Microsoft is asking organizations to set a retirement date for Internet Explorer before June 15, 2022 to ensure that company employees won't run into issues when IE retires.

Internet Explorer 11 won't start anymore on its retirement date and Microsoft Edge will be loaded automatically, according to Microsoft. The company suggests that the new Microsoft Edge web browser is used instead by organizations, as it supports legacy Internet Explorer features through its IE Mode functionality.

IE Mode may load local and remote content that requires specific Internet technologies. Modern web browsers such as Edge, Chrome or Firefox do not support these technologies, and the loading of services may fail completely or functionality may be limited, when these browsers are used.

Only Microsoft Edge supports IE Mode, making it an essential application for organizations that require access to content that requires specific Internet Explorer technologies.

Microsoft recommends the following preparations for setting a retirement day for Internet Explorer 11:

1. Testing IE Mode to make sure that everything is set up correctly and working. Sites need to be tested in IE Mode to ensure that it works properly and that work flows continue to work in the mode. IT administrators may pilot the change with groups of users, for instance, by using the Disable IE policy to make Edge the default application right away on select systems.
2. Setting a date for the retirement if Internet Explorer in the organization. Using the Disable IE policy, organizations may set a retirement date for IE that is set before June 15. Microsoft recommends a retirement date that is weeks in advanced of the end of support date of the browser.
3. Informing users and data importing. Employees need to be aware of the change, as data needs to be migrated from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge. Microsoft recommends that users import their date from IE to Edge before the retirement date. Users may load edge://settings/importData  in the Edge address bar and select Microsoft Internet Explorer to start the importing of data from the browser.
4. Deploy the policy that blocks Internet Explorer.

Closing words

Internet Explorer's usage share is relatively low already. Only Microsoft knows the real numbers, but most third-parties that release browser stats see it at below 0.50% of the entire market. Edge is the default browser on Windows 11 already, and it seems likely that most home users have moved on already.

Organizations who still use Internet Explorer have six weeks to migrate to Edge, before this is happening automatically. The IE chapter will be closed on June 15, 2022 for the most part

Microsoft: please stop using Internet Explorer before it runs out of support next month

Seven years since its introduction and more than two years after switching to Chromium, Microsoft Edge is finally making slow but steady progress. According to the latest data from StatCounter, Microsoft's browser crossed the 10% mark in April 2022.

StatCounter claims Microsoft Edge managed to gain 0.42 points and reach the magical 10.07%. Of course, it is still a far cry from Chrome with its massive 66.64% (-0.65), but enough for Edge to claim the "second most popular browser" title.

Apple's Safari holds third place in the desktop browser market with a 9.61% share (+0.05), and Firefox is fourth with 7.86% (+0.29).

1. Google Chrome - 66.64% (-0.65)
2. Microsoft Edge - 10.07% (+0.42)
3. Apple Safari - 9.61% (+0.05)
4. Mozilla Firefox - 7.86% (+0.29)
5. Opera - 2.43% (-0.38)

There are no major changes in the mobile browser market. Chrome and Safari hold together almost 90%, and other manufacturers made little to no progress in April 2022.

1. Google Chrome - 63.57% (-0.02)
2. Apple Safari - 24.82% (-0.01)
3. Samsung Internet - 4.90% (+0.00)
4. Opera - 1.88% (+0.00)
5. UC Browser - 1.41% (+0.00)

Source: StatCounter

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Chrome Beta 102 landed last week, but we haven’t uncovered everything new in it just yet. As it turns out, the new version of Chrome makes it possible to reorder tabs with keyboard shortcuts on Mac and Windows. The feature was previously only available on Linux and is now finally making its way to all desktop versions of the browser, save for Chrome OS (or chromeOS, if you will).

While you can easily reorder tabs using your mouse (just drag and drop the tab in question left or right to slot it in the desired place), many power users prefer to do as much as possible using keyboard shortcuts. The logic for both Windows and macOS follows the same that was long introduced in Linux. To move a tab, you need to hit ctrl+shift and page up or page down, depending on which direction you want to move the tab.

On the regular MacBook keyboard, page up or page down can be accessed by holding down the fn key and hitting arrow up or down, so you will in essence have to pair ctrl+shift+fn with arrow up or down. Many Windows laptops will require similar workarounds, depending on what keyboard layout they offer.

While we have only been able to confirm this new behavior on macOS, Redditor Leopeva64 (who tipped us about this) offers a screen recording that shows off the keyboard shortcut in use on Windows. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the keyboard shortcut is functional on Chrome OS just yet, where we haven’t been able to reproduce the shortcut under Dev version 102.0.4992.0.

To get started with these keyboard shortcuts yourself, you just need to install the latest Chrome Beta release on your computer—or wait for the stable release of Chrome 102 later this month. Google’s browser is constantly under development, so be sure to check what’s new in every version of Chrome if you want to stay up to date.

Source : https://www.androidpolice.com/chrome-102-reorder-tabs-with-keyboard-shortcuts/

The reverse engineer has recently spotted a subscription service called "Telegram Premium," which could come with a host of new premium features, including the ability to unlock premium stickers, additional reactions, and more. However, Paluzzi shared nothing on the pricing of the subscription service, nor does he give us any details about when "Telegram Premium" will become available for everyone.

Besides Telegram, WhatsApp is also working on a subscription service for its business customers. One of the benefits will be that users can link up to 10 devices to the same account. Telegram's new paid subscription service, however, is centered around satisfying consumers' interests. As things currently stand, you can log in to Telegram from as many of your devices as you like — all at the same time.

Some of the exciting features Telegram added to its platforms are the ability to respond to messages with reactions, protected messages in groups and channels, and a new navigation menu, to name a few. Hopefully, the company will keep adding useful features like these in the future.

Telegram may be working on a paid subscription service

Fixing the bug does not require installing a new update or removing one. The software giant used a neat "Known issue rollback" system that can quietly undo updates with bugs and instabilities. The problem with flashing displays should be gone without user intervention, but it might take up to 24 hours to apply. To speed up the process, Microsoft recommends restarting your computer.

Of course, users do not boot in Safe Mode for no reason. People use it most of the time to troubleshoot broken systems that cannot start in regular mode. If you need to launch Windows 11 in Safe Mode and the display flashes, try using Safe Mode with Network.

According to the official documentation, the bug affects systems with KB5012643 (OS Build 22000.652), released on April 25, 2022. The update contains a hefty list of bug fixes and improvements that will be included in the monthly cumulative updates due to release on May 10, 2022.

Microsoft fixes a bug causing flashes and File Explorer issues in Windows 11 Safe Mode

A software update is being rolled out over the coming days and weeks for Chrome on PCs, Macs and Linux, and other browsers that use Google code such as Microsoft Edge, Google said in a blog post dated April 26.

Among the 30 security fixes are seven deemed high level threats. Google doesn't break out specifics on the details of the software bugs being addressed – or potential hackers using them – until most users have updated the fixes.

Such software updates happen regularly, but this one is alarming enough to warrant users' immediate attention, says Lotem Finkelstein, director of cyber intelligence and research for Check Point Software Technologies, headquartered in San Carlos, California and Tel Aviv, Israel.

