Microsoft is upgrading the Android OS within the subsystem to Android 12L and adding support for advanced networking, so your mobile apps can easily communicate with devices outside the virtualization environment.

Additionally, Microsoft has confirmed that it is bringing the Windows Subsystem for Android to five new markets later this year. The list of new markets includes France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The rollout is projected to start at the end of this year, but we don't know the specific timeframe.

Microsoft is also working on improving integration between Android and Windows 11.

Microsoft Store updates

Devs can now quickly submit their Win32 apps in the Store as the company has removed the waitlist to do it.

For those unaware, Windows 11 allows developers to submit their unpacked desktop apps directly to the store. In a bid to further improve the adoption, Microsoft is easing the restrictions and allowing developers to quickly add apps to the store.

Additionally, Microsoft is testing a new feature that would let developers place advertisements within the app store. 

Microsoft: The new Windows 11 features from Build 2022

Here are the winners of the Microsoft Store App Awards 2022 in their corresponding categories:

Utility - ShareX and Speedtest by Ookla

The Utility category is to recognize apps that help automate tasks, diagnose issues, record of share your screen, navigate drivers, and more. When you use these apps, they are indispensable.

Runners up in the Utility category are Torrex Lite and Fluent Screen Recorder.

Files Management - Files and Rufus

The apps in this category help manage files on your Windows PC, by viewing and sorting, editing metadata, converting, compressing, and much more. These are the ones you told us were the most important to you:

Runners up in the Files Management category are 8Zip and One Commander.

Open Platform - Auto Dark Mode, EarTrumpet, and ModernFlyouts

Windows is an open platform for innovation. We know that not every customer uses Windows in the same way — some want to modify different parts of the UI or make some features more accessible for them. These are the apps you said turn Windows into your Windows.

Runners up in the Open Platform category are Lively Wallpaper and TranslucentTB.

Finally, Microsoft took the opportunity to mention several great apps in other categories. Microsoft Store editors recognized projects, such as Talk for Me (the app for "giving voice to those without voice"), FluentCast (a free Windows 11-styled podcast player), DrawboardPDF (an advanced PDF viewer), and Telegram (a popular messenger).

Here are the Microsoft Store App Awards Winners

Microsoft has updated the Surface app on Windows 11, and Windows 10 with several changes, notifications for Windows Updates being one of those. Apart from that, it also includes improvements to the keyboard, mice, audio equalizer and headphones tutorials volume experience. Beyond that, you don't get any other changes. The latest version of the app is 61.5058.139.0.

The official changelog of the latest Surface app update read as follows:

• Added notification for Windows Updates
• Improvements to Surface keyboards and mice experience
• Improvements to audio equalizer and headphones tutorials volume
• Quality and stability improvements

At the beginning of last month, Microsoft updated the Surface app with an improved experience for smart charging and quality and stability improvements. Compared to the previous update, the latest one arguably adds more noteworthy changes.

For those who don't know, the Surface app comes pre-installed with all Surface devices. The app contains useful information, including your device's warranty, model number, and other important details.

If you own a Surface, you can go to Microsoft Store and see if the update is now available for you. There is also a possibility that it's been updated in the background without your knowledge. In that case, make sure that the app is running the latest version, 61.5058.139.0.

Meanwhile, you can also open the Microsoft Store directly from here to update the app.

Microsoft updates its Surface app with better notifications and more

The program comes as ZIP file, which you need to extract on the local system. The application is compatible with all versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, starting with Windows Vista and including Windows 10 and 11.

A log of wireless connectivity events is displayed when you run the program on a Windows PC. The chronological listing highlights connections and disconnections to wireless access points, failed connection attempts, signal quality changes, and more.

WifiDiagnosticsView is a Wifi diagnostics tool for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista that monitors the wireless network service of Windows operating system and displays any event that occurs while WifiDiagnosticsView is running, including wireless networks scan, connect to access point, disconnect from access point, failed connection attempt, and so on.. When a failure is detected, the error code and error description is displayed.

Each event is listed with date and time, the event description, and often other bits of data, including profile name and SSID, failure codes and texts, connection method, interface name and GUID, and connection name.

Events are sorted chronologically by default, but a click on a column title sorts the data immediately based on the data. It takes a single click to sort the data by connection error or interface name using the application. The built-in search functionality may be used to find events quickly; select Edit > Find or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-F to launch the search field in the application interface.

WifiDiagnosticsView includes features that are common in Nirsoft applications. Data may be exported to various formats with a click on the save icon or to the selection of File > Save Selected Items. The export function supports exports as txt, csv, json, xml and html files.

Closing Words

WifiDiagnosticsView is a useful networking program for Windows users who want to analyze wireless connectivity issues. While it may be useful at highlighting potential issues, it does not point users in the right troubleshooting direction. How a discovered issue is resolved is beyond the scope of the application.

Still, running it may reveal the issue that is experienced. Research on the Internet may point you in the right direction of resolving it in the end.

Now You: do you connect your devices to wireless networks? Do you run into issues doing so sometimes or frequently?

Landing Page:   https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_diagnostics_view.html

WifiDiagnosticsView: diagnose wireless connectivity issues on Windows PCs

Chrome may be the most used browser, but it isn’t necessarily the best one out there. Alternatives exist that could better meet your needs.

One such option is Firefox. It’s a rare browser not based on Chromium, the project that powers Chrome, unlike other rivals like Edge or Opera. It’s also backed by a team with a long, storied history in browser development and a deep interest in online privacy. As a result, using Firefox can boost your PC’s performance, better protect you on the web, and also make life more convenient, too. You’ll find it offers built-in features that don’t exist in Chrome or otherwise require third-party add-ons. 

Just like we’ve recently done with Vivaldi, the enthusiast’s browser, we’ve highlighted the top 8 reasons to quit Chrome and make the switch to Firefox. Let’s dig in.

Automatic blocking of autoplay videos  

IGN’s embedded videos automatically play by default (albeit with no audio on). Firefox can stop this behavior cold.

Many websites have videos and other media that automatically play when you load the page. But not all automatically mute the audio, despite near-universal hatred for having sudden noise blaring in the background. Autoplay video can eat bandwidth unnecessarily when you’re on a connection with limited data.

In Chrome, if you want to block sites that go hard with autoplay, you need to find and install a third-party extension. Firefox, on the other hand, keeps tabs in hand by default. Out of the box, audio is muted, and for YouTube, autoplay for both audio and video are blocked. And blocking autoplay video across the web by default is a easy, fast change in Firefox’s settings.

Speedier website browsing

A fresh installation of Firefox automatically blocks trackers that can make browsing feel slow. The more scripts that must load as part of a website, the more you’ll feel them. Even if they’re running invisibly in the background, they’re still there. Keep them from running and your web surfing should feel much snappier.

Firefox also stops cryptominers from accessing your device, aka cryptojacking—it’s when a website allows malicious code to use your computer to mine for cryptocurrency. Indirectly, this protective feature helps with browsing speed too. If your system resources get tied up by a cryptominer accessing your device, your PC will feel sluggish, including when you’re browsing online.

Lighter on system resources

At the time of this screenshot, Firefox had 3x the number of tabs open as Chrome (39 vs 13), with a greater variety of website types.

Chrome has a reputation for hogging system resources—namely RAM, but sometimes it also hits your CPU harder than expected, too. Google has taken steps to curtail these problems, but Firefox hasn’t had the same issues with regular memory leaks. It also generally goes light on system resources. Even when you begin piling on tabs and windows, browsing sessions don’t slow down.

