Remember 2021? Microsoft does, and has emitted a fresh build to the Windows Insider Release Preview channel for Windows 10 21H2, with a few useful fixes, including one where Edge will stop responding when Internet Explorer mode is on.

The company has yet to name a date for Windows 10 22H2, and has instead continued to pump out updates for 21H2. This one (build 19044.1947 or KB5016688) contains a raft of fixes as well as a couple of new features.

Admittedly, Microsoft's track record with updates has been a bit patchy of late and we can only hope things go more smoothly this time since there are some handy fixes contained within it.

The update is "non-security," according to Microsoft, but does feature one update useful for users seeking to secure their PCs – an enhancement for Microsoft Defender for Endpoints to spot and stop ransomware and other attacks. Language scenarios can also be managed across several endpoint managers.

Otherwise, the update has large number of practical fixes, including the one where its Edge browser will stop responding when Internet Explorer mode is on (also preventing interaction with dialogs).

An issue that "degrades BitLocker performance" has been fixed, as has a slightly embarrassing error related to the Take a Test app, which resulted in all policies related to lockdown enforcement being removed when the app is closed.

The Take a Test app, according to Microsoft, "creates the right environment for taking a test." Only the test is shown, the clipboard is cleared, other apps can't be accessed, that sort of thing. Even Cortana is turned off (although if one never uses the assistant, would one even notice?) so a potential lifting of policies when the app is closed could be a little awkward.

Other fixes include dealing with race conditions (including one that might cause cldflt.sys to reference invalid memory) and issues around licensing and subscriptions. There is also a fix for an issue that could prevent virtualized App-V Microsoft Office applications from opening or working.

According to AdDuplex figures, Windows 10 21H2 continues to command the lion's share of the modern PC marketplace. It is therefore heartening to see Microsoft continuing to enhance the platform, even with its successor waiting in the wings. ®

Source

For those paying attention, oddly enough this is still 21H2 being rolled out to Release Preview, while Windows 10 22H2 has still not gotten a release date.

You can view the long list of changes below:

This update includes the following improvements:

• 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 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 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 affects transparency in layered windows when you are in High Definition remote applications integrated locally (RAIL) mode.
• We fixed an issue that might generate error 0x1E when you shut down or restart a device.
• We fixed an issue that causes a subscription activation to fail under certain conditions.
• We fixed an issue that might cause some game installations to fail because of a licensing issue.
• 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 an issue that degrades BitLocker performance.
• 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 continues to trust a revoked Attestation Identity Key (AIK) certificate and fails to generate a new certificate.
• 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 affects the jump list icon colors in the Search app.
• We fixed an issue that affects Focus Assist functionality for applications that run in full screen.
• 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 cldflt.sys to reference invalid memory in race conditions.
• We fixed an issue that affects input and output in the Storport driver and might cause your system to stop responding.

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 10 Release Preview Build 19044.1947 (KB5016688) adds language management, and more

You can get more feedback regarding Windows Widgets in the Feedback Hub app under the Feedback > Desktop Environment > Widgets category. We recommend you to upvote posts you agree with using direct links. Also, check out our other Top 10 articles covering the Microsoft Store, OneNote, Teams, OneDrive, GitHub, and Outlook.

1. Remove News from the Widgets area - 9800+ upvotes.
   The amount of upvotes this suggestion received proves that users want Windows Widgets to be a helpful toolbox first, not a tabloid feed. Mixing articles with widgets defeats the sole purpose of glanceable tiles of information that do not require opening a corresponding app. Instead of quickly getting the information they need, users need to waste time looking for the needed widgets buried somewhere in the news feed.
2. Add more stock widgets, such as clock, Sticky Notes, or calculator - 1700+ upvotes.
   Microsoft is pushing Windows 11 as a user-first, productivity-first operating system, but, for now, Windows Widgets feel like a gateway for Microsoft to push more of its own content instead of productivity utilities. Do you want more widgets? Here is a “widget” showing ads games from Game Pass.
3. Add support for third-party widgets - 1700+ upvotes.
   Fortunately, Windows 11 users will soon get their wish. Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed it would soon let developers create custom widgets for Windows 11. Unfortunately, there has been no information about third-party widgets published ever since.
4. Disable Windows Widgets background activity - 1600+ upvotes.
   The ability to get the weather forecast on the taskbar—now much more accurate—is not free. You pay with CPU and RAM usage, which may become notable on lower-end hardware. Interestingly, the News and Interests feature in Windows 10 has the option to limit background activity.
5. Open widgets in corresponding apps, not Edge - 980+ upvotes.
   This is self-explanatory. Users want the weather widget to open the default Weather app, not Microsoft Edge (bypassing the default browser), and the MSN website with an extra news feed below the forecast. Tip: You can make Windows 11 respect your default browser choice when clicking a widget with a third-party app called MSEdgeRedirect.
6. Let users pin separate widgets directly to the desktop (aka Windows Gadgets) - 940+ upvotes.
   Placing favorite widgets directly on the desktop will make it easier to use the feature without extra steps, just like in Windows Vista and 7 with its Gadgets. Unfortunately, Microsoft's official response is “this isn't something we currently support.”
7. Add multi-account support - 530+ upvotes.
   The calendar widget in Windows 11 does not support events from non-Microsoft accounts, not to mention multi-account support, like personal and work or personal and school. Again, a significant productivity downgrade (compared to Windows 10) in a productivity-focused operating system.
8. Prevent Windows Widgets from opening on hover - 450+ upvotes.
   The option to turn off open on hover is another feature Windows lost during the transition from 10 to 11. It might not be a problem if you use a centered taskbar, but with icons aligned to the left (the OG variant, which many users still prefer), the amount of accidental opening becomes hard to ignore.
9. Add custom RSS feeds support - 200+ upvotes.
   Although you can personalize news interests, Windows Widgets do not support custom RSS feeds. Implementing RSS support could make Windows Widgets a place users want to open and use because it contains their content, not something Microsoft thinks you might like.
10. Fix poor reliability and bugs - many upvotes.
    There are numerous reports of users having to deal with broken widgets and high resource consumption.

