For those unaware, the "EC" in the name is an abbreviation for "Emulation Compatible". The idea is to offer an application binary interface (ABI) which allows developers to build applications using both x64 and ARM code. What this means is that ARM code will run natively on a Windows 11 on ARM device while x64-specific code will run via emulation. This is a major milestone for Windows 11 on ARM as well since it is the only supported Microsoft OS to feature x64 emulation, which is the backbone of ARM64EC.

Microsoft noted that the ARM64EC ABI is different from the ARM64 ABI in the following way:

The ARM64EC ABI differs slightly from the existing ARM64 ABI in ways that make it binary compatible with x64 code. Specifically, the ARM64EC ABI follows x64 software conventions including calling convention, stack usage, and data alignment, making ARM64EC and x64 interoperable. Apps built as ARM64EC may contain x64 code but do not have to, since ARM64EC is its own complete, first-class ABI for Windows.

After spending over a year on development, Microsoft believes that the ABI is now stable enough to transition from its experimental phase and on to general release. This has happened with the availability of version 17.3 of ARM64EC.

ARM64EC brings major benefits for developers. Instead of following an all-or-nothing approach where they would have to make sure that their entire codebase is ARM-compatible, developers can now incrementally update their code, and have both x64 and ARM functionalities running simultaneously. Of course, on a Windows on ARM device, the latter will have better performance, so the idea is to continuously update the codebase to improve native ARM performance without losing any functionalities in the process.

Microsoft has noted that it is targeting performance improvements in subsequent releases of ARM64EC. You can find out more details about how to get started here.

ARM64EC now fully supports Windows 11 on ARM

Vivaldi 5.4 is available already. Existing users may upgrade to the new version by selecting Vivaldi Menu > Help > Check for updates. The browser downloads and installs the new version of the browser automatically when the option is selected. New users may point their browser to the main Vivaldi website to download the latest release for all supported operating systems.

Vivaldi 5.4

Vivaldi 5.4 for the desktop introduces several new usability features. Web Panels are a central feature of the browser. They are displayed in a small sidebar on the left side by default, and may be used to display websites. The sidebar itself links to other features, such as the recently introduced email client, feeds, notes, downloads or bookmarks.

Vivaldi users may display websites there, for example, YouTube or other media sites, that are displayed next to the main site that is open in the browser. Handy also for comparing mobile and desktop versions of a site, for research purposes, or just for playing music or videos while browsing the web using a single browser window.

In Vivaldi 5.4, users may now mute a web panel. Just right-click on the icon and select the new "mute panel" option to mute any sound.

Rocker Gestures

Another new option in Vivaldi 5.4 is the ability to customize rocker gestures. Rocker gestures are part of the browser's mouse gestures system. Rocker gestures are enabled by default; they give users options to go back and forward using just the mouse.

To go forward, press the left mouse button followed by the right mouse button. To go back, reverse the sequence and press the right mouse button first before pressing the left.

Up until now, Rocker Gestures could not be customized. Now, with the release of Vivaldi 5.4, comes the option to assign different actions to the actions.

Go to Vivaldi > Settings > Mouse to get started. Scroll down to the Rocker Gestures section and use the menus next to either one of the actions to assign a different action to it. You may map actions such as "mute all tabs", "translate page", or "create bookmark", and dozens more.

Other improvements

Vivaldi 5.4 includes several other improvements:

• Copy link to highlight is a new feature to share a specific highlighted part of a web page quickly with other Chromium-based browser users. Just select part of the page, right-click and use the new Copy Link to Highlight option copy a link to the part to the Clipboard.
• Always use secure connection (HTTPS) is found under Settings > Address Bar > Security Features. Enables automatic HTTPS upgrades for HTTP sites and displays alerts if a site does not support HTTPS.
• Vivaldi Mail, Calendar and Feed Reader updated to 1.1. No new features but a lot of fine tuning and under the hood improvements. Vivaldi Technologies mentions speed and performance improvements specifically.

Now You: do you use Vivaldi? What is your take on the improvements in version 5.4?

Vivaldi 5.4 launches with Rocker Gestures and Web Panel improvements

Frontpaged:   Vivaldi 5.4.2753.28

Kali Linux is a distribution designed for ethical hackers to perform penetration testing, security audits, and cybersecurity research against networks.

With this release, the Kali Linux Team introduces a variety of new features, including:

•  Improved virtual machine support
• New tools
• Kali ARM updates
• Kali NetHunter Updates
• Now accepting submissions for the Kali-Tools repository

Offensive Security decided to release Kali Linux 2022.3 in conjunction with the Black Hat, BSides LV, and DefCon security conference as a "nice surprise for everyone to enjoy!"

With this release, Kali Linux is using Linux Kernel 5.18.5. However, Raspberry Pi releases are using version 5.15.

Offensive Security also announced today that they will be having hour-long voice chat sessions on their 'Kali Linux & Friends' Discord server after every Kali release to chat about the new changes.

The first one is scheduled for Tuesday, 16th August 2022 16:00 -> 17:00 UTC/+0 GMT.

 Improved virtual machine support

While Kali Linux already had VM images for VMware and VirtualBox, they have made a few new changes to make it easier to deploy Kali on a VM.

Offensive Security is now distributing a VirtualBox image as a VDI disk and a .vbox metadata file, allowing you to add Kali as a new VM quickly.

In addition, weekly builds of VM images for Kali Linux will be released containing the bleeding edge packages. However, they will not receive as thorough testing as the regular releases.

Five new tools added in Kali Linux 2022.3

What's a new Kali Linux release without new tools to play with?

This release has added five new tools, including a password spraying tool, a PHP post-exploitation toolkit, and a new network analysis tool.

