Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 will be released on October 5th, 2021, to Windows 10 users with support devices.

Windows 11 is the first major version of Windows released since 2015, when Windows 10 was released.

Like its predecessor, Windows 11 will be a free upgrade for users running compatible hardware and running a recent version of Windows. For Windows 10 users with supported hardware, you will be able to update directly via Windows Update or the media creation tool.

However, Windows 7 users will need to perform a clean installation using a bootable USB drive and an ISO to upgrade to Windows 11.

Starting October 5th, Windows Update will begin offering Windows 11 as an optional update for Windows 10 users with newer, supported hardware.

"The free upgrade to Windows 11 starts on October 5 and will be phased and measured with a focus on quality. Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience," explained Microsoft in a blog post published today.

"That means new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first."

Based on machine learning intelligence models, Microsoft will continue rolling out Windows 11 to other Windows 10 devices based on "hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, age of device and other factors that impact the upgrade experience."

Microsoft expects the rollout of the free Windows 11 update offer to be completed by mid-2022.

Stricter Windows 11 system requirements 

When Windows 11 was first announced, Microsoft released new system requirements to upgrade to the new operating system.

These requirements include a TPM 2.0 security processor and newer CPUs that have been shown to provide a more reliable, crash-free experience when running Windows 11.

However, these new system requirements exclude many CPUs that are more than capable of running Windows 11.

For example, almost all Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 CPUs are incompatible with Windows 11 and will not be offered the upgrade.

The only Intel 7th generation CPU that Microsoft has recently marked as compatible is the Intel Core 7820HQ, which coincidentally is the CPU that powers Microsoft's Surface Studio 2 devices.

Microsoft has posted the full list of compatible Intel CPUs and AMD CPUs.

These new requirements have been very frustrating for many users who are flawlessly running Windows 10 but must purchase new hardware to upgrade to Windows 11.

The good news is that Microsoft will continue supporting Windows 10 through October 14th, 2025, for those who have incompatible hardware or are not ready to upgrade to Windows 11.

For those who stick with Windows 10, Microsoft is releasing the new Windows 10 21H2 feature update this fall.

Windows 11 is packed with new features

For those eagerly awaiting the release of Windows 11, you will be happy to know that it is packed with new features and a completely redesigned user interface.

Windows 11 includes the 'Sun Valley' user interface refresh. This UI overhaul includes rounded corners for Windows, updated icons, new sounds, dialogs, animations, and modernized controls.

The most significant change is the new Start Menu, which is now centered by default and has a redesigned appearance. For those, who prefer their Start Menu left-aligned, Windows 11 allows that as well.

Other highlighted features include:

• A Widgets feature that gives you quick access to personalized news stories, weather forecasts, stock market information, and more.
• A new Snap Layouts feature that lets you quickly arrange your open windows how you like them.
• Microsoft Teams is now integrated directly within Windows 11.
• DNS-over-HTTPS support to allow encrypted DNS lookups for more privacy to and to bypass censorship.
• An optimized user interface for the Windows 11 File Explorer.
• An updated and more organized Settings interface.
• Improved virtual desktops.
• A new Windows Clipboard.
• Enhanced HDR gaming support.

While Windows 11 is filled with new features, unfortunately, quite a few Windows 10 features that we have come to love are missing from the new operating system.

For example, you can no longer right-click on the taskbar to open a context menu to launch Task Manager, show the desktop, or access various settings. 

Another feature that is missing, and is annoying for many users, is the inability to ungroup open windows for the same app. For example, Windows 10 allows you to show all open Notepad windows on the taskbar, but Windows 11 will now combine them into a single entry.

Windows 11 also does not allow you to drag a file on an open taskbar window to launch that file automatically.

For those who regularly use these features, you may find Windows 11 a little difficult to get used to.

Thankfully, Microsoft is aware of these concerns and will hopefully add the missing features into future versions of Windows 11. 

Windows 11 will be released on October 5th to newer devices

We look forward to continuing our journey to bring Android apps to Windows 11 and the Microsoft Store through our collaboration with Amazon and Intel; this will start with a preview for Windows Insiders over the coming months.

Source: Microsoft

Android apps support in Windows 11 will not be available at launch

The free Windows 11 upgrade will be offered in a phased manner with a focus on quality. New eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first. Microsoft expects all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022.

