Most email programs are agnostic to the information, at least to a large degree. Thunderbird, and other email clients as well, includes functionality to make important emails stick out from the rest.

The following guide explains the core concepts available and provides step-by-step instructions on getting started,

Message Filters in Thunderbird

The open source Thunderbird email client includes powerful email filtering functionality. Thunderbird users have the following options at their disposal in regards to highlighting important emails in the email client:

• Star messages -- this adds a yellow star icon in email listings.
• Set high priorities for emails -- highlights emails with the selected priority, e.g., high or highest. The priority column is not displayed by default.
• Add tags to emails -- Tags color code emails in the email listings and are displayed in the email header.
• Move messages to a specific folder -- moves emails to a selected folder automatically.

All of these options, and several others, are available as actions in Thunderbird. While all may be used to highlight important emails, I have found tags to be the best option for most cases. Here is why: star icons are useful, but email titles may also include star symbols, which may make it difficult to distinguish for some users of the email client.

Priorities may work, but they are not displayed by default and add a new column to the email listing. Moving may also be an option, but it means that users will have to open another folder regularly.

New filters are added in just a few steps in Thunderbird:

1. Select Tools > Message Filters from the menu.
2. Make sure the right email inbox is selected at the top.
3. Select the New button in the interface.
4. Filter rules are divided into several sections:
   • Filter name -- used to identify the filter.
   • When the filter is run -- the default is manually and when getting new emails. Options that are not active by default are "archiving", "after sending", and "periodically, every 10 minutes".
5. Select the matching rules:
   • Match all of the following -- must match all rules specified.
   • Match any of the following -- must match at least one specified rule.
   • Match all messages -- is run on all messages of that inbox.
6. Each rule uses an identifier, e.g., subject, email address or name, a condition, e.g., contains or begins with, and a String, e.g., an email address or name. Configure the three, e.g., by selecting email address > contains > and typing the email address.
7. Perform these actions -- this defines what Thunderbird will do with emails that match the rule or rules. Select Tag Message and pick one of the available tags, e.g., important.
8. Select OK.

Once back, you may run the new filter manually on the mailbox to highlight all matching emails right away.

Note: filters are run from top to bottom if multiple filters are defined. You may change the order of filters in the main menu.

If you use tags, you may want to use different tags for different purposes. Note that you may customize tags under Settings > General > Tags. There you find options to delete existing tags or define new ones. Each tag has a name and specific color associated with it.

Now you: do you use email filters or other means to highlight important emails?

How to make important emails stick out in Thunderbird

The launcher will allow you to invoke active modules similar to how you manage Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot, accessibility, rotation lock, and other basic parameters in Windows 11. It will also display activation shortcuts for each tool and provide access to docs, settings, and updates. You can see a prototype of the upcoming PowerToys launcher in the GIF below:

The quick access launcher for PowerToys is a work in progress (the developer behind the idea says there are quite a lot of things to do), so do not expect it to arrive in the upcoming days. You can track the feature's progress on GitHub and contribute to the development process. Meanwhile, check out the recent additions to PowerToys, such as settings backup, a hosts file editor, File Locksmith, and more.

PowerToys is available for free from the Microsoft Store, GitHub, and winget on Windows 10 and 11.

Would you use the new PowerToys launcher, or do you prefer invoking your favorite utilities using regular keyboard shortcuts? Let us know in the comments.

PowerToys to get Windows 11 Quick Settings-like tool launcher

Brave 1.46 is available already and the browser should be updated on most desktop devices automatically. Users of the browser may verify the version that they run by loading brave://settings/help or by selecting Menu > Help > About Brave.

The browser runs an update scan when the page is opened and will download and install any new update that is found.

Brave News improvements

Brave Software calls the improvements that it made to the news component Brave News 2.0. The company highlighted the main improvements in a blog post on the official website.

Besides being available in different regions, including Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Spain and the UK, Brave News may now make personal suggestions to the user. The algorithm runs locally on the device and no data leaves the browser at any point, according to Brave

Brave News uses the browsing history to personalize content. It bases these recommendations on the visited sites and sites that users follow already. New users of Brave News follow "top content" automatically, which they may disable using the customize option.

Brave News ranks content you follow highest in your feed, and helps you discover new sources to Follow based on your browsing history and sources you already Follow. Brave identifies sources that are similar to each other and recommends suggestions privately in Settings, where you can choose to Follow and add them to your feed.

Other new News-related features include improved source management and a new follow button that makes it easier for users to subscribe to channels. This follow button will be released later this month. It is shown on websites that have an RSS feed to make the following in Brave News easier.

