Here's how Microsoft defines what Bing Service does:

The Bing Service allows you to retrieve Bing results. Bing can return web and news results in your language, images, and videos for many countries/regions around the world.

Basically it looks like the service is what powers Microsoft's Bing search engine and it's possible that that the new 2.0 version improves upon that. Interestingly, when one clicks on the "Learn more" option beside the update (image above), the Bing page on the default browser opens up instead of release notes webpage that generally opens.

Upon downloading the update, a new "BingSvc" folder is created inside the Microsoft folder in Program Files(x86). This folder contains two files, BGAStartMSI.msi file and BGAStartMSILauncher.exe file.

German outlet Deskmodder did some further digging around through registry tweaks and found more files inside a certain bgaupdate folder:

• BDAStartMSI.exe
• BGAStartMSILauncher.exe
• BDAUpdatePack.exe
• BSvcInstaller.msi
• BSvcStartMSI.exe
• BWCStartMSI.exe

When the BWCStartMSI executive file was run to enable the feature, it was noticed that the desktop wallpaper was replaced with a Bing Wallpaper. You can see two example images below:

The new Bing Service 2.0 update doesn't show up on the "Uninstall updates" list which means it cannot be uninstalled, indicating that Microsoft perhaps does not want its users to uninstall this update. Hence it looks like Microsoft might be trying to push Bing Wallpapers to Windows users soon.

Source: BrenTech (YouTube) via: Deskmodder

Windows users quietly receiving Microsoft Bing Service 2.0 update that won't uninstall

Although this is not new, it was accentuated recently when Microsoft rolled out the tabbed File Explorer in build 25136 for those on the Windows 11 Dev Channel. While the new app interface is supposed to be in preview for the channel, Microsoft noted that it has decided not to make it available for everyone on the ring - you can still toggle it on by force via this guide.

Just to emphasize, this means that even though you might be on the Dev Channel, you might not receive the feature for sometime while others on the same channel would. Microsoft's official reasoning for this staggered rollout is that:

We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.

I'll be frank, this makes absolutely no sense to me. The Dev Channel is supposed to be about testing preview features before they become available to other channels or even the public, not in the same channel.

Microsoft, on the other hand, wants to compartmentalize the Dev Channel into two more categories so some Dev Channel Insiders can test a feature before it becomes available to other Dev Channel Insiders, huh?

It's even more annoying because when people sign up for Insider previews, they know that they will get pre-release features that might be unstable and that they shouldn't install Windows 11 builds on a primary machine. Despite agreeing to these conditions, people still might not receive all the capabilities present in a build.

My friend, colleague, boss, and Neowin co-founder Steven Parker echoed the same thoughts on his personal Twitter account to highlight this problem and while I have always found this staggered rollout annoying, it was nice to see other people agreeing with us too. That's actually what gave me confidence to write this piece today.

I don't want to sound entitled, it's just a matter of (a lack of) transparency and flawed logic for me. A staggered rollout only makes sense across channels. For example, Dev Channel Insiders receive the tabbed File Explorer and it gets promoted to Beta after initial testing, then to Release Preview, and eventually the general public.

However, under the current release pattern, channels are further split as an apparent form of A/B testing, which shouldn't be there considering Microsoft could achieve the same purpose by collecting metrics from other channels which don't have the tabbed File Explorer.

Microsoft wants to see "how it (tabbed File Explorer) lands", but why not do the same comparison by rolling out the interface to everyone on the Dev Channel and then comparing it to other channels which don't have it? I have no idea.

This isn't a one-off thing either, Microsoft has been doing this for quite some time. Even when I was writing some Closer Look pieces, there were times I had to join screen-sharing sessions with my colleagues to access their machines on the same build and channel just because Microsoft had decided to stagger the rollout of some features I was writing about.

Again, it's not a matter of entitlement, I am happy that Microsoft decides to roll out features in preview to the public. It's just annoying that even after joining a preview program while knowing all of the caveats, there's really no guarantee that you'll receive what you signed up for just because Microsoft is seemingly doing some A/B testing in the same Insider channel rather than it being done across different channels.

Maybe there's a different and better reason behind this variant of staggered rollout but Microsoft definitely isn't being transparent about it.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft splitting a single Insider channel based on some randomized process to decide who gets certain features despite sharing the same build? Let us know in the comments section below!

Microsoft staggering Windows 11 preview features within an Insider channel is just silly

And right on the tail of that, it looks like Nvidia's GeForce driver for Windows 11 22H2 has also been leaked. The upcoming Nvidia driver version 525.14, like the earlier AMD Radeon driver, is also based on the latest WDDM v3.1. Though expectedly, the driver is in beta now. Interestingly, Nvidia has already released the Windows 11 22H2 support driver for its Quadro series of GPUs.

Here's a TechPowerUp GPU-Z screenshot of the 525.14 driver provided by Guru3D forum member fards:

At the moment, it is difficult to guess what we can expect from this driver aside from Windows 11 22H2 support since there is no official release notes for 525.14 yet. However, the folks over on the Guru3D forum who have installed the driver mostly agree that it appears to be a stable release.

Nvidia's Windows 11 22H2 WDDM 3.1 GeForce driver 525.14 has also leaked early

However, things could be changing for the better soon. In the newest 22H2 Insider builds for Windows 11, Microsoft is offering the AMD pre-release 31.0.12000.20010 UWP driver and the driver package also comes with the 22.05 OpenGL beta driver which massively boosts the performance of AMD GPUs in OpenGL applications. The driver was discovered by members of the Guru3D forum who have been playing around with it. This upcoming driver will be based on the next-gen Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) v3.1.

Here is a screenshot of the driver details using TechPowerUp's GPU-Z provided by Guru3D member "The Creator":

A number of tests in synthetic benchmarks were also run with this driver and using the OpenGL API renderer, the performance difference is very significant. First up, we have Unigine's 2013 benchmark Valley which sees a performance boost of nearly 55%.