Top Windows 11 features:

1. The new design and sounds are modern, fresh, clean and beautiful, bringing you a sense of calm and ease.
2. With Start, we’ve put you and your content at the center. Start utilizes the power of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to show you your recent files no matter what device you were viewing them on.
3. Snap Layouts, Snap Groups and Desktops provide an even more powerful way to multitask and optimize your screen real estate.
4. Chat from Microsoft Teams integrated into the taskbar provides a faster way to connect to the people you care about.
5. Widgets, a new personalized feed powered by AI, provides a faster way to access the information you care about, and with Microsoft Edge’s world class performance, speed and productivity features you can get more done on the web.
6. Windows 11 delivers the best Windows ever for gaming and unlocks the full potential of your system’s hardware with technology like DirectX12 Ultimate, DirectStorage and Auto HDR. With Xbox Game Pass for PC or Ultimate you get access to over 100 high-quality PC games to play on Windows 11 for one low monthly price. (Xbox Game Pass sold separately.)
7. Windows 11 comes with a new Microsoft Store rebuilt with an all-new design making it easier to search and discover your favorite apps, games, shows, and movies in one trusted location. We look forward to continuing our journey to bring Android apps to Windows 11 and the Microsoft Store through our collaboration with Amazon and Intel; this will start with a preview for Windows Insiders over the coming months.
8. Windows 11 is the most inclusively designed version of Windows with new accessibility improvements that were built for and by people with disabilities.
9. Windows 11 unlocks new opportunities for developers and creators. We are opening the Store to allow more developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) to bring their apps to the Store, improving native and web app development with new developer tools, and making it easier for you to refresh the look and feel across all our app designs and experiences.
10. Windows 11 is optimized for speed, efficiency and improved experiences with touch, digital pen and voice input.
11. Windows 11 is the operating system for hybrid work, delivering new experiences that work how you work, are secure by design, and easy and familiar for IT to deploy and manage. Businesses can also test Windows 11 in preview today in Azure Virtual Desktop, or at general availability by experiencing Windows 11 in the new Windows 365.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft: Windows 11 will be available from October 5

With Facebook finally changing how WhatsApp works so that they can profit off of the users, many people are choosing to switch to other internet messaging apps like Telegram or Signal. But all of them require your phone number to create an account. This can be a violation of your privacy since your phone number can be associated with your real identity.

A new app called Delta Chat seeks to solve that problem. Starting its service in early 2019, it is one of the newest messenger services operated by Merlinux limited in Freiburg, Germany.

What is a Delta Chat

Delta Chat is a free open-source decentralized messenger that works on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, so practically every platform is covered. It is unique messaging application that functions like any text messaging tool but is built with an email back-end, enabling enhanced user privacy and security with end-to-end encryption via Autocrypt.

What makes Delta stand out from all the other messenger providers, is that it neither owns its own server nor does it need a cellphone number to sign up. Delta Chat does something fundamentally different. It uses the most massive and diverse open messaging system ever – the existing email server network. In other words, Delta Chat works with any email server that supports open standard IMAP protocols.

After the first message has been sent, all communication afterwards will be automatically end-to-end encrypted as the required keys have to be exchanged beforehand. In comparison to other Messengers, the app also supports end-to-end encryption in group chats, but your email address will be visible for everyone in this chat.

One issue with messenger apps is compatibility. If the person you want to message doesn’t have the same app as you, you can’t message them. Delta Chat solves that problem, because it is built on the existing method of using email addresses and servers. That means you can chat with anyone if you know their e-mail address, no need for them to install the software. All you need is a standard e-mail account.

You can find more information about Delta Chat app on the project’s website.

How to Install Delta Chat on Linux

Yo can install Delta Chat via Flatpak from the Flathub app store:

sudo flatpak install flathub chat.delta.desktop

Another way of installing it is by using the AppImage. After downloading the universal AppImage file, go to the directory where you downloaded it and run the following command to give it an executable status:

chmod +x DeltaChat-1.20.3.AppImage

Then just double-click on the AppImage file, and Delta Chat will start.

Source

Microsoft is releasing a new feature for Outlook on the web that can scan what you've written and offer rewritten suggestions that can improve the tone of your emails. 

As reported by Onmsft, 'Tone Detection', is part of Microsoft Editor and emulates other online editors such as Grammarly, giving you real-time advice on how to better word your communications, as well as punctuation conventions, sensitive geopolitical references and general formality.

The Tone Detection feature is currently in development; the Microsoft 365 Road Map lists a public release of September 2021.

If you're looking forward to giving Tone Detection a try, then it's worth noting that the feature will be disabled by default for all users, so you'll need to head into the Microsoft Editor Settings menu to enable it. Once the feature is officially released in September, the Outlook web app will add a tone detector feature to its Microsoft Editor’s browser extension.

Analysis: The future of real-time editing

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Yuganov Konstantin)

Online writing assistants have been around for years in various forms; spell-checking features have been built into mainframe computers since the late 1970's. Almost every device we now use for typing includes predictive text too, which can help speed up the process of writing messages and emails.

