Until today, the Windows Insider Release channel has been offering users Windows 10 21H2 (v19044), which is expected to be released next month.

Starting today, Microsoft is now offering Windows 11 as an optional download within Windows Update for users with compatible hardware, as shown below.

The Windows 11 build offered in the Release channel is Build 22000.194, which was also released to users in the Beta channel on September 16th.

For the last couple of Windows 11 builds in the Beta channel, Microsoft has only been fixing bugs in preparation for the operating system's launch.

Unfortunately, there are still numerous features missing from Windows 11 that users have grown accustomed to in Windows 10 and are requesting to be added back to Windows 11.

These missing features include the Taskbar context menu, the ability to drag and drop files onto open Taskbar applications, the ability to move the taskbar to the top or sides of the screen, and the ability to ungroup running applications.

While Microsoft is aware of these requests, none of them are likely to make it into the initial release of Windows 111.

If these missing features are critical to you, it may be wise to wait for the next version of Windows 11 before installing the new operating system.

Thx to Opera for the tip!

Windows 11 is now available in the Insider 'Release' channel

How Windows 10 ends up a lot like Windows 7

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A user agent is a string sent by a web browser to a website to let the site know what browser the visitor is using, its version, and integrated technology.

When a new version of a browser, such as Google Chrome, is released, the developers will increment the version number in a user agent string.

For example, the user agent for Google Chrome version 93 is:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/93.0.4577.82 Safari/537.36

While for the current version, Chrome 94, it is:

"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/94.0.4606.54 Safari/537.36

As you can see, the Chrome version number in the user agent string is incremented to match the browser's version number.

By sending the browser user agent to a website, it allows site developers to change a site or app's functionality to accommodate various browser quirks, features, and abilities.

Testing if Chrome 100 user agent breaks websites

As Google Chrome version numbers are currently two digits, Chrome engineers are investigating whether any site, or its functionality, breaks when Chrome 100 is released in March 2022.

"To avoid any UA string breakage when Chrome ships v100, we should add a flag to chrome://flags which flips the current major version to 100 in the User-Agent string as well as navigator.userAgent," Google Chrome engineer Mike Taylor explains in a bug post first spotted by Techdows.

When conducting the test, Chrome users will have their user agent changed to the following string with the hopes that if anything breaks, they will report it to Google.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/100.0.4651.0 Safari/537.36

A similar test was conducted by Mozilla in August 2021 where the Firefox user agent was changed to "Firefox/100.0" user agent.

For the most part, there have not been too many issues, with only a few sites stating the browser is unsupported or problems with the functionality of the site.

Slack's web interface also showed some problems with popup menu buttons, but was quickly fixed by the Slack developers.

To test the Google Chrome 100 user agent on your own sites or sites you visit, you can enable this test using the following steps:

1. Open Google Chrome Canary, enter chrome://flags in the address bar, and press enter.
2. Search for Force major version to 100 in User-Agent in the search field, and when the option appears, enable it as shown below.

    

   

3. When prompted to relaunch the browser, please do so.
4. Once the browser is opened again, you can close the chrome://flags screen.

Now that this setting is enabled, when you visit web page it will send a user agent indicating that the browser is Chrome 100.

To change Chrome's user agent back to its default, simply follow this process and change the flag's setting to Default and relaunch the browser again.

Google tests if 'Chrome/100.0' user agent breaks websites

It has been reported that this unsupported state may even mean that such PCs won't also receive critical security updates. So when a user does want to upgrade to Windows 11 from such existing systems, the following formal agreement, or something similar, would be popping up.

Essentially, in the terms, Microsoft seemingly has clarified that such unsupported systems being upgraded to Windows 11 are not eligible for further updates, stating these PCs "will no longer be supported and won't be entitled to receive updates". It still isn't clear though whether this would also include crucial security-related updates too.

It has been a bumpy ride as far as messaging about unsupported hardware goes, in fact the minimum hardware requirements changed again at the end of August, so it is still possible that the messaging and waiver could still change before or after the release of Windows 11.

For those wondering if their systems are Windows 11-ready or not, the firm launched an updated PC Health Check app version 3.0.210914001 a couple of days ago that will let users know. You can read more about it here.

Source and image: The Verge

If you upgrade to Windows 11 on an unsupported PC, you will have to sign a waiver first

The firm also reiterates that changes and improvements made as part of these Dev channel releases are not tied to any specific Windows releases. They are in-development improvements and will show up in "future Windows releases when they’re ready". However, the company has said that some bug fixes made in the Dev channel builds will roll out in the form of servicing updates to the Windows 11 version that releases next month.

As for today's build, the highlights include a fix for the bug that causes the Taskbar icons to be misaligned. The build, however, will not go to PCs that are managed through MDM due to a blocking bug. The issue is expected to be rectified in the next build that releases to the Dev channel.

Here is the complete list of changes and improvements:

• When you have a file or folder selected in File Explorer, you can now use CTRL + Shift + C to copy the path to your clipboard.
• Rounded the corners of the pop-ups shown when clicking “identify displays” in Display Settings.
• Made some small adjustments to the contrast theme colors based on feedback, including making hyperlinks a little more distinct on hover when using the desert theme.
• Added an icon next to the volume slider in Quick Settings to help make the option for managing audio endpoints more discoverable.
• Updated the Windows Ease of Access folder in Start’s All apps list to now simply be called Accessibility.
• Added an option to Focus Assist settings so you can choose whether or not you would like Focus Assist to be automatically enabled for the first hour after a Windows feature update.

And here are all the fixes made as part of the build:

[Start]

• System now shows up again as an option when right-clicking on the Start button (WIN + X).
• Fixed an issue that was causing Narrator to not be able to focus on the headers in Start sometimes with touch.
• Mitigated an issue where when a large number of apps were installed, the Start menu might get stuck with no app icons showing (only app name) after a DPI change. This change is also believed to help improve Start launch reliability on secondary monitors in mixed DPI scenarios.
• If the accessibility option “Always show scrollbars” is enabled, switching to the All apps list will no longer cause the scrollbar to escape the window boundaries during the transition animation.
• Pressing the down arrow after opening Start will now navigate into the pinned apps section instead of jumping to your username.

[Taskbar]

• Icons on the Taskbar are properly aligned and centered again apps should no longer get cut off by the “show hidden icons” button when too many apps are open.
• The Taskbar previews text will now follow the Accessibility setting to increase text size.
• Adjusted the notification count badge for notification center to fix an issue where some of the numbers weren’t centered in the circle.
• Fixed an issue where the Chat flyout wouldn’t light dismiss the first time it was opened.
• Improved explorer.exe reliability when the Taskbar spanned multiple monitors.

[Search]

• Opening Search on secondary monitors works now.