Up next, in the more modern Unigine Superposition, the performance difference is more than 33% in favor of the upcoming 22.05 OpenGL driver.

Interestingly, though, the driver seems to lose performance in the much older Heaven benchmark, indicating that more optimization may be necessary for very old applications and games.

While the above tests were run on an RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6800 XT, the first-gen RDNA GPUs will also get a healthy boost it seems. Here is a screenshot of Superposition run on a Radeon RX 5700 XT.

It looks like AMD's on a bit of a roll lately as the company also recently put out the 22.5.2 driver which brought significant optimizations to several DirectX 11 titles.

Source and images: The Creator (Guru3D forum) (1), (2), (3) , MerolaC (Guru3D forum)

AMD's Windows 11 22H2 WDDM 3.1 driver finally fixes Radeon's poor OpenGL performance

The low resolution may be sufficient for some tasks, but many may benefit from larger resolutions. The View > Virtual Screen menu of the VirtualBox application lists all available resolutions and scaling options.

The "resize to" options are all inactive, as they are grayed out and not selectable. The scaling options are unlocked and available, though.

Thankfully, it is rather easy to unlock all supported screen resolutions in VirtualBox. The following instructions explain in detail how that is done.

Fixing the Screen Size of Windows in VirtualBox

The fix requires the installation of Guest Additions; this may sound intimidating at first, but it is a straightforward process that completes in a matter of minutes on most systems. The description may sound as if you'd need to insert a CD image, but this is not the case.

To get started, select Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD image. All that it does is mount the Guest Additions CD in VirtualBox, so that you may access its contents. You will hear a sound that indicates that the CD has been mounted.

Next, open File Explorer on the system and open the the CD drive "Virtual Guest Additions".

The root menu lists three guest additions for Windows. There are also additions for other operating systems, including Linux and Solaris.

The three Windows guest additions are for different architectures.

• VBoxWindowsAdditions is for 64-bit systems. Pick this one if you are not sure.
• VboxWindowsAdditions-amd64 is for AMD systems.
• VboxWindowsAdditions-x86 is for 32-bit systems.

Right-click on one of the files and select open from the context menu to start the installation in the virtual machine. You may double-click on the file to start the installation.

Windows displays a User Account Control prompt, which you need to allow by selecting Yes.

The installer launches after you have selected Yes. Select next on the first page that is displayed.

The page that follows displays the destination folder for the files that will be installed. You may change it, but most users may want to keep the default path. Select Next to proceed.

The final screen displays the components that will be installed. You may disable the creation of a start menu entry, but the two remaining components will be installed. Select the install button to proceed.

The installer displays its actions once you hit the install button.

It is necessary to reboot the virtual machine to finalize the installation. You may do so right away by selecting "reboot now", or at a later point in time. Select finish to exit the installer.

All screen resolutions are unlocked after the restart. Select View > Virtual Screen X to select a different resolution. Please note that it may take a few seconds before the resolutions become available.

The physical display limits the available resolution; you can't go beyond the maximum resolution that is supported by the display.

How to change the Windows screen size in VirtualBox?

Quick Look

Finder's best feature is now available in Spotlight. When you are looking for files using search, press the space bar to preview the file directly in the panel. Quick Look saves you some time, which might have been wasted opening a file to see if it is the one you wanted to use.

It works with images, PDFs, documents, Mail, and more.

Rich Web Results

Spotlight can now display information from web results directly in its interface. The search tool can be used to look up Contacts from your Mail. You can search for Musicians or Actors, and hit the Enter key to show more information about them right in the pane. This also works with Movies, TV Shows, Sports, etc. It also displays Businesses that you search for.

e.g. If you wanted to check the live score of a game, you can type your query in Spotlight and it shows you the update directly. Press the enter key to view a detailed scorecard with more information, links, highlights, images, etc.

While performing a search using the tool, scroll down the pane to see images related to your query. It currently displays photos of animals, people, famous places, etc.

Let's say I wanted to run a search for the Statue of Liberty. I can select an image from the results and press the space bar to preview it in Quick Look, or click the image to view it in Spotlight. It includes the source URL, which opens in your default web browser.

Or, I can hit enter after typing the keywords, and Spotlight will display a summary about the monument in its window. That is pretty impressive.

It's not quite like the Search in Windows 11 which displays trending topics and other recommendations, Spotlight's implementation is better because it only shows what you search for.

Image Search and Live Text

macOS Ventura allows Spotlight to find images in your iCloud Drive, Photos, Messages, Notes and Finder, making it very easy to find the media that you are looking for. Apple says that it can even detect images based on the content like "dog in car". The new version also adds support for Live Text in Spotlight, which uses optical character recognition (OCR) to retrieve text from images.

Quick Actions

Spotlight in macOS Ventura can be used to create quick actions without opening the corresponding app. e.g. Type "Create Timer", and hit enter. It will ask you how long to set the timer for.

Once it runs out, the Clock app will display a notification.

Similarly, you can use Spotlight to start alarms, focus, run shortcuts, etc.

e.g. If I have a Focus named Do Not Disturb, I can search for it and Spotlight will list it among the results. Hitting the return key will turn the focus on or off instantly.

The new Spotlight features in macOS Ventura are welcome additions, but the tool is still way behind third-party apps like Alfred and Raycast when it comes to customization, and workflows.

Read our take on the new multitasking mode in macoS, Stage Manager.

Have you tried the new search options in Spotlight?

macOS Ventura improves Spotlight's functionality with rich search results, image search and more

Google is using machine learning already in Chrome, for instance, to improve accessibility. The company plans to extend the use of machine learning in the Chrome web browser in several areas in the future.

