The full announcement says:

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 25163.1010 (KB5016904). 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 25163 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, Windows 10 Build 21292.1010 caused issues for x64 emulation on ARM PCs.

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

Windows 11 servicing build 25163.1010 (KB5016904) released for 23H2 Dev channel

Here are the major highlights in the new update:

Highlights

• New! Gives you the option to receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on. Focus assist is like a do not disturb mode that hides notifications.
• New! Gives you the option to update to a newer Windows 11 version at the very first startup of Windows if your device is eligible.
• Addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you use the play and pause keyboard buttons on certain devices.
• Addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you use the Start menu’s context menu (Win+X) and an external monitor is connected to your device.
• Addresses an issue that displays a blank window that you cannot close when you hover over the search icon on the taskbar.
• Addresses an issue that prevents certain troubleshooting tools from opening.

And here is the full list of changes:

Improvements

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

• New! Provides the ability for you to consent to receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on.
• New! Provides the option for eligible devices to update to a newer Windows 11 version during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) when you first sign in. If you choose to update to a newer version, the update process will begin shortly after the update is installed on the device.
• New! Restores functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. This update removes the one-time use restriction for self-deploying mode (SDM) and pre-provisioning (PP). This update also re-enables any User Principal Name (UPN) display in user-driven mode (UDM) deployments for approved manufacturers.
• Addresses an issue in UIAutomation() that causes an application to stop working.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the Startup Task API from working as expected for certain apps.
• Improves the reliability of a push-button reset after an OS upgrade.
• Addresses an issue that makes the tenant restrictions event logging channel inaccessible if you remove the EN-US language pack.
• Addresses an issue that causes certificate-based machine account authentication to fail in some circumstances after you install the May 10, 2022 security updates on domain controllers.
• Addresses an issue that affects the Arm64EC code you build using the Windows 11 software development kit (SDK).
• Updates the Remove-Item cmdlet to properly interact with Microsoft OneDrive folders.
• Addresses an issue that prevents certain troubleshooting tools from opening.
• Addresses an issue that causes port mapping conflicts for containers.
• Addresses an issue that causes Code Integrity to continue trusting a file after the file has been modified.
• Addresses an issue that might cause Windows to stop working when you enable Windows Defender Application Control with the Intelligent Security Graph feature turned on.
• Deploys search highlights to devices. To access the policy for search highlights (on a device that has installed the June 2022 Cumulative Update Preview or July 2022 monthly quality update), go to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions and locate Search.admx. For your convenience, we will be publishing an updated version of the Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11, version 21H2 to the Microsoft Download Center soon.
• Addresses an issue that causes explorer.exe to stop working when you use the play and pause keyboard buttons on certain devices.
• Addresses an issue that causes explorer.exe to stop working when you use the Start menu’s context menu (Win+X) and an external monitor is connected to your device.
• Addresses an issue that displays a blank window that you cannot close when you hover over the search icon on the taskbar.
• Reduces the overhead of resource contention in high input/output operations per second (IOPS) scenarios that have many threads contending on a single file.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Windows profile service to fail sporadically. The failure might occur when signing in. The error message is, “gpsvc service failed to sign in. Access denied”.

The update is available through the Settings but you can also manually download it on Microsoft Update Catalog website here. Additionally, the company has also released the updates for Windows 10 version 1809, Windows Server 2019, and more with KB5015880.

KB5015882: Latest Windows 11 update brings upgrade option right at startup

Based on user complaints on Microsoft's official community website and Reddit, the KB5002112 and KB5002121 updates are the ones triggering this issue for MS Access 2016 and MS Access 2013, respectively.

Microsoft says that for Office installation affected by this issue, users may receive a "Requested type library or wizard is not a VBA project" when opening an ACCDE/MDE file or a "Can't complete the output operation" error when attempting to export to text or Excel files.

"This issue was introduced in the July 12 Patch Tuesday update across all supported versions of Access," the company further explained.

In an update to the initial advisory, Redmond says a fix is already available for customers using retail versions of Office 2016, 2019, and 2021, and for Microsoft 365 Apps Current Channel.

The fix is also rolling out to all other affected Access versions, with estimated arrival times between July 25 and August 9.

"For Click-to-run versions (all channels except Office 2013 and Office 2016 MSI), you can get the new update when it is available by choosing File/Account/Office Updates/Update Now," Microsoft added.

"If you have Access to the original database that was used to create the ACCDE/MDE, and users are on a single version of Office, you can re-create the ACCDE/MDE file using the same version of Office that users are on."

Access users who cannot re-create their ACCDE/MDE files to mitigate the issue and don't want to wait until the fix rollouts to their systems can remove the offending updates to resolve the problems.

However, it's important to note that uninstalling this month's cumulative updates will also remove security updates addressing a Microsoft Office security feature bypass vulnerability (CVE-2022-33632) addressed as part of the July 2022 Patch Tuesday.

This is because of Microsoft's choice to bundle all security fixes within a single package. Removing Patch Tuesday updates will also remove fixes for any patched security flaws.

Therefore, uninstalling the buggy updates to address this MS Access issue should be the last resort option and only be done if absolutely necessary.

If you uninstall the July updates, you should also ensure that they won't be reinstalled to trigger the Access launch problems again.

You will have to download and run the "Show or hide updates" troubleshooter from here, click on 'Next,' select the update you want to hide, and restart your computer when prompted.

Microsoft fixes Access apps failing to open after July updates

Thunderbird 102.0.3 is already available, either as an in-client upgrade or a manual download from the official project website. Only Thunderbird 102.x installations can be upgraded to the new version. Older Thunderbird installations do not get the upgrade offer to version 102 at this point, but this is going to change in the future.

