Throughout a new blog post, Google outlined a number of enhancements that AI is making to their Google Maps service, including how it might just make worrying about a business’ hours a thing of the past. 

Currently, the hours displayed under a business in Google Maps can be frustratingly inaccurate, as it relies on the owner of the business or ‘local guides’ to suggest and update the correct hours in a process that is surprisingly easy yet rarely ever done. 

Thankfully this annoyance may be a concern of the past, as in the blog post, Google explained how they will now be utilizing machine learning to detect if a business’ hours are likely wrong before instantly updating them with AI-generated predictions. 

According to the blog post, through the use of this machine learning and the AI-generated predictions, Google will be able to “update the hours for over 20 million businesses around the globe in the next six months.”

Additionally, Google is also “experimenting” with other uses for AI and imagery within Google Maps, such as using it to give accurate and up-to-date speed limit information for roads in your town.

Google is using AI to make Google Maps more accurate

In a support document, Microsoft says that Windows 10 20H2 (also known as the October 2020 Update) will reach EOS for Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations users. 

It's also worth mentioning that Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions will reach end of servicing one year later, on May 9, 2023.

Redmond also revealed in a separate announcement that Windows 10 1909 Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions would also reach EOS next month (Windows 10 1909 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations already did last May).

"The May 2022 security update, released on May 10, is the last update available for these versions," Microsoft explained on Friday.

"After that date, devices running these editions will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates containing protections from the latest security threats."

Forced updates before reaching EOS

Until these Windows 10 1909 and 20H2 editions reach EOS, Microsoft will force feature updates on consumer devices and non-managed business devices via Windows Update.

This ensures that devices quickly approaching EOS will keep receiving critical monthly updates, security updates, and improvements.

You can find more info regarding end of service dates for supported versions of Windows in the Windows Lifecycle FAQ, the Windows 10 Servicing Frequently Asked Questions, and the Lifecycle Policy search tool.

The company also provides its customers with a complete list of all products ending support or that will be retired this year. 

Windows 10 21H2 force rollout

On January 21, 2022, Microsoft announced that it had started a forced deployment of Windows 10 21H2 to more devices reaching EOS.

Windows 10 21H2 is also rolling out to seekers — Windows users who manually check for updates — on Windows 10 2004 and higher via a quick update experience similar to monthly updates.

If you have a device running a Windows 10 version nearing EoS and you're not offered an update to Windows 10 21H2, you should manually check for one through Windows Update.

Windows 11 21H2 is also in broad deployment since January 27 and is now available to all customers with eligible devices via Windows Update.

"As always, we recommend that you update your devices to the latest version of Windows 10 or upgrade eligible devices to Windows 11 to take advantage of the latest features and advanced protections from the latest security threats," Microsoft said in January.

You can check if your device is eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade with the PC Health Check app or by comparing your system's specs with the Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements page.

If you want to upgrade to the latest Windows version, follow this guided walk-through to fix any errors encountered during the update process or use this support document to troubleshoot any update problems you may experience.

Microsoft: Windows 10 20H2 reaches end of service next month

Google Maps brings traffic-light and stop-sign icons to navigation

For starters, Meet will show you a prompt to exit meetings when you're the only one present in the meeting. This will trigger when you're alone for five minutes after which you'll receive a prompt asking you to confirm your intentional presence. If you don't click "Keep waiting" within two minutes, Meet will automatically remove you from the meeting. Google says that the rationale behind this feature is to prevent the accidental sharing of audio or video if you forget to drop off from a meeting.

The second capability coming to Meet is the consolidation of the "Host controls" menu so its easier for hosts and co-hosts to manage meetings rather than jumping across several menu screens to fine-tune the end-user experience.

Auto-exit of meetings is planned for Android, iOS, and desktop devices, whereas the Host controls menu is being developed only for desktop devices. The former is available to Workspace, legacy G Suite, and personal Google accounts. On the other hand, Host controls are available to all users. No admin action is required for either of the capabilities but end-users can disable auto-exits if they want; they will be enabled by default. The capabilities will arrive within this month for Rapid Release domains but may take some more time on Scheduled Release domains.

Google Meet will automatically remove you from meetings if you're the only one there

Apple’s iWork 12.0 adds new features to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote

Setting OneDrive as the default folder allows opening OneDrive right when you click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar or elsewhere. Previously, Windows 11 allowed opening File Explorer only on "Home" or "This PC." To change the "home page" to OneDrive, do the following:

1. Open File Explorer and click the button with three dots on the toolbar.
2. Select Options to open a new "Folder Options" window.

   

3. Pick OneDrive from the "Open File Explorer to" list.

   

4. Click Ok to save the changes.

After that, you can get to the OneDrive folder with fewer clicks by simply pressing Win + E or using a shortcut on the taskbar. Still, "Home" remains the default option, and you are free to use whatever you prefer. Unfortunately, Microsoft currently does not allow you to set a custom folder as the default (at least not officially).

Note: Microsoft says some Windows insiders may notice undocumented changes and experimental new features not intended for public release. That means some new capabilities may be temporary and will not make it to the final build as Microsoft tests the waters. Do not be surprised if Microsoft removes the option to set OneDrive as the default folder in future updates.

Microsoft is on track to release significant upgrades for File Explorer in Windows 11. In addition to the upcoming tabbed UI (learn how to force-enable it here), the company renamed the Quick Access section to "Home" and introduced the option to add files to favorites for quick access.

Windows 11 22H2 now lets you make File Explorer open OneDrive on launch

Sleeping Tabs is a feature Microsoft introduced in late 2020. It allows reducing the resource strain by offloading idling tabs without closing them. And when you go back to a sleeping tab, the browser awakens it almost instantly. Sleeping Tabs significantly reduce the amount of RAM Edge consumes, plus the feature improves the battery life by lowering the strain on the CPU.

In Edge 100, Microsoft has made Sleeping Tabs more effective. The company says its browser now can put to sleep web pages that share a browsing instance with other tabs. This change lets Edge put to sleep up to 8% more pages, resulting in a more efficient and resource-savvy experience. According to Microsoft, each sleeping page on average can save up to 85% of memory and 99% CPU resources.

Sleeping Tabs is a great feature to keep Edge in check and ensure it does not obliterate every bit of available memory. You can personalize Sleeping Tabs by selecting a timeout and creating a list of exceptions (some websites may break when you enable Sleeping Tabs). Besides, the Performance flyout on the toolbar provides an overview with details about how much RAM Sleeping Tabs save you.

Source: Microsoft.

