The list of candidates for the Microsoft Store App Awards 2022 came from the nomination of the community earlier this year, and it was divided into three community voting categories: File Management, Utility, and Open Platform.

“We’d like to recognize apps which are amazing, beautiful, and useful — the apps which make your day better, more productive, or more enjoyable,” says Microsoft on its page. “This vote is about you and the apps you love to use.”

According to the company, voting is available for all Microsoft Store Windows customers on Windows 10 and 11 globally. “You may vote in one, two, or all three categories based on your own personal experience with the apps,” Microsoft says, noting that the result will be announced later this month.

Here are the three categories and the links to their descriptions for further examination of voters:

Utility

ShareX

Torrex

MyASUS

WiFi Analyzer

Screenbits

2fast – Two Factor Authenticator

Visum Photo Viewer

Speedtest by Ookla

Fluent Screen Recorder

File Management

QuickLook

Rufus

Metro Commander

HEIC to JPEG

Shrestha Files

NanaZip

Mp3tag

One Commander

Files

8 Zip

IrfanView64

Open Platform

Dynamic Theme

Auto Dark Mode

Ink Workspace

EarTrumpet

TranslucentTB

CopyAndPaste

RoundedTB

Fluent Search

ModernFlyouts

Lively Wallpaper

‘Microsoft Store App Awards 2022: Community Choice Voting’ opens

Today, famed leakster and Twitter user WalkingCat has revealed the Windows 11 22H2 RTM date and it is just a few days after the May 20 signing-off. According to WalkingCat, Microsoft will be signing 22H2 or Sun Valley 2 (SV2) on May 24. However, it wasn't revealed which Windows 11 build was the RTM candidate and so for now, the most likely candidate seems to be build 22621 as suggested by yesterday's report.

The final general availability (GA) for Windows 11 22H2 is rumored to be quite a while away still with reports pointing to an alleged September-November time frame.

Notably, May 24 is also the date when Microsoft's Build 2022 conference commences. So it could be two major events going off on a single day.

Build 2022 will be a three-day developer conference from May 24-26 during which the Redmond giant will unveil its latest developer tools, technologies, and updates for various software products. Like in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic, Build 2022 is no exception as it will not be an in-person event.

Windows 11 22H2 (Sun Valley 2) alleged RTM date revealed by leaker

Mozilla planned to release the new version on May 11, 2022 initially but the release has been delayed. It is unclear why it was delayed at this point, but it is expected soon.

Mozilla Firefox 100.0.1

The main change in Firefox 100.0.1 improves Firefox's security sandbox on Windows devices. Mozilla notes that the sandbox is blocking access to Win32k APIs for content processes on Windows now.

Linux and Mac versions of Firefox have seen security improvements in previous releases already. Firefox for Mac included changes in version 95 that block access to the WindowServer, which improved security and the process startup performance on Mac devices.

Firefox 99 for Linux included a change that removed the connection from content process to the X11 server, which "stops attackers from exploiting the unsecured X11 protocol".

The improvement in Firefox for Windows improves the browser's security significantly by blocking access to Win32k APIs for content processes. Mozilla notes that Win32k APIs are often targeted by exploits and that the limitation puts an end to these.

The change is being rolled out to Windows 10 Creators Update and newer versions of Windows at the time of writing, meaning any supported Windows 10 and Windows 11 installation with Firefox running on it is supported already.

Mozilla is still working on the Windows 8 implementation of the feature, and to support the security sandbox feature on older versions of Windows 10.

The organization published a technical overview of the feature and implementation on its Mozilla Hacks website.

Picture-in-Picture mode saw several improvements in the Firefox 100 release. One of the main changes added support for video captions and subtitles to many video streaming sites on the Internet.

Firefox 100.0.1 fixes two bugs, one related to the display of subtitles:

• Fixed an issue with subtitles in Picture-in-Picture mode while using Netflix
• Fixed an issue where some commands were unavailable in the Picture-in-Picture window

Now You: have you used Firefox's Picture-in-Picture feature? What is your take on the security sandbox improvement?

Firefox 100.0.1 released with improved Windows process isolation

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Firefox Browser 100.0.1

A comprehensive overview of Windows 11 22H2, the OS’s first big yearly update

Windows Central's Zac Bowden however seems pretty confident that the most recent Beta channel build 22621 is the one which will be final Windows 11 22H2 build for general availability (GA) later in the year. Bowden also adds that Microsoft will be signing it off on May 20th, which is a week away from now.

Interestingly, Microsoft's Senior Program Manager, Brandon LeBlanc responded to one of the comments on Bowden's Twitter post and offered no refutation against this rumor indicating that there is a decent chance of it being true indeed.

Over on the Windows 11 Dev channel side of things, Microsoft has moved on to Windows 11 Sun Valley 3 already with Build 25115 further suggesting that things are ready to move on to 22H2 now.

Microsoft may have confirmed build 22621 is Windows 11 22H2 (SV2) RTM release

Microsoft’s new Edge Insider Build for the Dev Channel is Edge Dev Version 103.0.1253.0. The latest Edge Dev update comes with several new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Some of the important changes that you will see here are the ability to pin PWAs and websites directly from the three-dot view option to the taskbar, and the ability to search in the History popup using natural language. To set the Internet Explorer mode Zoom Display type, Microsoft also has added a new management policy.

Microsoft Edge Dev Version 103.0.1253.0 new features

The new Edge Dev Build also includes improved reliability and bug fixes. But even more important than those are the known issues, which you should be aware of.

Known issues

If you want to test these new features, You can download Microsoft Edge Dev here from the Official Microsoft Edge Insider website.