Chrome's address bar may soon display icons using machine learning. Chrome will adjust icons on the toolbar using machine learning to display the action that Google considers to be the "most useful" in the situation.

Chrome might display a voice search icon to users, or a share icon on certain sites, using machine learning. A mockup of the feature demonstrates how the feature could look like on Chrome for Android. The dynamic icon, displayed on the right side of the address bar, is changed automatically using machine learning.

Google does note that users may customize the functionality, but does not provide details besides that.

Some users may find the dynamic nature of the feature confusing, especially if the suggested action changes frequently. Considering that the suggested actions are available elsewhere in Chrome, it may help inexperienced users the most.

Google highlights two additional uses of machine learning in the browser. The first improves Safe Browsing in the Chrome browser. Safe Browsing is a security feature that determines whether downloads and sites are safe or need to be blocked.

Google rolled out a new machine learning model in March in Chrome, and the company claims that it improved the identification of potentially malicious sites by the factor 2.5.

Soon, Chrome will use machine learning to make notification prompts less annoying to users. Chrome uses machine learning on the device to supress notification prompts or display them to the user.

Chrome predicts when permission prompts are unlikely to be granted based on how the user previously interacted with similar permission prompts, and silences these undesired prompts. In the next release of Chrome, we’re launching an ML model that makes these predictions entirely on-device.

Machine learning will also be used by Chrome's translation feature when users use Journeys in the browser. Journeys is an add-on to the browsing history that groups pages of the history based on topics.

Machine learning is already being used to determine whether page content needs to be translated. Google boasts that it is seeing "tens of millions more successful translations every day" because of that.

Closing Words

Chrome benefits from machine learning in some areas, e.g., when it comes to Safe Browsing and the detection of malicious sites. In other areas, machine learning attempts to determine a user's next action or desired actions, to improve usability. The changing address bar icon is a prime example of this; while it may prove useful to some, it may irritate others, especially if accidental activations of undesirable actions are a result. The feature is giving Google suggestive powers and more control over user actions.

Now You: what is your take on the announced changes?

Google Chrome will soon adjust address bar icons using Machine Learning

The issue was brought to our attention by one of our Neowin forum members nekrosoft13 who noticed that several of their PCs were being shown the message "Standard hardware security not supported" on the Device security page in Windows Security settings even though their system does apparently meets the necessary requirements.

Image: nekrosoft13 (Neowin forum)

The issue doesn't appear to be a one-off case here as several other users are also complaining about this Build 22621 bug on Feedback Hub on a previous thread. As mentioned above, the bug isn't new and Microsoft had fixed the issue earlier with build 22000.100 like the company promised in the Feedback Hub thread.

If you're wondering what the requirements for Standard hardware security are, Microsoft has defined these as following:

Your device meets the requirements for standard hardware security

This means your device supports memory integrity and core isolation and also has:

• TPM 2.0 (also referred to as your security processor)

• Secure boot enabled

• DEP (Data Execution Prevention)

• UEFI MAT (Memory Attributes Table)

However, when a user PC doesn't meet one or more of these requirements, the Standard hardware security not supported feature is displayed, though in the case of this bug, it is apparently being shown even when the criteria are met.

Windows 11 22H2 build 22621 bug shows "hardware security not supported" on supported PCs

How to turn on tabs in File Explorer in Windows 11 build 25136?

Before enabling Tabbed File Explorer, you need to update your computer to Windows 11 build 25136 from the Dev channel. Earlier preview builds also had a hidden config responsible for enabling tabs, but it no longer works.

Important: Proceed at your own risk. Enabling hidden features that Microsoft is not ready to ship can cause instabilities and bugs. Also, we do not recommend installing builds from the Dev channel on your primary machine.

1. Download Vivetool from its repository on Github using this link. Extract files wherever convenient, for example, on the drive C.
2. Press Win + R and type cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. This command will launch Command Prompt as Administrator.
3. Type CD with the path to the Vivetool's folder and press Enter. For example, CD C:\Vivetool
4. Type vivetool addconfig 37634385 2 and press Enter.
5. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Once your computer boots back, launch File Explorer to check out its tabbed interface. Note that you might not get the redesigned navigation pane after enabling the config.

If you want to disable Tabbed File Explorer in Windows 11 25136, repeat the steps above and use the delconfig 37634385 command on step 4.

Guide: How to enable tabs in File Explorer in Windows 11 build 25136

The latest Windows 11 preview build from the Dev channel has introduced several notable features and UI changes. Tabbed File Explorer is finally available for testing (for some insiders), and the taskbar shows more widgets and information. It turns out there is another new widget hidden from the public eye.

As discovered by Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael on Twitter), Microsoft is experimenting with yet another search bar in Windows 11. Build 25136 allows placing a search button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen alongside the weather widget.

The feature is not available by default, so you need to enable it manually using the vivetool app. Here is how to do that, at your own risk:

1. Download vivetool from its repository on Github and extract files in any folder you like.
2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator and go to the folder with vivetool using the CD command. For example, CD C:\vivetool
3. Type vivetool addconfig 37010913 2 and press Enter.
4. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

The new search widget on the taskbar joins the controversial search bar on the desktop Microsoft recently announced for Windows insiders in the Dev channel (you can learn how to enable it in our dedicated article). It seems that you cannot have enough search fields in Windows 11, so Microsoft keeps adding more.

It is worth noting that enabling hidden experimental features in preview versions of Windows 11 can wreak havoc on your installation. Also, Microsoft's experiments do not mean the company plans to ship them to all users in the Stable channel. At some point, after collecting enough feedback, Microsoft can change its mind and remove a particular feature from the operating system altogether.

Do you like the idea of having Windows Search in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, or do you prefer the current version with the search button next to the Start menu?