What do you think about these feedback pieces? What do you want to see Microsoft add/change/improve in Windows Widgets? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Top 10 features and changes users want in Windows 11 Widgets

Avatar profile photo is all about letting users choose their perfect avatar. As can be seen in the screenshot, users will also be able to select the background color of their choosing while creating avatars. It is not just the profile photo section where the instant chat messaging platform will introduce avatar support. The chat messenger is also working on another functionality that will allow users to use avatars as a mask while placing video calls.

Currently, these features are not available for beta testers, meaning you can not test them even after registering as a beta member. But it is highly likely WhatsApp will introduce these new functionalities to beta users first. Unfortunately, though, we do not know when it will go live for beta testers or the general public.

Apart from avatar profile photos, WhatsApp will also introduce new privacy features to its chat messenger, and these will probably be available very soon. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg recently announced three important features to protect. These include the ability to exit group chats without notifying others, control who can see when you are online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages. You can learn more about these features here.

If you are using WhatsApp, which upcoming features are the most exciting to you? Also, if you have suggestions or a feature idea, you can tell us in the comments section.

Avatar profile photo may come to WhatsApp soon

The new version of Thunderbird came with numerous improvements, including improved message headers, a new Spaces toolbar, a redesigned address book, better importing and exporting functionality, and more.

In-client upgrades to Thunderbird 102, meaning updates from within, were not enabled at the time. Thunderbird users who wanted to upgrade to the new release had to download it manually from the project website and run the installer locally.

The process kept many users from upgrading; some may have missed the release entirely, others preferred to stay with the older Thunderbird version to give the new version some time to mature.

The team released several Thunderbird 102 updates in the meantime, which addressed bugs and issues in the email client for the most part. The last update, Thunderbird 102.1.1 fixed a huge number of issues.

Thunderbird's development team announced previously that they would enable in-client updates when they felt comfortable in regards to bugs and issues. The time seems to have come, as updates are now enabled for manual seekers.

The announcement was published on Thunderbird's official Twitter account.

It's time to update to Thunderbird 102!  Windows + macOS users: we've enabled manual upgrades from v91 to v102. ---

Go to ? > HELP > ABOUT THUNDERBIRD, and then click the update button! (There may be an interim update to 91.12.0 before you can upgrade to 102)

Thunderbird users who want to upgrade their copy of the email client to Thunderbird 102 need to select Help > About Thunderbird to do so. An update to Thunderbird 91.12.0 may be offered first, depending on the installed version. If that is the case, it is necessary to select the About Thunderbird menu item twice.

Automatic updates are not yet enabled, which means that Thunderbird 91 installations are not upgraded without user action at this point. It looks as if automatic upgrades will be enabled in the near future. The team revealed that it is "gathering more data about a few bugs" currently before unlocking automatic updates.

Now You: did you upgrade to Thunderbird 102 already? What is your view on the new version?

Thunderbird 91 updates to 102 are now enabled for manual seekers

Frontpaged: Mozilla Thunderbird 102.1.2

Besides better OS support, Rufus provides several quality-of-life improvements, especially for those wanting to install Windows 11. For starters, Rufus can bypass TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements to create an install media compatible with older and officially unsupported hardware. Another benefit of using Rufus instead of MCT is the option to skip the Microsoft Account requirement and automatically disable data-harvesting options during the initial Windows 11 setup.

Users can combine Rufus and the Media Creation Tool when creating a Windows 11 bootable USB. For example, download the official ISO using MCT and then flash the ISO with Rufus. Alternatively, you can download the original Windows ISO files directly in Rufus, making acquiring the original ISO files of older Windows versions hassle-free.

Create Windows 11 installation USB using Rufus

• 1. Begin with downloading Rufus from the app’s official website. Rufus is free, and it is available in installable and portable variants.

• 2. Connect your USB drive (8 GB is the minimum requirement) and launch Rufus. If you need to change the app’s language, click the button with a globe icon.

• 3. Select the USB drive from the Device drop-down.

• 4. If you already have a Windows 11 ISO, select Disk or ISO Image and click Select, then skip to Step 9.

• 5. You can download the original Windows 11 ISO file using Rufus if you do not have it. To do so, click the arrow-down button next to the Select button and press Download.

• 6. Click the Download button again and wait a few seconds for Rufus to run the needed script. Note: Rufus uses a third-party script to connect to Microsoft servers and download original ISOs.

• 7. Select the Windows version you need, and click Continue. The app will prompt you to pick release, SKU (Edition), Language, and architecture.

• 8. Once everything is set, click Download, specify where Rufus should save the ISO, and wait for the app to complete its job.

• 9. Now you are ready to write the ISO to the USB drive. You can leave the Volume Label as is or rename it to something more palatable, for example, Windows11_Install.

• 10. Click Start.

• 11. After clicking the Start button, Rufus will offer you to customize the installation with the following options (place checkmarks next to the ones you need):
  • Remove Requirement for 4GB+ RAM – tick this option if you want to install Windows 11 on a computer with unsupported hardware.
  • Disable data collection – Windows 11 will not ask you to send diagnostic data, enable location, advertisement ID, and other things some users consider privacy-invading.
  • Set a local account – select this option to skip the Microsoft Account requirement. Windows 11 will not ask you to sign in with a Microsoft Account during the initial setup.
  • Set regional options using the same values as this user – Rufus will copy the current regional settings to the new installation.

