Microsoft has been releasing monthly updates for the feature, and it generally brings new features. For example, the July update (version 2205.40000.14.0) added AV1 codec, VPN support, and more. Meanwhile, the August update (version 2206.40000.15.0) brought gaming-focused changes, graphics improvements, among others.

The new WSA 2207.40000.8.0 release expands the gamepad with keyboard options that were introduced in the previous release. Now it has additional features related to gamepad and keyboard settings. This could mean Microsoft is looking to appeal to more gamers out there who enjoy playing Android games, which also happen to be some of the most popular games out there.

There could be more changes under the hood, that we can be sure of once Microsoft releases a changelog for the new update. That shouldn't be too long now, since we are already at the end of August.

Source: IT Home

Microsoft quietly releases the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) 2207.40000.8.0 update

Dynamic wallpapers are one of those neat personalization options Windows lacks compared to macOS. Apple's desktop operating system has different wallpapers that adapt to the current time, creating an immersive and beautiful desktop background.

Even though there were rumors about Microsoft implementing similar capabilities in Windows, dynamic wallpapers are currently possible only with the help of a third-party app called WinDynamicDesktop. Today, it received an update to version 5.1.0 with new wallpapers and improvements.

Here is the changelog for the latest release:

• Added Ventura Abstract theme
• Added dropdown in theme download dialog to select alternate mirrors that may be faster
• Added "Hide system tray icon" to menu which hides tray icon until the next time the app is manually launched
• Added Estonian translation (thanks ST)
• Fixed error when applying settings and there is no active theme (#457)
• Fixed theme not updating on displays that were connected when device is sleeping
• Fixed error when theme download is cancelled
• Fixed PowerShell scripts being invoked multiple times with the same arguments
• Fixed incorrect theme name shown in bold when there is no active theme

Another thing worth mentioning is that version 5.1 ditched the Sync Virtual Desktops script responsible for changing wallpapers on all your virtual desktops. The developer says the script uses an experimental API, which is "too unstable to support." Still, users can restore the deleted feature by installing the script via this link.

WinDynamicDesktop is a free app you can download from the Microsoft Store or GitHub. It contains many free dynamic wallpapers (mostly from macOS), plus users can buy additional packs from the app's repository. Alternatively, you can download macOS Ventura wallpapers without installing third-party apps. There is even a Ventura-inspired mod of the stock Windows 11 "Bloom" wallpaper.

WinDynamicDesktop 5.1 brings macOS Ventura dynamic wallpapers to Windows

Inserting images into cells instead of floating on top unlocks many new scenarios, such as tracking inventories, creating employee dashboards, or building games and brackets. In addition to mere image insertion, the IMAGE function supports additional properties for better customization and accessibility. You can add alt text and specify size, width, and height.

To insert image into a cell, type =IMAGE(source). Here is an example: =IMAGE(“https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/2d9e717a-0077-438f-8e5e-f85a1305d4ad.jpg”, “Sphere”).

Note that the IMAGE function has several limitations and known issues:

• If the URL to the image file you are using is pointing to a site that requires authentication, the image will not render.
• Zooming in and out with images in cells may distort the images.
• Moving between platforms (for example, Windows and Mac) may result in irregular image rendering.

To try the new function, update Excel on your device to version 2209 (build 15608.10000) on Windows, 16.65 (build 22080701) on macOS, 2.65 (build 22080701) on iOS, or 16.0.15608.10000 on Android. Keep in mind that Microsoft rolls out new features over time to ensure everything works as it should and to prevent the spread of potential bugs.

You can learn how to join the Office Insider program on its official website.

Excel gets new function for inserting images into cells

His point was that software was the new engine of value creation.

“My own theory is that we are in the middle of a dramatic and broad technological and economic shift, in which software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy,” Andreesen wrote.

The article details a variety of examples in which digital companies, such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Spotify, have achieved a dominant position powered by software and digital products. The article defines software rather loosely, asserting that companies use software to trade in digital assets and dramatically expand the use of data and automation are the new winners.

Andreesen was right. Software-powered companies have and are eating the world. Though, his analysis focuses on large companies winning considerable victories with industrial-scale software. The software he points to that ate the world was a product of elite engineering teams and layers upon layers of complex platforms.

In my view, we are entering a new era in which software will continue to eat the world, but in a far broader and more distributed way. It won’t just be the most famous or largest companies that achieve digital victories. We will find that in almost every business, the use of software will boom to increase efficiency, bring new awareness and expand automation.

This will never happen if this software can only be created by elite engineering teams.

The way that software will eat the rest of the world will be through low-code and no-code methods, but that’s not all. Much of the software that Andreesen points to as having eaten the world will itself be eaten by low-code methods.

In short, if software is eating the world, then low code is eating software.

Let’s review what exactly I mean and explain why this is happening.

Low-code basics

Low code makes the process of creating applications much easier. It is important to remember that modern low-code systems are just this era’s model for the intelligent application of core concepts of computer science.

If you’ve been around the enterprise software and computer science world for a while, you know that the idea of simplified coding that takes over the world of software development is not new. Domain-specific languages are one form of this idea. SAP created ABAP and Salesforce invented Apex as domain-specific languages to make it easier to code their applications and separate them from underlying implementation details. Going way back, so are fourth generation languages. Going even farther, we can point to IBM’s RPG as a form of low code.

Low code, in simple terms, is the capability to build and automate applications of a certain type rapidly. No code is the ability to customize an application purely through configuration settings.

Low code, in simple terms, is the capability to build and automate applications of a certain type rapidly. No code is the ability to customize an application purely through configuration settings.

The “code” in the term low code is the key to understanding its power. Unlike a traditional high-code language like Java or Python or C, in which you can almost code anything you want, in a low-code world, the code exists to provide just enough ability to adapt an application of a certain type.

The “low” in the term suggests that the amount of coding to adapt an application should be small compared to the amount of code needed to implement the application in a high-code manner. The “low” also means simplicity, it is easier to use low-code methods.