First Microsoft Edge Build for Version 103 now available for the Dev Channel Insiders

The company announced in February 2022 that new setups and first runs of Pro versions of Windows 11 would require a Microsoft account. It did not take long for workarounds to become available, but many users may be unaware of these bypass options.

Some users may prefer Microsoft accounts, as they offer some advantages, including data syncing through the OneDrive service, remote password restoration options, and other features.

Others may prefer local accounts as they reveal less to Microsoft account and are not attackable if the device is not turned on. Computer techs may also need to setup accounts for customers, who may not be available or able to provide a Microsoft account.

How to avoid using Microsoft accounts in Windows 11

There are several methods to bypass the Microsoft account requirement during setup on Windows devices.

I described one option in How to use local accounts on Windows 11 version 22H2 devices. While written for that specific version, the described method works in other versions of Windows 11 as well.

To describe it in a sentence, it is creating a Microsoft account during setup and creating a local account after setup ended. It is not elegant and requires that an email address is used initially for the account creation.

The following two methods do not require a Microsoft account at all.

Bypass 1: OOBE\BYPASSNRO

This bypass is the easiest option right now, as it requires just a few steps during setup to skip the Microsoft account creation.

Here is how it works:

1. Disable the Internet connection before starting setup, e.g., by disconnecting the LAN cable or disabling Wi-Fi.
2. Windows will display a "Let's connect you to a network" or similar screen. The upcoming Windows 11 version 22H2 does not allow you to skip this anymore to create a local account.
3. On the screen, use Shift-F10 to open a command prompt window.
4. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and hit the Enter-key.
5. Windows will reboot and return to the "Let's connect you to a network" screen. Only this time, you may select "I don't have Internet" to skip this.
6. Then you select "Continue with limited setup" to then create a local account during setup.

Bypass 2: Use a banned email address

Microsoft has banned email addresses that were used too often in the account creation process. You may use this to your advantage, as it allows you to skip the Microsoft account creation or sign-in phase during setup.

Here is how this method works (thanks Neowin )

1. Select Sign-In when asked to create or sign-in to a Microsoft account during setup.
2. Use the email address no@thankyou.com.
3. Type any password on the next screen.
4. Windows will display "Oops, something went wrong" on the next screen.
5. Clicking Next opens a screen that allows you to create a local account.
6. You can assign a password to the account, or leave it empty.

Closing Words

There is a chance that Microsoft is removing the bypass options in future versions of Windows. New bypasses may be found, which we will add to this guide.

For now, users have several options to skip using a Microsoft account during setup.

Now You: local or Microsoft account, what is your preference?

How to bypass the Microsoft Account requirement during Windows setup

In a nutshell, Microsoft Edge Secure Network is a simplified VPN that does not require installing third-party software or extensions. This feature aims to provide Edge users with a secure connection when working in public networks that often lack privacy. Using Secure Network lets you hide your IP address, encrypt data, and route traffic through a secure network powered by Cloudflare.

Unlike traditional VPN services that allow selecting servers in specific countries, Secure Network in Microsoft Edge automatically picks servers in your local area, so you can continue receiving relevant geo-based content.

Microsoft does not say whether it plans to monetize Secure Network in the Edge browser. The company provides a small amount of free data for testers during the preview period (1GB). That will not be enough for streaming video or playing games but should be sufficient to test how the feature works in intended conditions.

To test Secure Network, download Microsoft Edge Canary from the official website and sign in with your Microsoft Account. Open the browser's menu, select Secure Network and turn it on. Note that using Secure Network during the preview period requires a Microsoft Account. According to Microsoft, it requires signing in to track free data usage, and the company automatically deletes all related information at the end of the service window.

Source

Microsoft's Linux Group has been fairly public about its work on a Microsoft-created Linux distribution that is for the company's internal use only. That variant, known as CBL (Common Base Linux) Mariner, is used across a variety of Microsoft products, from the Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI to AKS HCI, Azure Percept, and more. But it turns out there's another Microsoft-developed Linux distribution that's also for internal use that's known as CBL-Delridge or CBL-D.

I discovered the existence of CBL-D for the first time this week in a rather round-about way. I stumbled onto a February 2 blog post from Hayden Barnes[,] a Senior Engineering Manager at SuSE who led the Windows on Rancher engineering team, which traced his steps in discovering and building his own image of CBL-D. Barnes noted that Microsoft published CBL-Delridge in 2020, the same year that it also published CBL-Mariner. The main difference between the two: Delridge is a custom Debian derivative, while Mariner is a custom Linux From Scratch-style distribution.

CBL-D powers Azure's Cloud Shell. The Azure Cloud Shell provides a set of cloud-management tools packaged in a container. In a note on the GitHub repo for the Cloud Shell, officials noted that "the primary difference between Debian and CBL-D is that Microsoft compiles all the packages included in the CBL-D repository internally. This helps guard against supply chain attacks."

Back to Mariner... It turns out Microsoft just hit the 2.0 milestone for CBL-Mariner a few days ago, which I discovered from this article on Linuxiac.com. Version 2.0 is still for Microsoft use only, as far as I know. CBL-Mariner 2.0 uses the latest Microsoft Linux System Group 5.15 kernel, includes major package version upgrades, and has improved SELinux support and proprietary packages required to support Nvidia hardware and CUDA.

CBL-Mariner and CBL-Delridge are just two of the Microsoft-developed Linux-related deliverables from the Linux Systems Group. Others include the Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 (WSL2), which is part of Windows 10; an Azure-tuned Linux kernel which is designed for optimal performance as Hyper-V guests; and Integrity Policy Enforcement (IPE), a proposed Linux Security Module (LSM) from the Enterprise and Security team.