Below are the five new tools added in Kali 2022.3:

• BruteShark - Network Analysis Tool
• DefectDojo - Open-source application vulnerability correlation and security orchestration tool
• phpsploit - Stealth post-exploitation framework
• shellfire - Exploiting LFI/RFI and command injection vulnerabilities
• SprayingToolkit - Password spraying attacks against Lync/S4B, OWA and O365

The kali-linux-labs package has also been updated to include Damn Vulnerable Web Application (DVWA ) and OWASP Juice Shop (Juice Shop).

Enhanced ARM support

This release also includes numerous improvements for ARM users, with new versions for Raspberry Pi, Pinebook, and USArmory MKII.

• All Raspberry Pi devices have had their kernel upgraded to 5.15.
• Created arm.kali.org to have a overview and statistics for kali-arm (very similar to nethunter.kali.org).
• Every Kali ARM device has had their default size for the boot partition set to 256 MB.
• Pinebook has had the broken sleep modes removed, so it should no longer go to sleep and be unable to wake up.
• USBArmory MKII moved to the 2022.04 u-boot release.

How to get Kali Linux 2022.3

To start using Kali Linux 2022.3, you can upgrade your existing installation, select a platform, or directly download ISO images for new installs and live distributions.

For those updating from a previous version, you can use the following commands to upgrade to the latest version.

echo "deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y full-upgrade

cp -rbi /etc/skel/. ~

[ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f

If you are running Kali on the Windows Subsystem for Linux, make sure to use WSL2 for a better experience, including support for graphical apps.

You can check what WSL version Kali is installed as by using the 'wsl -l -v' command in a Windows command prompt.

Once you are done upgrading, you can check if the upgrade was successful by using the following command:

grep VERSION /etc/os-release

While we only shared the highlighted improvements in Kali 2022.3, you can view the complete changelog at Kali's website.

Kali Linux 2022.3 adds 5 new tools, updates Linux kernel, and more

Software Updates:   Kali Linux 2022.3

Highlights

• Addresses a known issue that might prevent some of you from opening the Start menu.
• Addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

Improvements

• This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5015882 (released July 21, 2022) and also addresses the following issues:
• Addresses a known issue that might prevent some of you from opening the Start menu. On the affected devices, clicking or tapping the Start button or using the Windows keyboard shortcut might have no effect.
• If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.
• For more information about security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide website and the August 2022 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

Most people will be able to download this update through Windows Update. If you’re using this method, you won’t even have to do anything, Windows should just go out and grab the update automatically in the coming days. If you want to install this update on an offline machine, you can go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website to get the stand-alone package.

Microsoft releases its August Patch Tuesday update (KB5016629) for Windows 11

Alongside security fixes, today's Patch Tuesday also brings quality improvements, including a fix for a printing issue:

Highlights

• Addresses an issue that affects the printing of files you submit to a printer.
• Addresses a known issue that might prevent the Input Indicator and Language Bar from displaying in the notification area. This issue affects devices that have more than one language installed.
• Addresses security issues for your Windows operating system.

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

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

It is noteworthy here that Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 10 1909 reached end of servicing. Also, while not Windows 10, Microsoft has also released updates for Windows Server 2022 under KB5016627. Meanwhile, Windows Server 20H2 reaches end of servicing today.

Windows 10 August Patch Tuesday (KB5016616) out — here's what's new and what's broken

Improvements (applies to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1)

This security-only update includes new improvements for the following issue:

• Addresses an issue in which Speech and Network troubleshooters will not start.
• Addresses 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.
• Enforces a hardening change that requires printers and scanners that use smart cards for authentication to have firmware that complies with section 3.2.1 of RFC 4556. If they do not comply, Active Directory domain controllers will not authenticate them. Mitigations that allowed non-compliant devices to authenticate will not exist after August 9, 2022. For more information about this change, see KB5005408.

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

Known issues in this update (Windows 7 only)

This Windows 7 update is not available via Windows Update. The best way to get it would be to download it through the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Windows 8.1 update is also unavailable via Windows Update, but you can grab that via Microsoft Update Catalog too.

Microsoft releases Windows 7 (KB5016679) and Windows 8.1 (KB5016683) Patch Tuesday updates

Besides the inability to open XPS and OXPS documents in non-English languages, XPS Viewer stops responding and starts hogging CPU and RAM resources until it crashes upon reaching 2.5GB of RAM usage.

After installing KB5014666 or later updates, 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.

Microsoft says the problem originates from KB5014666 and KB5014666 (Windows 10 19044.1806 and Windows 11 22000.778), released on June 26 and 28. The company is busy investigating the bug and promises to release a fix in the upcoming releases. Unfortunately, there are no temporary workarounds.

It is worth noting that the problem will not bother the vast majority of regular Windows 10 consumers. Apart from the fact that the XPS format failed to gain traction, Microsoft stopped bundling Windows 10 with XPS Viewer in version 1803. Still, you can install XPS Viewer as an optional Windows component in the Settings app.

The broken XPS Viewer app is not the only known problem Microsoft is investigating. The company recently confirmed that Windows updates released after June 28 might cause issues with USB printers.

Microsoft confirms problems with opening XPS documents in Windows 10 and 11

Despite the recent news about the increased desktop market share of Microsoft Edge, it is undeniable that the browser is still far from catching up with Google Chrome. With this, Microsoft keeps introducing new Edge updates in hopes of luring users to its browser. One of those features is Microsoft Edge’s First Run Experience. What’s special about this new feature being introduced by Microsoft in Edge is that it will allow you to log in to your Google account without installing Google Chrome on your PC. This means you can migrate your Chrome data with less fuss and process in case you want to go full Edge.