Brave added new content channels to the browser, including a gaming channel that accumulates gaming news from a variety of sources. Note that advertisement may be displayed in the news feed and that there does not appear to be an option to disable those.

While Brave News does support RSS, it is not an alternative for RSS news readers at this point. The browser lacks display options of any kind, import or export functionality, support for folders, and many other features that most RSS readers, including QuiteRSS or RSS Guard support.

Other changes in Brave 1.46

Brave Software lists all changes in the official release notes. Apart from plenty of crypto-related changes, the following improvements stand out:

• Support for multiple custom background images added to the New Tab Page.
• Windows users may pin the browser to the Task, and Mac users may enable the "keep in Dock" option.
• Brave Shields settings are accessible under brave://settings/content.
• Right-side display support for the sidebar added.
• HTTPS-only mode for private windows with TOR enabled.
• Font appearance of non-English characters improved.
• Debouncing updated to apply only to cross-site navigations.
• Adblock components updated to use plaintext lists.
• Side-panel display settings enabled again under brave://settings/appearance.
• Upgraded to Chromium 108.0.5359.71.

Source

The desktop browser market is a slowly moving ship, and monthly changes are often within a margin of error. The November 2022 report is no exception—it shows only tiny fluctuations in each player's market share. Still, comparing several months and years lets you notice a general trend. For Microsoft Edge, that trend continues to be mostly positive. Slow but steady is how you can describe Edge's growth in the desktop browser market.

According to Statcounter, after struggling for a while, Microsoft Edge has crossed the 11% mark for the first time since its introduction (including the OG "Spartan" Microsoft Edge from 2015). Modern Chromium-based Edge gained 0.31 points, reaching an 11.17% market share. For reference, one year ago, Microsoft Edge was at approximately 9.52% (+1.65 year-over-year increase).

Google Chrome is at the top, sitting firmly in first place with an unreachable 66.13% share (-0.36), making it impossible for any competition to come close.

Despite being available only on Macs, Apple's desktop browser Safari is the third most popular choice, with a 9.62% market share (+0.26). Firefox is fourth (7.1%, +0.05), and Opera is fifth with 3.3% (-0.29).

As for Internet Explorer, the former king of the desktop browser market, about 0.77% of all users continue using this browser. Some people do not want or cannot let Internet Explorer go, despite Microsoft's continuous efforts to substitute it with a much better Edge and its built-in Internet Explorer mode. You can spot a similar picture in the world of Windows, where some customers keep sticking to Windows XP, which died in 2014 (not an "eight-year-old OS," as some readers rightly noted). Expect the same to happen to Windows 7.

You can find more details about the latest report from Statcounter on the official website. As usual, remember that the data is approximate and not 100% accurate.

Statcounter: Microsoft Edge crosses 11% market share

Alongside the new features, the Dev build 25252 also fixes a major bug in Windows 11 22H2 which was causing a noticeable slowdown when copying large files remotely. This is good news as quite a few were complaining and getting exasperated about this longstanding bug. The release note describing this fix says:

Fixed an issue where network-to-local copying (for example, when copying a file from a network share) was slower than expected from some users.

Although the issue was first suspected to be related to the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, Ned Pyle, the Principal Program Manager in the Microsoft Windows Server High Availability and Storage group, confirmed later that it was a problem somewhere in the kernel and had "nothing to do with SMB or compression". Hence local file copy speeds were also being affected. Moreover, some users also reported a far worse performance hit than initially thought.

Pyle says the fix should be out later as a cumulative update for all users and once again reiterated that the issue was not related to SMB. They say:

The permanent production fix will come in a normal monthly cumulative update after this is validated. As I've mentioned before, the fix is not in SMB, and since it's not a component I own, I don't have further details on timing.

The file copy issue isn't the only thing Microsoft has fixed recently. The company also resolved the bug(s) which were causing gaming performance degradation in Windows 11 2022 update.

Microsoft finally fixes Windows 11 22H2 file copy kernel bug but you may not get it

The full announcement says:

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 25252.1010 (KB5021855). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline for builds in the Dev Channel.

Hence, all the bug fixes and improvements that were announced with the earlier released Build 25252 to the Dev Channel are carried over into this.

Interestingly, while there are no new changes made in this build, servicing test builds like these before have been known to break some features. For example, in the previous version of Windows, on Windows 10 Build 21292.1010 specifically, it caused issues for x64 emulation on ARM PCs.

The official announcement can be found on Microsoft's website here.

