Besides the mere fact that Windows 10 21H1 will soon reach its end of life, the notification means that Microsoft will most likely start force-updating customers to Windows 10 21H2 or newer. The company allows Windows users to stay on a preferred release as long as it remains supported, but the inevitable migration process kicks in automatically a few months before the end of life.

According to the June 2022 report from AdDuplex, Windows 10 21H1 has about a 21% market share, so a big chunk of Windows users will soon have to update their operating system or watch Microsoft do it themselves.

Customers should not be afraid of the upcoming update to a newer release. Version 21H2 contains no significant changes, and the migrating process will not differ from a standard monthly cumulative update. Hardware requirements are also unchanged, so apps and devices should continue working without hiccups. You can learn more about Windows 10 21H2 in our dedicated coverage. Of course, those with supported hardware can also jump straight to Windows 11.

Microsoft will keep updating Windows 10 until October 14, 2025. In fact, Microsoft is currently preparing version 22H2, and you can upgrade to it right now if you want. Unfortunately, all the new features and software goodies are now exclusive to Windows 11, leaving its predecessor in a general maintenance state.

Microsoft to kill Windows 10 version 21H1 in three months

Microsoft, though, did not release a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for Windows 11 IoT Enterprise. The latest findings by prolific leaker and Twitter user Xeno, however, suggests that the company could soon be releasing one.

Digging around inside the ntdef.h kernel header of the Windows SDK has revealed a new potential Windows 11 SKU dubbed "IOTENTERPRISESK" with the hex ID "0x000000CD". According to Xeno, the new IOTENTERPRISEK denotes the upcoming Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription SKU.

Here is a winver screenshot of the build. As you can see, the OS version here is clearly described as Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription.

Since Microsoft released the non-LTSC Windows 11 IoT SKU last year soon after the client 21H2 release, it is possible that the company plans to do something similar this year too. And with version 22H2 nearly upon us, the Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Subscription release may not be too far away.

Via: Xeno (Twitter)

Microsoft spotted quietly working on a new Windows 11 LTSC SKU

Traditionally, the latest Windows 11 Dev update has a public changelog (some neat changes there) and a bunch of new stuff that Microsoft considers not ready for unveiling. As spotted by @PhantomOfEarth, Windows 11 build 25201 finally gets a redesigned "Rename this PC" and date/time picker UI, ditching the decade-old Windows 8-like UI in favor of a much better-looking and modern interface.

Here is how the old dialog box compares to the new one:

Old

New

Besides "Rename this PC," Windows 11 build 25201 adds a redesigned date and time picker, which people use much more often. You can enable those UI goodies using the ViveTool app, a must-have utility for Windows enthusiasts wanting to test hidden and experimental features in Windows 11.

Important: Back up important data beforehand. Enabling experimental changes in Windows 11 preview builds can lead to instabilities and serious bugs. Avoid early updates and projects like ViveTool if you are not ready for emergency troubleshooting or Windows reinstall.

How to enable the redesigned "Rename this PC" UI in Windows 11 build 25102?

1. Begin with downloading ViveTool from GitHub.
2. Go to disk C, create a new folder, and rename it to Vive.
3. Extract the downloaded files in C:\Vive.
4. Right-click the Start menu button and select Terminal (Admin). Note that this action requires Administrator privileges. Windows will ask you to enter the Administrator password if your profile has no such access.
5. Press Ctrl + Shift + 2 to switch Terminal to Command Prompt. Alternatively, click the arrow-down button on the tab strip and select Command Prompt.
   
6. Navigate to the Vive folder using the CD C:\Vive command.
7. Execute the following commands one after another:
   1. vivetool /enable /id:36390579
   2. vivetool /enable /id:38228963
   3. vivetool /enable /id:39811196
8. Now press Win + I to open the Settings app and click Rename.

   

    

9. Go to Time & language > Date & time and turn off Set time automatically.
10. Click the Change button.

    

     

What do you think about the redesigned dialog boxes in Windows 11 build 25201?

Windows 11 25201 gets new 'Rename this PC' and date/time picker UI, here is how to enable it

In build 25201, users can enable a full-screen view for Windows Widgets, thus giving the operating system space to display more information. Microsoft says this feature is rolling out gradually to Windows Insiders (which makes little to no sense to many), so you may reasonably wonder how to force-enable full-screen Windows Widgets in build 25201. Here is how.

Important: back up your mission-critical data and files before proceeding. Enabling features in preview Windows builds using unconventional tools might cause problems in your system. Only you are responsible for your computer and the data stored on it.

Enable full-screen Windows Widgets in Windows 11 build 25201

1. Download the ViveTool app from GitHub and extract it in any folder. For example, C:\Vive.

2. Run Windows Terminal as Administrator. Right-click the Start menu button and select Terminal (Admin).

3. Switch to the Command Prompt profile using the arrow-down button at the top of Windows Terminal.

4. Navigate to the folder containing ViveTool's files using the CD command. Here is an example: CD C:\Vive.

5. Enter vivetool /enable /id:34300186 and press Enter.

6. Restart your computer.

7. Open Windows Widgets by pressing the icon on the taskbar or with the Win + W shortcut.

8. Click the full-screen button next to your profile picture.

It is also worth mentioning that the full-screen Windows Widgets view is not the only new feature in build 25201 you can enable using ViveTool. Microsoft has finally redesigned the old "Rename this PC" UI and date/time picker.

Which view do you like more? Do you prefer the full-screen variant or the more compact original option? Share your thoughts in the comments.