When you launch Edge, this update will ask you whether you want to log into your Google account or not. Doing so will allow Edge to retrieve your Chrome browsing data synced to the cloud. On the other hand, if you want to turn off the feature, Microsoft said that you could simply disable it through the HideFirstRunExperience policy or the ‘DisabledAutoImport’ option in AutoImportAtFirstRun.

Another feature included in the Edge version 104 is the new default security option called “Basic Mode,” which will now be the default for the Enhance your security on the web setting. This will join Edge’s current Balanced and Strict level options by applying “added security protection to the less visited sites” while preserving a satisfying user experience when using popular websites.

“Basic mode is a static mode that only applies these security mitigations to less visited sites,” Microsoft explains. “This mode doesn’t take a user’s behavior into account and only enables the feature on less visited sites.”

Latest Edge update offers easier Chrome data import, new ‘Basic’ option for enhanced web security

Frontpaged:   Microsoft Edge 104.0.1293.47

As a recent PC features announcement by Sony detailed, Spider-Man will land touting ray-tracing support as well as Nvidia DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing), and HBAO+ support. For those with Nvidia graphics cards looking to jump into Peter Parker's shoes on August 12, this is the recommended driver.

At the same time, the August 19-releasing Madden NFL 23, and August 17-starting beta of Super People (with DLSS and Reflex) have received support with this driver too.

Here are the fixed issues in this driver:

• [Apex Legends] Improves gameplay stability. [3661210]
• [Red Dead Redemption 2] Performance improvement when using DLSS is lower compared to previous drivers. [3700239]
• [Overwatch] Game may freeze on launching a match. [3696921]
• [MSI GE66 Raider 10UG/MSI GE76 Raider 10UH] Windows brightness setting does not work when notebook is in dedicated GPU mode. [3693207] [3693211]
• [Chivalry 2] Toggling DLSS preset may cause gameplay to shimmer or show black rectangle. [3692024]
• [Dungeons 3] Game will crash on startup. [3691274]
• [Destiny 2] Game may randomly freeze after launching game or during gameplay. [3685638]
• [Prepar3D] Light sources display flashing black boxes. [3684206]
• [Xbox Application] Windowed G-SYNC engages and cause stutter/ sluggish performance in Xbox app. [3674419]
• [NVIDIA Ampere GPU]: With the GPU connected to an HDMI 2.1 audio/video receiver, audio may drop out when playing back Dolby Atmos. [3345965]

The known issues are these:

• [RTX 30 series] PC monitor may not wake from display sleep when GPU is also connected to an HDMI 2.1 TV, and the TV is powered off. [3645633]
• Toggling HDR on and off in-game causes game stability issues when non-native resolution is used. [3624030]
• Videos played back in Microsoft Edge may appear green if NVIDIA Image Scaling is enabled upon resuming from hibernate or booting with fastboot. [3624218]
• [DirectX 12] Shadowplay recordings may appear over exposed when Use HDR is enabled from the Windows display settings. [200742937]
• Monitor may briefly flicker on waking from display sleep if DSR/DLDSR is enabled. [3592260]
• [RTX 30 series] Lower performance in Minecraft Java Edition. [3702953]
• External display may not be detected when connected via USB-C on certain Razer notebooks. [3690673]
• [Forza Horizon 5] Rainbow like artifacts in game after driver update. [3685123]

The 516.94 WHQL Game Ready driver is now available for download through the GeForce Experience app. Standalone installation links can be found below. Here are the release notes.

Desktop GPUs:

• GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Notebook GPUs:

• GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Nvidia 516.94 driver carries support for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

Frontpaged:   Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 516.94

Recently, many Office 2016 and 2019 customers received a bit of a shock when several pieces of Microsoft documentation implied that they would immediately lose access to Microsoft 365 backend services come October 2023. This was very alarming because both versions of Office are under extended support until October 14, 2025.

The confusion was caused by a Microsoft support document that mentioned that:

Office 2019 and Office 2016 will be supported for connecting to Microsoft 365 (and Office 365) services until October 2023.

Another Microsoft TechCommunity article also emphasized that:

Importantly, Office 2016 & 2019 won’t be supported for connecting to Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, starting Oct 2023. And Security updates for Office 2013 will end in April 2023. Don't wait until the last minute - now is a great time to upgrade.

Contrary to the aforementioned documentation and the subsequent alarm bells this raised, Microsoft has now confirmed that it isn't cutting off access to Microsoft 365 services after all. Instead, they may face reliability issues. In a statement to ZDNet, Microsoft clarified that:

Microsoft will NOT be blocking supported and up-to-date Office clients from connecting to M365 cloud services. However, as announced in April 2017 and clarified in February 2018, Microsoft plans to stop supporting Office clients out of mainstream support when connecting to Microsoft 365 cloud services.

Practically, this means that as we make updates to Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and other Microsoft 365 services, we will not be building around the constraints inherent in the older perpetual Office clients that are already out of mainstream support. Customers will not be blocked in connecting, but they may not get the full value out of new investments in our cloud services. Over time, they may run into unexpected issues.

Well, there you have it, folks. Office 2016 and 2019 customers will still be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services, but they might run into issues. There's also the possibility that they won't encounter any issues at all and this is just a ploy to get customers to upgrade to Office 2021 or even Microsoft 365. All in all, it seems like unclear Microsoft documentation is to blame for this confusion, so it's good that we have explicit confirmation from the company now.

Source: ZDNet

Microsoft 365 access for Office 2016 and 2019 isn't being cut off next year after all

Every bit of information I provide for people I do so with the lowest common denominator in mind. It's a common misconception that everyone who joins or browses a tech site is a techie. Some people are just looking for guidance. That is why for some, these tech tips may seem a bit too simplistic but they are educational for others.

