to enter a second verification code to complete the process.

This new code, often a six digit number, is provided in a variety of ways. All of these have in common that the code is generated when it is requested. Some use email or SMS to send the codes to their customers, others ask customers to use authentication apps such as Authy, Microsoft Authenticator and many others instead. Apps offer the advantage of increased security. Neither email nor SMS are safe to use, as data is transmitted in clear text by default.

Two-factor authentication is an essential security feature, especially for high-value accounts. Passkeys and other advanced authentication options will likely replace two-factor authentication in the coming years as these systems offer even better security and privacy.

Windows 11: two-factor authentication improvements

Windows 11 users may install authentication apps on the device to generate these one-use codes for services and apps they use, but they may also receive codes via email or connected mobile devices.

All of these methods have in common that a code is displayed to the user that needs to be entered during the authentication process to access the app, service or site. If Disney+, Netflix or Amazon Prime are installed, these may be set up to require two-factor authentication.

Depending on the way the code is delivered, it may or may not be copied by the user to improve entering it.

Microsoft developed a new feature for Windows 11 that improves the usability of the process, at least for some use cases. Available in developer build 25252 currently, Windows 11 is capable of detecting authentication codes. The operating system displays the code, e.g., if received in the default Mail app, and displays it as a notification.

That is useful already, but Microsoft implemented an option to copy the code to the Clipboard. The new feature speeds up the process significantly. Previously, Windows 11 users had to bring the Mail app or the Authenticator app to the front, locate the code and copy it. Now, all it takes is a single click or tap on the "copy to clipboard" action displayed as part of the notification.

Microsoft admits that the new feature may sometimes fail to identify two-factor authentication codes. Testers are encouraged to provide Microsoft with details on issues that they experience when using the feature.

Closing Words

Microsoft has yet to announce when the feature will land in stable versions of Windows 11. It seems likely that it is going to be included in an update this year.

Now You: do you protect your accounts using  two-factor authentication?

Source