Thunderbird 102.0.3

Select Help > About Thunderbird to display the current version and check for updates. If the menubar is not displayed, tap on the Alt-key on the keyboard to display it. The client should pick up the update automatically. A restart is required to complete the installation of the update.

The official changelog lists 12 changes that made it into Thunderbird 102.0.3. Windows users who run Thunderbird 102 on Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system may have hade the client crash on startup; this issue has been fixed in the new release.

The only change listed in the changelog is the removal of support for Google Talk chat accounts. Thunderbird 102 supports Matrix, Odnoklassniki, IRC and XMPP currently.

Access to downloaded messages was not provided in previous versions of Thunderbird after folders were compacted by the client. Compacting reduces the storage that Thunderbird requires on the local device. The developers have addressed the issue in the new release.

The following fixes are also listed:

• When using Unified Folders, marking a message as a favorite (starring it) did not update the thread pane.
• When S/MIME was configured, Compose failed to populate some fields.
• The incorrect mime header charset=windows-1250 was set for non-text attachments.
• The incorrect header X-Mozilla-Cloud-Part was set for messages sent as attachments.
• Address book importing and exporting has been improved in the profile importer.
• Unspecified IMAP stability improvements.
• Addressed an issue that made the offline cache unusable for NNTP accounts.
• Signing S/MIME messages failed.
• Unspecified UI improvements.

Thunderbird 102.0.3 is the third point release of version 102 of the email client. Thunderbird 102 was a major new release with a large list of improvements and new features. The point releases 102.0.1 and 102.0.2 addressed issues in the new version, similarly to version 102.0.3.

Now You: do you use Thunderbird 102 already?

Thunderbird 102.0.3 update fixes a crash on Windows 11

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Thunderbird 102.0.3

This Windows 11 cumulative update is part of Microsoft's July 2022 monthly "C" update, allowing users to test the upcoming updates and fixes in the August 2022 Patch Tuesday.

Unlike cumulative updates released on Patch Tuesday, preview updates do not contain security updates and only include bug fixes and performance improvements.

Windows users can install this update by going into Settings, clicking on Windows Update, and selecting 'Check for Updates.' As this is an optional update, you will be prompted to click on the download and install button before Windows 10 will install the update.

After installing the KB5015882 update, Windows 11's version number will change to build 22000.829.

Windows 10 users can also download and manually install the KB5015882 update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

What's new in Windows 10 KB5015882

The Windows 10 KB5015882 cumulative update preview includes 20 improvements or fixes, with the highlighted ones listed below:

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

   

• New! Gives you the option to update to a newer Windows 11 version at the very first startup of Windows if your device is eligible.

   

• Addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you use the play and pause keyboard buttons on certain devices.

   

• Addresses an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you use the Start menu’s context menu (Win+X) and an external monitor is connected to your device.

   

• Addresses an issue that displays a blank window that you cannot close when you hover over the search icon on the taskbar.

   

• Addresses an issue that prevents certain troubleshooting tools from opening.

   

The new feature to update to the latest version of Windows 11 on the first run of the operating system is helpful, as it will allow users to automatically install the latest security updates before they gain access to the OS. This will add additional security protection when setting up a new device.

Microsoft notes that only sites using the 'windows.focus()' method are affected by this bug.

"After installing this update, IE mode tabs in Microsoft Edge might stop responding when a site displays a modal dialog box," explains the KB5015882 release notes.

"A modal dialog box is a form or dialog box that requires the user to respond before continuing or interacting with other portions of the webpage or app."

Microsoft notes that only sites using the windows.focus() method are affected by this bug.

You can find a complete list of improves and fixes and detailed explanations of the known issues in the KB5015882 support bulletin.

Windows 11 KB5015882 update fixes bugs causing File Explorer to freeze

However, contrary to that, it looks like Microsoft has lowered the bit rate of the Windows 11 Startup sound in the upcoming version 22H2 (Sun Valley 2). The reduction was spotted by Twitter user and prolific leakster Xeno who saw that the audio file for the Startup sound has a reduced bit rate of 1,536 Kbps, down from 2,304 Kbps in last year's build 22463. This change was noticed in Beta Channel build 22621 which has been confirmed to be the RTM release candidate for Windows 11 22H2.

The 33% reduction in the bit rate may or may not ultimately lead to a perceptible difference in the fidelity of the Windows 11 Startup sound. It depends on the compression algorithm used, which could be Huffman or Arithmetic or something else. Nonetheless, it is still a sizable chunk taken away.

Additionally, the image below suggests that Microsoft has also made changes to the music itself, and the silence at the start has been elongated slightly in Build 22621.

Here is the original Windows 11 21H2 Startup sound for reference:

While the potential reduction in the quality here is probably not under the ambit of what Panos Panay meant, a perceptible reduction of the Startup sound could still upset users, especially those that prefer high-fidelity crisp audio whenever possible.

Source and images: Xeno (Twitter)

Microsoft may be lowering Windows 11 22H2 Startup sound quality

Edge Bar is an experimental feature that is in testing right now. Not all Edge users see it at this point in time.

Edge Bar search field

Launched with the operating system, the search field brings Bing Search to the desktop (again). Besides Edge Bar, the name of the feature, Microsoft is experimenting with adding Bing Search and features to various Windows areas.

Edge Bar is also a sidebar that you may launch from Edge. It is snapped to the right side of the screen when you do and displays news and information that is similar to Widgets.