Microsoft highlights improvements for Sleeping Tabs in Edge 100

Chrome's Senior Engineering Director Max Christoff has noted that although the company has always prioritized browser performance during development, a key focus moving forward will also be increasing efficiency so that your mobile or laptop doesn't run out of battery super-fast while using Chrome.

Other executives also described how user privacy and security is paramount to the company. This goes hand in hand with Google's recent announcement of building a Privacy Guide to explain online safety settings.

Chrome's UX Director Alex Ainslie talked about building a human-centric design through features like password autofill and tab groups. Meanwhile, Group Product Manager RK Popkin discussed the importance of an inclusive experience through neural machine translations, live captions, DevTools accessibility tree, and collaboration with underrepresented groups.

Senior Staff Developer Advocate & Lead of Chrome Developer Relations Paul Kinlan mentioned how Google has supported the free, open-source Chromium project, which now powers multiple other projects from other vendors such as Edge from Microsoft:

As a web developer before joining Google, I was fascinated with Chrome because it was the first open source browser project (the project itself is called Chromium) and built on web standards, meaning anyone could contribute and improve it. Today, Chromium powers many of the most popular browsers, including Microsoft Edge and Amazon Silk, while also enabling the web to be built into Android apps, TVs and VR headsets. Thanks to our commitment to shorten the release cycle and ship a new version of Chrome more often, we’re now able to make improvements and fix issues quicker, and projects like Interop 2022 will help enable web developers to build experiences that work everywhere.

Finally, Google executives have talked about their learnings from deploying Chrome across organizations and schools, improvements to the Search experience, and making sure that the content you would like to view is more discoverable.

Google has noted that its goal in the past years and the years to come involves working with "the larger ecosystem to drive innovation on the web forward and build a user and developer experience that helps people and developers get things done". You can keep track of upcoming Chrome versions and their respective feature-sets here.

Google: Here are all the things we learned while building 100 major versions of Chrome

u/MSFT-SAM, a member of the Microsoft Photos app team, published on Reddit a prototype of a new PowerToys module called Peek. This project aims to provide users with "a lightning-fast file preview feature for Windows." PowerToys Peek should let you select any file in File Explorer and press dedicated keys to preview the file without opening another app.

A prototype of the PowerToys Peek utility.

PowerToys Peek, in a nutshell, is an alternative take on a popular third-party app QuickLook from the Microsoft Store. But, unlike QuickLook, which allows previewing files with the Spacebar key, you would need to use a key sequence to trigger Peek. That is because PowerToys does not allow single-key shortcuts. On the upside, PowerToys would let you create custom shortcuts to preview files, and additional customizability is always a plus.

For now, PowerToys Peek is just a prototype, and the demo displays how the tool works with images only. Still, it shows great potential as the prototype reduced image opening time from 400ms with the Photos app to 40ms with Peek.

The developer wants users to provide feedback and share their ideas for future improvements and early implementations in PowerToys. You can share your thoughts about PowerToys Peek in the comments below or the original post on Reddit.

Microsoft PowerToys may soon get one of the best macOS features

Waterfox G4 is compatible with SSE 4.1 processors again

There was an uproar among users in the Waterfox community when G4 debuted last year, and removed support for SSE 4.1 compatible processors. This meant that computers would need to be upgraded to an SSE 4.2 chipset to use the browser, which is not exactly convenient for those on a tight budget, or relying on old hardware that cannot be upgraded easily without replacing other components. Users with a computer powered by an SSE 4.1 CPU can rejoice now, as Waterfox G4.1.10 once again supports the legacy systems. The reduction in the minimum system requirements was mentioned in the release notes for the latest version.

Tab Unloading in Waterfox G4

Waterfox G4 will unload idle tabs automatically when your computer is low on memory. You can optionally enable a setting to "Show unload tab menu item" in the tab context menu, which you can use to unload tabs manually.

This is similar to what the popular add-on Auto Tab Discard does.

Startpage is the default search engine in Private Tab and Private Window

There is an important change that Waterfox G4 brings, Startpage is the default search engine for Private Tabs and Private Windows. This is an unusual move, but not altogether surprising considering that Waterfox was acquired by System1, and the company has a stake in Startpage.com.

What does this mean for users? Let's say a user has DuckDuckGo as their main search engine, and updates to Waterfox G4.1.10. When they run a query, the browser will not use DuckDuckGo for the search, and will instead use StartPage for the task. This can be an issue for those who don't like the service, or are fans of other search engines. That said, this isn't a big problem, because you can switch to a different search engine quite easily.

How to change the default Private Search Engine in Waterfox

1. Head to Waterfox's Preferences page.

2. Click on "Search" in the sidebar.

3. A couple of new settings are available in Waterfox G4.1.0, under the default search engine section.

4. If you use a different search engine, as your main provider in regular browsing, just enable the box next to "Use this search engine in Private Windows", and Waterfox will respect the preference, and use it for searches in Private browsing mode.

Alternatively, you can set a different search engine for Private Windows using the drop-down menu. This allows you to use two search engines, one for regular browsing and another for incognito mode.

Disable Automatic Updates for Waterfox

Users can now disable automatic updates for the browser from the about:preferences#general page's Waterfox Updates section. Toggle the option to "Never check for updates" This can be useful in specific user scenarios, e.g. if you only want to update the application manually, or when an extension stops working with a new version, or a site becomes incompatible, or if you simply want to wait a few days before upgrading the browser.

Fixes in Waterfox G4.1.0

The about:addons page now lists the version numbers to the name of the extensions. Chrome Web Store extensions are once again compatible with Waterfox. A bug that was causing the back and forward buttons on mice to trigger middle-click has been patched. Non-Private tabs should no longer be restored as private tabs.

There are currently no known issues in Waterfox G4.1.0. The browser didn't detect the update for me, and said G4.0.8 was up-to-date, I had to install it manually. You can download the latest version from its official site or the GitHub repository.

What do you think about the changes in Waterfox G4.1.0?

Waterfox G4.1.0 update reduces requirement to SSE 4.1, sets Startpage as the default search engine for Private Tabs

With the new Upgrade Tool, users will interact with a fully graphical program that checks everything is ready for the upgrade to begin such as having enough storage space and that you’re connected to AC power. Further, it preserves your update mirrors and custom repos where possible so that you don’t have to mess about. If there are any orphaned packages or issues with your repos, you’ll be notified and be given Fix buttons to address the issues.

The Upgrade Tool will first be available for LMDE 4 users looking to move to LMDE 5 before August when LMDE 4 reaches end of life. It will also be available for those on Linux Mint 20.3 to upgrade to Linux Mint 21 "Vanessa". The plan is to release the tool as fast as possible but it’s still considered an alpha product. It will undergo a short beta phase before being graduated to general availability.

