Gmail gets an additional sidebar for Google Chat, along with new colors.

Google will finally start rolling out the Gmail redesign it first showed off last year. The company is calling the interface in the update the "integrated view" because the goal is to integrate Google's latest messaging service, Google Chat (a Slack competitor and the successor to Hangouts) and Google Meet (a Zoom competitor) into Gmail. The main section will remain mostly the same, but there are plenty of changes coming to Gmail's navigation sidebar.

 

Currently, the Gmail sidebar houses the sections you would expect, like the Inbox, Drafts, Trash, and your list of labels. The redesign will add a second, new higher-level navigation panel to the left side of the page, letting users jump between Gmail, Google Chat, Spaces (Google Chat group chats), and Google Meet. Besides the four app-navigation options, the new sidebar also has a stack of icons at the bottom, and it's not entirely clear what they are. They look like chat profile pictures, so they could be either active chats or starred contacts. Since no one has tried this interface yet, we don't know many details.

 

Google's blog post has a detailed timeline for the rollout. Starting next week, February 8, the new interface becomes opt-in, and you can revert to "classic Gmail" in the settings (Google notes the update will take 15 days to roll out to everyone). In April, users will be automatically enrolled in the new interface. By "the end of Q2 2022," the interface will become the standard for Gmail, with no option to use the classic interface. Google says there will also be a "new streamlined navigation experience on Chat web (mail.google.com/chat)," which I assume means you'll get a similar sidebar setup where you can jump to Gmail right from Google Chat.

Besides the new sidebar, the new Gmail redesign also tweaks the colors and layout of Gmail. The main mail panel now lives in a white box with rounded corners, while the navigation elements (a large section of the screen at this point) are de-emphasized with a light gray color. The accent color for the "compose" button and the currently selected section used to be red, but now it's blue. Red was Gmail's brand color, but with the new rainbow icon and the removal of the red highlight, things appear to be changing.

 

Forcing the latest messaging and video services into Gmail has a long tradition at Google. The company's first effort at messaging, Google Talk, was built into Gmail shortly after its 2005 launch. When Google switched from Google Talk to Hangouts in 2013, Google Talk in Gmail was replaced by Hangouts. We covered something like 20 different products in our "History of Google Messaging services" article, but Google Talk (2005), Google Hangouts (2013), and Google Chat (2018) are definitely the three main ones. Just as Talk and Hangouts were built into Gmail, Google Chat received that treatment last year when it got a wide rollout for consumers.

 

The actual goal of the update is to chase Slack and Microsoft Teams usage with business users. Gmail and the other Google Workspace apps are very popular with companies, but thanks to its turbulent history, Google doesn't have a dominant messaging solution. Google Chat was envisioned as being both a Slack business competitor and a successor to Google Hangouts. The sales pitch for business users is that you already spend all this time in Gmail, so why not use our chat solution, too?

 

The problem is that while Google Chat is a decent replacement for consumer Google Hangouts, it is not anywhere close to a replacement for Slack. Slack is all about having your co-workers ping you when you're trying to work, so the service provides many different views to help users manage incoming messages. You can see a list of all your DMs, a list of all your @mentions, a list of every thread, and a multi-panel view that lets you stick any of these lists next to a normal chat channel. Google Chat doesn't offer any of these options. With this new design, Google Chat is getting an even more prominent spot in one of Google's most popular apps, but it doesn't seem like Google is doing anything to address the major functional shortfalls of Google Chat.

 

It's not clear how many of these features can be turned off if you don't like them. Today, you can turn off Google Chat and Google Meet in the Gmail settings. We'll have to wait for the rollout to learn more.

 

Listing image by Google

Gmail’s next big redesign starts rolling out next week

If you're not using these preinstalled Windows features, disable them.

Hiding Windows 11’s Teams icon doesn’t just save taskbar space—it also saves RAM

Releasing on February 4, Dying Light 2 Stay Human by Techland utilizes Nvidia DLSS for improved performance. The title also features DirectX 12 Ultimate ray tracing effects which RTX graphics card owners can enjoy. Meanwhile the martial arts fighting game Sifu lands on February 8, which Nvidia is also providing support for with today's driver, though it doesn't go into any enhancement specifics.

The bugs fixed in this release are as follows:

• [Windows11][Far Cry 6]: Geometric corruption occurs in the benchmark and in gameplay. [3441540]
• Multiple apps report stutter (or light to poor hitching) due to allocation creation. [3426466]
• [Notebook]: With Advanced Optimus configured in dGPU mode, notebook will display a black screen. [3502766]
• Some 3440x1440 monitors may display a black screen when selecting a DLDSR resolution. [3502478]
• [DirectX 12]: GeForce Experience Freestyle filters may cause game to flicker. [3496529]
• [Forza Horizon]: The game freezes when applying livery or vinyl to certain cars when ray tracing is enabled. [3506220/3506340]

Known issues to watch out for 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]
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed may crash on courses where players drive through water. [3338967]
• [NVIDIA Advanced Optimus][NVIDIA Control Panel]: After setting the display multiplexer type to “dGPU”, the setting is not preserved across a reboot or resume from S4. [200779758]
• [Call of Duty: Vanguard]: The game may display random corruption. [3503111]
• [Battlefield 2042]: The game may display color flashes on the screen. [3503086]
• DVI monitor EDID may not be detected correctly on certain monitors. [3502752]

For older Nvidia graphics card owners specifically from the Kepler desktop GPU generation, don't forget to grab the security update driver from yesterday.

The 511.65 Game Ready driver is now available for download via the GeForce Experience app, while standalone installation links can be found below. Release notes are here.