"Overall, Google keeps high standards for security and the safety of its users, but that alone is not enough and we, the end users, need to make sure we are using their most updated fixes," he told USA TODAY.

Security professionals – and even President Biden – have recommended Americans be on alert for an increase in cyberattacks, some coming from Russian retaliation for U.S. assistance to Ukraine. That means being on alert for phishing attempts, which try to get you to click on links that could steal personal data or install malware, and using strong passwords.

Google also recently noted an increase in zero-day attacks – software weaknesses spread among hackers before developers can create a fix – in another blog post from March 10.

In addition to keeping your browser software up to date, Check Point Software recommends you avoid unfamiliar websites and clicking on links from unknown sources. Especially look for links that may have a company name you recognize, but have a suspicious URL or end with something other than .com.

“The cyber threat landscape expends all the time, new threat actors join constantly and hackers acquire new skills as we speak," Finkelstein said. "We see an all-time high in cyber attacks, more than 50% vs. last year, so it is only natural that we see an increase in zero-days. We expect it to keep on growing."

How to update your Chrome browser

• On your computer, open Chrome.

• At the top right, click the three vertical dots

• Click Help >About Google Chrome.

• Click Update Google Chrome.

• Click Relaunch.

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These newly added group policies can also be configured locally by opening the group policy editor and navigating to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.

They can also be deployed onto Windows systems via Microsoft Endpoint Manager using a profile with custom settings in Intune.

"We are introducing new policies so that IT administrators can simplify their Windows 11 experience across Start, taskbar, and the system tray," the Windows Insider team said.

The complete list of new MDM and group policies introduced today includes:

• Disable Quick Settings flyout
• Disable Notification Center and calendar flyouts
• Disable all taskbar settings
• Disable search (across Start & taskbar)
• Hide Task View from taskbar
• Block customization of ‘Pinned’ in Start
• Hide ‘Recommended’ in Start
• Disable Start context menus
• Hide ‘All apps’ in Start

Fixes and security improvements

Today's release, Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22610, also comes with a sizable list of changes and fixes for known issues.

Microsoft has also updated the Family Safety Widget to add a new location-sharing view to display where family members use the Family Safety app.

Redmond also says that Windows 11 Home edition Dev and Beta Channel builds, the last editions of Windows or Windows Server that still had the 30-year-old SMBv1 file-sharing protocol enabled, now also disable the SMBv1 client by default.

Redmond announced it would disable SMBv1 in most versions of the Windows operating system in June 2017 after disabling it in internal builds of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows Server 2016.

SMBv1 is no longer installed in Windows by default since Windows 10 version 1709 and Windows Server version 1709, with newer versions of Windows having switched SMBv3.

Microsoft has been advising admins to remove support for SMBv1 starting with 2016 because it does not come with the additional security improvements included in newer versions.

Windows 11 gets new group policies to tweak the Start Menu

First up, Microsoft gave some build specific release highlights, given below:

• This build introduces some new group policies for IT administrators and an update to the Family Safety Widget.
• This build also includes another good set of fixes that will improve your overall experience.
• This build includes two new known issues that will impact Windows Insiders – please read the known issues list below. We have marked the new known issues as [NEW]. One of these known issues impacts the hidden icons flyout in the system tray.

First up, what’s new in Build 22610

Additional new MDM and group policies for IT administrators

We are introducing new policies so that IT administrators can simplify their Windows 11 experience across Start, taskbar, and the system tray. The following policies are available today:

• Disable Quick Settings flyout
• Disable Notification Center and calendar flyouts
• Disable all taskbar settings
• Disable search (across Start & taskbar)
• Hide Task View from taskbar
• Block customization of ‘Pinned’ in Start
• Hide ‘Recommended’ in Start
• Disable Start context menus
• Hide ‘All apps’ in Start

To configure these new group policies locally, open the group policy editor and navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. You can also deploy these policies via Microsoft Endpoint Manager as well.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under:

• Desktop Environment > Start menu for policies relating to Start.
• Desktop Environment > Taskbar for policies relating to the Taskbar.
• Desktop Environment > Quick Settings for policies relating to the Quick Settings.
• Desktop Environment > Notification Center for policies relating to the Notification Center.

Family Safety Widget Update

To help you and your loved ones stay safe and protected, we are rolling out an update to the Family Safety widget with improvements for all family members with a new location sharing view that shows where your family members are using the Family Safety app.

There’s also a new update for people in a member role, which includes an improved view of your screen time use across apps and devices.

Device use view as shown in the Family Safety widget.

App use view as shown in the Family Safety widget.

To learn more about Microsoft Family Safety and to get the mobile app, visit https://aka.ms/microsoftfamilysafety. Be sure to also check out the Microsoft Family app too.

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

Here are the changes and improvements in build 22610:

[General]

• Windows 11 Home edition Dev and Beta Channel builds no longer enable the SMB1 client by default. If you have installed SMB1 manually or upgraded from a previous version of Windows where SMB1 was installed, upgrading to the latest Dev and Beta Channel build will not remove SMB1. For more information, check out this blog post here.
• We have updated the design of the battery icon on the Lock screen to be consistent with the one in the taskbar.

• If your PC supports it, we will now show estimated battery life timing in the tooltip for the battery icon in the system tray with the most recent Insider Preview builds.
• 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.

[Taskbar]

• As a result of feedback from Windows Insiders, we have disabled the tablet-optimized taskbar feature that first began rolling out to Windows Insiders in Build 22563 for now. We hope to bring this feature back in the future after further refinement of the experience. As we’ve mentioned previously, features we try out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.

[Widgets]

• The changes in Widgets that bring more dynamic content to your Widgets board announced with Build 22563 is rolling out to more Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels.

[Task Manager]

• We’ve updated the Processes page in Task Manager so that the colors used in the heatmap are now based on your accent color. Please note in certain cases we will use the default blue accent color to ensure readability. We did a demo of this during this month’s Windows Insider webcast featuring Claton Hendricks from the Task Manager Team – watch the webcast on-demand here.

[File Explorer]

• We have updated the rename, properties, and optimize icons used in the context menu and command bar to help with discoverability and consistency.

[Settings]

• Your Phone now shows as Phone Link under Settings > Bluetooth & devices. Your Phone is now Phone Link – read the announcement here.

[Other]

• Based on feedback from Windows Insiders, we are rolling back the change originally documented with Build 22557 where TKIP and WEP connections were no longer allowed. These connections are allowed again starting with this build as we go back to the previous behavior where a warning is given notifying you that these are not secured connections. As a reminder, TKIP and WEP are deprecated security standards and are planned for removal in a future release. We recommend updating your router or other devices to one that supports at least WPA2 (WPA3 is the current standard).

