What is new in Edge 102.0.1235.1

Feature-wise, Edge 102.0.1235.1 does not offer much. The only visible change is a slightly improved Tab Actions menu that now lets you access tabs from other devices. With the latest update, the Tab Actions menu offers the following options: enable or disable vertical tabs, tab search, recently closed pages, add tabs to a new collection, and now tabs from other devices. If you use Edge Stable, you can access tabs from other devices in the History flyout.

Also, Microsoft added support for a management policy from mainstream Chromium to control if the JavaScript engine behavior to set timeout without 1 ms clamp is enabled.

Here is the rest of the changelog with all bug fixes and minor improvements:

Improved reliability:

• Fixed an issue where all tabs crash with an error code: FACILITY_VISUALCPP/ERROR_PROC_NOT_FOUND.
• Fixed a crash on mobile when sending feedback.
• Fixed an issue where WebView2 apps crash when setting User Data Folder Access options (Issue 2363).
• Fixed a crash on Xbox when using Tab Search.

Changed behavior:

• Improved how many types of tabs can be put to sleep.
• Reduced the number of tabs that are discarded due to memory pressure in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where Tab Search doesn’t work.
• Fixed an issue where printing and print preview sometimes doesn’t work.
• Fixed an issue where certain search engines can’t be removed from Settings.
• Fixed an issue where certain languages aren’t available in Spell Check.
• Fixed an issue where IE mode sometimes can’t be enabled or configured.
• Fixed an issue in Application Guard windows where downloads are sometimes blocked when they shouldn’t.
• Fixed an issue where work/school results don’t appear in the search engine when searching from the address bar.

Mobile:

• Fixed an issue where Top Sites can’t be edited because the edit button is too hard to hit.
• Fixed an issue where Read Aloud sometimes doesn’t highlight words that it should, or says words that it shouldn’t.
• Fixed an issue where the Read Aloud controls sometimes don’t appear in the notification shade.

Finally, Edge Dev users should beware of the following known bugs:

• 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 Edge Dev from the official website. The channel is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.

Latest Edge Dev update makes accessing tabs from other devices easier

Nvidia did not go into detail on what sort of improvements players will witness with this driver on Dune: Spice Wars, but it is a recommended install for anyone diving in on a sandworm. Following the DLSS implementation last year, Chernobylite is now sporting ray-traced reflections, translucent reflections, mesh caustics, and water caustics, which this driver is aimed at improving.

Meanwhile, support for the recent JX3 Online DLSS addition and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt’s early access launch have arrived with this driver too.

Elsewhere, The ASUS ROG XG259CM, Galaxy V1-01, and Samsung G95NA have all received G-Sync validation from Nvidia as well. For Bright Memory Infinite, Fortnite, Rust, or Valorant players, Nvidia has also introduced Reflex Stats. This offers players with compatible hardware and Geforce Experience a way to measure their system latency from in-game.

For anyone interested in behind the scenes information on how Nvidia's driver team handles updates, catch the video above.

The release notes are finally available, here are the fixed issues in this driver:

• [RTX 3050] Driver may randomly timeout and recover while using Google Chrome [3567457]
• [MSI GT83VR 6RF/GT83VR 7RF/GT83 Titan 8RG] Internal notebook monitor displays black screen after driver update. [3508108]
• Event ID 14 error when logging into Windows if Digital Vibrance setting is adjusted [3544567]
• [Vulkan]: Derivative TouchDesigner may crash processing OpenColorIO work [3575777].
• [Vulkan]: Enscape may not render correctly [3562578].
• IntelliCAD may experience instability issues [3529698].
• [Siemens Teamcenter / Siemens Tecnomatix]: resolves rendering issues when using older versions of GLSL [3513350].
• [Adobe Premiere Pro]: DirectX related crashes with recent drivers.

Known issues are these:

• [NVIDIA Ampere GPU]: With the GPU connected to an HDMI 2.1 audio/video receiver, audio may drop out when playing back Dolby Atmos. [3345965]
• Club 3D CAC-1085 dongle limited to maximum resolution of 4K at 60Hz. [3542678]

The 512.59 WHQL Game Ready driver is available for download via the GeForce Experience app and the standalone download links below. Here are the release notes.

Desktop GPUs:

US GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH
US Studio Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Notebook GPUs:

US GeForce Game Ready Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH
US Studio Driver Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

UPDATE: Added issue information from release notes.

Nvidia 512.59 WHQL driver is optimized for Dune: Spice Wars and more [UPDATE]

Instagram is testing a feature that would let users pin posts to their profile grid, according to TechCrunch.

The feature, which is currently live only for some as part of the test, allows users to highlight specific posts at the top of their profile grid. Similar to pinned tweets on Twitter or pinned videos on TikTok, highlighting individual Instagram posts at the top of a profile would allow creators to draw attention to content without asking followers to scroll down through past posts to look for it.

Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing a new feature that lets users “feature posts on their profile.” It appears the feature has been in the works for a few months, having been spotted in January by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, as TechCrunch notes.

Instagram already allows users to create story highlights that appear above profile grids, and creators often use the feature to organize popular content like Q&As, resources, event highlights, and more.

If rolled out beyond the test, it’s easy to imagine pinned posts could include popular content as well as become a new type of digital ad space for influencers working with brands to create sponsored content.

Instagram is testing pinned grid posts

This update includes many bug fixes, including those for Microsoft OneDrive, Remote Desktop, News and Interest, Azure Active Directory, and delays in booting Windows 10.

The KB5011831 cumulative update preview is part of Microsoft's April 2022 monthly "C" update, allowing admins to test upcoming fixes to be released during the May 2022 Patch Tuesday updates.

Unlike Patch Tuesday updates, the "C" preview updates are optional and do not include any security updates. However, If you run a Windows Insider build, the preview update will be installed automatically.

Windows users can install this update by going into Settings, clicking on Windows Update, and manually performing a 'Check for Updates.'

As this is an optional update, you will be asked whether you wish to install it by clicking on the 'Download and install' link, as shown in the image below.