How to enable full-screen Widgets in Windows 11 build 25201

Tip: programs such as Bloatware Removal Tool or O&O AppBuster may be used to remove some of the pre-installed Windows apps.

Microsoft integrates new apps regularly in Windows and updates them as well. In this part of the "what's new in Windows 11 version 22H2" series, we are taking a look at application related changes.

In a hurry? Here are the main changes:

• Video editor Clipchamp is integrated in Windows 11.
• Family app is integrated in Windows 11.
• Printing apps updated.

Clipchamp app

Microsoft acquired the makers of Clipchamp, a web-based video editor, in 2021. The app was available as a Microsoft Store application since 2020. Microsoft added Clipchamp as a native application to March 2022 Insider builds.

The integration felt rushed, as Clipchamp's free plan had limitations that made it unusable for the vast majority of users. The initial version limited exports to 480p and watermarked the outputs on top of that.

Microsoft released a new version that raised the export limit to 1080p in the same month. Since then, Microsoft removed watermarks from free version imports and gave free users access to stock audio, image and video content as well as filters and effects. Microsoft reduced paid plans by two to a single plan.

Starting in Windows 11 version 22H2, Clipchamp is a built-in application. Users find the application in the Start menu. Clipchamp requires an account; it supports personal Microsoft accounts, Google, Facebook and custom email accounts.

Clipchamp supports templates that users may select on start. Templates are available for popular online services, such as Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, but also event-based and custom templates, e.g., for Halloween, marketing, or gaming.

One of Clipchamp's greatest strengths is its ease of use. It takes a few clicks to record a video, apply stock media to it, effects or filters. Windows users should not expect Adobe Premiere Pro functionality, not even in the Pro version of Clipchamp, but for light video creation and editing, it may be useful.

Templates, combined with the available stock items, filters and effects add a lot of value to the video editor. Clipchamp supports hundreds of templates, which all appear to be free. Stock video, audio and image content is limited, as there is a single free category for each, but multiple categories reserved for the premium subscription version.

It is a good application for users who need lightweight video creation and editing functionality. The free version is now usable, thanks to the lifting of its major limitations. Professional users may check out the paid version, which adds premium stock, filters, effects, content backup and brand kit support.

Uninstall Clipchamp

Windows 11 users who have no use for the application may remove it in the following way:

1. Select Start, locate Clipchamp, right-click on the app and select Uninstall.
2. Or, select Start > Settings, open Apps > Installed Apps, search for Clipchamp, activate the menu to the right of the listing, and select uninstall from it.

Family

Family is the second application that is now a native application. Microsoft introduced it at the same time as Clipchamp to Insider builds.

The app is a parental control and family management service. Microsoft highlights three core uses:

• Protect your loved ones online.
• Ensure your family gets home safe.
• Keep everyone on the same page.

To make effective use of Family, family members need to be added to the application. Once that is done, all available family management options may be used.

Parental control options include content filters and screen time. Screen time may be set up to limit screen time on connected Windows, Xbox and supported mobile devices. Similarly, content filters may be configured to block inappropriate content. The feature is limited to Microsoft's Edge browser on all supported platforms, provided that the Family Safety app is installed on these devices as well; this makes it easy enough to circumvent the limitation, for instance, by using a different web browser or app.

Microsoft's Family application supports additional features:

• Finding family members -- the Family Safety app needs to be installed on devices that family members carry with them for this to work.
• Spending -- add money to a family account so that family members may buy content in the Microsoft Store.
• Activity reporting -- option to check the activity of family members. A weekly report is sent to the inbox automatically.
• Family email -- email all family members at once.
• Family calendar -- add family events and reminders to the calendar, stay up to date on all family events.
• Family OneNote -- a family notebook to plan vacations, share notes or create grocery lists.
• Drive safety -- see family drives and insights (premium feature).

Family works best if the entire family is invested heavily in the Microsoft ecosystem. The Family app needs to be installed on mobile devices to expand the reach and enable most of the functionality.

Uninstall the Family app

The Family app is not locked either, which means that Windows administrator may remove it from the system using built-in options:

1. Select Start, locate Family, right-click on the app and select Uninstall.
2. Or, select Start > Settings, open Apps > Installed Apps, search for Family, activate the menu to the right of the listing, and select uninstall from it.

Printing apps updates

The new feature update for Windows 11 introduces a new print queue and print dialog. The look has a modern design now.

Improvements have been made to the discovery of network printers, which happens automatically in Windows 11 version 22H2, and the installation of printer drives, which happens automatically and without the Settings app now.

Closing Words

Clipchamp and Family add new functionality to Windows. Family is quite limited and may not see widespread use because of that. Clipchamp on the other hand offers good functionality, thanks to the lifting of many of the restrictions of the initial version of the video editor.

Now You: will you use the new applications?

Windows 11 version 22H2: new and updated apps

Eitan Caspi, a LinkedIn user, recently found a similar bug in Microsoft's Outlook wherein a glitch in the "Go To Date" option takes users back to 1930. This behaviour has made Caspi humorously call this glitch "Future to the back".

In their post, the steps to replicate the bug have been given:

1. Verify you use the latest Outlook 365 (may be relevant to other versions as well, I didn't try)
2. Go to the Calendar section
3. Use the keyboard combination of "CTRL+G" (Go To Date)
4. I use a date format of dd/mm/yy, so I typed 31.12.29 (or 31/12/29, . or / will do the same). Please do the same and submit. You will be transferred to the the last day of December 2029, cool, that's fine. It is just for reference
5. Now do almost the same, but this time type the next day of the day from above - type 1.1.30 and submit. POW…! You are now at the first day of January 1930…

Basically, the Go To Date option seems to be working only till 2029, and trying to navigate to 2030 takes us back a 100 years to 1930.