Edge Bar looks like any launcher app on Windows on first glance. The bar can be moved around on the desktop. The Edge icon gives away that it is part of Microsoft Edge. The search field accepts search terms and web addresses, but it will also highlight open tabs in Edge that you may switch to.

The entire feature is powered by Edge and any input is redirected to Edge eventually.

If you have no need for the feature, and the chance is good, considering that there are plenty of options to run searches or open web addresses on Windows already, then you may want to turn off Edge Bar so that it is no longer displayed on start.

Activate the menu icon that is displayed on the right side of the Edge Bar interface to display a menu with options.

Select the "Auto-start Edge bar" entry to disable it. The checkmark is removed and Edge bar is no longer started with the operating system.

Note that doing so does not remove the current Edge bar interface from the desktop. Select the menu again and there close to terminate the interface in the current session.

You may also want to check for Edge Bar settings in Microsoft Edge. Open the browser and load edge://settings/edgeBar to see if the page comes up. If it does, make sure that "automatically open Edge bar when the computer starts" is disabled on the settings page.

Now You: what is your take on Edge Bar? Useful feature or annoying?

How to remove the Edge Bar search field on Windows desktops

What’s new

Taskbar Overflow

We’re reintroducing taskbar overflow, with a newly designed experience for Windows 11. This taskbar experience has been thoughtfully crafted to offer you a more productive switching and launching experience when space is constrained. Your taskbar will automatically transition into this new overflow state when it has hit its maximum capacity. In this state, taskbar will offer an entry point to an overflow menu that allows you to view all your overflowed apps in one space.

Taskbar will offer an entry point to an overflow menu that allows you to view all your overflowed apps in one space.

The overflow menu will contain many of the current taskbar behaviors users are familiar with, such as supporting pinned apps, jump list, and extended UI. After invoking overflow, the menu will quietly dismiss once you click outside of it or navigate to an application.

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

Improved nearby sharing

The discovery of devices under nearby share when sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window has been enhanced by using UDP (Network needs to be set to private) along with Bluetooth to discover nearby devices. You will now be able to discover and share to more devices including desktop PCs.

You can now discover and share to more devices with nearby sharing via the built-in Windows share window.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Share local files to OneDrive

When sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window, you can choose OneDrive as a target to directly upload the file to OneDrive and share it further along with access control options. All this can be done right from sharing local files in File Explorer without any context switches or opening the OneDrive app.

You can choose OneDrive as a target to directly upload the file to OneDrive via the built-in Windows share window.

(Please note this feature is currently only available for Microsoft accounts. A user will need to switch to their Microsoft account via the top right profile icon in the share window if logged in via AAD. AAD support will be added in a future update.)

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an explorer.exe crash when dragging tabs around.
• Did some work to fix a memory leak when using tabs with File Explorer.
• Fixed an issue where the preview thumbnail for File Explorer in the taskbar, ALT + Tab, and Task View might show the title of an adjacent tab and not the currently selected one.
• If “Show all folders” is enabled, the dividers in File Explorer’s navigation pane should no longer show. With this change, it should also address the issues where dividers were unexpectedly showing in some other folder pickers.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator wasn’t reading out the titles of tabs as focus moved through them.
• Fixed an issue where a closed tab might appear again in File Explorer after you dragged File Explorer across your monitors.
• Fixed an issue where the tab row might unexpectedly expand vertically, covering the command bar contents.
• Removable drives should no longer unexpectedly be displayed in a section by themselves in the navigation pane, which was breaking up the section with This PC and Network.
• Fixed an issue where the add new tab button wasn’t clearly visible when using Aquatic or Desert contrast themes.
• The add new tab button shouldn’t overlap with the minimize button in the title bar when using text scaling with a lot of tabs open anymore.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed a rare explorer.exe crash that could happen while on a Microsoft Teams call, related to sharing windows from the taskbar.

[Settings]

• Made a change to help fix an issue where using Windows Spotlight on the desktop might revert to a solid color background.
• Improved the padding around the uninstall button when using Apps > Installed Apps in grid view.
• Fixed a couple issues that could lead to Quick Settings crashing on launch.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue which was leading to certain apps freezing after a copy action if Suggested Actions was enabled.

[Other]

• Fixed a high hitting crash impacting suggested actions reliability.

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.

Here are the the known issues in Build 25163:

[General]

• We’re investigating reports that SQL Server Management Studio is failing to launch for some Insiders.
• Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.

[File Explorer]

• The up arrow is misaligned in File Explorer tabs. This will be fixed in a future update.
• We’re working on a fix to address reports that launching File Explorer in certain ways when using dark mode (for example, from the command line) is showing the body of File Explorer unexpectedly in light mode.

[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.
• We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Widgets preferences (temperature units and pinned widgets) to unexpectedly get reset to default.

[Live captions]

• Certain apps in full screen (e.g., video players) prevent live captions from being visible.
• Certain apps positioned near the top of the screen and closed before live captions is run will re-launch behind the live captions window positioned at top. Use the system menu (ALT + Spacebar) while the app has focus to move the app’s window further down.