Microsoft has some other Linux-related projects it has developed in-house, including the Azure Sphere, its Linux-based microcontroller plus secure IoT service, and SONic, an open-sourced operating system for network switches, released as part of its Open Compute Project (OCP) work.

For those (like me) who are into discovering the roots of codenames and product names, Delridge has an interesting background, as noted by Barnes. Delridge is a district in West Seattle, Wash. Its current version (10) is codenamed Quinault, which is a valley in the Olympic National Park in Washington State.

Source

CCleaner is a popular tool for Windows to free up storage space occupied by leftover files or temporary files. Piriform extended the program's functionality in recent years, but most of the added features are reserved to the professional version

The main feature addition of CCleaner 6.0 is a new tool called Performance Optimizer. It is designed to improve the performance of the PC in several ways. When enabled, Performance Optimizer checks the system for programs that do not need to run in the background. When found, these programs are put into sleep mode so that they use little system resources while they are in the state.

When the programs are needed again, e.g., when the user brings them to the front, sleep state is automatically ended by Performance Optimizer.

A quick scan returns a list of programs sorted by the impact to the PC's performance according to CCleaner's algorithm. Three performance levels distinguish the impact a program has on the PC's performance.

On a test system, 16 programs were identified by Performance Optimizer. Three of them, VMWare Player, Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft Office 2021, were listed as having a high impact on the performance. The remaining 13 programs, among them Microsoft Edge Canary, VeraCrypt, KeePass, or several browser updaters, were listed with a low impact.

Programs are not closed when they are put into sleep mode according to Piriform. Performance Optimizer stops a program's background activity while it is in sleep mode; this saves PC resources according to the developers.

A click on a program displays details, including the list of processes, services or tasks that have been identified by CCleaner.

Performance Optimizer disables "all startup items, background tasks, scheduled tasks, and services" when a program is put into sleep mode.

Programs that were put into sleep mode responded immediately to user activity. Keyboard shortcuts, for the screenshot tool PicPick, worked as usually, while the program was put into sleep mode.

It is unclear whether all programs are capable of functioning normally while in sleep mode. Several of the listed programs act on their own without user interaction; this is the case for all browser updates, e.g., Mozilla Maintenance Service or Google Update, but may also be the case for Microsoft OneDrive, depending on how it is used.

Piriform highlighted the improvements of Performance Optimizer in a blog post on the official site. The company ran benchmark tests using PCMark to highlight the performance gains while using Performance Optimizer.

The PC Mark score jumped from 2660 to 3326, the boot time from 33 seconds to 14 seconds, and the battery life from 2 hours and 35 minutes to 3 hours 21 minutes on several test systems. Independent tests are needed for verification.

It is clear though, that the disabling of startup items, scheduled tasks and the like, will have an impact on a system's performance. Startup will be faster, and the PC will use less RAM and other resources while it is running.

CCleaner's Performance Optimizer looks like a useful tool to speed up PCs that are slowing down. While some of it can be achieved through other means, e.g., by disabling the autostart of certain apps, it is the promise that programs remain accessible like before that gives Performance Optimizer an edge over many of these manual options or competing programs.

Now You: what is your take on Performance Optimizer?

CCleaner 6.0 launches with new Performance Optimizer tool

Frontpaged:   CCleaner 6.00.9727

In case you missed it, in the previous Edge Dev update, Microsoft added support for the Clarity Boost feature that improves the image quality when streaming games from the cloud.

What is new in Microsoft Edge Dev 103.0.1253.0?

Added features:

• Added the ability to pin PWA/websites installed as apps to the taskbar from their … menus.
• Enabled by default the ability to search in the History popup using natural language (for example, “Youtube from last week”).
• Added a management policy to set the Internet Explorer mode Zoom Display type, which controls if the browser’s zoom level takes into account the current display scale like IE used to (for example, if display scaling is set to 150%, then IE’s default zoom level would show 150%). Note that updates to documentation and administrative templates may not have occurred yet.

Improved reliability:

• Fixed a crash on launch.
• Fixed a crash when visiting certain websites.
• Fixed a crash when adding items to Collections.
• Fixed a crash when switching profiles in the Edge Bar.
• Fixed a crash in WebView2 applications when adding Status Bar text (Issue 2414).

Changed behavior:

• Temporarily disabled the search box in the Alerts and Tips popup.
• Fixed an issue where the browser sometimes doesn’t respond to links clicked from other applications if it’s not already open.
• Fixed an issue where the browser isn’t brought into the foreground if it’s minimized when clicking on a notification in the Windows Action Center.
• Fixed an issue where previously-opened tabs are sometimes restored when first opening the browser even though they’re not supposed to be.
• Fixed an issue where vertical tabs are improperly colored when using custom themes.
• Fixed an issue where the Find on Page UI is red.
• Fixed an issue where navigator.mediaCapabilities sometimes doesn’t report proper decodingInfo to websites.
• Fixed an issue where app or popup windows opened from IE mode tabs don’t automatically resize when they’re supposed to.
• Fixed an issue in WebView2 apps where the on-screen keyboard sometimes doesn’t appear (Issue 460).

Known issues:

• Users of certain ad blocking extensions may experience playback errors on YouTube. As a workaround, temporarily disabling the extension should allow playback to proceed. See this help article for more details.
• Some users are still running into an issue where all tabs and extensions immediately crash with a STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH error. The most common cause of this error is outdated security or antivirus software from vendors like Symantec, and in those cases, updating that software will fix it.
• Users of the Kaspersky Internet Suite who have the associated extension installed may sometimes see webpages like Gmail fail to load. This failure is due to the main Kaspersky software being out of date, and is thus fixed by making sure the latest version is installed.
• Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in one dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note that this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is most likely related to our ongoing work to bring scrolling back to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the edge://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag.