Windows 10 users can also manually download and install the KB5011831 preview update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

What's new in Windows 10 KB5011831

After installing this update, Windows 10 20H2 will be updated to build 19042.1682, Windows 10 21H1 will be updated to build 19043.1682, and Windows 10 21H2 will be updated to build 19044.1682.

The Windows 10 KB5011831 cumulative update preview includes twenty-six improvements or fixes, with the six highlighted fixes listed below:

• New! Updates the servicing for the Secure Boot component of Windows to include new improvements.

   

• Fixes a bug that causes Internet Explorer to stop working when copying and pasting text using an IME.

   

• Fixes a bug that causes a black screen for some users when they log in and logout of Windows.

   

• Fixes a bug that causes Microsoft OneDrive to lose focus on a file after you rename it and press Enter.

   

• Fixes a bug that causes the News and Interest panel to open on its own.

   

• Fixes a bug that prevents you from changing an expired password when you log into Windows.

   

A complete list of the twenty-six fixes found in this preview update can be found in the KB5011831 support bulletin.

Windows 10 KB5011831 update released with 26 bug fixes, improvements

The full release notes are given below:

Support For

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt™.

Fixed Issues

• Display mode of 4K 120Hz may be missing on some FreeSync™ displays using some AMD Graphics Products such as Radeon™ RX 5700 XT.

Known Issues

• GPU utilization may be stuck at 100% in Radeon performance metrics after closing games on some AMD Graphics Products such as Radeon™ 570.
• Some users on Windows® 10 operating system may observe the absence of the windows transparency aero effect.
• Display may flicker black while switching tabs between video playback and gameplay on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6700 XT.
• Using Radeon™ Super Resolution on 2560x1600 resolution displays may produce a system hang. A temporary workaround is to set the display Scaling Mode to Full Panel.
• Enhanced Sync may cause a black screen to occur when enabled on some games and system configurations. Any users who may be experiencing issues with Enhanced Sync enabled should disable it as a temporary workaround.
• Radeon performance metrics and logging features may intermittently report extremely high and incorrect memory clock values.

Package Contents

The AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.4.2 installation package contains the following:

• AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.4.2 Driver Version 21.50.21.07 for Windows® 10 and Windows® 11 (Windows Driver Store Version 30.0.15021.7000).

Important Notes

• Ryzen CPU Overclock settings may be changed after resetting or importing a profile from Radeon Performance Tuning Options. Users will now be notified of the applicable devices being changed.
• AMD Software Capture and Stream features and Overlay support for Clone mode and Eyefinity display configurations will be introduced at a later date.

To download the new 22.4.2 driver, head over to the release notes page where you can find the download links for driver. You can also opt to download the driver using the Radeon Adrenalin software by choosing the "Recommended + Optional" software version. That's because the new driver is not a Microsoft WHQL-certified release.

AMD's new 22.4.2 driver fixes a FreeSync display issue, adds new CPU overclock alert

Apple released Mac PCs with its own proprietary chipset about a year and a half ago. The M1 SoC, designed by Apple engineers, has received a lot of praise. While the previous generation of Apple PCs had Intel processors, these new ARM-based chipsets operate with a completely different set of instructions.

It took Microsoft quite some time to develop a version of Microsoft Teams optimized for the Apple Silicon. Incidentally, the latest version, still in beta, is not publicly available to Teams users yet. Mac users will have to download it via Microsoft’s website.

When a macOS user will download and install the latest version of Teams from Microsoft the app will be transformed into a “Universal” app. This basically means that Microsoft Teams for Apple PCs has been tweaked to work with both Intel processors and Apple Silicon.

Until recently, Microsoft Teams for macOS would run as an “Intel application on Apple Silicon Macs”. This meant the app had to go through Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation technology. Simply put, all apps designed to work with Intel's x86 architecture, needed an emulator to function on the new ARM-based processors.

Currently, there are three categories of apps that are available for Apple computers running on the ARM-based chipset:

• iPhone and iPad apps on the Mac: These are available through the Mac App Store
• Apps that run through Rosetta 2 translation: This technology allows users to run apps made for Intel Macs on Apple Silicon.
• Universal apps: These apps are designed to work on Apple Silicon as well as Intel processors. Such apps are downloadable from the Mac App Store or from the web.

It is important to note that neither Apple nor Microsoft have confirmed the existence of a “Universal” Teams app for macOS. Moreover, being a beta version, Mac PC users could experience bugs or performance issues. However, now that a Universal App of Microsoft Teams exists, it won’t be long before the same is officially available in the stable channel.

Microsoft Teams optimized for Apple Silicon as 'Universal app' now available in beta version

Some of the new features like multi-GPU support, which comprises Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFire, are also available today but only on the Windows 11 Beta and Dev Insider channel builds.

You can find the full changelog below:

Game Bar Auto HDR Intensity Slider

Available to all Windows 11 users today if you download latest Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store.

The Auto HDR intensity slider lets you control how vivid and bright you want the colors in your game to be with Auto HDR. In games with extremely bright or dim colors, you can adjust the slider to your liking so you can get the best Auto HDR experience. If you drag the slider all the way to the left, you have the minimum intensity, which is the equivalent of turning Auto HDR off, and if you drag the slider all the way to the right you have the full intensity of Auto HDR.

To open Xbox Game Bar you can use the shortcut Win+G. To use the intensity slider, navigate to the Xbox Game Bar, then click the Settings button. Within Settings, click on the Gaming features section. Within that section you will see a button that says ‘Adjust HDR Intensity.’ When you click on that button a pop-up window with an intensity slider will appear. If you want it to stay in your Game Bar overlay, you can pin it down by pressing the pin button at the top right. This lets you control the intensity of the colors in your game.

Note that this slider only applies to games with Auto HDR and not games with existing native HDR. The level of intensity is saved per game, meaning that you can set a certain level of intensity for AHDR for a particular game and it will not affect any Auto HDR settings in other games. The next time you play the same game, the Auto HDR slider will remember your previous setting.