• 12. Click Ok and wait for Rufus to create Windows 11 installation USB. You can check the progress in the Status section.

Now you can use your USB drive to install Windows 11 from scratch.

How to create Windows 11 bootable USB using Rufus

At its core, Firefox Translations works similarly to how Chrome's Google Translate or Microsoft Edge's Bing Translate features work: when the user visits a foreign language website, as identified by the languages used on the system or in the browser, translate suggests to translate the content to the system language. When that happens in Chrome or Edge, data is submitted to servers that the companies operate. With Firefox Translations, no such data is submitted. Mozilla does not know the URL of the website, when you accessed it, your IP address, information about your system, or the information that the site contains.

Another difference between the two translations systems is that Firefox Translations needs to download language information the first time a language is selected for translation; this may be a bit inconvenient for users who have access to slow Internet connections only, but it is a one-time process for each language.

Firefox Translations is a game changer

Firefox Translations improves privacy significantly when using translate services. Vivaldi Browser offers the next best thing, by hosting translate servers that users of the browser use. While you could argue that this is not really that different from Google hosting its Translate servers, it is clear that both companies have a different stance on user privacy. Google is an advertising company first and foremost, and data is what increases the company's revenue.

Firefox Translations fills a feature gap in the Firefox browser. Translate functionality is important to many users, and Google's integration of Google Translate in Chrome was a game changer at the time. It improved translations by making them convenient in the browser. No longer was it necessary to install a browser extension or open a translate website manually to get a translated version of a site.

Mozilla's service is a work in progress, and there are several restrictions and limitations currently that hold it back. If Mozilla manages to address these, Firefox Translations could very well become another game changer when it comes to in-browser translations.

The ifs...

Language support is still a work in progress; this is without a doubt the main limitation right now. Firefox Translations supports a dozen or so languages, including English, French, Spanish, German and several others, but it lacks support for hundreds of others, not even counting languages such as Klingon or Borg. It takes time to get support added for these, which, in the meantime, limits the reach of Firefox Translations.

Firefox integration is provided via a browser extension currently. Native support improves the usability, as translate functionality is built-in then and not dependent on the installation of a browser extension. To compete with Chrome's translate service, Firefox Translations needs to become a native feature of Firefox.

Translation options need an option to always translate a particular language; this does not seem to be supported at the time. While users may select the "never translate language" option, no such option to always translate a specific language or site is provided.

Last but not least, there needs to be an option to translate specific text parts such as a paragraph or a sentence.

Closing Words

Firefox Translations is a huge undertaking that improves Firefox already and will improve Firefox for lots of users in the future. Time is an issue, as language support is lacking and needs to expand. While Mozilla is working on that, the organization can't afford to continue working on the service for several years before it is ready to compete with the cloud-based translation services in regards to language support.

Several Chromium-based browser makers may be interested in Firefox Translations. Brave Software, for instance, decided against integrating Google Translate natively in the browser. It displays a prompt to users to install Google Translate, but that has privacy implications and reduced functionality when compared to Chrome's native offering. It is unclear if these companies could integrate Firefox Translations in their browsers.

Now You: what is your take on Firefox Translations?

Firefox Translations is going to be a game changer, if...

It is important to understand that tabbed File Explorer is not ready for public consumption by the masses yet, which is exactly why it is only available in the Insider Preview for those who opt-in to it. As such, it is naive to expect perfection or even stability from the feature. That said, when the feature does arrive officially, I expect it to have more capabilities than what are currently on offer.

So, I have decided to jot down a list of functionalities that I would expect a tabbed interface to offer when, and if, it becomes generally available (GA). Seeing that Windows 11 version 22H2 is expected to land in a couple of months without this UX and Windows 11 version 23H2 being reportedly canceled, I would expect tabbed File Explorer to land sometime next year as a “moments” update, provided that it does hit GA.

With that out of the way, let's begin!

1 - Better performance

As it currently stands, tabbed File Explorer (which I'll just refer to as “File Explorer” for the rest of this article) isn't the most efficient piece of software out there. Although you'll be fine when using a couple of tabs, it does show notable jitter when you have multiple tabs open. In fact, I actually noticed that opening a new window of File Explorer seems to be a bit faster than opening a new tab.

I know that this is preview software, so I'm not knocking on it. What I want to emphasize is that if this File Explorer does hit GA, I would want it to have way better performance than what it currently offers.

I don't expect to open more than a few tabs at a time, but Microsoft has to think of the way the market is going to use it. The tabbed interface is quite similar to what we have in our browsers right now, and a lot of people have the habit of having dozens of tabs open simultaneously. The same user group might try to use the new File Explorer the same way and end up ditching the capability altogether if it doesn't meet their performance expectations.

I fully understand that a browser and a File Explorer aren't equivalent, so they should not have the same performance targets. What I mean is that people may use them in the same way. As such, Microsoft needs to give this area some thought. One method would be to have some kind of “soft” limit or recommendation of how many tabs can be open simultaneously, and then giving people the option to change it to an arbitrary number if they are okay with the performance hit. There could be other ways to tackle this problem, this is just one of those.

2 - Merge tabs

Something interesting that Microsoft could work on next could be the ability to “merge” tabs. Consider a use-case where you have two directories open, and you want to compare their content and manually copy-paste files between both.

One way to do this would be to have two separate instances of File Explorer open and have them snapped next to each other. However, a tabbed interface is supposed to make the need for separate instances redundant to some extent, so you could also open the two directories in two tabs. The drawback here would be that you wouldn't be able to see both at the same time.