Latest Windows 11 Dev Channel Build 25252.1010 (KB5021855) is a servicing pipeline update

Windows 11 is not breaking any speed records, but it still gains more and more ground, keeping a relatively slow but steady pace. The November 2022 report indicates that Windows 11 is now at 16.12%, a +0.67 change compared to October 2022.

Windows 7 remains the third most popular operating system, with a market share relatively close to Windows 11—approximately 10.24% (+0.62). Microsoft plans to end the Extended Security Updates program for Windows 7 early next year, so expect the OS's market share to go down a little faster. However, many customers will continue using Windows 7, which is why some developers are considering extending their software support.

As for Windows 8.1 and 8, these two operating systems have 2.54% and 0.79% (+0.09 and +0.1). Windows XP, a now eight-year-old dead (unsupported) OS, still holds strong with a 0.4% market share.

Although Windows has more than 1.5 billion active devices, it is not the most popular operating system. That distinction is held by Android with a 43.37% (-1.13) market share, although Windows is second with 29.24% (-0.93), and iOS is third with 17.25% (-0.32). You can find more information about the latest Statcounter report on the official website.

Disclaimer: Third-party reports are not 100% accurate and always have a margin of error.

Statcounter: Windows 10 dips below 70%, Windows 11 continues its slow climb

The new Game Ready Driver provides support for Marvel’s Midnight Suns which features NVIDIA DLSS 2 and advanced ray tracing effects. In addition, the driver supports the launch of Need for Speed Unbound which utilizes NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology.

Moreover, the 527.37 driver fixes the upgrade block issue on the newish GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, fixes an MSI Afterburner issue, among others.

Here are all the bug fixes included in this release, including an annoying flickering in TikTok:

• Driver 526.98 fails to install on certain GeForce GTX 3060 Ti graphics cards [3872912]
• MSI Afterburner is not prioritizing GPU temp limit over power when selected in app [3858911]
• Flicker may be observed when streaming using the TikTok Broadcasting Tool [3831084]
• [RTX 40 series] Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition may show random screen flash during gameplay [3793355]
• Background apps may randomly display a slight shift in color saturation [3766872]

Here are the known issues:

• Toggling HDR on and off in-game causes game stability issues when non-native resolution is used. [3624030]
• [DirectX 12] Shadowplay recordings may appear over exposed when Use HDR is enabled from the Windows display settings. [200742937]
• Older versions of Minecraft Java Edition show corruption on screen [3870232]
• [GeForce RTX 4090] Watch Dogs 2 may display flickering when staring at the sky [3858016]
• Monitor may briefly flicker on waking from display sleep if DSR/DLDSR is enabled. [3592260]
• [Microsoft Surface Book 2] Display driver fails to install on GeForce GTX 1060

The Nvidia 527.37 Game Ready driver is now available via the GeForce Experience app. Standalone links can be found below. The release notes can be read here.

Desktop GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH (US edition)

Notebook GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH (US edition)

Nvidia 527.37 driver fixes Afterburner issue, removes upgrade block on RTX 3060 Ti, and more

Frontpaged:   Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 527.37

Unfortunately, AMD hasn't detailed the exact performance improvements or stability fixes included in the driver for any of these games.

Below are the fixed issues that are included in this driver, and the 100% GPU utilization bug that some older AMD graphics cards (like the RX 500 series) have been experiencing should finally be squashed:

• During video playback and window switching, an intermittent driver timeout or black screen may occur on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs using some 240Hz refresh rate displays or high refresh rate primary display plus low refresh rate secondary display configurations.
• Stuttering may occur during video playback using hardware acceleration with Firefox on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs.
• AMDRSServ.exe may cause GPU utilization to remain at 100% after closing games on some AMD Graphics Products such as Radeon™ 570.
• An intermittent driver timeout or black screen may occur while videos are playing in VRChat™ on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs.

There are four known issues AMD is still working on:

• Intermittent system stuttering or UI flickering may occur when two videos are simultaneously playing using chromium-based browsers.
• During video playback and gameplay, frame drop may occur in chromium-based browsers with variable refresh rate enabled extended displays.
• Brief display corruption may occur when switching between video and game windows on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Texture flickering or artifacts may occur during Warhammer 40,000: Darktide™ gameplay.

The new AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.11.2 driver can now be downloaded via the Radeon Settings app on Windows, with it being found in the Optional section. A standalone link to download the driver is present on its release notes page here.

AMD 22.11.2 driver fixes long-standing 100% GPU bug on Polaris cards

Thunderbird 102.5.1 is already available. Existing users may speed up the installation of the update by selecting Menu > Help > About Thunderbird.

The email client displays the current version and runs a check for updates. Any update found may then be installed to resolve the security issue the non-security issues.