[File Explorer]

• Mitigated an issue that could cause File Explorer to hang when doing a search.
• Pressing F1 in File Explorer will now open a search for Windows 11 help and not Windows 10.
• Made a change to address an issue where items under View, Sort by, and Group by submenus in the context menu weren’t displaying a mark to show they were selected.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue resulting in the mouse pointer position in WDAG being incorrect when the monitor was in portrait mode.
• Text predictions (both for the touch keyboard, and hardware keyboard) should be working again now in this flight for English and certain other languages where it was broken.
• Addressed an issue when using the previous version of the Korean IME where when typing quickly in certain apps the Shift Key Up event wouldn’t be received by the app.
• Fixed an issue that was making the touch keyboard key borders look blurry in certain cases.
• Mitigated an issue where the touch keyboard would crash in certain cases when switching dock mode while the voice typing UI was visible.

[Settings]

• Removed duplicate Nearby Sharing entry in Focus Assist priority list.
• Fixed an issue that was causing a repeated prompt to reset to default settings when “Automatically optimize new drives” was unselected in Optimize Drives.
• If you press WIN + P the current projection mode will now have initial keyboard focus instead of always the first in the list.

[Windowing]

• Trying to switch Desktops (for example, using the keyboard shortcuts) when there is only one should no longer steal foreground focus.
• Addressed an issue where the snap layouts flyout would start flashing when invoked in certain places on the screen.
• Move To option when right clicking a window thumbnail in Task View is now aligned with the other context menu entries.

[Windows Sandbox]

• Windows Sandbox should now launch in this build. In previous Dev Channel builds, Windows Sandbox would not launch in some circumstances.

[Windows Subsystem for Linx (WSL) & Hyper-V]

• We have fixed the issue causing both WSL2 and Hyper-V to not work on ARM64 PCs such as the Surface Pro X in previous Dev Channel builds.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue that caused some PCs to bug check with DRIVER_PNP_WATCHDOG error when attempting to update to a recent build.
• Fixed an issue that caused some Surface Pro X’s to bug check with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.
• Fixed an issue where the Autorun registry entry for Command Prompt would work if /k was used.
• Did some work to address an issue where not being able to parse a certain firewall rule would result in all rules following that one not being migrated on upgrade.
• Addressed an issue where the Quick Assist window could be small and not possible to resize.
• Fixed an issue for some users where if the sign in button in Quick Assist was clicked, it would open a blank browser window and they wouldn’t be able to proceed to sign in.
• Mitigated an issue with certain menus / context menus that was causing a visual glitch with the shadow on first launch.
• Mitigated a race condition that was causing certain PCs to sometimes bugcheck with INTERNAL_POWER_ERROR when resuming from hibernation.
• Fixed an issue that was making some PCs unable to progress past the boot screen when upgrading to 224xx builds with certain SSDs attached.

As usual, there are a few known issues plaguing build 22463 that users must be aware of. Here is the complete list:

[General]

• Insider PCs that are Mobile Device Managed (MDM) will not receive this build. There is an issue in this build that prevents PCs from successfully updating to this build. We hope to have this fixed in the next flight.
• Users updating from Builds 22000.xxx, or earlier, to newer Dev Channel builds using the latest Dev Channel ISO, may receive the following warning message: “The build you are trying to install is Flight Signed. To continue installing, enable flight signing.” If you receive this message, press the Enable button, reboot the PC, and retry the update.

[Start]

• In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.

[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.
• Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.

[File Explorer]

• If you right click files in OneDrive locations in File Explorer, the context menu will unexpectedly dismiss when you hover over entries that open sub-menus, such as “Open with.”
• Double clicking a network folder to open it will pin it to Quick Access instead of opening it. To open a network folder until we release a build with a fix, please right-click the folder and select “Open” from the context menu.

[Widgets]

• The widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
• Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.

[Microsoft Store]

• We continue to work to improve search relevance in the Store.

In addition to the build announcement, the Redmond company has also noted that PowerToys is now available in the Microsoft Store. The listing was spotted last week and brings an alternative way to install the suite of tools. However, the Microsoft Store version is not a conventional app as it pulls in an installer for the tools instead of installing the tools themselves. You can check out the app in the store on Windows 11 here.

Windows 11 build 22463 for the Dev channel fixes misaligned Taskbar icons and more

There are some big changes, but you can roll back many of them.

This week, Apple released Safari 15 for macOS Big Sur and Catalina. Among other things, the new update includes a major design overhaul—plus the ability to roll back to the old layout and look if you're not a fan.

 

Apple released major software updates for all of its platforms except macOS on Monday. The updates were timed closely with the release of new iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models.

 

But last week's product launch event didn't include Macs, which are expected to get some more focused attention by the end of the year, alongside an announcement about the release date of macOS Monterey.

 

Nonetheless, Apple appears to have decided to push the Safari update separately to keep the experience consistent across platforms in the meantime. (It has done that with some prior releases when macOS came after iOS, too.)

 

The Safari redesign has gone through several changes throughout the recent beta releases on all platforms (and especially on iOS and iPadOS). The most dramatic change on the iPhone was the relocation of the address and search bar from the top of the screen to the bottom, a tweak designed to make Safari easier to use on the phone one-handed.

 

Initially, it was Apple's way or the highway with that change, but Apple added a way to roll back that change by the time iOS 15 went live to the public.

 

On top of the address and search bar, iOS and macOS had another big change in common: a minimalist streamlining of the interface to make it use less screen space overall. That has also been dialed back a bit for release on both macOS and iOS.

 

If you still don't like the dialed back iteration, you can revert to an earlier design in Safari's preferences pane. For example, you can place the address bar above your browser tabs as it was before. (By default, Safari now places these side-by-side.) You can also disable the behavior that re-colors the tab bar to match a web page's content.

 

Design changes aside, there are some new features in Safari 15. Tab Groups "help you save and organize your tabs and easily access them across devices," Apple says in its release notes. Additionally, Safari can automatically switch sites from HTTP to HTTPS when possible.

 

Here are Apple's full (but short) release notes for this week's Safari update:

 

Safari 15 delivers faster performance, improved security, and the following new features:

 

• Tab Groups help you save and organize your tabs and easily access them across devices
• Redesigned tabs have a rounder and more defined appearance and take on the color of
the webpage
• Compact tab bar option shows more of your web page on screen
• HTTPS upgrade automatically switches sites from HTTP to more secure HTTPS when
available

 

Apple rolls major Safari redesign out to Macs ahead of Monterey release

To use Brave Talk, users can initiate a call directly through the Brave desktop browser by opening a new tab and clicking the Brave Talk camera icon, or simply visit talk.brave.com from the Brave browser on desktop or mobile. While calls need to be initiated from Brave, users can invite others to join calls from any modern browser.

The new feature is the latest addition to Brave’s suite of tools that blocks trackers by default, including Brave Search and Brave News. Many other video conferencing providers, including Zoom, monitor calls, metadata, and images, and the records of that data can be sold or shared without user consent. Brave Talk users can enable multiple layers of encryption on calls, so an eavesdropper cannot listen in on users’ calls, and our servers don’t save metadata, so calls, images, and activities are never recorded or shared without user consent. Brave Talk is powered by the Jitsi as a Service open source video meeting platform from 8×8, a leading integrated cloud communications platform provider (NYSE: EGHT), using WebRTC open source technology that enables developers to embed HD video directly into the browser. 