It's likely we will see features like Tone Detection built into browsers and applications going forward given how useful they are in aiding effective communication both inside and outside of the workplace. In situations where a language barrier is present, translation software alone isn't always enough to create an understandable transcript, but developing real-time editing software could result in conversationally accurate translations within the next few years.

Outside of cross-language communication, voice intonation and body language contribute to the tone of a vocal conversation in a way that's difficult to replicate over text. There is a distinction noted between the way that men and women send a professional email that suggests women are more likely to use friendly, expressive language for example.

While the Tone Detection software is more likely to tell you if you've made a grammatical error, or if your message could be misinterpreted, It'll be interesting to see how the AI for editing features makes suggestions for professional language - and if the typically expressive, permissive language used by western women will be seen less favorably to that of 'to the point' messages.

Source

Chrome 94 beta tests some next-gen tech for gaming in your browser

The official Reddit client for Windows is now available for download on Microsoft Store. Unfortunately, it is not a native app, Reddit has packaged its website into a PWA. When you open this new Reddit app, you will be presented with Reddit desktop web experience as you can see in the screenshot above.

Reddit is the place where people come together to have the most authentic and interesting conversations on the internet—Where gaming communities, nostalgic internet forums, bloggers, meme-makers, and fandoms mingle alongside video streamers, support groups, news junkies, armchair experts, seasoned professionals, and artists and creators of all types.

You can download the Reddit app here from Microsoft Store.

Official Reddit app now available for download from Microsoft Store

The new overlay scroll bar is narrower and auto-hiding, giving a very clean look to your browsing session.

Earlier you needed a command-line switch to enable it.

Now however Microsoft has added a flag, which should make it much easier to enable.

To try it out enable the Windows Style overlay scrollbars flag in edge://flags.

Microsoft has experimented earlier in the year with a new and improved scroll bar but then did not follow through. Hopefully, this version will actually ship to regular consumers in the end.

via Leo Varela

New rounded overlay scrollbar flag now available in Edge Canary.

When Windows 11 was first announced, it came with new system requirements that will likely require many Windows 10 users to purchase new hardware to upgrade to the new operating system.

These requirements include a TPM 2.0 security processor and newer CPUs, even if existing hardware runs Windows 10 without a problem.

Microsoft recently added new CPUs to the Windows 11 compatibility list - the Intel Core X-series, Xeon W-series, and the Intel Core 7820HQ CPUs. However, they also stated that no AMD Zen 1 processors would be compatible, and we will likely not see further additions in the near future.

According to WindowsLatest, Microsoft is testing a new feature in the Windows 10 21H2 preview builds that will tell users if their device is compatible with Windows 11.

As shown below, when upgrading to Windows 11, Windows Update will check if a device is compatible and display the results directly in the window.

You can read the full text of this notification below:

"Great news—your PC meets the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. Specific timing for when it will be offered can vary as we get it ready for you.

Note: Some Windows 10 features aren’t available in Windows 11. Certain apps and features may have additional requirements." – Windows Update

Windows Update will likely alert the user to run the PC Health Check tool for more detailed information or, hopefully, directly list the incompatible hardware if a device is not compatible.

Unfortunately, when BleepingComputer conducted a similar Windows 11 upgrade test using the latest Windows 10 21H2 build, Windows Update did not show us any information about whether our device was compatible.

Likely, this new feature is currently being tested for a wider release at a later date.

BleepingComputer has reached out to Microsoft about this new feature but has not heard back.

Windows Update will tell if you can upgrade to Windows 11

Linux overlord Linus Torvalds has released version 5.14 of the Linux kernel.

"So I realize you must all still be busy with all the galas and fancy balls and all the other 30th anniversary events, but at some point you must be getting tired of the constant glitz, the fireworks, and the champagne," wrote Torvalds in his weekly state of kernel development update. "The celebrations will go on for a few more weeks yet, but you all may just need a breather from them. And when that happens, I have just the thing for you – a new kernel release to test and enjoy. Because 5.14 is out there, just waiting for you to kick the tires and remind yourself what all the festivities are about.

"Of course, the poor tireless kernel maintainers won't have time for the festivities, because for them, this just means that the merge window will start tomorrow. We have another 30 years to look forward to, after all.

"But for the rest of you, take a breather, build a kernel, test it out, and then you can go back to the seemingly endless party that I'm sure you just crawled out of."

For those who decide that kernel testing is more fun than galas and balls and champagne, Linux 5.14 offers many tasty little tidbits.

Perhaps the most significant are memfd_secret and core scheduling because both are ongoing clean-up work to mitigate Intel's Spectre and Meltdown fiascos.

memfd_secret lets applications create an area of memory that only that application can access. Not even the kernel can access the designated area of memory. Which matters, because Spectre and Meltdown meant cached data could be accessed. memfd_secret is designed to provide a safe place for secrets like cryptographic keys or passwords to reside.