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 23H2 Dev Build 25163 adds Taskbar Overflow, fixes File Explorer memory leak, more

Apple’s latest slate of updates — iOS and iPadOS 15.6, macOS 12.5, watchOS 8.7, and tvOS 15.6 — are starting to show up for some users. Given the next versions of the OSes are likely due out in a few short months (and beta testers are already using them), it’s not a surprise that Wednesday’s updates are all relatively light on features. According to the release notes, here’s what’s new:

• iOS and iPad OS 15.6 adds the ability to pause, rewind, restart, and fast forward a live sports game in the TV app and fixes a few bugs in Settings, Mail, and Safari
• macOS 12.5 also gets the update to the TV app and a bug fix for Safari
• watchOS 8.7 “includes improvements, bug fixes, and important security updates”
• tvOS 15.6 “includes general performance and stability improvements”

The updates also include a laundry list of security updates, some of which patch relatively scary-sounding problems. While Apple doesn’t mention that any of the issues have been actively exploited like it has in the past, it’s probably still a good idea to get all your devices up to date as soon as you can.

The elephant in the room for these releases is a familiar one: as with any updates that come out after WWDC, it’s very possible they could be the last releases before the next version. While we could see a few more minor updates just to fix bugs, I’d be very surprised if we see new point releases like iOS 15.7 or macOS 12.6. For people still using an iPhone 6S, 7, or first-gen SE, this could be one of the last updates you ever receive for that device — Apple isn’t supporting them on iOS 16.

You can download iOS or iPadOS 15.6 by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

You can download macOS 12.5 by going to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Software Update.

Your Apple TV and Watch will likely automatically update. If not, you can manually update by following Apple’s instructions, which you can find here for tvOS and here for watchOS.

It can take a while for the updates to become available for everyone, so if you don’t see them, just check back on the screen in an hour or two.

Apple releases new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS

Here is what is new in the Microsoft Store 22206.1401.2.0:

Browse and search with updated price designs: We made it easier to understand the prices, so you have all the info you need when searching for a new app, game, or movie.

New ways to find game editions: We made it easier to find different editions of a game. View standard and deluxe editions so you can choose the game you want to play.

Like with all preview software, Microsoft wants to hear your feedback regarding the latest enhancements in the Microsoft Store. You can share your thoughts by opening the Microsoft Store and pressing Win + F. The software giant can also check our article with the top-10 changes users want for the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft Store gets improved price tags and game editions discoverability

What is new in Edge Dev 105.0.1321.0:

Added features:

•  Added language region information to the offline voices for iOS .
•  Added the “x” close button to the Share pane.
•  Added in a notification when users try to Share a PDF larger than 25MB.
•  Added a tooltip for MicroFeedback (thumbs up/thumbs down icons) in settings.

 Improved reliability:

•  Improved Edge Cloud Control Platform for Android and iOS.
•  Improvements for Android Read aloud.
•  Improved tooltips on the mini menu.
•  Improved Designer hub behavior to properly open and close on macOS.
•  Improved the tabs' view for iOS.
•  Improved accessibility by adding announcements for the translate and cancel buttons.
•  on translate pane in Immersive Reader for mobile.
•  Improved drag/drop functionality.
•  Improved features for Autofill.
•  Ensured YouTube will load when clicking on the Windows notification.

 Other changes:

•  Fixed iOS app popup menu.
•  Fixed issue where icon styling was making doc icons appear as circles.
•  Changed the behavior when closing out of a text-note window on PDFs to focus back on the note highlight.
•  Optimized mobile notification requests.
•  Fixed a visual issue where the optional diagnostics box did not appear unchecked on Android.
•  Completed changes for the Digital Signature icon on toolbar for Microsoft Browser.
•  Fixed saved passwords from re-organizing after searching for a password on iOS.
•  Fixed the issue were clicking on Windows notifications from a website does not open that website.
•  Fixed an issue were Read Aloud does not start.
•  Updated announcement phrase for the InfoBar after updating cookie settings.
•  Selecting Customize toolbar from the toolbar’s right-click menu will land users directly on the Customize toolbar section in Settings.

Besides new features and changes mentioned in the list above, Microsoft is testing a new command bar for quick access to different tools in Edge. It is called Command Palette and is now available for testing in the Canary channel. You can download Edge Canary, Dev, and Beta from the official Edge Insider website.

According to the release schedule, Edge 105 will move from the Dev channel to Beta for final testing on the week of August 9, 2022. The public release is scheduled for the week of September 1, 2022.

Source

Microsoft has revised the wording of its Microsoft Store policies after fears the previous wording would ban open source software developers from making profits from their apps on the store.

Giorgio Sardo, general manager (GM) in the Experiences and Devices group at Microsoft and GM for the Microsoft Store, announced the changes today via Twitter concerning sections 10.8.7 and 11.2 of the Store policy document. These sections regard how much developers charge for apps and the copyright infringement reporting to Microsoft, respectively.

The new wording for section 10.8.7 says: "In cases where you determine the pricing for your product or in-app purchases, all pricing … must not be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality provided by your product."

The newly worded section scrubs previous references to open source software (OSS) and whether OSS developers or others can profit from it or free and OSS software via the Store.

Sardo said in a tweet this week: "Last month, we shared a few updates to Microsoft Store policies to help protect customers from misleading product listings. We heard your feedback, and today we made a change to policy 10.8.7 and 11.2."

But it took Microsoft a few weeks to knock its policy on charging for apps into shape. Questions about the previously worded section 10.8.7 were picked up in early July by Microsoft-watcher Rafael Rivera. Those changes were set to come into force on July 16. (Section 10.8 deals with financial transitions on the Store.)

These changes, posted on June 16, were logged in Microsoft's store policy change history as: "Update to 10.8.7 to prohibit charging fees in the Store for open-source or other software that is generally available for free and restrict irrationally high pricing."

The wording at the time said Store developers, when determining pricing, must not "attempt to profit from open-source or other software that is otherwise generally available for free, nor be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality provided by your product."