The “of a certain type” part of the definition is also important. Low-code development systems aren’t built to do anything. Low-code development environments focus on particular types of applications and provide building blocks that do much of the work to implement that type of application.

Once low-code applications are created, they can be changed and adapted to ever-evolving requirements faster than high-code methods. Low-code applications also require less maintenance, meaning lower technical debt. Modern low-code applications created using platforms from companies like Appian are proven to be enterprise-grade in terms of scalability, reliability and performance.

There is a tradeoff. Low-code applications are focused on creating specific types of applications. When a low-code platform matches your needs, then a much larger number of people can participate in creating, maintaining, and evolving applications. This is where the big win comes from, a topic I will return to in a minute.

Expansion of services creates leverage

Low-code development platforms are more relevant and powerful than ever because we live in a world that is full of abstractions and services. Low code allows us to access services and create new applications with much less effort.

The most advanced low-code development platforms have a full stack of capabilities required for creating enterprise applications. For example, most low-code development platforms have a simplified way to define a user experience. This abstract definition is then rendered into user interfaces that are delivered on numerous devices.

On a modern low-code platform, a developer can define one user experience (UX) using the abstraction and then find that the application will work on the web, on desktops, on tablets, and on mobile devices without any additional effort. The low-code applications have to live with the power of the abstractions the platforms provide. That’s the cost, but as the platforms have matured, that cost has become lower and lower.

The collection of abstractions for UX, data, and process automation are extended by various types of application components for case management, legacy modernization, collaboration, and so on. Low-code also excels at orchestrating services from many systems to add higher levels of automation and process control.

Ray Kurzweil points out in his explanation of the exponential growth of technology how acceleration takes place at faster and faster rates as more and more powerful services are orchestrated. (See this article on Technology Leverage for more detail.)

Ray Kurzweil points out in his explanation of the exponential growth of technology how acceleration takes place at faster and faster rates as more and more powerful services are orchestrated.

Now that software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools have become widespread and API-enabled, a rich landscape of services exists. Even small or medium-sized companies have lots of SaaS applications that act as systems of record and perform essential transactional functions such as accepting or making payments.

Low code unlocks the power of all of these services with much less effort than high-code approaches.

The expanded services landscape also makes a much wider set of data available. Low-code applications can access and distill this data to create much more detailed models of business activity, which can be the foundation of better analytics and increased automation.

For certain functions, low-code methods are also being used to create services that can be used by the platform or by external consumers. High code methods can always be used to create new services that can be plugged into the low-code environment.

Low-code development platforms are constantly evolving. Process mining, conversational artificial intelligence (AI), AI and machine learning (ML) modeling, and new forms of data storage such as graph and document databases are showing up in low-code platforms.

As time goes on, low-code development platforms will be more and more powerful.

The superpower of low code: Increased productivity

The fact that coding is simpler has several profound effects on productivity. Specifically, low-code development platforms:

•  Expand the number of people who can code. This is a claim that must be made carefully. Low code doesn’t mean that everyone can now create advanced software. However, it does mean that people who could never create high-code apps can create simple low-code apps, and these can be hugely helpful.

•  Improve productivity of advanced developers. Developers using low-code methods can get more done than using high-code methods for numerous types of applications.

•  Reduce maintenance burden. Low-code software generally is easier to maintain over time than high-code methods because much of the complexity is managed by the platform. The simplified applications dramatically reduce technical debt.

•  Improved user experience and satisfaction. Standards and design principles enforced by low-code platforms avoid many errors and provide a pleasing experience as well as make applications automatically work on a phone, a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop without modification.

•  Better TCO and ROI. All of these improvements to productivity lead to better TCO and ROI for low-code applications.

Now that low-code methods have become more powerful, increasingly low-code apps are being managed not like one-off spreadsheets but like the key software assets they are. Like other software assets, they are being created with test suites and source code management techniques, and advanced operational logging and monitoring. In other words, low-code apps have become real-software, not just departmental toys. As this maturity is recognized, more and more developers and enterprises will consider low-code platforms for their applications.
Low code will eat high code

The economics of the low-code development platforms will be one of the main engines driving their adoption. Low-code development will eat software because it will be the cost-effective and efficient way to create the applications the world needs.

People with a need for an application will face the following choices:

•  Build with high code methods

•  Buy a product if one exists

•  Build on a low-code development platform

•  Buy a product built on a low-code development platform

The difficulty of high code and the lack of fit for many products will drive people to low-code methods. Many of the low-code platforms now come with a huge number of components and templates to accelerate development.

As low-code development platforms have matured and the number of services has grown, low code fits many more problems. Low code expands the pool of people that can solve them.

The number of new components and techniques available through low-code development platforms such as process mining, conversational AI, and others mentioned above, continues to grow. Low-code platforms will become a safe and low-cost way to experiment with new technologies.

Using low code is a tradeoff. Developers accept the limits of the environment, hoping that the simplified coding methods still allow them to create the application they require. Low-code systems can do much more than they could in the past. Low code will eat software because the trade-off becomes less and less painful as low-code systems become more and more powerful.

Tarun Khatri is the cofounder, executive director and head of the Appian practice at Xebia.

Source

Before that, Chrome users will notice that the tabs of the browser shrink so much that even the site's icon is no longer displayed, let alone the title of the webpage.

Google implemented several techniques in the past year to address this. The most prominent feature is Tab Groups, which Chrome users may use to create collapsing tab groups in the browser to have more tabs open in it without experiencing any of the described issues.

Tab Scrolling is another feature. It is still experimental, but available in Chrome Stable and all development editions of the browser. When enabled, it unlocks tab scrolling, which Chrome does not support by default.

Tab Scrolling may have a positive side effect: it limits the minimum width of browser tabs in Chrome. Once configured, tabs in Chrome won't be reduced to blank icons anymore in the extreme case.

Configure Tab Scrolling and a minimum tab width in Chrome

Note: Tab scrolling is an experimental feature. It may be integrated in Chrome natively one day, or it may be removed again by Google.