The new core scheduling code matters because one way to mitigate Spectre and Meltdown was to disable hyper-threading. Linux can now allow hyperthreading more efficiently and ensure that trusted and less-trusted workloads don't share a core and create potential Spectre-esque risks. This one's mainly for hyperscale operators – but seeing Linux is widely used by those players the update will have wide applicability.

And for now let's not worry that Intel just introduced a bunch more pre-emptive execution tricks in its new architectures.

Speaking of Intel, version 5.14 of the kernel adds more support for Chipzilla's Alder Lake platform that puts multiple core types onto a single die and prioritises workloads depending on their needs.

Support for the RISC-V architecture was enhanced, giving it more access to some core kernel features such as the "transparent hugepages" memory mapping facility. The inclusion of SimpleDRM improves GPU-handling (DRM in this instance stands for Direct Rendering Manager).

Dell has contributed a driver allowing hardware-level disablement of webcams and microphones, to enable either actual kill switches or keypress combos that do the same in some of its laptops.

As promised, legacy IDE has had its day and the Raspberry Pi 400 has been granted full support.

There's stacks more, of course, all available here, or wherever good kernel downloads are made available. ®

Source

So far, we have discussed Windows Search, Widgets, and the Start menu present in Windows 11 in detail. Today, we'll be taking a look at a nifty utility called Snap Assist, which is a combination of Snap Layouts and Snap Groups. We actually discussed this briefly when an early build of Windows 11 leaked, but now that we have an official build, we feel it is worth checking out the capabilities Microsoft is planning, and how they stack up against Windows 10.

It is important to remember that Windows 11 is still under development, and it's possible that some of the things we talk about may change by the time of general availability. For the purpose of this hands-on, we'll be taking a look at Windows 11 build 22000.168 that was released two days ago versus a publicly available and up-to-date Windows 10 (version 21H1 build 19043.1165).

As usual, before we start discussing Snap Assist present in Windows 11, it's worth checking what its predecessor offers first. Windows 10 does offer Snap capabilities, allowing you to snap up to four windows on your display. You can either drag a window to an edge or a corner of a screen or you can use the Windows key in combination with the directional keys in order to trigger this behavior.

While I don't use it much now, I found it quite useful for multitasking during my education. For example, I could have four independent browser windows open at the same time showing a sample exam, its solution, a calculator, and a YouTube playlist at the same time. That said, I personally find it quite iffy. Sometimes, dragging the window to an edge or a corner won't snap it automatically unless I place it in the perfect position, which is why I use the Windows + directional keys mechanism, which is not so simple either.

You'll also notice in the Windows screenshot above that while I have four windows snapped successfully, they aren't exactly of the same size. The lack of symmetry bothers me. The settings related to Snap present in Windows 10 are quite limited too, you can either turn them off or you can enable them and just configure some behaviors related to automatic snapping and recommended windows. You can see the available configurations in the bottom right window of the screenshot above too. Simply stated, I'm not a fan of Snap Assist in Windows 10.

Moving on to Windows 11, my response is the polar opposite. And that's because it fixes the pain points that I have with Snap Assist on Windows 10 with ease. Essentially, you don't need to drag a window to the corner of the screen or use a combination of keys, you can simply hover your cursor over the "Maximize" button to get possible Snap Layouts, as can be seen in the screenshot above. Depending upon your display resolution, you may see either four or six options. As you hover over a possible location, that space is highlighted. When you click on it, the window in question snaps to that location.

Furthermore, the symmetry problem seems to have been resolved as well. As you can see in the screenshot above, I have the same four windows from the Windows 10 layout snapped on my display, this time using assistance from Snap Layouts, and they are aligned perfectly. This is a sight pleasing to my eyes.

Apart from fixing both of the problems that I had with Snap Layouts on Windows 10, Microsoft's upcoming OS goes a step further towards usability with the introduction of Snap Groups. What this means is that suppose that even if I minimize all of the windows for some reason, and then want to open them in the same layout again or close the entire Snap Layout, I simply have to hover over the open apps in the taskbar. This will allow me to either open that app only or use the Snap Group to open all of the apps in the same Snap Layout that I minimized before. This is in stark contrast to Windows 10, which requires you to individually click and open each app to have it snapped again.

As expected, Microsoft has also added more configurations related to Snap Assist in its Settings app including those related to Snap Layouts and Snap Groups, as can be seen above.

Before we close off this Closer Look piece, it is worth highlighting that Windows 11 is essentially utilizing the capabilities offered by FancyZones in Microsoft PowerToys. This is a very handy open-source utility, especially for Windows power users who want to customize some parts of the OS to their liking. However, as you may be able to decipher from the screenshot above, FancyZones offers a lot more capabilities related to Snap Assist that are currently not present in Windows 11. This includes the ability to create custom Snap Layouts and configuring zone behaviors, among many other things.