Via: The Register

Bizarre Microsoft Outlook glitch takes you back to the depressing 1930

The improvements in Preview 2 are as follows:

• Introduce the ability to roll back a Visual Studio Update
• Allow multiple Git repositories to be active at once
• Adding a button to Test Explorer to reset the tests to “Not Run”
• CMake weird test name prefix
• Moving/migrating from preview channel to release channel of Visual Studio 2019 installation
• Arm64 support for Node.js
• C++ Android development – gradle
• Arm64 support for Visual Studio SDK
• Feedback on the rollback feature introduced in VS 2022 version 17.4 P1
• Arm64 support for Game Development with C++

If you’d like to download a copy of Preview 2, just head over to the Preview website and press Download Preview. The new release is available for Visual Studio Community, Visual Studio Professional, and Visual Studio Enterprise. If you already have it installed, you may see a pop-up appear next time you open Visual Studio 2022 17.4 Preview 1 offering you the update.

You can read the release notes if you’d like to take a deeper dive into the new features.

Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2022 17.4 Preview 2

Mozilla launched the then-called Firefox Private Relay in mid-2020 as a standalone service. Users could sign-up to create email aliases to protect their email addresses. The email forwarding service would forward emails to the user's email address, thus protecting the email address from other parties.

Firefox Relay Premium launched in late 2021 with an introductory price of $0.99 per month. The main extra features that premium users received at the time were support for custom domain names and options to reply to forwarded emails. Premium users could also create unlimited email aliases, whereas free users were limited to five.

In March 2022, Mozilla published an update for Firefox Relay that raised the attachment size limit of free accounts to 10 Megabytes from the previous limit of 150 Kilobytes. The new version introduced an option to block promotional messages, and Mozilla launched an official browser extension for Chromium-based browsers.

Firefox Relay's future

Mozilla has big plans for Firefox Relay. One of the upcoming features of the service is the ability to protect phone numbers. Like the service's email alias feature, it allows users to replace a phone number with one provided by Firefox Relay.

Calls and SMS are forwarded automatically to the user's phone so that the actual phone number is not revealed anymore.

Sören Hentzschel notes that the feature will launch on October 11, 2022 in the United States and Canada. Mozilla has yet to reveal the price for the add-on, as the functionality is not included in the premium subscription pricing.

Talking about price. The introductory price of Firefox Relay Premium ends on September 27, 2022, but it is not as bad as it sounds. While the price of a monthly subscription increases to $1.99 per month, the $0.99 per month remains the price for users who subscribe to the service for an entire year.

Mozilla plans to support Firefox Relay natively in Firefox. Firefox Relay users who sign-in to Firefox will have automatic access to their aliases and the creation of new aliases in Firefox  once the feature lands.

Closing Words

Free and premium users will benefit from the integration in Firefox, provided that they use the browser as their main driver. Premium users in the United States and Canada will get access to the new phone number protection service, but it is an add-on and will require an extra payment.

Now You: do you use Firefox Relay or another email forwarding service?

Firefox Relay: integration in Firefox, phone number forwarding and new price

Did you know that you can, right now, for free, go to Archive.org, the great online library of all things, and load up within your web browser an ancient, decrepit emulated computer—a DOS box from 1991, a black-and-white Mac, a green-and-black Apple II—and run the WordPerfect of yore, boot old HyperCard stacks, or use 1979’s VisiCalc as God intended?

Perhaps this does not seem miraculous to you. Fair. Moore’s law has taken us from 250 billion or so CPU churns per year on the earliest Macs to a quintillion potential clock cycles on a good gaming PC, a healthy 4,000,000X increase. Anyone with sense might reasonably ask, What? Why use a shiny new computer to run old spreadsheets? And I might nod and shrug, but inside I am a translucent plastic iMac of emotion. Because it is, I think, important to emulate.

You can learn history by reading books and visiting museums; you might even walk a battlefield. But you can’t understand software from screenshots any more than you can understand music from album reviews, or baseball from box scores, or Rome from watching gladiator movies, much as you might enjoy gladiator movies. When you boot up a virtual version of a Macintosh from 30 years ago, you share in the lived experiences of millions of ancient humans. You can see how they spent their paltry CPU budget to fill their low-resolution screens.

You learn their priorities. They started batch processing, running programs as lumps of code, but as soon as CPUs allowed, they made them interactive, alive. Even if those were just green numbers on a screen, à la VisiCalc. As soon as they could, early users went post-textual, pictographic—pointing at things with the mouse, Spartan virtue abandoned for Athenian excess. Later, in Moore’s glut, we spent new CPU cycles on color or networking or sound, progressing from beeps to playing CDs to MP3s.

Emulation reminds me to ask myself whether the computing experience is always getting better. I’m writing this in Google Docs so my editor’s little round avatar head can peek in and make sure I don’t miss my deadline for once, but I’d prefer to write it in WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, which was the greatest word processor ever—a blank screen illuminated with only letters and numbers, offering just enough bold and italics to keep things interesting. I remember WP51 the way a non-nerd might remember a vintage Mustang. You could just take that thing out and go, man.