Not being able to upgrade easily between major Linux Mint versions was the only thing really the matter with Linux Mint but with this tool, the problem is gone and puts it on a more equal footing with the other user-friendly Linux distribution, Ubuntu.

Linux Mint will allow you to perform easy upgrades between major versions with Upgrade Tool

Less experienced users and newcomers to the Windows Insider program might get a little puzzled by an unexpected side-effect: a permanent desktop watermark. Do not panic. These watermarks do not mean your Windows license is void.

Modern Windows versions sometimes display permanent messages with critical notifications right on the desktop. For example, disabling signature enforcement will result in your system showing a "Test Mode" message in the bottom-right corner. Also, Microsoft uses desktop watermarks to notify users of older hardware that their computers do not meet the minimum hardware requirements to run Windows 11. Finally, Windows copies without valid license keys show a reminder to activate the OS.

In the release notes for the latest build 22593 — now available in Beta and Dev — Microsoft clarifies that early versions of Windows in the Insider program do not change the licensing of your device. To ensure your Windows copy is still activated, do the following:

1. Press Win + I to open the Settings app.
2. Go to System > Activation.
3. Click Activation state to see details of your license.

It is also worth noting that the Windows Insider program is not a loophole to get a free copy of Windows. You still need a valid activation key to keep the system running without interruptions.

Finally, Microsoft notes that you cannot use preview versions of Windows indefinitely. Early Windows builds in Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels, unlike stable releases, have expiry dates, which means you need to update to a newer version or a stable build sooner or later.

Installing a preview version of Windows 11 will not break your license key. Still, you need to beware of bugs Microsoft is yet to fix. If you are not ready for potential software issues or instabilities, better stay on the stable release and wait for Microsoft to release the first feature update for Windows 11 in the coming months.

PSA: Desktop watermarks in preview Windows 11 builds do not mean your license is void

Microsoft has kept its word and released an all new Build 22593 to both Beta and Dev Channels, and similar to other recent builds, this one too comes with many changes, and fixes. You read about it below:

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• [REMINDER] As described in our in our blog post here, Windows Insiders who use the Dev Channel may get to try out new ideas, longer lead features, and experiences that may never get released. In this build, a limited set of Insiders will see the first of these experimental features as we explore additional ways to help people discover and get quick access to content they care about on the web with the Windows search box. If you see some of these concepts, be sure to let us know what you think via Feedback Hub (Win + F) and choose category Desktop Environment > Search.
• Updated WIN + X so that if Windows Terminal is installed the menu will include an entry for Terminal, and in cases where Windows Terminal is uninstalled it will display Windows PowerShell.

[File Explorer]

• The default homepage of File Explorer is now called Home. The name Quick access has been repurposed for the pinned/frequent folders section and Pinned files is now called Favorites to align with Office and OneDrive.

• Recent and pinned files displayed in Home are now searchable using the search box in File Explorer even if they are not local files, so you can find Office files recently shared with you.

[Input]

• Microsoft Journal is now pinned by default on the Pen menu. If you don’t have the app installed, it will be installed from the Microsoft Store if chosen on the Pen menu.

[Windowing]

• If you press WIN + Z to open snap layouts, all the layouts will now show associated numbers, so you can quickly use the number keys to select the desired layout.

[Focus]

• Added 5-minute increments for everything under a half hour to focus session length options.

[Windows Security]

• Memory integrity is a feature in Windows 11 designed to prevent attacks from inserting malicious code into high-security processes. This feature can be found in Windows Security under Device Security > Core isolation. In the most recent Insider Preview builds, we will notify the user that this feature is currently turned off so that action can be taken for the user to turn it back on so that their device is as secure as possible against malicious attacks.

[Input]

• Updated the ADLaM keyboard layout to add access to brackets and ADLaM Hamza. To access these:
  • Right Alt + \ will now input »
  • Right Alt + | will now input «
  • Right Alt + Shift + [ will now input {
  • Right Alt + Shift + ] will now input }
  • Ctrl + Shift + ; will now input the Hamza character
• Updated the Pashto keyboard layout so that ې and ئ are now directly accessible on the keyboard. Accessing ظ and ط is now done by holding Shift and pressing the aforementioned letters, respectively.

Here are all the bug fixes in Build 22593:

[General]

• Fixed a few more issues impacting explorer.exe reliability in recent flights.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue where app icons were unexpectedly animating in from the upper left when launching a new app.
• Improved the performance of rearranging taskbar icons.
• Addressed an issue in the previous flight leading to duplicate app icons after closing and re-opening an app.
• If you have a lot of apps open, the icons shouldn’t overlap the date and time on your secondary monitors anymore.
• Taskbar will no longer disappear when you enter search over a full screen window.
• Fixed an issue that was causing icon spacing to invert so that it was large when it should be small and vice versa when switching in and out of the tablet-optimized taskbar.
• Tablet-optimized taskbar will now stay visible over full screen apps when expanded and only hide when you collapse it.
• If you have multiple keyboards for your current language, the input indicator will now only show one row of text when the tablet-optimized taskbar is in a collapsed state, so that it doesn’t get clipped.
• Fixed a crash that was causing taskbar to get stuck in the tablet-optimized taskbar view.
• Settings will now remember your taskbar’s auto-hide setting more consistently.
• Mitigated an issue where some app icons in the system tray which were expected to flash weren’t doing that.
• Fixed an issue causing system tray icons to get stuck there even after you closed the application.
• Made a fix for an issue where some mouse move events weren’t being passed to apps for icons in the system tray.
• Addressed an issue leading to a decrease in Notification Center launch reliability in recent flights.
• Mitigated an issue causing the Notification Center and its context to sometimes show the wrong color text for the system’s theme, making it unreadable.
• Updated the names of some of the months in the Simplified and Traditional Chinese lunar calendar to be more accurate.

[Start menu]

• Updated the design of the folders in Start so that they’re a little bigger, making it easier to see the app icons highlighted within the folder without having to open it.
• Fixed an issue where if you created a folder in Start in the same position as a deleted folder, it would show the old name.
• If you tab into naming a folder in Start with your keyboard, you can now tab back out instead of having to hit Esc.
• Fixed an issue where when using the keyboard to select options following WIN + X didn’t work. And dismissing WIN + X should be more consistent now.
• Fixed an issue where the prompt wasn’t coming to the front when launching Windows Terminal as an admin from Start’s right-click context menu (WIN + X).
• The search icon in the taskbar should no longer unexpectedly flash when closing the Start menu.

[Search]

• Made some improvements to help with search indexer thread and memory usage for users with a very high number of indexed items.
• Fixed an issue impacting search reliability (where you would type into the search window or Start and nothing would happen) in recent flights.
• Made another fix to help address an issue where the search searches flyout could get stuck on the screen in a transparent area.