Desktop GPUs:

Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Notebook GPUs:

Download: Windows 11, 10 – DCH

Nvidia 511.65 driver has support for Dying Light 2 and RTX 3070 Ti, 3080 Ti laptops

We don’t have much information on how it impacts the performance of other applications running on your system when the video is playing in a loop. So, you need to be extra cautious if your PC has performance issues. Meanwhile, you can track all the latest news related to Microsoft Edge here.

via Windows Central

Microsoft Edge’s new tab page shows Bing’s video of the day, and here is how to enable it

Back in December 2021, I asked whether Microsoft was adding too many controversial features to its web browser. The general consensus of people who commented on the article was that Microsoft did so indeed.

Why is Microsoft adding or testing this many features in Edge? Is it a throw features at the userbase and see what sticks kind of development approach?

Adding features to a browser is not considered a bad thing usually. Some browsers, Vivaldi for instance, support lots of features that set it apart from other browsers. Microsoft faces tough competition in the browser market. Chrome is very dominant and there are plenty of other Chromium-based browsers besides Chrome that users may pick when it comes to the web browser.

For Microsoft Edge to compete and get users to use it, it needs to have convincing arguments. Microsoft's main advantage is the integration in the Windows operating system. Edge is the default browser on Windows 11 and Windows 10, and the first browser that users of new systems will use. Some use it only to download their favorite browser, others may stick with Edge because it is there.

Microsoft uses similar shady tactics as Google to promote Edge; this includes creating an artificial URL handler on Windows that opens web addresses only in the Edge browser, messages to users who attempt to download another browser, or the resetting of user changed settings regarding browsers.

All of these give Microsoft an edge over its competition, and Google is probably the only company that has means equal to Microsoft when it comes to promoting Chrome on its properties.

Some Edge features improve user choice. The vertical tabs feature is a prime example of that, as it moves the horizontal tab bar of the browser to the side, which improves handling in several meaningful ways and works well on widescreen displays.

The testing of new features could be an attempt to set Edge further apart from other browsers. Features like the integration of the sports ticker are unique to Edge, and if Telemetry suggests that users see these favorable, it could improve Edge's market share or retain it.

The downside to testing all these new features is that users could get the impression that a browser is getting bloated, especially if features don't improve core browsing capabilities. Simple on-off switches for these features may not be sufficient, if Microsoft decides to push the features in the browser, for instance by displaying popups to users or setting them to on by default.

Do the added features decrease Edge's performance in any way? I could not find any benchmarks, but adding more and more features to a browser could certainly impact some metrics, including the loading performance or size.

Closing Words

Microsoft is adding most new features to experimental versions of Edge first. The features get tested then by users and Microsoft uses feedback and Telemetry data to determine a feature's fate. Not all of the features will make it into stable versions of Edge in the end. Still, it feels a lot like feature overload currently, with Microsoft testing more and more features in Edge that at least some users might want to see implemented as extensions rather than features that everyone is exposed to.

Microsoft Edge: Microsoft's "see what sticks" development approach

This feature, which is sort of like a temporary bookmark, is available in Google Chrome. Firefox has Pocket, which to be honest is not exactly a great option as it requires signing up for an account, a proper offline reading list would be more useful, like the one in Firefox's mobile version. The original Microsoft Edge had the feature, but it was removed when the browser migrated to the Chromium-based model.

Vivaldi's latest addition, thankfully, does not require signing up for any service. It's quite easy to manage too, just the way it should be.

How to use the Reading List in Vivaldi browser

The option is enabled by default, so when you update to the latest Snapshot build, you will see a new button next to the search bar, in the top right corner. Click the button to access your Reading List. It will be empty, of course, so let us save a page to the list. You will need to visit the website, click the button and then hit the Add to Reading List button in the panel. Saving the page does not close the tab. Try accessing the list again, and it will now display a shortcut to the page that you saved, which you can access later, even after you close the tab and across browsing sessions. The list doesn't merely save the link, it also includes the website's favicon, the article's title.

In addition to this, the Reading List has two icons next to each item. Clicking the "check" button marks an article as read, it doesn't remove it from the list but moves it to the read articles list at the bottom of the pop-up modal, and sort of fades it out. An "eye" icon appears next to read articles, that you can click to mark them as unread. To remove a saved item from the Reading List, hit the - minus button on the panel.

If you want to disable the button, head to the Settings > Address Bar, and uncheck the option next to the "Show Reading list button".

Please refer to the full release notes for all the changes in Vivaldi Snapshot 2566.3. The download links for the Windows, macOS and Linux versions are available on the official site.

There is no keyboard shortcut or a right-click menu item for the Reading List. The pop-up panel does not have a context-menu either, so you can't just copy the link to share it. The list items cannot be edited, but that's okay since this isn't a permanent bookmark, it's just a collection of web shortcuts. Since the feature has just been introduced, it is possible that such conveniences will be added in the future.

Vivaldi Snapshot 2566.3 lets you save pages for later with a Reading List button

It’ll start showing up in February, and will become standard later this year

 

 You’ll be able to easily switch between Gmail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. Image: Google

Your work Gmail is about to look different

Work from last month helped enable the team to upgrade the code base to .NET 5 and next month onward to .NET 6 which should bring stability and speed improvements. In the vein of introducing new utilities, Microsoft announced three new Toys, which are described below.

• File Explorer add-on: Developer files for preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• File Explorer add-on: STL file format thumbnail and preview pane generation! Since STL is a common 3D file format, this allows a quick visual check. Thanks @pedrolamas!
• Mouse Utility: Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. When the team told us about the idea and described trying to find your cursor by looking through a straw, we knew we could leverage code from the other mouse utilities to quickly enable this feature. Below is a quote from one of the testers with a rough validation build:

"This will change my life and allow me to use any PC without constantly losing the pointer. This is huge! I will be able to work at my normal speed again. It is a total game changer for people with visual field impairments!" – Joanna A.