If you have so many icons on your desktop that you are unable to find what you are looking for, here is an easy way to locate stuff.

1. Left-click once on any one of the icons to highlight it.
2. Then start pressing the letter on the keyboard that the file you are looking for starts with.
3. Every time you press that letter it will highlight an item on your desktop starting with that letter.
4. Just keep pressing that letter until you find the item on the desktop you are looking for.

Of course, if your computer is indexed you could search for what you are looking for but I find this method nice and simple.

Happy Computing!

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

Locating a desktop icon on Warwagon's Tech Tip Tuesday

Here are the highlights of Parallels Desktop 18 for Mac:

• Single-click Windows 11 installation. Parallels Desktop 18 provides the ability to download, install, and configure Windows 11 with just one click. Besides, the app can download a free set of ready-for-use Linux distros.
• Better gaming using Windows inside Mac. Users can pair a compatible Xbox or DualShock controller to their Macs, fire up Parallels Desktop 18 and start playing. Performance improvements also result in higher FPS and smoother Windows UI.
• Better performance on M1 Ultra. Parallels Desktop 18 comes with optimizations and performance improvements on Apple Silicon devices, especially on M1 Ultra, delivering up to 96% faster speeds in Windows 11 compared to the previous release.
• Improved USB 3.0 support provides access to streaming devices, such as Elgato HD60, Startech USB 3.0 Video Capture, and others.
• Improved x86 apps in Windows 11. x86 applications running in Windows 11 on ARM now benefit from improved compatibility and performance improvements, especially when saving and reading files from the Mac disk.

Other improvements in Parallels Desktop 18 include Apple's ProMotion display support, networking improvements (custom network conditions, network isolation, network boot on Linux), and optimizations for the upcoming macOS Ventura. Note that some features are only available in Parallels Desktop 18 Pro or Business Edition. You can learn more about Parallels Desktop 18 in a press release on the official Corel website.

If you need free virtualization software to run Windows 11 on an Apple Silicon-based Mac, check out VMware's latest Fusion beta that recently introduced virtual TPM support and improved compatibility with Windows 11.

Parallels Desktop 18 brings single-click Windows 11 installation and gaming improvements

"Windows devices that support the newest Vector Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (VAES) instruction set might be susceptible to data damage," the company revealed today.

Devices affected by this newly acknowledged known issue use AES-XTS (AES XEX-based tweaked-codebook mode with ciphertext stealing) or AES-GCM (AES with Galois/Counter Mode) block cipher modes on new hardware.

While Microsoft mentions the data loss risks on affected systems, the company does not elaborate on what customers should expect if they're hit by this issue.

Issue fixed in May and June Windows updates

Microsoft says the issue was addressed to prevent further data damage in preview and security releases issued on May 24 and June 14, respectively.

However, these Windows updates also come with a performance hit since AES-based operations might be two times (2x) slower after installing them on affected systems running Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11 (original release).

Scenarios impacted by the performance hit might include BitLocker, Transport Layer Security (TLS) (specifically load balancers), and disk throughput (especially for enterprise customers).

"We added new code paths to the Windows 11 (original release) and Windows Server 2022 versions of SymCrypt to take advantage of VAES (vectorized AES) instructions," Microsoft said when describing the cause of the issue.

"SymCrypt is the core cryptographic library in Windows. These instructions act on Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) registers for hardware with the newest supported processors."

Workaround for the performance hit

Customers experiencing performance degradation are advised to install June 23 preview update (Windows 11, Windows Server 2022) or the July 12 security update (Windows 11, Windows Server 2022) for their OS version as a workaround.

Microsoft says these Windows updates will restore initial performance metrics once installed on affected devices.

"If this affects you, we strongly urge you to install the May 24, 2022 preview release or the June 14, 2022 security release, as soon as possible, to prevent further damage," Microsoft added.

"Performance will be restored after you install the June 23, 2022 preview release or the July 12, 2022 security release."

Windows devices with newest CPUs are susceptible to data damage

While the upgrade is done with a graphical tool, the Linux Mint team, annoyingly, is still providing command line instructions to install the graphical upgrade tool. While it may be available through the Software Manager, the official instructions ask you to run the following commands:

• apt update
• apt install mintupgrade
• sudo mintupgrade

After you have type each of these commands in separately and allowed them to execute, you should have the upgrade tool open and ready to go. The upgrade could take several hours depending on your computer and internet speed, but when it’s done you should use the following commands to remove the tool:

• apt remove mintupgrade
• sudo reboot

Before performing any of the instructions above, read over the official documentation and make a backup with Timeshift or your preferred backup tool. If anything goes wrong during the upgrade, you’ll be able to restore from the backup.

While it’s very nice to see the Linux Mint team making major upgrades easy to do, it’d be better if the official documentation gave users instructions that didn’t require using the command line. Hopefully, the tool is available through the software manager for those who are uncomfortable using the command line.

For those who don’t mind reinstalling software, making a backup of your files and performing a clean installation is also an option. Using this method is less likely to leave you with legacy items from the previous version.

Upgrade path to Linux Mint 21 opens up with graphical upgrade tool

Like a standard Windows version you can install on a local device, Windows 365 comes with beautiful and unique default wallpapers. Here they are to add some fresh touch to your computer, tablet, or smartphone (via u/Wallpapers8k on Reddit).

You can also check out the macOS Ventura-inspired mod of the default Windows 11 wallpaper and stock iOS 16 and macOS Ventura wallpapers.

Do you like these stock Windows 365 wallpapers?

Here are some beautiful Windows 365 wallpapers

That said, Windows 11 does have its charms, some of which I have talked about before. However, today, I'm revisiting this space because the last piece I wrote on this topic was back in November 2021, which not only means that the OS has evolved since then, but also that my thoughts on certain aspects of Windows 11 have changed.