Personally, I hope that Microsoft brings more of this feature-set to Windows 11. I, for one, would love the ability to create custom Snap Layouts, apart from the standard ones available. However, at this point, I am pleased to see that Microsoft has started baking in PowerToys features to Windows 11, which was perhaps always the aim.

At this point, I have no complaints from Snap Assist (both Snap Layouts and Snap Groups) present in Windows 11. It solves all the problems I had with the capability in Windows 10, and in fact, it further adds more features on top of it. That said, as the OS evolves, I would be really happy if Microsoft started integrating more FancyZones features into Windows 11. Giving more power and customizability options to users surely can't be a bad thing. People who have no use for them can simply disable them and never think of them again.

What are your thoughts on the current features on offer by Snap Assist in Windows 11? Do you like the changes? How would you like to see Microsoft enhance it further? Let us know in the comments section below and inform Microsoft via the Feedback Hub too.

Closer Look: Snap Layouts and Snap Groups in Windows 11

Early this week, Microsoft released an updated preview version of the PC Health Check app to Windows Insiders. This new version improves the Windows 11 eligibility check feature with more complete and improved info on eligibility. It also offers links to relevant support articles that include potential remediation steps like the below.

After collecting the feedback from Insiders and with the additional updates for the newly supported processors, Microsoft will re-release the PC Health Check app for all users next month.

You can download the updated Windows PC Health Check app here for free.

Microsoft releases updated PC Health Check app for Windows Insiders

Microsoft is threatening to withhold Windows 11 updates if your CPU is old

The new Office build also incldues fixes for issues found in Word, Excel, Publisher, Office Suit. You can read the full official changelog below.

Changelog

Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Support added for OpenDocument format 1.3

Support for the newest version of OpenDocument format (ODF) 1.3 is now available in Office! The ODF 1.3 specification adds support for many features already supported by the Office Open XML (OOXML) format; these features can now be saved by Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (file extensions .odt, .ods, and .odp). To use the new format, just click File > Save As and in the Save as type field, select the OpenDocument format.

Learn more >

Outlook

Calendar To-Do bar view displays multiple months

In previous versions of Outlook, users could customize their view to show more than one “mini-month” at a time in the Calendar To-Do bar (a pane on the right side of the screen). Thanks to user feedback, we’ve brought this feature back! Now you can show multiple months both horizontally and vertically in the Calendar To-Do bar. To show the To Do bar in the Calendar module, click View > To Do Bar > Calendar, then resize the pane to show multiple months as needed.

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue where an unexpected informational notification tip about shortening meetings by default appeared when creating meetings in Outlook, when the option was not configured by the Exchange administrator.

Word, Excel, Publisher

Notable Fixes

• We fixed a stability issue related to graphics during recalculation.

Excel

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue where, under rare circumstances, Excel could stop responding while calculating a workbook.

Office Suite

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue where pictures copied from Word did not preserve the Lock Aspect Ratio setting when pasted into drawing canvases in other Office applications.

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

New Windows Office Insider Preview Build 14420.20004 adds support for new file formats and more

You won't see it in Windows Update, but Microsoft won't stop you from running it.

You’ll be able to run Windows 11 on older PCs—if you install the update manually

Security and stability are both much better on newer PCs, says Microsoft.

Why Windows 11 has such strict hardware requirements, according to Microsoft

Changes and Improvements

• Microsoft is delighted to announce Chat with Microsoft Teams now supports multiple languages. Starting today, you can use Chat app either with OS language setting and/or independent Teams Language setting. Chat with Microsoft Teams will support following languages: Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), English US, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian (Bokmal), Norwegian (Nynorsk), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian Latin, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Valencian, Vietnamese, and Welsh.
• Microsoft is introducing the new Microsoft 365 Widget! This widget brings relevant documents, news and meeting recordings (with more to come!) to enterprise users. This widget will only be available if you are signed in with your AAD account on your PC running Windows 11. In a time when information overload is a major concern for most workers, this personalized list will help users stay on top of their work and find the information they need with ease. To check it out just open widgets and click the “Add Widgets” button and select the Microsoft 365 Widget. Microsoft hope you love it!