Thunderbird 102.5.1

The single security issue that affects previous versions of Thunderbird has a severity rating of moderate. The official security notice reveals that it could result in the loading of remote content in Thunderbird, even if remote content is blocked by default in the email client.

CVE-2022-45414: Quoting from an HTML email with certain tags will trigger network requests and load remote content, regardless of a configuration to block remote content

The leak requires quite a few conditions and is likely the reason why it has been rated moderate. Users would have to reply HTML emails or quote them using other means, and the HTML email needed to contain either a Video tag with the Poster attribute or an Object tag with a Data attribute, for the leaking to occur.

Thunderbird 102.5.1 addresses two non-security issues as well. The first displayed the calendar picker "behind" the Send Later window. The second issue omitted the copy to again menu after copying a message to a folder with an unicode name on an unicode-enabled IMAP server.

The new Thunderbird release includes a number of WebExtension API defects that were uplifted from development versions of the email client. Thunderbird extension developers may want to check the list on Bugzilla for a full rundown.

Here is the link to the official release notes of Thunderbird 102.5.1 for those interested.

Thunderbird 102 users may want to install the update as soon as possible, even though it seems unlikely that the issue is exploited on scale.

Now You: which version of Thunderbird do you run, if any?

Thunderbird 102.5.1 fixes a security issue in the email client

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Thunderbird 102.5.1

At its core, FreeTube is based on Electron, which some dislike. Those who do not mind, get a well-designed YouTube client that comes without any advertisement and better functionality than the original.

FreeTube's core features include an ad-free experience, no tracking, options to follow channels and publishers without account requirement, and lots of customization options.

The app starts with a blank screen by default, as it loads subscriptions, which are likely empty on first run. Subscriptions may be added without Google account, and they may also be imported from YouTube.

A click on trending or most popular displays videos, so does searching for content using the search box at the top.

A click on a video starts the playback immediately. The page looks very similar to the original YouTube page. The video takes up most of the screen estate, but you get channel information, related videos, the description and even comments, if you so desire, as well.

Autoplay is supported, but it can be turned off. There are options to save and download videos, share them, or change the video format. You can change the video resolution, use picture-in-picture mode, change the playback speed, and toggle subtitles.

Videos can be played in FreeTube, but there are options to play them on YouTube, an Invidious instance, or an external player that you specify instead. There is also an option to open YouTube links displayed in a web browser in FreeTube; this requires the installation of an extra extension, though.

A quick check of the player settings reveals even more options. There, you may change various defaults, including the default volume, fast forward and rewind interval, the default playback rate, desired quality or default video format.

The settings are extensive. Open the distraction free section and you find a good dozen options to deal with annoyances on the site. From hiding recommended and trending videos to disabling live chat and streams, to hiding chapters.

When it comes to playback, FreeTube uses two different options. A built-in option that is used by default or Invidious. To further improve privacy, it is possible to use an external proxy such as Tor.

Another interesting feature of FreeTube is the ability to subscribe to channels without requiring an account. Just hit the subscribe button and you find new videos under Subscriptions in the program interface. To make this even better, profiles may be used to group subscriptions and better distinguish between them.

Verdict

FreeTube is a desktop client for YouTube that provides better functionality than the original. It is privacy-friendly on top of that. Note that it is still  considered beta at this point.

Now You: do you watch YouTube videos? If so, which clients do you use for that?

Landing Page:   https://freetubeapp.io/

FreeTube is an open source private YouTube client

Image: WABetainfo

The new functionality is the ability to search messages in chats by dates. As a result, you will no longer have to scroll back to find old messages in chats. All it takes is to remember the possible date and the year when the conversation happened. It is far more convenient this way to find your years-old messages on the instant chat messenger app.

As discovered by WABetainfo, searching messages by date works both on individual and group chats. Upon searching for messages, a calendar icon will be shown for you to pick the date when the conversation happened. It is really that simple!

This new way of searching your old messages is now available to some users who installed WhatsApp beta 22.24.0.77 for iOS. The company seems to be rolling it out in a controlled manner, and it should be available to more users in the coming days. The functionality should also be available for other WhatsApp clients, and hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

WhatsApp will let you find your old messages quicker than before

Microsoft has been in negotiations with Germany’s state and federal data protection authorities since 2020 about the compatibility of its 365 utility with the EU’s data protection laws. According to a report written by the Datenschutzkonferenz (DSK),

Microsoft is still in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The main issue seems to be that under the GDPR, individuals under 13 years of age are not capable of consenting to data collection. Permission may be given by a guardian or other holder of parental responsibility for children under 16 years of age, but the law is clear about companies not being able to collect data from children younger than 13. The unofficial agreement with data collection is that should data be collected from a consenting adult, that person retains the agency to request that their data be deleted.