[File Explorer]

• Improved performance of loading Home in File Explorer.
• Fixed a scaling issue where the context menu could be an unexpected size when invoking it on systems with mixed DPI monitors.
• Addressed an issue where the Show More Options entry in the context menu wasn’t working for items in File Explorer’s navigation pane (for example, if you were to right click on This PC).
• Did some work to help reduce the chance you will see “Loading” for app entries in the context menu.
• Fixed an issue which was causing the “Open in Windows Terminal” context menu option to be unexpectedly missing for secondary users in some cases.
• Opening suggested results shown while entering search terms in File Explorer’s search box should now work as expected.
• Mitigated an underlying issue leading to the address bar being inaccessible in certain cases.
• Mitigated an issue leading to increased launch time for certain file types in the previous flight.

[Widgets]

• We fixed the issue where sometimes when pinning from the Feed, the pinned widget is placed at the top instead of below other pinned widgets.
• We fixed the issue where after rearranging widgets in the widgets board, some users experience problems with widgets in the pinned section rendering incorrectly.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue preventing several input UI surfaces from displaying following explorer.exe crashes in recent flights – this included the emoji panel, candidate windows, clipboard history, and the touch keyboard.
• Mitigated an issue where Narrator was silent when launching the emoji panel in certain cases, for example if the search box wasn’t displayed.
• Fixed an issue that was causing custom theme changes in Settings > Personalization > Text input to not save properly sometimes.
• Addressed a few more color issues with the touch keyboard, including where after changing from dark to light mode, the touch keyboard might end up with a mix of dark and light.
• Updated the touch keyboard button so that pressing it always shows the touch keyboard, rather than hiding it if it’s visible.
• Returned the Backspace key to the touch keyboard’s small layout when using Chinese (Traditional).
• Improved reliability of launching the touch keyboard on the login screen.
• You should be able to use the Japanese IME’s context menu on the login screen to change conversion mode now.
• Fixed an issue where the Chinese (Traditional) IMEs were only showing 5 suggested associated phrases when they should have been showing 9.
• Fixed an issue where if you’d set a custom background image under Settings > Personalization > Text Input, the preview wouldn’t show how it looked in the candidate window for Chinese (Simplified).
• Addressed a rendering issue with the corners of the IME toolbar.
• Fixed an issue where the IME toolbar wasn’t hiding and showing correctly when using the previous version of the Japanese IME.
• Improved voice typing reliability.
• Updated voice typing error message “Voice typing is limited on this app” to be “Some voice typing features might not work in this app”, so it’s a little clearer that basic voice typing will still work.
• Fixed an issue causing some voice typing commands not to work, for example “scratch that” (刮除它) in Chinese (Simplified).
• Addressed an issue where the setting “Disable Touch while using Pen” under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Pen & Windows Ink would arbitrarily not take effect sometimes on first boot in recent flights.
• Fixed an issue causing the Get-InstalledLanguage and Install-Language PowerShell commands to unexpectedly fail with error 0x8007023E for some languages.

[Settings]

• If keyboard focus is on the chevron for a collapsible region on a Settings page, for example, the Snap windows section under System > Multitasking, you can now use the left and right arrows to expand and collapse the area.
• Fixed an issue impacting reliability of System > Power & Battery.
• When using the custom color picker on Personalization > Colors now, it should appear centered in the window frame and not randomly off to the side.
• Setting your background image fit to “fit” under Personalization > Background should no longer cause the background image preview to become a solid color.
• Addressed another issue that could cause Windows Spotlight to unexpectedly stop updating for a prolonged period of time.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the Settings app to crash when going to focus settings.
• Fixed an issue that was letting keyboard focus go to elements in the contrast theme previews in Accessibility > Contrast Themes that you couldn’t interact with.
• Fixed an issue where leaving the contrast themes editor in Settings by selecting the breadcrumbs would clear the dropdown selection, but the buttons were still acting as if you had a theme selected.
• Updated the text description for voice typing under Accessibility > Speech to make more sense when using the Japanese display language.
• Addressed an issue that was preventing Quick Settings from launching with its new touch gesture.
• Quick Settings will now show the correct icon to represent your audio output device again.

[Windowing]

• Mitigated an issue which could lead to explorer.exe crashes when using ALT + Tab.
• Fixed an issue where the keyboard focus outline in ALT + Tab sometimes was smaller than the displayed thumbnail.
• Addressed an underlying DWM issue which was leading to crashes when using touch gestures from the sides of the screen.
• Fixed a DWM crash when rotating the screen.
• Mitigated an issue leading to some lag when resizing two apps snapped side by side in certain cases.
• Fixed an issue where snap assist could unexpectedly dismiss if the initial window wouldn’t fit into the selected zone size. Now we resize the snap assist regions accordingly when minimum window size of the initial snapped window is larger than the selected zone.
• If you invoke Task View with touch, the close buttons should no longer overlap with the window titles.
• Hovering your mouse over the tooltip with the Desktop’s name will no longer unexpectedly make the Desktops flyout dismiss.
• Using drag and drop to reorder your Desktops via the Desktop flyout should no longer leave a thumbnail of the Desktop you moved stuck on the screen.

[Voice access]

• Fixed a crash that was impacting voice access reliability.
• Addressed an issue that was preventing voice access’s speech models from downloading correctly.

[Live captions]

• Addressed an underlying issue leading to live captions showing a download error, even though the download had actually completed successfully.
• Live captions will now remember your chosen settings for position across sessions.
• Mitigated an issue where the live captions position changed to floating when entering full screen, but the settings incorrectly showed the last position still.
• Removed the live captions notification about audio playing from multiple apps as it was popping up repeatedly during usage.
• The border of the live captions window will now match the style of all other borders in contrast themes.

[Narrator]

• We fixed the issue that was causing natural voices to break up sporadically in recent builds.
• Narrator will now read out the word minutes with the duration times listed in Settings for focus options.
• Fixed an issue that was causing Narrator to read dialog buttons incorrectly in scan mode.

[Task Manager]

• Removed backplate (colored square) from UWP app icons were displayed in Task Manager.
• Mitigated an issue where the one side of the View button did not appear to do anything.
• Fixed an issue which was causing the real time update speed to get set to Paused on its own. Please note, if you were impacted by this, you will need to make a one-time change to set the setting back to your preferred update speed after upgrading to this build.