With that being said, here is the full changelog:

General

• .NET runtime is now on 5, our next release will be upgraded to .NET 6. Moving to .NET 5 and then 6 helped reduce our moving parts in a single release so we went this route. Why this is important is this is one of the major work items needed for ARM64 support. In addition, this should help provide a speed boosts once we are on .NET 6.
• @jsoref's spelling plugin help

Always on Top

• Fixed one of two borders showing incorrectly bugs.
• Border defaults to OS accent color now. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Reduced CPU / GPU activity. Not done improving, we know we can do better.

FancyZones

• Bug fixed to not lose zones after update
• Fixed editor margin issue for Chinese language. Thanks @niels9001

File explorer add-ons

• GCode thumbnails now have transparency. Thanks @pedrolamas
• New Utility - Developer files for File Explorer preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• New Utility - STL thumbnail and preview panes added! Thanks @pedrolamas!

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug with too much meta data. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper
• Fixed bug resizing bug for constant height while maintaining aspect ratio. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper

Mouse utilities

• New Utility - Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. Thanks @niels9001 for helping with the icon!

PowerRename

• Files are sorted now how File Explorer sorts.

PowerToys Run

• Improved speed and fixed bugs with Window walker plugin. Thanks @htcfreek
• Window Walker will now show path of elevated apps. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Added UEFI command to system commands. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fixed crashing bug in EnvironmentHelper class. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fix URI plugin bug with ^:. Thanks @franky920920
• VS Code plugin not showing workspaces with latest Code version was corrected. Thanks @ricardosantos9521
• Fixed bug that caused plugins to not load. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Fixed crash in Uri plugin and Web search plugin. Thanks @cyberrex5!

Settings

• Fixed a regression with settings being reset when moving from admin to non-admin

Video Conference Mute

• Fixed crashing bug with Zoom and other clients. We found someone we could remotely debug with and identify the actual crashing part.
• Change of behavior: When leaving a meeting, VCM will now leave your microphone in the state it was. This mimics behavior of applications if VCM was not present.
• Change of behavior: When you exit PowerToys, your current microphone state will remain.

PowerToys is Microsoft's open-source project that offers a collection of nifty tools that people can use to customize the Windows 10 or 11 UI and experience to their liking. As we know, depending upon feedback and general stability, some of the utilities also make their way to the OS eventually. A prominent example of this is Snap Layouts and Span Groups in Windows 11 which borrow heavily from the FanzyZones tool in PowerToys.

If you are using PowerToys in Windows 11, you can grab it in the Microsoft Store. For others in Windows 10, you can open the app and click on "Check for updates" under the updates section on the General tab. Those who would like to try PowerToys for the first time can grab the version 0.55.0 installer from the app's GitHub page.

Microsoft PowerToys 0.55.0 introduces three new utilities for File Explorer and Mouse

Now, it appears that 3D emoji could be coming to Windows 11 after all. This particular information comes from Microsoft Design lead Nando Costa (via The Verge) who had the following to say in response to someone wishing that 3D emoji would come to Windows 11:

Costa also penned a blog post over on LinkedIn describing the company's thought process and methodology in creating new emoji, give it a read here if that tickles your fancy.

Before you start jumping in excitement, it is important to note that the report has not been confirmed outside of the particular tweet by Microsoft, and this could very well be another miscommunication. Furthermore, Costa has noted that the company is making an effort on this front, but there's obviously no guarantee that such an endeavor would be successful or see the light of day. As such, if you actively use emoji and would love to see 3D emoji in Windows 11, it would still be advisable to keep your expectations in check.

Windows 11 might get 3D emoji after all

The Redmond company is testing a Sports Ticker for the browser that will display Live Scores, and news right at the bottom of the current tab. The feature was spotted by a user, who noticed a horizontal bar at the bottom of the browser window, with some information regarding an NCAA Men's Basketball game in progress.

Sports Ticker in Microsoft Edge

The person wanted to know how they could disable the option, and Two Microsoft representatives replied to the post, confirming that it is a new feature that is being tested in the Developer/Canary channels of the browser. What's interesting here is that the Sports Ticker popped up while the user was visiting a website, though they state that it appeared randomly a few times, even on the new tab page.

Another screenshot from the user reveals an option under the Settings > Privacy > Services page. The Setting is labeled "Get updates on your favorite sports leagues". The description for the option mentions that the Sports Ticker will be displayed whenever possible, not when a game is in progress. It will display information related to the previous and upcoming games, as well as news related to your team.

The feature appears to have been enabled even though the user had not opted for a Personalized experience. But Microsoft has already patched a server change to prevent the sports card from appearing for users who aren't following sports (in their personalized feed). From what I can tell based on the screenshots, the sports ticker is pulling the information from Bing and/or MSN Sports.

Features like this could be viewed as bloatware for people who don't like such clutter.  The good news is that the sports ticker can be disabled, as confirmed by a screencap from a Microsoft Representative. Right-clicking the ticker bar will allow users to toggle the Sports Ticker. Optionally, you may set it to appear only when a new tab or a sports page is opened.

Microsoft has been working on providing Windows users an easy way to access news for quite a while. The biggest change related to this was the introduction of the Widgets panel in Windows 11, though we did see it debut earlier as the News and Weather toolbar on Windows 10. The Edge Bar is another example of the content-delivery service that the company is focussing on.

Neither the sports card nor the option related to it are available for me, but that is probably because Microsoft has moved it back into A/B testing for limited users. The Microsoft Edge Sports Ticker can be useful if you are a sports fan, and want to stay up-to-date on scores when you don't have access to a TV or Live Stream, or when you are at work/school.

Microsoft Edge is testing a Sports Ticker to display Live Scores, News on all pages/new tabs

While it is possible to bypass the requirements, it opens a can of worms as some features may not work properly or at all, and because it may happen in the future that some updates can't be installed over Windows Update on incompatible devices.