You can download Microsoft Edge Dev (US version) on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android from the official Edge Insider website.

Edge Dev gets natural language support for search in history

Microsoft showcased it with two screenshots. We take a closer look at it to see how it works.

How to use Suggested Actions in Windows 11

Open any app and highlight text that contains a phone number, or a date or time. Use Ctrl + C, or the right-click menu to copy the selected text to the clipboard. A tool-tip should pop up with a lightning bolt icon, this is the Suggested Actions bar. Microsoft describes it as an "inline light dismissible UI".  The bar displays options that correspond to the content in the clipboard.

If you copied a phone number, Suggested Actions will show two buttons: Phone Link (formerly Your Phone) and Microsoft Edge. E.g. If you're on a customer support page on your browser, select the phone number, click on the Phone Link button. Windows 11 will open the app to dial the number via your connected phone. Selecting the Edge button simply opens the browser, it doesn't perform a web search for the number.

On the other hand, selecting a Date or Time, displays a "Create Event" button, clicking on which opens the Calendar app, with the Date and Time fields autofilled with the time or date that you copied. That's quite useful for creating a new appointment for a meeting.

Suggested Actions works universally, i.e., it is not restricted to a specific app like Microsoft Edge, Mail and Calendar, etc. You can use it from any app like Notepad, Firefox or other third-party apps. While this can be a useful feature for some people, others may find it annoying and want to disable it. Fortunately, you can do that.

How to disable Suggested Actions in Windows 11

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Click on System in the sidebar, scroll down the right pane, and select the Clipboard section.

3. Toggle the button labeled "Suggested Actions".

This disables Suggested Actions completely. There is no way to disable it for a specific type, i.e. maybe you want it to trigger while copying a date and time, but don't want it to open while selecting phone numbers. That's not possible, it merely has an on/off switch.

Limitations in Suggested Actions

In its current state, the option only seems to work with US Phone Numbers. It fails to recognize the format used in other regions. That is a bit disappointing, but not surprising, you will see why in the next section.

Suggested Actions settings missing in Windows 11 Build 22

If you don't have Suggested Actions settings in the Clipboard page, don't worry.

Microsoft's announcement is missing an important piece of information, the feature is not available in all regions yet. It was missing for me even though I'm on Windows 11 Build 225115.

I had to set my Country and the Regional Format to the United States in the Settings app, to get the option to appear in the Clipboard page. Without this option, the tool will not work.

I think Suggested Actions should allow users to customize the panel, so we can select which apps or options are displayed in it. It could be better if it supported more content types, e.g. open the Mail app while an email address is in the clipboard, or open Paint or a different image editor, when a picture has been copied.

What do you think about Suggested Actions? Yay, or nay?

We take a closer look at Suggested Actions in Windows 11, and show you how to disable it

Current versions of the email client support imports, but the process is not streamlined. Some imports require the use of extensions, others, including moving data from one Thunderbird installation to another, a copy and paste operation that requires knowledge of data paths and profiles.

The upcoming Thunderbird 102 changes that, at least for some data imports. The team highlighted the new import feature in a new blog post on the official site. The new feature was revealed in late March on Twitter by a development team member, but the blog post reveals new information about the planned functionality.

According to the blog post, Thunderbird 102 comes with a step-by-step wizard that walks users through the process of important data into the email client. The initial version in Thunderbird 102 supports the importing of data from Microsoft Outlook, SeaMonkey and other Thunderbird installations. Future plans to add support for other email services have not been revealed, but there is a possibility that Thunderbird may support additional data sources in future versions.

The first screen of the new import wizard lists all available import options:

• Import from another Thunderbird installation -- Import settings, filters, messages, and other data from a Thunderbird profile.
• Import from a SeaMonkey installation -- Import settings, filters, messages, and other data from a SeaMonkey profile.
• Import from Outlook -- Import accounts, address books, and messages from Outlook.
• Import from a file -- Select a file to import address books, calendards, or a profile backup (ZIP archive).

Precautions have been taken to ensure that duplicate data is not accidentally imported.

Especially the ability to streamline the importing of data from another Thunderbird installation is a welcome addition for many users. Currently, it is required to copy the profile folder and the data that it contains from the source Thunderbird installation, to paste it to the profile folder location of the new Thunderbird installation.

The new import function requires a data source as well, which users need to make sure is available on the local system.

The final version of Thunderbird 102 is expected to be released in late June or early July of 2022. The email client follows the Firefox release cycle, but instead of releasing new versions on a fixed date, they are released when they are ready.

The Thunderbird team is working on a mobile version of the email client for Android as well. A first version of the app is expected later this year.

Now You: which email client(s) do you use?

Thunderbird 102 to include an improved Import Tool

Evil Dead: The Game is shipping with Nvidia DLSS AI rendering technology when the title launches tomorrow, May 13. According to Nvidia's testing, utilizing the feature can improve performance by up to 85%, easily enabling even the RTX 3060 Ti to hit 4K 60FPS targets.

At the same time, day-one support for the upcoming horror action RPG Dolmen (May 20), and RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong (May 19), are included in today's driver release too. This driver is a recommended installation for all three games.

The only issue fixed in this release is related to Adobe Premiere Pro:

• [Adobe Premiere Pro]: Fixed intermittent DirectX related crashes. [3572670]

Here are the known issues:

• [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]
• [GeForce RTX 3090 Ti] Oculus Rift S/Pimax 8Kx is not detected. [3632289][3626116]

In other driver news, Nvidia yesterday open-sourced its GPU Kernel Modules, finally pushing forward GeForce products on Linux systems. Meanwhile last week, Nvidia was hit with a $5.5 million fine for misleading investors about crypto, and the company also enabled 4K 60FPS streaming support for PC and Mac users of its GeForce NOW RTX 3080 streaming tier.