As such, one avenue Microsoft could explore would be to give users the ability to merge tabs, where you can have multiple tabs open side by side depending on your screen real estate. You can see an example of this below where two tabs have been merged with the option to split them off again in separate tabs if you want:

I don't think that this is an absolutely necessary feature, but I do believe that it could improve productivity for many people who are involved in workflows where they need to have multiple directories open while having the ability to view them simultaneously. Microsoft hasn't really added a lot of new functionalities to File Explorer in the past few years, so this could be a decent experiment.

3 - Better context menus for tabs

Right now, File Explorer has a very bare-bones context menu specific to the tab. If you right-click on a tab, you'll get a small context menu that gives you these three options:

• Close tab
• Close other tabs
• Close tabs to the right

It would be nice to have more options like Duplicate, Pin, and Merge, depending on the functionalities that Microsoft is planning for File Explorer in the long run.

4 - Persistent tab groups

I can't help but draw comparisons between browsers and File Explorer due to the similar interface that they now offer. With that in mind, I also wouldn't mind having the ability to make tab groups.

Now, I have a bunch of Neowin-related folders in different directories, so I would appreciate if I could create a tab group that contains all of those different directories. And then, there would be a single-click mechanism with which I could open a collection of tabs.

Of course, you could pin those directories in the Favorites section and open them individually, but what I am proposing is the ability to open multiple pre-defined tabs with a single click. In theory, I could have separate directories containing Neowin logos, custom images, and other miscellaneous content open across multiple tabs with a single click.

Since we are drawing comparisons to browsers, my preferred browser Chrome actually falters a bit in this space because the tab groups it offers are ephemeral in nature. You lose them if you close your browser window or restart your PC - unless you find them in your browser history. I would like File Explorer to overcome this problem by offering tab groups of a persistent nature. Personally, I'd love to experiment with something like this and see how it impacts my workflow.

5 - Drag and drop tabs as windows

I feel like a major missing feature in File Explorer right now is the lack of ability to drag-and-drop a tab as a separate instance/window of File Explorer.

People who use tabs in File Explorer quite heavily might want to de-clutter their interface a bit by dragging and dropping their windows across different instances. In essence, this would be a hybrid workflow where you are using both tabs and windows to de-clutter your workflows.

However, this is not currently possible at all. You can drag-and-drop tabs in the same window, but you can't drop it as a new instance. I believe that it is very important to have this capability, and I would love it if Microsoft could implement it in the future.

That's it for my wishlist for the features I want in tabbed File Explorer in Windows 11. Do you agree with the list? Do you have a wishlist of your own in this space too? Let us know in the comments section below!

Top 5 features I want in tabbed File Explorer in Windows 11

The recent updates for Windows Widgets have finally mitigated this quite annoying bug, resulting in users reporting much higher location accuracy. As a result of the change, customers will also notice the location icon in the notification area saying Windows Widgets are using your precise location. That is the operating system getting your location info to provide an accurate weather forecast.

Those unhappy with Windows frequently requesting location data can switch Windows Widgets to display weather forecasts for a specific city or ZIP code. Here is how to do that:

1. Open Windows Widgets and click the three-dots button on the Weather widgets.
2. Click Customize Widget.

   

    

3. Toggle off the Always detect my location option.

   

    

4. Enter the city you need or its ZIP code.
5. Click Save.

Alternatively, you can disable location services in the Settings app. Head to Settings > Privacy & security > Location and disable Location services.

Microsoft is currently testing an updated and more interactive taskbar widget in Windows 11. The operating system can swap the weather forecast with stock info or different sports results, giving users more information with fewer clicks.

Microsoft improves weather location detection in Windows Widgets

Some users have experienced an issue with screencast where the video doesn’t start recording once you try to initiate it. After a quick search online, the Ask Ubuntu website offered up a potential solution to the issue, and it appears to work. Just open up the terminal on Ubuntu, enter the following command, and hit enter:

rm -rf ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0

Once you’ve done that, press the print screen button, press the screencast option, and then start recording. You should see a recording button appear at the upper right of the display which shows how long the video is and a stop button. When you’re done with your video, press stop. It will then be saved to Videos > Screencasts. If for whatever reason it doesn’t save, delete the Screencasts folder and try again.

Screencasts not recording in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS? Here's how to fix that

It is worth noting that the problem affects only the Security update for Secure Boot DBX. The latest cumulative security updates, monthly rollups, and feature changes released on August 9, 2022, should apply without problems. You can check what is new in the August 2022 Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows 8.1 in our dedicated articles.

Microsoft says its engineers and developers are investigating the bug, and the company plans to provide a fix in upcoming updates. Meanwhile, affected customers can bypass the issue by updating UEFI to the latest version available before installing KB5012170.

A problem with installing the Security update for Secure Boot DBX is not the only known issue Microsoft is currently troubleshooting. The company recently confirmed that Windows 11 and 10 have problems opening XPS documents containing non-English characters. XPS Viewer hangs and starts hogging resources until eventually crashes upon swallowing 2.5 GB of RAM.

Source

Some users have experienced an issue with screencast where the video doesn’t start recording once you try to initiate it. After a quick search online, the Ask Ubuntu website offered up a potential solution to the issue, and it appears to work. Just open up the terminal on Ubuntu, enter the following command, and hit enter:

rm -rf ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0

Once you’ve done that, press the print screen button, press the screencast option, and then start recording. You should see a recording button appear at the upper right of the display which shows how long the video is and a stop button. When you’re done with your video, press stop. It will then be saved to Videos > Screencasts. If for whatever reason it doesn’t save, delete the Screencasts folder and try again.