Before you dive into the list of five smaller things that I like about Windows 11, please note that my thoughts are based on my usage of various versions of Windows up until the latest Dev Channel build 25174. As such, some of the things I talk about may be generally available while others may only be in the Insider Preview for the time being. With that clarity, let's begin!

1 - Volume flyout

This is something that Microsoft unveiled back in January and while I lamented the fact that the firm took so, so long to change the volume flyout in Windows, I should also emphasize that it is very welcome change.

Windows 10 had a very archaic volume flyout that was very noticeable, especially when you were playing media content. It showed up at the top-left side of the screen and even showed a bigger window about the media content that was being played. This meant that it took up a large portion of the screen, took some time to go away, and was very distracting.

On the other hand, Windows 11's volume slider has none of these problems. It sits innocently at the bottom of the screen and does not take up large amounts of space, even when you're playing media content. It's sleek and minimalistic, and makes my experience of using Windows 11 so much better.

2 - The design of the Settings app

The Settings app in Windows 11 is not perfect, but it's just so much better at categorizing options and making it accessible. The always-visible category pane at the left of the Settings app makes it easier to navigate and find content at a glance.

The category icons are arranged vertically which means that they "flow" well. Windows 10 had rows of icons on the main page so you had to search for icons both horizontally and vertically. Windows 11 solves this problem with aplomb.

Then there is the breadcrumbs navigation too. You can go deep into nested menus and still be able to trace your steps back, something which was completely absent in Windows 10. And if you want to go to a different category of options altogether, you can use the previously mentioned navigation pane on the left at any time since it's always visible. It's just so much convenient compared to what we had in Windows 10.

3 - Recommended section in Start menu

I'll admit, I wasn't a fan of the "Recommended" section in the Start menu because I thought that it took up a lot of space and I would barely ever use it. However, over time, my opinion on this has taken a u-turn.

Windows 11 has changed the way I interact with my files. The Recommended section shows me a list of my recently used, downloaded, and recommended files including content from Microsoft 365 cloud storage locations.

Since I use Microsoft 365, OneDrive, and Office online heavily, having almost immediate access to the content hosted on these platforms is just perfect for my use-cases. Editing files on Office online on a different PC signed in to the same account and then having near-immediate access to the same file without opening Office Online or downloading and transferring the file manually just feels magical.

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority when it comes to the utility of the Recommended section based on the criticism I have seen across various platforms, but it really does improve my productivity and workflows a lot.

4 - Updated icons

This again boils down to the aesthetics of Windows 11 that I really like. Microsoft has updated its icons across the OS, including the File Explorer, Settings, context menu, Taskbar, and more.

Personally, I find them to be a lot more clearer and pleasing to the eyes. The color choices are appealing and while they don't necessarily factor into my workflow, they are eye-candy to me nonetheless.

That said, I'm pretty sure that some depths of the operating system probably still host a few old and outdated icons but I can't dock off points for something I rarely use or see.

5 - Start menu search transition

This is an interesting one. When Windows 11 came out, if you used the search functionality in the search bar of the Start menu, there would be a very obvious jitter as the Start menu closed and Windows Search opened instead. It was very jarring to me and gave the OS a very disconnected and unpolished feel.

Microsoft has significantly improved in this area in the Windows Insider Preview releases, at least. There's a new Search Widget so if you do click on the search bar in the Start menu, it still opens that Widget but it does so without the jitter and with some animation transitions that make the process seem seamless as well.

This is what the Start menu and the Search widget look like before you click on the search bar in the Start menu:

And here is what it looks like after you click on the search bar in the Start menu:

I'll be clear, there's still a light stutter, it's not completely seamless but it's way, way better than what we had at launch. In Windows 11's release version, it felt like two completely separate pieces of the OS had been cobbled together without any thought given to the UX. Now, it feels much more performant and the transition design animation where the Search Widget turns blue is quite nifty. There's still a ways to go, but we're getting there.

Do you agree with this list? Are there any features (small or big) that you like in Windows 11? Let us know in the comments section below!

5 smaller features I like in Windows 11

Today, I'm writing about some of the smaller features or UX experiences that I dislike in Windows 11. Some of our ardent readers may recall that I detailed my thoughts on five things I hate about Windows 11 back in November 2021 but I have decided to revisit this area for two reasons.

The first is that it's been almost nine months since I published that article and obviously my thoughts can change on a topic. The second and more important reason is that the previous article was more about core or wide-ranging features that I have to use everyday in Windows and "hate" because I don't like their current implementation. This, on the other hand, is more of a "pet peeves" article. The items mentioned in this list don't make my usage of the OS unbearable, but they still cause minor annoyances either aesthetically or in minor usage.

Before you dive into the list, please note that my thoughts are based on my usage of various versions of Windows up until the latest Dev Channel build 25174. As such, some of the things I talk about may be generally available while others may only be in the Insider Preview for the time being. With that clarity, let's begin!

1 - Immovable Taskbar icons

Yes, the Taskbar is not the best piece of software implementation in Windows 11 but what really grinds my gears is the fact that some icons cannot be moved at all. The culprits for this offense are the Start menu (Windows logo), Windows Search, virtual desktops, Teams Chat, and Widgets.

Now, I get that some of these icons were also fixed in Windows 10 but I'm judging Windows 11 is on its own merit right now. I understand the need to fix some very OS-specific and core functionality like the Start menu on the Taskbar and maybe even Search, but the rest of the three applications I referred to should be treated exactly as such, applications.

It's odd to me that something as optional as virtual desktops, Teams Chat, and Widgets follows an "all or nothing" UX strategy. You can unpin them all from your Taskbar but if you do pin them, you can't change their location.