Here is how you configure the feature:

1. Load chrome://flags/#scrollable-tabstrip in the browser's address bar.
2. Activate the status button, reading Default, to display the available options.
3. Select one of the following values to set a minimum tab width in Chrome:
   • Enabled - tabs shrink to pinned tab width
   • Enabled - tabs shrink to medium width.
   • Enabled - tabs shrink to large width.
   • Enabled - tabs don't shrink.
4. Restart the browser once you have made the selection.

You may need to experiment with the medium and large width tabs values, as Google does not reveal pixel values for those. If you don't want Chrome to shrink tabs at all, select the don't value to prevent that from happening.

tabs medium width

The flag enables tab scrolling as well. Once you open a number of tabs in Chrome, scroll buttons appear on the right side of the tab bar. These can be used to scroll the available tabs.

The one downside to using tab scrolling is that some tabs may not be visible on the tab bar, as you need to scroll to make them visible.

Now You: tab groups, tab scrolling, or something else? How do you manage tabs?

How to set a minimum tab width in Google Chrome

Both updates mention Server Message Block (SMB) compression improvements in their changelog but don't really go into the details. Fortunately, Microsoft's Ned Pyle has talked about all the enhancements that SMB compression is getting in a dedicated blog post.

For those unaware, SMB compression in client-server environments allows admins, users, and applications to request file compression as content is being transferred over the network. The benefit of this approach is obviously the reduced consumption of bandwidth but it comes at the cost of increased CPU usage as the hardware attempts to compress and decompress files as they are being transferred over the network. If that still doesn't make SMB compression and its use clear enough to you, try checking out the embedded video below:

Up until the arrival of KB5016691 and KB5016693, SMB compression behaved in a weird way, to say the least. Basically, it utilized a default algorithm which attempted compression only on the first 500MiB (Note: 1MB = 1000KB but 1MiB = 1024KB) of a file, any content smaller than this threshold would never be compressed, even if it was very "compressible".

And there was an additional caveat too. During its reading of the first 500MiB of a file, if the algorithm detected that less than 100MiB of the file could be compressed, it would not attempt to compress the rest of the file at all. Imagine there is a 10GiB file that is extremely compressible but only 80MiB of the first 500MiB can be compressed, the SMB compression algorithm would just give up compressing the file altogether and you'd end up sending pretty much the same 10GiB over the network. The only way to force-compress would be to override certain default registry settings, and editing those isn't really what you should do unless you know exactly what you are doing.

It's a very odd behavior and one that has likely impacted a lot of use-cases. However, the good news is that Microsoft is doing away with the restrictions in the algorithm completely. Essentially, SMB compression will now try its best to compress any and all files that you request compression for.

Obviously, that does not mean that SMB compression should be used in every use-case. Pyle has highlighted that some formats like JPG, ZIP, and DOCX are already compressed but the removal of these restrictions will certainly benefit other formats like VHDX, ISO, and DMP, among others.

Microsoft isn't just stopping here, though. It is introducing new PowerShell, Group Policy, and registry settings that make it easier to control the two behaviors. All those details and associated commands are mentioned in the blog here, if you're interested.

Microsoft is significantly improving SMB compression in Windows 11, here is how

Microsoft later explained in detail how such technologies like TPM 2.0 and Virtualization-based Security (VBS) took the security aspect of Windows 11 to the next level, and also demonstrated successful hacker attack on a system with TPM and other such security features disabled.

In case you are wondering when exactly the Redmond giant started adding in these requirements on Windows 10, Twitter user and prolific leakster Xeno spotted the change within the Build 21327 for the first time. This was available in the appraiserres.dll in the Windows 10 build 21327.

Speaking of the appraiserres DLL file, there's a workaround available for bypassing the system requirements check on Windows 11 which basically involved deleting this file.

Windows 11 TPM, Secure Boot requirements get unearthed in old Windows 10 build

As Google carries out the needlessly complex process of combining both the Meet and Duo apps, now it’s throwing a feature copied from Zoom in the mix. In an update on the Google Workspace blog, the company announced that Google Meet will soon give you the ability to unmute yourself by holding down the spacebar and to mute yourself again by releasing it.

If you frequently use Zoom, this feature might sound a lot like its push-to-talk feature — and that’s because it’s essentially the same thing. Zoom obviously didn’t revolutionize this feature (we have walkie-talkies to thank for that), but it conveniently makes it available during video conferences, which comes in handy whenever you want to chime in during a meeting but don’t want to stay unmuted for long. Cisco’s Webex has a similar capability, and while Microsoft Teams widely launched a Walkie Talkie feature earlier this year, it’s not something you can use during video conferences.

Google says it'll start rolling out its own version of the shortcut to all Workspace users on September 9th, but it could take up to 15 days for you to see it. Once it arrives, it won’t be turned on by default, so you’ll have to enable it from Google Meet’s settings.

Confusingly, Google’s efforts to merge Duo and Meet have left us with the new Meet app (the one that combines both Duo and Meet), the old Meet (Original) app, and a Duo shortcut that leads to Meet. It’s truly something only Google could think up. That said, I’m pretty sure the new push-to-talk feature’s coming to the new Google Meet app, but it’s still not exactly clear whether it’s coming to the Meet (Original) app, as Google will eventually discontinue it. The Verge reached out to Google to see if it could clear things up but didn’t immediately hear back.

Update August 28th, 2:15PM ET: Updated to clarify that Zoom wasn’t the first to create push-to-talk, and that some other services use similar features.

Google Meet is stealing Zoom’s trick to easily unmute

In a world where Valve’s Proton dominates gaming headlines, it's hard to remember that it would be nothing without the forward progress of Wine. Wine 7.16 was released this morning, breaking with its tradition of releasing every other Friday. It's the latest on the march toward 8.0 which is due out later this year. Thankfully, we don't have to wait for version 8.0 to benefit from lots of meaningful fixes. So, how will this affect Steam Deck, HoloISO, and Chimera OS gamers? Well, let’s cover the boring bits first.