By chopping any reference to open source and profits, Microsoft appears to agree that its previous wording was clumsy. The company has nothing against OSS developers making money on the Store, but was, as Sardo said this week, trying to prevent misleading and copycat apps profiting from OSS apps. The new section 11.2 highlights that infringement cases should be reported to Microsoft.

But the previous wording raised several questions. For example, OSS developers put in work to make their apps Store-ready and the Microsoft Store should allow them to capture some of that value, Rivera had noted.

The former version of 10.8.7 seemed a "bit restrictive given some OSS needs a lot of TLC to get working in AppContainer and devs that do the work should be able to recoup the investment," he wrote at the time.

The proposed policy change gained wider attention after developer Hayden Barnes retweeted Rivera's post and said he was "disappointed" that the policy's wording seems to prohibit anyone from selling open source software in the Store.

The Store gives OSS developers a way to sustain projects by allowing them to charge a "reasonable amount", he added.

However, even he believed Microsoft intended merely to prevent copycats from profiting from OSS projects. But he wanted Microsoft to wording of the prohibition on profiting from OSS as it was too broadly defined.

"I support language to block copycats but the policy language needs to be more narrowly tailored. As-is it sweeps in legit open source apps and, to me, possibly even proprietary apps with MIT/BSD dependencies if your apps cannot 'attempt to profit from open-source software'," he later added.

Sardo had quickly confirmed to Barnes and Rivera that blocking copycat profiting was the intent and promised Microsoft would look into clarifying the wording: that job is done now.

Source

If you want to join in with the Quests, you’ll need to get your machine update fairly quickly because the Bug Bash will only run between July 20 and July 25 PDT. Microsoft didn’t mention what bug bashers would receive for their efforts, but in previous events, it has awarded a Bug Bash sticker that appears in the Feedback Hub.

If you’re curious about what the tasks are, they are fairly run-of-the-mill activities. Prior Quests included things like ‘Access your Microsoft Account free benefits in Settings’ and ‘Easily find the Settings you need via the Settings in-app search box’. A novice user could struggle with some tasks, but it’s quite unlikely they’d be running a beta build of Windows 11 anyway.

Hopefully, the feedback that you provide to Microsoft helps make the update better in time for it being released to the public.

Microsoft wants Windows 11 Build 22622.436 users to join in a Bug Bash

Today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.436 and Build 22622.436 (KB5015888) to the Beta Channel. We’re also kicking of a Bug Bash for the Beta Channel starting tomorrow – details below!

• Build 22622.436 = New features rolling out.
• Build 22621.436 = New features off by default.

As a reminder, Insiders who landed in the group with new features turned off by default (Build 22621.xxxx) can check for updates and choose to install the update that will have features rolling out (Build 22622.xxx).

Here are all the new features and improvements in the latest Beta channel build:

What’s new in Build 22622.436

Improved nearby sharing

The discovery of devices under nearby share when sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window has been enhanced by using UDP (Network needs to be set to private) along with Bluetooth to discover nearby devices. You will now be able to discover and share to more devices including desktop PCs.

You can now discover and share to more devices with nearby sharing via the built-in Windows share window.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Share local files to OneDrive

When sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window, you can choose OneDrive as a target to directly upload the file to OneDrive and share it further along with access control options. All this can be done right from sharing local files in File Explorer without any context switches or opening the OneDrive app.

You can choose OneDrive as a target to directly upload the file to OneDrive via the built-in Windows share window.

(Please note this feature is currently only available for Microsoft accounts. A user will need to switch to their Microsoft account via the top right profile icon in the share window if logged in via AAD. AAD support will be added in a future update.)

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Changes and Improvements in Build 22622.436

[Windows Terminal]

• Windows Terminal is now the default terminal in Windows 11. This means, all command line applications will open in Windows Terminal automatically (Command Prompt and PowerShell, for example). The setting for this change can be found via Settings > Privacy & security > For developers. Please note that Windows Terminal version 1.15 or greater is required for this feature.

[Input]

• You can now report animated gifs that you feel are inappropriate from the emoji panel (WIN + .)

Bug fixes in Build 22622.436 are the following:

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue where the tab order when using CTRL + Tab would be wrong if you’d rearranged the tabs in File Explorer.
• Fixed an explorer.exe crash when dragging tabs around.
• If “Show all folders” is enabled, the dividers in File Explorer’s navigation pane should no longer show. With this change, it should also address the issues where dividers were unexpectedly showing in some other folder pickers.
• Opening a zipped folder in a new tab should no longer have a blank tab name.
• Removable drives should no longer unexpectedly be displayed in a section by themselves in the navigation pane, which was breaking up the section with This PC and Network.
• Fixed an issue where the add new tab button wasn’t clearly visible when using Aquatic or Desert contrast themes.
• A faint line should no longer display between the current tab and the command bar.
• Updated the tooltip when hovering over a tab to suggest using CTRL + W to close the tab (rather than CTRL + F4, which didn’t work).
• If focus is on the tab row, CTRL + W will no longer unexpectedly close two tabs instead of just the tab in focus.
• Fixed an issue where the tab row might unexpectedly expand vertically, covering the command bar contents.

[Start]

• Fixed a Start crash which was impacting some Insiders on Build 22622.160.