Available directly in the browser, Brave Talk does not require extra apps or extensions, providing users with a seamless online experience. Brave is committed to building a private and user-first alternative to big tech solutions and further improving online experience with a privacy-first approach. As video conferencing has become an essential part of life, Brave Talk furthers this mission and puts users first. 

“Connecting with colleagues and friends through video conferencing channels is now the norm, and as users become increasingly aware of online privacy concerns, there is a growing need for a privacy-first option,” said Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave. “Big tech has a firm grip on the market as it exists today, and Brave is determined to offer users an alternative that challenges the giants and puts the power back in the hands of the user. With over 36 million monthly active users on our browser, we are reshaping the industry with our privacy-by-default ecosystem.”

Brave Talk, formerly named Brave Together, launched in testing mode in May 2020. Now, Brave Talk is available for free to millions of users for one-to-one video calls, and unlike other video call service providers, Brave Talk features video groupwatch, YouTube livestreaming, and unlimited call times for free version users. For users who are interested in hosting calls for three or more people, Brave offers a premium version of Brave Talk for $7/month, which provides call recordings, hosting tools like participant muting and entry passcodes, and more for calls with hundreds of people.

The Brave Android and iOS apps currently feature Brave Talk Premium, and will have the free version as well in the coming weeks.

< View the video at the source page. >

Source

Released on June 27th, 2021, Linux kernel 5.13 was one of the bigger releases in the Linux 5.x series with over 16,000 commits contributed by more than 2000 developers. It introduced initial FreeSync HDMI support for AMD GPUs, initial support for Apple’s M1 processor, and support for the Landlock security module.

It also brought improved support for the exFAT file system, driver support for AMD NAVI GPUs, initial support for the AMD Radeon “Aldebaran” GPU series, a new SMB3 mount option leading to improved performance, as well as more goodies for the EXT4 file system.

On September 18th, 2021, renowned Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman published what appeared to be the last maintenance update to the Linux kernel 5.13 series, Linux 5.13.19, saying that the branch is now end-of-life and urging everyone to upgrade to the latest Linux 5.14 kernel series.

“Note, this is the LAST 5.13.y kernel release. This branch is now end-of-life. Everyone should move to the 5.14.y kernel branch now,” said Greg Kroah-Hartman in a mailing list announcement.

As of today, September 22nd, 2021, the Linux 5.13 kernel is now marked as EOL (End-of-Life) on the kernel.org website, which means that it will no longer receive maintenance update, version 5.13.19 being the last in the series.

As such, if your GNU/Linux distribution is using Linux 5.13, you should consider upgrading to Linux kernel 5.14 as soon as possible. If you can’t do it yourself, ask the maintainers of your distro to upgrade the kernel packages.

On top of the features mentioned above, Linux kernel 5.14 brings a much-enhanced AMDGPU graphics driver for AMD GPUs, further improvements to the EXT4 file system, new features to the F2FS file system, a new libata subsystem for controlling IDE devices, and much more.

Unfortunately, Linux kernel 5.14 won’t be an LTS (long-term support) release either, but it’s currently the most recent stable kernel branch available for GNU/Linux distributions and you should use it if you’re not relying on one of the many long-term supported branches.

Popular rolling-release distributions like Arch Linux and openSUSE Tumbleweed have already adopted the Linux 5.14 kernel series, the latest version being 5.14.7, released today September 22nd, 2021, and I believe other popular distros like Fedora Linux will ship Linux 5.14 in their repositories too in the coming days.

Source

Over the past 20 or so years, there always seems to be that one distribution everyone claims is the best to help Windows users transition to Linux. Most often those distributions are nothing more than Linux with a desktop that looks like Windows. Sometimes they do a decent job of mimicking Windows and sometimes not.  

But every so often something special pops up, a distribution that goes well beyond that extra mile to make Windows users feel right at home with Linux. Such is the case with Windowsfx. This Linux distribution is far from just a UI tweak to resemble another OS, it's perfectly tuned for Windows users. It looks like Windows 11, and it behaves like Windows 11... only it's Linux. For certain users, Windowsfx will be the absolute best of both worlds.

Windowsfx is now in preview, but so far it's been pretty spectacular. There are two different versions you can use, the free or the professional version. The free edition includes all operational features and a 30-day trial of all WxDesktop resources. The professional edition ($20) includes:

• All operational features.
• WxDesktop system settings and tools
• Voice assistant
• MS Active Directory
• OneDrive support built into the file manager 
• Use of all WxDesktop resources

After experiencing the free version for just a few days, I can tell you the professional edition would be well worth the $20 price of admission.

Let's take a look at what this desktop has to offer.

The Windowsfx user interface

I'm going to skip over the installation because it's just as easy as any Linux installation. I would go so far as to say it's even easier, simply because upon first login Windowsfx walks you through every phase of getting all of the Windows-y bits put in place (including the installation of the Wine compatibility layer—so you can install Windows applications). 

If you're a fan of the Windows 11 UI, you're in for a treat because the developers have done a spectacular job of creating a desktop (Figure A) that looks and feels very much like what Microsoft has done.

Figure A

The Windowsfx default desktop should look very familiar to Windows fans.

The one thing I will say about the onboarding for Windowsfx is that the installation for all of the Windows compatibility components does take quite a long time. You're looking at anywhere from 30-60 minutes (depending on the speed of your network). This installation adds several extra components to give both .exe and .msi compatibility to Windowsfx. So, anyone who needs to run Windows software would be best served to take the time to complete this setup.

If you dig in, you'll find the default version of Windowsfx uses the KDE Plasma desktop to achieve its look and feel. That was a smart choice by the developers, as it offers the best combination of user-friendliness, stability, speed and customization. 

Those who have given the Windows 11 interface a go should feel right at home with Windowsfx. Click the desktop menu icon to reveal the menu, where you can locate all of the installed applications and search for files (Figure B).

Figure B

The default Windowsfx desktop menu in action.

Of late, I've made it very clear that the KDE Plasma developers have been doing a spectacular job with their desktop, and Windowsfx shows off just how beautiful and functional it is. There are zero complaints to be found when working in this UI.

Default apps in Windowsfx

This is where it starts to get very interesting for Windows users coming to Linux. You'll notice that MS Edge is the default web browser for Windowsfx. Also, Discover (the KDE Plasma software center) has been renamed Windowsfx Store ... at least in the panel. Once you open the app, it's still clearly KDE Discover, but it's just as easy to use as what you would find on the Windows desktop.

But when you dig in, you start noticing a bit of a pattern. Windowsfx includes several apps you'd normally associate with Windows, such as:

• MS Teams
• Helloa (a Cortana clone)
• Audacity
• Microsoft Office (online edition)
• Powershell
• OneDrive
• Spotify
• Visual Studio Code

Windowsfx includes it all. And, once you have the full Wine compatibility layer installed, you can add all of the other Windows applications you require.

How does Windowsfx perform?

Windowsfx is based on Ubuntu and uses the KDE Plasma desktop. That combination alone should give you a pretty good indication as to how this desktop operating system performs. If not, I'll tell you myself: It's stellar. Even with the Wine compatibility layer (and all of the other Windows trickery), Windowsfx is as good an operating system as you'll use. And, because it lands in a very specific niche, it's far and away the best Windows clone to have ever hit the Linux space. 