• Wow64 support in X11 driver
• Session storage in MSHTML
• Unicode regexp fixes in MSXML
• IME improvements in Edit control
• Various bug fixes

Support for WoW64, Microsoft’s 64-bit compatibility layer for 32-bit applications, has been introduced into the X11 driver. If you’re a Steam Deck gaming mode user, this change won’t affect you when the changes are merged upstream to Proton.

Now, on to the gaming-related fixes. If you’re trying to play the latest Saint’s Row, a bug is fixed where the game crashes on error “unimplemented function kernel32.dll.SetProcessDefaultCpuSets”. Though it’s worth noting the community has already produced a workaround.

Ragnarok Online sees a fix with a false positive related to detection of anti-cheat. A Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain bug is now fixed and progress past the chapter one intro is now possible. Finally, fixes to the beloved Star Citizen prevent the launcher from freezing due to a heap space issue. There are a lot of fixes for other non-gaming Windows-y stuff, and you can check out those changes at WineHQ.

Source: WineHQ

Wine 7.16 arrives two days late, brings game enhancements

One of the main improvements of VirtualBox 7 is that it supports Windows 11 officially. VirtualBox users who tried to install Windows 11 in previous versions of VirtualBox may have run into hardware compatibility verification issues. While there are ways around those, it has been a burden.

VirtualBox 7 improves the Windows 11 setup experience as well. Besides the improved setup screen, which makes the selection of the local folder for the VM and the ISO image easier, it is supporting unattended setups.

It is possible to skip the unattended installation by checking the box on the first page of setup. Unattended installation support allows users to add a user account right away, enter a product key, set up a hostname and domain name, and enable Virtual Box Guest Additions.

If the host supports the requirements of Windows 11, the installer in the VirtualBox environment won't throw the unsupported error message anymore during installation; this speeds up the installation of virtual Windows 11 systems significantly.

VirtualBox 7 includes a number of additional improvements. Oracle classifies VirtualBox 7.0.0 as a maintenance release:

• Audio recording: Now using Vorbis as the default audio format for WebM containers. Opus
is no longer being used.
• Audio: Added “default” host driver type to make it possible to move VMs (appliances)
between different platforms without the need of changing the audio driver explicitly. When
the “default” driver is selected, the best audio backend option for a platform will be used.
This is the default for newly created VMs.
• Guest Control: Implemented initial support for automatic updating of Guest Additions for
Linux guests
• Guest Control: Implemented ability to wait for and/or reboot the guest when updating
Guest Additions via VBoxManage
• VBoxManage: Added Guest Control “waitrunlevel” sub-command to make it possible to
wait for a guest to reach a certain run level
• Windows hosts: Added experimental support of running autostarted VMs in session 0, to
allow running VMS even when a usser is not being logged in (disabled by default, please
consult the manual)
• Audio: Added “default” host driver type to make it possible to move VMs (appliances)
between different platforms without the need of changing the audio driver explicitly. When
the “default” driver is selected, the best audio backend option for a platform will be used.
This is the default for newly created VMs.
• Guest Control: Implemented initial support for automatic updating of Guest Additions for
Linux guests
• Guest Control: Implemented ability to wait for and/or reboot the guest when updating
Guest Additions via VBoxManage
• VBoxManage: Added Guest Control “waitrunlevel” sub-command to make it possible to
wait for a guest to reach a certain run level
• Windows hosts: Added experimental support of running autostarted VMs in session 0, to
allow running VMS even when a usser is not being logged in (disabled by default, please
consult the manual)

The company has not revealed yet when VirtualBox 7.0.0 Final will be available.

Now You: do you use virtualization software? (via Deskmodder)

Oracle VirtualBox 7 Beta adds support for Windows 11

For Excel users, Microsoft has reduced fragmenting of conditional formatting rules across a contiguous cell range when pasting copied cells into that cell range. It is not a major change, but it will certainly be useful for many users. You can read the complete official changelog to learn more about what’s new in Excel and what’s been fixed in the latest Insider build.

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.

In other Office news, Microsoft recently released a plethora of new features for Current Channel subscribers on Windows, including better messaging regarding PivotTable compatibility, 14 new text and array functions to Excel to help you supercharge your spreadsheets, more insights into people in your organization with LinkedIn data in Outlook, and more. The updated Outlook will now show the public LinkedIn profile information where available, and the best part is that it does not need you to connect your accounts to do that.

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 Insider Version 2209 (Build 15619.20000) for Windows users

You can find the highlights of the new KB5016688 update below:

•  Addresses an issue that might cause some game installations to fail because of a licensing issue.
•  Addresses an issue that affects the icon colors of the list in the Search app.
•  Addresses an issue that might cause error 0x1E when you shut down or restart a device.
•  Addresses a known issue that causes Microsoft Edge to stop responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevents you from interacting with a dialog.
•  Addresses an issue that causes a subscription activation to fail under certain conditions.

The new update is available on:

•  Windows 10 Enterprise Multi-Session, version 20H2
•  Windows 10 Enterprise and Education, version 20H2
•  Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 20H2
•  Windows 10 on Surface Hub Windows 10, version 21H1, all editions
•  Windows 10, version 21H2, all editions

You can download the update manually from Microsoft Update Catalog here. To know more about this update, head over to the support article on Microsoft's official website here.

Source

Microsoft changed File Explorer in several key areas when it launched the new Windows 11 operating system in 2021. One of the most prominent changes was the introduction of the compact context menu, which File Explorer displays by default.

Tip: here are instructions to restore the classic File Explorer context menu in Windows 11.

The change was not the only one, as Microsoft streamlined the main toolbar of File Explorer, which resulted in many items being accessible only after an extra-click or two.

Windows users who had hoped that Microsoft would address these issues in the upcoming feature update will be disappointed. There are other changes though, and the following paragraphs highlight all the important changes in File Explorer.

File Explorer in the Windows 11 2022 Update

Several elements have changed when you open File Explorer. The homepage, the first screen that opens when you launch the file manager, may look similar on first glance. The menubar at the top is identical to the 2021 version, but the sidebar has seen several changes.