Here are all the fixes in build 22610:

[General]

• We fixed the issue causing Windows Insiders running Windows 10 who were trying to join the Dev or Beta Channels to encounter a download error code 0xc8000402 while trying to download the latest build. If you experienced this issue, please install KB5011831 and then try to download the latest build from either the Dev or Beta Channels. If you continue to see this issue – please file feedback in Feedback Hub.
• We’ve fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash repeatedly in a loop in the latest builds (and unable to successfully load) for a small percent of Insiders.
• Made a change to help address an issue causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck with the error BAD_POOL_CALLER when opening Notification Center and some other actions after the last build.
• When opening Group Policy editor, an Administrative Template error will no longer pop up.
• Fixed an issue where Group Policy Editor was unexpectedly showing an error saying “mmc cannot initialize the snap-in” on ARM64 in some cases.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue that was preventing Shift + Right-click on a taskbar icon from opening the expected context menu.
• Changing the resolution of a secondary display should no longer result in the taskbar app icons unexpectedly shifting to the right.
• Clicking the taskbar should close things like Quick Settings and Notification Center now if they’re open.
• Windows and taskbar icons that were being used on a secondary monitor will now transfer correctly to your primary monitor if you unplug the secondary one.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing taskbar icon animations on system icons like Start, Search, and Task view.
• Animations will now play correctly the first time you drag and drop to taskbar.
• If you drag to the taskbar in a right-to-left (RTL) language, the icon will now appear on the correct side.
• When you’re connected to Wi-Fi, the network icon in the taskbar will no longer incorrectly show as disconnected.
• Fixed a crash that was happening if the taskbar clock updated while transitioning to daylight savings time changes.
• The show hidden icons flyout will now dismiss when you click away from it again.
• There will no longer be an empty show hidden icons arrow showing in your system tray when you’ve set all your icons there to show.
• Fixed an issue causing Notification Center to be cut off when opened on small screens, hiding the do not disturb button.
• Fixed an issue for Arabic and Hebrew display languages, where the Notification Center would jump up unexpectedly when dismissed.
• If your microphone is in use but not your location, hovering over the microphone button in the taskbar should no longer show a location section with an empty app name in the tooltip.

[Start menu]

• App icons like Microsoft Edge will no longer be cut off on the bottom in Start’s all apps list.
• If you cancel while dragging icons to create a folder in Start, they will no longer be stuck in a broken folder with just one icon.
• The Windows Tools entry under All apps should be visible again now.
• Animations of folders in the Start menu will no longer start on the first pinned app instead of where the folder is located.

[Search]

• We did some work to help address an issue where sometimes you couldn’t search for an app you’d just installed, although it was showing in Start.

[File Explorer]

• Using the rename, copy, paste, delete, and other options context menu options in File Explorer or on the desktop should no longer cause explorer.exe to crash when the context menu dismisses.
• Right-clicking on a file now reflects the updated naming in File Explorer and shows “Add to Favorites”.
• Right-clicking on This PC in the Open or Save As dialog’s navigation pane should bring up the context menu again now.
• Addressed an issue believed to be the underlying cause for File Explorer freezing when selecting a large number of files in recent builds.
• We made some improvements to the performance of keyboard selection of images and zipped files in OneDrive folders.
• Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to freeze frequently when WSL was installed, and WSL files were opened via Home.
• To help with performance, when opening Home only images and videos will now show thumbnails.
• Updated the tooltip for the “Please sign in” button in File Explorer from “Sign in again to fix authentication issues.” to “One of your accounts needs attention to show files from Office.com in Home”, so that its purpose is clearer.
• We addressed an issue where the Sign In button in File Explorer might not work.
• Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to loading recently used Office files in Home.
• Addressed an issue where the Open option was unexpectedly showing a generic icon when right clicking on certain file types.
• Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of some Insiders not seeing the This PC option in the “Open File Explorer to” dropdown in folder options.

[Input]

• Fixed a couple issues where under certain conditions the emoji panel, clipboard history, and voice typing would stop working after unlocking your PC or right after a Windows update.
• Fixed an issue where the text suggestions for physical keyboards might sometimes display with a transparent background.
• To ensure that text input is always available, if you use touch and tap a text field in OOBE, on the login screen, or in the UAC dialog, the touch keyboard will now always appear even if a physical keyboard is connected.
• When you lock your PC, if you have turned off “Play sounds as I type” under Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Touch keyboard, you should no longer hear key press sounds when using the touch keyboard on the login screen.
• Added typographic quotes as an option after a press and hold on the quote key when using the German touch keyboard layout.
• We did some work to address an issue where if you were using the docked touch keyboard on a tablet and tapped the text field of an app that didn’t have focus, the touch keyboard might appear and immediately disappear.
• Improved the performance going into the listening state after launching voice typing (WIN + H).
• Fixed a crash when deleting letters using a strikethrough gesture in the handwriting panel.
• Addressed an issue where if you had unchecked “leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected” under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad, the touchpad wasn’t re-enabled after connecting and disconnecting a mouse.
• Fixed an issue that could lead to the trail when sliding your finger around the screen being unexpectedly red or invisible in some cases.
• If you don’t have the Chinese (Simplified) IME installed, it should no longer display as an option to customize under Settings > Personalization > Text Input > Custom Theme.
• If an Xbox controller is connected, using it to interact with games should no longer result in an unexpected pop-up saying, “No supported apps in use for mic mute.”

[Widgets]

• Improved reliability of opening the widgets board on first login after an upgrade or after an app update.
• We did some work to help address an issue where the widgets board wouldn’t light dismiss and you had to use the Esc key to close it.
• As some Insiders have noticed, to help make the state clearer, if the weather status on the taskbar isn’t available, we will now show a greyed-out weather icon.
• Addressed an underlying issue leading to Widgets being missing from the taskbar and Settings after upgrading. This fix should stop future PCs from being impacted – if you are currently impacted, please try reinstalling this, which may resolve it for you.

[Settings]

• Fixed the Windows Update text for English (United Kingdom) so that it will say “last checked” and not “last ticked.”
• Addressed an underlying issue leading to not being able to activate the “Restart now” button in Windows Update when it had focus using Narrator in scan mode.
• Fixed an issue where if you opened the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings and went back, it could result in the scrollbar style changing in Quick Settings under certain conditions.
• Apps should no longer show up with the incorrect icon under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Other system tray icons.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the search icon in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar to be backwards and the wrong color in the Desert contrast theme.
• Fixed an issue preventing Quick Settings from taking touch input.
• Addressed an additional issue causing the media controls above Quick Settings to stay there after the media source was closed.
• Fixed a high hitting crash in recent flights when navigating to the page to pick a sound output option in Quick Settings.

[Windowing]

• Did some work to help address an issue related snap layouts at the top of the screen where a large invisible area could get stuck and would consume clicks in that area.
• When you drag down on the title bar of a maximized window, it should be easier to invoke snap layouts from the top of the screen now.
• If you have a window within a snap group that is set to display across all your Desktops, that setting should now persist if you drag and drop the snap group into a different Desktop in Task View.
• Fixed a couple issues leading to explorer.exe crashes when using and interacting with snap.
• Fixed a couple high hitting DWM crashes in recent flights.
• Addressed an issue where focus wasn’t being properly set when using the 3-finger touchpad gesture to bring up ALT + Tab.
• Fixed an issue where snap assist was unexpectedly appearing when you had only a single Microsoft Edge window open and tried to snap it.
• Reduced the likelihood of seeing an acrylic backdrop noticeably lagging when dragging a window around.
• Improved the reliability of using gestures from the edge of the screen (for example to open Start menu) when using an app full screen.
• Addressed an issue which could cause the screen to appear frozen after using a 3 finger on screen gesture to minimize open apps on top of certain full screen apps.