But it’s more than a museum trip for self-enrichment. Emulation forces me to strip back to basics—to remember that, for most people, computers are tools, not a lifestyle. Whenever I buy a computer, one of the first things I do is set up my software emulation environments, which now involve about a terabyte of old disk images and various operating systems. Keeping that history so close helps me accept the horrible truth that everything novel in our industry was actually invented by a group of Californians sitting in beanbag chairs during the Carter administration. What seems permanent today is as fleeting as, well, Twitter’s Fleets. GAFA becomes FAANG becomes MAMAA. There will be new acronyms before long.

Recently, i made the jump from software-based emulation to specialized hardware. I bought a little black metal box, the size of three packs of playing cards, that contains what’s called a field-programmable gate array—shape-shifter circuitry that takes on characteristics of other devices. It’s purely for simulation of retro machines, including the Commodores Amiga and 64, Atari STs, 486s, and various gaming platforms, which for most people are the main event (Neo Geos, Game Boys, Atari Lynx, all the way back to Spacewar! on the PDP-1).

The box is called the MiSTer. It’s not a consumer product but rather a folk-created reference platform: If you buy these parts and assemble them, then download some free software and plug in an HDMI card, it becomes an old machine. For this privilege one pays around $600. It gives me the same joy I imagine people who are into expensive headphones or collect vintage vinyl feel—that sense of something being more real. The cores simulate everything, all the little glitches and weirdnesses and timings that make a chip a chip, that make the mouse move like you remember. Watching old code run on a modern big, sharp screen is hyperreal. Like a Proustian madeleine, but made by Cinnabon.

It’s exciting to see this kind of progress in simulating old computers. We throw away so much history in our field, acres of dumpsters filled with old manuals and disks. Why are we so cavalier about computing history? (Not the Internet Archive; they scan in all the old manuals, bless them.) Are we ashamed? People made that stuff, all of it, people like you and me, just a little older and working in much slower development environments.

I have a musician friend, an actually cool person who has done cool things like DJ in Europe, and we talk a great deal about synthesizers. I think of synths as computers that have their priorities straight: Hit a key and a noise comes out. In a synth (or sequencer or drum machine), genealogy is valuable. New models are supposed to carry on the legacy of the ones that came before. People want their cowbell to sound like the cowbell. Purchasing a synth is about joining a lineage, aligning your sound with that of thousands of people who’ve used similar machines. I guess that’s the difference between culture and marketing.

Watching synth heads proudly talk about every machine from the 1970s—well, honestly, it’s a lot. But it’s interesting to observe a subculture that wants continuity more than disruption. In my perfect world, every machine would come with a few emulated versions of its predecessors, ready to go, right on the disk. There’s plenty of room. No one would need to set anything up or buy a special device. And that way everyone could see how incredibly far we’ve come, and how surprisingly little we change.

What Modern Humans Can Learn From Ancient Software

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Here's what's new in Build 25201:

Expanded View in Widgets

Need more space in your widgets board? Can’t quite see everything at a glance? We’re trying out some changes that will allow you to expand the size of your widgets board.

The widgets board in expanded view.

Use the expand and collapse button in the top right corner of the board, next to the add widgets button, to expand or collapse the size of your widgets board.

The button that shows at the top right to expand the widgets board.

The size of your board is remembered, so if you prefer your widgets board to always show you more content and leave it expanded then that’s how it will be the next time you open it.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Game Pass Widget Improvements

Last month we introduced the preview of the Game Pass widget without a sign-in experience to your Xbox profile. Today, we’re beginning to roll out and update for the Game Pass widget that introduces the ability to sign-in with your Xbox profile. If you have already signed into your Xbox app on PC, the Game Pass widget will be signed-in with your Xbox account. Once signed-in, the widget will show the full range of Game Pass games available to you.

Jump back into your recently played games from the Game Pass widget after signing in.

Additionally, the widget will also show the most recent set of PC Game Pass titles you have played. It gives gamers a quick way to get right back into the action.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts on how the team can make Game Pass widget better and more personalized for you. Please share your feedback!

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Moving on, here are the changes and improvements in Build 25201:

[General]

• Thank you to all the Insiders who gave us feedback on the different visual treatments for search on the taskbar! Starting with this week’s flight, we are concluding the exploration of these treatments, so if you received this experience, it will be removed on your next reboot.

[File Explorer]

• File Explorer search will now show results as you type. The full search results page will update live without needing to press enter. We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.
• We’re experimenting with adding more cloud files to search results from Home.

Here are the bug fixes:

[General]

• Fixed the issue in the last few flights causing a bugcheck when moving your mouse in certain games.

[File Explorer]

• As a one-time change to help people find their folders with the navigation pane updates, if the default folders pinned to File Explorer’s navigation pane had been unpinned, they will be re-pinned after upgrading.
• Fixed a memory leak which was happening when closing File Explorer windows.

[Taskbar]

• The apps in the taskbar overflow flyout should now be in the correct order when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue where if you hadn’t already opened OneNote once, using the pen click to invoke OneNote wouldn’t work.
• Made a change to help address an issue where it wasn’t possible to use the Pinyin IME to type in the chat box of certain games.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue which was causing sporadic Settings app crashes.
• Removed an erroneous white pixel in the icon animation when clicking the Apps category in Settings.

[Widgets]

• We have fixed the issue where in some cases, the notification banner for some badging would not appear in the widgets board.

[Windowing]

• Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing if you dragged a snap group in Task View and dropped it into another Desktop.
• Fixed an issue related to interacting with the Desktops flyout in the taskbar which was causing periodic explorer.exe crashes.
• Fixed a DWM crash in the last few flights which could lead to a brief black screen when rotating a tablet.
• Fixed a rare issue which could cause a DWM crash when watching videos in certain UWP apps in recent builds.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue impacting Task Manager reliability.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to unexpectedly get the message “it is not possible to connect to this network” when connecting to certain Wi-Fi networks recently, although the network was working with other devices.
• Fixed an issue which could lead to Windows Sandbox opening to just a black window on certain PCs.