Below is an example in Minecraft Dungeons of adjusting the intensity of Auto HDR in the game. Notice how the red of the tarp changes in intensity.

This is an SDR video simulating the Auto HDR effect.

Game Bar Auto HDR Checkbox

Available to all Windows 11 users today if you download latest Xbox Game Bar from the Microsoft Store.

In addition to the Windows Settings app, you can also now turn on or off Auto HDR by just accessing the Xbox Game Bar within your game. Navigate to the Xbox Game Bar, then click the Settings button. Within Settings, click on the Gaming features section. Within that section you will see a checkbox that says Use Auto HDR with supported games. Make sure it is checked if you want to use Auto HDR and unchecked if you do not want to use Auto HDR. For your changes to take place, you will need to relaunch the game.

To access these new Xbox Game Bar features, you need to have a version of Xbox Game Bar that is newer than 5.721. You can download the latest version of Xbox Game Bar through the Windows Store.

Multi-GPU Compatibility

Available to Windows Insiders

In the last year, we’ve added Auto HDR support for multi-discrete-GPU setups such as Nvidia’s Scalable Link Interface (SLI) and AMD’s CrossFire in DirectX12 games. In other words, if you have a set-up that takes advantage of multiple GPUs, you can now use Auto HDR in more games. This feature is currently available in the latest Windows Insider Program build in the Dev and Beta channels. Click here to find out how you can join the Windows Insider Program.

Customize Auto HDR Notifications

Available to Windows Insiders

Finally, we heard your feedback about excessive Auto HDR notifications. If you are finding the notifications for Auto HDR distracting to your game play, you can turn off these notifications in the settings. Open the Windows Settings app, then navigate to System, and then to Notifications. There you will see a list of Notifications from apps and other senders. Find the one for Auto HDR and switch the toggle to Off if you want the notifications off. We also provide the option to change the settings so that the notification remains on but does not play a sound or show notification banners. This feature is currently available in the latest Windows Insider Program build in the Dev and Beta channels.

You can find the official announcement post here.

Microsoft releases all-new Auto HDR features for Game Bar in Windows 11

The second update that Microsoft releases is optional; it is a preview update that includes changes that will be included in the next Patch Tuesday update.  Preview updates are not installed automatically and administrators may need to run manual check for updates using the Windows Update section of the Settings app, download the updates manually, or use other update management systems to install these.

Preview updates do not include security patches for Windows. The optional updates may introduce new features in Windows, fix bugs and issues, or make changes to existing features.

The March 2022 preview update for Windows 10 version 21H2 introduced the new search highlights feature, fixed a heap leak that degraded the performance of domain controllers, and fixed a bluescreen issue on some devices when pairing Bluetooth devices.

Tip: check out Should you install Windows 10's Optional Driver updates, which provides a take on optional driver updates. It has been written for Windows 10, but is valid for Windows 11 as well.

Arguments for installing optional Windows updates

Arguments for and against the installation of preview updates exist. The installation of preview updates may fix issues that are experienced on the system. Having issues resolved weeks early is a strong argument for installing optional updates at times.

Some administrators may also use these optional updates to test the changes before they go live on the second Tuesday of the following month. Testing is limited to non-security patches though, and more testing is required to make sure that the security patches do not introduce new issues. Some users like the idea of having the latest updates installed on their devices.

Arguments against installing Windows preview updates

The main argument against installing Windows preview updates is that any update may introduce issues of its own. Why risk installing updates with issues on a system without any issues? The optional updates should be considered beta updates, as Microsoft uses Telemetry from the early distribution to spot issues that these may create on customer systems.

Preview updates may sometimes introduce changes that users may not want or like. Skipping the preview updates pushes the introduction of these changes back a few weeks.

Closing Words

Preview updates may be useful in certain situations. If they fix major issues that users experience, then it may be useful to install the updates to resolve these issues for the users. Most users may want to ignore optional updates most of the time though, as these may introduce issues of their own on the system, and because they are included in the cumulative security updates that Microsoft releases just a few weeks later.

Now You: do you install optional Windows updates?

Should you install preview updates for Windows 10 or Windows 11?

The classic context menu can be opened from that new menu, or by using shortcuts. There is also an option to restore the classic context menu in Windows 11's File Explorer, so that it opens by default.

Programs may add their entries to the new context menu, but they need to have the right programming to do so.

Windows 11 users may use the Windows app Custom Context Menu to add their custom entries to the File Explorer context menu in Windows 11. The open source program is available as a Microsoft Store application or on GitHub.

The open source application is easy to use, but it still requires some explanation. You may use it to create as many root entries as needed in the File Explorer context menu. Programs and scripts may be added to these then. You could add one entry for media, another for programming files, and a third for image and photo editing tasks.

Each entry has the following configuration options:

• Title -- the name that is displayed in File Explorer.
• Order -- the order of the item in the menu.
• Exe -- the path to the executable file.
• Param -- execution parameters.
• Icon -- the program icon.
• Match Folder -- execute on folder selections.
• Match File -- all file extensions that the item supports. Multiple entries can be added by separating them with a Space-character, e.g., .png .jpg.
• Multi Files -- support running items when multiple files are selected.

One context menu root entry is set by default. A click on the settings icon displays options to change the name of the root entry and to create new root entries. Changes need to be saved before they become available.

It is necessary to restart the explorer.exe process, restart the system, or sign out and in again to display the changes. Data is stored in a JSON file.

Closing Words

Windows 11 users who want to add new context menu entries to the new right-click Explorer menu may use Custom Context Menu to do so. The app is free and open source. The Store version has a price tag of $0.99, but an unlimited trial. Users who like the app may support the developer by making a purchase in the Store.

Now You: what is your take on the new context menu in Windows 11? (via Deskmodder)

Add Custom Context Menu items to Windows 11's File Explorer menu

The settings app has been significantly improved, but several Control Panel features are still missing.

Thankfully, Windows 11 still comes with the Control Panel and File Explorer-based advanced configuration page called "God Mode" that allows you to easily access all advanced tools, features, and tasks.