Quick Access has been renamed to Home, but the underlying function is still called Quick Access in menus. Microsoft replaced the star icon of Quick Access with a new Home icon to better visualize the change.

In the main area of the homepage, Folders has been renamed to Quick Access. It offers the same functionality, but has been renamed. Files that are pinned are listed under Favorites, a new section of the File Explorer homepage.

Files and folders may be added to the favorites via the context menu. Right-click on a file or folder and select the "add to favorites" entry to add it to the section on the homepage.

Favorites are displayed on the homepage but not in the Quick Access listing of the sidebar.

Search will find files and folders listed under favorites and recent files, even if these are not local files. Files hosted on OneDrive may be returned here.

Home is not the only available entry point when File Explorer is opened. Windows 11 users may open This PC or OneDrive instead.

Here is how that is configured:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Select Menu > Options from the main toolbar at the top (menu is the three dots).
3. Open the menu next to "Open File Explorer to" in the Folder Options window to make the selection:
   • Home: the default selection.
   • This PC: displays Quick Access folders and all connected drives.
   • OneDrive: displays OneDrive content.

OneDrive was missing in the release version of the Windows 11 operating system. Other file synchronization providers may add their services to the menu as well so that users may pick them as the start page when they open File Explorer.

Folder Options list another new feature in Windows 11 2022 Update. The option to display files from Office.com is enabled by default.

Windows 11 users who have no need for that may uncheck "Show files from Office.com" to disable the feature and remove file listings from Office.com.

Folder previews

Then folder preview feature is making a return in the upcoming feature update for Windows 11. Microsoft launched Windows 11 without it.

Basically, what it does is provide a preview of the content of a folder in the folder's icon. If a folder contains images, one of the images may be displayed as a thumbnail in the folder's own icon.

Other file types may show up as previews as well. Applications show up as the default application icon, and Office documents as a preview of one of the documents. Other file types may not show up as previews at all, or with generic icons only.

Still, for Windows 11 users who use File Explorer to browse image or media collections, it may improve the experience.

Shortcuts and the context menu

Microsoft improves the full context menu shortcut in Windows 11 version 22H2. Windows 11 users can use the shortcut Shift-F10 to display the full context menu of the selected file, folder or drive.

In the new feature update, users may also hold down the Shift-key and right-click on an item to display the full context menu right away, bypassing the compact one.

Shift-F10 remains an option for keyboard-only users, but Shift-Right-Click is improving the experience for Windows users who prefer to use the mouse.

The compact right-click context menu displays a few new options when certain items are active. Fonts .inf and .cer files display a new install option in the context menu now to improve the installation process for these.

A right-click on This PC displays the new "Map network drive" and "Disconnect network drive" options, and a right-click on a connected network drive displays disconnect right away now in the new update.

The same options are displayed as well when you right-click This PC in the navigation pane of File Explorer.

Some items of the context menu have new icons.

The new keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-C copies the full path of the selected file or folder to the Clipboard.

Other changes

The Share feature, which is listed as one of the available options in the toolbar, may display contacts, nearby people and apps now. The share menu opens right after selecting share, making it easier to share to users or apps that content is shared with on a regular basis.

The available options depend on whether a local or Microsoft account is used, and which apps are installed on the device.

Tabs in File Explorer

It looks as if tabs won't be a part of the Windows 11 2022 Update, but will be delivered via a smaller update after the release of the first feature update.

Tabs are one of the main features that Microsoft has been working on for a long time. Windows 11 users may open multiple different folders and drives in a single File Explorer when the feature lands, similarly to how tabbed-browsing works in modern web browsers.

Closing words

File Explorer in Windows 11 version 22H2 gets a handful of new features that improve it. The new full context menu shortcut option, folder previews, or the option to display cloud provider content when launching File Explorer need to be mentioned specifically.

The update does not address the usability issues, on the other hand. There are still two context menus that users have to juggle between, and the main toolbar is still hiding options that were accessible right away previously.

Windows 11 version 22H2: file explorer changes

Version 4.08.09.2337 is now available for download from the official website, and it brings official support for Windows 11 version 22H2, with no other changes mentioned.

Before installing, check out the list of known bugs and issues:

• Sometimes custom install fails to upgrade to latest drivers.
• Text alignment issues may be seen on Russian language.
• Manual system restart required on Non-English OS after the installation is complete.
• Windows® Installer pop-up message may appear during the installation.
• Uninstall summary log may incorrectly show uninstall status as fail on non-English OS.

The latest AMD Chipset Driver is available for all motherboards compatible with Zen-based processors (Ryzen, Athlon, and Threadripper) with the following chipsets: A320, B350, X370, B450, X470, X399, A520, B550, X570, TRX40, and WRX80. Although all AM4 and TR4/sTRX4-based motherboards support Windows 11, first-gen Ryzen and Threadripper, seventh-gen AMD A-Series, and Ryzen 2000G do not officially work with Microsoft's newest OS. Still, users can bypass these limitations using a popular utility called Rufus.

Download AMD Ryzen Chipset Driver 4.08.09.2337 for Windows 10 and 11 64-bit here.

AMD releases new chipset driver with official Windows 11 22H2 support

Following this announcement, head to head testing back in November 2021, indeed showed Windows 11 outperforming Linux quite easily thanks to the special optimizations baked into Microsoft's new OS. In fact, it was beating out Windows 10 too, even when using an older Lakefield CPU.

Fast forward to August of 2022 and things are looking quite different than they were previously. Linux has since been optimized further with changes made under the hood to close the gap with Windows 11. The latest test on Ubuntu using Linux kernel version 5.18 shows an Alder Lake-S Core 19-12900K being barely any worse than when compared to a Windows 11 system.

However, further optimizations are still being done according to a new patch by Intel's Linux engineer Ricardo Neri. The new patch basically talks about improving task scheduling between the Bigger P-cores (performance cores) and the Bug E-cores (efficiency cores).