[Narrator]

• Fixed an issue when using Narrator and your keyboard to navigate the show hidden icons panel where focus was jumping out to taskbar at the end of the icons instead of looping back to the beginning.
• Narrator will now start reading from the beginning of the page on Edge even if a control on the page has focus by default, like Bing’s search box.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an underlying issue leading to some apps not showing as suspended in Task Manager even though they should have been.
• Fixed an issue where expanding the child of a child process would result in the content of the Name column in Processes being significantly offset.
• Clicking “Show history of all processes” in settings should no longer hang or crash Task Manager.
• The Run New Task button should work on the Details and Services pages now.
• To address issues with text and UI clipping, Task Manager will no longer show accent color on the title bar.

[Networking]

• The issue causing internet connectivity issues for some Insiders recently when certain VPNs were connected should be addressed now.

[Lock screen and logging in]

• The login screen shouldn’t crash anymore if you click the Power button while a contrast theme is enabled.
• Fixed an issue where the network icon on the login screen could become clipped if you used the text scaling option in Settings > Accessibility.
• Did some work to address a high hitting login screen crash.

[Other]

• Addressed a few issues that were preventing the accessibility flyout from showing or from selecting items in it with your mouse in the device setup experience (OOBE) for Windows 11.
• The accessibility flyout will no longer be empty in RTL languages in the device setup experience (OOBE).
• Fixed an issue that was causing notification popups to get stuck as a transparent box on the side of your screen that blocked input.
• Addressed an underlying issue believed to be the root cause of the system thinking you were on battery when UPS was connected recently.
• The keyboard shortcut to launch Quick Assist (WIN + CTRL + Q) should be working again now.
• Addressed an issue where some signed apps were unexpectedly blocked by Smart App Control.
• If you use your keyboard to control your brightness or volume level, the flyout that appears with now respect if you’ve turned animation effects off in Settings > Accessibility > Visual Effects.
• Addressed an underlying issue that could result in a yellow border getting stuck around your game after taking a screenshot with the Xbox Game Bar.
• Fixed an underlying app registration issue leading to the Windows Security app not launching or showing a prompt saying there was no installed app for that protocol after upgrade.
• Made a change that should help address an issue where Insiders were seeing Windows Terminal failing to update in the Microsoft Store with error code 0x80073CFB.
• Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps relying on the .NET Framework to fail to launch in the last few flights.
• Did some work to address a leak in uxtheme.dll, leading to some performance degradation over time in certain apps.
• Addressed an issue causing defrag.exe to show an error saying “No such interface supported (0x80004002) recently.
• Fixed a bugcheck with error DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION in recent builds that Insiders might have encountered when disconnecting Bluetooth devices or other Bluetooth scenarios.
• Improved the reliability of connecting Bluetooth devices like Apple AirPods.
• Fixed an issue leading to audio not playing immediately after resuming from hibernation when certain Bluetooth headsets were connected.
• Addressed an issue which could lead to a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA when connecting certain USB audio devices in recent builds.
• Fixed a crash in the previous flight related to cdp.dll.
• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Wireless Display app to not be able to receive content in the last couple flights.

Here are the known issues to be aware of in build 22610:

[General]

• [NEW] After upgrading to Build 22610, the “Show hidden icons” flyout in the system tray may disappear completely for some Insiders, even though it shows as “on” under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and “Other system tray icons”. We are investigating the issue. As a workaround if you need access to the icons that would show in the “Show hidden icons” flyout, you can go right-click on taskbar to open the Taskbar settings page, navigate to the “Other system tray icons” and individuals toggle specific apps to “On” until the issue is resolved.

[Task Manager]

• [NEW] Enabling Efficiency mode from the command bar in Task Manager can cause the process list to fluctuate between the Apps and Background groups on the Processes page. As a workaround, right-click and use the context menu to enable/disable Efficiency mode then close and re-open Task Manager.

[Widgets]

• The widgets board may not open successfully when using the gesture from the side of the screen. If you are impacted, please tap the Widgets icon in the taskbar for now instead.

[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.

The Dev channel release is now known as the "NI_RELEASE" or Nickel branch in preparation for the major feature update to Windows 11 22H2 later this year. You can find our coverage of what's new and expected to ship in this Windows 11 build here.

Today's press release is linked here.

Microsoft has again reminded that Insiders can switch or change channels if they wanted from the Dev channel over to the Beta. If you are wondering how to do so, here's a handy guide we made that you can use.

Windows 11 build 22610 released with app icon cutoff in Start's All Apps fixed, and more

The PWA hub is something we covered in detail in February when it was being tested. In a nutshell, it work as an "Apps" button on the toolbar and gives you quick access to your PWAs. It will also encourage you to install apps as PWAs and then group installed PWAs into categories that can be filtered and sorted. You can enable the Apps button in the Appearance section in Edge. That said, Microsoft has implied in its changelog that this capability will be rolled out in a staggered manner, we don't have it on our devices yet.

Edge also has a new policy called EdgeDefaultProfileEnabled which allows you to set a default profile rather than opening the last one that was used. Another handy capability will enable you to switch certificates on a website without quitting the browser first.

For organizations co-managing Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, shared cookies can be configured via the Enterprise Site List Manager. There is also a new policy that enables you to set the default state for allowing extensions to be installed from other stores.

Here is the complete list of policy updates:

New policies

• ConfigureKeyboardShortcuts - Configure the list of commands for which to disable keyboard shortcuts
• ControlDefaultStateOfAllowExtensionFromOtherStoresSettingEnabled - Configure default state of Allow extensions from other stores setting
• EdgeAssetDeliveryServiceEnabled - Allow features to download assets from the Asset Delivery Service
• EdgeDefaultProfileEnabled - Default Profile Setting Enabled
• InternetExplorerModeEnableSavePageAs - Allow Save page as in Internet Explorer mode
• KioskSwipeGesturesEnabled - Swipe gestures in Microsoft Edge kiosk mode enabled
• MicrosoftOfficeMenuEnabled - Allow users to access the Microsoft Office menu
• SiteSafetyServicesEnabled - Allow users to configure Site safety services

Deprecated policies

• ForceCertificatePromptsOnMultipleMatches - Configure whether Microsoft Edge should automatically select a certificate when there are multiple certificate matches for a site configured with "AutoSelectCertificateForUrls"

Obsoleted policies

• WebSQLInThirdPartyContextEnabled - Force WebSQL in third-party contexts to be re-enabled

As always, there are security improvements too. This release of Edge patches two security vulnerabilities related to elevation of privilege and spoofing, you can find more details here. You can manually trigger the update for version 101.0.1210.32 of Edge by clicking the three-dots menu on the top-right corner of the browser window and then navigating to Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge.