A centered Taskbar is my preferred UX and I occasionally use Widgets and virtual desktops (I have no love for Teams Chats), but I would personally like both to be moved to the right edge of my Taskbar because they are not something I use regularly. However, Microsoft does not provide this option at all.

Again, this doesn't break my workflows but is a pet peeve because I accidentally click on the left side of my Taskbar (force of habit from Windows 10) or Teams Chat because I keep my most used apps on the center and left side of the Taskbar, so it's a bit annoying to unintentionally open the wrong apps at times.

2 - Email ID in Settings

This is probably just a minor convenience but I dislike that my email ID is always displayed in the Windows Settings app. Because I write for Neowin, I have to take screenshots for a lot of apps in articles, and this includes the Windows Settings app, and then I have to hide my email ID manually each time.

Case in point in this article where I have to first take a screenshot and then use Snipping Tool to cover my email ID for privacy reasons. Again, this is not something that may impact everyone, maybe it's just people in my domain or those sharing their screen during a troubleshooting section.

It would be much more convenient if Microsoft just displayed a Microsoft Account logo of some sort and only if you hovered over it would your email ID be shown. Oh well.

3 - App folder management is bad

Microsoft introduced app folders in the Start menu in build 22557 back in February and while it has made minor improvements to the feature, I still thing there's a long way to go. Managing app folders is such a chore.

There is no way to add or remove multiple apps from folders. If you add a dozen apps in a single folder but then decide that you'd prefer to have six of them in one folder and six in the other, you would have to manually drag-and-drop six apps outside of the first folder, put them on the Start menu, and then drag-and-drop them into the second folder.

It just bewilders me that multi-select is not something that Microsoft has released to the public in the past six months. It's archaic to manually handle each app when you want to move it out of a folder. What exacerbates this problem even further that there is no quick mechanism to remove a folder, you would have to manually drag-and-drop each app outside of the folder before you can remove it.

It's clear that app folders in the Start menu have a long way to go in terms of UX.

4 - Microsoft 365 redirect in Windows Settings

Now this is an odd duckling. The Settings app in Windows 11 has a dedicated Microsoft 365 management section of sorts, however, the main indicator on the home page of the app (screenshot above) opens the browser instead of going to that section.

I prefer to have a unified and streamlined experience when interacting with the OS and it's bizarre to me that by default, the Microsoft 365 button directs to a browser URL rather than the information housed inside the default app, which can be seen below:

I have been a Microsoft 365 Family subscriber for a few years and it's understandable to me if Microsoft cannot offer all the functionalities of the web portal inside the Settings app despite the integration. However, in my opinion, the Microsoft 365 button should redirect to the page above and should only be redirected to the web portal if they try to do something not offered by the app.

Right now, it's a bit of a jarring experience that is not really pleasant to use. At worst, it reeks of inconsistency and the lack of attention paid to the design of a feature that is actually very useful for subscribers.

5 - Microsoft still can't figure out context menus

I've talked about the context menus before too but what I want to focus this time around is on Microsoft's apparent indecisiveness with the behavior of the capability. I think I've mentioned this in some other articles before but I don't hate the new context menus and this is because I see both sides of the argument.

I understand that the new context menu makes some changes to the appearance of certain functionalities (and perhaps, strips away some of them too) but I understand stand Microsoft's reasoning behind updating and simplifying its look too.

What's annoying to me is that Microsoft seems to be extremely unsure about how it wants to handle this change. In the past year or so, the context menu has remained mostly the same in Windows 11 where it presents the new UI by default but you can also click on the "Show more options" to revert to the Windows 10 menu.

It shows that Microsoft knew that it rolled out a half-baked implementation with Windows 11 and that's not a good look. At this point, unless Microsoft has some magical solution up its sleeve that it will roll out in the next couple of weeks and pacify everyone, I'd honestly be okay if Microsoft pulls the trigger on either of the two current UI options.

Again, I'll emphasize that this doesn't kill my daily workflow, this article was never about features of this sort, but it's just a minor annoyance in terms of the impression I get about an organization as big as Microsoft and one that collects so much feedback from users not being able to figure out which direction it wants to go in with certain Windows features.

Do you agree with this list? Are there any pet peeves or minor annoyances you have about Windows 11? Let us know in the comments section below!

5 smaller things I dislike about Windows 11

Changelog

In other news related to Office for Mac, Microsoft recently introduced several new features for Office Insiders on Mac. PowerPoint users on Mac are getting a new Cameo feature that allows users to insert a live camera feed anywhere in their presentation. To use it in your slide show, you can select Insert > Cameo. To use the feature, go to the Home tab and select Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules. Now, you can simply drag the edges of the dialog box and resize it as needed.

Microsoft usually releases a new Office update every month for Office Current Channel subscribers on Mac, adding new features and changes. Microsoft is also expected to release a new Office Insider Build next month. We’ll keep you updated if we find anything interesting in the update.

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

Microsoft releases Office Version 16.64 (Build 22080400) for Mac users

Firefox extensions that are installed in the browser are added to the main toolbar by default. Users of the browser may interact with these directly, for instance to manage functionality or execute certain features the extensions provide.

Extension icons are pushed to the overflow section on the toolbar if space on the toolbar is not sufficient to display all extension icons. Firefox users have options to pin extension icons to the overflow menu to make room on the main toolbar.

Firefox's upcoming Extensions button

Mozilla is working on integrating an Extensions button in the Firefox web browser. The button, which works similarly to the buttons in Chrome, Edge and other Chromium-based web browsers, reveals the list of installed and enabled extensions. Firefox users may pin extensions to the main toolbar for direct access.