Source

Options to download Windows ISO images was introduced in Rufus 3.5, which the developer released in 2019. The ability to download Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11 ISO images was a welcome feature addition, as it made the process of creating Windows boot media more comfortable.

The developer has added more features to Rufus in the meantime that improved the program for some Windows administrators and users significantly.

Options to bypass Windows 11 system requirements during Inplace upgrades and to create local accounts instead of Microsoft accounts, and to deny privacy questions outright, were added in 2022.

Downloads are powered by the Fido script in Rufus, and this worked fine ever since the functionality was introduced. The script pulled download information from Microsoft servers and downloads were provided by Microsoft.

Now, Rufus users are receiving error messages on attempts to download Windows 8, 10 or 11 using Rufus.

The current error message is displayed after selecting an operating system version in the downloader. It states:

 Error: Download of Windows ISOs is no longer available due to Microsoft having altered their website to prevent it.

Windows 7 ISO downloads are still supported and work just like before. It is unclear why Microsoft is not blocking Windows 7 downloads as well.

Microsoft is still offering Windows ISO image downloads from its own website. A visit to the Windows 11 Download page on the Microsoft website continues to provide users with ISO images when they request them.

A link to a thread on GitHub is provided where the matter is discussed. According to the information published there, Microsoft made a deliberate change to prevent downloads from any other source than its own website.

The Fido 1.30 changelog confirms the change as well:

 Disable Windows 8 ? Windows 11 ISO downloads

 It appears that Microsoft purposefully made their download servers hostile to our script, and trying to fix this is likely to take a long time...

The developer is asking for help to find a way around this limitation. While it is possible to download official ISO images from Microsoft, downloads are limited to specific builds only.

With Rufus and Fido, users could pick different versions for download. Another advantage was that the entire process was integrated in a single program.

Closing words

We contacted Microsoft to find out more about the issue, but have not heard back yet.

Source

Also: You can no longer download Windows 11, 10 ISOs via Rufus as Microsoft blocks Fido.

The new taskbar animation ditches the old fly-up style in favor of a new zoom-in variant—a subtle UI change that might generate different opinions among Windows Insiders. Here is a comparison of the new animations, courtesy of PhantomOcean3:

Like with other A/B experiments in Windows 11 preview builds, some users can enjoy the new animation without software hacks and tricks, while others cannot. If you are the latter, ViveTool is here to save your day.

Note: Force-enabling hidden features and capabilities Microsoft is testing in A/B mode can cause unexpected results or instabilities. Proceed at your own risk and remember to back up important data.

How to enable the new taskbar animation in Windows 11 build 25179?

1. Download ViveTool from its repository on GitHub using this link.
2. Extract files wherever it is convenient for you—for example, C:\Vive.
3. Launch Windows Terminal as Administrator and navigate to the folder with the ViveTool files using the CD command. Here is an example: CD C:\Vive.
4. Now type the following command: vivetool /enable /id:39072097 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer to apply the changes and watch the taskbar load with the new animation.
6. In case you do not like the updated taskbar animation, use the vivetool /disable /id:39072097 command to revert to the original variant.

Do you like the new animation or maybe prefer the previous version? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Windows 11 build 25179 gets new taskbar animation, here is how to enable it

However, Microsoft has not been able to figure out why this is happening. It explains:

This issue occurs when the EmailAddress string data value under the Office identity is blank.

Registry path: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\Identities

[..]

We do not know why the EmailAddress key is not being set properly. It’s best if this key is set by the Office application, so it is preferred to use the most supported options first.

Hence, the first image below shows the instance where Outlook will crash as there is no email address value in that key. Meanwhile the second one shows where a email value is present does not close.

So the workaround that Microsoft has provided revolves around this though further investigation is being carried out to figure out why such a thing is happening.

To work around the issue, try the following suggestions:

• Sign out of Office and then sign back in to Office to repopulate the identity registry settings. For more information, use Sign in to Office.
• If the identity is still not getting set properly you can turn off Support Diagnostics which turns off the option to submit an In App ticket using Help, Contact Support, and its feature path that triggers Outlook to stop responding. For more information, use Disable support diagnostics in Outlook
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General] DisableSupportDiagnostics"=dword:00000001
• You can try manually setting the email address to the identity of the user that is seeing the issue in the registry path referenced in the issue specifics above.

You may find more details on the official support article here.

Microsoft acknowledges Outlook keeps crashing on startup, issues workaround

AMD has not gone into details on what kind of improvements does this driver provide for Spider-Man, but those with graphics hardware from red team will want to update to this version for an optimal experience. The game does support FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.0, and that may be where players will see optimizations for in this update.

The August 18-releasing Souls-like Thymesia is also receiving support with this driver, though performance details are missing here too.

Moreover, Radeon Boost support for Halo Infinite has arrived, with the driver promising increased responsiveness and better performance. Enhanced Sync, AMD's V-sync alternative, has received overall improvements here too, primarily in the stability and user experience departments.

Here are the fixed issues in this driver:

• Display may flicker black when switching between video playback and gameplay windows on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Video output will freeze in Project Zomboid™.
• Games based on LOVE2D™ engine may be rendered incorrectly.
• Stormworks: Build and Rescue™ crashes during start up.
• Mixed Reality Headsets may flicker black or experience jitter during movement with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6800 XT Graphics.
• Enhanced Sync may cause a system crash during gameplay with video playback on extended monitors.