Edge 101 is here with a PWA hub and improvements to default profiles

Here is a detailed list of all changes and improvements in Skype Insider build 8.84:

• A new "Leave" button is now available in the meeting lobbies on all platforms. If you mistakenly start a new meeting, you can click 'leave' to cancel the process.
• Theme consistency in Skype for Web. Skype for Web no longer flashes the display when users join meetings. This change will make the service more comfortable for all users, especially those with high light sensitivity.
• Improved call controls on Bluetooth and USB headsets.

Microsoft also fixed several annoying bugs in Skype:

• Missing call recordings after a call. To retrieve missing recordings, enter the /getrecordings command.
• Automatic call answering does not work on Windows when Skype is minimized.
• Local video preview does not show up on Android during video calls.
• The Open Chat button is missing on the join meeting lobby UI.

Microsoft rolls out Skype Insider updates in "waves", so the latest release might reach your device in a day or two. You can download Skype Insider on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS from the official website.

The latest Skype Insider preview adds several quality improvements

WhatsApp seems to be working on a feature that would let users chat with the same account on multiple phones, or on a phone and a tablet, according to a screen found in a beta version of the app by the site WABetaInfo. The screen gives instructions for registering the device you’re using as a “companion” by scanning a code with your main phone — though currently there doesn’t appear to be an actual code to scan.

A screen found in a previous beta showed that devices could be getting the ability to sync recent messages, even though they’re end-to-end encrypted. That screen, combined with the “Register Device as Companion” screen that instructs users on how to use WhatsApp on another device, adds up to compelling evidence that this feature is in the works.

Both screens have been found in the Android version of the app, which implies that the feature will support chatting on a secondary phone or tablet. At the moment it’s unclear if the feature will also be available on iOS if and when it launches, though there is precedent indicating it will. WhatsApp technically supports using your account on multiple devices already, via the Linked Devices feature, which currently only supports using computers as secondary devices. The feature is available on both iOS and Android.

WhatsApp rolled out Linked Devices as a public beta in November 2021, and has improved on it since then (though there are still a few unsupported features, depending on what your main device is). But while Linked Devices is handy for desktop users, it doesn’t do much for those with secondary smartphones or tablets. Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for further details on its plans to expand the Linked Devices feature to support mobile devices as well.

WhatsApp seems to be working on multi-phone and tablet chatting

Earlier today, Microsoft sent an email to all Windows Insiders with the subject line "How we built Start" under the heading "Learn what's coming next". You'd be forgiven for thinking it was new information on some changes happening to Start ahead of Windows 11 version 22H2 release, but no, it linked to a short video originally posted on June 2021, that's before most people in the world had even experienced Windows 11 for themselves.

In the video, we see several Microsoft employees talking about how they decided the new Start would work in Windows 11, while Ashley, one of the User Researchers says:

"It's really easy to design something that you [meaning herself] like, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work well for everyone".

It would seem to me, being a User Researcher, your job should be to design for the majority. Well, you can view the video for yourself below.

In the video we see several mockups for the Start menu that include a Calendar and Weather placement, but as the video draws to a conclusion, Ryan, a "Design Lead", says that "we always saw Search, Files and Applications together" to which Eric, the Program Manager for Start, agreed with. This was supposedly a decision made by a limited user focus group, or as Microsoft's likes to claim, "based on their telemetry readings of usage".

In any case, yes, those are three things used a lot by Windows users, you know, to launch apps in the operating system. But why dismiss years of incremental improvements made to the desktop experience to come to the conclusion that "most people" used Start to launch apps or search for apps and files? It's nothing less than tunnel vision; where's the "How can we make it better" attitude?

What could have been.

It also goes against many things posted in the Feedback Hub about the crippled Start and how useless it has become. This will at least be improved somewhat in version 22H2 where it will be possible to create Groups for pinned apps, something that received over 7,000 upvotes on the Feedback Hub while ignoring other Feedback. In fact, the video, showing off features that would have made the Start menu so much better than what we ended up with, just feels like a tease.

One has to wonder why Microsoft decided to toot its own horn over a year old video on the design of the Start menu when there was so much pushback over it. It just goes to show that the company is tone-deaf when it comes to listening to some of its most ardent users. And it's not like we're just learning about this problem, Microsoft has shown contempt for Windows Insiders before, dismissing the idea that the Taskbar should be able to be moved, or that their design team prefers to focus on desktop stickers rather than of fix the many UI inconsistencies in Windows.

The video has gained some ... choice comments on YouTube since the email dropped around nine hours ago, I included a couple of the main pain points for most people above. But, for now I guess we'll have to stick with Start menu replacements like Start11 or others, at least in 3rd party offerings you can position the taskbar to the top or bottom and add back useful items to the Start menu.

Tone-deaf: Microsoft reminds people of the great job it did of building Start in Windows 11

The issue was first brought to attention by German outlet Deskmodder which noticed the problem. Others like XanxoGaming, that posted the early Ryzen 7 5800X3D review, also noted the issue:

Deskmodder has also provided a workaround wherein one has to choose 5 or F5 instead of 4 or F4 as apparently the problem seems to not occur when the network drivers are loaded as well.

In the known issues list of the release, Microsoft hasn't mentioned this bug which could mean that the company is unaware of the problem. So for now, if you are someone who has to use the Safe Mode for some reason, it may be best to avoid this optional Windows 11 update.

Source: Deskmodder

Latest Windows 11 update 22000.652 (KB5012643) has an annoying Safe Mode flickering bug

As spotted by WABetainfo, the WhatsApp developer team is currently working on what’s called “Quick Reactions.” It allows users to quickly send an emoji while viewing a status update. The quick reaction is sent in the chat as a simple emoji message. If you’re an Instagram user, you’ve already used “Quick Reactions.”

WABetainfo spotted “Quick Reactions” on WhatsApp Desktop, but the publication believes that it will also be available for its Android and iOS clients in the future.

The ability to quickly react to status updates is under development at this moment, so we can’t see these emojis right now. As for which emojis will be available for users, WABetainfo spotted eight emojis, including Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes, Face with Tears of Joy, Face with Open Mouth, Crying Face, Folded Hands, Clapping Hands, Party Popper, and Hundred Points.

The website shared no information on when these reactions will be available for the general public. But it seems that the instant chat messenger will test it with beta users before making it available for a wider set of people.

In other WhatsApp-related news, the Meta-owned company recently announced several new features, including Message reactions, Communities, the ability for admins to delete problematic messages in a group, File sharing improvements, 32-person audio calls, and more. These features are coming to WhatsApp in the coming weeks. You can read about them in more detail here.

WhatsApp may soon get this Instagram feature

Keary wrote he has finally seen the “proper” version of Audacity published on the Microsoft Store. This particular version is now live on the Microsoft Store. It is free to download and use. In a Tweet about the same, Keary wrote:

Due to the ludicrous number of fake ‘Audacity’ [variants] on the Microsoft store, which charge users for non-functional or very limited applications, I’ve now (finally) taken the name back and have published the proper, free version for the first time.