Microsoft is testing a new search widget on taskbar in Windows 11

The decision to consult on an investigation comes after a year-long study found that Apple and Google have an “effective duopoly” on mobile ecosystems. With this power, the CMA said they have total control over operating systems, app stores, and web browsers on devices.

While forcing Apple and Google to be more liberal on their platforms will certainly be appealing to some, it’s important to remember why so many people like iPhones; they just work. By loosening Apple’s grip on its ecosystem, it potentially opens users up to less pleasant experiences such as browsers crashing or running more slowly. There’s also a chance that some websites won’t work properly with third-party browsers.

Commenting on its plans, Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said:

“When it comes to how people use mobile phones, Apple and Google hold all the cards. As good as many of their services and products are, their strong grip on mobile ecosystems allows them to shut out competitors, holding back the British tech sector and limiting choice.”

In addition to the browser situation, the CMA is not happy that Apple has been blocking cloud gaming services from the App Store. The CMA acknowledged that gaming apps are a big part of Apple’s revenue and that cloud gaming poses a threat. Nevertheless, the regulator seems keen that the firm allows cloud gaming services into the App Store so that mobile users don’t miss out on the benefits of cloud gaming.

UK competition regulator wants to break Apple's and Google's mobile browser dominance

A few days ago, Neowin reported on some of the features that would be in Telegram Premium. These include a 4 GB file sharing limit, support for more symbols in the bio, faster download speeds, transcription of voice messages, premium stickers, a profile badge, advanced chat management, and more. All this will reportedly cost $4.99 per month but the firm hasn’t confirmed this just yet.

In the statement, Durov said that the firm has experimented with privacy-focused ads in public one-to-many channels and that those trials have been more successful than hoped. However, he has decided that it’d be better if Telegram was primarily funded through a premium subscription model by its users.

The premium subscription will turn Telegram into a more viable company as it will have a revenue stream to help it continue operating. So far, things look good for those who want to remain on the free tier. Hopefully, Telegram will not renege on its promise to keep existing features free going into the future.

Telegram Premium officially announced by CEO Pavel Durov, existing features to stay free

In a blog post, Google has highlighted that the next version of Chrome will sport a machine learning model that will autonomously block permission prompts and notifications from websites. This decision will be taken based on your historic pattern of interactivity with similar websites. For example, if you typically deny location permissions to websites, Chrome will automatically deny those on your behalf to new websites that you visit too and won't even show you prompts.

The idea behind this feature is to ensure that you have an uninterrupted experience while browsing websites. Google has emphasized that machine learning predictions will happen entirely on your device and no data will be sent to the company.

Although Google hasn't explicitly mentioned it, the "next version of Chrome" likely refers to Chrome 103 which will enter the Stable channel on June 21.

Another capability coming to Chrome in future releases is the utilization of machine learning to rearrange buttons on your Chrome toolbar. For example, depending on various factors like the website being visited and the time of the day, you could either be shown the mic icon at the front of the toolbar or the share button. You would still have the option to manually arrange the buttons.

The company has highlighted success with other machine learning models in Chrome too. These include the Safe Browsing initiative that automatically detects and blocks malicious websites from opening, and Journeys, which is essentially an enhancement to browsing history that allows you to retrace your online activity.

Google Chrome will automatically block annoying website pop-ups soon

Windows 10 and 11 users get a few personalization options in Settings by default. The options, displayed after right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Personalization, let users pick a single accent color to modify the color set of the operating system.

Users who want more control may edit colors in the Registry. WinPaletter is an open source program for Windows that makes the process more user friendly.

Note: Windows SmartScreen may display a warning when you run the program. The program tested fine on Virustotal (2 hits from minor engines), and it is likely that the program displays the warning because it is new and not widely used.

Windows theme color customizations

WinPaletter's user interface is well designed. It lists options on the left and a preview of the selection on the right. Some options toggle features, such as accent colors or the blur effect, but most allow you to select a color for specific user interface elements.

Tip: you may want to save the current theme colors to a new theme file, as there is no reset option. Changing colors in the personalization menu of the Windows settings changes the custom colors, however.

A click on any of the colors opens a new page with color selection options. WinPaletter supports several color picking options:

• Color wheel and sliders.
• Color hex codes that you may enter manually.
• Using a color grid.
• Getting a color palette from an image that you select.

Colors that you select are shown in the preview window when you hit the refresh button. There is also a handy element picker attached to the Color Picker window, which you may use to pick an element on the screen that you want to change the color for.

Once you have selected a color, you may go back and hit the Apply button to apply the changes to the system. Note that this requires editing of the Registry by the program; you may get one or two Registry and Registry console window UAC prompts in the process.

WinPaletter gives you full control over accents, but also over traditional Win32 user interface elements. Select the Win32 UI Elements button on the main page to open these color customization settings.

There you may change the color of menus, buttons, titlebars, windows and more. The process itself is identical: select an element with a click and pick a different color to apply it.

WinPaletter supports the saving and loading of color themes. Hit the save or load buttons in the interface to use the functionality; this is handy for safekeeping, sharing, or moving to other Windows devices.

Closing Words

WinPaletter is a powerful software for Windows 10 and 11 users who want more control over the colors that are used by the operating system. The program is well designed and easy to use. Import and export options are available to save themes with different colors.

Landing page:   https://github.com/Abdelrhman-AK/WinPaletter

Now You: do you keep default colors or change them?

WinPaletter: customize Windows theme colors to your liking

The latest version of Office allows you to add SketchUp files to your Office creations. This means it’s now easier to create shareable conceptual designs, such as fully textured architectural models and other graphics used in industrial design and product design and civil and mechanical engineering.

Excel got a noteworthy new feature in this update. Thanks to the new Data from Picture feature, users can now take a picture of the information and import it into your worksheet. You can go to the Data tab and select From Picture, then choose the source; you can also review and correct the data, if necessary, before inserting it into your worksheet.