Most Windows 10 devices that do not meet the minimum system requirements will stay on that version of Windows, but what happens when Windows 10 runs out of support in 2025? Microsoft lists October 14, 2025 as the retirement date for Windows 10 Home and Pro (basically, all consumer versions of Windows 10). Some users will certainly replace their devices with new ones, which will likely include Windows 11 or are at least compatible with the new operating system.

Millions of devices will still be in use by 2025, and these can't be upgraded to Windows 11 officially, as Microsoft won't just chance the system requirements of the new operating system. Some users may upgrade to Windows 11 bypassing the restrictions.

The main issue that Windows 10 users will run into in October 2025 is that Microsoft won't create security updates for the operating system anymore. Windows 10 devices will continue to work like before, but there will be security issues that Microsoft won't fix after the last Patch Day on October 14, 2025. Other companies, including 0Patch, may step in and produce some security updates for Windows 10, but the company won't release patches for all issues and some may not be released for free.

Continuing to use Windows 10 after October 2025 may still be a valid scenario, for instance if the PC is not connected to the Internet, or if the security setup blocks most attacks before they can do any harm.

Most Windows 10 users whose devices are not compatible with Windows 11 have two main options, if they want to keep using the device:

• Upgrade to Windows 11, bypassing the system requirements check in the process.
• Switch to Linux.

Upgrade incompatible systems to Windows 11

Both options are not ideal from the perspective of a user who wants as little interruptions as possible. The first option, the unsupported upgrade to Windows 11, brings most settings and installed programs to the Windows 11 system. Most programs continue to work and data is not lost.

The main issue with the approach is that Microsoft does not support this officially. While Microsoft did release upgrade instructions for incompatible devices, it warns users that their devices "might malfunction" and "will no longer be guaranteed to receive updates, including but not limited to security updates".

The official disclaimer even states that damages are not covered under the manufacturer warranty and that PCs will no longer be supported in any way.

This PC doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for running Windows 11 - these requirements help ensure a more reliable and higher quality experience. Installing Windows 11 on this PC is not recommended and may result in compatibility issues. If you proceed with installing Windows 11, your PC will no longer be supported and won't be entitled to receive updates. Damages to your PC due to lack of compatibility aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty.

Windows Update works fine right now on incompatible Windows 11 devices, but there is a chance that this may not be the case in the future. Especially feature updates may become problematic to install, as users may need to bypass the restrictions again before these can be installed.

Make the switch to Linux

The second option that users have is to make the switch to Linux. The change requires more research and work on the user's end: a Linux distribution needs to be picked for that, which may require some testing prior to making the move. Most Linux distributions can be run as Live systems, which won't affect data that is on the PC's hard drives.

Here are the main issues that users will experience:

• Files need to be migrated manually to the Linux system. It is a good idea to back up important data before making any changes to a system. Use of an external hard drive or internal hard drive is advised.
• Many applications won't run under Linux; this depends on the programs that are used on Windows, and programs such as WINE may help, but there is a good chance that some programs can't be run at all.
• There is no data migration between programs, unless the programs support syncing.
• The handling, administration and management is different, and need to be learned. Many modern Linux distributions require little to no knowledge of the command line. While it is recommend for advanced users, most regular users don't need to worry too much about this if they pick a beginner-friendly distribution.

What happens to all the Windows 10 devices that are incompatible with Windows 11 in 2025?

The amount of time devices running Windows are powered on and connected to Windows Update is tracked by Microsoft as 'Update Connectivity.' 

This measurement correlates the systems' lack of enough connected time with why they're not up to date while also making it easier to understand why some devices are unlikely to get recently released updates successfully.

According to David Guyer, a Microsoft Program Manager for Windows Updates in MEM, Windows devices need at least 8 hours online to get the latest updates and successfully install them.

"One of the most impactful things we explored was how much time a device needs to be powered on and connected to Windows Update to be able to successfully install quality and feature updates," said Guyer.

"What we found is that devices that don't meet a certain amount of connected time are very unlikely to successfully update. Specifically, data shows that devices need a minimum of two continuous connected hours, and six total connected hours after an update is released to reliably update.

"This allows for a successful download and background installations that are able to restart or resume once a device is active and connected."

You can track devices with insufficient Update Connectivity via Microsoft Intune by navigating to Devices > Monitor and selecting either the Feature update failures or the Windows Expedited update failures report.

Insufficient Update Connectivity alerts can also be found via the Summary report in Intune by going to Reports > Windows updates > Reports > Windows Expedited update report.

When looking at Windows 10 devices that are not fully updated and not meeting minimum connectivity requirements, Microsoft saw that:

• Approximately 50% of devices not on a serviced build of Windows 10 do not meet the minimum Update Connectivity measurement.
• Approximately 25% of Windows 10 devices on a serviced build but have security updates that are more than 60 days out of date have less than the minimum Update Connectivity.

"When troubleshooting update issues, we have found it is best to select devices that have sufficient Update Connectivity," Guyer added.

"If a device has insufficient Update Connectivity, then investigating other update issues is complicated because the low Update Connectivity can create new issues that go away once there's enough connectivity."

In related news, Microsoft began testing a smarter delivery method for Windows update improvements dubbed 'Update Stack Package,' which would deliver improvements to the update experience outside of major OS updates before monthly or feature Windows updates.

The company also redesigned cumulative updates in Windows 11 to allow security and quality updates to install faster as they are approximately 40% smaller than their Windows 10 counterparts.

Last year, Redmond released new APIs for managing Windows Update that enable devs and IT professionals to expedite Windows 10 security updates in enterprise environments.

Microsoft: Windows needs at least 8 hours online to update reliably

The changelog provides the following information:

Adds a new feature called Sync Your Settings for users who are migrating to Windows 11, original release. You’ll use Sync Your Settings to automatically back up a list of your applications to your Microsoft Account. Then, you can quickly restore those application on a Windows 11, original release device. This new feature that will deploy over the coming weeks.