The Audacity version listed on the Microsoft Store claims it is “developed by the Muse Group & the Audacity Open-Source Community”. Needless to mention, the company is the lead developer of the software as mentioned on Audacity’s official website in the “about” section as well as on the credits page.

It is concerning to note that there are about half a dozen apps on the Microsoft Store all claiming to be the iconic audio editor. At least three of the versions listed on the Microsoft Store charge $4.99 to download and use an app that has always been free. In fact, ever since Audacity was released back in May 2000, the software has been open-source.

Microsoft Store does not have the vast selection of apps that Google Play Store and Apple App Store offers. Still, the platform suffers from counterfeit or knockoffs. These can dilute the value of the original, but they can also negatively impact the revenue of developers.

Cautious users who still do not trust Audacity's variant on the Microsoft Store, can head over to the platform's download page and download the latest version. It is available in 32-bit as well as 64-bit versions for Windows operating system.

Audacity official and free version arrives on the Microsoft Store, likely ending knock-offs

Brave 1.38 is already available. Most installed copies of Brave will receive the update automatically. Users who don't want to wait for it to arrive may select Menu > About Brave to run a manual check for updates. The new update should be installed automatically at this point by the browser.

De-AMP Functionality

De-AMP is part of desktop and mobile versions of Brave. It is an attempt to redirect Google AMP pages to the website that the content was published on originally. Brave Software considers AMP to be harmful to user privacy, security and the experience.

Brave redirects AMP pages automatically when they are encountered. Brave Browser parses AMP links to redirect requests automatically if possible. If not, Brave will intercept requests to redirect these to the publishers website instead.

Brave users may disable the functionality under Menu > Settings > Shields.

Brave Shields panel refresh

Brave Shields is the browser's main protective feature. It is used to block advertisement, trackers, fingerprinting attempts and other tracking techniques and annoyances on the Internet.

The Shields panel is displayed on the right side of the address bar. A click displays Shield-related information, including whether Brave's blocking functionality is active on the given site.

The panel gives users control over the blocking functionality. Users may turn off Shield functionality completely, or modify some options instead.

Brave Software added design components to Shields and switched to using the mojom API.

From a user perspective, one of the main changes appears to be that the full Shields menu is not displayed anymore by default. Users need to activate the "advanced controls" button to display customization options. A link to the Filter lists has been added to the full Shields panel.

There does not seem to be an option to load the full panel on activation of the Shields icon.

Other changes in Brave 1.38

Brave 1.38 was updated to a new Chromium build. Brave users who use the crypto-features of the browser may now connect a Gemini account to Brave Rewards.

Most changes listed in the changelog are related to Brave Wallet and the browser's crypto implementations.

Closing Words

Brave 1.38 is a solid release. The main new feature is the implemented De-AMP redirection option that is enabled by default. The redesigned Shields panel lacks an option to display the advanced controls automatically, like it was before.

Now You: Do you use Brave? What is your opinion on these changes?

Brave 1.38 launches with improved Shields panel and De-AMP privacy feature

Revealed in a new Workspace Updates blog post the new menus that are coming to Google Docs promise to “make it easier to locate the most commonly-used features,” in Docs. This feature will no doubt be a godsend to power users who were similarly excited about the online text editor getting expanded Markdown support last month. 

To make Google Docs easier to use and features easier to find, Google made menus smaller for “better navigation,” reorganized menus for more “intuitive feature location,” and made icons within the menu larger for “faster recognition,” which all sound like good things to us.

While reorganized and different looking menus may take some getting used to, leaving you actually less productive for a little while, Google hopes that “their new menu location will be more intuitive and make it easier and faster to navigate the product,” so in the long run productivity should be increased. 

According to Google, the new menus in Google Docs will roll out to users over the next few weeks, with everyone being expected to have the update by the end of May at the latest.

Google Docs is getting much better menus

Microsoft is on track to introduce more Windows 11-like design bits in the Edge browser. Two of them are already available in Edge Canary: tabs with rounded corners and the Mica effect. The first one makes the tab strip look similar to Firefox, with the bottom edge "detached" from the toolbar, and the Mica effect adds dynamic translucency to primary parts of the UI (tabs and the toolbar).

Note that both changes are experimental, which means Microsoft might remove them at some point. If you want to try the updated UI in Edge, do the following:

1. Update Microsoft Edge Canary to the latest version on Windows 11. The new design will not work on Windows 10.
2. Open the browser and go to edge://flags. Find the "Show experimental appearance settings" flag and enable it.
3. Restart Edge, then go to edge://settings/appearance and turn on "Show Windows 11 visual effects" and "Use rounded corners for browser tabs."
4. Restart the browser again.

Before

After

Do you like the updated design in Microsoft Edge Canary, or do you prefer the current one in the Stable channel?

Source: @FireCubeStudios

Edge Canary gets Windows 11-like redesign with rounded tabs and Mica effect

Windows 10 21H2, on the other hand, keeps increasing its market share. In April 2022, the latest Windows 10 version gained an impressive 6.5 percentage points. It is the most popular Windows version, with about 35% of the market (28.5% in March 2022). Windows 10 21H1 remains relatively the same with 26.5% (-0.1% points).

Windows 10 20H2 is quickly approaching its end of life, which means users are leaving the OS for newer versions. On May 10, 2022, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 10 20H2, and for that reason, the company is force-updating its users to Windows 10 21H2 (now broadly available). In April 2022, Windows 10 20H2 went from 10.8% to 6.1%.

Here is a breakdown of the Windows market according to AdDuplex:

1. Windows 10 21H2 - 35% (+6.5)
2. Windows 10 21H1 - 26.4% (-0.1)
3. Windows 11 - 19.7% (+0.3)
4. Other Windows Versions - 18.1% (-6.9)
5. Windows Insiders - 0.7% (+0.1)

As usual, it is worth noting that only Microsoft can provide accurate stats about Windows 11 and 10. Unfortunately, the company refuses to provide detailed information about the market segmentation, which means developers and customers need to rely on third-party analytics from companies like AdDuplex, Statcounter, and others.

Source: AdDuplex

Windows 11 struggles to reach 20% share according to AdDuplex

GAMING HIGHLIGHTS:

• Intel® Game On Driver support for Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodhunt on Intel® 12th Generation with Xe Graphics. Get a front row pass to gaming deals, contests, betas, and more with Intel Software Gaming Access.

KEY ISSUES FIXED:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War* (DX12) may experience an application crash or pop-up error message at launch.
• Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition* (DX12) may experience minor graphical corruption in game menus or during gameplay when game settings are set to low quality.
• Elden Ring* (DX12) may experience green or red texture flashing corruption during fighting while in game.
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors] Genshin Impact* (DX11) may experience texture flickering or corruption on character models.
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors] FIFA 21* may intermittently experience a TDR or application crash when resizing the game window.
• [12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors]: FIFA 22* may experience a TDR or application crash when a match is started.
• [12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors]: TDR while running Doom Eternal* (Vulkan®) with Steam Overlay enabled.
• Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege* may experience an application crash or TDR in game or benchmark modes when game settings are set at high, very high or ultra.