Fixes

• Search:
  • Microsoft has addressed an underlying issue in the last couple flights for pen enabled devices that was resulting in Search getting into a state where it wasn’t possible to launch apps from the results.
• Settings:
  • Microsoft fixed an issue where typing certain phrases into the search box in Settings were crashing Settings sometimes.
• Widgets:
  • When using the Family widget, you should no longer unexpectedly see a message saying ‘connect a device to see screen time activity’ despite there being available activity to display.
• Chat from Microsoft Teams:
  • Microsoft fixed the issue where sometimes videos would freeze or display a black image during video calls.
  • Microsoft also fixed the issue where if you switched between calls, the previous call is not automatically put on hold, so audio and video streams continue with both calls.

Known issues

• [REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.
• Microsoft is investigating an issue where on some devices, when going to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, only the “Stop getting preview builds” option is visible. This prevents Insiders from selecting a channel. Microsoft have posted a workaround on Answers.
• [BETA CHANNEL] Microsoft is investigating reports from Insiders in the Beta Channel where after upgrading to Windows 11, they are not seeing the new Taskbar and the Start menu doesn’t work. To workaround this if you are impacted, please try going to Windows Update > Update history, uninstalling the latest cumulative update for Windows, and the reinstall it by checking for updates.
• Microsoft is working on a fix for an issue that is causing some Surface Pro X devices to bug check with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.
• 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.
  • System and Windows Terminal is missing when right-clicking on the Start button (WIN + X).
• 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.
• Bluetooth:
  • Microsoft is investigating reports from Insiders with paired Bluetooth LE devices that are experiencing an increase in Bluetooth reliability issues and bugchecks after resume from hibernate or when Bluetooth is turned off.
• 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.
• Store:
  • Microsoft are working to improve search relevance in the Store including resolving an issue where in some cases the ordering of search results is inaccurate.
  • The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
  • Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.
• Windows Sandbox
  • Within Windows Sandbox, the language input switcher does not launch after clicking the switcher icon on the Taskbar. As a workaround, users can switch their input language via any of the following hardware keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Shift, Ctrl + Shift, or Win + Space (the third option is available only if Sandbox is full-screened).
  • Within Windows Sandbox, the IME context menu does not launch after clicking the IME icon in the Taskbar. As workarounds, users can access the functionalities of the IME context menu with either of following methods:
    • Accessing the IME settings via Settings > Time & language >  Language & region > (e.g. Japanese) three dots > Language options > (e.g. Microsoft IME) three dots > Keyboard options.
      • Optionally, you may also enable the IME toolbar, an alternative UI to quickly invoke specific IME functions. Continuing from above, navigate to Keyboard options > Appearance > Use IME toolbar.
    • Using the unique set of hardware keyboard shortcuts associated with each IME-supported language. (See: Japanese IME Shortcuts, Traditional Chinese IME Shortcuts).
  • Localization
    • There is an issue where some Insiders may be some missing translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.
  • Chat from Microsoft Teams
    • Arabic and Hebrew languages currently does not allow changing Teams Settings. To change Settings in Teams, please sign out and switch to another language.
    • When you make an outgoing call, while you do not hear a ring tone, the user interface shows that the call is getting connected.

Microsoft Store

Microsoft has rolled out an update for Store (version 22108.1401.9.0.) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel first. This update includes the following improvements:

• A complete visual overhaul of the Library UI, with simpler navigation and better performance to boot.

• Microsoft updated our Spotlight design for promoted products in the Microsoft Store app. Hover over an option to get a sneak peak of what’s inside.

Microsoft hope to roll out a Store update with these improvements to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel if no blocking issues are discovered in the Dev Channel!

Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev and Beta channel can download the update by Checking for Updates in Settings.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft release Windows 11 Preview build (22000.168) to the Dev and Beta channel with new widgets, more

Microsoft has released a new Optional Cumulative Update KB5005103 for Windows 10 1909 in preparation for next month’s Patch Tuesday.

Optional Updates are released early to allow IT staff to test and validate updates prior to their wide roll-out and are not pushed out automatically.

Today’s Optional Update for Windows 10 1909 (Education and Enterprise) takes the OS to version 18363.1766 and has the following highlights:

Microsoft release Optional Cumulative Update KB5005103 for Windows 10 1909 with MP4 fix, more

In the release announcement, Canonical said:

“As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.”

Other Ubuntu-based distributions have also received the third point release; these distributions include Kubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu MATE, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu. These distributions all come pre-packaged with different desktop environments which is helpful if you’re not keen on the GNOME desktop that ships in the standard version of Ubuntu.

For those installing Ubuntu 20.04.3 on a server, the default settings will install the GA kernel, however, you can select the hardware enablement kernel from the installer bootloader if you are trying to install Ubuntu on newer hardware that the default kernel doesn’t support.

You can head over to the Ubuntu downloads page now if you want to grab the latest ISO for desktop, server, cloud, and more.

Canonical releases Ubuntu 20.04.3 ISO with latest fixes

Frontpaged: Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS

The main idea behind WebRender is to improve the rendering of web pages by making the experience faster and smoother. Developed in Rust, WebRender has been in development and testing for a long time.