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.

Finally, we have the known issues:

[General]

• We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
• We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
• We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are seeing OneDrive setup asking for permission to set up every time their PC reboots.

[File Explorer]

• We’re working on the fix for an issue where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty recycle bin may unexpectedly not be enabled when they should be.

[Settings]

• We’re investigating some issues where uninstalling certain apps using Settings > Apps > Installed apps isn’t working correctly.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

• The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• The taskbar takes longer than expected to transition to the touch-optimized version when switching between desktop posture and tablet posture.
• Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
• When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
• When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

[Widgets]

• [NEW] In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
• Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

ISOs for Build 25201 are also available. You can download them from Microsoft's official website here. The official blog post for Build 25201 can be found here.

Windows 11 Dev Build 25201 fixes memory leak bug, and more; ISOs available

It did not take too long for Microsoft to acknowledge and fix the problem. The company has posted a new message on the Windows Health Dashboard website, revealing that a server-side change has solved the issue. All affected customers now should be able to access voice typing in Windows 11 using the Win + H shortcut or other methods.

Microsoft says the affected platforms include only the client version of Windows 11 21H2, and the bugfix does not require any action from users.

Windows 11 still has some known bugs waiting for fixes from Microsoft. The operating system cannot open XPS documents with non-English characters, and there is an issue causing computers to boot into BitLocker recovery after installing a Secure Boot DBX update.

Microsoft issues fix for broken voice input in Windows 11

For starters, a global property for themes has been added that allows you to customize your Windows Terminal windows to your heart's content. You can modify themes from the JSON file and select them from the Settings section. You can also customize tabs, tab rows, and windows, but if you don't know where to start, check out Microsoft's documentation of the subject here.

Additionally, more colors have been introduced to give Terminal a more "cohesive" appearance. You should also know that the application will now use dark theme as the default rather than relying on system theme.

Speaking of default configurations, the new text rendering engine that was introduced with Windows Terminal Preview 1.13 is now the default render for all profiles. Microsoft has noted several benefits of this engine including better performance, support for more pixel shaders, bold text, and underline/overline/hyperlink lines. Furthermore, if the machine you are using Windows Terminal Preview 1.16 on doesn't have a GPU, the engine will automatically switch to a more performant mode that does not depend on the GPU.

Other changes to look forward to are the ability to set where new tabs appear and to expand text selection to a word by modifying the JSON file. The colors page has also been redesigned, you can have a look below:

Old

New

There are lots of other improvements and bug fixes too, check them out below:

Miscellaneous improvements

• Mark mode key bindings now precede custom key bindings.
• When in mark mode, you can now Tab and Shift+Tab between hyperlinks.
• The setting to adjust the colors of indistinguishable text is now enabled by default.
• We’ve modified the default dark and light theme colors for a more seamless appearance between the tab and the text buffer.
• The back button in the command palette now returns to the previously selected item in the filtered action list (Thanks @JerBast!).

Bug fixes

• When BEL is emitted in a light terminal, the flash in the pane will now darken rather than brighten (Thanks @Fyrebright!).
• When pasting a multiple lines, the whitespace is no longer removed (Thanks @serd2011!).
• CloseOnExit will now automatically close the Terminal when terminated if it launched by a process, otherwise Terminal will close with the graceful behavior.

Finally, for those wanting a more stable experience, Windows Terminal has been updated to version 1.15 too. It contains all the features detailed in the changelog for Windows Terminal Preview 1.15 here. You can download Windows Terminal 1.15 and Windows Terminal Preview 1.16 from the Microsoft Store, GitHub, or Windows Package Manager (winget). For those keeping track, the latest release for Windows Terminal is v1.15.252 and for Windows Terminal Preview, it is v1.16.252.

Windows Terminal Preview 1.16 is now live with new text rendering engine, colors, and themes

What's new in Apple Safari 16 for macOS

I mentioned a few features that were introduced in Safari 16, when the first Technology Preview of the browser was released. Apple states that it has improved the performance of the browser, this includes tweaks to various animations, accessibility options, security, etc in WebKit. It also adds support for Web Inspector extensions.

Tab Groups Start Pages

Safari 16 lets you add Tab Group Start Pages, aka new tab pages, per group. To add shortcuts, click the new tab button. Drag and drop some websites from your bookmarks to the Tab Group Favorites section. This serves as your Tab Group's Start Page.

You can hide the shortcuts by clicking the button in the bottom right corner and disabling the option that says "Tab Group Favorites". There is another way to access your frequently visited websites. Right-click on a tab in a Tab Group, and pin it to prevent it from being closed.

Safari 16 supports 2 view modes for Tab Groups: a list view, and an overview. To view a list of your tabs, right-click on the Tab Group's name in the sidebar, and select "Show Tabs in Sidebar".

The list can be collapsed in similar fashion by clicking "Hide Tabs in Sidebar".

The Show Tab Overview option in the sidebar's context menu switches to a thumbnail view. You can also toggle this mode by clicking the dual pane button in the top right corner of Safari's window.

You can customize the appearance of the current Tab Group from the bottom-right menu in the Start Page. Select the background image option, and pick an image that you would like to use as the wallpaper. You may set a different background images for each Tab Group.