KNOWN ISSUES:

• Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodhunt* may experience minor intermittent white texture flashes or corruption on some objects in game and a small number of character models may experience geometry corruption.
• 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).
• Minor graphical anomalies may be observed in Call of Duty: Warzone* (DX12), Diablo II: Resurrected* (DX12), Farming Simulator 22* (DX12), Grand Theft Auto V* (DX11), Halo Infinite* (DX12) and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy* (DX12).
• 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]: Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in CrossFire HD* (DX9), God of War* (DX11) and Hitman 2* (DX12).
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors]: Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in Gears 5* (DX12).
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors]: A TDR may intermittently occur in Halo Infinite* (DX12) during gameplay.
• [11th and 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors]: A game crash or hang may occur when changing resolution in NBA 2K21* (DX12).
• [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).
• [11th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris® Xe graphics]: An intermittent crash or hang may occur in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade* (DX12).
• [11th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris® Xe graphics]: Minor graphical anomalies may be seen in Elex* (DX11), MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries* (DX12), Strange Brigade* (DX12) and The Ascent* (DX12).
• [11th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris® Xe graphics]: 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.
• [Intel® Iris® Xe Discrete graphics]: Minor graphical anomalies may be observed in Call of Duty: Vanguard* (DX12), Enlisted* (DX11), Far Cry 6* (DX12) and Microsoft Flight Simulator*(DX11).
• [10th Generation Intel® Core™ processors with Intel UHD Graphics]: An intermittent crash or hang may be observed in Battlefield V*.
• [11th and 12thGeneration Intel® Core™ Processors]: Display’s connected via an external dock may exhibit a black screen when using 4K@60hz resolution.
• Running DirectX®11 games in fullscreen with the Windows® “Fullscreen Optimization” option disabled, may result in a black screen when modifying resolution in games.

To download the Intel 30.0.101.1934 beta driver, head over to the webpage here on Intel's official site.

Intel 30.0.101.1934 driver fixes FIFA 22 and FIFA 21 TDR crash, Elden Ring texture bug

Most home users may have no use for that, especially since Widgets, another MSN-powered service, is already a feature of the Windows 11 operating system. Microsoft announced that it would backport the Search Highlights feature to Windows 10, and launched it with KB5011543 to customer devices.

Disabling Search Highlights is easy, actually, but the feature is turned on by default. All users are exposed to it once it has been enabled by Microsoft.

Activation of the search interface displayed the highlights on the right of recent activity on the device. To give you an example of what you can expect from the feature: today, Microsoft informed me that it is National Prime Rib Day. It displayed a link to recipes, and some trending searches, which had nothing to do with the special day.

It is clear that most Windows home users have no need for that. Those who prefer local-searches only, and that is likely the majority, may turn off Search Highlights to get rid of the feature.

Users who sign-in with a work or education account may benefit more from it, as it may display files and other data from the organization.

Günter Born mentioned an addition to the feature that appears to be tested currently by Microsoft on customer devices. Instead of just displaying the search field on the Windows Taskbar, Microsoft appears to have added Search Highlights icons to the right-side of the field on some devices.

These icons represent what is important about the current day, according to Microsoft. Most Windows users may have no need for these extra icons on their taskbar, especially since they add quite a bit of color to it.

Good news is that these do not appear if you have Search Highlights disabled on your devices. Just right-click on the Windows taskbar and deselect Show Search Highlights under Search to get rid of the icons and the Search Highlights feature when opening the Search interface on the device.

As an added bonus, you do get a listing of top apps on the device, which you may then launch right away without having to run searches.

Now You:  what is your take on Search Highlights?

Those icons on your Windows Taskbar next to Search are part of Search Highlights

But while the company imposed the strict requirements on users, in the latest Windows Insider Webcast where it discussed about some of the upcoming new features in Windows 11, one of Microsoft's employees who presented the event was spotted still using an unsupported CPU.

This happened when the discussion had turned towards the Task Manager and during this, Claton Hendricks, who is a Program Manager at Microsoft, was seen sporting an Core i7-7660U processor, which is not on Microsoft's official list of supported CPUs.

Hendricks was going through a new feature-rich Task Manager that Windows 11 Insiders can look forward to soon. If you are wondering what kind of changes one can expect, the tool is set to become more colorful soon.

Via: Aathif Mahir (Twitter)

Microsoft spotted using unsupported CPU during its Windows 11 Insider Webcast program

Here’s the situation: you’re typing a report for work, and you suddenly have to write the phrase “Jones née Berkowitz.” Or you are adding a phrase in Spanish and need to use the word “años.” How do you add the special characters to the letters with your Windows 11 PC?

Special characters (also known as diacritical marks) may be more common in certain languages, but there are plenty of circumstances in which English speakers may need to use them. But because they are so rare in English, native English speakers may not have learned how to add those marks to documents, emails, or other writings. It’s not difficult to add them to your Windows document, although it’s not quite as smooth an operation as on a Mac, where all you have to do is hold the appropriate key down. (In fact, once upon a time, you would have had to look up the symbol character codes.)

Here are various ways to add special characters when you’re using a Windows 11 computer.

Use the touch keyboard

The easiest way to add diacritical marks to a document is to enable the Windows touch keyboard. (Thanks to Ed Bott from ZDNet for first leading me to this method.) The touch keyboard automatically appears if you’re using a Windows tablet or a PC in tablet mode. If you don’t have a touchscreen, you can use the keyboard icon that appears in the taskbar on the right side near the date. Don’t see it? This is how you get it:

• Click on the search icon in the toolbar and search for “touch keyboard.” Or go to Settings > Time & language > Typing > Touch keyboard.
• Check Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached.

Now, when you want to use a special character:

• Click on the touch keyboard icon. (You’ll usually find it on the right side of the taskbar.)
• The touch keyboard will appear. Long press (with your mouse button or, if you have a touchscreen, your finger) on the letter you want to use.
• You’ll now see several extra keys showing the ways you can type that letter with different symbols. Select the one you want, and it will appear on your document.
• If you want to add an emoji or a GIF, click on the emoji button. (It’s the icon with the heart located on the upper left of the keyboard.)

Use the emoji keyboard

Another keyboard that you can access and that can let you easily add special characters to your text is Windows’ emoji keyboard. Yes, it is mainly for adding emojis to your text, but it’s got other uses as well. And it’s simple to use.

• Hold down the Windows key and hit the period key.
• The emoji keyboard will pop up. Click on the symbols tab on top (the fourth from the left).

The emoji keyboard also lets you access special characters.

• Scroll down until you find the character you want. You can also jump to various types of characters by using the categories (such as “General punctuation” or “Currency symbols”) on top.

Use the character map

If you’d like to try a more old-fashioned method of adding special characters to Windows, you can use the character map, which is a less polished and more complicated version of the touch keyboard but offers a similar service.

To access it on your Windows 11 system:

• Select the search icon in your taskbar, type “character” in your search field, and then select the Character Map app.
• You’ll get a pop-up map showing a bunch of special characters for a specific font. You can change the font by clicking on the drop-down font menu at the top.