Furthermore, finding key documents in Visio is now way easier with the new Shared with Me list. To try this feature, simply click on the Home tab or the Open tab and select Shared with Me. You can read the complete official changelog to learn more about these changes.

Changelog

In related news, Microsoft introduced a redesigned dictation toolbar for efficiency and a cleaner look. The company also released the voice dictation feature in OneNote, a more optimized Microsoft Excel, and more. Recently, Microsoft Office also added the ability to gather five million responses on a single form. You can read more about what’s new in the update here.

Microsoft releases a new Office update weekly for Beta Channel subscribers on Windows, adding new features and changes. Microsoft is also expected to release a new Office Insider Build next week. 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 Insiders Preview Build 15402.20002 for Windows users

As spotted by serial leaker Aggiornamenti Lumia, Microsoft's Phone Link will get nifty new features and improvements in the coming days. One of the useful features Microsoft plans to introduce is the ability to search for messages, just like you can on your smartphone. This will allow you to type the senders' names, and the Phone Link app will show all the messages you received from them. You can also type the text you want the app to display. For example, if you type "Neowin" in the new "Search messages" area, it will show all the relevant messages.

There are some subtle changes coming soon to the messaging experience in the Phone Link app. Messages will now be categorized into two parts: ones you received recently and others that are hidden, as can be seen in the screenshot below. You can also "Unhide" a message from the app.

Screenshot of the Phone Link app containing new features | Image: Aggiornamenti Lumia

Not all upcoming features are meant to improve the messaging experience. Microsoft seems to be planning to make minute changes to Phone Link's Notifications panel. In the screenshot shared by the leaker, we don't see the three dots view beside "Notifications." In its place, there will be an option to clear all notifications just by a click. Currently, clicking on the three dots view will bring a menu containing three options, "Refresh," "Customize," and "Clear all."

Another small change is that there will be some border-spacing between notifications. Also, the ability to pin and clear an individual notification may not appear in the top right corner of the notification. Microsoft is either getting rid of them or hiding them behind a right-click. There are also some small UI tweaks in the connectivity status.

Screenshot of the Phone Link app | Current version: 1.22051.113.0

Aggiornamenti Lumia hasn't mentioned anything about a the timeline of when these changes will come to the Phone Link app. But we hope Microsoft will bring them sooner rather than later.

Which upcoming Phone Link features are you excited about the most? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Aggiornamenti Lumia (Twitter)

These new features are coming soon to Microsoft's Phone Link app

The new feature can help you by minimizing all windows while retaining the one you were using.

How to use Stage Manager in macOS Ventura

1. Click on the Control Center.

2. Mouse over the "Stage Manager" tile and click on it.

3. It should bring the active app to focus by centering it, while minimizing the rest of the windows to the sidebar on the left.

Note: When you have a maximized app window open and toggle Stage Manager, it un-maximizes the window to center it.

To access a different app, click on it from the side panel or the dock, and it will take center stage, while the old app is sent to the sidebar. Stage Manager supports quick app switching using Command + Tab. Clicking outside the window, i.e. on either side, will minimize the current app window to the side panel.

If you want to use 2 app windows at the same time, drag the other one from the sidebar and drop it onto the primary app's window. This will group the apps. You can resize the windows, and rearrange their position too. Apps on the sidebar are updated with new information, for example, if you get a new message in Mail, you will see the thumbnail preview update with an unread mail background. Stage Manager supports Mission Control, Spaces and Exposé.

Click on Stage Manager's icon in the quick toggles section, and it will show three options.

The switch at the top turns the feature off, while the options below it can be used to show or hide the recent apps. The latter is essentially an auto-hide option, which brings the sidebar back into view when you move the cursor towards the edge of the screen.

If you maximize an app's window, it will hide the Stage Manager sidebar automatically. e.g. Safari, Notes, Mail, etc. Mouse over to the left, and the panel pops back into view. That's actually quite good, but it doesn't work with all apps, e.g. Finder or System Settings (formerly System Preferences), this is why you may want to toggle "Hide the recent apps". One thing that Apple didn't mention is that Stage Manager hides the desktop icons,

Thoughts about Stage Manager

I installed macOS Ventura on an external SSD and have been using it to dual boot on my MacBook Air M1. I have mixed feelings regarding Stage Manager. It is very useful to have a one-click solution to get all the other windows out of the way. It works quite well, even for a beta feature. I use Mission Control and Spaces very frequently, it's handy to arrange specific apps across multiple desktops, and accessing them with a simple swipe on the trackpad is so convenient, and there's Exposé for viewing all windows in an app. Stage Manager negates the need to manually organize the app windows, which is why I want to like it, but I don't think I will.

If it was designed to minimize all windows while retaining the active window, what's the point of it when Option + Command + H can do the same? Visual previews are the only extra thing Stage Manager offers, besides the fancy animations. App previews on the Dock would have been nice (like the Taskbar preview in Windows 10/11).

I feel that Stage Manager wastes too much screen real estate on both sides of the display, at least on devices with small screens such as MacBooks. And then there's the invisible wall on either side of the centered window, which means you can't have 2 apps open side-by-side.

macOS' window handling is still terrible, you can't maximize a lot of app windows to fit the screen (not full screen mode) without the help of third-party apps like Rectangle. Even Cmd + Tab isn't good enough in my opinion, it lacks the ability to cycle between app windows, something which the AltTab app is capable of. These are areas which Apple could have addressed, instead of introducing yet another window management option.

I think Stage Manager could be functionally better if it hid the Dock and took its place, or just minimized the windows to the docks as a group. That would have been awesome. I don't think I will be in the minority when I say Mission Control and Spaces still offer a superior experience.