The bug fixes common to both Build 22621.436 and Build 22622.436 are:

• We fixed an issue that prevents troubleshooters from opening.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Smart App Control to block catalog-signed files.
• We fixed an issue that might highly distort photos you take using the Camera app. This issue occurs when using certain cameras under certain low light conditions.
• We fixed an issue that throws an exception when you debug drivers using Visual Studio 2022 version 17.2 or later.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Windows profile service to fail sporadically. The failure might occur when signing in. The error message is, “gpsvc service failed to sign in. Access denied”.
• We fixed an issue that prevents virtualized App-V Office applications from opening or causes them to stop responding.

[General]

• We fixed an issue resulting in a small number of Insiders in the Beta Channel experiencing cyclical crashes in Explorer.exe and other Windows UI components, making the screen look like it’s flickering. Please note, this fix should stop more Insiders from being newly impacted, however if you are already impacted by this, you will need to run the following command in PowerShell to resolve it: Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown
• Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders on the previous Beta Channel flight to have their PCs stuck on a black screen after waking from sleep.
• Fixed an issue which would lead to losing network connectivity after turning on mobile hotspot.
• Fixed an issue causing Build 22621.290 / 22622.290 to fail to install with error 0x800f081f for some Insiders.

The known issues in the releases are:

[File Explorer]

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

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 Beta builds 22621.436 and 22622.436 are out, fixes Start menu crash, black screen

Microsoft has announced a new experimental feature in the Edge browser. It is a command bar that offers quick access to various tools and actions in Microsoft Edge. The company calls it “DevTools Command Palette,” and the feature is now available for testing in the Canary channel.

Although Microsoft revealed Command Palette only today, users spotted the first traces of the feature in late June 2022. It was partially available to some Edge Insiders in the Canary channel behind an experimental flag. Now every insider can access Command Palette in Edge 105 Canary.

It is worth noting that the feature remains experimental, so you need to enable it using a corresponding “flag” on the edge://flags page. Here is how to do that:

1. Update your Edge Canary to the latest version available by navigating to edge://settings/help.
2. Go to edge://flags and type Command Palette.
3. Set the corresponding flag to “Enabled” and restart the browser.

Now, you can access Command Palette by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Space. You can type different commands and actions, such as “Clear browsing history,” “Create InPrivate window,” etc. Also, you can type generic words to check out related commands. For example, “tabs,” “bookmark,” or “dev.”

Here is how Microsoft describes Command Palette in the official documentation:

Use Command Palette to quickly access various Microsoft Edge browser commands and DevTools commands from the keyboard.

Using Command Palette, you can directly access productivity and developer features that normally require clicking through several menus or using a series of keyboard shortcuts.

If you want to try Command Palette and other early features, which are not ready for public release, go to the official Edge Insider website to download Edge Canary. Just keep in mind that using Canary as your primary browser is not a good idea because the channel often suffers from quite nasty bugs. Fortunately, you can run Edge Canary alongside the stable release without issues.

Microsoft announces Command Palette for quick access to different features in Edge

After getting multiple complaints and feedback from developers, Microsoft has decided to backtrack the new rules and allow paid open-source apps in the Microsoft Store. Two weeks after the initial clarification, Giorgio Sard, general manager of apps, partners, and the Store at Microsoft, has announced a revision to the Microsoft Store policies.

The latest version of the rules that govern what apps developers can list in the Microsoft Store no longer mentions the pricing of open-source applications. Giorgio acknowledged that "there are many great free and paid OSS apps", and the company "look(s) forward to welcoming more."

Microsoft still wants to ensure users get safe apps that do not violate copyright or intellectual property. If you encounter a counterfeit app trying to get some easy money from inexperienced customers, report it using one of the official online infringement forms.

You can check out the change history for Microsoft Store policy in the official documentation. Document version 7.16.1 that went live yesterday contains the following:

• Update to 10.8.7 to remove language related to open-source or other free software.

• Update to 11.2 adding a link to Microsoft’s online infringement reporting form.

   

A comprehensive list of Microsoft Store rules is available here.

Now official: Paid open-source apps are allowed in the Microsoft Store

Quick Actions may speed up certain operations in Firefox, and they may assist users who have tried to execute commands in the browser's address bar previously.

Google introduced support for Quick Actions back in 2020 in the company's Chrome browser. Chrome users may run commands such as "manage passwords", "clear browsing data", or "translate page" directly from the address bar of the browser.

Mozilla's implementation works similarly. When Firefox users start to type supported commands in the address bar, a Quick Actions option is displayed in the list of suggestions.

One example: when you are on a site, you may start to type "view source" to get the option to view the page's source code right away.

The implementation goes beyond that, however, as certain commands are displayed when the address bar is activated; this is different from Chrome's implementation, which does not display commands when the address bar of the browser is activated.

The following options are displayed in Firefox Nightly right now: Clear history, Open Downloads, Refresh Nightly, Restart Nightly, Open Settings.

The feature is experimental at this stage, and it is possible that some commands may be removed or replaced. The ability to refresh the browser looks like it could be a prime candidate for that, as it could lead to the accidental refreshing of the browser.

Typed commands differ from Chrome's Quick Actions feature. Firefox users may type "take screenshot" to capture the screen, or "restart Firefox" to restart the browser.

Firefox Quick Actions: Experimental feature

Quick Actions is an experimental feature at this stage. It is only available in Firefox Nightly, and there only for en-US locales. Additionally, Firefox users need to enable the feature in the advanced preferences first before it becomes available.

1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
2. Confirm that you will be careful to proceed.
3. Search for browser.urlbar.quickactions.enabled and create the Boolean preference. It should be set to TRUE automatically.
4. Search for browser.urlbar.shortcuts.quickactions and create the Boolean preference. It is set to true automatically as well.