The latest 512.77 WHQL Game Ready driver is now available via the GeForce Experience app as well as the standalone links 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 512.77 WHQL driver brings support for Evil Dead: The Game and more

Community Choice Voting is available via this link, and it will be available from May 12, 2022, to May 17, 2022. Microsoft will announce the winners later this month.

The Open Platform section hosts apps for modifying different parts of the operating system and its user interface. Microsoft says Windows is an open platform, so it wants to recognize and celebrate great apps that provide user-friendly modifications and accessibility improvements. You can vote for one of the following apps:

1.  Auto Dark Mode.
2.  CopyAndPaste.
3.  Dynamic Theme.
4.  EarTrumpet.
5.  Fluent Search.
6.  Ink Workspace.
7.  Lively Wallpaper.
8.  ModernFlyouts.
9.  RoundedTB.
10.  TranslucentTB.

The File Management award, as the name implies, is for apps that help Windows users view, sort, edit, convert, compress files, and do much more.

1.  8 Zip.
2.  Files.
3.  HEIC to JPEG.
4.  IrfanView64.
5.  Metro Commander.
6.  Mp3tag.
7.  NanaZip.
8.  One Commander.
9.  QuickLook.
10.  Rufus.
11.  Shrestha Files.

Finally, the Utility section hosts apps for automating tasks, diagnosing issues, recording and sharing your screen, etc.

1.  MyASUS.
2.  2fast - Two Factor Authenticator.
3.  Screenbits.
4.  ShareX.
5.  Speedtest by Ookla.
6.  Visum Photo Viewer.
7.  Torrex.
8.  Fluent Screen Recorder.
9.  WiFi Analyzer.

Share in the comments your picks for the best apps from Microsoft Store.

Source

Linux users are a self-sufficient bunch, but when it comes to hardware, they’re often at the mercy of enormous manufacturers to get working drivers.

While Nvidia has offered proprietary drivers similar to its Windows offerings for years, the company is changing tack and will now publish open-source GPU drivers. The initial offerings are now live on Github as well as Nvidia’s self-hosted download pages.

Nvidia is following in the footsteps of its rival AMD, which has offered open-source graphics card drivers since 2015. But Nvidia isn’t in any particular rush. Initially, only datacenter hardware is supported with beta drivers. Drivers for consumer and workstation-level GeForce cards are considered “alpha” quality at the moment, and closed-source drivers will continue to be available for those who need more reliability in the short term.

The new drivers are beginning with the R515 release for Ampere and Turing GPUs (GTX 1XXX, RTX 2XXX, and RTX 3XXX cards and similar workstation/server cards) published under dual GPL/MIT. That should cover all new Nvidia hardware purchased in the last six years. Nvidia is partnering with big names in the Linux world for the new push, including Ubuntu maker Canonical, SUSE, and Red Hat. Canonical stated that the new open source drivers will be included in Ubuntu releases “in the coming months.”

Source

On Wednesday, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a stay of a social media law Texas passed last year that essentially outlaws viewpoint-based content moderation. The single-page ruling(Opens in a new window) from judges Jerry E. Smith, Stephen A. Higginson, and Don R. Willett allows the law to enter force while a challenge to that law from two tech industry groups continues.

House Bill 20(Opens in a new window), signed Sept. 9(Opens in a new window) by Gov. Greg Abbott, says online forums with more than 50 million monthly average users “may not censor a user, a user’s expression, or a user’s ability to receive the expression of another person based on: (1) the viewpoint of the user or another person; (2) the viewpoint represented in the user’s expression; or (3) a user’s geographic location in this state or any part of this state.”

The law defines “censor” as anything that impedes a post: “block, ban, remove, deplatform, demonetize, de-boost, restrict, deny equal access or visibility to, or otherwise discriminate against expression.”

The content that H.B. 20 says sites may still block is limited to material that federal law lets them censor, that organizations fighting sexual exploitation of children have flagged, that “directly incites criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence” targeting “race, color, disability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, sex, or status as a peace officer or judge,” or is “otherwise unlawful.”

Both the attorney general of Texas and private citizens can sue social media platforms for violating H.B. 20.

Advocates of the law, such as Abbott, have called it a required response(Opens in a new window) to sites favoring left-wing speakers over right-wing ones–the bill and a similar one in Florida were drafted after social sites banned President Trump for his incitement of the Jan. 6 insurrection and incessant lying about his 2020 electoral defeat–but its blanket ban on viewpoint moderation goes much further.

To put this in more specific terms, H.B. 20 would require Facebook to accept Vladimir Putin’s propagandists and Holocaust deniers and compel Twitter to welcome back the anti-vaxvers and ISIS advocates.

As Santa Clara University School of Law associate dean Eric Goldman wrote after the law’s passage(Opens in a new window):

 “To reinforce the point that the legislature has no interest in the quality of online discourse, the legislature rejected amendments that would have authorized Internet services to remove content related to Holocaust denialism, terrorism, or vaccine disinformation. In other words, the legislature is fine with the unrestricted proliferation of all of these categories of content.”

Goldman and other legal scholars have repeatedly noted that this flaw violates the First Amendment’s free-speech guarantees, which also protect a publisher’s right to choose what to publish. For example, PCMag has a First Amendment right to refuse to post your comment and to decline to publish the next post I write.

With the Texas law now in force, one person in particular should be watching its consequences with great interest: soon-to-be Twitter owner Elon Musk, who keeps saying that Twitter’s moderation policies should not go beyond blocking illegal content.