The known issues are these:

• Stuttering may be experienced while playing Call of Duty®: Warzone™ on the Caldera map with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6900 XT Graphics.
• Some stuttering may be experienced while playing Fortnite™ with DirectX® 11 API when game is first launched on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6950 XT.
• Radeon™ Super Resolution may fail to trigger after changing resolution or HDR settings on games such as Nioh™ 2.
• While playing Lost Ark™, flickering may be intermittently experienced after changing displaying settings or checking character info with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6800 Graphics.
• Oculus dashboard menu and rendered controllers may appear bouncing/wobbly on Oculus Quest 2 with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6800 XT Graphics.
• VCE presets may be in mixing in VEGAS Pro™ with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6600 Graphics.
• DaVinci Resolve™ Studio 17 may crash using AMD encoder on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6900 XT Graphics.
• GPU utilization may be stuck at 100% in Radeon performance metrics after closing games on some AMD Graphics Products such as Radeon™ 570.
• Enhanced Sync may cause a black screen to occur when enabled on some games and system configurations. Any users who may be experiencing issues with Enhanced Sync enabled should disable it as a temporary workaround.

The AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.8.1 driver is now available for Windows 11 and 10 systems. It can be downloaded and upgraded to using the Radeon Settings app or the direct link on the official release notes.

AMD 22.8.1 driver adds support for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and more

Frontpaged:  AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition 22.8.1

Want some examples? Hit the Spacebar to play or pause the current video, j to seek backwards 10 seconds in the player, or m to toggle mute.

These keyboard shortcuts have been around for a long time, but they are only supported by YouTube's desktop client.

Keyboard shortcuts on YouTube

Google notes on the official support site that using keyboard shortcuts on YouTube depends on whether the "new computer experience" is used. If it is, it is required that users click on the video player to start using shortcuts. In the old YouTube, keyboard shortcuts worked right away without requiring that user action.

There are plenty of shortcuts available on YouTube, but some appear to be more useful than others. You may use the keyboard shortcut Shift-?, or select Menu > Keyboard Shortcuts, to display some of them. Some? Yes, because the menu does not list them all.  Space is not listed for instance to toggle pause/playback.

Here is our top list of useful keyboard shortcuts that you may use on YouTube on the desktop:

• Space or p -- toggle play/pause
• j -- rewind 10 seconds.
• l -- fast forward 10 seconds.
• m -- toggle mute.
• f -- toggle fullscreen mode.
• c -- toggle captions.
• / -- activate the search box.
• Shift-P -- play the previous video.
• Shift-N -- play the next video (either the next in a playlist or the next recommended video).
• 0..9 -- jump to specific points in the video in 10% steps. Pressing 5 will jump to the middle of the video (50%). Does not work on the Numpad.
• < -- decrease the playback rate.
• > -- increase the playback rate.
• , -- jump to the previous frame (while paused).
• . -- jump to the next frame (while paused).

As you can see, YouTube supports several keyboard shortcuts to get things done faster while on the site. My personal favorites are m for a quick mute, Space for a quick pause, and j/l to quickly rewind or fast forward videos.

Now You: do you use keyboard shortcuts on YouTube or other sites? If so, which are your favorites?

YouTube keyboard shortcuts help you save time on the site

According to a new support document published by Redmond on Thursday, these Outlook desktop client crashes will be automatically logged and can be confirmed by checking the Windows Event Viewer Application Log for Event 1000 or Event 1001.

On systems affected by this bug, customers will find that these event entries list 0x01483052 exception codes with 0x000000000024074d fault offsets and 0x1328 faulting process IDs. 

"When you start Outlook Desktop, it gets past loading profile and processing, briefly opens, and then stops responding," Microsoft explains.

"This issue occurs when the EmailAddress string data value under the Office identity is blank."

The identity key should be listed under the Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\Identities registry path, but the key is empty in cases when Outlook is crashing right after opening.

Workaround available

Microsoft added that it's currently investigating this ongoing issue and will update the support article as soon as a fix is available.

"We do not know why the EmailAddress key is not being set properly. It’s best if this key is set by the Office application, so it is preferred to use the most supported options first," the company added.

While working on a resolution for this known issue, Microsoft has provided affected customers with several workarounds:

• Sign out of Office and then sign back into Office to repopulate the identity registry settings. For more information, use Sign in to Office.

   

• If the identity is still not getting set properly, you can turn off Support Diagnostics which turns off the option to submit an In App ticket using Help, Contact Support, and its feature path that triggers Outlook to stop responding by setting the following registry key (more info available here😞
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General] 
  "DisableSupportDiagnostics"=dword:00000001

   

• You can try manually setting the email address to the identity of the user that is seeing the issue in the registry path referenced in the issue specifics above.

   

Microsoft has also recently fixed a bug causing the Outlook email client to crash when reading Uber receipt emails or any other email containing tables.

Redmond also pulled a Microsoft 365 update today after users reported that Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Office applications are crashing when viewing contact cards or hovering over a user's name or photo.

Microsoft shares workarounds for Outlook crashing after launch

What is different about this first point release is that it finally opens upgrades for people who run Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Canonical releases LTS releases so that people can enjoy a stable version of Ubuntu for their production systems. By leaving the upgrade path closed until the first point release, it gives Canonical time to address any serious issues, so users can continue receiving a stable experience.

The company said last week that the newly discovered bug doesn’t exist in the existing Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ISO and that current users of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS are unaffected. The bug causes pre-installed snaps not to work on systems where the OEM install option was used during installation. This is a serious matter for Canonical, as it means partners like Dell wouldn’t be able to ship reliable products.

Existing users of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS should open up Backups and create a snapshot (saved to an external drive) before upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. It’s not likely you’ll have issues if you upgrade without doing a backup, but if you have important data, why take the chance?

The option to upgrade will be shown in the Software Updater when it’s available later today. Be sure to install any updates first and keep an eye on any third-party repositories that will be disabled, so you can re-enable them after the upgrade from the Other Software tab in the Software & Updates program.

Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS due today making upgrades possible from 20.04 LTS

Google has announced some ways that it’s attempting to improve search results. The most interesting of these is the use of an updated AI model called Multitask Unified Model (MUM). With the latest update, Google has incorporated consensus into its results so when multiple sources agree on a fact, that’s what will be presented at the top of your results when asking questions.

With the new update, Google’s systems can identify snippets, even if different words are used, from high-quality sources to find out whether there is agreement on answers to queries. In its internal testing, Google said that the consensus method produced better quality answers to queries.

The new update also addresses questions where there are no answers. Google said if you type “when did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln” into search, you’ll be shown the accurate date and other information about Lincoln’s assassination, but obviously, Snoopy wasn’t the assassin, so it’s not a very good result. Google’s systems now detect peculiar cases like this and has reduced the triggering of featured snippets by 40%.

Aside from the better answer snippets, Google is expanding advisories where there are information gaps. According to the company, when there is breaking news, it’s possible for facts to get lost. In these situations, Google doesn’t want users reading something in its search results which turns out to be untrue.

In these cases, Google will show advisories at the top of its results to let you know that a topic is still unfolding and that it may be better to check results later when more facts are gathered. The advisory also warns people to check the source and to try new search terms.

Google Search's answer snippets should now provide higher quality answers

PowerToys Screen Ruler features four measuring modes: rectangular area, crosshair, and vertical or horizontal distance to the nearest object. Users can change modes using a small popup on top of the screen, similar to how Snipping Tool works.

Another notable feature is the ability to detect borders, buttons, and other parts of a user interface, allowing users to get precise measures without manually drawing lines between two elements. As with other PowerToys tools, Screen Measure has a dedicated—and customizable—shortcut and a few personalization options. You can check out more details and an early demo of PowerToys Screen Ruler in its repository on GitHub.

According to Clint Rutkas, PowerToys Lead, developers still implement adjustments and perform other preparations before shipping the Measure tool to the public. And because PowerToys is an open-source set of utilities, every developer with the necessary skills can contribute to the project.

While PowerToys developers are busy coding the Screen Ruler tool, you can learn what is new in PowerToys 0.61 and its bugfix update 0.61.1.

PowerToys will soon get new Screen Ruler tool

However, it looks like Microsoft has forgotten to add the release notes for the new build. When clicking on the "Learn more" option beside the update inside Settings, it leads to a blank page where the changelog for the new build is supposed to be placed. Here is the support webpage for 22621.382 (KB5016632) which Microsoft will likely update sometime soon. Hence, as of now it is unconfirmed what's new in the build.

We will update the article as soon as we can once Microsoft publishes the changelog.

Update: It looks like the new Release Preview Windows 11 build 22621.382 (KB5016632) has the same changes as Windows 11 Patch Tuesday release for this month. You can find the details here: KB5016629. (via Chaori on Reddit)

Microsoft quietly outs Windows 11 22H2 build 22621.382 (KB5016632) to Release Preview

The release notes for the builds are as follows:

Changes and Improvements in Build 22622.575

[File Explorer]

• Middle clicking a folder in the navigation pane of File Explorer will now open it in a new tab, like clicking a folder in the body of File Explorer already does.

Fixes in Build 22622.575

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue where launching File Explorer in certain ways when using dark mode (for example, from the command line) was showing the body of File Explorer unexpectedly in light mode.
• Fixed an issue where launching File Explorer in certain ways when using dark mode (for example, from the command line) was showing the body of File Explorer unexpectedly in light mode.
• Fixed an issue causing UI issues in File Explorer when using F11 to put File Explorer in full screen mode.
• Fixed an issue where if you drag and drop a folder into the navigation pane was sometimes unexpectedly putting the folder at the bottom of the list rather than where you’d dropped it.
• Fixed an issue where the dividers in the navigation pane were overlapping / drawing too close to text sometimes.
• Fixed an issue where the context menu when right clicking on a tab wasn’t being translated.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue where the taskbar overflow flyout wasn’t showing up on the correct monitor.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator wasn’t reading out the “New” text next to the app name in the Open With dialog.

[Suggested Actions]

• Improved date / time recognition for existing supported markets (U.S., Canada, and Mexico).

Fixes for BOTH Build 22621.575 & Build 22622.575

• An app update for the issue causing Photos to crash on launch for Insiders in the Beta Channel is currently rolling out via a Microsoft Store app update.
• We fixed an issue that causes the App-V client service to leak memory when you delete App-V registry nodes.
• We fixed an issue that prevents you from opening a URL if the URL’s length is more than 2084 characters. This update supports a URL of up to 8192 characters.

Known issues

[General]

• We’re working on a fix for an issue causing SQL Server Management Studio to fail to launch for some Insiders, and it will be available in an upcoming flight.
• We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders running the latest Beta Channel builds.

[File Explorer]

• The left-half of the File Explorer title bar may not be draggable via mouse or touch.
• The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.
• [NEW] We’re working on a fix for an issue causing Home, Documents, Pictures and potentially other folders to become unexpectedly duplicated in File Explorer’s navigation pane or appear on the desktop.
• [NEW] We’re working on a fix for an issue where the search box background in File Explorer might be the opposite color of your current mode.
• [NEW] We’re working on a fix for an issue causing the delete key to unexpectedly not work on files in File Explorer. If you encounter this, you should still be able to use the context menu to delete.
• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar isn’t able to display if File Explorer is maximized and you have the taskbar set to auto-hide.

[Taskbar]

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar overflow is unexpectedly displayed on the opposite side of the screen.