That said, Firefox can occasionally suffer from memory bloat as well, if you like to leave many tabs open for days. But you can quickly fix that problem by using Firefox’s Task Manager to nuke and then bring back a tab gone amok. Or, if you have the browser set to remember your browsing history, closing the app entirely and reopening it. (Your tabs should be automatically restored.) You don’t need to reboot your whole system.

Mobile extensions

Tired of annoying ads while browsing online with your smartphone? Android users are in luck. Just like on desktop, you can install browser extensions in the mobile version of Firefox. While you’re limited to 17 add-ons to choose from, they cover the major bases for improving web surfing and security. You’ll find recognizable options like uBlock Origin (ad-blocking), NoScript (control over JavaScript), HTTPS Everywhere (forces secure website connections where available), and more. Installing even just an ad-blocker makes for a smoother experience—no more accidental tapping on pop-ups, ads, or sponsored links you definitely didn’t want to visit.

Equally easy sync across all devices

You don’t have to give up seamless syncing across devices if you switch to Firefox.

Part of Chrome’s appeal is the seamless nature of Google’s ecosystem—accessing your bookmarks and syncing open tabs across devices is simple. But that feature doesn’t need to be a reason to stay with Chrome. Firefox also allows you to browse the web with ease across devices, too. 

It’s as platform agnostic as Chrome, so you can bounce between Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS with no issues. Create a Firefox Sync account, and your browsing history, bookmarks, tabs, saved passwords, and more will follow you to whichever devices you log into. You’ll also be able to use additional privacy and security-oriented services like Firefox Relay (email masking) and Firefox Monitor (data breach monitoring) from the same single account.

Deeper safeguards for privacy

Beyond automatically keeping third-party cookies and trackers from gathering data about your browsing habits, Firefox also blocks fingerprinting, a more insidious method of monitoring people across the web. A digital fingerprint collates information about your PC’s hardware, software (like your operating system and browser), add-ons, preferences, and sometimes more like themes and customizations. The tracking of a fingerprint can take place over months or even longer, meaning whoever looks at the data can form a clear picture of your private life and habits. Think of it as a more invasive form of someone stalking you via public Instagram and other social media accounts—but instead, they’re learning information you haven’t chosen to share publicly. Maybe not even with your closest friends and family.

Firefox also allows users to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH). Normally when you enter a URL (e.g., https://www.pcworld.com) into your address bar and hit enter, the lookup of the IP address that the domain name resolves to is done over plain text. Meaning, anyone on your network can see what sites you’re accessing. But if you force the process to happen over an encrypted server, you thwart any such attempts at nosiness.

Reader mode

Reader mode isn’t perfect with spacing out text from sidebars and breakouts from the main text, but it’s not too difficult to parse through. Generally, the view is an improvement on the myriad elements on a webpage.

Sometimes you just want to read the article on a website, not wade through pop-ups, video embeds, advertisements, and whatever else the site owner slaps on the page to keep the lights on (ahem). Having all the extras on the page can really slow down your ability to scroll through.

You can reduce the visual distractions with extensions that strip away ads, block scripts, and more, but Firefox gives you a one-click option to do away with clutter on a page: Reader Mode. Click on an icon in the address bar and you get a clean, pared down view that shows just the text in a large, legible font and the images that go with the story. You can zip through the text so much faster.

In fairness, Chrome has offered a reader mode before, but the development team can’t seem to make up its mind whether or not to keep it. Some builds of Chrome let you enable it, others don’t. After Mozilla implemented this feature in Firefox years ago, it’s been here to stay.

Open-source code

Ask current Firefox users why they switched, and you’ll often hear “It’s not Chrome.”

What makes Chrome so bad, you ask? The big issue for most is having all of your data locked to a company that makes its money through advertising. (Recall the saying that if a service is free, you’re the product.) That’s a large privacy concern.

But beyond that, it’s harder for the community to vet the security of Chrome, too. Despite being built on an open-source project (Chromium), the official Chrome browser mixes in Google’s proprietary spin on that code and keeps the final results under wraps. Users can’t examine for themselves how things are constructed. Many people don’t think about this as an issue, but knowing how something is made can tell you a lot more about its weaknesses—and any other elements that might not sit well with you. With Firefox, that’s not an issue.

Source

If Broadcom completes its historic $61 billion acquisition of VMware, the company says it plans to “rapid transition” VMware contracts and customers from perpetual software licenses to subscriptions and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

“We are going to focus on going through a transition, and a rapid transition, from [VMware] perpetual licensing to subscription,” said Tom Krause, president of Broadcom’s software group, whose business unit will become part of VMware if the acquisition is completed. “With the software business, we’ve been totally focused on pretty much 100 percent recurring revenue.”

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said his company plans to “convert” VMware’s on-premises licensing model to subscriptions over the next couple of years, which will likely slow revenue growth for VMware in the near term.

“From an economics point of view, whether it’s perpetual or subscription, frankly, it’s the same. But we want to make it very consistent with the way we run the model. Based on this, we are in a sense, restructuring the contracts from perpetual to subscription,” said Tan during a call with media and analysts today. “That’s why, depending on where you see it, you’ll see a slower growth at the beginning—if any—followed by a more rapid growth as we convert more to subscription.”

Broadcom officially unveiled its plan today to buy VMware for a whopping $61 billion, making it one of the largest acquisitions in IT history.

If the deal is completed, Broadcom’s software group led by Krause will be rebranded and operate as VMware within the Broadcom umbrella. The new software unit will include VMware’s portfolio alongside Broadcom’s existing infrastructure and security software solutions.

VMware has already been striving to transition itself and its customers away from its traditional enterprise software licensing agreements and into SaaS and subscription.

In fact, when VMware reported its first quarter financial results today, the company grew subscription and SaaS revenue by 21 percent year over year to nearly $900 million. Subscription and SaaS accounted for 29 percent of VMware’s total $3.09 billion in revenue during the first quarter.

VMware subscription and SaaS sales are now generating an annual recurring revenue run rate of $3.14 billion.

“We are focused on accelerating growth of our subscription and SaaS portfolio as we provide customers the flexibility and choice they seek,” said VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram in a statement today.

One top executive from a solution provider that’s partnered with VMware for more than 10 years said it “will be critical to the future of VMware” and its channel partners that Broadcom does not immediately disrupt current customer contracts.

“They can’t come in and immediately change how we work with our customers. We simply won’t tolerate that,” said the top executive who declined to be named. “I get what Broadcom is doing, and in the long term, it is the correct thing to do. … Some customers are moving faster than others towards subscriptions, but there’s still many, many ongoing licenses out there that still have years left to go. So it will be important for them to take their time and not disrupt business for us.”

Hopefully, the executive said Broadcom will let VMware channel partners lead the way in transitioning VMware customers towards SaaS and subscription—when the time is right. “VMware has been pushing us to sell the SaaS and subscription model for years now. We know it. We get it. Some customers are doing it, some are still taking their time,” he said. “I like (Broadcom’s) idea here. VMware was already doing it. Maybe (Broadcom) will help us out with it, but it will take time.”

Broadcom To Invest In VMware vSAN, vSphere, vRealize

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware for $61 billion has already been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The deal is expected to close in Broadcom’s current 2023 fiscal year.