Sync Your Settings is not a new feature of Windows 10, as it has been part of the Settings application. Microsoft could have created an independent feature and called it Sync Your Settings as well, but this seems unlikely.

The new functionality adds a list of installed Microsoft Store applications to the linked Microsoft Account, making it easier to restore these on Windows 11 devices if the same Microsoft Account is used to sign-in. Microsoft revealed that it will roll out the feature to all Windows 10 devices "over the coming weeks".

Closing Words

The new Sync Your Settings feature improves migrations to Windows 11. It is unfortunate that the feature is being introduced months after the release of Windows 11 final, as users who migrated to Windows 11, for instance by purchasing a new device because their old computer was declared incompatible with the new operating system, did not have it at their disposal in the past months.

A direct upgrade from Windows 10 to 11 should keep data, including applications, installed. Most applications and programs remain compatible, and these should remain installed after the upgrade. Sync Your Settings is therefore mostly useful to users who install Windows 11 without selecting to keep data or start using a different device with Windows 11.

The new update is an optional update. Most administrators may want to wait with the installation, as Microsoft uses Telemetry data to detect bugs and issues. The update will be introduced as part of February's Patch Tuesday update, which Microsoft will release on February 8, 2022.

Windows 10's Sync Your Settings improves Windows 11 migrations, but it is late to the party

These video wrapper scripts improve the browser's Picture-in-Picture mode by adding support for site-specific controls and features, such as subtitles or captions.

Picture-in-Picture modes are supported by many modern web browsers. The mode allows users to move media playback to a standalone overlay interface that is displayed on top of the browser. Users get basic controls, e.g., to play and pause videos, and may use the browser to navigate to other tabs or pages without losing media playback focus.

Work on site-specific video player adapters started about a year ago when bug 1670108 was opened on Mozilla's bug tracking site. Main reasons for wanting to implement scripts for specific services was compatibility, as global features would sometimes cause unwanted breakage. Mike Conley, the original poster on the bug tracking site, gave an example where a simple function that would change the current time of the video would result in playback stopping on Netflix.

The introduction of site-specific solutions for Firefox's Picture-in-Picture mode brings advanced controls to the mode and reduces the chance of breakage.

Mozilla mentions four video streaming services in its announcement. According to the organization, users can expect scripts for Netflix, YouTube and Amazon, and other services that have not been mentioned in the announcement.

The latest version of Firefox Nightly includes the infrastructure that powers these site-specific video wrapper scripts. Mozilla implemented a proof-of-concept script for YouTube that syncs the mute button of the Picture-in-Picture window with the mute state of the video player on YouTube.

Mozilla will keep the functionality restricted to Firefox Nightly for now to address potential bugs and issues that are reported to the organization. The feature will then be uplifted to Firefox Stable eventually.

Closing words

Firefox's Picture-in-Picture mode will get a functionality boost out of this, especially if site-specific features such as subtitles or captions are supported by the wrapper scripts. Firefox users who use the browser's Picture-in-Picture mode will likely find the improved functionality useful, provided that sites that they use the feature on are supported by it.

Firefox's Picture-in-Picture mode to support site-specific wrappers for improved functionality

While Windows 11 has almost doubled its market share since November, Windows 10 21H2 has more than tripled in use over the same period. AdDuplex said it will be interesting to see where these numbers settle over time as many computers do not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 11 and are forced to stay on the ageing Windows 10.

The way AdDuplex sources its information is quite interesting too. Around 5,000 Microsoft Store apps running AdDuplex SDK v.2 help AdDuplex collect data on tens of thousands of machines to learn about the operating system the apps are running on. AdDuplex takes a sample of 60,000 computers and then reports the percentages running various editions of Windows 10 and 11.

Notably, AdDuplex can only collect data on Windows versions with the Microsoft Store so some older versions of Windows that are no longer supported are not represented, with that said, AdDuplex’s data probably gives a fairly accurate picture of things.

Windows 11 now makes up 16.1% of modern Windows computers

According to Microsoft's analysis, PCs that don't meet certain update-specific requirements are often not up to date. Windows devices that are not online "two continuous connected hours, and six total connected hours after an update is released" often fail to update to the released regular updates or feature updates. The time is required to successfully download and install updates according to Microsoft.

Microsoft uses the Update Connectivity measurement to observe the updating behavior of Windows devices. It measures the time Windows devices are powered on and connected to Windows Update or other update management services such as WSUS.

Data analysts discovered that about 50% of Windows devices that "are not on a serviced build of Windows 10" are not meeting the minimum Update Connectivity measurement. Additionally, about 25% of devices that don't meet the requirements are "more than 60 days" behind when it comes to the installation of security updates on the device.

Microsoft recommends that organizations try to ensure that devices meet the minimum Update Connectivity measurement "by communicating with device owners"; this may include suggesting to owners to leave devices plugged in and connected instead of "powering them off overnight".

Power management is another area which has the potential of reducing the number of devices that are not kept up to date. Microsoft suggests to modify power settings to make sure that devices have enough time to download and install the latest security updates.

Update Connectivity data is available in Microsoft Intune. Administrators need to open Devices > Monitor and either open Feature update failures or Windows Expedited update failures to see the report.

Closing Words

Home users may also be affected by this, albeit to a lesser degree. Windows users who use the computer for light and short activities only may run systems that are not up to date. These users could run manual checks for updates to install the latest updates, without leaving the computer unattended.

Some Windows users keep their devices on a previous version, for instance, when new updates have known issues that impact activity on the device.