Stage Manager in macOS Ventura can be useful, but it takes up too much space on the screen

Here are the Highlights for build 25136:

• We have begun rolling out File Explorer tabs and navigation updates to Windows Insiders. Details below. We have also begun rolling out an update for Widgets that will show dynamic content on the taskbar.
• As always, this build includes a good set of fixes that improve the overall experience for Windows Insiders on the latest preview builds.
• We added one new known issue and still have a set of others – be sure to read the known issues below.
• We have Notepad and Media Player updates rolling out to Windows Insiders – see this blog post for details.

Here is What's new in build 25136:

File Explorer Tabs & Navigation Updates

To help you work across multiple locations at the same time, the title bar of File Explorer now has tabs. We’d love your feedback on which tabs features you’d like to see next.

File Explorer with tabs and navigation updates.

File Explorer is also introducing a refreshed layout of the left navigation pane which makes it easy for you to navigate to folders that matter to you. The updated organization provides easy access to your pinned and frequently used folders (Quick access) and your OneDrive cloud profiles added to Windows. OneDrive cloud profiles reflect the user’s name associated with the account. Known Windows folders which are available by default in the navigation pane are no longer displayed under This PC to keep that view focused for your PC’s drives. When you navigate to folders syncing to OneDrive such as Documents, Pictures, etc., the address bar displays the correct path to help bring clarity when your folders are on the cloud vs when they are local to you.

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

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

Dynamic Widgets content on the taskbar

We’re trying out some changes to bring more dynamic Widgets content to your taskbar. In addition to seeing live content from the weather widget, you’ll also start to see live updates from the sports and finance widgets, along with breaking news alerts.

Finance content from Widgets shown on the taskbar.

This should make it easier for you to know when something important happens related to these widgets and keep you informed of breaking news.

The content is meant to be quick and glanceable with the ability to see more inside the widgets board if you click on it. However, if you don’t interact with the content update the taskbar will return to showing you the weather.

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

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

Below are all of the Changes and Improvements in this build:

[Input]

• We are beginning to roll out the ability for Insiders to report animated gifs they feel are inappropriate from the emoji panel (WIN + .)

Below are all of the Fixes in this build:

[General]

• Addressed an issue which was leading to some PCs being erroneously detected as tablets. When this happened, compact mode and the option to hide checkboxes in File Explorer wouldn’t take effect.
• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck in recent Dev Channel builds.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing taskbar apps to overflow with the system tray icons.

• When you hover on an app in the system tray, its notification will no longer flash.

   

[Start]

• Fixed an issue that could cause Start to only show one column of recommended items.

• If you’re pinning a large number of apps to Start, it should now refresh to show them more reliably.

   

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue from the previous flight where Disks & Volumes section of System > Storage wasn’t displaying any disks or volumes.

   

[Windowing]

• We made a fix to help with a rare issue which was causing title bars to sometimes go transparent or missing sometimes in certain apps.

   

[Windows Update]

• Fixed an issue where Windows Update might unexpectedly show error 0x00000000 when there wasn’t anything wrong.

• Fixed an issue which was leading to some devices bugchecking with HYPERVISOR_ERROR when trying to upgrade to a new build.

   

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue which was causing Task Manager to crash on launch sometimes after switching between light and dark mode or changing accent color.

   

[Other]

• Fixed an issue which could lead to increased latency or stutter in games when v-sync was used.

• Fixed an issue which could cause some PCs to freeze after running the wsl –shutdown command.

   

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.

Next up, there are some Known Issues to be aware of:

[General]

• Windows Insiders on Surface Pro X devices will hit a black screen attempting to resume from hibernate on this build. You will need to power cycle (long power button shutdown) to get back into the device. It is recommended Insiders on these devices pause flighting until we release a build with this fix.

• [NEW] We are investigating reports that the Mica material and Acrylic blur effect is not rendering correct in OS surfaces like the Start menu, Notification Center and other areas.

• We’re investigating reports that shutting down via the Start menu isn’t working for some Insiders and is unexpectedly rebooting instead.

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

   

[File Explorer]

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

   

[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.

   

It's important to note that Microsoft has also stated that tabbed File Explorer and the new layout for the left navigation is not rolling out to everyone, which I continue to find odd, considering this is a Dev build where everyone should have the same Dev experience, so if you do not see it after upgrading this is why.

As noted in the above release highlights, Microsoft is asking testers to provide feedback on the new File Explorer left navigation and tabs through the Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Today's blog post is linked here.

Tabbed File Explorer arrives in Windows 11 build 25136 in the Dev Channel

Starting off with Notepad, the app now has native ARM support for all Windows 11 Insiders running version 11.2204 of the app or above. Users on these configurations should notice better performance.

However, improved performance is not only restricted to ARM64 users as all Insiders on the Dev Channel with version 11.2205 or above will also enjoy a smoother experience while scrolling or replacing large amounts of text.

Finally, Microsoft has put in some work on the accessibility front as well. There is better support for screen readers, text scaling, access keys, and other similar technologies on version 11.2204 on all channels. Meanwhile, version 11.2205 also packs further unspecified enhancements for those on the Dev Channel.

Coming over to Media Player, you'll notice performance improvements in large media collections. You can also sort songs in collections by date added. Both these changes are currently only available to those running version 11.2205 on the Dev Channel. However, something that all Insiders can now enjoy is support for CD playback - this was previously only available to some on the Dev Channel.

If you're a Windows Insider who uses both of these apps actively, you can also provide feedback to Microsoft through the Feedback Hub (Win + F).

Windows 11 Insiders: Notepad gets native ARM support while Media Player gets better sorting

Behold the illegitimate sons (or daughters) of Windows 11 and macOS 13 Ventura in light, dark, and other colorful variants.

If you want to get the stock wallpapers from iOS 16 or macOS Ventura, check out our dedicated post containing high-res wallpapers of the latest operating systems from Apple.