Once done, you may start using Quick Actions by activating the browser's address bar or typing the first letters of supported commands.

Closing Words

Quick Actions add another option to Firefox without taking anything away. Users who prefer using the keyboard whenever possible may find it useful, as it may speed up certain browser actions. Mozilla may also be able to help Firefox users who type commands in the address bar unknowingly.

The Quick Actions feature is experimental at this stage. There is a possibility that it will be removed from Firefox during development, but that seems unlikely, especially since Chrome supports Quick Actions as well.

Now You: which quick actions would you like to see supported by your browser?

Mozilla is testing Quick Actions in Firefox's Address Bar

What is new in Skype Insider Release 8.87.76.203:

• New Call Screen is now enabled by default on desktop, as the feature is out of beta.
• Easier access to captions during calls. You can enable captions directly from the call screen on desktop platforms.
• Fixed a bug where Skype would not connect to audio and video devices on older Windows versions, such as 7 and 8.1.
• Fixed crashes on iOS.
• Fixed bugs with opening chats on Android.
• Fixed a missing send button after recording a video on a Chromebook.
• Various stability improvements.

You can download the latest Skype Insider build from the official website. Note that it might take a few days before the new features reach your device, even after installing the latest available version.

The latest Skype Insider update has new call screen and fixes for old Windows versions

You can view the long list of changes below:

This update includes the following improvements:

• New! We provided the ability for you to consent to receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on.

• New! We restored functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. This update removed the one-time use restriction for self-deploying mode (SDM) and pre-provisioning (PP). This update also re-enabled any User Principal Name (UPN) display in user-driven mode (UDM) deployments for approved manufacturers.

• We reduced the overhead of resource contention in high input/output operations per second (IOPS) scenarios that have many threads contending on a single file.
• We improved the reliability of a push-button reset after an OS upgrade.
• We fixed an issue that makes the tenant restrictions event logging channel inaccessible if you remove the EN-US language pack.
• We fixed an issue that prevents troubleshooters from opening.
• We updated the Remove-Item cmdlet to properly interact with Microsoft OneDrive folders.
• We fixed an issue that causes certain docking stations to lose internet connectivity when waking from Sleep mode.
• We added functionality that caches additional audio endpoint information to improve the OS upgrade experience.

• We fixed an issue that might cause consecutive video clip playback to fail in games that use DX12.

• We fixed an issue that affects certain games that use the XAudio API to play sound effects.
• We fixed an issue that causes port mapping conflicts for containers.
• We fixed an issue that causes Code Integrity to continue trusting a file after the file has been modified.

• We fixed an issue that might cause Windows to stop working when you enable Windows Defender Application Control with the Intelligent Security Graph feature turned on.

• We fixed an issue that affects the height of the Search box when you use multiple monitors that have different resolutions as measured dots per inch (DPI).
• We fixed an issue that prevents the Storage Migration Service (SMS) from completing inventory on servers that have many shares. The system logs error event 2509 in Microsoft-Windows-StorageMigrationService/Admin channel (ErrorId=-2146233088/ErrorMessage=”Invalid table id”).

• We fixed an issue that causes the Windows profile service to fail sporadically. The failure might occur when signing in. The error message is, “gpsvc service failed to sign in. Access denied”.

You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 10 Release Preview Build 19044.1862 (KB5015878) improves IOPS performance, and more

WithUI 2.8 now has support for WebView2, which means you can now embed web content in native applications with Microsoft Edge. Another change is that the supported version of WinUI 2 is now Windows 10, version 1809 — Build 17763. Aside from these changes, WinUI 2.8 comes with a good set of bug fixes and improvements. You can read the complete official changelog to learn more about what’s new.

Changelog

Highlights

List of other changes made

If you are a Windows developer, do you like these changes in the WinUI 2.8? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Microsoft releases Windows UI Library 2.8

Linux distro for Apple silicon Macs is already up and running on the brand-new M2

Microsoft’s recent video series is called “Meet Windows 11” and contains three short videos. Firstly, the video series talks about how some of the basic features such as universal search, desktop groups, and Microsoft accounts work on the operating system. In the second short video, Microsoft talks about how you can personalize your Windows experience. As suggested in the video, you can personalize your Windows by creating collections for websites you browse, choosing desktop backgrounds, and using widgets.

Lastly, the third short video in the “Meet Windows 11” series explains how you can get the most out of Windows 11 by using new and refreshed apps such as the Photos app, Microsoft Store, and Phone Link. The Phone Link app helps you stay creative and productive, whether on your phone or your PC. The app is available on both Windows 11 and 10 and Android. The over-two-minute video also talks about the new Microsoft Store, Edge, and the new look of Mail, Calendar, and Paint.

Are you new to Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system? If yes, then let us know if Microsoft’s new video series helped you. And you are a pro user, is there anything in the videos that you didn’t know. Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft releases new video series to help you learn the basics of Windows 11

While the issue did not impact the browser's functionality, stability or performance, it did raise questions. What was causing the entries to be generated and displayed by the Windows Reliability Monitor, and was there something that could be done about it.

Opera Software started to investigate the issue last week. Company developers identified the issue quickly and created patches to address it. The issue has been fixed in Opera 89 Stable and Opera development editions.

We verified that this is indeed the case by updating Opera to the latest version and monitoring the Windows Reliability Monitor log for changes during program start and terminations. No additional log entries were created in the latest version of the Opera browser.