You can read the full article on Microsoft's Tech Community website. (via Deskmodder)

Microsoft explains why Windows PCs are not updated to the most recent version

Office Insider Preview Build 14922.20000 changelog

Word

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue by changing non-white background colors that exactly matched highlight colors to have the highlight property.
• We fixed an issue where, upon selecting a specific page using the navigation pane, only the first part of the page was displayed in print layout mode.
• We fixed an issue where performance with large documents was slower in Word 365 or Windows 10 than in Word 2013 or Windows 7.
• We fixed an issue that updated the case statements to correspond to the data size.

Excel

Notable Fix

• We fixed an issue where the formatting of filtered charts would change after being saved in Excel for the web.

Outlook

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue where, if a user changed the From field with no alterations made to the new compose, the label justification prompt was incorrectly shown.
• We fixed an issue where Outlook would merge contact information when the RunContactLinking regkey was set to 0.
• We fixed an issue where the Appointment Quick View (AQV) was removed from the hidden window check to enable initial scrolling.

Project

Notable Fix

• We fixed an issue where autofilters did not work if the text information in an enterprise text type field contained a question mark (?) or asterisk (*). The error generated was, “The entry is not valid. The test value cannot be used with the field for the data you want to find or filter for.” Autofilters now allow the inclusion of values with reserved characters.

Office Suite

Notable Fix

• We fixed an issue in existing WOPI protocol to support real-time coauthoring, where if a client lock on a document expires when attempting to refresh it, the client will acquire the lock.

To update to the latest Microsoft Office Insider Preview Build, open any Office program and go to File> Account> Update Options> Update Now.

Microsoft releases Office Insider Preview Build 14922.20000 for Windows users

Audio muting in Chrome was introduced in 2014 by Google. It is a handy option to toggle audio playback in the web browser. Current versions of the web browser support muting audio on sites only. Users may install extensions such as Tab Muter to restore the functionality in Chrome.

The most recent versions of Google Chrome Canary, the development version of Chrome, has an experimental flag that restores tab muting in the browser. Not all experimental flags make it to a browser feature, but the majority do. Reddit user Leopeva64 found additional information about the feature. It appears that Google plans to run an experiment to compare the tab muting feature with the global media controls audio muting feature.

It is possible that Google is going to remove the flag and drop its plans to reintroduce tab muting in Chrome, so keep that in mind.

Here is what you need to do to enable tab muting in Chrome Canary:

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Chrome Canary installed. Select Help > Menu > About Google Chrome to run a check for updates. Updates found will be installed automatically.
2. Load chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting in the browser's address bar.
   • Tab audio muting UI control -- When enabled, the audio indicators in the tab strip double as tab audio mute controls. – Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Fuchsia
3. Set the experimental flag to Enabled.
4. Restart the Google Chrome web browser.

Chrome's audio indicator, which it displays next to tabs that play audio, acts as a toggle for audio playback after the restart. Left-click on the audio playback icon to mute or unmute audio of that tab.

The feature is available in all desktop versions of Google Chrome, but not the mobile versions.

Closing Words

I found individual tab muting to be the better feature, as it gives me direct control over audio playback of individual tabs in the browser. The global media control feature requires an extra click, and it displays all media playback in its interface, which may mean a bit of searching until you find the media that you want to mute.

Google Chrome: tab muting is making a return

Anyway here's what's new in Build 22543:

More Natural Narrator Voices

Microsoft has introduced more natural voices for Narrator. More natural voices enable Narrator users to enjoy scenarios like browsing the web, reading, and authoring mail, and more. Natural Narrator voices use modern, on-device text to speech and once downloaded are supported without an internet connection. Natural Narrator voices are available in English-U.S.

Get Started

Narrator will announce that more natural voices, “Jenny” and “Aria”, are available when it first launches.

Select “Install now” on the announcement window to go to Narrator Settings to add the new voices. From there you can select “Add” button under the “Add natural voices” section. The dialog allows you to select either the “Jenny” or “Aria” voice. Both voices can be installed but must be installed separately. You can click “Preview” to hear a preview of the voice and you can select “Install” to start the download of the selected voice.

“Select a natural voice to install” dialog displays a list of natural voices preview, install, and cancel buttons.

New Narrator Keyboard Commands

In addition, we have made it easier for Narrator users to switch between voices to better support common tasks like reading and navigating.

Newly added Narrator keyboard commands include:

• Narrator + Alt + the Minus key – Move to the previous voice in Narrator’s voice settings combo box.
• Narrator + Alt + the Plus key – Move to the next voice in Narrator’s voice settings combo box.

Updated keyboard commands include:

• Narrator + Alt + the Left Bracket key – Move to the previous punctuation reading mode.
• Narrator + Alt + the Right Bracket key – Move to the next punctuation reading mode.

We look forward to you trying out our new natural voices and would love to hear your feedback and suggestions in Feedback Hub (Win + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

First up are the Changes and Improvements:

• Building on the recent changes to the flyout design for the hardware indicators, we have updated the media controls which appear on the Lock screen when playing music in a supported app. It more closely matches the design shown for the media controls in Quick Settings when signed-in to your PC. The media controls will always use dark theme to complement the rest of the Lock Screen visual style. [We are beginning to roll this change out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

 

• We have updated the experience of resizing app windows in snap layouts by overlaying the relevant app icon on top of the acrylic background. Snap some windows using the snap assist, resize the snapped window layout using the buffer and watch the other snapped windows go out-of-focus overlaid with their app icon.

 

• Using the WIN + ALT + K keyboard shortcut to mute your call will now show a confirmation flyout.

 

• The input switcher improvements announced with Build 22518, including updated design with an acrylic background, is now available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
• When doing a full build upgrade, the progress ring animation has been updated, aligning with the updated boot screen animation.
• Updated the design of System > Storage > Disks & Volume and Storage Spaces in Settings to align with the overall design of Settings in Windows 11. Certain options for the drive, volume, and space, like properties, are also now directly available inline on these pages as buttons without having to click that entry first.