With God mode, you can view and manage advanced management features in one location and it's better than the modern settings.

Windows 11's God mode offers support for up to 206 settings and some settings could be missing if they were added in will be missing. For example, a new feature that lets you set Bing wallpapers (spotlight) as desktop background is missing, but you will still find the link to the primary settings 'Personalization' in the God mode folder.

Enable God Mode in Windows 11

To access God Mode in Windows 10, create a special shortcut folder, as highlighted in the steps below:

1. On the desktop, right-click anywhere.
2. Select “New” option and click on "Folder"

    

3. 

    

4. Right-click the new folder.
5. Rename the folder to the following command:
   GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

    

6. 

    

7. Press enter.

You can double-click on this folder to open God Mode.

God mode in Windows 11

Once done, you will be presented with a page similar to the above screenshot. As you can see, Windows 11's God mode offers a familiar experience and it also restores the classic view of File Explorer.

Extending Windows God mode capabilities

You can further customize the options with CLSID - a unique identifier to access other settings pages directly from the desktop. As you're probably aware, God mode settings are assigned to different categories. Using CLSID, you can move those categories into dedicated pages.

For example, you can create a folder with CLSID "{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}" to open Administrative Tools, such as defragmentation tool, disk format options, and more.

You can also try these values:

• Network - {F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}
• Bluetooth - {28803F59-3A75-4058-995F-4EE5503B023C}
• Mouse properties - {6C8EEC18-8D75-41B2-A177-8831D59D2D50}
• Personalization - {ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}
• Troubleshooting - {C58C4893-3BE0-4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}

Enable Windows 11's God Mode to access all settings in one screen

Many of the preinstalled apps can be removed from the Windows machine, either through Settings > Apps, PowerShell commands, or by using a program like winget, the Windows Packet Manager. The apps occupy disk space and some administrators may want to remove them to free up space on a drive

When it comes to determining the actual size these apps occupy, administrators will run into roadblocks. The Settings > Apps listing is useless for this, as many of the default Windows apps are listed with a few Kilobytes of size only.

The storage readings are not correct. The reason for the low number that is reported for preinstalled Windows apps is that these applications may be installed into multiple folders. Microsoft's Settings application returns the size of one of the folders as it ignores any other folder that stores application files.

The same is true when you run regular PowerShell commands to return application listings.

Michael Niehaus analyzed the behavior on Windows 11. He published his findings in a blog post on his website and created a PowerShell script that returns the full size of default applications on Windows systems.

The PowerShell script is available as a download. Just download the zip archive to the local system and extract it to get started.

Use the Start Menu to launch an elevated PowerShell prompt, navigate to the folder the script is stored in, and run .\Get-AppSizes.ps1 -online | Out-GridView to get the output.

Note that you need to allow the execution of third-party scripts and select "run once" when prompted to run it. Cautious users may look at the code before they run the script to make sure it is safe to run.

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | % {
# Get the main app package location using the manifest
$loc = Split-Path ( [Environment]::ExpandEnvironmentVariables($_.InstallLocation) ) -Parent
If ((Split-Path $loc -Leaf) -ieq 'AppxMetadata') {
$loc = Split-Path $loc -Parent
}
# Get a pattern for finding related folders
$matching = Join-Path -Path (Split-Path $loc -Parent) -ChildPath "$($_.DisplayName)*"
$size = (Get-ChildItem $matching -Recurse -ErrorAction Ignore | Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum).Sum
# Add the results to the output
$_ | Add-Member -NotePropertyName Size -NotePropertyValue $size
$_ | Add-Member -NotePropertyName InstallFolder -NotePropertyValue $loc
$_
} | Select DisplayName, PackageName, Version, InstallFolder, Size

The PowerShell script opens a new window, that lists each application in its own row. Each app is listed with its name, package name, install folder, version and size. The size is listed in bytes. Most apps have a size of ten Megabytes and more. Some, YourPhone, Windows Store, Windows Communication Apps, or Microsoft Teams, are much larger than that.

Closing Words

Microsoft should readjust the size readings in the Apps listing of the Settings application, as the small sizes of the installed apps give users and administrators an incorrect impression.

Now You: do you remove preinstalled apps on your machines? (via Deskmodder)

Default Windows apps have a much larger size than reported

Microsoft says that it followed a three-stage approach to Windows 11 upgrades within the organization. The first is "plan" in which the company determined how many PCs are eligible for Windows 11 based on hardware requirements. Not all devices were eligible so excluded devices stayed on Windows 10 with the expectation that employees using them will get Windows 11 hardware at their next device refresh. Microsoft used Update Compliance and Endpoint Manager's Endpoint analytics capability to evaluate the total number of machines that could update to Windows 11, and 99% of these upgrades were successful. Microsoft says that it developed a timeline and a ring-based approach to roll out the update in a staggered manner across the company.

In the second stage, which is "prepare", the idea was to excite employees about the new features and improvements coming with Windows 11. Microsoft leveraged Yammer, Teams, SharePoint, and its internal webpages to drive interest in the OS by talking about the new UI as well as the speed and flexibility of the upgrade process. Employees were also allowed to use PC Health Check to determine if their machine would be eligible for Windows 11. Power BI was used to track and visualize device statistics such as population, region, eligibility, and adoption.

Finally, in the "deploy" stage, Windows Update for Business was configured to set up policies, manage the rollout of the upgrade, and alert employees. Microsoft also used Windows Autopilot to work with OEM partners in tandem so that any new device orders come bundled with Windows 11.

Microsoft boasts that:

We count our upgrade to Windows 11 as a strong success story. We had no increase in support tickets, we had broad adoption across the company, and it was our fastest deployment in company history. We hope that sharing our story helps you tackle your Windows 11 upgrade.

You can find more details in another in-depth blog post from Microsoft here too.

Microsoft: Here are some insights into our Windows 11 upgrade process

In Aligning on mDNS: ramping down NetBIOS name resolution and LLMNR, Microsoft informs Windows system administrators that it plans to disable the old protocols in future versions of Windows to improve device security and decrease the load on the networks they use.