On processors with a mixture of higher-frequency SMT cores and lower- frequency non-SMT cores (such as Intel hybrid processors), a lower- priority CPU pulls tasks from the higher-priority cores if more than one SMT sibling is busy.

Do not use different priorities for each SMT sibling. Instead, tweak the asym_packing load balancer to recognize SMT cores with more than one busy sibling and let lower-priority CPUs pull tasks.

Removing these artificial priorities avoids superfluous migrations and lets lower-priority cores inspect all SMT siblings for the busiest queue.

With this Linux can potentially leave Windows 11 in the dust depending on the kind of improvements the new optimization sees. Besides it will be beneficial either way since Intel's upcoming 13th Gen Raptor Lake as well as future 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs will all be employing the same Performance Hybrid-based design.

Via: Phoronix

Linux could leave Windows 11 in the dust as Intel hybrid CPUs get further optimizations

Windows 11 has seen the Settings panel decorated with fresh animations in a new preview build of the operating system.

As Rafael Rivera, a Microsoft MVP, pointed out on Twitter (via XDA Developers (opens in new tab)), the animated navigation icons are an experiment in build 25188 of Windows 11.

Microsoft is experimenting with the idea of animating Settings navigation icons (vso/feature 34878152, Windows Insider Build 25188)[.]

The Microsoft Design team calls these delightful unexpected moments of joy with purpose https://t.co/rUIi924aIT

pic.twitter.com/2zYmbqg97N August 25, 2022[.]

As you can see in the tweet above, the animations are simple touches, so when you hover over the icon for Time & Language for example, the globe spins around, as do the hands of the little clock.

If you’re in the dev channel and have this latest preview build, but don’t see the animations in Settings, that’s because Microsoft is only testing them with a limited number of Windows Insiders to begin with.

In other Windows 11 news, we’re also hearing from Windows Latest (opens in new tab) that Microsoft is working on curing a bug with the taskbar which can cause a delay of a few seconds when it comes to the icons actually appearing on the bar – or even longer in some cases.

That’s pretty annoying, but the report claims Microsoft is aware of this problem and is working on a fix, and what’s more, that solution which will usher in other improvements in overall responsiveness, such as when pinning apps to the bar. This promises to be a very useful improvement, although issues like this shouldn’t have been present in the first place, of course.

Analysis: Moments of joy – or not?

Those animated icons in testing have prompted quite a polarized response. Some enjoy the effect, or even love it, and think that it adds some life to the interface. We can certainly see the argument that it’s nice to introduce a bit of flair and character to the UI. As Rivera points out, Microsoft has a philosophy of adding motion (opens in new tab) to the Windows 11 interface, rather than having a purely static environment, and it calls these touches “unexpected moments of joy”; but for some, they’re not particularly joyful.

These are the commenters who feel that such animations are unnecessary clutter, a case of trying to do too much with the interface. And naturally, with lots of little moments such as these adding up, there’ll be some concerns around any potential system slowdown (certainly on lesser powered PCs).

However, the obvious point to placate naysayers is that Microsoft will surely put in an option to be able to switch off these animations if necessary (and it will, of course, be needed from an accessibility standpoint for some users).

Indeed, further in the thread of his tweet, Rivera observes (opens in new tab) that currently these new animations for Settings are tied to the Animation Effects slider (under Accessibility > Visual Effects), so if you turn that off, they’re banished. There’s no reason to imagine this won’t be the case if these animations do make it through to the full release of Windows 11.

Note that for testers in the dev channel who aren’t seeing this feature, it is apparently possible to force the animations to be implemented, but we really wouldn’t recommend doing this. Have patience, as we should see a wider rollout to testers soon enough, if it seems like this feature is going anywhere. And if it isn’t, well, then it doesn’t really matter anyway.

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This update will eventually make its way to the Patch Tuesday release in September, but you can install it now if you want. The update brings improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, file compression, Microsoft Edge for IE mode, and more.

Here are the major highlights in this update:

• Addresses an issue related to USB printing that might cause your printer to malfunction after you restart it or reinstall it.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Windows 11 SE from trusting some Microsoft Store applications. This might prevent you from downloading the untrusted app.
• Addresses an issue that might cause certain Bluetooth audio headsets to stop playing after a progress bar adjustment.
• Addresses a known issue that causes Microsoft Edge to stop responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevents you from interacting with a dialog.

Here are the fixes:

• New! We gave IT admins the ability to remotely add languages and language-related features. Additionally, they can now manage language scenarios across several endpoint managers.
• New! We compressed a file regardless of its size if you have configured Server Message Block (SMB) Compression.
• New! We enhanced Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s ability to identify and intercept ransomware and advanced attacks
• We fixed an issue that causes ServerAssignedConfigurations to be null in a few full configuration scenarios.
• We fixed an issue that affects the automatic high dynamic range (Auto HDR) feature for cross-adapter resource scan-out (CASO)-capable GPU drivers.
• We fixed a known issue that causes Microsoft Edge to stop responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevents you from interacting with a dialog.
• We fixed an issue that prevents virtualized App-V Microsoft Office applications from opening or causes them to stop working.
• We fixed an issue that might cause the deployment of the Windows Hello for Business certificate to fail in certain circumstances after you reset a device.
• We fixed multiple issues related to USB printing, such as:
  • A printer malfunctions after you restart or reinstall it
  • Being in the wrong mode after you switch from an Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Class Driver to an independent hardware vendor (IHV) driver
  • Experiencing bidirectional communication issues that prevent you from accessing device features
• We fixed an issue that affects the ProjectionManager.StartProjectingAsync API. This issue stops some locales from connecting to Miracast Sinks.
• We fixed an issue that degrades BitLocker performance.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Windows 11 SE from trusting some Microsoft Store applications.
• We fixed an issue that prevents HyperVisor Code Integrity from being enabled automatically on systems that have Arm64 processors.
• We fixed an issue that stops non-Windows devices from authenticating. This issue occurs when they connect to a Windows-based remote desktop and use a smart card to authenticate.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Resultant Set of Policy tool (Rsop.msc) to stop working when it processes 1,000 or more “File System” security settings.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Take a Test app to remove all policies related to lockdown enforcement when you close the app.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Settings app to stop working on server domain controllers (DCs) when accessing the Privacy > Activity history page.
• We fixed an issue that might cause certain Bluetooth audio headsets to stop playing after a progress bar adjustment. This issue affects modern systems that support Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) offload.
• We fixed an issue that prevents devices from receiving an offer from Windows Update for the same extension driver when that extension driver is already installed without the base driver.
• We fixed a race condition that causes the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) to stop working on Active Directory domain controllers. This issue occurs when LSASS processes simultaneous Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) over Transport Layer Security (TLS) requests that fail to decrypt. The exception code is 0xc0000409 (STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN).
• We fixed an issue that affects a lookup for a nonexistent security ID (SID) from the local domain using read-only domain controller (RODC). The lookup unexpectedly returns the STATUS_TRUSTED_DOMAIN_FAILURE error instead of STATUS_NONE_MAPPED or STATUS_SOME_MAPPED.
• We fixed an issue that might cause the Local Security Authority Server Service (LSASS) to leak tokens. This issue affects devices that have installed Windows updates dated June 14, 2022 or later. This issue occurs when the device performs a specific form of service for user (S4U) in a non-Trusted Computing Base (TCB) Windows service that runs as Network Service.