Moving on to the list of fixes, here they are:

[General]

 

• Task Manager shouldn’t crash when switching to the Performance tab.
• The updated flyout for the hardware indicators for volume will now show the level.
• Fixed an issue where certain characters (like characters with umlauts) weren’t allowed when naming your PC in OOBE, even though it was allowed in Settings after finishing OOBE.
• Addressed an issue which was leading to OneNote crashing in recent builds when trying to open pages with inserted PDFs.
• Mitigated an issue that was leading to unresponsive UI after enabling HDR.

 

[File Explorer]

 

• Fixed an issue that could lead to explorer.exe crashing when dragging and dropping a file out of a zipped folder in File Explorer.
• The context menu in File Explorer now shows a CTRL + Shift + C keyboard shortcut next to Copy as Path.

 

[Input]

 

• Fixed an issue which was leading to the cursor unexpectedly disappearing in certain apps.
• Fixed a crash in Quick Settings when opening the input switcher from there.
• Addressed an issue which was leading to the candidate window customization being unexpectedly missing from Personalization > Text Input for Chinese Simplified IME users sometimes.

 

[Taskbar]

 

• We fixed the issue causing two arrows to appear for the hidden icon flyout and the Quick Settings icons, and the date and time were misaligned.

 

[Settings]

 

• Mitigated an issue leading to Settings getting stuck in a suspended state and couldn’t be launched.
• If you’ve opted to turn off the startup sound, that setting should persist upgrades going forward.
• Fixed the icon in the notification that shows if you have chosen to postpone finishing setting up your device.
• Tabbing through Quick Settings should no longer set focus to an invisible element.
• Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing the media controls above Quick Settings to be off-screen.

 

[Windowing]

 

• The underline indicating the active desktop in Task View will now follow your chosen accent color instead of being blue.
• Mitigated a WER issue which was leading to DWM crashes in recent flights.

 

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.

And here are the known issues in the build:

[Taskbar]

 

• The taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.

 

[Search]

 

• After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.

 

[Input]

 

• On a UAC prompt, the IME candidate window doesn’t show up.

 

[Widgets]

 

• With the taskbar left-aligned, information such as temperature is not shown. This will be fixed in a future update.

 

[Narrator]

 

• Restart Narrator if the voice is not automatically switched after downloading Microsoft Aria (Natural) from voice selection combo box.

You can find the original press release for Dev channel build 22543 here.

Windows 11 build 22543 in the Dev channel adds  “Jenny” and “Aria” to Narrator, plus fixes

As can be guessed from the name, the ‘Text Prediction’ feature predicts what you might want to say next. The prediction gets displayed as a grayed-out suggestion, and pressing the “Tab” or right arrow will add the prediction to your writing, exactly like how it does on Microsoft Word and Outlook.

The feature is currently limited to Edge Insiders, meaning only those who’re on Dev and Canary channels can use the feature. What’s even more frustrating is that not every Edge Insider gets to test the feature as it’s available for only those who set English as their language in the USA. Microsoft, however, promised to add more language support for the feature in the future, so we can safely assume it’ll be available for users in other parts of the world in the future.

Microsoft announced the ‘Text Prediction’ feature for the Microsoft Edge browser last week, but for some reason, the company took some more time to make it available for the Edge Insiders.

This feature certainly helps Microsoft to make Edge a browser where users can not only type faster but also type with fewer errors. Last year, the software giant integrated Microsoft Editor, a tool that checks for spelling and grammar mistakes, into the Edge browser. ‘Text Prediction’ coupled with the new Microsoft Editor integration will certainly make Edge a lot more useful and will eliminate the need for users to install third-party extensions.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is working on a number of new features for Edge. One of the features the company is currently working on is the ability to follow YouTube channels in the browser. Followable web is another exciting feature that will be available for Edge users in the coming few months.

Meanwhile, if you’re based in the USA, you can test the new text prediction feature right now by downloading the Microsoft Edge Canary or Microsoft Edge Dev. You can download the browser from here.

‘Text Prediction’ feature now available for Microsoft Edge users

The rollout of the new versions of Firefox begins on January 27, 2022. Firefox installations with automatic updates enabled will receive the new version of the browser automatically. Rollouts of updates happen over time, and users may speed up the process by running manual checks for updates once Mozilla unlocks the release on the server side.

Selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox displays the installed version of Firefox and runs a check for updates. Firefox will download and install updates that it finds automatically by default.

The official release notes are not published yet. They will contain one entry only (likely):

Fixed an issue that allowed unexpected data to be submitted in some of our search telemetry.

The information that is provided does not provide details, but it looks as if data was submitted by Firefox that was not supposed to be submitted. The data was submitted as part of the browser's search Telemetry feature.

The linked bug listing on Mozilla's bug tracking site, bug 1751746, is unhelpful as the bug is not publicly visible.

The term "unexpected data" could refer to any kind of data that the search Telemetry module is not designed to collect.

Firefox users who have disabled Telemetry in the browser were not affected by the issue. Users can turn off Telemetry in the following way:

1. Load about:preferences#privacy in the web browser's address bar.
2. Scroll down to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section on the page that opens.
3. Uncheck all options of the group, including:
   1. Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla.
   2. Allow Firefox to make personalized extension recommendations.
   3. Allow Firefox to install and run studies.
   4. Allow Firefox to send backlogged crash reports on your behalf.

The new versions of Firefox address the issue. We will update the article if Mozilla reveals additional information about the data that was submitted erroneously.

Firefox 96.0.3 and Firefox 91.5.1 ESR fix search Telemetry data sending issue

Frontpaged: Mozilla Firefox Browser 96.0.3

Windows 11 was released in October 2021 but offered to select devices only initially. The staged rollout starts with devices that are most likely to experience no or little issues. Microsoft's initial plan was to offer Windows 11 to all eligible devices by mid-2022.