Microsoft is aware that there are still scenarios and "real-world deployments" in which these protocols are used, but the company is convinced that disabling the protocols by default is the right direction to take.

The company has not started the process of disabling LLMNR by default yet, but it has started the process for NetBIOS.

The NetBIOS protocol is already turned off by default on cellular devices according to Microsoft. In the latest Windows Developer and Beta Insider builds, NetBIOS is in learning mode. Learning mode means that NetBIOS is used as a fallback if mDNS and LLMNR queries fail.

The change may lead to connectivity issues in some cases. Administrators may modify a Group Policy or a Registry value to change the behavior of the protocol.

Note: the Group Policy Editor is only available on Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows. Home edition administrators may modify the behavior in the Registry.

Changing NetBIOS in the Group Policy Editor

1. Use the keyboard shortcut Windows-R to open the Run box on the system.
2. Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter; this should load the Group Policy Editor.
3. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > DNS Client.
4. Double-click on the Configure NetBIOS policy.
5. Set the policy to Enabled.
6. Use the menu that is provided "Configure NetBIOS options" to switch to one of the supported options:
   • Allow NetBIOS name resolution -- Enables full NetBIOS support.
   • Disable NetBIOS name resolution -- Turns off NetBIOS support on the device.
   • Disable NetBIOS name resolution on public networks -- Keeps NetBIOS enabled on private networks, but disables it on public networks.
   • NetBIOS learning mode -- NetBIOS is only used as a fallback if mDNS and LLMNR queries fail.
7. Select OK to save the new policy setting.

Changing NetBIOS in the Windows Registry

The same options are also available in the Windows Registry.

1. Use the keyboard shortcut Windows-R to open the run box.
2. Type regedit.exe and hit the Enter-key.
3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters in the Registry Editor.
4. Right-click on Parameters and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
5. Name the value EnableNetbios.
6. Double-click on the new Dword and set it to one of the following values:
   • 0 -- Disabled.
   • 1 -- Allowed.
   • 2 -- Disabled on public networks.
   • 3 -- Learning Mode.
7. Close the Registry Editor after you have made the change.

Closing Words

LLMNR has not been touched yet, but Microsoft plans to make similar changes to this protocol in future builds and versions of the Windows operating system.

Now You: do you use NetBIOS or LLMNR? (via Deskmodder)

Microsoft starts to phase out NetBIOS and LLMNR to focus on mDNS

Instagram’s testing out a new feature, called Templates, that will let creators make Reels by borrowing formats from other videos on the platform, according to a report from Insider (via TechCrunch). The feature appears somewhat similar to TikTok’s own templates tool, which allows creators to drop their own content into a premade sequence.

Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi spotted an early version of Templates in January, while marketing manager and influencer Josephine Hill has already gotten to experience the feature. In a screenshot posted by Hill in March, it looks like users can swap their own clips into preset frames, as well as add their own audio. This could save users from using third-party templates from sites like Canva, or having to closely follow online tutorials to achieve a specific format, something Hill pointed out to Insider.

“We are always working on new ways to make Reels simpler to create,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Insider. “We are testing the ability for you to make a reel using an existing Template from another reel.” Instagram also told Insider that it’s currently testing the feature with a small group of users. The Verge reached out to Instagram with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

The test comes as Instagram attempts to attract more creators to Reels, and addresses one of its biggest problems: TikTok reposts. Last year, Instagram said it would stop promoting Reels with TikTok watermarks, and earlier this week, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the platform would be cracking down even harder by downranking reposts. Throwing templates into the mix could make it easier to make videos on Reels and spur the creation of more original content.

Instagram is testing a way to make Reels using formats from other posts

Windows insiders eagerly wait for Microsoft to release a new Windows 11 preview build in the Dev channel with all the recently announced features. Although some new capabilities, such as Voice Clarity for the Surface Laptop Studio, are already available, the most exciting stuff in the operating system is yet to come. Windows 11 is to get a tabbed UI for File Explorer, and new evidence shows that Microsoft is getting ready to let third-party developers publish custom widgets for Windows 11 in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft says it plans to ship a new Windows 11 build in the Dev channel "early next week," so standby for a build alert after the weekend.

No new Windows 11 Insider builds today, but come for one early next week

This update is part of Microsoft's scheduled April 2022 monthly "C" updates, and it allows Windows 10 users to test the fixes released on May 10th as part of next month's Patch Tuesday.

Scheduled "C" non-security preview updates are optional, unlike regular Patch Tuesday Windows updates. They are only used to test performance improvements and bug fixes ahead of the general release, and they don't provide security updates.

To install the KB5012636 update, you have to go to Settings > Windows Update and manually 'Check for updates.' Since it's an optional update, Windows will not install it until you click the 'Download now' button.

You can also manually download and install this Windows 10 1809 cumulative update preview from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

"The preview update for Windows 11 and other supported versions of Windows 10 will be available in the near term," Microsoft said.

Fixes for system freeze problems

As already mentioned above, today's Windows 10 optional update comes with fixes for issues that trigger system freezes and crashes on some devices.

As Microsoft explained, KB5012636 addresses an issue that might cause Windows systems to stop working when applying Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policies that don't require a restart.

This update also fixes an issue that may cause servers to lock up as the nonpaged pool grows and eventually uses up all available memory. Restarts won't help fix this problem either because the system will lock up again when trying to repair the damage.

Microsoft also fixed a deadlock in the WebDav redirector when reading a file from the local TfsStore. On systems without the KB5012636 update, this bug causes the system to stop responding.

KB5012636 also addresses an issue where some Point of Sale terminals might experience infrequent OS startup delays of up to 40 minutes during restarts.

"If you installed earlier updates, only the new updates contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device," Microsoft added.

What's new in the Windows 10 KB5012636 update

After installing this non-security cumulative update preview, Windows 10 will have its build number changed to 17763.2867.