Microsoft also disclosed that it contains a new service stack (from a previous build) that should improve the quality of Windows Updates:

Windows 11 servicing stack update - 22000.910

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

There is one Known Issue for this build, however it mainly only applies to IT admins, and shouldn't affect consumers (home users).

After installing this update, XPS Viewer might be unable to open XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents in some non-English languages, including some Japanese and Chinese character encodings. This issue affects both XML Paper Specification (XPS) and Open XML Paper Specification (OXPS) files. When encountering this issue, you may receive an error, "This page cannot be displayed" within XPS Viewer or it might stop responding and have high CPU usage with continually increasing memory usage. When the error is encountered, if XPS Viewer is not closed it might reach up to 2.5GB of memory usage before closing unexpectedly.

This issue does not affect most home users. The XPS Viewer is no longer installed by default as of Windows 10, version 1803 and must be manually installed.

There's a couple of ways to get this update, you can Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. In the Optional updates available area, you’ll find the link to download and install the update. You can also grab it from the Microsoft Update Catalog and install it manually for ARM and x64 versions of Windows 11.

The official update notice is linked here.

Windows 11 optional update (KB5016691) fixes USB printing, Bluetooth audio, and more

You can spot the new animations when clicking any of the primary sections inside the Settings app. Microsoft calls these subtle animations "unexpected moments of joy with purpose," and they appear across the operating system when minimizing an app, clicking a button in the control center, changing volume or brightness, or selecting items from drop-down menus.

Microsoft has not officially announced the new animations for the Settings app, but you can enable them using the Vivetool app.

Important: Back up your data before using Vivetool. Enabling experimental and hidden features often yields unexpected results and causes bugs and instabilities. You are the only person responsible for your computer's safety.

Enable animated icons in the Settings app in Windows 11 build 25188

1. Download the Vivetool app from GitHub and extract the files wherever convenient. For example, in the root of drive C.

2. Launch Windows Terminal as Administrator and switch the app to the Command Prompt profile.

3. Open the Vivetool folder using the CD command. Here is an example: CD C:\Vive.

4. Type the following command: vivetool /enable /id:34878152 and press Enter.

5. Open the Settings app and click one of its primary sections.

6. Enjoy the eye candy.

Note that the new icons in the Settings app are just an experiment, which means Microsoft can pull them out of the operating system at any time (like the company did with the new taskbar animation). Still, for now, you have time to test the new animations and share your feedback with Microsoft using the Feedback Hub app.

Do you like the new Settings app animations, or do you prefer the static variant? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Windows 11 build 25188 brings animated icons to the Settings app, here is how to enable them

Microsoft had earlier confirmed reports of Insider build 22621 being chosen as the release to manufacturing (RTM) candidate for Windows 11 22H2 (Sun Valley 2). Today, a new report from German media outlet Deskmodder claims that the recent build 22621.382 (KB5016632) will be the one made generally available (GA).

Interestingly, Microsoft inadvertently has already revealed what the 22H2 feature update is called, at least for now. The name is pretty unimaginative as it's simply called "Windows 11 2022 Update". However, upon realizing its mistake in outing the name, the Redmond company quickly removed it.

For those running Windows 11 21H2, which is the original release, it should be a seamless upgrade process as the system requirements haven't changed. In terms of features, here is a quick rundown of what you can expect in Windows 11 2022 update. Some features may not be available at launch and will be added later during a futures "Moments update".

Source: Deskmodder

Recent build 22621.382 (KB5016632) rumored to be Windows 11 22H2 (Sun Valley 2) GA

In late 2021, O&O AppBuster was updated to support Windows 11, the operating system that Microsoft released a few months earlier.

Windows administrators may want to remove apps that are not needed or wanted on Windows machines. Why keep Paint 3D installed if Paint is available, or a third-party solution that is better?

Windows administrators have other means at their disposal when it comes to the uninstallation of Windows apps. Some can be removed from Settings > Apps, but many can't. PowerShell can be used to remove apps, but this is not suitable for many users. Other apps, including GeekUninstaller or winget may be used as well.

O&O AppBuster is an easy to use application. Download the latest version from the official website and run it afterwards on a Windows system. The app provides a list of installed Windows apps, sorted into normal and hidden groups.

The latest version introduced support for a dark mode, which you may enable under View.

Options to enable listings for system apps and frameworks are provided via the view menu at the top. While the latter two may be displayed, apps in those groups are not removable using AppBuster.

Each app is listed with its full name, installation status, availability, and storage space that it occupies. From there, it is just the matter of checking the boxes of apps that you want to remove from the system. O&O AppBuster supports the installation of apps as well, which you may also initiate from there.