Now, Microsoft believes that it can complete the rollout to all eligible devices earlier than expected, as devices are upgraded at "twice the rate" the company saw for Windows 10.

The upgrade offer to Windows 11 is entering its final phase of availability and is designated for broad deployment for eligible devices*. Since the launch of Windows 11 in October, we have seen strong demand and preference for Windows 11 with people upgrading their eligible PCs at twice the rate we saw for Windows 10. Based on this trend, we are advancing the pace of the rollout faster than we originally announced and entering the final phase of availability for Windows 11 ahead of our initial plan of mid-2022.

Windows 10 customers may use the PC Health Check application or third-party apps, such as Windows 11 Requirements Check Tool or  to determine whether a device is compatible with Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system.

If you are using Windows 10, you can determine if your device is eligible for the upgrade using the PC Health Check app or checking Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements. If you have an eligible device, open Windows Update Settings and select Check for updates. Once the upgrade is ready for your device, you will see the option to download and install. Eligible Windows 10 devices must be on version 2004 or later, and have installed the September 14, 2021 security update or later, to upgrade directly to Windows 11.

Microsoft changed the system requirements of Windows 11 and limited support to devices with modern processors and TPM 2.0. While it is possible to bypass some of the requirements -- even Microsoft did publish instructions on installing Windows 11 on unsupported PCs -- it is not supported officially and some features may not work properly.

You can check out our guide on installing Windows 11 without TPM 2.0 here.

The Windows 11 update is only offered to devices that meet system requirements. Windows 10 version 2004 or newer is required for the upgrade via Windows Update. Microsoft notes that a Microsoft Account, or MSA for Home editions, is also required.

The "check for updates" button of the Windows Update app should list the Windows 11 upgrade as an option if the PC meets all requirements. Customers may also upgrade via an in-place upgrade or by installing Windows 11 from installation media.

Tip: here are instructions on blocking the Windows 11 update.

Windows 11 will be offered to all eligible PCs ahead of schedule

Here are the major highlights of this "C" release on Windows 11:

• Updates an issue that causes the audio service to stop responding on some devices that support hardware-accelerated Bluetooth audio.

• Updates an issue that affects icons for apps when the apps are not running. On the taskbar, these icons might display as active as if the apps are running.

• Updates an issue that incorrectly shows the volume icon in the taskbar as muted.

• Updates an issue that causes a device to stop working when it’s connected to multiple displays.

• Updates an issue that might prevent icons from appearing on the taskbar of a secondary display.

• Improves auto brightness to provide a better response under low light conditions on all the supported systems.

There are several other improvements and fixes too. You can find the full details on the Microsoft support page for the new Windows 11 KB5008353 update linked here. Likewise, you can find the various highlights and improvements for the Windows 10 update under KB5009596 linked here.

You can either download these updates via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update or opt for standalone downloads on the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

Interestingly, Microsoft had already released a Windows 10 Insider build earlier under the same KB5009596.

New Windows 11 update KB5008353 fixes various taskbar issues, display bugs, and much more

Microsoft confirms it’s bringing “new experiences” to Windows 11 next month

This update includes fixes for reboots on domain controllers, L2TP VPN connection issues, and 25 other fixes or improvements.

As part of this update, Microsoft is also rolling out a new 'Sync Your Settings' feature for easier migrations to Windows 11.

"Adds a new feature called Sync Your Settings for users who are migrating to Windows 11, original release," explains the KB5009596 release notes.

"You'll use Sync Your Settings to automatically back up a list of your applications to your Microsoft Account. Then, you can quickly restore those application on a Windows 11, original release device. This new feature that will deploy over the coming weeks."

The KB5009596 cumulative update preview is part of Microsoft's January 2022 monthly "C" update, allowing admins to test upcoming fixes being released in the February 2022 Patch Tuesday.

Unlike Patch Tuesday updates, the "C" preview updates are optional and do not include any security updates.

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 KB5009596 preview update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

It should be noted that Windows 10 2004 reached the end of service on December 14th, 2021. which means it will no longer receive new cumulative updates, and users should upgrade to supported versions of Windows 10.

What's new in Windows 10 KB5009596

After installing this update, Windows 10 20H2 will be updated to build 19042.1503, Windows 10 21H1 will be updated to build 19043.1503, and Windows 10 21H2 will be updated to build 19044.1503.

The Windows 10 KB5009596 cumulative update preview includes twenty-seven improvements or fixes, with the ten highlighted fixes listed below:

• Adds a reminder to Internet Explorer 11 that notifies you about its upcoming retirement.

• Updates an issue that might sometimes cause Japanese Microsoft Office applications stop working when you use the new Japanese Input Method Editor (IME).

• Updates an issue that stops printing or prints the wrong output when you print using USB on Windows 10, version 2004 or later.

• Updates an issue that causes applications to stop working when you type text using the Chinese IME.

• Updates an issue that prevents certain surround sound audio from playing in Microsoft Edge.

• Adds a new feature that provides direct access to select your Microsoft Edge profiles from news and interests. You can also go to Microsoft Edge directly from news and interests in the same corresponding profile.

• Adds a new feature called Sync Your Settings for users who are migrating to Windows 11, original release. You’ll use Sync Your Settings to automatically back up a list of your applications to your Microsoft Account. Then, you can quickly restore those application on a Windows 11, original release device. This new feature that will deploy over the coming weeks.

• Updates an issue that causes functioning Bluetooth devices to stop working when you attempt to connect to a non-functioning Bluetooth device.

• Updates daylight savings time to start in February 2022 instead of March 2022 in Jordan.

• Updates the phone number for Windows Activation for locales that have the wrong phone number.

You can find a complete list of fixes in the KB5009596 support bulletin.

Windows 10 KB5009596 update released with bug fixes, improvements