The new unified extensions button displays a manage button next to each extension. Activation of the button displays the three options manage, remove and report.

The feature has landed in Firefox 105 Nightly, and is still in active development. Some functionality is still missing and it will take some time before the final version lands in Firefox Nightly and other development versions of the browser.

Firefox Nightly users who want to give it a go need to do the following:

1. Make sure that Firefox Nightly is up to date.
2. Load about:config in the browser's address bar.
3. Search for extensions.unifiedExtensions.enabled.
4. Set the value of the preference to True.
5. Restart Firefox Nightly.

The new Extensions icon is displayed on Firefox's toolbar after the restart. Note that it is displayed only if at least one extension is active in the browser.

Closing words

Mozilla plans to support the same feature set as Chromium-based browsers when it comes to the single Extensions icon in Firefox. Firefox users may pin extension icons to the main toolbar for direct access, but all extensions are always available when the extensions icon is activated. The overflow option will likely be removed from Firefox at one point in time.

Now You: where do you prefer your extension icons: single menu, on the toolbar, or mixed? (via Techdows)

Mozilla is working on a single Extensions button for its Firefox web browser

The update is already available, but it is offered to devices with Thunderbird 102.x only at the time. Devices with Thunderbird 92.x installed remain on that version for a bit longer before upgrades to the newer base version are offered.

The only way to upgrade right now is to download the Thunderbird 102 installer from the official project site and run it on the target system.

In Thunderbird 102, select Help > About Thunderbird to display the installed version and have the program check for updates.

Thunderbird 102.1.1 is the first version 102.1 point release. Thunderbird 102.1 was released at the end of July.

Thunderbird 102.1.1 changes and fixes

The official release notes list a single change, three known issues and dozens of fixes. The change makes the OpenPGP Manager clear selected keys after deletions.

As far as fixes are concerned, there are too many to list. Check out the release notes for  the full listing.  Here is an overview of what has been addressed in the new Thunderbird version.

• Various OpenPGP improvements related to importing, exporting, saving and receiving.
• Several POP related fixes, including that OAuth did not work with some POP servers, that the POP3 message download progress bar was not displayed, and that self-signed TLS certificates did not work with POP3 connections.
• OAuth2 authentication was not available if the mail domain did not match the OAuth provider domain.
• Unspecified macOS display issue that made Thunderbird unusable.
• Fixes to NNTP messages, including that they were not displayed in the preview pane if a master password was set.
• Dragging and dropping from the address book to the Compose window did sometimes add "unexpected contacts" to the target.
• Improved detection of photos in vCards.
• Contacts without first, last and display names appeared empty in the contact list.
• The Settings page caused "excessive CPU usage".

The release notes list three known issues:

• The "Get Map" feature is not available in the address book for physical addresses.
• Custom fields are missing from the address book.
• A dedicated Department field is missing from the address book.

Now You: do you use Thunderbird 102, an earlier version, or another email program?

Thunderbird 102.1.1 is a huge bug fix release for the email program

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Thunderbird 102.1.1

Microsoft has already begun testing the new Windows 10 22H2 version in the Windows Insider Release preview channel, allowing both consumers and the enterprise to test its new feature before it is officially released.

Windows 10 22H2 is not a significant release and does not bring a major overhaul to Windows 10, but Microsoft says this update comes with a scoped set of new features. In terms of hardware and driver requirements, there are absolutely no changes.

In fact, your existing drivers, including those installed for Windows 10 version 2004, will continue to work normally on Windows 10 version 22H2.

What's new in Windows 10 version 22H2

While Microsoft has released Windows 10 version 22H2 for testing, it has not released a list of new features other than saying it would have a scoped set of features.

However, it is believed that any new features coming to Windows 10 will be more enterprise-centric, with few new features being added.

However, from release notes seen for current versions of Windows 10, we can see that Microsoft continues to invest development time in improving existing features, such as Focus Assist and Windows Autopilot.

For example, the recent KB5015878 update includes these new features:

•  Gives you the option to receive important notifications when focus assist is on. Focus assist is like a do not disturb mode that hides notifications.

• Restores functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. 

   

The company plans to release the feature update via an enablement package, similar to the previous Windows 10 releases.

The enablement package is a "master switch" that would simply turn on dormant features. In other words, the features of Windows 10 version 22H2 are already included in Windows 10's latest cumulative updates.

How to download version 22H2

The update is expected to roll out in October or November as an optional update for Windows 10.

To get the update via enablement package or version 22H2, users should be using the latest cumulative updates. Once you've installed the cumulative updates, just go to Settings > Update & Security and begin the download by clicking the 'Download & install now" button.

If you want to try it right now, you can join the Release Preview Channel and follow the above steps.

Microsoft has also made the Windows 10 22H2 ISO available for download via the Windows Insider program for those who wish to perform a clean install.

Windows 10 22H2 is coming, here's everything we know

Four browsers participated in the contest: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Vivaldi. Our testing machine is a relatively inexpensive laptop from HP with the following specs:

We attempted to find the most energy-efficient browser by running two tests: a looping YouTube video playback at 1080p and refreshing two "heavy" websites every 60 seconds (hard-refresh with cache). We enabled sync in all four browsers, added several extensions, and disabled ad-blockers for an extra strain to simulate how the average user browses the internet.

Important: You might experience slightly different results depending on software and hardware configuration.

Test 1 - YouTube at 1080p

Unsurprisingly, Chrome showed the best energy efficiency when playing YouTube, and it lasted for 6 hours and 57 minutes. Vivaldi came second with an almost identical time of 6 hours and 56 minutes.