Once the acquisition is complete, Broadcom said it plans to invest money into VMware’s core offerings.

“In terms of R&D, we’re going to reinvest back in the core business, the core franchises,” said Broadcom’s Krause. “If you think about the three different pillars of this business, it’s really the core infrastructure business—vSAN, vSphere, vRealize—these are the businesses that are core to driving the bulk of the revenues. And that’s where the reinvestment is going to occur.”

Broadcom Plans To Grow VMware Profitability To $8.5 Billion

Broadcom said it plans to grow VMware earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) from $4.7 billion annually as a standalone company to $8.5 billion within three years as part of Broadcom.

“As part of Broadcom, our target is for VMware to contribute approximately $8.5 billion of EBITDA once we have fully integrated the company onto our platform,” said Tan.

This profitability growth will be driven by sales and marketing efficiency gains through go-to-market investment and focus on existing customers; growing recurring revenue; and eliminating duplicative general and administrative functions across IT, finance, legal, human resources and facilities, according to Broadcom.

“Together, with Broadcom’s existing software portfolio, we are positioned to create a uniquely powerful value proposition for enterprises—enabling them to develop, deploy, and manage their applications securely, seamlessly, across every type of cloud and to accelerate the application lifecycle for their workloads,” said Tan.

Overall, Broadcom expects VMware to account for roughly half of its entire software business.

“With this type of scale, and continuing commitment to R&D and innovation, we will be able to significantly invest and fund new innovative solutions that will support our customer base,” said Tan.

In connection with the upcoming $61 billion acquisition, Broadcom was able to obtain commitments from a consortium of banks for $32 billion in fully committed debt financing. Upon closing, current Broadcom shareholders will own approximately 88 percent and current VMware shareholders will own approximately 12 percent of the combined company.

Source

Also:  Broadcom to 'focus on rapid transition to subscriptions' for VMware.

"The UMH component used by several Trend Micro endpoint and server protection products is responsible for some advanced features such as ransomware protection," the antivirus vendor revealed.

"Trend Micro is aware of an potential issue where customers who apply the optional Microsoft Windows 11 or Windows 2022 optional preview patches (KB5014019) and reboot would then find that the Trend Micro UMH driver would stop."

The known issue affects the User Mode Hooking (UMH) component used by several Trend Micro endpoint solutions, including Apex One 2019, Worry-Free Business Security Advanced 10.0, Apex One as a Service 2019, Deep Security 20.0, Deep Security 12.0, and Worry-Free Business Security Services 6.7.

The Japanese cybersecurity company is now working on a fix to address this issue before the update previews are pushed to all Windows customers as part of the June 2022 Patch Tuesday.

How to restore Trend Micro endpoint solution capabilities

Luckily, unlike regular Patch Tuesday Windows updates, this week's preview updates are optional and they were issued to test bug fixes and performance improvements before the general release.

Windows users have to manually check for them from Settings > Windows Update. They will not be installed until you click the 'Download now' button, limiting the number of potentially impacted users.

Impacted Windows platforms include both client and server versions with the problems experienced on systems running Windows 11, Windows 10 version 1809, and Windows Server 2022.

Trend Micro customers who have installed the optional Windows optional patch may either uninstall the patch temporarily or reach out to support to get a UMH debug module that should revive their security solution's capabilities.

Windows users can remove the preview updates using the following commands from an Elevated Command Prompt.

Windows 10 1809: wusa /uninstall /kb:5014022 
Windows 11: wusa /uninstall /kb:5014019
Windows Server 2022: wusa /uninstall /kb:5014021

Windows 11 KB5014019 breaks Trend Micro ransomware protection

Desktop Stickers is a new hidden feature in Windows 11 22H2 (and newer). It allows you to personalize the desktop with variously-themed stickers, similar to how people customize the lids of their laptops.

Some users will find this feature questionable or even useless, but others will enjoy using it. Here is how to enable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11.

Important: Microsoft is yet to announce Desktop Stickers for Windows 11, and future changes might remove the feature or enable it by default. We will update the article when necessary. Meanwhile, you can turn it on with a simple registry hack.

Note: Use this guide to enable Desktop Stickers on Windows 11 build 22621 (version 22H2) or newer, but note that it will not work on Windows 11 build 22000. To check your Windows 11 version, press Win + R and type winver.

Enable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11 22H2

1. Press Win + R and type regedit. Press Enter, then Windows 11 will open Registry Editor.
2. Copy and paste the following path into the address bar in Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device.
3. Right-click the device key and select New > Key.

   

4. Rename the new key to Stickers.
5. Right-click the right side of Registry Editor and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

   

6. Rename the new value to EnableStickers.
7. Open the EnableStickers value and change its value data to 1. Click OK to save the changes.

   

8. Restart your computer.

Now you can add desktop stickers in Windows 11.

How to add, edit, or delete Desktop Stickers in Windows 11 22H2

Note: The button to add stickers will not work if you use slideshows to change the background on your desktop. Switch to a single picture or Windows Spotlight to enable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11.

1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and select Add or edit stickers.

   

2. Alternatively, pick another route: Press Win + I, go to Personalization > Background, and click Add Stickers.

   

3. Windows 11 will open the Stickers editor. You can scroll the list of available stickers or find the one you need using keywords.

   

4. Click or tap the sticker you want to add. Now you can click the sticker and resize or reposition it on the screen.

   

5. You can add as many stickers as you want, and to add another one, click the Stickers button at the top of the screen.
6. To delete a sticker, click it, then hit the delete button below the sticker.
7. To exit Stickers Editor, click the X button at the top of the screen.

How to disable Desktop Stickers in Windows 11 22H2

1. Launch Registry Editor by pressing Win + R and using the regedit command. There are many other ways to launch Registry Editor, so you can pick whatever is more convenient for you.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Stickers.
3. Open the EnableStickers value and change its value data to 0. Alternatively, you can delete the value.
4. Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Note that disabling Desktop Stickers in Windows 11 does not remove existing stickers. You need to remove stickers before disabling the feature or changing the desktop background afterward.

Do you like the idea of adding virtual stickers to the desktop in Windows 11?

How to enable desktop stickers in Windows 11 22H2

If you don't want to wait as long as September to be officially updated through Windows Update, you can get it right now through the official channels via Microsoft, and enjoy all of the new features. Check out this article for a complete run down of what's new in Windows 11 22H2.

You are already a Windows Insider

There are two official ways of going about this The first requires that you are already a Windows Insider, this could be through a VM you have installed and then enrolled for Windows Insider updates, or maybe you are enrolled through Release Preview to get Cumulative Updates earlier. If you are already a Windows Insider, then you can follow the steps below:

• Go here and ensure you are signed in to your (Windows Insider) Microsoft Account
• Select Build 22621 from the dropdown
• Select your preferred language (it comes in 21 languages)
• Download the ISO, it's around 4.7GB
• Right-click on the file and select Mount via File Explorer
• Run Setup

You can check out the above gallery for the entire process too. As an added bonus, if you are not logged in to Windows with a Microsoft Account, setup will complete without forcing you to login to Microsoft's servers. As you can see from my screenshots, the entire process completed with a Local Account.

Become a Windows Insider:

If you have never enrolled in the Windows Insider program, but you want to upgrade to Windows 11 22H2 now, then it is also relatively painless to do so, by following the steps below. You will need a Microsoft Account to do this.