Unfortunately, while Microsoft 365 is incredibly useful in school situations, use of the utility requires users to consent to data collection. Particularly, the report highlights that ‘Many of the services included in Microsoft 365 require Microsoft to access the unencrypted, non-pseudonymized data.’*

*The quote above has been translated from the native German used in the report into English.

Microsoft, however, maintains that ‘We ensure that our M365 products not only meet, but often exceed, the strict EU data protection laws. Our customers in Germany and throughout the EU can continue to use M365 products without hesitation and in a legally secure manner.’

The DSK alleges that Microsoft is still in breach of the law because it has only changed the wording of its policy, not the implications thereof. The final word on the ruling thus far is that the ‘use of personal data of users (e.g. employees or students) for the provider's own purposes excludes the use of a processor in the public sector (especially in schools).’

The Founder of Tutanota, an encrypted email service, Matthias Pfau, delivered his opinion of the situation subsequent to the ruling: ‘It is unbelievable that American online services continue to trample on the European GDPR more than four years after it was passed... Instead of relying on voluntary cooperation, much harsher consequences must be drawn here; for example, by using completely different systems. Linux with Open Office is a very good alternative to which schools and authorities should switch immediately.’

If you’re not familiar with the software, click here for our first look at Microsoft 365.

Source

In an advisory published regarding Windows 11 version 22H2's known issues, Microsoft has noted that Task Manager may not display certain UI elements with the correct colors, rendering them unreadable. This issue only impacts people who have set their color mode to custom in Windows' Personalization settings. It does not affect those who use Light or Dark mode.

For now, Microsoft has suggested that affected users should use Light or Dark mode while it works on a fix. This can be done by opening Windows Settings and navigating to Personalization > Colors > Choose your mode > Light/Dark.

The company hasn't provided an ETA on how long it will take to resolve the bug, but it will likely happen sooner than this month's Patch Tuesday, which is scheduled for December 13. The problem only impacts client versions of Windows 11 version 22H2, Server variants are unaffected.

This is not the first issue to pop up related to Windows 11 2022 Update (version 22H2) in the past few days. Microsoft recently fixed an app freezing issue when switching IME input modes, along with other problems related to Remote Desktop and Direct Access.

Latest Windows 11 update causing issues with Task Manager, Microsoft working on a fix

Windows IME or Input Method Editor is a built-in tool that allows users to enter text in languages hard to represent on a standard QWERTY keyboard. The Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other East Asian languages have larger numbers of characters that require customers to use combinations of keys processed and interpreted by the IME. Per Microsoft's findings, turning on, off, or changing input modes causes apps to become unresponsive on Windows 11 2022 Update.

The problem does not affect customers with Windows 10 and the initial release of Windows 11. Also, it will not bother you if you only use English or other languages with Latin or Cyrillic scripts. Those who rely on Windows IME can mitigate the problem by installing the freshly released KB5020044 update. It adds some "Moment 2" features to Windows 11 and fixes other non-security issues, like those related to gaming on 22H2.

If installing a preview update is not an option, Microsoft says you can workaround the issue by changing the input mode with the IME mode icon in the taskbar. Apps freeze only when using keyboard shortcuts to manage the IME.

Microsoft confirms app freezes with IME in Windows 11 2022 Update

Since then, however, Linux too has taken up the mantle to optimize the hybrid architecture and in August earlier this year, the first major patch was sent in related to asymmetric packing. And it is not just on paper that Linux sounds to be doing a better job since benchmarks sort of confirm that Windows 11 has lost its performance lead over time as more and more optimizations land in the Linux kernel. Not only that, but several gaming performance-related issues had also been bringing down Windows 11 22H2. Microsoft claims it was able to fix these with the latest Windows update.

Moving on, a new set of patches has been submitted as RFC (request for comment) by Intel Linux engineer Ricardo Neri is the extension of a previous patchwork sent back in August. These ones too aim to improve the performance of hybrid CPUs like Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and also upcoming 14th Gen Meteor Lake when running Linux. This time, IPC classes for balancing workloads are being added alongside optimizations to Intel's Thread Director, which should result in overall better task scheduling and performance improvement.

Neri has explained:

On hybrid processors, the microarchitectural properties of the different types of CPUs cause them to have different instruction-per-cycle (IPC) capabilities. IPC can be higher on some CPUs for advanced instructions

[..]

The load balancer can discover the use of advanced instructions and prefer CPUs with higher IPC for tasks running those instructions.