Do you like the result of mixing Windows 11's "Bloom" with colors from macOS Ventura?

Source: u/giannisgx89 on Reddit

Here are macOS Ventura-inspired stock Windows 11 wallpapers

Firefox 101.0.1

The new Firefox 101.0.1 will be released for all supported desktop systems. Firefox updates are distributed automatically to most devices the browser is run on, thanks to the built-in updating functionality.

Firefox users may display the current version by going to Menu > Help > About Mozilla Firefox. A small window pops up listing the version. Firefox will run a check for updates when the window is opened, and will download and install updates, if found, automatically on most systems.

Firefox 101.0.1 addresses three main issues, each affecting a different operating system.

• Fixed Firefox clearing the clipboard when closing on macOS (bug 1771823)
• Fixed a compatibility issue causing severely impaired functionality with win32k lockdown enabled on some Windows systems (bug 1769845)
• Fixed context menus not appearing when right-clicking Picture-in-Picture windows on some Linux systems (bug 1771914)

Issue 1: Non-functioning browser for some Windows users

Firefox started to become unusable for some users. The issue was reported  to Mozilla last month on the organization's bug tracking site. The reported stated that most of Firefox's interface became non-functional in a Windows 10 virtual machine. Another user reported that the issue was experienced on a Windows 11 machine. Mozilla backed out of certain changes, and this appears to have resolved the issue for the affected users.

Issue 2: Clipboard is cleared on Mac OS when Firefox is closed

Users who run Firefox on Apple Macintosh devices reported that the browser was clearing the clipboard when it was closed. Firefox should not clear the clipboard on exit, and it does not do so on Windows or Linux devices.

Mozilla found the issue and resolved it.

Issue 3:  Right-click context menus of Picture-in-Picture mode are not working

The right-click menu that Firefox displays when users right-click Picture-in-Picture windows did not appear on some Linux distributions. Picture-in-Picture mode allows users to move media streams to a dedicated window that acts independently from the main browser window for the most part.

Mozilla fixed the issue.

Firefox 101.0.1 includes several unspecified stability fixes next to the three main fixes.

Firefox 101.0.1 fixes issues in Mac, Windows and Linux versions

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Firefox Browser 101.0.1

Shopping Corner is available in four countries -- Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and United States -- at the time, but Opera Software has plans to roll out the feature to additional companies in future releases.

The company describes Shopping Corner as a central hub for shopping related activities. The built-in feature brings price comparison, coupons, trends, news and "the best deals" to the Opera community. While not mentioned specifically, it is almost certain that Opera Software is also benefitting from Shopping Corner financially.

The startpage of Shopping Corner is available from the browser's welcome page and sidebar. The sidebar icon needed to be enabled on our test system before it showed up in the sidebar.

Shopping Corner's startpage displays a search field at the top. Type the name of a product and you get results right away. Type Windows 11, and you get offers to purchase the operating system or devices that run the system.

Product search is just one of the available options. Scroll down a bit and you reach the coupons and promotions sections.

Coupons may be filtered, for instance, to only display coupons for sports and travel sites. These work as you'd except them to work: each coupon lists the amount that you will save when you use it, the discount code itself, a link to the store, and other specifications.

Promotions work similarly, but the main differentiating factor is that individual items are listed in this section that Opera users may buy at a discount. There is also a news and trends section. and a listing of popular shops.

A click on the settings icon displays options to hide certain sections. If you are not interested in the list of popular shops or news, then you may hide those in the preferences.

Shopping Corner does not highlight available deals on websites, even if coupons or promotions are available.

Opera cooperates with different regional partners, according to the announcement. The price comparison service Idealo is the partner in Germany and the United Kingdom, in Poland, it is Ceneo, and in the United States, it is Amazon.

Polish users may also benefit from the integration of the cashback service Dify, according to Opera Software.

Microsoft added the functionality to the company's Edge web browser some time ago. Shopping in Microsoft Edge highlights if coupon codes are available for the visited website.

Closing Words

Shopping Corner aims to improve the shopping experience in Opera, and it is likely, but never mentioned, that it is also generating revenue for the company. The feature feels a bit out of place in its current form, as users need to launch Shopping Corner in the browser to use it. Indicators that coupons or promotions are available would certainly boost use of the feature in the browser, but maybe that is planned for a future release.

Now You: will you use Shopping Corner, or would you use a similar feature in your browser of choice?

Opera 88 launches with Shopping Corner feature

Frontpaged:   Opera 88.0.4412.27

Atom emerged as a promising tool for code developers, and laid the foundation for the Electron framework (formerly Atom Shell). Microsoft attributes the rise of Visual Studio Code to it.

The text editor was popular amongst the developer community for its customizable interface and functionality, as well as its built-in support for Git and GitHub.

Why is Atom being shut down?

The announcement article that was published on GitHub's blog says that Atom's development had stagnated over the years, without new features being added to it. The open source project received maintenance and security updates over the years, but claims that the community's involvement in Atom declined as new cloud-based tools emerged. The company wants to focus its efforts on improving its own cloud-based solution for developers, GitHub Codespaces. That is the official reason given by GitHub as to why Atom text editor is being discontinued.

But, there are other factors that may have affected it. 4 years ago, Microsoft acquired GitHub, and the latter's CEO had promised that Atom will co-exist with Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Well, that clearly isn't what has happened. Is this a surprise, though? Why would Microsoft want competition between its products? One could argue that Atom was superseded (read phased out) by VS Code, which carries the Microsoft branding.

Can I still download Atom?

Yes, you can download the cross-platform text editor for Windows, macOS and Linux, from the official website, Atom.io or the project's GitHub page. The Atom repository is still active, but will be archived along with other repositories related to it on December 15, 2022. Both the GitHub page and Atom's official website are displaying a banner to inform users that the program is being retired. You should export your projects to a different editor to ensure your work is not affected.