The latest update of the application, released in April 2022, introduced support for uninstalling apps for the current user, all users or the computer. While you may use AppBuster to remove apps from a single account, you may also use it to remove it for all users in one go, or the computer.

AppBuster supports creating system restore points for recovery purposes. Once you have made the selection, the selected apps are removed according to these specifications.

The most recent version optimizes the order in which apps get removed from the system (according to mutual dependencies).

Note that you can't install apps again using AppBuster if you remove them from the entire machine. You may be able to install them again from the Microsoft Store or through other means.

Closing Words

O&O AppBuster is an easy to use program to remove default Windows apps. It is free, supports the bulk removal of normal and hidden apps, and creates a system restore point before the removal for recovery purposes. While it can't be used to remove system apps, most users may not need that functionality on their devices.

Now You: did you remove default Windows programs or apps on your devices?

Landing page:   https://www.oo-software.com/en/ooappbuster

Uninstall Windows apps for all users in bulk with O&O AppBuster

In Windows 10 and Windows 11, opening a console program would cause the operating system to launch the program in a console window using the 'cmd.exe' command-line interpreter. Similarly, PowerShell would open in its own command line interface for executing commands.

In 2019, Microsoft began developing 'Windows Terminal,' a modern console that allows you to launch different command-line interpreters within a single tabbed interface.

In both Windows 10 Insider builds and Windows 11, Microsoft has already integrated support for Windows Terminal into the operating system, letting you select it as your default console terminal.

However, Microsoft had previously said they plan to make Windows Terminal the default console for everyone in 2022.

"Over the course of 2022, we are planning to make Windows Terminal the default experience on Windows 11 devices," Windows Terminal Program Manager Kayla Cinnamon said.

Now the default console in Dev preview builds

Today, Microsoft has released Windows 11 'Dev' preview build 25188 and finally brings those plans to fruition, as in this build, Windows Terminal is now the default console when launching a command-line application or PowerShell script.

"Windows Terminal is now the default terminal in Windows 11. This means, all command line applications will open in Windows Terminal automatically (Command Prompt and PowerShell, for example)," Microsoft announced today.

For this change to occur, users must have Windows Terminal 1.15 or later installed, and in our tests, have opened the program at least once. Once set as the default terminal, any console programs will now automatically launch within Windows Terminal.

This setting can be changed by going into Settings > Privacy & security > For developers and changing the 'Terminal' setting, which will now be set to 'Let Windows decide.'

Windows Terminal is now the default terminal in Windows 11 dev builds

Google’s Fuchsia OS is taking over smart displays, now on its second device

Queued up now in TIP's x86/cpu branch for the Linux 6.1 merge window in October is a patch to print the likely CPU at segmentation fault time. Printing the likely CPU core and socket when a seg fault occurs can be beneficial if routinely finding seg faults happening on the same CPU package or particular core.

Rik van Riel who authored the change summed it up as:

 In a large enough fleet of computers, it is common to have a few bad CPUs. Those can often be identified by seeing that some commonly run kernel code, which runs fine everywhere else, keeps crashing on the same CPU core on one particular bad system.

 However, the failure modes in CPUs that have gone bad over the years are often oddly specific, and the only bad behavior seen might be segfaults in programs like bash, python, or various system daemons that run fine everywhere else.

 Add a printk() to show_signal_msg() to print the CPU, core, and socket at segfault time.

 This is not perfect, since the task might get rescheduled on another CPU between when the fault hit, and when the message is printed, but in practice this has been good enough to help people identify several bad CPU cores.

This little helper to assist in spotting potentially faulty processors will be there for use starting on Linux 6.1 later this year.

Not directly related: I Bent A Kabylake CPU & It Still Works

It's a small but useful complement to the likes of the new Intel In-Field Scan, MCEs, EDAC reporting, etc.

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Additionally, new animated Settings icons have also been spotted and Microsoft could apparently be working to enhance the security side of Windows 11 with a new Secure Boot driver too. And that's not all; it seems as Microsoft is adding a new option to create live kernel dump files from within the Task Manager as well.

 Task Manager will soon let you generate a live kernel dump (vso/feature id 40430431, Windows Insider Build 25188)

 Special thanks to @swanleroi for the photo from Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul pic.twitter.com/rcbwvvZbrk

 — Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) August 25, 2022

Kernel dump files create a snapshot of kernel memory which allows their analysis when troubleshooting app crashes, driver errors, Windows BSODs, among others. Live kernel dump files are similar except they don't require a system reboot in order to create a dump. Hence, this is useful since it doesn't disrupt the system in case of a non-fatal error.

So with this new option, if a program or app stops responding, a user can now create a live dump for it from Task Manager for analysis instead of just ending the task or process.

Via: Xeno (Twitter)

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Outside the changes announced, some hidden features in the new 25188 build include new animated Settings icons and a new Task Manager with the option for creating live kernel dumps that can be very handy for troubleshooting. Microsoft could apparently be working to enhance the security side of Windows 11 too with a new Secure Boot driver.

Additionally, hints of next-gen Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 have also been uncovered by Twitter user Xeno.

 Sounds like WDDM 3.2 is being worked on. Google is only bringing up some job related pages. pic.twitter.com/Yf954o7qGl

 — Xeno (@XenoPanther) August 24, 2022

The string was found inside the DirectX Diagnostic tool (dxdiagn.dll) as you can see in the image below:

At the moment it is not known what the next WDDM version will bring to the table, but generally speaking, each revision adds some new features related to performance and efficiency enhancements. The upcoming Windows 11 version 22H2 feature update introduces WDDM v3.1. In the case of AMD, there is a huge performance boost in store for users running OpenGL applications with driver 22.7.1, though, it probably has more to do with AMD's own efforts than the change in WDDM version.

Likewise, WDDM 3.2 may be in the works for the next major Windows release, though at the moment it is difficult to pinpoint how or when it will be introduced. That's because recent reports have suggested that the Redmond software giant is going back to a three-year release schedule.

Via: XenoThePanter (Reddit)

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