The Windows 10 KB5012636 cumulative update preview includes 26 quality improvements and fixes, including:

• Adds improvements for servicing the Secure Boot component of Windows.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Key Distribution Center (KDC) code to incorrectly return the error message "KDC_ERR_TGT_REVOKED" during domain controller shutdown.
• Addresses an issue that causes virtual computer object (VCO) password settings failure on a distributed network name resource.

Windows 10 KB5012636 cumulative update fixes freezing issues

What's new in Opera 86

Address Bar Categories

Opera has tweaked the search functionality of its Address Bar. When you type something in it, the dropdown menu that shows up will now indicate whether a displayed result is a web search, a bookmark, or an item from your browsing history.

Web searches are highlighted with a magnifying glass icon, along with the name of your default search engine. Pages in your History and Bookmarks are displayed at the bottom of the panel, and are listed under their respective categories. Tabs that are open and match the keyword, can be identified easily as they have a "Switch to tab" button.

Tip: If you don't like the new addition, you may turn it off from the Experimental Settings page. Head over to opera://flags. Look for the option labeled "Address bar dropdown categories", its value is set to Default[E]. Set it to disabled, and it will restore the old address bar sans the categories.

The results from Bookmarks don't appear reliably for me.

Text Snapshot

Opera browser's snapshot tool can now create screenshots based on text selection. To use it, simply select some text on a webpage. You will need to select three or more words to trigger the option. Click on the Snapshot option that appears in the pop-up panel.

This will create a new snapshot that contains the text you highlighted in it.

The browser will open its snapshot editor,  that you can use to modify the image, add some effects to it, etc. It allows you to save the image to your computer as a PNG file, copy it to the clipboard, add it to Pinboards, or share it on social media websites.

Crop Tool

The Snapshot editor in Opera has a new tool that can be used for cropping images after taking a screenshot. This can come in handy to edit out unwanted elements like buttons, borders, YouTube seek bar, etc, from an otherwise nice screenshot. The button for the new editing option is located at the right edge of the toolbar.

Crypto Wallet

The Opera Crypto Wallet has been renamed to just Crypto Wallet. It offers a sidebar panel that you can use to manage cryptocurrency transactions. It is not enabled by default, and can be toggled from the browser's Settings > Advanced > Crypto Wallet. The flag setting for this feature is called Native Crypto Wallet.

The company has been pushing forward in the cryptocurrency arena, last week it released the Opera Crypto Browser for iOS. The Web3 browser debuted in January 2022, for Windows, Mac and Android.

Fixes in Opera 86

The Switch to Tab button that appears in the address bar should no longer jump to a wrong tab. Hitting the space bar will not display a blank suggestions panel. Autocompleted text will be displayed in the address field after the suggestion has been removed by the user.

The Opera 86 update is based on Chromium 100.0.4896.127. You can download the latest version for Windows, macOS or Linux from the official website.

Horizontal Tab Scrolling which was introduced in the Opera 86 dev channel build, is yet to make its way to the stable channel, though you can toggle a flag to enable it.

Opera 86 brings URL categories in Address Bar, Text Snapshot and Crop Tool

Frontpaged:   Opera 86.0.4363.23

Here is what the roadmap says about Microsoft Teams coming soon to the Microsoft Store:

Microsoft Teams app for work, school and life will soon be available to download from Microsoft store. This app will support work, school and consumer accounts on Windows 10 and Work or school accounts on Windows 11.

Judging from the description, Microsoft does not plan to make Teams less confusing than it currently is. As of now, Microsoft provides two versions of Teams: one "regular" version you can download from the official website and one built-in Windows 11. Microsoft positions the latter as an alternative to mainstream messaging platforms and voice/video calling solutions for regular customers.

Windows 10 has no built-in Teams capabilities, which means the upcoming Microsoft Store version will allow regular customers to use the app for their daily home needs. Windows 11 users, on the other hand, will have to stick to the built-in Chat app you can find on the taskbar.

The Chat app on the taskbar in Windows 11

Moving the app to the Microsoft Store is not the only thing the company prepares for Teams. Microsoft is working on calendar statuses and the ability to enable Together mode for all participants. These capabilities are among the most requested features by Microsoft Teams users.

Microsoft Teams is coming soon to the Microsoft Store

Flags are toggles you can turn on or off to modify, enable, or disable features that are not ready for the public. For example, blocking media autoplay on all websites in Edge requires switching on one of such experimental flags.

Microsoft Edge 102, which is currently available for testing in the Canary channel, now comes with a new experimental flag called "Show experimental appearance settings." It lets you preview early appearance settings in the browser. Unfortunately, it appears that the new flag does not offer much, and no new settings pop in Edge after enabling it.

The only new option in the appearance settings is the ability to let sidebar apps show notifications, but this toggle seems unrelated to experimental appearance settings managed by the flag.

Another improvement in the latest Edge Canary version is a better "Manage search engines". Edge users now can remove default search engines from the browser. Google introduced this feature in Chrome 99, and it has now arrived in Edge 102.

In case you missed it, here are other new features currently under testing in Edge Canary:

• The option to auto-save passwords without prompting the user
• The option to pause all extensions on all websites or automatically
• The option to save tab groups as bookmarks
• Link handling in progressive web apps

If you want to try early changes in Microsoft Edge Canary, download the browser from the official Microsoft Edge Insider website. Keep in mind that Edge Canary may be more buggy than the public release, so it is better to use it side-by-side with the Stable version.

Thank you, Leopeva64-2, for the tip!

Edge Canary now allows enabling experimental appearance settings

Canonical has finally pushed "go" on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, making the Linux distribution generally available and a handy update for careful users still running 20.04 LTS.

Ubuntu's last Long Term Support (LTS) edition was 2020's Focal Fossa (20.04), which will stay on standard support until April 2025 and eventually shuffle past End of Life in April 2030. Two years on and Jammy Jellyfish has arrived, bringing with it plenty of visual improvements as well as tweaks under the hood.