[Other]

• Mitigated an issue which was leading to a black (albeit interactable) screen when playing certain full screen games with Auto HDR enabled.
• Fixed a memory leak in Connected Devices Platform User Service.
• The volume and brightness flyouts you get when using your hardware keys will no longer show a focus window outline on top of them.
• If WIN + Alt + K is pressed when a supported app isn’t running, the pop-up text displayed will now say “No supported apps in use for mic mute”, instead of “Mic mute unavailable”, so it’s clearer.
• Addressed an issue which was leading to unexpected errors being displayed in Event Viewer when conhost.exe was activated.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the active development branch may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11 that became generally available on October 5th, 2021.

Here are the known issues in Build 22593:

[General]

• We will not be offering new builds to Windows Insiders in China on Lenovo PCs.
• Windows Insiders running Windows 10 who join the Dev or Beta Channels to get the latest builds may encounter a download error code 0xc8000402 while trying to download the latest build. As a workaround, please join the Release Preview Channel first, install Windows 11 from there (Build 22000.xxxx), and then switch to the Dev or Beta Channel to receive the latest Insider Preview build. This issue is understood and will be fixed in an upcoming build.
• We’re investigating reports that a few Insiders have been experiencing an issue where explorer.exe is crashing repeatedly in a loop in the latest builds and unable to successfully load. This build includes a mitigation that may help some Insiders who were experiencing this.
• When opening Group Policy editor, an Administrative Template error will pop up. Click “Ok” to dismiss and continue using Group Policy editor normally.
• Devices using Windows Information Protection (formerly EDP) policies will not be able to access controlled data via protected apps such as Outlook, Word, Microsoft Edge, etc. on this build. It is recommended that users temporarily pause updates under Settings > Windows Update until a new Insider Preview build is released with a fix. If you have installed Build 22593 already, you can roll back to the prior build to restore expected data access.

[Taskbar]

• The taskbar doesn’t always automatically collapse after launching an app or tapping outside of the expanded taskbar on 2-in-1 devices.
• Some areas of the OS are not yet tracking the height of the expanded taskbar on 2-in-1 devices so you may see overlapping components.
• We’re working on fixing an issue where hovering over some app icons in the system tray isn’t showing previews or tooltips.

[File Explorer]

• We’re working on fixing issues regarding icon sizing, visual bugs, and text clipping in the flyout showing OneDrive storage.
• Using the right-click option to rename a file in File Explorer will cause explorer.exe to crash. As a workaround, please single-click to highlight the file and use the rename button in the File Explorer command bar to complete the rename process.

[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.

[Network]

• We’re investigating reports from the previous flight of internet connectivity issues when certain VPNs are connected.

[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 very top of maximized apps (e.g., title bar window management buttons) can’t be reached with touch while live captions is positioned at the top.

You can view the official press release here.

Alongside the Build 22593, Microsoft has also remined 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 22593 in Dev & Beta Channels: File Explorer gets a new "Home", and more

Start11 v1.2 focuses specifically on enhancing the Windows 11 experience by re-building the taskbar from the ground up to add new functionality. With this release, users will be able to ungroup items on their taskbar with their windows centered or left-aligned.

“The new taskbar features are designed to deliver functionality from previous versions of Windows but make them look and feel native to Windows 11,” said Brad Sams, VP and General Manager of Stardock Software. “With our new taskbar experience, we have created a foundation for bringing additional functionality to Windows 11 to further our mission to make Windows more personal and productive.”

The enhanced multi-monitor support in v1.2 allows the user to define window grouping for primary and secondary monitors so that the user can dial-in the perfect taskbar experience. Users will also be able to re-size the taskbar, allowing them to increase its height to make it easier to see all the windows on their taskbar.

Changelog (since v1.2 beta):

• Ungroup icons but remove text (image six in the asset folder)
• Option to turn off taskbar animations
• Ctrl + clicking grouped taskbar button now cycles through the open windows
• Start11 Config app now supports Mica
• Dozens of bug fixes thanks to help from our beta testers

Start11 is currently available for $5.99. There is an upgrade option for users of Start8 and Start10, it is also included with Object Desktop. For more information, visit www.stardock.com.

Object Desktop includes programs such as Fences, Start10, Groupy, SoundPackager, DeskScapes, and Multiplicity.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

Start11 v1.2 release brings back Taskbar ungrouping and more in Windows 11

WhatsApp's Android and iOS clients let you create as well as view your archived chats. The feature is also available on the WhatsApp Web client. But for some reason, the ability to view archived chats was in the list of features that were missing in the WhatsApp Beta app until today.

With the latest update installed, WhatsApp's UWP app will allow users to view their archived chats and let them create an archive of chats. Also, there exists an option to unarchive chats if need be, however chats are unarchived automatically if a participant sends a new message to it.

However, since the feature is still in the testing phase, you might encounter some issues while using the feature. As noted by WABetainfo, the action to unarchive a chat may not always refresh the chat list. Hopefully, WhatsApp will issue a fix in one of the upcoming app updates.

As for how the feature works, to archive a chat, you need to do a right-click on the chat you want to archive, and doing so will reveal an option called 'Archive.' Click on it archive the chat.

The latest WhatsApp Beta update carries version number 2.2213.3.0 and is available via Microsoft Store.

WhatsApp will continue to add more new features to the WhatsApp Beta for desktops. One of the most awaited WhatsApp features is the ability to react to messages. The feature was rolled out to the WhatsApp beta app for Android last month and will be available for desktop users in the coming days.

Source: WABetainfo

WhatsApp Beta Windows client gains Archive feature with the latest update

According to Google, while “giving and receiving feedback is a key collaborative workflow in Google Docs,” things have become a little too formal over the years, so now it’s high time that things got spiced up with the addition of colourful emoji reactions. 

With the entirety of Google’s emoji 14.0 catalogue at your disposal, the new reactions, which will exist alongside the option to comment on selected text normally, can be as vague or direct as you want in your responses. 

While this new feature will definitely be a welcome tool to some users looking to spice up their reactions and comments, it has been possible to put emojis in comments within Google Docs for some time. This is thanks to Windows’ built-in emoji keyboard, which is bound to win + period by default. 

Here’s the blurriest picture we could find of the emoji reactions in action courtesy of Google.

According to Google, this feature is expected to roll out to rapid release domains throughout the next 15 days, with the rest of us receiving the feature in the fifteen days after that, which starts on April 20th. 

If you’re not looking to spice up your Google Docs with emojis but are still after some fancy formatting, your specific tastes are in luck, as Google also recently announced that Google Docs will be receiving expended Markdown support throughout this month.

Google Docs is getting Emoji reactions this month

The .NET Framework is a free software development framework designed to assist developers in building .NET applications, websites, and services, and users run them on many operating systems (including Windows) with the help of different implementations of .NET.