< Watch the video at the source page. >

Source

IBM is to offer its software through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The US technology firm this week announced that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with AWS and plans to offer “a broad array” of its software catalog as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) through the cloud company’s marketplace.

The deal marks a major concession in IBM's long-running but largely unsuccessful hopes of being a key provider in the cloud infrastructure space.

The deal will allow customers access to IBM Software including automation, data and AI, security and sustainability capabilities. The offerings are built on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), and runs cloud-native on AWS.

Services to be offered include IBM API Connect, IBM Db2, IBM Observability by Instana APM, IBM Maximo Application Suite, IBM Security ReaQta, IBM Security Trusteer, IBM Security Verify, and IBM Watson Orchestrate, with others to follow later this year.

"As hybrid cloud continues to become the reality for our clients, IBM is ready and willing to meet them with a flexible and cloud-native software portfolio wherever they are in the cloud or in data centers," said Tom Rosamilia, SVP, IBM Software. "By deepening our collaboration with AWS, we're taking another major step in giving organizations the ability to choose the hybrid cloud model that works best for their own needs and workloads, freeing them up to instead focus on solving their most pressing business challenges."

"Our collaboration with IBM allows joint customers to accelerate their modernization to the cloud and consume IBM services in a cloud-native manner on AWS," added Matt Garman, SVP of Sales and Marketing at AWS. "Through our multiyear agreement, AWS will work with IBM to offer a broad array of IBM Software as SaaS on AWS. In addition, we'll be working together on stronger joint marketing and co-selling programs for customers."

The two companies are also committing to a "broad range" of joint investments to make it easier for clients to consume IBM Software on AWS, including integrated go-to-market activities across sales and marketing, channel incentives, developer enablement and training, and solution development for verticals and industries such as Oil and Gas, Travel and Transportation, and others.

IBM’s public cloud efforts began when it bought early cloud player SoftLayer and its 13 data centers in 2013 for around $2 billion. It launched its Bluemix public cloud service around 2014, before renaming it IBM Cloud in 2018. Analysts generally show IBM owning a small share – less than five percent – of the public cloud market.

IBM Cloud offers the ability to deploy workloads in over 60 data centers across six regions and 19 availability zones globally.

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But what if you don’t particularly like what Apple’s offering? While most longtime Mac users tend to cling to Apple’s own software, newcomers or those who aren’t happy with the usual suspects can find better alternatives.

For example, I’ve never been a big fan of Mail, Apple’s email program, nor do I like Safari, the web browser. I’ve discovered a couple of excellent apps to take their place, and this week I’ll clue you in.

And as a bonus for those on Windows who are Apple Music subscribers, I’ve found a promising replacement for the reviled iTunes for Windows.

Spark by Readdle

Free, sparkmailapp.com

I lost access to Microsoft Office for Mac once I semi-retired because I’d been using it by the grace of my corporate overlords. I’m not a fan of macOS Mail and - dare I say it? - I really do like Outlook. But I’d rather not pay for it.

That sent me in search of a decent free app; I found it in Spark, an email client for macOS, iOS and Android, with Windows and web-based versions in the works. Spark is designed from the ground up as a multi-platform application, and the developers - who are based in Ukraine - have done a good job at making it easy to use across desktop and mobile devices.

When you install the app, you’re asked to set up a Spark account and then begin the process of adding your email accounts. Once you’ve installed and configured Spark on one platform, all you need to do when you set it up for another is log into your Spark account. All your email accounts and settings flow onto your new device, and you’re ready to go.

Spark follows Outlook’s design style, with inboxes and folders on the left, email list in the center and a reading pane on the right. The app pushes you to use a unified inbox, but if you prefer to manage them individually (and I do!), you can display each account’s inbox in the left column. You can set your accounts up with smart inboxes, in which Spark’s artificial intelligence sorts and prioritizes for you, or you can go with a standard approach that shows everything.

There are plenty of other great features, including a built-in calendar, granular control over notifications, delayed sending, followup reminders and more. Best of all, it’s fast and responsive. I’ve never had it lock up on me, which I can’t say for Apple’s Mail app, or even Outlook.

It is free, but Spark has a paid version with collaboration features for teams.

Edge by Microsoft

Free, microsoft.com/en-us/edge

I know some of you Mac users are cringing as I recommend a Microsoft web browser, but hear me out. Many people with Macs use Chrome because it works across multiple platforms. And Edge is built on the same code foundation, called Chromium, with versions for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. For me, Edge is superior to Chrome and Apple’s Safari for two reasons.

First, Edge gives you greater control over tracking prevention, with three different settings: Basic, Balanced and Strict. It also lets you apply those strict settings when you are using Edge’s InPrivate browsing (most other browsers’ private mode does not prevent tracking). There’s a similar Balance/Strict setting for security, giving you extra protection against drive-by malware and poisoned websites.

And all of its privacy and security settings - including deleting cookies and web caches - are all in one place.

The second feature is my favorite thing about Edge. It allows you to display your various browser tabs vertically, down the left side of the page, rather than horizontally. If you have a lot of horizontal tabs open at once, you know the size of the tabs eventually shrink until you can’t read their titles. But arranged vertically, you can always see the names of the pages.

Even if you’re a die-hard Safari or Chrome user, it’s worth trying out Edge to experience the joy of vertical tabs. Multiple browsers co-exist nicely on the Mac, so Edge won’t replace your default web app. But I bet you’ll be tempted.

Cider for Windows by The Cider Collective

Free from Github, $1 from the Microsoft Store, cider.sh

In this polarized time, here’s one thing we can all agree on: iTunes for Windows is The. Worst. Slow, crash-prone and badly in need of an overhaul, it’s a necessary evil for those with a Windows computer and who are Apple Music subscribers.