I wrote a guide in 2020 that explained how to find out if Firefox uses WebRender to render webpages. You can check it out to see if your copy of Firefox has the feature enabled already; here is just the short summary in case you are in a hurry:

1. Load about:support in the Firefox address bar.
2. Scroll down to the Graphics section.
3. Check if the Compositing value is set to WebRender.

Tip: you may also press Ctrl-F while on the page to search for WebRender.

WebRender may use hardware acceleration for rendering if supported by the graphics processing unit of the device. Software emulation is used if the GPU is not supported.

WebRender can't be disabled anymore in Firefox 93

From Firefox 93 onward, Firefox users can't disable WebRender anymore as options to do so are no longer included in that version of the web browser. The only option that Firefox users have when they encounter rendering issues is to switch WebRender to software.

Some configurations may never get hardware WebRender, e.g. if the hardware is too old or if drivers have bugs or issues.

1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
2. Confirm that you will be careful if the warning page is displayed.
3. Search for gfx.webrender.software.
   1. Set this value to TRUE to enable software WebRender.
   2. Set this value to FALSE to disable software WebRender. Note that you can't force the use of hardware WebRender if the hardware/driver is not compatible.
4. Restart the Firefox web browser.

Linux users may want to check whether gfx.x11-egl.force-enabled is enabled, and set it to True of it is not. It should always improve performance, unlike WebRender on its own, which may sometimes cause performance to degrade depending on the graphics unit and driver.

Firefox 92 will be released on September 7, 2021 officially.

Mozilla plans to enable WebRender in Firefox 92

Although the OS is still under active development, we have started taking a closer look at some of its features and capabilities, and how they compare to those present in Windows 10. In the past week or so, we have talked about Windows Search and Widgets in Windows 11 in detail, and today, we'll be taking a look at a rather iconic component, namely the Start menu.

As usual, it is important to note that since these are pre-release builds, the features that we talk about haven't been finalized yet, and may change leading to the general launch in a few weeks. That said, it is still worth it to dive into the aesthetics and the user experience, and speculate about how Microsoft can further enhance it. For the purpose of this hands-on, we'll be taking a look at Windows 11 build 22000.160 released just a few days ago versus a publicly available and up-to-date Windows 10 (version 21H1 build 19043.1165).

Before we take a look at the Windows 11 Start menu, it is important to refresh your memory a bit about the one present in Windows 10, especially if you don't use it much. It can be launched using the Windows logo on the taskbar or by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. It shows all your apps on the left pane while Live Tiles of pinned apps are shown on the right. Depending upon developer support, these tiles refresh to show you updated information. The tiles can be categorized into groups (see "Productivity and "Explore" groups), and can also be further combined into folders (see "Play" folder), in which similar apps can be stored in a single tile.

The sidebar on the left contains buttons for your PC account, Documents, Pictures, Settings, and Power. It's fairly simple to use and understand in most use-cases.

You'll immediately notice two major changes in the Start menu present in Windows 11. First, the Start menu is now closer to the center of the screen rather than left-aligned, because this is the default experience that Microsoft has been pushing with Windows 11. However, you can quickly rectify this and have it left-aligned if you are so inclined by heading over to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. The second, and arguably more, significant change you'll notice is that the company has done away with Live Tiles completely. These have now been replaced with a scrollable list of pinned apps, as can be seen in the screenshot above. The apps cannot be grouped at all, but you can unpin them, move them to the top, or change their location.

While the company hasn't made it clear yet about why Live Tiles were removed, it was likely because of low usage and dwindling developer support. Given that Microsoft has been actively pushing the Live Tiles UI since the Windows 8 and Windows phone days, this is a significant shift in strategy from the company. While I barely use the Start menu, let alone Live Tiles, this change does not impact me, but fans of Live Tiles will likely be miffed.

You'll also notice that the Start menu hovers slightly over the taskbar rather than being adjacent to it, which is a common design trend we have noticed in other Closer Look pieces too.

If you're an avid user of the Start menu in Windows 10, you'll probably wonder where the sidebar options went in Windows 11. You'll notice that only the PC account and Power buttons are shown in the bottom pane by default. However, if you head over to Settings > Personalization > Start (screenshot above), you'll notice that Microsoft has made the Start menu quite configurable in Windows 11.

Depending upon your preferences, you can choose to hide the recently added and most used apps in the top half of the Start menu as well as the files being shown in the "Recommended" section in the bottom half. Similarly, you can now pin more buttons next to the Power button, including Settings, File Explorer, Document, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, Network, and Personal folder. This makes the Start menu considerably more powerful for its power users.