If you are a Windows user, and you've been looking for the best path to Linux, this is it. Just remember to take the time to complete the Wine installation (which includes a large number of sub-components such as .NET and Visual C++), so you can make the absolute most out of this desktop operating system.

The caveats

I had to keep reminding myself this was a preview edition of the operating system. For the most part, it felt like a full release. However, there were issues that cropped up now and then. One of the biggest I found was the terminal seemed to be mapped to the wrong keyboard layout (even though I specified the proper layout during the installation. Another issue was that it didn't quite understand it was running in a VirtualBox virtual machine. Although it was fine prior to installation, once installed, I had issues getting the guest additions installed so I could resize the window. This, however, was a direct result of the terminal window issue. 

Another problem, one I am very much not accustomed to, was that every time Discover had updates (which were often at first), WIndowsfx decided it needed to restart. That's a very Windows-like behavior that most users would love to escape. And seeing as how Linux users only ever restart after the kernel is updated, this was a most unwelcome change.

Finally, the restart button in the panel (as well as the one prompted by the updates) never seemed to work. In order to restart I had to always go through the start menu.

Understand, all of these issues are most likely to do with the fact that Windowsfx is still in preview. Hopefully, they'll all be fixed before the final release is made available. Other than that, this Linux distribution made quite the positive impression on me.

Source

Google has released Chrome 94 for desktop and Android, complete with an "Idle Detection" API to detect user inactivity, despite privacy concerns expressed by Mozilla and Apple.

New and changed features in Chrome 94 are listed here and include the removal of the AppCache feature, described as a "security and stability liability", and something which has "imposed a tax on all of Chrome's significant architectural efforts."

There is also a new VirtualKeyboard API with more control over its shape and an event fired when it covers page content; more efficient low-level access to media encoders and decoders; and a new JavaScript Self Profiling API which enables developers to collect JavaScript performance profiles from end users.

"By providing an API to manipulate a sampling profiler, applications can gather rich execution data for aggregation and analysis with minimal overhead," say the docs on the W3C Community Group.

The JS self-profiling API has enthusiastic support from Microsoft, Elastic and Dropbox, recorded on GitHub.

The IdleDetection feature is more contentious. The feature is designed for multi-user applications such as meetings, chat, and online games. It notifies the web application when a user is idle, using signals such as lack of use of mouse and keyboard, the screen locking, or the user switching away from the screen where the application is running.

These events occur outside the browser, rather than being reserved for usage of the browser itself.

"Applications which facilitate collaboration require more global signals about whether the user is idle than are provided by existing mechanisms that only consider a user's interaction with the application's own tab," say the release notes.

Support for the API was expressed by developers from Slack and Google Chat, among others.

Mozilla web standards lead Tantek Çelik said on GitHub: "I consider the Idle Detection API too tempting of an opportunity for surveillance capitalism motivated websites to invade an aspect of the user’s physical privacy, keep longterm records of physical user behaviors, discerning daily rhythms (e.g. lunchtime), and using that for proactive psychological manipulation (e.g. hunger, emotion, choice [1][2][3]). In addition, such coarse patterns could be used by websites to surreptiously max-out local compute resources for proof-of-work computations, wasting electricity (cost to user, increasing carbon footprint) without the user’s consent or perhaps even awareness."

Google's Reilly Grant, one of the proposal's owners on the Chromium team, asked for feedback on the WebKit mailing list, WebKit being the browser engine used by Apple for Safari.

Apple's Ryosuke Niwa responded that: "Our concerns are not limited to fingerprinting. There is an obvious privacy concern that this API lets a website observe whether a person is near the device or not. This could be used, for example, to start mining bitcoins when the user is not around or start deploying security exploits, etc."

Grant responded that there is work being done to "define the semantics for throttling the work that sites are allowed to do in the background," to combat the crypto mining menace, and that the API would benefit the user by not showing notifications on inactive devices. "[U]sers want to receive notifications on only the device they are currently using," Grant said.

But Niwa replied that "none of the use cases presented either here or elsewhere are compelling, and none of the privacy or security mitigations you've presented here and I found elsewhere are adequate."

'Tentative deliverable'

Google has nevertheless now implemented the API, after two origin trials in previous versions of Chrome. Its status with the W3C, the body which defines web standards, is as a "tentative deliverable," which means it is some way off being an agreed recommendation.

The Idle Detection API is subject to user permission, which can be found in Chrome 94 settings. The user can specify whether or not sites are allowed to ask "to know when you're actively using device". A concern with such settings though is that sites may try to coerce the user by blocking certain content unless the permission is granted.

Google is also planning to improve memory security in Chrome, possibly by rewriting some components in Rust. According to a post yesterday, "more than 70 per cent of our severe security bugs are memory safety problems."

The team is simultaneously exploring making C++ (the language with which Chrome is written) safer with compile-time and runtime checks, and also use of Rust which is inherently a more memory-safe language.

In a separate post, the Chromium team said that "the hardest part of this is imagining a safe way to pass types between Rust and C++," which is why the Rust proposal remains a "background investigation." ®

Source

The Google Chrome security team has shared that it has no qualms about imposing a slight performance penalty on future versions the web browser if this helps make it more secure.

Quoting earlier research that revealed that 70% of all security issues in Chrome concern memory safety bugs, the developers listed the various approaches it could take to improve the security of the browser. 

In a joint post, the members of the Chrome security team called application security a “cat and mouse game”, before discussing the available approaches and arguing that any practical solution would come with a slight performance hit. 

“In each case, we hope to eliminate a sizable fraction of our exploitable security bugs, but we also expect some performance penalty,” wrote the researchers.

Safer development environment

In broad terms, compile-time checks, runtime checks, and using a memory safe language, are the three approaches that the developers reason could help make Chrome more secure.

In an ideal world, they say they’d have loved to make C++ safer at compile time, if it wasn’t for the design limitations of the language. 

“So, we’re mostly left with options 2 and 3 - make C++ safer (but slower!) or start to use a different language. Chrome Security is experimenting with both of these approaches,” explain the developers.

The developers list MiraclePtr as one of the solutions that will play a significant role in future Chrome security initiatives. 

Although the solution involves earmarking a portion of memory, which is a precious resource on a mobile device, the solution could help eliminate over half of the use-after-free bugs in the browser, according to the developers.

Rust for safety

At the same time, the team is continuing to look at how it can use a memory safe language, such as Rust, for parts of Chrome in the future. 

The search giant has some experience using Rust for this purpose as its Android security team is experimenting using the language in the mobile operating system’s low-level system-code to reign in the number of Android memory-based security vulnerabilities. 

“We’ve started to land limited, non-user-facing Rust experiments in the Chromium source code tree, but we’re not yet using it in production versions of Chrome - we remain in an experimental phase,” say the researchers, explaining that the use of Rust brings with it its own set of complexities.

Source

As for today’s build, there are a couple of significant improvements. To begin with, Edge now defaults to the Windows 11-style design, bringing rounded corners and other updated design elements. On Windows 11, the browser supports translucent elements in the title bar and context menus as well. Up until now, these features have been hidden under an experimental flag. It must be noted, however, that the new design is still a work-in-progress, so there might be rough edges and inconsistencies.