• Open Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program
• Click on Get Started and link a Microsoft Account
• Optional: Choose for Microsoft apps only (this lets you retain a local account)
• Choose Release Preview Insider Channel
• Restart to confirm
• Now you can Download the ISO (you may have to login on the page)
• Go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program
• Toggle "Unenroll this device when the next version of Windows releases"
• Open Downloads via File Explorer
• Right-click on the ISO file you downloaded and select Mount via File Explorer
• Run Setup

Important: Once you have installed Windows 11 22H2 via the ISO, you can immediately leave the Windows Insider Program via this page. This action unenrolls you everywhere, but if you "fix" Windows Insider settings on one device, this fixes them on all, if you have multiple VMs enrolled with the same Microsoft Account email address.

As with the first option of having already enrolled as a Windows Insider in Windows or in a VM, I have also captured the whole process of enrolling as a Windows Insider in order to officially download the ISO, which you can view above.

After leaving the Windows Insider Program and rebooting Windows 11 22H2

Enterprise?

In case you are wondering, it is also possible to install a Pro SKU without a key and then do an inplace upgrade to Enterprise, for those on Volume Licensing.

Wrapping up...

There are many unofficial ways to get the ISO, including semi-official ways like UUP dump, (this downloads the files directly from Microsoft, but a third-party script "packages" the downloads into readable formats). However, those packages now no longer include any of the basic inbox apps, like the Settings app, or even Notepad; they all have to be downloaded through the Microsoft Store.

Ultimately it is up to you, the way I have described is a totally legitimate and official way to get the bits, or you can wait until Microsoft releases the Feature Update through Windows Update.

Good Luck.

Here is how you can upgrade to Windows 11 22H2 right now

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Intel® Game On Driver support for Sniper Elite 5* on 11 th Generation Intel Core™ Processors with Xe Graphics and newer.

KEY ISSUES FIXED:

• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty* may exhibit texture flickering during gameplay on Intel Iris Xe Discrete graphics.
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction* (Vulkan) may experience a game crash or a system reboot when playing with medium or higher in-game settings on 11th and 12th Generation Intel Core Processors.
• Monster Hunter Rise* may require shader compilation at every game launch on 11th and 12th Generation Intel Core Processors.

KNOWN ISSUES:

• An error message pop-up may be observed when launching Call of Duty: Vanguard* (DX12).
• An application crash may occur in Watch Dogs: Legion* (DX11) when starting the game.
• An intermittent crash or hang may occur during gameplay in Ghostwire: Tokyo* (DX12).
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive* may experience a game crash when changing shadow quality settings in game.
• Destiny 2* may exhibit display signal loss, or display flashing during gameplay when HDR is enabled.
• Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin* may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint* may experience minor shadow corruption in some areas of the game.
• CrossFire* may experience an application crash and or security alert when joining a game.
• Minor graphical anomalies may be observed in Call of Duty: Warzone* (DX12), Diablo II: Resurrected* (DX12), Euro Truck Simulator* (DX11), Farming Simulator 22* (DX12), Grand Theft Auto V* (DX11), Halo Infinite* (DX12), Hitman 2* (DX12), Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy* (DX12) and Microsoft Flight Simulator*(DX11).
• An “Update driver” pop-up error message may be observed when launching Battlefield 1* after upgrading from 30.0.100.9955 or older drivers.
• [12th Generation Intel Core Processors]:
  • Chorus* may experience an application crash in some interior areas of the game such as the ship hangar.
  • Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in CrossFire HD* (DX9), GRID Legends* (DX12) (on changing lighting quality to high), F1 2020* (DX12) (when HDR enabled).
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel Core Processors]:
  • Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in Gears 5* (DX12).
  • A TDR may intermittently occur in Halo Infinite* (DX12) during gameplay.
  • A game crash or hang may occur when changing resolution in NBA 2K21* (DX12).
  • Displays connected via an external dock may exhibit a black screen when using 4K@60hz resolution.
• [11th Generation Intel Core Processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics]:
  • A game crash or hang may occur when launching Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy* (DX12).
  • An intermittent crash or hang may occur in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade* (DX12).
  • Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in Elex* (DX11), MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries* (DX12), Strange Brigade* (DX12) and The Ascent* (DX12).
  • A black screen or TDR may occur after launching, or during gameplay in Gears 5* (DX12).
• [Intel Iris Xe Discrete graphics]:
  • An intermittent crash or hang may be seen in Forza Horizon 5* (DX12) when launched, Forza Motorsport 6* (DX12) when launched and Resident Evil 3* (DX12) when exiting the game.
  • Minor graphical anomalies may be observed in Call of Duty: Vanguard* (DX12), Enlisted* (DX11), Far Cry 6* (DX12).

To download the Intel 30.0.101.1994 driver, head over to Intel's official website at this link.

Intel 30.0.101.1994 driver adds Sniper Elite 5 support, fixes game crash and texture flicker

Aesthetic improvements aside, there are some important changes to the services that it offers. Your email addresses @protonmail.com, @pm.me, @protonmail.ch, and custom domains remain the same.

Proton's new plans

We won't be discussing the free tier because it hasn't gained much. But, I should mention that free users can claim a free yourusername@proton.me email address for free until June 8th. If you missed the previous opportunity, go and get your free alias now.

Let's take a look at the pricing and features of the paid plans. All users who were subscribed to a plan before May 25th 2022, have been upgraded to a new Proton plan that best matches the old plan, without an increase in the fee. This includes a bump in the cloud storage space as well.

The thing is, Proton is applying a special discount for old users, to allow them to renew at the old rates. If a user decides to switch to a different plan, they will have to give up on this special discount. e.g. if you want to upgrade from Plus to Unlimited, you will lose your discount.

Proton Visionary and Lifetime Subscribers are getting a special upgrade, they get 3000 GB of storage space, that's right 3TB, on Proton Drive. You can use up to 100 email addresses on the service. That's a great reward for supporting Proton.

There are 2 new plans from the company: Proton Unlimited and Proton Business. So in total, there are 4 tiers: Proton Free, Proton Mail Plus, Proton Unlimited and Proton Visionary.

Proton Mail Plus

This is the basic premium plan offered by Proton, and it costs the same as before, with the prices starting at $4.99 a month, and goes up to $47.88 for one year ($3.99/month), or $83.76 for two years ($3.49/month). But the Mail Plus plan offers more benefits than before. Users get 15GB of storage space (shared across Proton's services) which is an extra 10GB on top of the 5GB they had earlier.

click to enlarge

ProtonMail Plus allows subscribers to use up to 10 email addresses (previously 5), access to Proton Drive, and Proton Calendar and Bridge. Catch-all, which collects emails from all addresses in your domain, is now available for Proton Plus users, this was previously locked  in the Professional plan.

Proton Unlimited

Proton's Unlimited plan offers the best of both worlds for Mail and VPN users. It grants 15 email addresses, Proton Drive, Calendar, Bridge, and all the bonuses from the premium VPN plan. It supports 1700 servers in 60+ countries, and no restrictions such as P2P downloads. To top it all, it also gives users a whopping 500GB of cloud storage. The prices for Proton Unlimited start at $11.99/month, $119.88 for one year ($9.99/month), or $191.76 for two years ($7.99/month).

click to enlarge

Proton Business plans are essentially the same as the personal Mail Plus and Unlimited plans, but allows adding more users and are hence more expensive.