If receiving these Insider builds sounds appealing to you, head over to the Windows Insiders website to learn how to join in.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.575 and Build 22622.575 released to Beta Channel

For this release Microsoft has not announced new features, instead saying it is a set of changes and improvements as well as fixes. Microsoft also released ISO images for this build, and they can be downloaded here.

The full changelog for Build 25179 is given below:

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• The spelling dictionary will now use a language-neutral word list and we are trying out syncing this across all devices that use the same Windows account. Users can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows backup > Remember my preferences > Language preferences. This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today with AAD support coming later.

   

[File Explorer]

• File Explorer tabs and navigation updates (which began rolling out to the Dev Channel with Build 25136) are now rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. If you don’t see these features right away, please try rebooting. If that doesn’t work, please file feedback in Feedback Hub.

   

• We’re trying out different experiences in File Explorer to show search results.

   

[Input]

• We’re adding the Tamil Anjal keyboard for the Tamil language. It’s a popular keyboard for inputting Tamil characters, so if you speak this language, please try it out! This keyboard is currently rolling out to a subset of Insiders while we evaluate the quality. To add it (once it’s available to you), make sure Tamil (India) is listed under Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region, and then click the “…” next to the language, select Language Options, and add it to the list of keyboards.

• We are rolling out a small tweak to improve the key repeat rate for the traditional touch keyboard layout, as well as the default touch keyboard layout, so it feels more responsive. Now it has the rate of 20 keys per second (for example, when holding down the delete key).

   

[Other]

• Updated the default duration captured by powercfg -sleepstudy from 3 to 7 days.

Here are the bug fixes in Build 25179:

[General]

• Fixed an issue causing hangs and crashes in apps (like Excel) when attempting to print in the last couple flights.

• Fixed a few issues impacting explorer.exe reliability.

   

[File Explorer]

• The Mount option when right clicking things like ISO files should now show an icon in the context menu.

• Fixed an issue where the min / max / close button might not be visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.

   

[Widgets]

• We have fixed the issue causing Widgets preferences (temperature units and pinned widgets) to unexpectedly get reset to default.

   

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue which could lead to the taskbar overflow flyout unexpectedly appearing on the opposite side of the screen.

   

[Input]

• Fixed a sporadic crash impacting reliability of the input switcher.

• Fixed an issue where when Suggested Actions was enabled, if you copied multiple items in a row to your clipboard history, some of the items might not display after you pressed WIN + V.

   

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue which was causing Settings to crash on launch sometimes.

• Improved alignment of the “Scan for phone” button displayed on Accounts > Sign-In Options under Dynamic Lock when your phone failed to connect.

• Your preferred state for the Suggested Actions setting under System > Clipboard should persist upgrade going forward from this build.

   

[Windowing]

• Fixed an issue where when resizing certain app windows near the edge of the screen when using mixed DPI monitors might unexpectedly cause the window to jump and shrink.

   

[Other]

• We made a change so that the media controls in Quick Settings will more reliably not load old media you’re no longer using.

• Fixed an issue causing one of the characters in the bugcheck text to not display correctly (as a box) when the display language was set to Chinese.

• Fixed an issue causing app install failures with error 0x80080204 in the last few flights.

• Improved date / time recognition for existing supported locales when using Suggested Actions.

   

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.

And here are the known issues in Build 25179:

[General]

• [NEW] Devices with low disk space may be unable to update to this build and see download error 0x80070001 in Windows Update. A fix should go out with the next flight. Freeing up disk space 24GB or higher could allow the build to download and install.

• Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.

• We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the last flight.

• We’re working on a fix for an issue leading to some Insiders experiencing a decrease in FPS when playing certain games in recent flights due to the wrong graphics card being used.

• We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.

   

[File Explorer]

• The left-half of the File Explorer title bar may not be draggable via mouse or touch.

• The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.

• We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Home, Documents, Pictures and potentially other folders to become unexpectedly duplicated in File Explorer’s navigation pane or appear on the desktop.

• We’re working on the fix for an issue where the search box background in File Explorer might be the opposite color of your current mode.

• We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the delete key to unexpectedly not work on files in File Explorer. If you encounter this, you should still be able to use the context menu to delete.

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar isn’t able to display if File Explorer is maximized and you have the taskbar set to auto-hide.

   

[Widgets]

• Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

• In some cases, the notification banner for some badging will not appear in the widgets board.

   

[Printing]

• We’re working on the fix for an issue in recent Dev Channel flights causing lines to not be included when printing tables from certain apps.

   

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 build 25179 released to Dev channel as well as ISOs

The headline feature in this update is that .NET MAUI has graduated from preview support and is now available in the release channel of Visual Studio 2022 on Windows. The support includes productivity features that will help you quickly build and ship .NET client apps to Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows from a single codebase. Hot Reload, Live Visual Tree, and XAML Live Preview are some of the tools that can make you more productive.

Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio

Next, Microsoft has added Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio, which helps you make apps for Teams. If you want to make a Teams Command Bot that responds to chat commands, you can use the Teams Toolkit, which automatically configures the Bot Framework. If you want to start using the toolkit, Microsoft has created a walk-through on how to create a notification bot using the toolkit.

This update also introduces low priority builds for C++ where you can limit how much CPU power goes into compiling your code. It also introduces new static analysis checks on std::optional to help you write safer code. Microsoft said it has been hard at work improving C++ performance. Visual Studio now indexes and colourizes C++ code by around 2X compared to previous releases of Visual Studio.

To get started using Visual Studio 2022 17.3, you can download the software now and perform a fresh installation. If you have an older version of Visual Studio 2022 already installed, you should see a pop-up asking you to update. Just follow the instructions to get the latest version.

Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2022 17.3, here are the highlights