This patchset introduces the concept of classes of tasks, proposes the interfaces that hardware needs to implement and proposes changes to the load balancer to leverage this extra information in combination with asymmetric packing.

The V2 of the above patch, that was released yesterday, brings more additions and further optimizations to to IPCC classing and implements cleanups and reworks.

Via: Phoronix

Linux gets more Intel hybrid optimization as Microsoft struggles with Windows 11 22H2

In the meetings category, one-click polls can be instantly spun up with attendees allowed to give binary responses. Microsoft claims that Teams is the first software to offer this as other software requires polls to be prepared in advance. Moreover, dial-in, dial-out, and call-me attendees can now easily join breakout rooms and then rejoin the main room when they are done with their discussion. Depending upon hardware specifications, Teams can also switch automatically to Large Gallery view, which enables 49 video streams simultaneously. Microsoft has also announced that the modern meeting experience comprising of pre-join, dynamic view, and an updated control bar is rolling out to Chrome and Edge.

Coming over to calling capabilities, Teams admins can configure a policy so that when an incoming PSTN call is accepted, any relevant information can be displayed in a pop-out browser window. Additionally, transcription for 1:1 and group calls on Teams for Android are finally available.

Changing gears to the devices front, Teams will utilize a feature called Proximity Join to optimize and suppress video streams to only show attendees who have joined remotely. Moreover, hot desking now works in Teams portrait mode and users can also extend their reserved time. As a reminder, Microsoft has also renamed the Common Area Phone (CAP) license to the Teams Shared Device license with some improvements. In related news, the Poly G7500 is now Teams-certified.

There are a bunch of new features in the chat and collaboration domain too, namely:

• Teams users can now accept or block a group chat invitation from an unmanaged user
• Schedule send
• Start a Teams Chat with Distribution Groups, Mail-enabled Security Groups, and Office 365 Groups
• Click on search message results to view the entire chat conversation history
• Unread toggle
• Upload documents form OneDrive for Business in E-signature Approvals

On the management side, Surface Hub devices can be managed by Teams admins for remote restart, downloading logs, and more. Moreover, the unread toggle in activity feed can be leveraged to easily see which notifications you haven't seen yet.

Finally, U.S. Government Community Cloud (GCC) customers will soon be able to utilize Teams Connectors while GCC-High users can already cast Teams from a desktop (Windows/Mac) to a Teams Room display.

Here are all the new features Microsoft added to Teams in November 2022

You can find the full changelog of Build 22621.900 (KB5020044) below:

Highlights

• New! It gives Microsoft OneDrive subscribers storage alerts on the Systems page in the Settings app. The alerts appear when you are close to your storage limit. You can also manage your storage and purchase additional storage, if needed.
• New! It provides the full amount of the storage capacity of all your OneDrive subscriptions. It also displays the total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
• New! It combines Windows Spotlight with Themes on the Personalization page. This makes it easier for you to discover and turn on the Windows Spotlight feature.
• It addresses an issue that affects some modern applications. It stops them from opening.
• It addresses a known issue that affects the Input Method Editor (IME). Certain applications might stop responding. This occurs when you use keyboard shortcuts to change the input mode of the IME.
• It addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working. This occurs when you close context menus and menu items.
• It addresses an issue that might cause certain apps to stop responding. This occurs when you use the Open File dialog.
• It addresses the suspension of daylight saving time (DST) in the Republic of Fiji for this year.