Proton Professional, Family and Visionary Plans

ProtonMail Professional plans have been migrated to Proton Business Essentials. This also means that there is a bigger gap between the prices of the Mail Plus and Unlimited plans, so it is in a way an increase in the prices. Refer to my previous article for screenshots of the old plans and their prices.

Proton Visionary plans are no longer available for purchase. ProtonMail has also discontinued its family plan. If you want to include more users in your plan, you'll have to go for the Business Plan, which is quite expensive on a per-user basis. Speaking of which, add-ons are no longer available for personal plans, if you want to customize your plan, you need to opt for a Business plan.

Proton VPN plan prices for new subscribers

Proton has scrapped its ProtonVPN Basic plan. Let's say a user is just interested in the VPN service, (not the email), they can no longer subscribe to ProtonVPN for $5 a month. But wait, it does show $5 a month, doesn't it? Not really, that option is only valid for a year's subscription, as in it costs $5/month annually, you'll have to pay the full amount for 12 months,

The new starter plan for the VPN service costs $9.99 a month. That looks like a 100% price hike, but it is just the old ProtonVPN Plus plan being rebranded as the basic tier. Take a look at Mullvad VPN for example, they still offer VPN services at $5 a month.

Interestingly, users who were on ProtonVPN Basic plans have been upgraded to Unlimited, so they get to pay $5 a month for Mail and VPN. But those who were on Mail Plus and VPN Plus bundle, say they have to pay $12 for the same features. So, there's definitely a bit of inconsistency with regard to the plan upgrades.

You can read Proton's article to learn more about the pricing. The website's design is a bit too bright and colorful for my liking.

Are you happy with Proton's new prices? What you think about the new design?

Proton has updated its logos and plan prices for Mail and VPN

Note: shortly after releasing Sumatra 3.4, Sumatra 3.4.1 was released, which includes a single fix.

Sumatra 3.4.1 is available as a portable version and an installer for Microsoft Windows. Downloads are provided on the developer website as usual.

Sumatra is a lightweight open source PDF reader for Windows. It is a popular choice when it comes to reading PDF documents on Windows.

Sumatra 3.4

Sumatra 3.4 adds a number of new features and improvements to the PDF reader. Users find the new text translate feature under Menu > Selection. The initial version supports Google Translate and DeepL, but it is possible to add custom translation services to the application.

All it takes is to select text, and then one of the available translate options. Sumatra opens the translated text on the service's website.

Users may add custom translate options under Settings > Advanced Settings; this opens the configuration file in a text editor. The SelectionHandlers section accepts new services, but it requires a bit of detective work to configure these services properly.

While you need to add two parameters only for each service, URL and Name, it is necessary to manipulate the URL to make sure that it includes the selection variable.

Here is how this would look like for DuckDuckGo:

SelectionHandlers [
[
URL = https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=web&q=${selection}
Name = &DuckDuckGo
]
]

Basically, what you need to do is copy the target URL of the service and replace the query with the ${selection} parameter.

Sumatra 3.4 introduces support for custom keyboard shortcuts and for the remapping of existing keyboard shortcuts; this is done using the configuration file as well under Settings > Advanced Settings.

The Shortcuts section of the file handles custom keyboard shortcuts. For each, Cmd and Key variables need to be set. The Cmd parameter accepts any of the supported commands, e.g., CmdBookView, which you find listed here on this page.

The key variable accepts single keys and key combinations, e.g., Alt-I or q.

Command Palette

The new Command Palette unlocks all functions of the PDF reader when it is opened. It may be used to open recently opened PDF documents quickly, to switch between tabs, and to invoke any of the available commands that Sumatra supports.

Open the Command Palette via Menu > View > Command Palette, or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-K. You may browse the available selection of commands or type to filter available commands and options.

Users who prefer the keyboard can use the Command Palette using the keyboard only.

Other changes in Sumatra 3.4

Here is a list of other changes in the new Sumatra version:

• Epub documents support text selections and searching now.
• Installer supports the -all-users command line argument to install Sumatra system-wide.
• Keyboard shortcut i inverts document colors, while Shift-I shows the page numbers.
• Pressing Delete or Backspace removes annoations under the mouse cursor.
• SVG files are supported.
• Support for opening .heic files, if the heic codec is installed.
• Scrolling is faster if the mouse cursor is over the scrollbar.
• Experimental support for smooth scrolling added (enable in Advanced Settings).

Closing Words

Sumatra is a well designed PDF reader for Windows. While it can only be used to view documents, it does a stellar job at that. Our first review of Sumatra dates back to 2008.

Now You: which PDF reader do you use?

PDF Reader Sumatra 3.4: new command palette and support for translations

Frontpaged:   Sumatra PDF 3.4.1

The new build adds plenty of new changes and improvements on top of bug fixes. You can find everything that's new in Build 25126 below:

What’s new in Build 25126

Account settings page improvements

In October, we introduced subscription management in Settings > Accounts, which enabled you to view your Microsoft 365 subscriptions in Windows 11. With this build, we’re making it easier for you to view all supported Office perpetual products such as Office 2021 or Office 2019 associated with your account within Settings > Accounts.

This update will allow you to view all supported Microsoft 365 Office products licensed to your account and you can view details about your product or install Office by clicking the “View Details” button. This information is shown on the Microsoft account management page and you will now be able to view these datils in Windows 11 via Settings > Accounts as shown in the above screenshot, starting with this build.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders 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 Settings > User Profile Account Settings.

Here are all the fixes and improvements in the new Windows 11 build 25126:

[General]

• We fixed the issue causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in pci.sys causing a rollback trying to install the latest builds in the Dev Channel.
• We did work to mitigate the issue causing the Program Compatibility Assistant Service to use an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest Insider Preview builds in the Dev Channel.

[Start menu]

• If the touch keyboard is docked it should no longer unexpectedly dismiss when trying to edit the name of a folder in Start.

[Search]

• Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash that could happen when using Search.

[Settings]

• The preview image under Personalization > Lock Screen should no longer be backwards when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.

[Task Manager]

• If explorer.exe has hung, that should no longer hang Task Manager.
• Fixed an issue where the context menus weren’t following the same mode (light or dark) as Task Manager itself for some Insiders.
• Fixed a typo in the “Minimize on use” tooltip.
• If you’ve hidden the graphs on the side of the Performance page, the color of the circles used instead should now match the graph in the summary view.
• Addressed an issue where the Not Responding status for certain apps wasn’t being reflected on the Processes page.

[Windows Sandbox]

• Removed the Lock option in Start menu as it didn’t work.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue where using “Open All Active Printers” from the printer icon in the system tray would unexpectedly open File Explorer when there were no active queues.

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 known issues in Build 25126:

[General]

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

[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 build 25126 blog post here.

Windows 11 Dev build 25126 fixes high CPU usage, explorer crash, and much more

One of the biggest highlights of these changes will be the new “Restore Apps” feature coming in the Microsoft Store on Windows 11. It will be connected to the Microsoft Account of the users, so logging in to a new Windows 11 PC will give them automatically the ability to restore apps with just a few clicks.

“To make it easier for customers to transition to their new PCs quickly and seamlessly, we will soon test a new feature in the Windows Insider channel that helps customers automatically restore their apps, previously installed from the Microsoft Store, to their new Windows device,” said Giorgio Sardo, general manager of the Microsoft Store. “This will also help developers retain their customers without having to remind customers to re-download their app.”