Cosmetically, the default desktop wallpaper reflects the latest witty Ubuntu product name and the product's new logo is present and correct. However, those upgrading from 20.04 LTS will find a number of changes to the environment; as well as accent colors that are easier to set and inevitable dark mode enhancements, the arrival of GNOME 42 (and its screenshotting improvements) have made for a slicker, if not revolutionary, desktop appearance.

Missing, however, is the new Flutter-based installer. During a briefing Oliver Smith, product manager for Ubuntu Desktop, said "the timing didn't quite work out for this release" and noted that while development has gone "really well," confidence levels were not high enough to put the code on something the company was going to have to support for five years. "We will be releasing a build of 22.04 that does feature the new installer for people to try out," he said.

But for the LTS edition, prudence ruled and "we played it a little bit safe."

The update also includes LTS support for the Raspberry Pi. While Pi support has existed since 20.10's Groovy Gorilla, desktop performance could charitably be described as leisurely. 22.04 LTS rattles along at a considerably better rate on the diminutive computer.

In response to a question from The Register, Smith attributed the improvements to GNOME optimizations, triple-buffering techniques ("a way of sort of queuing up frames to keep that the frame rate nice and high"), and changes in swapping.

One notable improvement is that the Ubuntu desktop can now be coaxed into life on hardware as lowly as the 2GB Pi, although in our experience the Raspberry Pi OS continues to be the performance champ on such kit. Still, having access to the Ubuntu environment over such a range of hardware is not to be sniffed at (and there is a certain pleasure to be had in seeing a software vendor actually reduce hardware requirements).

"With Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, the entire recent Raspberry Pi device portfolio is supported for the very first time, from the new Raspberry Pi Zero 2W to the Raspberry Pi 4", said Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading.

At the other end of the hardware scale lies Azure, AWS, and Oracle. Canonical was keen to trumpet Ubuntu as "the only Linux distribution supporting Azure Confidential VMs" and highlighted optimized images for AWS Graviton. Bo English-Wiczling, senior director of Developer Relations at Oracle, said: "With Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, developers get a highly optimized operating system and kernel with excellent boot speed, security and stability."

As with the majority of updated Linux distributions, the software in the box has had a few updates, with newer versions of the likes of Python and OpenSSL. More significantly, the Linux kernel was bumped up to the 5.15 LTS release.

Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth praised the work the team had done on 22.04 LTS and said: "We are on track to float the business. I now am pretty confident that we will do that in 2023."

Canonical Group Limited declared $138 million in revenue for the year to December 31, 2020, and while he would not give a forecast for 2022, Shuttleworth did say: "We've topped $175 million in revenue last year."

Shuttleworth also noted the challenges of company growth in terms of staff and pointed to 110,000 job applications fielded by Canonical in 2021. One can but hope that all were not required to recall their high-school days. ®

Source

Find the full changelog below:

Appearance

• Our Maximize/Restore button is now a fine round boi (#12660)

Accessibility

• The profile list in the Settings UI now offers tooltips for long profile names (#12448)
• We'll automatically focus the window renamer textbox when it opens (#12798)
• High contrast will no longer result in a ridiculous and bad titlebar color (#12839)
• When you delete a color scheme, we'll move focus back to the color scheme list (#12841)
• Two instances of huge debug log spam with a screen reader connected have been stamped out (#12698) (#12723)

Usability

• We've added some text to the color schemes page indicating that it is for editing--not setting--color schemes (#12663)
  • We're working to refine how color schemes are set and edited, so stay tuned for future improvements!
• The retro terminal effect (as well as other shaders) will now work on pre-D3D11 hardware! (#12677)
• Terminal will once again render properly when you move between different-DPI displays (#12713) (#12749)
• Resizing the window while a background color or underline is displayed will no longer smear it across the whole screen (#12637) plus a fix for a huge crash that PR introduced (#12853)
• It took us three releases to get it right, but we've finally solved the issue where we'd punch a hole straight through the Terminal when a dialog appeared (#12840)

Reliability

• There was an issue on Windows 11 where Terminal would queue up billions of animations while the screen was off; it will now no longer do so (#12820)
• We've fixed crashes in ProposeCommandline (#12838), Monarch::_GetPID (#12856) and other parts of WT's RPC infrastructure (#12825)
• On Windows 10, the settings UI will no longer sometimes crash on close (we've updated to a new build of WinUI 2 for the fix!) (#12847)

Miscellaneous

• Windows will no longer reject certain Terminal updates/reinstalls due to "differing package content" (#12779)
• Fragments can once again override the names of generated profiles (#12627)
• An issue from the 1073 series, where you could not upgrade the bundle using DISM, has been resolved (#12819)
  • As a result, our bundle version is now over three thousand!
• @dmezh contributed some wording changes to the text about transparency/opacity (#12592) (#12727) (thanks!)
• Some trailing commas that broke the JSON Schema document are no longer trailing, or present at all (#12644) (thanks @sowmya-hub!)

You can download the Windows Terminal Preview v1.13.1098 by heading over to GitHub here or from the Microsoft Store here.

Windows Terminal Preview 1.13.1098 fixes Windows 11 queue issue, ContentDialog bug, and more

Alongside these, Terminal v1.12.1098 brings several bug fixes and other changes and improvements. The full changelog is given below:

Changes

• The refreshed Windows 11 UI from the 1.13 preview builds is now available in 1.12!