Improvements

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

• New! It gives Microsoft OneDrive subscribers storage alerts on the Systems page in the Settings app. The alerts appear when you are close to your storage limit. You can also manage your storage and purchase additional storage, if needed.
• New! It provides the full amount of the storage capacity of all your OneDrive subscriptions. It also displays the total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
• New! It combines Windows Spotlight with Themes on the Personalization page. This makes it easier for you to discover and turn on the Windows Spotlight feature.
• New! It adds a new mobile device management (MDM) policy for organizational messages. It gives your company the option to enroll tenant devices so that they receive custom messages from you. For example, you can use Intune to write the messages. They will render within Windows.
• It addresses an issue that affects some modern applications. It stops them from opening.
• It addresses an issue that affects some devices that are managed by an enterprise. We improve the reliability of app installations for them.
• It addresses the suspension of daylight saving time (DST) in the Republic of Fiji for this year.
• It addresses an issue that affects Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) authentication hardening. We will automatically raise the authentication level for all non-anonymous activation requests from DCOM clients to RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_PKT_INTEGRITY. This occurs if the authentication level is below Packet Integrity.
• It addresses an issue that affects Unified Update Platform (UUP) on-premises customers. It removes the block that stops them from getting offline language packs.
• It addresses an issue that affects process creation. It fails to create security audits for it and other related audit events.
• It addresses an issue that affects cluster name objects (CNO) or virtual computer objects (VCO). Password reset fails. The error message is, " There was an error resetting the AD password... // 0x80070005”.
• It addresses an issue that affects transparency in layered windows. This occurs when you are in High Definition remote applications integrated locally (RAIL) mode.
• It addresses a known issue that affects the Input Method Editor (IME). Certain applications might stop responding. This occurs when you use keyboard shortcuts to change the input mode of the IME.
• It addresses an issue that affects microphone streams that use the Listen To feature to route to the speaker endpoint. The microphone stops working after you restart the device.
• It addresses an issue that might affect applications that run on the Windows Lock Down Policy (WLDP). They might stop working.
• It addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Defender when it is not the primary antivirus. Microsoft Defender fails to turn off passive mode. This issue occurs when you turn off Smart App Control (SAC).
• It adds .wcx to the list of Dangerous Extensions that some app control policies do not allow.
• It addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Automated investigation blocks live response investigations.
• It addresses an issue that affects printing in landscape mode in Microsoft Edge. The print output is incorrect. This issue occurs when you use Microsoft Defender Application Guard.
• It addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working. This occurs when you close context menus and menu items.
• It addresses an issue that might cause certain apps to stop responding. This occurs when you use the Open File dialog.
• It addresses an issue that sometimes affects File Explorer when you open a file. Because of this, there is high CPU usage.
• It addresses an issue that affects protocol activation of the Settings app. The app fails to open a page under the Accounts category.
• It addresses an issue that affects a computer account. Use of non-standard characters can stop the cleanup of the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) accounts.
• It addresses an issue that affects the CopyFile function. It might sometimes return error 317: ERROR_MR_MID_NOT_FOUND.
• It addresses an issue that affects the Windows Firewall service. It does not start when you turn on the Override block rules option.
• It addresses an issue that affects some games and applications. This issue is related to GPU performance debugging features. This lowers the expected game performance.
• It addresses an issue that affects cumulative update installations. They fail, and the error code is 0x800f0806.

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 22H2 KB5020044 finally fixes gaming performance issues, adds Moment 2 features

The changelog isn't very lengthy but there are still features that will likely appeal to some consumers. Excel for the web has a single new capability called Chart Data Foils. Simply stated, it provides a visual indicator of the source range of cells used to create a chart. This range can easily be modified by clicking on a cell range and dragging across it.

Meanwhile, Excel for Windows and Mac have the exact same changelog this time around. The first of two new feature in tow is Show Changes. As the name suggests, it enables you to see the edits made to a workbook and revert to older states. The other capability is Office Scripts to automate repetitive tasks, it is now generally available for all.

Finally, a general update for the Office app on Excel has a more modern look for the contextual command bar and ribbon palette thanks to Fluent Design principles. The menus on the contextual command bar are now faster and resizable too. These improvements are only available to Office Insiders for now.

As usual, if you don't like the implementation of a particular feature or want something new, do remember to file feedback to Microsoft on the dedicated portal here.

Here are all the new features Microsoft added to Excel in November 2022

If you do not know what those Windows 11 "moment" updates are, check out our article shedding more light on Microsoft's new Windows servicing strategy.

Here is the good stuff you can enable in Windows 11 22621.900:

• A brand-new Settings section with energy recommendations

  

   

• Improvements for Task Manager: a search bar, improved theme support, modernized UI bits

  

   

• A slightly enhanced settings page for managing the touch keyboard

It is worth noting that the thing above will be available for you right after installing KB5020044 if you have enabled previous features (tablet-optimized taskbar and redesigned notification area). If not, run the command described in our guide, showing how to enable the re-introduced tablet mode (including the "compact" taskbar).

Keep in mind that Microsoft hides new features for a reason. Enabling them before the public announcement might result in potential instabilities or bugs, so be prepared to troubleshoot your system and undo the damage. As usual, the best option is to wait for Microsoft to deliver you new features organically with monthly security and feature updates.

Do you plan to enable those hidden features on your PC with Windows 11? Let us know in the comments.

Some Moment 2 update features are now available for stable Windows 11

So far the company has released Moment 1, which came out in mid-October with features like Tabbed File Explorer, Taskbar Overflow, among others. Moment 2 is expected to be released early next year, sometime in February or March. We did receive a tiny glimpse of it already from none other than Microsoft itself, which also confirmed that "moment" is indeed what the internal name of these updates are.