Although Microsoft Edge uses Chromium just like Chrome and Vivaldi, it showed notably worse battery performance when playing YouTube - 5 hours and 59 minutes. A one-hour difference is a significant blow to Edge, which could make users consider other browsers to get the best battery life for media consumption. The ability to watch one or even two more episodes of your favorite series is no joke.

Still, Edge was not giving up that easily. Microsoft's browser has a built-in efficiency mode that reduces CPU usage to improve battery life. It helped Edge gain 25 extra minutes, proving that efficiency mode is not just a marketing gimmick. 25 minutes might not sound impressive, but it is still a solid result overall.

Finally, Firefox finished with 5 hours and 27 minutes of YouTube playback, proving once again that developers optimize their websites and services primarily for Chromium-based browsers. Unfortunately, in addition to inferior performance, Firefox users must deal with worse energy efficiency.

Note: Chrome, Edge, and Vivaldi used the VP9 codec while Firefox picked AV1.

Test 2 - "Internet Surfing Simulator"

Vivaldi finished first (spoiler: not for long) with a solid time of 6 hours and 27 minutes. Unlike the previous test, Chrome came second with 5 hours and 48 minutes. Edge scored 5 hours and 31 minutes, and Firefox came last, showing a time of only 4 hours and 43 minutes.

And then Microsoft Edge pulled its efficiency mode wildcard. The browser got a major battery life boost, gaining more than one extra hour. Efficiency mode let Edge crush the competition and finish first with 8 minutes ahead of Vivaldi. Quite an impressive result.

Conclusion

Vivaldi could be your best choice if you need a browser that provides solid battery life compared to the competition and does not require enabling energy-saving modes. Besides, Vivaldi is a privacy-focused browser that does not use Google's data-mining probes or controversial APIs.

Chrome's average overall performance is another proof of why it is the most popular browser. Chrome provides class-leading performance and compatibility paired with satisfactory battery life. You cannot go wrong with Chrome, but you can get better battery life in Vivaldi without sacrificing compatibility.

Microsoft Edge surprised us in a negative sense, but it redeemed itself with efficiency mode. Still, users need to keep in mind that using efficiency mode results in slightly lower performance that becomes notable on specific websites.

As for Firefox, you probably need to look elsewhere if you want a browser with the best battery life. Firefox is not a bad browser per se, but it just cannot keep up with Chromium alternatives and their superior energy efficiency.

Guide: What is the most efficient browser for Windows?

Microsoft is bringing pin-protected printing to its Windows 10 operating system - a feature that actually premiered on Windows 11.

The tech giant has a “scoped set of features” that it plans to bring over from Windows 11 in order to make bridging over from Windows 10 more natural, which are due to be shared between the operating systems in the near future.

In an effort to avoid duplicate printouts, especially in busy offices and workplaces, Windows 11 (and now Windows 10) users are able to set a pin on their computer. The file(s) will only be printed once this pin is inputted into the printer.

Pin-protected printing on Windows 10

The move isn't just linked to increased security and privacy, but in an environmentally conscious age, it should also drive down paper waste.

Enterprise customers are also getting a printing-related feature bridged over to Windows 10: the Print Support App is designed to support new features and for workplaces to print workflows to the print experience without needing to install additional drivers.

Windows 11 users have also valued focus assist for the OS’s do not disturb mode, allowing users to continue to receive important, time-sensitive notifications irrespective of do not disturb status. 

The Windows 11 printing and do not disturb features are heading over to Windows 10 with build number 19044.1806, which is currently available for testing in the Release Preview Channel. 

Currently, there’s no word on when this build, which has been in testing since June this year, will become widely available, however you can check out the entire list of additions and fixes on the Windows blog site (opens in new tab). 

Via Windows Latest (opens in new tab)

One of the most useful Windows 11 tools is coming to Windows 10

The full announcement says:

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 25174.1010 (KB5017214). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline for builds in the Dev Channel.

Hence, all the bug fixes and improvements that were announced with the earlier released build 25174 to the Dev Channel are carried over into this.

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

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

Windows 11 build 25174.1010 (KB5017214) released to test servicing pipeline

A comparison test in November last year indeed showed that the Intel 12th Gen chips were a bit ahead of Ubuntu and the Linux 5.15 kernel. With the succeeding Linux 5.16 too, the performance of Alder Lake was not as consistent as on Windows 11.

However, come the recent Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with Linux kernel version 5.18, things haven't been as easy for Windows 11. Despite having the Thread Director optimization, the Microsoft OS faced defeat in the recent July test.

Today, Phoronix took an Alder Lake-P Core i7-1280P on a test run to see how the mobile Big-Bigger architecture fares in Windows 11 against Clear Linux and Ubuntu. The test bed consisted of the following components:

MSI MS-14C6 Prestige 14 Evo

• Core i7-1280P
• 16GB of RAM
• 1TB Micron 3400 NVMe SSD
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with Linux 5.18
• Clear Linux 36580 (Linux kernel v5.18)

Overall, it's a mixed bag of performance. We start off with ParaView and in this case, Windows 11 does far better than both Clear Linux and Ubuntu.

Up next in Java 2D rendering benchmarks however, both Ubuntu 22.04 and Clear Linux enjoy very significant performance leads over Windows 11.

In the Selenium Google Chrome browser CanvasMark benchmark, Ubuntu is nearly twice as fast as Windows 11 while Clear Linux is even faster.

The combined geometric mean of all the test results shows Windows 11 is only 1.5% faster than Ubuntu 22.04 which is a good indicator of the fact that the new Linux kernel is starting to incorporate Alder Lake optimizations. This also bodes well for upcoming Raptor Lake too.

You can find the full test results with more details on Phoronix's website here.

Despite Alder Lake optimization, Windows 11 struggles to stay ahead of Ubuntu / Linux