The Restore Apps feature will be located in the “My Library” section of the Store application. Those transitioning to a new Windows 11 device from an old one will find this feature very useful. This is specifically helpful for those who often change their devices and use multiple machines (even virtual ones), as the manual installation of the apps will no longer be needed.

Microsoft will also be prioritizing the apps more on the Store by making them more discoverable for Windows 11 users. Once ready, Windows 11 users will be presented with Microsoft Store app listings instead of third-party websites when they use search to find apps. Soon, this new feature will be available to Windows Insiders in the Start menu.

Microsoft also has a surprise for developers by opening the Store to all through the removal of the waitlist for Win32 applications. Through this, submission of unpackaged Win32 apps will be more convenient, especially for indie developers. With this, the Store is expected to accumulate more apps faster. 

Moreover, Microsoft has other new features specifically dedicated to developers, such as automated Store app submissions, new analytic dashboards, Win32 apps discoverability options, a new ad platform for app promotion, and the ability to respond to reviews on Win32 apps.

What’s new with Microsoft Store on Windows 11?

The Windows Insider team started rolling out a new 'Your Microsoft account' settings page within Windows 11's Settings in October 2021.

The end goal is to provide users with all the information they need on their Microsoft accounts (such as Microsoft 365 subscriptions) from within the OS, eliminating the need to log into their account on the web.

"With this build, we're making it easier for you to view all supported Office perpetual products such as Office 2021 or Office 2019 associated with your account within Settings > Accounts," Microsoft's Amanda Langowski and Brandon LeBlanc said today.

"This update will allow you to view all supported Microsoft 365 Office products licensed to your account and you can view details about your product or install Office by clicking the 'View Details' button."

You can now access this info (previously only available on the Microsoft account management page) from Windows by going into Settings > Accounts.

The new feature has started rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, who have installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25126.

In today's Windows 11 dev build, Microsoft also addressed a known issue that rolled back installations of the latest builds in the Dev Channel following bugchecks with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors in pci.sys.

Redmond is also working on mitigating a CPU usage issue, causing the Program Compatibility Assistant Service to use large amounts of resources after upgrades to the latest Insider Preview builds in the Windows 11 Dev Channel.

This build also fixed an explorer.exe crash when using Search and a Task Manager freeze when explorer.exe would become unresponsive.

Microsoft released the first ISO image for the new Windows 11 Dev preview builds earlier this month, enabling Windows Insiders to clean install the operating system.

Microsoft also began testing a new Windows 11 feature with a small subset of Windows Insiders that displays an Internet search box on the OS desktop.

You can find detailed steps to enable the new Desktop Search bar in Windows 11 using ViveTool in our previous report.

Microsoft adds Office subscriptions to Windows 11 account settings

Earlier today, Microsoft, via a blog post, announced its WHCP submission starting date for Windows 11 version 22H2. It will be commencing in a few days on May 31. The post also confirms what had been hinted at earlier, that build 22621 was indeed RTM.

Additionally, it also mentions that submissions will continue till September 5, 2022 which means Windows 11 version 22H2 will become GA after this, possibly in late September or October.

The blog post says:

Windows 11, version 22H2 based systems may ship with drivers that have achieved compatibility with Windows 11, version 21H2 until Sept 5th, 2022.
Partners looking to achieve compatibility for systems shipping with Windows 11, version 22H2 Release may use drivers for components that achieved compatibility with Windows 11, Version 21H2 until Sept 5th, 2021 (sic)

However, bear in mind that Microsoft could push back dates if there are some major issues that need addressing from some hardware vendor. Interestingly, last time too, Microsoft gave away the GA for Windows 11 21H2 in a similar fashion.

Microsoft seemingly confirms when Windows 11 22H2 will release publicly

In a Tech Community blog post intended for hardware partners, Microsoft has outlined the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) for Windows 11 version 22H2. While the documentation isn't intended for consumers, the bit that will interest our readers is:

Windows 11, version 22H2 certification build

Minimum acceptable build for Windows 11, version 22H2 certification is RTM build (i.e. 22621).

As can be seen, Microsoft has clearly noted that Windows 11 version 22H2 RTM release is build 22621.

Windows 11 build 22621 was flighted to the Beta Channel two weeks ago. As noted by Thurrott, Microsoft removed the Insider watermark from it as well, giving further credence to reports that this was indeed an RTM build. ISOs were released alongside build 22621 too.

The mention of build 22621 as RTM in official Microsoft documentation also lines up with previous reports that indicated that May 24 was going to be the sign-off RTM date for Windows 11 version 22H2. If you're interested in all the new features that the latest iteration of the OS packs, check out our detailed guide on the topic here.

Microsoft confirms Windows 11 version 22H2 RTM is build 22621

What is new in Edge Dev 103.0.1264.2?

New features and capabilities:

• Added features to drag the create tab group feature by default.

   

• Added features to Polices for Mobile.

   

• Added features so that a new language is added to preferred language list, Expanded the spellcheck language so that the state and level of support is advertised.

   

• Added features to Make Editor languages be enabled by default when adding new language to accept languages list.

   

  • Made enhanced spellcheck state coordinated with basic spellcheck state and vice versa. User toggle on/off spellcheck in one should also cause the other to be toggled on/off.

     

  • Fixed existing broken state where a language can have its basic spellcheck. Turned on but its enhanced spellcheck turned off.

     

Reliability improvements:

• Improved reliability by refreshing token for MS Rewards POST.
• Improved reliability that manages null properly.
• Improved reliability with new illustrations for defaults screen in Browser.
• Improved reliability by formatting Edge contributions in the Browser folder.
• Improved reliability of Microsoft browser process on launch.
• Improved reliability by enabling feedback prompt.
• Improved reliability of translator in one Go on Mobile.
• Improved performance of battery saver icon.
• Improved reliability by removing redundant resources for pdf viewer and print viewer.
• Improved reliability to update the style and layout to get a good layout state.
• Improved reliability on Accessibility features.
• Improved reliability of Mobile smart screens.
• Improved reliability by fixing interface and updating Mobile.
• Improved reliability for this MSB flighting feature being turned on by default so that we can rely on service driven experimentation to power our enterprise Edge features through all the channels.
• Improved policy by only allowing required trusted types in Browser.
• Improved reliability due to Narrator announcing an intentional white space. The white space was unnecessary, so it has been removed and narrator has stopped announcing it.
• Improved reliability to Keep spellcheck languages expanded by default when adding new ones so that the state and level of support is advertised.

Other changes:

• Changed behavior fixing multilanguage in Browser by not showing misspelled words for Editor-supported languages.
• Changed behavior due to multiple things being duplicated by incorrect merge resolutions.
• Changed Browser tasks shutdown behavior.
• Changed behavior by sending images info in JPG format to Web Bing.
• Changed behavior to move alerts & tips to "help & feedback.
• Changed behavior by changing reconciles with an upstream change because there is no longer any need to call a V8 API to enable the desired functionality.
• Changed behavior in Mobile by adding/correcting triggers and tags for writing assistant feature experiment.

Microsoft will promote Edge 103 to the Beta channel next week for final testing before shipping the browser in the Stable channel. Meanwhile, Edge 102 is about to arrive for all users this week. You can download preview versions of Microsoft Edge on the official website.

Microsoft updates Edge Dev with new features before moving to version 104

Back in August 2021, Microsoft announced that it is merging its clumsily branded "OneNote" and "OneNote for Windows 10" apps in a unified solution. It stated that it will work on this for the duration of a year, and today, it has shared some updates on its progress.