The second major improvement comes in the way of support for view restoring for PDFs on Edge. The feature allows users to pick up PDFs from where they left them, meaning that Edge will now remember the page number, zoom state, and layout of the document, making it easy to read long PDF files and offering the reader in the browser as a viable alternative to other apps. For those that need it, there is an option to turn the feature off. The feature will ship to all users with Edge 95.

Other improvements being made with today’s build include the ability to annotate with a pen on screenshots captured through the in-build web capture tool, support for opening local files in the iOS version of the browser, and the addition of a few new management policies.

Here is the complete list of new features:

• Features enabled by default:
  • Windows 11-style visual updates (note that these are still in development).
  • The ability to annotate PDFs with freeform text. See https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/articles/add-text-to-your-pdf-documents/m-p/2752561 for more details.
  • The ability for PDFs to restore what page they were on when they are re-opened.
  • The ability to annotate web captures with ink.
• Management policies (note that updates to documentation and administrative templates may not have occurred yet):
  • Added a policy to control if Intranet File Links are Enabled, which controls if file: URLs located on intranet pages will open File Explorer.
  • Enabled support for the policy from Chromium to control if Cross Origin Web Assembly Module Sharing is Enabled.
  • Enabled support for the policy from Chromium to control if the Display Capture Permissions Policy is Enabled.
• Improved support for opening local files in the browser on iOS.

As usual, there are a bunch of bug fixes that are making it to the browser. Here are the changes that improve the reliability of the browser:

• Fixed a crash when using Password Generator.
• Fixed a crash when using the Web Widget.
• Fixed a crash when navigating in an IE mode tab.
• Fixed a crash when using Tab Groups.
• Fixed a crash when interacting with info bars.
• Fixed a crash when closing an autofill popup.
• Mobile:
  • Fixed a crash on startup.
  • Fixed a crash when the device orientation changes.
  • Fixed a crash when signing into the browser.
  • Fixed a crash on older versions of iOS.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where checking for updates in Settings sometimes crashes Settings.
• Fixed an issue where certain applications installed on the device cause all tabs to crash as soon as they’re opened.
• Fixed a hang when opening Internet Explorer.
• Fixed a hang when closing the browser.

And here are the fixes that are aimed at addressing changed behavior:

• Fixed an issue on certain flavors of Linux where the browser won’t open.
• Fixed another issue where users are signed out of the browser after updating the browser.
• Fixed an issue where video volume sometimes gets reset to max.
• Fixed an issue where Favorites sometimes can’t be clicked.
• Fixed an issue where importing certain data from other browsers fails.
• Fixed an issue where Travel Search Assistance doesn’t appear when it should.
• Fixed an issue where Travel recommendations don’t appear in places they should.
• Fixed an issue where the Define card sometimes doesn’t disappear when it should.
• Fixed an issue where certain banner UI can’t be interacted with or closed.
• Fixed an issue where the link to try the HTTP version of a webpage on the error page that appears when the HTTPS version of the page isn’t available doesn’t actually try navigating to the HTTP version of the website.
• Fixed an issue where PDF titles as shown in the browser tab are garbled.
• Fixed an issue where pinned websites sometimes become unpinned after updating the browser.
• Fixed an issue on older versions of Windows where browser installation fails.
• Fixed an issue where free text annotation on PDFs doesn’t work at the edges of the page.
• Fixed an issue where download notifications sometimes aren’t shown in popup windows.
• Fixed an issue where Jumplist actions are missing from PWAs or websites installed as apps on Windows 11.
• Mobile:
  • Fixed an issue where InPrivate sometimes can’t be used.
  • Fixed an issue where the sign in screen gets stuck when signing into the browser.
  • Fixed an issue on Android where menus sometimes don’t work when another app is split-screen with the browser.
  • Fixed an issue where passwords can’t be edited or deleted because nothing on the Passwords Settings page works.
  • Fixed an issue where Rewards don’t work.
  • Fixed an issue where the button to enter Immersive Reader sometimes isn’t visible when it should be.
• Developer:
  • Fixed an issue in WebView2 applications where certain resources are omitted when published the application (Issue 730, Issue 1061).
  • Fixed an issue when building WebView2 apps that contain XAML Islands (Issue 1716).
• Obsoleted the management policy to control if Internet Explorer Integration Testing is Allowed.

Lastly, there are a bunch of known issues that users should be aware of, something that the firm always includes in these release notes. Here is the complete list:

• Users of certain ad blocking extensions may experience playback errors on YouTube. As a workaround, temporarily disabling the extension should allow playback to proceed. See this help article for more details.
• Some users are still running into an issue where all tabs and extensions immediately crash with a STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH error. The most common cause of this error is outdated security or antivirus software from vendors like Symantec, and in those cases, updating that software will fix it.
• Users of the Kaspersky Internet Suite who have the associated extension installed may sometimes see webpages like Gmail fail to load. This failure is due to the main Kaspersky software being out of date, and is thus fixed by making sure the latest version is installed.
• Some users are still seeing favorites get duplicated. This issue should be reduced now that automatic deduplication has been introduced into Insider channels, but we’re still rolling that out in Stable. We’ve also seen duplication happen when running the manual deduplicator on multiple machines before either machine has a chance to fully sync its changes, so make sure to leave plenty of time in between runs of the deduplicator.
• Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in one dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note that this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is most likely related to our ongoing work to bring scrolling back to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the edge://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag.

As is always the case with these builds, they are being released in a staggered fashion. While not all users will see the update show up, it should be served to all Dev channel users sooner rather than later. Additionally, with the release of today’s build, both Dev and Canary versions are now on the same version.

Final Edge 95 build for the Dev channel brings Windows 11-style visuals and more

Telegram Desktop app gets updated with interactive emoji, read receipts in small groups, and more

Microsoft has released an updated PC Health Check tool that provides detailed information about whether a device's hardware is compatible with Windows 11.

This tool was released alongside Microsoft's Windows 11 announcement, but it was not very useful in showing why a device was not compatible with the new system requirements.

While Microsoft continued to refine the app to show more information, they eventually pulled the program as it did provide enough information to be helpful.

"Based on the feedback so far, we acknowledge that it was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn’t meet upgrade requirements," explained Microsoft in a blog post.

"We are temporarily removing the app so that our teams can address the feedback."

Updated PC Health Check tool released

In August, Microsoft released an updated version of the PC Health Check tool to Insiders for testing and stated it would be coming soon for all Windows users.

Yesterday, Microsoft quietly released a new version of the PC Health Check tool with a far more significant amount of detailed information about why a particular device is not compatible with Windows 11.

As you can see below, the updated PC Health Check tool now explains that one of my devices needs Secure Boot enabled, a TPM 2.0 security processor was not found, and my CPU is not compatible.

While an older incompatible CPU will need to be replaced, it may be possible to enable Secure Boot and the TPM 2.0 processor for more recent devices simply by changing some settings in the computer's BIOS.