• Click on the letter(s) or special characters that you want to use in your document, and then click on the “Select” button. They’ll appear in the Characters to copy field.
• Once you’ve selected all the characters you want, click on the Copy button, and then paste the character(s) into your document.

Use the US International Keyboard

If you’re an English speaker who is multilingual and uses special characters a lot, you may want to try the US International Keyboard, which maps your keyboard to more easily allow you to add special characters. (Thanks to “shiroledat” for the tip.)

First, you need to add the US International Keyboard to Windows:

• Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & region.
• Look for Preferred languages and (assuming you’re an English speaker in the US) click on English (United States). Then select the three dots at the right and choose Language options.
• Look for the Keyboards section, which (if you’ve never been there before) will probably only contain a single keyboard icon labeled US / QWERTY. That’s the keyboard map you’re now using. Click on the Add a keyboard button to the right of Installed keyboards.

• In the pop-up menu that appears, scroll to United States-International / QWERTY and click on it.

Now, you always have the choice of using either the standard US keyboard or the US International Keyboard. You can see which one is active in the lower-right side of your taskbar near the date. It will either read ENG / US or ENG / INTL. Click on that (or just hit Windows key+space bar) and a pop-up menu will let you switch from one to the other.

The current keyboard will be shown on the right side of the taskbar; select it to change your keyboard.

The US International Keyboard gives you two ways to add a special character:

• Use the right-hand Alt key in combination with the appropriate letter to get one of the more common combinations. For example, Alt+e will result in é.
• Press the symbol you want to use and then the letter you want to use it with. For example, if you first press the ~ symbol and then the n key, you’ll get ñ.

Washington State University has published a useful chart showing all of the symbols you can get using the US International Keyboard.

Use the Unicode value

Remember the character map? If you look at the lower right-hand corner of the character map after you’ve chosen a letter or special character, you’ll see the word Keystroke followed by Alt and a four-digit number. This number represents the Unicode value of the symbol, and it’s the time-honored standard for adding characters.

If you use a few special characters consistently, it can be faster to simply add the character you want using your usual keyboard. There are several ways to do this; here are two of the easiest (each of which has its limitations):

• Press the Alt key and then type the four-digit Unicode value. For this to work, you need to have a separate number pad on your keyboard, and the NumLock key should be enabled.
• If you’re working with Microsoft Word, WordPad, Outlook, or another Microsoft app, you can type in the Unicode value and then type Alt-X.
• You can also press the Control key plus a symbol and then the letter you want to accent. For example, Ctrl+’ and e will result in é — assuming you’re in a Microsoft app.

How to type special characters on a Windows 11 PC

Now, it seems that another user experience change in development is different colors for Task Manager. For the past several iterations, the Task Manager has used a mustard or yellowish heat map to show resource utilization per service.

However, Microsoft is now working on integrating Windows 11 accent colors with the heat map as seen in the screenshot from the company's Windows Insiders latest webcast:

The Task Manager will respect accent colors as well as the overall theme of the OS, such as light or dark.

This is primarily designed to be a cosmetic change to enable Windows 11 apps to be more consistent with the overall design of the OS. It will also allow users to personalize the OS according to their liking, with the changes being propagated to Task Manager.

Microsoft has emphasized that the build shown in its webcast is not the one that will be flighted to Insiders - we do expect a build this week - but it has noted that Task Manager personalization will land in a "future build". People who appreciate the new colors in Task Manager will have their fingers crossed that this future build is the next one, ideally coming this week.

Windows 11 is getting a more colorful Task Manager

• Updates an issue that delays OS startup by approximately 40 minutes.

• Updates an issue that incorrectly aligns video subtitles.

• Displays the temperature on top of the weather icon on the taskbar.

• Updates an issue that prevents you from using the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on a maximized app window.

   

And here is the full changelog:

• New! Adds improvements for servicing the Secure Boot component of Windows.

• Addresses an issue that causes the AppX Deployment Service (AppXSvc) to stop working after you install certain MSIX apps.

• Addresses a race condition that occurs early in the startup process that might cause a stop error.

• Improves the Autopilot client to process updated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) capabilities that support self-deployment and pre-provisioning scenarios.

• Changes the timeout for Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) registration from 60 minutes to 90 minutes for hybrid Azure AD-joined Autopilot scenarios. This also addresses a race condition that causes an exception at timeout.

• Addresses an issue in which certain Point of Sale terminals experience occasional OS startup delays during restart of up to 40 minutes.

• Addresses a memory leak issue that affects Windows systems that are in use 24 hours each day of the week.

• Addresses an issue that affects the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) option 119 (Domain Search Option) by preventing the use of the connection-specific DNS Suffix Search List.

• Addresses an issue that affects the Title attribute in Microsoft Ege IE mode.

• Addresses an issue in which mobile device management (MDM) policies were not allowed on Windows Enterprise editions that were upgraded to Enterprise using Azure AD-joined subscription entitlement.

• Addresses an issue that might cause video subtitles to be partially cut off.

• Addresses an issue that incorrectly aligns video subtitles.

• Addresses an issue that causes Kerberos authentication to fail, and the error is “0xc0030009 (RPC_NT_NULL_REF_POINTER)”. This occurs when a client machine attempts to use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to another machine while Remote Credential Guard is enabled.

• Addresses an issue that causes Windows to go into BitLocker recovery after a servicing update.

• Addresses an issue that prevents retrieval of the Endorsement Key (EK) certificate from the TPM device.

• Addresses an issue that might fail to copy the security portion of a Group Policy to a machine.

• Addresses an issue that prevents the instantiation of the Microsoft RDP Client Control, version 11 and higher, inside a Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) dialog.

• Displays the temperature on top of the weather icon on the taskbar.

• Addresses an issue that prevents you from using the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on a maximized app window. This issue occurs because the Notification Center keeps the input focus.

• Addresses an issue that might occur when you use Netdom.exe or the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in to list or modify name suffixes routing. These procedures might fail. The error message is, "Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service." This issue occurs after installing the January 2022 security update on the primary domain controller emulator (PDCe).

• Addresses an issue that causes the primary domain controller (PDC) of the root domain to generate warning and error events in the System log. This issue occurs when the PDC incorrectly tries to scan outgoing-only trusts.

• Addresses an issue that occurs when you map a network drive to a Server Message Block version 1 (SMBv1) share. After restarting the OS, you cannot access that network drive.

• Addresses an issue that affects an SMB multichannel connection and might generate a 13A or C2 error.

• Addresses an issue that damages a pool when a Client-Side Caching (CSC) cleanup method fails to delete a resource that was created.

• Addresses an issue that might cause the server to lock up because the nonpaged pool grows and uses up all memory. After a restart, the same issue occurs again when you try to repair the damage.

• Reduces the overhead of resource contention in high input/output operations per second (IOPS) scenarios that have many threads contending on a single file.

   

You can either download the update through Windows Update via Settings or you can try standalone download links on Microsoft Update Catalog here.

New Windows 11 optional update (KB5012643) fixes a near-hour long startup delay bug