For starters, the visual refresh to the ribbon has now been extended to other components such as the page list, section tabs, and more for increased consistency. You'll notice the Mica effect for Windows 11 design aesthetics too. And since not mentioning rounded corners when talking about Windows 11 design is a crime, Microsoft has noted that it "obsessed" over all instances of the particular UI element too. In terms of UI which actually translates to an improved UX, unread pages will now have a small, filled circle next to them.

Other functionalities include a simplified ribbon to preserve screen real estate and an updated Draw tab that is consistent with other Microsoft apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The app also has enhanced support for the Surface Slim Pen 2 so that you can feel tactile signals and have a more organic experience when you're using the hardware. Microsoft plans to improve in this area further with more digital inking features such as pencil, ink replay, and a new pen focus view.

The company has also noted that:

Voice and ink are a powerful combination. Together for the first time in Office, soon transcription and ink will make it easier than ever to take notes, focus on what’s important, and review your content later. With transcription on, you can record what you hear. You’re free to annotate, write notes, or highlight what’s important. When you’re ready to review, your ink will play back in lockstep with the recording. You can easily jump to a specific moment by tapping on any annotation to recall more context.

[...] Break away from the keyboard and stay in your flow by using dictation with our AI-backed voice commands to add, format, edit, and organize your text. Say "delete that" if you change your mind, or "pause dictation" if you need a break. In line with our investments in pen and ink, we are ensuring a uniform experience across Office apps like Word and Outlook. Over the next few months, current dictate customers will see existing and new voice commands in Office apps added to OneNote. The auto-punctuation feature in dictation settings uses AI to ensure your thoughts flow freely without worrying about punctuation.

Other capabilities that OneNote customers will welcome are page sorting, an improved share experience, and the ability to insert pictures directly from the Windows Camera. OneNote will also be able to update in the background even when your device is locked.

Not all of these features will be available at once. For now, the following functionalities are available to everyone in the Current Channel:

• Ink to shape
• Ink to text with font size awareness
• Page sorting
• Update under lock

Meanwhile, these features are only available to Office Insiders for now:

• Insert picture from camera
• Updated share experience

All other functionalities and UX changes referenced will be rolled out in a staggered manner and Microsoft hasn't publicly defined a timeline for those yet. All the changes apply to the OneNote desktop app since that is the version that will exist once the unification with OneNote for Windows 10 is complete.

Microsoft shares more details about revamped OneNote with Windows 11 aesthetics

The updates are part of Microsoft's scheduled April 2022 monthly "C" updates, allowing Windows users to test the fixes released on June 15th as part of next month's Patch Tuesday.

Unlike regular Patch Tuesday Windows updates, scheduled non-security preview updates are optional. They are issued to test bug fixes and performance improvements before the general release, and they don't provide security updates.

Cumulative updates released today include:

• KB5014019 (Windows 11)
• KB5014022 (Windows 10, version 1809)
• KB5014021 (Windows Server 2022)

To install the updates, you have to go to Settings > Windows Update and manually 'Check for updates.' Windows will not install them until you click the 'Download now' button because they're optional updates.

You can also manually download and install these cumulative update previews from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

"The preview update for other supported versions of Windows 10 will be available in the near term," Microsoft said.

KB5014019 fixes Direct3D app crashes

Today's Windows optional updates come with fixes for issues that might cause some applications to crash or trigger various problems.

As Microsoft explained, KB5014019 "addresses an issue that might affect some apps that use d3d9.dll with certain graphics cards and might cause those apps to close unexpectedly."

The same cumulative update also fixes a known issue affecting specific GPUs and could "cause apps to close unexpectedly or cause intermittent issues that affect some apps that use Direct3D 9."

This update also fixes an issue that might cause file copying to be slower and another one preventing BitLocker from encrypting when using the silent encryption option.

KB5014019 addresses a known issue impacting the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) driver that might increase the system's startup time.

What's new in today's Windows updates

After installing the KB5014019 non-security cumulative update preview, Windows 11 will have the build number changed to 22000.708.

The Windows 11 update preview includes dozens of quality improvements and fixes, including:

• Addresses an issue that causes blurry app icons in Search results when the display's dots per inch (dpi) scaling is greater than 100%.
• New! Windows spotlight on the desktop brings the world to your desktop with new background pictures. With this feature, new pictures will automatically appear as your desktop background. This feature already exists for the lock screen. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Background > Personalize your background. Choose Windows spotlight.
• Addresses an issue that fails to maintain the display brightness after changing the display mode.

Windows 11 KB5014019 update fixes app crashes, slow copying

The firm explains:

Using code signing along with AI, our new Smart App Control only allows processes to run that are predicted to be safe based on either code certificates or an AI model for application trust within the Microsoft cloud.

[..] When a new application is run on Windows 11, its core signing and core features are checked against this model, ensuring only known safe applications are allowed to run.

However, while it does sound impressive, Smart App Control may not be quite smart enough, at least not yet, as it blocked one of the files developed by Microsoft itself.

As you can see, the feature blocked the harmless bootstrapper DLL file inside Windows SDK in this case as it may have been unsigned but the Smart App Control feature couldn't quite connect the dots.

Windows 11's Smart App Control not smart enough yet as it blocked Microsoft's own file

We have been hearing rumors about this for quite some time but Microsoft finally confirmed today that it will start accepting third-party widgets in Windows 11 soon. These will be powered by the Adaptive Cards platform, but interestingly, Microsoft has implied that these will act as a companion experience for your Win32 app or PWA rather than a standalone service. Once again, there is no concrete timeline but expect this to land later this year.

Microsoft also highlighted some existing ways and tools that developers can leverage to reach new audiences. These include enhancements to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), and updates to Template Studio for WinUI 3. In the same vein, the upcoming Windows App SDK 1.1 will offer new Fluent Design visuals, updated windowing APIs, better push notifications, and more.

Microsoft is also working on a cross-platform development pattern called Hybrid Loop, visualized above. This will allow developers to use AzureML and ONNX Runtime to build platform-agnostic AI applications that can run optimally in heterogeneous environments. This will also power Project Volterra, described below.

Simply stated, Project Volterra is an upcoming device built on the Snapdragon compute platform. It will empower developers to build and test ARM-native apps for AI workloads boosted by the new Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK for Windows toolkit. The idea behind this is to enable developers to work in an "open hardware ecosystem" using their favorite tools and programming languages including Visual Studio 2022, modern .NET 6, classic .NET Framework, WSL, WSA, Windows Terminal, C++, Java, Python, Node JS, Git, and more.

That said, it's not clear beyond a Snapdragon processor what specs Project Volterra has as it is still in its early stages and things could change prior to general availability. Expect to see previews of this in the coming months. Microsoft says Project Volterra is coming later this year.

Developers will soon be able to build custom widgets for Windows 11

Back in October 2021, Android apps on Windows 11 finally made their way to Windows Insiders. After months of testing, they became available in preview form for the OS too, but only in the U.S. Today, Microsoft has announced that it is expanding this program to more countries.

Windows 11 users in five more countries will now be able to take advantage of Android apps. These include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Although Microsoft hasn't outlined a concrete timeline, it has noted that this should happen by the end of this year. The company has also pointed out that the Amazon Appstore preview will continue growing on a monthly basis. But if you were waiting for official support for Google Play, you'll have to wait longer - or perhaps, forever.