"On April 26, 2022, the .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6, and 4.6.1 will reach end of support, and after this date, Microsoft will no longer provide updates including security fixes and technical support for these versions," Microsoft said in a Windows message center update.

"There is no change to the support timelines for any other .NET Framework version. If you are using .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6, or 4.6.1, you will need to upgrade to a later version to stay supported."

As already revealed as part of the initial announcement, there is an exception to this, however: the .NET Framework 4.6 version shipping with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2015 will still be supported until October 2025, when the OS will reach its end of life.

Microsoft advises .NET developers to migrate their apps to at least .NET Framework 4.6.2 or later before April 26, 2022, to keep receiving technical support and security updates.

.NET Framework 4.6.2 (shipped almost five years ago) and .NET Framework 4.8 (shipped eight years ago) are both compatible in-place replacements and stable runtimes already "broadly deployed to hundreds of millions of computers via Windows Update (WU)."

Retired due to SHA-2 signing switch

A report published in 2015 on how SHA-1's vulnerability collision attacks could allow hackers to forge digital certificates to impersonate companies or websites, add legitimacy to phishing messages, or launch man-in-the-middle attacks to snoop on encrypted network traffic.

Microsoft is retiring these .NET Framework versions after switching to SHA-2 digital signing from using the legacy SHA-1 cryptographic hashing algorithm, which is now insecure.

Since May 9, 2021, all major Microsoft services and processes (including code signing, file hashing, and TLS certificates) have been using the SHA-2 algorithm exclusively.

Microsoft has also retired all Windows-signed SHA-1 content from the Microsoft Download Center almost two years ago, in August 2020, after switching to the SHA-2 algorithm for signing Windows updates one year before.

Despite SHA-2 being used for signing binaries, it's important to note that Windows executables signed with manually installed enterprise or self-signed SHA-1 certificates will still be able to run.

Microsoft: Multiple .NET Framework versions reach end of life in April

But an exciting, innovative piece of tech? Oh God no. If you were a hotshot young developer in recent years, you flocked to Silicon Valley’s hyperoxygenated fields, such as AI or crypto or the various legless metaversii. You didn’t go into spreadsheets. That was grey-flannel-suit territory.

This meant that for decades, very little effort went into improving this venerable piece of officeware. Yeah, Google put spreadsheets online in 2006 (by buying up a firm that had done so), and in 2012 Airtable launched a clever sort of turducken of a database and spreadsheet. But those were the exceptions. Mostly, startups were content to let Excel and Sheets be the 100-pound gorillas, dominating a user base of about 2 billion people who use spreadsheets. And users have been generally pretty happy with Excel and Sheets.

Except this made this neglected field an opportunity, too, right? Not a lot of software categories have a planet-wide base of users yet few coders trying to bust out new features.

Suddenly, the field has begun to bloom. A small cluster of startups have in the past year released spreadsheet products–such as Rows, Spreadsheet.com, and Grist–with newfangled robot superpowers, like automatically hoovering up data from other sites or sending emails when the logic in a formula triggers. In a strange way, they’ve taken spreadsheets and turned them into all-purpose, helpful bots–crafted from rows and columns.

These new services all spring from a core observation of their inventors, which is that spreadsheets are now used for far more than crunching numbers. These days, people use them as a fungible organizational tool: They make to-do lists inside spreadsheets, plan weddings, divine the best possible Magic decks, and run fantasy football groups.

“Spreadsheets were originally designed for accounting purposes and for computations, but they just grew to be the sort of standard way that we organize all data,” as Matt Robinson, CEO of Spreadsheet.com, tells me. In fact, when he and his cofounder, Murali Mohan, surveyed business folk who used Excel or Google Sheets, they found that half the time people weren’t writing formulas or crunching numbers in their sheets. They weren’t doing any math. They were just making lists.

(Even funnier, some spreadsheet users don’t even realize you can do math inside them. When Robinson and his wife hired a contractor to build their house, the guy showed them a spreadsheet of costs–but then whipped out a calculator to tote up the figures manually. When Robinson showed him how the spreadsheet could do it automatically, he was floored.)

So the new crop of sheets are designed to lean away from pure math, and into this “organize your stuff” function. Spreadsheets.com, for example, lets users dump almost anything into a cell. Drop a photo or a PDF into a cell and the product will immediately create a thumbnail, which you can then expand, as if the spreadsheet were some sort of blog content-management system. Most of these new products also let users connect their sheets to other Internet services, so they can scrape info off other sites, or issue alerts if data changes.

In that sense, spreadsheets are joining the “no code” trend in Silicon Valley—they’re becoming tools that let non-programmers automate some very complex workflows. I spoke to Mário Tarouca, a Portuguese entrepreneur who used Rows in precisely that way. He’d founded a startup in Lisbon (now acquired by the food-ordering firm EatTasty) that let people in Airbnbs order delivery meals from local cooks. Tarouca used Rows as the backend for his service: Customer orders flowed into his sheets from his web site, and local cooks typed their inventory into forms he created with Rows; if a formula detected the cooks weren’t making enough of a particular item (orders for omelettes > supply of omelettes), the sheets would blast a warning out to his team’s Slack so someone could deal with it.

“I’m not a developer, but I’m a geek,” he told me. “It’s really fun to build these things.” Because he was already familiar with regular spreadsheets, he says, it wasn’t terribly hard to figure out.

Indeed, as Tarouca pointed out, a spreadsheet is actually better for building a small business app than an old-fashioned database. Databases are powerful but inscrutable; to see what’s “in” yours, you need to query it, which usually means having a programmer on staff.

But with a spreadsheet, everyone knows how to open it up and look at it. The user interface—columns and rows—is part of our cognitive canon, and decades of use have trained businessfolk everywhere in what tech writer Steven Levy neatly dubbed, back in 1984, “A Spreadsheet Way of Knowledge.”

Indeed, the renaissance in spreadsheets draws a bead on just how intriguingly in-between they are, as a form of media. They’re like the Rosetta Stone of file formats: They’re easy to view like a Word file, they can do math like a programming language, yet they store info like a database.

Which is why spreadsheet inventors are actively trying to peel people away from databases, a global market worth probably $90 billion. One limitation of spreadsheets historically is that they were not, like many databases, “relational.” You couldn’t easily connect two sheets, which meant that changing a sales figure in one sheet would not automatically be reflected in another.

This generation of nü-sheets allows for this crosstalk. Romy Recio, who runs a mortgage company in Florida, used Spreadsheet.com to automatically track mortgage applications for his 60 loan officers. In the olden days of Excel or Google sheets, if a customer’s address changed, they’d have to slog through multiple sheets, changing it on each one. “And you’re never gonna do that,” Recio says, so data risked getting lost.