Apple killed off iTunes on Macs some time ago in favor of the Music app; Windows users weren’t so lucky. But an open-source project called Cider brings much-needed relief. The app provides a slick interface for your Apple Music streaming account. One huge caveat, though: This is very early alpha software, so bugs and crashes are guaranteed. Still, the potential is huge.

Cider is music-focused and doesn’t try to be a Swiss Army knife of all media, as does iTunes. It also doesn’t allow you to sync, backup or update your iPhone or iPad. But its music focus makes it clean and intuitive, providing access to the components of Apple Music, including Radio 1, streaming music, custom radio stations and podcasts.

Dive deep into the settings and you’ll see fascinating features that, while they may not all work right yet, provide insight into the goals for Cider. The app can, for example, tweak its sound to emulate high-end audio equipment or the “warm” tones of analog stereo systems.
I would recommend grabbing Cider from the Microsoft Store for a buck, which will keep the app updated. As it develops, it looks to become a true successor to iTunes.

(Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly indicated Cider lets you listen to or manage iTunes music files on your computer. Cider is only for use with the Apple Music streaming service.)
dsilverman@outlook.com
twitter.com/dsilverman

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As a result, some users are reporting that reinstalling .NET 3.5 components resolves the issues that they were having, including one of our own readers Neonix1, who says they got the following error message when trying to start applications like Discord, Capture One Pro, Garmin Express, MusicBee, Motu USB soundcard control panel, and Fanatec Control Panel, after installing the Patch Tuesday:

Application Error: The application was unable to start correctly (0x0000135). Click OK to close the application.

And, on the suggestion of another reader illogik, Neonix1 found that their problems were resolved when .NET 3.5 was reinstalled manually. However, this workaround may not work for everyone and in that case, rolling back the update may be the only other option.

For example here is Twitter user and Windows leakster who noticed that the update broke Event Viewer but the workaround didn't fix the issue:

Reports on Feedback Hub are also coming in with various users reporting different kinds of problems including those with Phone Link, black screen issues, BSODs, and more, as seen in the image below (click to enlarge):

Redditors on the build 22000.675 (KB5013943) thread are also reporting several issues including some of those described above.

Windows 11 Patch Tuesday KB5013943 causing BSODs, black screen, buggy Teams, Discord

The bug is also causing Windows Event log errors pertaining to D3D9On12 mapping layer. Here is how Microsoft describes the issue:

After installing KB5012643, Windows devices using certain GPUs might have apps close unexpectedly or intermittent issues with some apps which use Direct3D 9. You might also receive an error in Event Log in Windows Logs/Applications with faulting module d3d9on12.dll and exception code 0xc0000094.

This problem also affects Windows 10 platforms, versions 21H2, 21H1, 20H2 (update KB5011831).

Microsoft is rolling back the updates on systems that are experiencing these issues using Known Issue Rollback (KIR). KIR is an important Windows servicing improvement to support non-security bug fixes, that enables reverting of buggy updates.

Resolution: This issue is resolved using Known Issue Rollback (KIR). Please note that it might take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate automatically to consumer devices and non-managed business devices. Restarting your Windows device might help the resolution apply to your device faster. For enterprise-managed, devices that have installed an affected update and encountered this issue can resolve it by installing and configuring the special Group Policy listed below. For information on deploying and configuring these special Group Policies, please see How to use Group Policy to deploy a Known Issue Rollback.

Group Policy downloads with Group Policy name:

Download for Windows 11, version 21H2 - Group Policy name: KB5012643 220509_20053 Known Issue Rollback
Download for Windows 10, version 2004, Windows 10, version 20H2 and Windows 10, version 21H1 - Group Policy name: KB5011831 220509_20051 Known Issue Rollback

Source: Microsoft (1 , 2)

Windows 11 update KB5012643 also broke ancient DirectX 9 on "certain GPUs"

Interestingly, the Sound Recorder preview also moved from the Beta Channel to this build, indicating that its new features may not be released along with Windows 11 22H2. And for those keeping tabs, this build is not far off on what Windows Server vNext build 25110 is using for its kernel.

Here are the highlights for build 25115:

• This build will not be offered to ARM64 PCs. We hope to be able to offer a new build for Insiders on ARM64 PCs soon.
• This build includes one new feature for Windows Insiders to try out called Suggested Actions.
• We have a good set of general improvements and fixes in this build too.
• We’re now previewing the new Sound Recorder with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Here is what's new in build 25115:

[Suggested Actions]

• On copying a phone number, Windows will pop up an inline light dismissible UI that suggests ways to call the phone number using Teams or other installed apps that offer click-to-dial call functions.

• On copying a date and/or time, Windows will pop up an inline light dismissible UI that suggests creating the event using supported calendar apps. Upon user selection of preference, the app is launched with its corresponding calendar event creation page with auto filled date and/or time.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Suggested actions on copy.

Here is the one change and improvement in this build:

[General]

• We updated the icons in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on this build.

Here are all the fixes in build 25115:

[General]

• Updated the underlying speech platform to improve voice activity detection for voice access, live captions, and voice typing, as well as address some issues with how punctuation is recognized.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue related to loading the system tray icons in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar which could cause Settings to crash when opening that page recently. This issue may have also led to some explorer.exe crashes for impacted Insiders.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue leading to Insiders seeing error 0x800703E6 when copying files from Google Drive.
• We made another change to help improve the performance of loading Home.
• Fixed an issue where if you had ever opened the context menu, doing CTRL + ALT + DEL and cancelling would lead to explorer.exe crashing.
• Fixed a sporadic explorer.exe crash when closing File Explorer windows.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue where if Settings suspended, it could lock up explorer.exe in certain cases.
• Improved how Narrator reads out remaining space available in System > Storage.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed some issues related to access key use in Task Manager, including that you weren’t able to directly press ALT + without first releasing the ALT key, and that displaying the access keys wouldn’t work after having used and dismissed them.
• If the CPU reaches 100%, the CPU column header should no longer unexpectedly become unreadable in dark mode.