Bug Fixes

• Appearance
• Our Maximize/Restore button is now a fine round boi (#12660)

Accessibility

• The profile list in the Settings UI now offers tooltips for long profile names (#12448)
• We'll automatically focus the window renamer textbox when it opens (#12798)
• High contrast will no longer result in a ridiculous and bad titlebar color (#12839)
• When you delete a color scheme, we'll move focus back to the color scheme list (#12841)
• When you delete a profile, we will re-focus the delete button automatically (#12558)
• Two instances of huge debug log spam with a screen reader connected have been stamped out (#12698) (#12723)

Usability

• We've added some text to the color schemes page indicating that it is for editing--not setting--color schemes (#12663)
• We're working to refine how color schemes are set and edited, so stay tuned for future improvements!
• The retro terminal effect (as well as other shaders) will now work on pre-D3D11 hardware! (#12677)
• Terminal will once again render properly when you move between different-DPI displays (#12713) (#12749)
• Resizing the window while a background color or underline is displayed will no longer smear it across the whole screen (#12637) plus a fix for a huge crash that PR introduced (#12853)
• It took us three releases to get it right, but we've finally solved the issue where we'd punch a hole straight through the Terminal when a dialog appeared (#12840)

Reliability

• Typing an invalid background image path into the Settings UI will no longer send Terminal to a farm upstate (#11542) (thanks @serd2011!)
• There was an issue on Windows 11 where Terminal would queue up billions of animations while the screen was off; it will now no longer do so (#12820)
• We've fixed crashes in ProposeCommandline (#12838), Monarch::_GetPID (#12856) and other parts of WT's RPC infrastructure (#12825)
• On Windows 10, the settings UI will no longer sometimes crash on close (we've updated to a new build of WinUI 2 for the fix!) (#12847)

Miscellaneous

• Windows will no longer reject certain Terminal updates/reinstalls due to "differing package content" (#12779)
• Fragments can once again override the names of generated profiles (#12627)
• An issue from the 1073 series, where you could not upgrade the bundle using DISM, has been resolved (#12819)
  • As a result, our bundle version is now over three thousand!
• @dmezh contributed some wording changes to the text about transparency/opacity (#12592) (#12727) (thanks!)

You can download Windows Terminal v1.12.1098 package(s) on to its GitHub page here or from the Microsoft Store here.

Windows Terminal v1.12.1098 brings refreshed Windows 11 UI, fixes Windows 10 crash issue

The full announcement says:

We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 22598.200 (KB5014105). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline for builds in the Dev and Beta Channels.

Hence, all the bug fixes and improvements that were announced with the earlier released build 22598 to the Dev Channel as well as the Beta channel are carried over into this. The build has loads of new features as we are now moving into the next phase of Windows 11 in preparation for version 22H2.

Interestingly, while there are no new changes made in this build, servicing test builds like these before have been known to break some features. For example, Windows 10 Build 21292.1010 caused issues for x64 emulation on ARM PCs.

Our original announcement and full changelog for this build can be found here.

Windows 11 servicing build 22598.200 (KB5014105) released for Dev and Beta Insiders

You can find the full changelog below:

Added features:

• Added a management policy to control if the Network Service Sandbox is Enabled. Note that disabling the Network process sandbox is an increased security risk, and updates to documentation and administrative templates may not have occurred yet.

Improved reliability:

• Fixed a crash on startup.
• Fixed a crash on launch on Mac when certain pages are restored during startup.
• Fixed a crash when enabling Rewards.

Mobile:

• Fixed a crash when interacting with the address bar.
• Fixed a crash when interacting with popups.
• Fixed a crash when using Read Aloud.
• Fixed a crash in WebView2 apps when their window position changes (Issue 1531).

Changed behavior:

• Reduced the amount of duplicate autofill entries that are saved in Settings.
• Improved the number of forms that get autofilled accurately.
• Fixed an issue where autofilling travel data sometimes results in dates being filled incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where dropdowns in PDF forms sometimes can’t be interacted with.
• Fixed an issue where the Setting to control the Picture in Picture button isn’t available.
• Fixed an issue where searching for a setting makes the Settings page go blank.
• Fixed an issue where certain Settings pages like the Profile Preferences page are blank.

Mobile:

• Fixed an issue where the webpage sometimes goes blank.
• Fixed an issue where Read Aloud is unexpectedly disabled.
• Fixed an issue where Read Aloud sometimes unexpectedly stops and can’t be restarted.
• Fixed an issue where copy/paste sometimes doesn’t work.
• Fixed an issue where copy/paste sometimes works when it shouldn’t because it’s restricted via management policy.
• Fixed an issue where certain management policies like for setting the Homepage don’t work.

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 find the official blog post here.

Microsoft Edge Dev 102.0.1227.0 fixes many crash issues, adds new Sandbox policy, and more

Autoplaying videos and audio are among the most annoying aspects of the modern web. Here is how to prevent Microsoft Edge from playing video automatically on all websites.

Disable video autoplay in Edge

Microsoft Edge has a built-in setting for managing media autoplay. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to disable video autoplay in Edge by default. Instead, it offers two options: Limit and Allowed. The first option allows more relaxed and flexible control over media autoplay. For example, the browser may let videos play automatically on websites you have previously visited. The second option is self-explanatory.

There is also a third option to block audio and video autoplay on all websites with no exceptions. That is what most users want when they google "how to disable video autoplay in Microsoft Edge." Here is how to enable it.

1. Launch Microsoft Edge and open the edge://flags page.
2. Find the "Show block option in autoplay settings" flag and set it to Enabled.

   

3. Restart the browser to apply changes.
4. Once back in Microsoft Edge, open the main menu and click Settings.
5. Go to Cookies and site permissions > Media Autoplay. You can also get to this page using the edge://settings/content/mediaAutoplay link.

   

6. Select Block from the "Control if audio and video play automatically on sites" drop-down list.

   

7. Refresh any open websites to apply changes.

It is worth noting that the solution is not perfect, and some websites can bypass settings in the browser using tricky players and controls. For such scenarios, you might need to resort to third-party extensions, but you need to consider security implications and ensure you trust the developer.

Note: Using an experimental flag from the edge://flags page implies that Microsoft, at some point, might remove the option for blocking video autoplay or make it available by default with no additional configuration required.

How to add exceptions to autoplay settings in Edge?

Sometimes you may want Edge to autoplay videos. For example, on YouTube or any other website.

1. Launch Microsoft Edge and go to Settings.
2. Click Cookies and site permissions > Media autoplay.
3. Find the "Allow" section and press the Add button.

   

4. Enter a website you want to allow to play videos or audio without additional interactions.

   

5. Click Add to save changes.

That is how you disable video autoplay in Microsoft Edge and make your browsing experience significantly better.

How to disable video autoplay in Microsoft Edge