The Redmond tech giant highlighted the early success of its Microsoft Store as well. During the first quarter of calendar year 2022, there was a 50% increase in the arrival of new desktop apps and games on the storefront compared to the same period last year.

Microsoft also announced new ways to increase discoverability for apps in Windows 11. The first involves Windows Search surfacing search results from the Microsoft Store and directly installing apps from it. The company is leaning on this to become a major acquisition channel for apps as more than 50% people use Start on a "regular" basis.

Microsoft is testing a capability to restore apps across Windows devices too for seamless transitioning between PCs. Both the aforementioned features will be available for Windows Insiders shortly.

Meanwhile, developers can now take advantage of the pop-up store and app badges to make their apps more prominent on websites. Within the next few months, they will also be able to run ad campaigns in the Microsoft Store through a new product called Microsoft Store Ads. These campaigns will be contextualized and for now, those interested can sign up for a waitlist.

Additionally, the waitlist for publishing Win32 apps to the storefront does not exist anymore. Any developer can now publish their Win32 package to the Microsoft Store and take advantage of new features such as automating submissions through a CI/CD GitHub Actions or Rest APIs pipeline, testing for app visibility, viewing app telemetry, and responding to user reviews directly.

Finally, developers of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can leverage the following capabilities:

• PWA Starter: This capability helps developers bootstrap their development of PWAs, aiding with performance, integration with the host Operating System, and guidelines for a great user experience.
• PWA Studio: This is a new Visual Studio Code extension to help build, package,and publish PWAs to Microsoft Store without leaving Visual Studio Code.
• Meta Quest support: PWAs in Microsoft Store are already supported on HoloLens devices, and Meta has recently announced support for PWAs on its VRdevices.Microsoft and Meta partnered to make PWABuilder the ultimate tool for packaging PWAs forvirtual and mixed reality, giving developers the ability to sideload packages for Meta Quest and HoloLens.

Microsoft has emphasized that it will continue to make its storefront a better place for both consumers and developers in the future.

Android apps on Windows 11 are coming to five more countries

A key feature in this release is ability for developers to get control of more real estate in a desktop PWA. This is done by allowing the client app to extend and take control of the entire screen except the window controls; which are basically the close, maximize, and minimize buttons on the title bar. This will enable PWAs to look more like native apps. You can read more about the implementation here. In the same vein, web apps will also be able to act as file handlers with given MIME types and extensions. Developers who modify their PWA's manifest to enable this behavior will also see their web apps listed in the "Open with..." context menus.

A new Navigation API has been introduced too, this will cater to the needs of single page applications (SPAs) since the existing window.navigation API is a bit complex for these types of use-cases. Apparently, developer reaction to this is "strongly positive".

The capture handling mechanism has completed its Origin trial and is generally available as well. In a nutshell, it enables web apps to opt in to exposing controls and information to applications that are video capturing it. For example, a video conferencing application could integrate with a presentation tab to expose controls to navigate the slide deck. Once again, this has been appreciated by developers.

There is also a new property which provides an estimate of audio latency. It can be used to sync audio and video streams. It has already been implemented in Mozilla Firefox. Meanwhile, the Sanitizer API will make it easier to build apps that are free from cross-site scripting (XSS).

Chrome 102 includes V3 of Secure Payment Confirmation API. It now has two more optional inputs and another necessary once, which means that this is a breaking change. Web developers can also leverage an option that allows them to preemptively filter out devices that won't result in a decent user experience through the browser picker. The latest release of the browser also packs a new surface for the Origin Private File System (OPFS), here's how Google describes it:

The Origin Private File System (OPFS, part of the File System Access API) is augmented with a new surface that brings very performant access to data. This new surface differs from existing ones by offering in-place and exclusive write access to a file’s content. This change, along with the ability to consistently read unflushed modifications and the availability of a synchronous variant on dedicated workers, significantly improves performance and unblocks new use cases.

Our goal is to give developers flexibility by providing generic, simple, and performant primitives upon which they can build higher-level storage components. The new surface is particularly well suited for Wasm-based libraries and applications that want to use custom storage algorithms to fine-tune execution speed and memory usage.

Web authors can also take advantage of enhancements to two attributes: inert and until-found. Some features that have now completed Origin trials and are generally available include network state partitioning, speculation rules, and subresource loading with Web Bundles. You can read about all of them here.

In terms of developer trials, we have full-screen companion windows, Google's first implementation of Opaque Response Blocking (ORB), and the ability to insert "blocking=render" as an attribute in script and link HTML tags to explicitly block rendering.

Finally, there are two deprecations and removals to be aware of as well. The PaymentRequest.show() method cannot be called by websites without user activation. This change is being carried out to prevent abuse from malicious sites. Apple Safari already does this while Firefox has not implemented the PaymentRequest class at all. Secondly, the "Plan B" implementation of the Session Description Protocol (SDP) that is used in the establishment of a WebRTC session is being removed because it is not cross-browser compatible. Developers leveraging it will now be thrown an exception.

Chrome 102 will start rolling out in the later hours of today. If it does not automatically update to version 102 for you throughout the course of the day, head over to Help > About Google Chrome to trigger the update once it becomes available. Next up is Chrome 103 which will hit the Beta channel on May 26, and will land on Stable on June 21.

Chrome 102 is coming today with window controls overlay and PWAs as file handlers

Frontpaged:   Google Chrome 102.0.5005.63

Both aforementioned titles launch on May 26, and this driver is a recommended install before jumping into the early access life sim or the WW2 stealth shooter.

Meanwhile, Hitman 3 is receiving ray tracing and DLSS implementations in an update today. According to Nvidia, frames can almost double when using DLSS in the assassination title, even after ray-traced reflections and shadows are enabled while using an RTX graphics card. The update also carries AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution tech for those without an RTX GPU.

Fixed issues in this release:

• [Grid 2019]: Flags and banners will no longer flicker during gameplay.
• [Adobe Premiere Pro]: Fixed Direct3D-related Crash Dumps.
• [Adobe Premiere Pro]: NVIDIA Control Panel now allows users to modify the Image Sharpening setting.

Known issues:

• Toggling HDR on and off in-game causes game stability issues when non-native resolution is used. [3624030]
• [GeForce RTX 3090 Ti] Oculus Rift S/Pimax 8Kx is not detected. [3632289][3626116]
• Videos played back in Microsoft Edge may appear green if NVIDIA Image Scaling is enabled upon resuming from hibernate or booting with fastboot. [3624218]
• [DirectX 12] Shadowplay recordings may appear over exposed when Use HDR is enabled from the Windows display settings. [200742937]
• [Assassin's Creed Origins] Game displays flicker when character is under water near a boat. [3642655]
• Monitor may briefly flicker on waking from display sleep if DSR/DLDSR is enabled. [3592260]
• [NVIDIA Ampere GPU]: With the GPU connected to an HDMI 2.1 audio/video receiver, audio may drop out when playing back Dolby Atmos. [3345965]
• Club 3D CAC-1085 dongle limited to maximum resolution of 4K at 60Hz. [3542678]

The 512.95 WHQL Game Ready driver is now available for download, or upgrade to, via the GeForce Experience app. Standalone installation links are below. Here are the release notes.

Desktop GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download (US version): Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Notebook GPUs:

GeForce Game Ready Driver Download (US version): Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Nvidia 512.95 WHQL driver has support for Sniper Elite 5, Hitman 3 ray tracing, and more