As for UI Changes, some shortcuts in the sidebar have been moved to the bottom, this includes Bookmarks, Reading List, Shared with You, and iCloud Tabs. The Safari 16 update fixes 4 security issues in the browser, you can read about them on Apple's support portal.

Settings sync across devices

Safari 16 will sync the settings that you have set for websites across your other devices. e.g. if you blocked notifications, location access, etc. So you don't have to choose the options every time you access the website on one of your Apple devices.

Password Editing

The password manager in Safari 16 now supports the editing of strong passwords in order to comply with a website's requirements. When you sign up for an account on a website and click the Passwords button, Safari will generate a password for you.

Click the words "Strong Password" to bring up the Passwords panel into view. Select the "Other Options" button, and click the "Edit Strong Password" option to customize the password.

AVIF format

Safari 16 on iOS introduces support for the AVIF format for still images. It is an alternative to PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP and supports lossless and lossy compression, multiple color spaces, etc. AVIF support and Passkeys are not yet available in Safari 16 for Mac and iPad, Apple says that it will add these features to the browser when macOS Ventura and iPadOS are released in October.

Open the Apple menu on your Mac, and head to About this Mac > and check for Software Update to install Safari 16 on your machine. The latest version is available alongside the macOS 12.6 update that was released yesterday.

Apple releases Safari 16 for macOS Monterey and Big Sur

Highlights

• Addresses a known issue that affects Microsoft accounts (MSA). The web dialog that you use to sign in or sign out might not appear. This issue occurs on devices that have installed KB5016691.
• Addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

Improvements

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5016691 (released August 25, 2022) and also addresses the following issues:

• Addresses a known issue that affects Microsoft accounts (MSA). The web dialog that you use to sign in or sign out might not appear. This issue occurs on devices that have installed KB5016691.

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 September 2022 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

Microsoft has also included Windows 11 servicing stack update 22000.975 with today’s update. Servicing stack updates bring improvements to ensure that Windows downloads and installs updates smoothly in the future. To get the latest Patch Tuesday update, just open up Windows Update and apply the available updates. You can also download the update for installation on offline machines from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

Microsoft releases September's Patch Tuesday update (KB5017328) for Windows 11

The major highlight of the release is security updates for Windows 10 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:

The changelog for today is the same for Windows 10 version 22H2 as well. Here is a screenshot of winver for Windows 10 22H2 build 19045.2006 (KB5017308):

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 end of servicing. Also, while not Windows 10, Microsoft has also released updates for Windows Server 2022 under KB5017316. Meanwhile, Windows Server 20H2 reaches end of servicing today.

Windows 10 September 2022 Patch Tuesday (KB5017308) out — here's what's new and what's broke

Windows 8.1

Improvements

This cumulative security update includes improvements that are part of update KB5016681 (released August 9, 2022) and includes key changes for the following issue:

• This update contains miscellaneous security improvements to internal OS functionality. No specific issues are documented for this release.

For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Deployments | Security Update Guide and the September 2022 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

Windows 7

Improvements

This cumulative security update contains improvements that are part of update KB5016676 (released August 9, 2022) and includes key changes for the following issue:

• This update contains miscellaneous security improvements to internal OS functionality. No specific issues are documented for this release.

For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Deployments | Security Update Guide and the September 2022 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

Both of these updates are available through Windows Update. Note that on Windows 7, you must be an Extended Security Update (ESU) customer to get this update. If you need to download these updates for installation on an offline machine, you can download them from the Microsoft Update Catalog: Windows 8.1 (KB5017367) and Windows 7 (KB5017361).

Windows 8.1 (KB5017367) and Windows 7 (KB5017361) get September Patch Tuesday updates

Microsoft appears to be in a mood to make Office Scripts support for Excel more accessible. A few months ago, it added the ability for the team members of a SharePoint site to easily collaborate, view, and run team-owned scripts on their Excel workbooks. However, Office Scripts, an automation feature-set, is currently limited to Excel for the web. This will change next month, as Microsoft promises to bring it to more platforms, namely Mac and Windows.

According to Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, Excel users on Mac and Windows will be able to automate their repetitive spreadsheet tasks come October. Users will be able to create, edit, and run Office Scripts in Excel for Windows and Mac using the Code Editor and All Scripts taskpane, exactly like Excel for the web.

The ability to create, edit, and run Office Scripts in Excel will be very useful, especially in workplaces. You can easily automate your day-to-day tasks, which means you do not have to worry about forgetting steps. However, you have to wait patiently until October to use it on Excel for Mac or Windows. You can learn how Office Scripts work on Excel for the web here.

According to the roadmap page, the automation feature-set will be available as a preview first in October. Microsoft also promises general availability in the same month. Although not confirmed, a preview of the automation feature-set will likely be available for Office Insiders early next month. And it may have a broader rollout in the middle or late October. Worse, Microsoft could also postpone it as well.

Meanwhile, Microsoft introduced several new features in Excel for Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS last month. You can learn about these new capabilities here.

Source: Microsoft

Excel users on Mac and Windows will soon be able to automate repetitive tasks

Up until now, if you had an Office app like Excel open and you left it in its running state overnight, Microsoft could not update it even if there were some emergency fixes due. With update under lock, this process will become a lot more silent and streamlined.

Even if you leave an Office app open in an idle state or lock your PC, update under lock will close the app when it's completely safe to do, apply the update, and then restore the app to its previous state. Microsoft claims that this entire process will take around four seconds which means that there will be no disruption to workflows.

Update under lock builds upon Microsoft's Click-to-Run technology which is used to deliver updates to software like Office. Here is how Microsoft describes it:

Click-to-Run is a new way to deliver and update Microsoft Office to broadband customers. Click-to-Run uses Microsoft virtualization and streaming technologies.