The spreadsheet-database war is about as propeller-headed a subject as I’ve stumbled upon in years. But it’s fascinating to observe. Watching spreadsheets morph is like witnessing convergent evolution–a digital life-form that used to stick to the oceans, but is now crawling up onto land and trying to own the earth.

Spreadsheets Are Hot—and Cranking Out Complex Code

(May require free registration to view)

In a statement to the Tom's Hardware, AMD said:

"We are aware of an issue in the AMD software suite that is adjusting certain AMD processor settings for some users. We are investigating the issue and we’ll share more information as soon as we’re able."

AMD introduced Windows 11 support for Radeon GPUs with its graphics driver version 21.9.1 and alongside this, the firm also added a new overclocking feature called "Auto Overclock" via Radeon Software. Essentially, the feature could be used to overclock the CPU too, alongside the GPU, all at one place.

However, the feature started overriding firmware settings put in by users without their knowledge even when no overclocking is done. Users on various online forums have been reporting messed up Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) settings (via TalesofWin Reddit).

PBO is the feature that essentially drives auto overclocking in AMD Ryzen CPUs. PBO is meant to boost CPU clocks by analysing the VRM current, SoC power and temperatures and determining how much headroom is there.

Source: Tom's Hardware

AMD confirms its Windows 11 graphics drivers are indeed messing up Ryzen settings in BIOS

The service's popularity has been growing steadily, and it now boasts a user base of 270 million monthly active users. Aside from the mobile apps and desktop programs that it offers, Teams, not unlike Skype, can also be used directly from web browsers. Some users prefer to use it that way, without installing the standalone tool on their computer.

The only drawback here is that Teams on the web is not supported in Firefox. It is not the first time Microsoft has ignored Mozilla's browser. Last year, when it promised to support Skype in all browsers, the Redmond company casually forgot to add the Firefox icon, for which it was criticized. And as Martin pointed out, it wasn't just the icon that was missing, the VOIP service was indeed not compatible with the browser. A few months later, things have changed, and Skype on the web is functional in Firefox.  All's well that ends well, I suppose.

Let's get back to Teams. If you try logging in to your Microsoft account on the Teams website using Firefox, you will be greeted by a message that reads, "Hmm. Your browser version isn't supported. Quickest solution? Download the desktop app." The web page also has links to the supported browsers that it recommends, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.

You would think they would have learned their lesson by now, wouldn't you? Regardless, neither of those two options will be acceptable to a user who was specifically interested in the web-based version. The easiest workaround to such restrictions is to change the user agent of the browser, aka spoof the website to think that you are accessing it from a Chromium based browser. If you are interested in this, you can use an extension like User-Agent Switcher and Manager.

The problem with unofficial fixes such as this, is that you cannot guarantee full compatibility with the service that you are trying to access. Some things may or may not work properly, and since Teams is used for work and school, it cannot be reliable, and shouldn't be taken lightly.

That is why Microsoft's decision to support Teams in Firefox is important. The plans outlined in the roadmap reveals that Teams will offer full audio support in Firefox, so you will be able to attend meetings from the web-based version of the service. In addition to this, it will also support screen sharing in Mozilla's browser.

The feature was only added to the roadmap a few days ago, which might suggest that development is underway. But, the entry spotted by Techradar, has April 2022 as the general availability timeline of Microsoft Teams support in Firefox. So it could actually roll out to user by the end of this month.

Do you use Teams from your web browser?

Microsoft's roadmap confirms that Teams will soon be supported in Firefox

The releases come exactly six years after the first Vivaldi release.

Vivaldi 5.2 for the desktop

The desktop version of Vivaldi 5.2 is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The update is already available at the time of writing and most systems should receive the update automatically.

Vivaldi users may open Vivaldi Menu > Help > About to display the installed version and run a check for updates. The update should be picked up and installed.

Reading List Panel

The new Reading List Panel improves the accessibility of the feature. Reading List, which was introduced in the browser's address bar, gives Vivaldi users a tool at hand to save articles for later reading. It works similarly to bookmarks, but is more powerful thanks to the added functionality.

Tip: if the reading list button is not displayed, open the Preferences, search for reading, and check the "show reading list button".

Articles and webpages can be added to the Reading List using the button. The new Reading List Panel is added to Vivaldi's panel sidebar that is giving users quick and comfortable access to bookmarks, the mail client, downloads and other areas of the browser.

The new panel displays all articles and webpages that you have added to the browser's built-in Reading List. It features a search to find articles quickly, options to change the sort order -- by read state, address, title or date updated -- and a direct option to add the current page to the reading list database. Each article can be marked as read with a single click on the checkmark button next to it. A double-click on an item in the list loads the article or webpage in the active tab.

Right-click actions are also available, including actions to copy the address, open the item in a new tab or mark the page as read. Users who prefer keyboard shortcuts may assign a shortcut to the feature to speed up the process further.

The new Reading List Panel improves the browser's Reading List feature significantly as it improves accessibility and management of the list.

The introduction of the Reading List feature in Vivaldi 5.2 for Android enables syncing of the list between Vivaldi on Android and on desktop systems.

Privacy Statistics

Vivaldi's New Tab page displays privacy statistics at the very top in version 5.2 of the browser. It displays the total number of ads and trackers that the browser blocked. A click on more information displays additional information, including a full list of all websites and trackers.

The new feature complements the ability to display all blocked ads and trackers of the active site by clicking on the shield icon in the browser's address bar.

Other changes in Vivaldi 5.2:

• The search engine Qwant is available again as a default in Vivaldi. To switch to it, select Vivaldi Menu > Settings > Search.
• Tab dragging should be faster and smoother in the new release.
• Improvements to the Mail, Calendar and Feed Reader (not mentioned specifically in the release notes).

Vivaldi 5.2 for Android

Vivaldi 5.2 for Android includes support for the company's Reading List feature. Already available in desktop versions, Reading List gives Android users the option to add any webpage to the list for reference and later access.

The introduction of the feature enables Reading List syncing between mobile and desktop versions of the Vivaldi web browser.

To add an article to the Reading List on Android, tap on the Vivaldi menu icon and select Reading List. There you may then select "Add Current Page" to add it. You will also see all synced and previous articles that you added there.

New Translation Panel

The new Translation Panel extends Vivaldi's privacy-friendly translation functionality. The latest iteration of the translate feature enables the translation of selected text. The ability to see the original and the translated text is provided, and it is easy to change source and target languages.

The new auto-translate option translates text snippets immediately without the new for extra taps or actions on your part.

The Android version is rolled out via Google Play.

Closing Words

Vivaldi Technologies continues to improve the browser with meaningful feature improvements.