When enabling TPM support in the BIOS, users should look for Intel Platform Trust Technology (Intel PTT) or AMD PSP fTPM settings depending on the device's CPU.

Once these settings are enabled, you can rerun the PC Health Check tool to ensure Windows properly sees the previously missing features.

While this tool will not ease the frustration shared by many users who incompatible CPUs run Windows 10 perfectly, it should help those with compatible hardware, but disabled features, get ready to upgrade to Windows 11.

Microsoft PC Health Check adds detailed Windows 11 compatibility info

In a relief to any small and medium businesses (SMBs) running their infrastructure on Long Term Support (LTS) releases of Ubuntu, Canonical has announced it will extend the lifecycle of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and 16.04 LTS release by a couple of years[.]

Canonical reasons that the extended lifecycle, which now sees the distros supported for a total of ten years, will give SMBs the leeway they need to balance their infrastructure upgrade costs, especially as businesses emerge from the pandemic. 

“Each industry sector has its own deployment lifecycle and adopts technology at a different pace. We are bringing an operating system lifecycle that lets organizations manage their infrastructure on their terms,” said Nikos Mavrogiannopoulos, Product Manager at Canonical.

Notably, Ubuntu’s subsequent LTS release, namely 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) and 20.04 (Focal Fossa), are already supported for ten years, that is up to April 2028 and April 2030 respectively[.]

Lifecycle extension

One of the main impetus behind the move for prolonging the support cycle for the two LTS releases is to enable organizations to get more bang for the buck from their IT budgets. 

Citing the prevalence of cybersecurity threats, Canonical argues that the lifecycle extension will help sustain critical infrastructure by providing uninterrupted security updates, while the kernel livepatching functionality guarantees maximum system uptime and availability.  

“Extended Security Maintenance ensures that the Ubuntu OS receives security updates, while the Livepatch service reduces the unplanned work that comes from Linux kernel vulnerabilities, making organizations more effective when managing Ubuntu systems,” asserts Canonical.

Post the announcement, Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) released in April 2014 will now reach end of life on April 2024, instead of April 2022, while Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus) that came out in April 2016, will be supported till April 2026, instead of April 2024.

Source

Chrome 94 will offer more signals to developers to understand when a user is idle. The developer-facing notification will now be triggered for global signals such as interaction with other apps instead of only the current browser window. While the reaction from web developers has obviously been positive, Mozilla has shot down the API as harmful, citing "opportunity for surveillance capitalism" and the fact that a malicious site could utilize the API to maximize the device's compute resources without the user consenting or knowing about it. In the same vein, the development team behind WebKit - which is the browser engine for Apple's Safari - has provided a negative stance, stating that:

That doesn't seem like a strong enough use case for this API. For starters, there is no guarantee that the user won't immediately come back to the device. Also, who is such a service supposed to know what other device user might be using at any given point? We're definitely not going to let a website know all the devices a given user might be using at any given point. That's a very serious breach of the said user's privacy. It seems to me that such a suppression / distribution mechanism is best left for the underlying operating systems / web browsers to handle.

I'm going to stop responding to this thread at this point because none of the use cases presented either here or elsewhere are compelling, and none of the privacy or security mitigations you've presented here and I found elsewhere are adequate. However, not responding to this thread or future thread about this topic does not mean we'd reconsider our position. Unless a significant new development is being made in either one of the issues we've raised, our position will remain to object to the addition of this API unless otherwise stated regardless of whether we continue to say so in public or not.

Regardless, this API will be available for developers to utilize in Chrome 94 and will be enabled by default.

Another new developer interface included in Chrome 94 is the VirtualKeyboard API. The motivation is to give more control to web developers in terms of how they want the virtual keyboard to be placed and its shape. Currently, this is handled completely by User Agent behaviors. The feedback about this API from the Microsoft Edge team has been positive, which makes sense given that they participated in its development. However, Mozilla and Apple are yet to provide a stance.

Chrome 94 will also bring in support for a low-level WebCodecs API which will offer access to existing hardware and software media encoders and decoders. This will improve the performance of certain applications such as latency-sensitive game streaming.

AppCache is being removed from Chrome 94 too. Google says that this is a deprecated standard and is a security liability, so developers should use Service Workers instead. The feedback from developers has been mixed so far but Mozilla and Apple are in the process of removing it from their respective browsers too.

In terms of relatively smaller changes, Chrome 94 is getting a new display-capture feature policy, support for more color spaces in 2D canvases, cleanup of an API that was used by Flash, a CSS property to offer more control over how layouts interact with scrollbars, and improvements to an existing property to enhance interoperability of CSS 3D transforms.

Chrome 94 will also include a native scheduling API to allow developers to schedule tasks with three levels of priority: user-blocking, user-visible, and background. It also enables a TaskController which can be used to dynamically change these priorities of a task or cancel it altogether. The browser is also getting a sampling profiler to measure JavaScript execution time and debug performance issues. While the reaction from developers has been "strongly positive", Apple has offered a negative stance due to potential performance and security implications. Finally, Chrome 94 will also offer APIs to manipulate raw media output from camera, microphone, or screen capture. The idea is to facilitate machine learning applications so while developer feedback is positive, Mozilla and Apple have provided a negative stance.

Chrome 94 is expected to roll out later today. If it does not update to version 94 automatically for you throughout the course of the day, head over to Help > About Google Chrome to trigger the update once it becomes available. Next up is Chrome 95 which is currently in the Beta channel with a Stable release expected on October 19. This is in line with Google's new release cycle where Stable Chrome updates are released every four weeks.

Source

Many of Windows 11’s pre-installed apps wont actually be pre-installed

• DirectX 12 Ultimate: DirectX 12 Ultimate codifies several RTX graphics rendering innovations such as Raytracing, Variable Rate Shading, Sampler Feedback, and Mesh Shaders to help developers make bigger, better worlds with faster performance.
• Auto HDR: The majority of games run in Standard Dynamic Range (SDR). Auto HDR evaluates game content and converts it to High Dynamic Range (HDR), boosting the vibrancy of bright lights, making blacks more accurate, and in general emphasizing the details of a scene, making them more realistic and color accurate. If you play on a G-SYNC ULTIMATE or G-SYNC HDR-capable display, your gameplay will be automatically enhanced in your DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 SDR titles.
• DirectStorage: DirectStorage brings a new standardized implementation of next-gen IO technology that developers of DirectX 12 games can utilize to accelerate loading speeds, and render massive worlds using textures and assets streamed from the NVMe SSD.
• Faster NVIDIA Broadcast Performance: NVIDIA Broadcast is the industry’s leading video and audio enhancement app, using the power of AI and our GPU’s Tensor Cores to make audio clearer, eliminate background noise, and improve video quality. In Windows 11, GPU-accelerated hardware scheduling receives numerous improvements and is enabled by default, enabling users to use NVIDIA Broadcast while they livestream and run a game or 3D app seamlessly.
• Windows Enhance Audio: A new Sound panel enables Windows 11 users to improve and enhance the audio coming out of their speakers and headphones, making dialog clearer.
• Integrated Microsoft Teams: Chat, call and conference via Microsoft Teams, which is now integrated into the taskbar, providing a faster way to connect to colleagues, friends, and family. And with our Windows 11 drivers, GPU acceleration is fully supported, and via the Teams options you can route your audio and video via NVIDIA Broadcast to enhance calls and video conferences.
• AI software platform: Now, with NVIDIA CUDA on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), students can access NVIDIA’s world-leading software platform for artificial intelligence directly from their Windows 11 laptop and desktop PCs.