[Windows Security]

• Fixed an issue which could result in Smart App Control unexpectedly blocking correctly signed applications.

[Other]

• Addressed an issue which was leading to Memory Integrity unexpectedly getting turned off in some cases after rebooting.
• Fixed an issue causing the Update Stack Package to show install error 0xc4800010.

There's only a couple of known issues to be aware of in build 25115:

[General]

• [NEW] 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.

Microsoft also noted that Windows Insiders should be aware that features released in Dev builds may never make it to the Beta and stable builds of Windows 11 as the Dev Channel is a place to test features. You can read the full statement below:

The Dev Channel receives builds that represent long lead work from our engineers with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. It is important to remember that the builds we release to the Dev Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and the features included may change over time, be removed, or replaced in Insider builds or may never be released beyond Windows Insiders to general customers. For more information, please read this blog post about how we plan to use the Dev Channel to incubate new ideas, work on long lead items, and control the states of individual features.

Microsoft also noted that the desktop watermark is back in this build:

The desktop watermark you see at the lower right corner of your desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Today's blog post is linked here.

Windows 11 build 25115 Sun Valley 3 released to the Dev channel with Suggested Actions

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• [REMINDER] The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is no longer present in this build. This doesn’t mean we’re done, and the watermark will return to Insiders in a future build.

Fixes

[General]

• Updated the underlying speech platform to improve voice activity detection for voice access, live captions, and voice typing, as well as address some issues with how punctuation is recognized.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue leading to Insiders seeing error 0x800703E6 when copying files from Google Drive.
• Fixed an issue where if you had ever opened the context menu, doing CTRL + ALT + DEL and cancelling would lead to explorer.exe crashing.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue related to loading the system tray icons in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar which could cause Settings to crash when opening that page recently. This issue may have also led to some explorer.exe crashes for impacted Insiders.

[Windows Security]

• Fixed an issue which could result in Smart App Control unexpectedly blocking correctly signed applications.

Here are the known issues in Build 22621:

[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.

ISOs for the new build 22621 have also been released and can downloaded here. You can find the official blog post here.

Windows 11 Beta build 22621 with Taskbar, File Explorer improvements out, ISOs available

In an announcement posted on May 3, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the recall includes the 2022 Model 3, the 2021-2022 Model S, the 2021-2022 Model X and the 2022 Model Y.

According to the notice, the infotainment central processing unit (CPU) may overheat while fast-charging, causing the CPU to lag or restart.

When the CPU slows down or restarts, the center screen display that drivers rely on to see the rearview camera video, warning lights and transmission status (drive, neutral or reverse) could lag or go blank. If drivers can't see or control these features, there's an increased risk of a crash, the notice read.
The fix? Tesla plans to offer a free over-the-air software update to improve CPU temperature management.

According to documents on the NHTSA website, Tesla's firmware update will improve the management of the CPU temperature and other features with "elevated temperature operation."

Tesla owners impacted should get letters of notification in the mail sometime around or after July 1. They can also contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752 using recall number SB-22-00-009.

The issue began around Dec. 23 during routine testing on the Model 3 and Model Y CPU, documents on the NHTSA website read. Technicians detected throttling from thermal protections being engaged and launched an investigation. On Jan. 3, a CPU from a 2021 Model S was replaced for an overheating condition that caused the center screen display to reboot when the vehicle was supercharging. Other CPUs had to be replaced that month as well for the same overheating issue.

As of May 2, Tesla found 59 warranty claims and 59 field reports received between Jan. 5 and May 2 that are or could be related to the overheating issue.

"Tesla is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths related to this condition," the documents read.

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The first version of the Windows Package Manager was released in 2020, the first final version followed in 2021. It is a useful program to manage software on Windows 10 and 11 devices.

Some of the supported features include installing multiple programs at once, installing Microsoft Store apps directly without visiting the Store, updating all installed programs at once, or to remove any number of Windows programs and apps.

The developers have uploaded a new preview version of Windows Package Manager, version 1.3.1251. The new version will be released to Windows Insider Dev builds and Windows Package Manager insiders, but anyone else may download the new version and install them on their devices, provided that these run Windows 10 version 1809 or newer (including Windows 11).

The big new feature in the preview version is support for portable apps. Up until now, winget did not support portable programs, only Microsoft Store apps and Win32 applications that needed to be installed; this changes with the preview release and the upcoming next stable version of the package manager for Windows.

The feature is limited to the installation of portable programs in this release. Functions to remove and upgrade portable applications using winget are planned and will be introduced in future builds.

Note: The upgrade and uninstall behaviors have not been implemented. The community repository does not accept portable applications either. Users may test with local manifests but will need to manually clean up entries in Windows Apps & Features if this is used to install a portable application.

The installation of portable programs works exactly as the installation of programs that need to be installed or Windows Store applications.

There is still work to be done, as the developers reveal in the notes published on the release page. Community repos do not accept portable apps at this point, and anyone interested in getting these to work in the released version need to use local manifests to do so.

Closing Words

Support for portable apps is an important step for the Windows Package Manager project. It will take a while before the final implementation lands though.

Now You: do you use winget? (via Deskmodder)

Windows Package Manager winget is getting portable application support