Provided that you're showing apps and File Explorer items on the Start menu, you can click on "All apps" (screenshot above) or "More" respectively to view the full list of apps and recommended files.

At this point, you'll also notice the search bar present in the various sections of the Windows 11 Start menu. This was not present in Windows 10. However, as we noted in our in-depth look at Windows Search, this is currently not dependent on Windows search. If you click on any of the search bar in the Start menu, it will default to Windows Search with a jittery animation. I'm pretty sure this is not the intended behavior and come the general release of Windows 11, we'll likely see independent search bars where, for example, the search bar at the top of "All apps" in the screenshot above will only filter through the apps rather than the entire OS.

Overall, I quite like the simplified look of the Start menu and the greater degree of control that users will have over it. I have never given a second glance at Live Tiles so their absence does not bother me at all either. I'll probably never used the pinned apps too since the only time I use the Start menu is when I press the Windows key to use the Windows Search.

That said, for Start menu power users, there are significant changes in store here. Provided that Microsoft fixes the Search integration, this will be a fairly new experience, especially for those accustomed to Live Tiles.

Closer Look: Start menu in Windows 11

Noticed by DesktopModder, the new scroll bar is auto-hiding, giving a very clean look to your browsing session.

The scroll bar reappears when you hover over it and has a new, narrower and rounded look.

The old, non-hiding version can be seen below:

To enable the new scroll bar, you need a command-line switch added to a shortcut to the Edge browser.

You need to add –enable-features=OverlayScrollbar,OverlayScrollbarWinStyle,OverlayScrollbarWinStyleAnimation to the target shortcut pathway.

Microsoft has experimented earlier in the year with a new and improved scroll bar but then did not follow through. Hopefully, this version will actually ship to regular consumers in the end.

via Leo Varela

New auto-hiding rounded scroll bar now available in Edge Canary

The issue started to happen on devices after the May 25, 2021 update, KB5003214, or the June 21, 2021, KB5003690, updates were installed on affected machines. Affected are machines running Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2 and 21H1.

According to Microsoft, the issue may occur on devices on which outdated resource records were removed from automatically.

Microsoft describes the cause of the issue in the following way:

This issue occurs on devices that have been scavenged automatically to remove outdated resource records. When a system is scavenged, the recently installed latest cumulative update (LCU) is marked as permanent and the older components are removed from the system. After scavenging is complete and a device is in this state, you cannot uninstall KB5003214 or KB5003690, and you cannot install future LCUs.

Microsoft published a solution on August 24, 2021 on its support website. Administrators need to perform an in-place upgrade to resolve the issue. Microsoft notes that in-place upgrades are only available to devices that have been online for at least 30 days.

For ARM devices, it is only working if the update KB5005932 has already been installed on the device.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type cmd. Command Prompt should be displayed as the first result.
3. Select "run as administrator" to launch it with elevated rights.
4. Run the following command: Reg.exe Add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion /v AllowInplaceUpgrade /t REG_DWORD /f /d 1

The command marks the system for an in-place upgrade. The Registry key will be removed automatically after the in-place upgrade has completed. Microsoft notes that it may take up to 48 hours before the upgrade is offered to the device.

The device will be upgraded to a clean version of the operating system along with the latest monthly security update installed.

Closing Words

Being unable to install any updates for Windows 10 is quite the serious problem. Microsoft released several updates with critical security patches since May 25th, which the affected systems missed out on because of the issue.

Microsoft has a fix for Windows 10's PSFX_E_MATCHING_BINARY_MISSING update error

Interestingly, when you try to run the File Explorer inside Blue Edge's Windows 11 in React, it opens up to a "Coming Soon" webpage indicating that perhaps more additions will be made to it later although it will still most likely be a limited experience since there is only so much one can do to simulate an entire OS as big as Windows 11 within a browser.

Overall, it looks like a fun little toy to play around with but do not expect to be wooed away by it in comparison to what it's like to have the actual full OS experience. For those interested, you can try the Windows 11 in React by Blue Edge through the following link: https://win11.blueedge.me

You can also learn more about it on GitHub here.

via The Windows Club

Here's how you can try a bit of Windows 11 without downloading it, thanks to Blue Edge

Developers are working to bring the Windows 11 design language to Microsoft’s Open Source PowerToys utility collection.

One of those driving the update is designer and Microsoft MVP Niels Laute who posted a preview of the new look in the Settings app of the collection.

The update brings new modern icons, new Windows UI controls and also accessibility improvements. Further improvements are expected when the team moves to WinUI 3, such as support for Mica transparency effects.

The visual improvements are expected to be included in the next public release of the tool.

Developers can contribute to the project at Github here.

via onMSFT

Microsoft is bringing the Windows 11 look and feel to PowerToys