Atom editor alternatives

Since it is an open source program, there is a good chance that Atom could be forked by other developers. But you don't have to wait for one to pop up, there are plenty of free alternatives for Atom that you may choose from, the most obvious one is VS Code, which is actually quite impressive. Other notable text editors for programmers are Sublime Text, Notepad++, Vim, Emacs, Kate, to name a few. VSCodium is worth a shoutout, it is not a fork of VS Code, instead it provides binary releases of VS Code  without Microsoft's telemetry, branding and licensing. The developers who created Atom are working on their own code editor called Zed, so you may want to keep an eye on that.

Atom editor's problem wasn't just the lack of development. Its performance was sub par compared to rival code editors, which is the primary reason why users shifted to other tools. Electron is often criticized by users for being a resource hog, so Atom suffered from the same issues. Why would anyone use it when lightweight options are readily available?

Did you use Atom?

GitHub's Atom text editor will be retired in December

Browser maker Vivaldi's email client has finally hit version 1.0, seven years after it was first announced.

Vivaldi Mail, which includes a calendar and feed reader as well as an email client, first arrived in technical preview in 2020. A slightly wobbly beta arrived last year alongside version 4 of the Chromium-based browser. After another year of polish and tidying of loose ends, the company has declared the client ready.

As before, the client is built into the browser, meaning it is unlikely to appeal to many beyond Vivaldi's existing user base. Enabling it is a simple matter of dropping into Settings pages and wading through until the option to enable Mail, Calendar, and Feeds can be selected. Vivaldi has a lot of settings – delightfully customizable for some and downright baffling for others.

That said, for users still pining for a good old-fashioned email client that doesn't require wading through a web page festooned with adverts, there's a lot to like. It supports multiple accounts, will sort messages and create folders automatically (locally, rather than on a mystery server in the cloud), and permits searching (with indexing performed offline). IMAP and POP3 are supported, making adding a provider relatively straightforward, and the company also claims that users can log into their Google accounts from Mail and Calendar.

Feeds (such as RSS or Atom) can also be added, but it is the Calendar that is likely to prove most useful. "You may already be using one," the company admitted, "but we believe you deserve a better one. So we built it for you."

Lack of modesty aside, the Calendar is an impressive application and will work as happily offline as online. Vivaldi's vast array of customization possibilities in the browser is repeated here, with options to change the amount of detail displayed about events, perform inline edits, and vary the view by day, week, multi-week or month. Tasks can also be created from an event (or vice versa) and be visualized via the Agenda View.

All told, it's an impressive release. However, despite Vivaldi's claims that 4 billion people use email, expected to hit 4.5 billion by 2024, one cannot help but wonder if the company has missed the boat somewhat as messaging platforms such as Slack and Teams have experienced explosive growth over the last few years, displacing email as the communication tool of choice for many.

Company boss Jon von Tetzchner told The Register "Everyone uses email. Some use it a lot, some use it less, but everyone uses it to some degree. We target those that use mail regularly."

He has a point. Additionally, the Calendar functionality is impressive and a usable feed reader is always welcome. And there is also that warm glow of knowing that local storage and operation should cut down on vaguely creepy antics of some of the major webmail providers.

The client can be downloaded for macOS, Windows and Linux, but not Android. von Tetzchner said: "Our current focus is on Desktop. We will have to see about Android, but clearly, that would be good to offer as well, but no promises at this time."

And as for the Suggested Actions that have crept into recent Insider builds of Windows 11? "We will look into this. It's a recent feature, and it might not even make it into production builds," said von Tetzchner. "You can highlight text in Vivaldi and add it as an event." ®

Source

It has to be noted that there is also a Release Preview Channel for Windows 10 and that receives Cumulative Updates before the general public release of Windows 10 does, but supported hardware will still see the "Windows 11, version 22H2 is ready" offer. The issue here is that it is seemingly being offered on unsupported hardware too.

The above screenshot shows Reddit user AceRimmer412 getting their Windows 10 device offered the Windows 11 22H2 upgrade on an unsupported processor, an i5-7200U, which is what I have in my HP x360.

I tried to replicate the steps by installing the latest optional Cumulative Update (KB5014023) which also updates me to 19044.1741, then I enrolled in the Release Preview Channel, but my laptop was not offered the Windows 11 22H2 upgrade. Windows Update also shows my device as incompatible with Windows 11. Perhaps it is because I have already run the PC Health Check app.

Other users have had the offer with even older hardware:

My old Dell Optiplex 7040, i7-6700 3.4GHz, 16GB, Intel HD 530 became eligible today, and I've upgraded it (using it to type this).

When I get home, I see if my old Dell XPS 15 9560 will now work.

It's a bit unclear if all of these users are enrolled in the Windows 10 Release Preview Channel, but it would seem likely. It doesn't seem to be offered to everyone on the same older hardware either, but this could also have to do with the way Microsoft staggers the rollout of Feature Updates.

One other possibility is that someone forgot to flip a switch blocking installs of Windows 11 on unsupported hardware through the Windows Insider channel. The original preview of Windows 11 allowed this, and it's possible that because this is a whole new Feature release of Windows 11, that it somehow is possible on unsupported hardware again.

Update: It seems that it is indeed an unintended bug that allowed all of the unsupported devices to upgrade to Windows 11 22H2.

This means that unsupported devices may not be offered security updates, like that of Patch Tuesday next week, but you still have ten days to roll back your unsupported system; if you don't roll back within that period you will be forced to clean install Windows 10, thus starting out from scratch.

Did you get offered the upgrade and did you install? Let us know in the comments below.

People on unsupported hardware are being offered Windows 11 22H2 upgrade [Update]