Click-to-Run products use streaming. Think of this in the same way that you think about streaming video. You can watch the first part of the video before the whole file is downloaded. Similarly, with Click-to-Run, you can start using Office before the whole suite or product has been downloaded. While you are using your application, the rest of Office is being downloaded quietly in the background.

The latest enhancement applies to Microsoft 365 subscriptions, Visio, Project, and perpetual licenses of Office 2016, 2019, and 2021. Update under lock will apply to the aforementioned apps using the following delivery channels:

• Current Channel: Version 2109 or later
• Monthly Enterprise Channel: Version 2112 or later
• Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview): Version 2202 or later  
• Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel: Version 2208 or later (coming Jan 2023)

Microsoft has emphasized that this is a backend update to improve the delivery process so as such, there is no admin control that you can leverage to disable it.

Update under lock: Microsoft is improving the Office app update experience

What is new in Skype Insider 8.89.76.102?

New features

• Preview an image received in notifications on iOS. By tapping and holding the Skype notification banner, you can preview an image received, in addition to selecting the Thumbs Up or Reply option.
• Clickable profile picture on all Platforms. This enables quicker profile updates.
• 'Connect on Skype' section on the first click search experience on all Platforms. 'Find contacts easily', 'Scan QR code' and 'Invite to Skype' are visible when you first click on Search, as a way for users to easily connect with others.
• 'What's new in Skype' and 'Easy meetings with anyone' quick actions on the start page Home Screen on all Desktops and Web. This is seen on App restarts and fresh installs. Improvements to the 'Share profile' button on this page, as well.
• Custom avatar addition improvements, while hosting a new meeting on Mobile and Web.
• UI Improvements to the floating mode when Closed Captions are enabled during a call on all Platforms. A Settings panel added to all views (bottom, left, floating). Available settings: language and captioning position mode.

Stability improvements and bug fixes

• Toogle "Optimize mode" in Android devices' settings, in case you do not receive incoming call or message notifications, when your screen is off/when Skype is not open.
• UI Improvements to avatars and text when using captions during a call
• Close option missing, when opening another user's profile picture on iOS. You won't need to go back to exit this view

You can download the latest Skype Insider build from the official website. The preview program is available on Windows, Mac, Linux (DEB and RPM), Android, and iOS. Note that the preview updates are rolling out gradually, so the latest improvements might arrive on your device a little later.

Skype Insiders gets improved notifications, clickable profile pictures, more

After installing Office Version 2209 (Build 15629.20058), admins will be able to configure label settings to add three new S/MIME options, including encrypt, sign, and encrypt-and-sign, to emails in Outlook for Windows. It is now possible to configure these labels and add S/MIME options to the Sensitivity drop-down menu, making it easier for the admins to quickly access these labels to encrypt and sign their emails. You can read the complete official changelog below to learn more about the functionality.

Changelog

Microsoft is currently testing these changes with Office Insiders, so the general public cannot see them right now. The good news is that they will eventually be available for all Office users. Meanwhile, Beta Channel Insiders on Windows will get another new Office Build next Friday, and we are hoping the company will introduce exciting new features with the latest update.

To update the Microsoft Office Insider Preview Build to the latest version, open any Office program and go to File> Account> Update Options> Update Now.

Microsoft releases Office Version 2209 (Build 15629.20058) for Windows users

Windows has not been overly reliable in predicting how long copy jobs take, but that is another story.

One user had the idea of improving the copy dialog by adding a game to it. While you could play a game on the system, doing so might affect the copy job.

Lunar Lander is an ingenious little application for Windows that applies the game directly to the copy dialog. In case you've never heard of the game, it is one of the oldest computer games. The first graphical version was released in 1973.  In Lunar Lander, players are attempting to land a spacecraft on the moon. The spacecraft has thrusters, and the main challenge that players face is to use the thrusters to land on a safe landing area.

Copy Dialog Lunar Lander takes the game concept and applies it to the copy dialog itself. Whenever you copy something on your system, you may play Lunar Lander for as long as the copying is progressing.

You control the thrusters with the arrow keys and need to keep an eye on the limited fuel capacity of the spacecraft.

Copy Dialog Lunar Lander is an open source game. It does not need to be installed; you need to download the latest version of the game from the project's GitHub website and extract the contents of the archive once it has been downloaded.

Running the game afterwards may throw a Windows SmartScreen warning. SmartScreen does not like new applications or games. Copy Dialog Lunar Lander has a clean sheet on Virustotal.

The game adds itself to the system tray to indicate that it is running. You may right-click on the system tray icon to change the difficulty level from hard to easy. There is also a game selection menu, but Lunar Lander is the only game for now.

Classic games such as Space Invaders, Moon Patrol or Atlantis may be good candidates for extra games to spice things up a bit.

Copy Dialog Lunar Lander has infinite levels, as every copy process creates a different surface to land the spacecraft on. There are also different levels, using different color sets, that users may explore in different ways. For example, to switch the level to desert, press the pause button.

Closing Words

Windows users who copy a lot of files may like the idea of playing a quick game while the copying is taking place. More games would certainly improve the experience and attractiveness, but it is unclear if that is going to happen.

Now You: what do you do when Windows is copying files?

Play Lunar Lander in the copy dialog on Windows

Raspberry Pi OS improves menus, networking, camera possibilities

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.

Did you know there is a keyboard shortcut to lock the computer screen when you step away from your computer?