Source: NVIDIA

NVIDIA releases Game Ready and Studio drivers for Windows 11

If the device is offline on first run, applications such as Sticky Notes can't be launched until the system goes online and downloads the required files from the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft's idea behind the change is to save disk storage on the device. While it is unclear how much disk space is saved by using placeholders for some of the applications on the device, it is clear that some users will run into issues when they launch the apps for the first time.

"[APP] needs an update. We are getting the update ready for you" is displayed when such an app is started for the first time on the device.

Windows 11 users need to make sure that the device is connected to the Internet if they want to launch these native applications. Most Windows 11 PCs are permanently connected to the Internet, but some may not be.

Maybe Internet is not available all the time while traveling, or there is an Internet outage or unstable Internet connection available only. The Maps application requires Internet connectivity before it can be used. If you happen to launch it while traveling and without Internet connectivity for the first time, you can't use it.

Want to set an alarm for the first time while camping or working in nature? You can't, without Internet connectivity.

Some applications work directly, including Notepad, Calculator, Calendar, Groove Music and Microsoft Paint. Others, including Sticky Notes, Microsoft To-Do, Maps and Alarms & Clocks require an Internet connection on first run.

Solution

The only option that Windows 11 users have is to either find replacements for these applications, or launch the applications while Internet is available, maybe on first start of the system if Internet connectivity is available.

Microsoft should have marked these applications specifically to make it easier to distinguish between those that require Internet connectivity and those that can be run immediately, even while offline.

Some native Windows 11 apps require an Internet connection on first launch

So far, we have taken a look at Search, Widgets, the Start menu, Snap Layouts and Snap Groups, the Taskbar, quick settings and notifications, Virtual Desktops, power and battery settings, and default apps configurations in Windows 11. Today, we'll be taking a look at a crucial part of the OS - from an end-user perspective -, namely, File Explorer.

For the purpose of this hands-on, we'll be taking a look at Windows 11 build 22000.194 that was released to the Beta Channel a couple of days ago versus a publicly available and up-to-date Windows 10 (version 21H1 build 19043.1237). As usual, it is important to note that the OS is still under active development so it's possible that some of the features we talk about may change by the time of Windows 11's general availability.

Instead of discussing the features and capabilities present in Windows 10 this time, I just want to focus on the UI of File Explorer. This is because it will take me a lifetime if I start writing about each and every feature. Frankly, I'm not even aware of all the capabilities it offers, and that's because my usage of File Explorer is highly dependent on my use-cases. There might be faster and better ways to perform the activities I do in File Explorer, but I don't Google (or Bing, or anything else for that matter) the most optimal way to complete a task on the software, unless I am blocked.

So, I'll just briefly talk about the UI. File Explorer offers a ton of customization options on this front, you could have checkboxes next to each item, file previews, file extensions, thumbnail size, sorting and filtering techniques, and whatnot when it comes to UI. There's also a ribbon which shows you categories like File, Home, Share, View, and more, depending upon the file you have clicked on. I find it quite satisfactory to use and I think it's a powerful utility to have.

Coming over to File Explorer in Windows 11, the first thing you'll likely notice is the new icons for Windows folders like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos. This extends to other system icons like that for devices and drives as well as user-created folders. The new File Explorer also contains rounded corners, which is a design staple for Windows 11. I personally like the design revamp because it just feels fresher.

Another thing you'll likely notice is that Microsoft has done away with the traditional File Explorer ribbon, which has now been replaced with a set of quick action buttons. Depending upon the file you have clicked on, you'll see a set of quick action items such as New, Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Share, Delete, Sort, and View. This has all the options I need for most use-cases so I'm not bothered by this change at all. In fact, it simplifies the UI for me so I can quickly perform common tasks.

But if you're thinking about how you would perform other more advanced tasks, fret not. Microsoft has added a drop-down in the same quick actions pane that offers you some more customization, and groups other in the "options" category.

While I haven't done a one-to-one comparison between all the configurations present in Windows 10 versus Windows 11, but I was able to most of the options I was looking for. As stated previously, I have never used all the utilities available in File Explorer anyway, but Microsoft hasn't detailed any functionality being deprecated from File Explorer in Windows 11. So if the company did remove any functionality behind-the-scenes without announcing it, I am yet to find it.

There is a new context menu (or "right-click menu", depending upon what you call it) and just like the simplified ribbon in File Explorer, you'll see a set of quick actions like Cut, Copy, Rename, Share, and Delete in the pane at the top followed by some other functionalities below it. All the other options that you are likely used to on Windows 10 have been moved to the "Show more options" setting. That said, this is not a File Explorer-specific setting but is similar across the desktop's context menu too. As such, I plan to cover it separately in a dedicated Closer Look article in the near future.

That's pretty much it when it comes to File Explorer in Windows 11. No new functionalities to speak of (or nothing that I have found yet) but a bunch of design changes that I welcome. The UI is much more simplified and easier to use, especially for people like myself who only use the most common functionalities.

That said, if there was one new capability I would really appreciate in File Explorer, that would be the ability to have tabbed instances in the same app. I think this would enhance my productivity tenfold. Microsoft announced this interface revamp under the brand name "Sets" back in 2017, but the project was shelved in 2019. It isn't a part of Windows 11 either, which is a bit disappointing. I wasn't expecting it to be there at all, but given the mockups and general enthusiasm we have seen for the feature online, I really hope Microsoft considers starting development on it again.

Closer Look: File Explorer in Windows 11

According to Microsoft's description, affected printers used Point and Print in some environments. These would throw the error message "Do you trust this printer" on any print job started from the affected device. Users were prompted to enter administrative credentials every time an application attempted to print or a print client connected to the print server.

Microsoft's analysis of the issue concluded that the issue is caused by a filename conflict.

This is caused by a print driver on the print client and the print server using the same filename, but the server has a newer version of the file. When the print client connects to the print server, it finds a newer driver file and is prompted to update the drivers on the print client, but the file in the package it is offered for installation does not include the later file version.

Microsoft suggests that affected customers install the latest drivers on all printing devices to resolve the issue, and to make sure, "where possible", to use the same print driver version on print clients and print servers.

The issue affects all major versions of Windows that are supported by Microsoft.

Client: Windows 10, version 21H1; Windows 10, version 20H2; Windows 10, version 2004; Windows 10, version 1909; Windows 10, version 1809; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016; Windows 10, version 1607; Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB; Windows 8.1; Windows 7 SP1

Server: Windows Server 2022; Windows Server, version 20H2; Windows Server, version 2004; Windows Server, version 1909; Windows Server, version 1809; Windows Server 2019; Windows Server 2016; Windows Server 2012 R2; Windows Server 2012; Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1; Windows Server 2008 SP2

Microsoft published a support page, KB5005652, which provides additional information on the issue.