You can test any application that you run on your Windows systems to find out if they generate issues that are logged by the Windows Reliability Monitor:

1. Use the keyboard shortcut Windows-R to open the run box.
2. Type perfmon /rel and hit the Enter-key to launch the Reliability Monitor.
3. It takes a few seconds to populate the listing.
4. Run or terminate the program that you want to test.
5. Refresh the reliability monitor window by selecting View > Refresh.

Opera Software contacted us to provide some insight on the issue. According to the company, the issue was related to the new VPN Pro component of the browser. Opera used the Windows Installer Provider, and API calls generated the series of event logs that Windows Reliability Monitor logged as successful application reconfigurations.

Opera stated that the issue is not specific to the browser, and that it did not impact the browser's performance, stability or functionality in any way.

Closing Words

Opera Software reacted quickly and fixed the issue. Considering that the issue did not affect the browser's performance, functionality or stability, it is a good sign that the issue has been dealt with in a short period.

Now You: which browser do you use as your main driver, currently?

Opera Software fixes Windows Reliability Monitor in browser

I didn't think the issue was a big deal, as I never noticed any downtime, maybe because I'm in a different time zone than the users who had reported about the outage. That's why I didn't write about it here, because I didn't experience the issue first hand. Some users wrote that they couldn't access Proton VPN and ProtonMail, while some could use the VPN.

When I saw new complaints about another outage the next day, I was quite surprised. Though I could still access ProtonMail, I noticed that the site was slower than usual. I thought it was trying to connect but failed, but it worked after several seconds. Interestingly, or worryingly, the issue recurred for a third consecutive day, and I reckoned this could be a major problem. I don't think I've ever seen an email provider experience so many outages in such a short time frame. You can check the logs at Protonstatus.com for more information.

Image via reddit

Many users were concerned about these outages, the biggest complaint was that they were unable to access their mails, receive new messages, or reply to them. There was another question that had been raised, has Proton been hacked or under attack? Would this result in loss of mails? The short answer is no, the company was experiencing some technical difficulties.

What caused the ProtonMail outage?

As you may know, Proton had been working on various improvements for its products. We just noticed the changes on the front-end, but it appears that the company had also been working on upgrading its infrastructure by adding new servers, and new software with better performance and higher storage capacity. Proton says that it upgraded its servers that were running its core database to a new version on July 10th.

The software had passed the quality checks without any hiccups, before the main database was upgraded. But, it turns out that the core database, which has higher activity than others, was overloaded after the upgrade. High user activity isn't something that could be simulated, which might explain the tests could not predict the outcome. The security system, which Proton had in place, noticed the high activity, and misinterpreted it as a threat. So, it activated some protective measures (on July 11th), which in turn caused a roadblock for users who were trying to log in to their Proton accounts, including users who had previously logged in on the web and on their mobile apps.

Proton states that it solved the problem by splitting the load of its database over multiple servers, and slowed down lower priority services like push notifications. The company had to add more servers, and eventually managed to restore the stability and performance of its systems. Proton has promised to publish more details about the outage on its blog this week.

I don't use Proton as my main email provider, so I wasn't really impacted by the outage. Some users may not be satisfied by the company's approach to fix the issues, after all it did take 3 days to sort out the problems completely. If I were a paying customer who relied on ProtonMail, I would have certainly been annoyed by the downtime, and not being able to get to my receipts, documents, etc.

That's why I think it's good it's important that Proton sent out the mail to users as an apology and explain what happened. It shows that they are willing to take responsibility for the issues that they inadvertently created. The transparency would be appreciated by users, but it is also a neat way by the company to reassure users that they weren't hacked, and that their data is safe.

Were you affected by the Proton outage?

Proton explains the technical issues that caused the recent ProtonMail outages

A cryptic website with a single line of text promises to make your Linux box more responsive – if you are willing to accept some risk.

Another day, another bleed-ing vulnerability. New speculative-execution attacks keep being discovered, and OS kernel developers keep finding ways to block them – at the cost of some CPU performance for each mitigation. But what if you run an isolated, standalone box? What if you just … turned off all the mitigations?

Many years ago my then-lodger – a Perl and Linux guru – attempted to show me a quick way to move some stuff from one Linux box to another. He was very surprised to discover that I didn't have SSH enabled, and that there was no way to access any of my Linux boxes from any of the others. This was and is the default setting for the desktop versions of Ubuntu and Mint, and for a lot of people, that's what you want: a computer that is sealed off to the outside world.

If that describes your needs, then you might find Jean-Michaël Celerier's admirably terse make-linux-fast-again.com useful. The site is a little dated – you only need all of the switches if you're running a kernel older than version 5.1.13. These days, just the last one is enough. Add it to the end of the kernel line in /etc/default/grub, run update-grub and reboot.

If you want to see what each individual instruction does, there are both brief and wordier explanations out there. If those aren't enough instructions for you, then sorry – you probably shouldn't try this at home.

Also don't do it on a server, or in a VM, or a machine that hosts VMs or anything else that others use. If the box lets other devices connect to it over the network, don't do it.

Seriously. Just don't go there.

Another pretty easy optimization is one we mentioned back when it was introduced: the zswap feature. If your machine isn't a powerhouse with bucketloads of RAM, then it probably occasionally swaps to disk – whether an Ubuntu-style swapfile or a dedicated swap partition. Enabling zswap compresses whatever is being put into swap, which on any 64-bit machine is likely to be a much faster process than writing to disk. Along with the mitigations=off phrase mentioned above, just add zswap.enabled=1, run update-grub or your distro's equivalent, and reboot.

The Reg FOSS desk tried it on our 12GB RAM day-to-day laptop, and it took a zero off the amount of data placed into swap. ®

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