If you hold down the Win key (key with the flag on it in the bottom left) and press the letter "L" just once, you will be taken to the lock screen. If you press enter on the keyboard or tap the mouse button you will be prompted for your Windows PIN or password - the same PIN or password you use to log into the computer when you restart your computer.

This prevents someone from accessing your computer when you step away from it, should that be a concern.

If you do not have a password set up on your computer, then you will simply be prompted to click sign in.

If you currently do not have a password on your windows machine but wish to set one up, here is how you do it

• Click on the Start button
• Type "Settings" in the Search and open it
• Navigate to "Accounts"
• Click on "Password" in Sign-in options
• Click Add

Once you create a password, you will have to enter it every time your computer restarts. So I would highly recommend either memorizing it or keeping it safe in a password manager so that you don't forget it.

Happy Computing!

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

How to quickly lock your Windows PC on Warwagon's Tech Tip Tuesday

WebView2 allows Windows developers to embed web content into their applications. Replacing the legacy EdgeHTML-based WebView with a Chromium-based variant provides better compatibility, sustainability, support, and modern features. Besides, since WebView2 is a part of Windows 11 and Windows 10, developers utilizing WebView2 can provide their customers with "lighter" apps. Finally, one of the biggest benefits of WebView2 is that the control supports older Windows versions, not just Windows 10, allowing developers to reach more users. According to Microsoft, developers can build apps with WebView2 for Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11.

The software giant says PowerApps is one of the first WinUI 2 apps with WebView2 built-in. The project allows customers to build applications for popular platforms and create user interfaces using drag-and-drop elements. You can learn more and start with Microsoft PowerApps on the official website.

Developers who want to embed WebView2 into their WinUI apps can find all the necessary information about using WebView2 in the "Get Started" guide from Microsoft, available in the official documentation.

WebView2 is now generally available for WinUI 2 UWP applications on Windows

Apart from the elephant in the room, which is hardware restrictions that block many devices from upgrading to Windows 11 without some trickery, it is the unfinished nature of Windows 11 that kept many from upgrading.

With Windows 11 version 22H2 right around the corner and promising improvements, it may be a good time to find out if now is the right time to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10.

Windows 11 version 22H2

Windows 11 version 22H2, or Windows 11 version 2022, can best be described as a small feature update that improves the operating system here and there. Some features make a return from Windows 10, but if you hoped that Microsoft would restore all functionality that it removed in Windows 11, you will be disappointed.

Note: Microsoft has not unveiled the full release version of Windows 11 version 22H2. Some features may not make it into the final release, others may make it.

Take the taskbar and the Start Menu as an example. Microsoft restricted the taskbar in Windows 10 to a bottom position. Icons are aligned in the middle, but you may change that to the trustworthy left alignment that all previous versions of Windows used as the default.

Yes, the Windows 11 taskbar is still lacking features when compared to the Windows 10 taskbar.  The new taskbar features in Windows 11 version 22H2 reintroduced some drag & drop support and add a new mute icon for chat applications. There is also a new share this window option, but that is about it.

Taskbar positions other than bottom are not making a comeback, and your best bet in this regard is to use third-party software such as  Stardock's Start11 (paid) or the free Taskbar11.

The Windows 11 2022 Update version of the Start menu gets support for folders, which Microsoft removed in the initial release version of Windows 11, some layout improvements to expand the recommendations or pinned sections, and that is about it.

Options to resize the Start Menu or to create groups are nowhere to be seen and won't make the final release version.

Even a former Microsoft employee, who worked on the Windows 8 Start Menu, criticized Microsoft for the Windows 11 iteration of the start menu.

What about other features?

Snap Assist, a feature that adds more window layouts to the operating system, gets better keyboard and touch support in the new release. The feature, which users may overlook easily, is getting a visibility bump in the new version of Windows 11. Users who move windows around will see a small bar at the top. Dropping the window on the bar displays the available layouts.

What else is new? File Explorer is not getting Tabs in the initial update release, but folder previews are restored in the release. There are also smaller changes, such as the ability to show files from Office.com under Home.

The Task Manager's basic interface is no longer available and dark mode support was added. Tabs moved to the left and the classic menu is gone. There are also a few new keyboard shortcuts available.

Gamers may benefit from system-wide Variable Refresh Rate support and windowed game optimizations. There is also a new HDR calibration app and Xbox Controller Bar.

Other than that, there is not much to brag about for Microsoft, considering that the company did not release a Windows 11 version 22H1 update.

Upgrade to Windows 11: yes or no?

When you look at all the changes in Windows 11 version 22H2, you may notice that there is not anything that can be considered major. Yes, there are improvements, and some users may like those. It seems unlikely, however, that these will convince many Windows 10 users to switch to Windows 11.

The hardware barrier is still in place, and it is still not a good idea to bypass the restrictions, as running an unsupported device may limit updates and other features.

Some Windows 11 users have waited for the first feature update, to let Windows 11 mature for a year, before taking the plunge. These may want to wait a bit longer, even if they plan to upgrade to Windows 11. The first couple of months are usually needed to fix issues that have not been detected during the development period.

December 2022 or January 2023 may be good months to start the upgrade. There is no hurry to upgrade from Windows 10, as the operating system is supported until 2025 (and maybe even beyond).

Others may want to skip this version and wait for the smaller feature updates to drop. Microsoft won't recreate all the missing Windows 10 features though. Those, with hardware that is not compatible, may want to keep on running Windows 10 for the foreseeable future.

Now You: what is your take on the first Windows 11 feature update?

Should you upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 version 22H2?