The company changed how print drivers are installed or update as a consequence. Non-administrators can't install or upgrade print drivers using drivers from remote computers or servers without elevation of privilege to administrator.

Microsoft created a new Registry key to restore the old behavior.

• Registry location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint
• Dword (32-bit) Value name: RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators
• Value data:
  • The default value is 1; this requires administrative privileges to install or update print drivers when using Point and Print.
  • A value of 0 allows non-administrators to install drivers when using Point and Print.

Windows users in Point and Print environments have four options to install print drivers or updates of print drivers according to Microsoft by default:

• Provide an administrator username and password when prompted for credentials when attempting to install a printer driver.
• Include the necessary printer drivers in the OS image.
• Use Microsoft System Center, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, or an equivalent tool to remotely install printer drivers.
• Temporarily set RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators to 0 to install printer drivers.

Closing Words

Microsoft released several printing updates this year alone, some to address the PrintNightmare vulnerability, others to address non-security issues, such as printer bluescreen issues.

Most home devices should not be affected by the new issue, but another printing related issue exists already after installation of the September 2021 Patch Day updates.

Microsoft marks latest Windows printing issue as resolved (KB5005033)

Likely in preparation for that, Oracle seems to be working on a new driver implementation for VirtualBox with the help of which the new driver should be able to perform a passthrough and use the host PC's TPM module for overcoming this new Windows 11 criteria. The VirtualBox Changeset number 90946, added on the 27th of last month, lists this new change.

The changeset 90946 states:

Security: Start implementing a driver for passing through a host TPM, bugref:10075

It is possible that Oracle was internally aware of the upcoming Windows 11 TPM necessity for VMs, which was officially unveiled by Microsoft about a couple of weeks later with the Beta Channel build version 22000.194.

Other VM options, like VMWare, also offer the option for virtual TPM (vTPM) enablement on its Workstation Pro platform.

Microsoft says that a secure PC is at the forefront of its Windows 11 vision which is why it has been stressing so much on its necessity, and even VMs aren't getting a pass.

Source: VirtualBox

Windows 11 may work with VirtualBox as Oracle apparently preps a passthrough driver for TPM

For a long time, Windows has offered an option to move taskbar, allowing users to put the taskbar in one of the four sides of the screen. However, with Windows 11, users will be restricted to having the taskbar at the bottom of the screen as Microsoft has removed the option to move it to the sides or to the top. You can view our deep dive on the Windows 11 taskbar and the changes from Window 10 in our Closer Look article.

Removing the ability to move the taskbar did not sit well with Windows users and an entry on the Feedback Hub has now gained over 20,000 upvotes with users demanding Microsoft to bring back the ability to move taskbar to the sides or the top. On the Feedback Hub, users note that they don't plan to upgrade to Windows 11 unless Microsoft adds the feature as the location of taskbar is integral to their daily workflow.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has posted a generic response to the thread which you can read below:

We'll be continuing to evolve Windows 11 and its features based on feedback like this, so thank you so much for taking the time to give us your feedback!

With Windows 11 slated to roll out from October 5, we don't expect to see the feature back in time. However, we do hope that Microsoft takes the feedback into consideration and adds the feature back at a later stage. You can find the Feedback Hub entry here to give your own upvote or comment.

Ability to move the Windows 11 taskbar is the most requested feature on Feedback Hub

It's the year of Linux on the desktop! Thirty years into the life of Linux, it seems like people have said that every year. But now it's really true, and it's true because Linux found its real niche—not as a political statement about "free software," but as a practical way to enable capable, low-cost machines for millions.

Linux was founded on the desktop, as one man's project to create an alternative OS for his Intel-based PC. So it's understandable that Linux fans have been focused on desktops and laptops as a sign of success—and not, say, servers, or IoT, or drones. They can finally rest easy. Walk into any school now, and you'll see millions of Linux machines. They're called Chromebooks.

Chrome OS and Android are both based on the Linux kernel. They don't have the extra GNU software that distributions like Ubuntu have, but they're descended from Linus Torvalds' original work. Chromebooks are the fastest growing segment of the traditional PC market, according to Canalys. IDC points out that Canalys' estimates of 12 million Chromebooks shipped in Q1 2021 are only a fraction of the 63 million notebooks sold that quarter, but once again, they're where the growth is. Much of that is driven by schools, where Chromebooks dominate now.

Schoolkids don't generally need a million apps' worth of generic computing power. They need inexpensive, rugged ways to log into Google Classroom. Linux came to the rescue, enabling cheap, light, easy-to-manage PCs that don't have the Swiss Army Knife cruft of Windows or the premium price of Macs.

But Are They Really Linux?

There's a difference between Linux the technology and "Linux" the political movement, and the political side of Linux has always obscured the practical. Listen to Linux fans all the way back to the 90s, and you hear at worst a mashup of "fight the power" free software advocacy and triumphalist hacker manifestos. But most buyers rank philosophy really low in their purchase choices, behind things like price, ease of use, and software availability.

I get the desire to Keep Linux Weird. It really was a bottom-up project, originally designed for hackers. Back in '91, Linus Torvalds said:

"This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjoyed doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have."

One great thing about open-source hacker projects is that they can be taken in unexpected directions. Linux isn't controlled, so it can adapt, Darwinian-style. It was a little scurrying mammal in the time of the dinosaurs, and then the mobile-computing asteroid hit. Linux could evolve. Windows couldn't.

When you're building something that fits in your hand and has to sip battery, you can't just keep throwing processors and storage at it. Microsoft had a tough time adapting its monstrous megakernel OS to the new, tiny world. But *nix platforms thrive there: Android (based on Linux) and iOS.

Android and Chrome water down the Linux philosophy, but they are Linux, and they teeter on the balance of open-source and corporate-friendly. Most people running Android in the US are running the Google version. That's fine. They want that level of support, protection, and assurance. But AOSP and the kernel are still open to flexibility.

That's where the political becomes the practical. Open-source projects like Linux allow for change in a way proprietary software doesn't—even if the change goes in a direction that older fans might not applaud.

Source

Ventoy can be used to create a bootable and permanent drive that can even contain more than one distribution at a time. The tool is very easy to use. Install it on a USB drive and then copy the ISO image to that drive. The USB drive does not need to be formatted and you can copy as many ISO files as you want. Then a list of the existing ISOs is displayed so that you can boot the preferred one.

Since the USB drive does not have to be formatted, it can still be used for other purposes: for example, data can still be copied to it without affecting Ventoy. Ventoy provides Legacy and UEFI Secure Boot support, supports ISO files larger than 4GB, and can be updated without reformatting the USB device.

With the new version 1.0.52, the tool goes one step further and now offers a comfortable graphical user interface, similar to the one available for Windows. The new user interface allows the USB device to be selected and shows the current version of Ventoy and the version of Ventoy installed on the USB drive. The GUI offers several options:

• Enable Secure Boot support
• Select partition type (MBR or GPT)
• Define partition settings
• Remove the Ventoy from the USB device
• User interface language

On the homepage of the project how to Ventoy explains installed.

Those: https://www.ventoy.net/en/doc_news.html

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