Vivaldi 5.2 launches for the desktop and Android

Frontpaged:   Vivaldi 5.2.2623.24

The new version of Thunderbird is already in distribution. It should be installed automatically on most systems in the coming days and weeks. Thunderbird users who want to speed up the process may select Help > About Thunderbird to run a manual check for updates. The update should be picked up by the email client at that point and it will be installed immediately.

Thunderbird 91.8.0

The biggest change in the point release changes the authentication method for Google mail accounts. It is an automatic conversion that should work without issues for most users. The conversion to oAuth 2.0 is required as Google plans to drop username and password authentication options for third-party apps and devices on May 30, 2022.

The change improves account security according to Google as it gives users more control over third-party application and site access.

Thunderbird users who have disabled cookies in the email client will notice that the new authentication method does not work without them. It is required to enable cookies as the OAuth token requires it. Cookies may be disabled after the successful authentication, but since cookies will expire eventually, it would be necessary to re-enable them whenever a new cookie needs to be set.

You may check the cookies setting in Thunderbird in the following way:

1. Select Tools > Preferences. If you don't see the menu, tap on the Alt-key to display it.
2. Select Privacy & Security from the sidebar.
3. The setting "Accept cookies from sites" determines if cookies are allowed in Thunderbird. Check the box to enable cookies if it is not checked.

You may want to disable accepting third-party cookies while you are at it. There is also a "show cookies" button that lists all stored cookies. You may remove some of them using the interface.

Other changes in Thunderbird 91.8.0

Thunderbird 91.8.0 includes security fixes. These have not been published publicly yet. You may check the security advisory website of the Thunderbird project later to find out about them. This article will be updated once the information becomes publicly available.

The remaining changes are bug fixes:

• Multiple public PGP keys can now be exported.
• Fixed importing OpenPGP ECC keys importing into GnuPG.
• Fixed opening mid: URLs on Mac OS.
• Replying to a newsgroup message displayed a "No-Reply" popup warnings erroenously.
• Old format address books were loaded as SQLite files, which caused a crash.
• Replicated LDAP directories were lost when Thunderbird was set to run in Offline mode.
• Webcals importing failed from the command line if the file type of the URI ended with .ics.

You can check out the full release notes here.

Thunderbird 91.8.0 makes important changes to Google Mail Accounts

Frontpaged:   Mozilla Thunderbird 91.8.0

For those not familiar with Microsoft Journal, the app is a digital ink solution that allows you to write down your ideas, draw, and even annotate your PDFs. In fact, from usage data, the team were able to see that 59% of documents edited in Microsoft Journal were PDF files while the other 41% were blank documents. The team also noted that while it does collect usage data, it does not know the contents of your journals; this allows it to put work into the features that people care about most.

To quicken up the software and enhance privacy, Microsoft Journal uses artificial intelligence to recognise editing and semantic gestures on the device. Commenting on the usage of AI in the program, Stevie Bathiche, Technical Fellow and leader of Microsoft’s Applies Sciences, said:

“We are entering an age of computer-aided reasoning, where AI accelerates the tasks that people do, and makes us all more productive. Journal shows just how powerful an experience can be when software anticipates your intentions. This is just the beginning.”

If you use Microsoft Journal, you should receive the latest update in the next couple of days. Alternatively, can head to the Microsoft Store and grab it right away, that goes for new users too.

Microsoft Garage project Journal is now Microsoft Journal, becoming an official project

While those aren't coming back for a while at least, new Bing Wallpaper App ads have now been seen when one uses the Bing search engine. Here is a banner ad for the same which was spotted by fellow outlet Windows Central.

While the banner ad didn't appear for us, a popup ad for the Bing Wallpaper App did show up on the right hand top corner on Microsoft Edge. The popup appears right below the Bing AI chatbot window (top image) and upon closing the chatbot window and hovering over the prompt, the full ad pops up which asks users to "explore the world one photo at a time with Bing Wallpaper App" (second image).

Curious to see what happens on a rival browser like Chrome, I once again ran Bing and found that there was no Bing Wallpaper App on offer this time. Instead, Bing was now offering a "Bing extension for Chrome".

I tried it on Firefox too, but nothing eventful happened there.

Via: Windows Central

A new ad from Microsoft for the Bing Wallpaper App shows up on Edge

Microsoft has stated that it completed the deployment of Windows 11 across 190,000 PCs in the company within five weeks and without any disruption. This makes this the fastest deployment of an OS in Microsoft's history. This process was crucial given hybrid working environments and the fact that a work PC becomes your primary method of being connected to your workplace.

The process involved downloading the update in the background, issuing an alert to the employee, and then restarting the PC with their consent to install Windows 11. Employees could either defer updates to non-working hours or install it when prompted and be done in 20 minutes.

Microsoft's corporate vice president of Microsoft Digital Employee Experience Nathalie D'Hers had the following to say about the deployment:

When you look at the data, our time to deploy and the number of support contacts, Windows 11 is the most successful Windows deployment in our history. For a major release, it was so straightforward and fast that it was almost a non-event. Windows 11 raises the bar for all future deployments.

Microsoft employees are very vocal when it comes to giving us feedback about our products and features and that’s a good thing. If the product isn’t working well, we hear about it early on, and that wasn’t the case this time. When we deployed Windows 11, we received very few requests for support—that’s an important indicator of product quality for us.

Microsoft also acknowledged the elephant in the room by informing employees about Windows 11's strict system requirements. This meant that not all Microsoft PCs were eligible but since Windows and Windows 11 can co-exist and can be co-managed, there were no major concerns raised by employees.

Employees were encouraged to upgrade and voice their thoughts on Feedback Hub or reach out to Microsoft support channels. However, there was no uptick in support requests and most feedback involved people talking about the new features.

Microsoft says that it relied on Windows Update for Business and tools like Update Compliance to develop a unified deployment strategy, manage exclusions, and gather stats on eligibility. It emphasized that since Windows 11 is designed in a way to ensure backward compatibility, there were no issues in app compatibility either.

D'Hers concluded that:

Windows 11 has done a good job of keeping the user in mind. The aesthetics are simple. The user experience is familiar but improved, making it easier to complete the common tasks and activities I do every day. An important part of our Customer Zero role is to provide our employees and other internal users with the best products and services as early as possible.

Some key takeaways from Microsoft deployment experience is that the process was powered by the same tools and techniques used for Windows 10 updates, both OSes can be managed side-by-side so Microsoft has no issues if people decide to stick with Windows 10, there are no app compatibility issues but people can become more productive with the new interface, and Microsoft employees can directly provide feedback as an enterprise customer since the firm itself is essentially Customer Zero.

Microsoft has now deployed Windows 11 on 190,000 company PCs, here's what it thinks