Following those, the internal test ID of what appears to be the next update, ie, Moment 3, has also been found. Microsoft might be referring to these velocity feature updates for Moment as "MTestUx" as similarities have been found by Windows detective and Twitter user PhantomOcean3. The latest one "MTestUx15" with the ID "42105254" was discovered in the latest Windows 11 Beta Channel build.

The table below summarizes the Feature update and probable Test IDs:

The "(?)" in the above table indicates rumor as at this moment, it is not confirmed whether these indeed are referring to future Moment releases or not. However, if it is, then Microsoft looks to be in top gear as it appears to be itching to get on with the development of next-gen Moment updates.

Source: PhantomOcean3 (Twitter)

Microsoft might be itching to roll on with future Windows 11 Moment updates

Here is how the new search box looks with and without search highlights in Windows 11 build 25252. Notice how easy it is to confuse search highlights with regular apps on the taskbar.

Caution: Third-party apps for tweaking Windows can sometimes cause bugs or instabilities. Back up important data before using ViveTool, and remember that stable Windows versions are the best way to ensure your computer remains as bug-free as possible.

Disable Windows 10-like search highlights in Windows 11 build 25252

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files somewhere convenient.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. Switch Windows Terminal to Command Prompt profile by pressing Ctrl + Shift + 2 or clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.

    

   
4. Navigate to the folder containing the extracted files using the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /disable /id:41415839 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.

You can enable search highlights once again using the vivetool /enable /id:41415839 instead of the one in step 5. The feature is not available to all insiders, so some users might be curious to see how it works.

Do you like the new search highlights feature? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

How to disable Windows 10-like Search highlights in Windows 11 build 25252

Here is the new search box in action:

Unlike the current button that confusingly looks like a small search bar, the new search box lets you input your request into the search field on the taskbar with results showing up in the Windows Search UI. As with most new features in the Dev channel, the new search box is not available for all. However, you can force-enable it using the ViveTool app.

Note: the new search box is paired with another feature called "search highlights." You can learn how to enable or disable highlights in a separate guide.

Caution: Back up important data before using the ViveTool app and enabling hidden options. 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 search box in Windows 11 build 25252?

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 Command Prompt profile by pressing Ctrl + Shift + 2 or clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.

    

   
4. Navigate to the folder containing the copied ViveTool files using the CD command. For example, if you have extracted ViveTool to C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:40887771 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.
7. Navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and select Search Box from the drop-down menu.

    

   

It is great to see Microsoft giving Windows 11 users more design choices. It would also be nice if Microsoft could teach Windows Search more advanced tricks like finding Recycle Bin. Maybe in newer builds.

Credits for finding the ID go to @PhantomOfEarth!

How to enable the new taskbar search box in Windows 11 build 25252

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.

On the bottom of your screen, you have the taskbar (unless you move it). On the taskbar are applications you have open and applications that you've pinned there.

To pin an application to the taskbar,

• Right click the application
• Left click on "Pin to taskbar".

Did you know you can launch one of those pinned apps on the taskbar without ever touching your mouse?

Those icons on the taskbar are numbered. To the right of the start menu is 1 and it goes up to 10 (0).

If you wish to launch the app located directly to the right of the start button, you would hold down the windows key and press the number 1 just once (Win key + 1). If you wish to launch the next app over, you would press Win key + 2 and so on.

Happy Computing!

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

How to open pinned icons using your keyboard

Interestingly, this is not the first time Windows 11 2022 Update and its Suggested Actions feature have thrown a wrench into Firefox. Earlier this month, Mozilla had to release an update to fix crashes happening in similar scenarios.

Here is the changelog for Mozilla Firefox 107.0.1:

• Fixed an issue with accessing some sites reliably in Private Browsing mode or Strict ETP due to anti-adblockers (bug 1717806).

• Fixed an issue where Color Management was not available for some users (bug 1799391).

• Fixed an issue with text overlapping in the Settings Menu for some locales (bug 1800379).

• Fixed an incompatibility with the new Windows 11 22H2 Suggested Actions feature resulting in hangs when copying phone number links (bug 1798098).

• Fixed an issue where the DevTools UI is not accessible when an alert dialog is displayed (bug 1801840).

   

You can download Firefox from the official website. The browser will update itself in the background if it is already installed on your system.

Mozilla Firefox supports all modern macOS, Linux, and Windows versions, including the now-dead Windows 7. As the beloved operating system approaches the end of the extended security update program (in January 2023), Mozilla is considering extending Firefox support on Windows 7 until August 2023.

Firefox 107.0.1 is out with another fix for Windows 11 22H2 and Suggested Actions

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Firefox Browser 107.0.1