Microsoft has released a new Office Insider Preview Build 14405.20002 for Windows users registered in the Beta Channel of the Office Insider program. The new build appears to be mainly bug fixes, but one of those is pretty significant – a fix in Word for an auto-save bug that would cause recent edits to temporarily disappear.

Moreover, the new Office build also includes fixes for issues found in  Excel, Outlook, Access and the Office app. You can read the full official changelog below to know more.

Changelog

Word

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue where enabling auto-save could cause recent edits to temporarily disappear.
• We fixed an issue with the comments where icons, stickers, and illustrations were not visible if they were pasted along with the text in a comment.
• We fixed an issue related to exporting a chart as an EMF, so the EMF has editable labels when inserted as a picture in Office.
• We fixed an issue where Word was failing to render the base-64 encoded, embedded GIFs in the email body.
• We fixed an issue with non-default ribbon configurations that could lead to the Style Gallery not functioning.
• We fixed an issue where the Resolve button was disabled when the focus was on a comment.

Excel

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue with the Insert Cells dialog in which double-clicking on one of the options was not applying the selected option and dismissing the dialog.
• We fixed an issue where scrolling using a mouse wheel or touch pad wasn’t working if the last row or column in the sheet was hidden.
• We fixed a problem where the Analysis ToolPak add-in did not work with certain Automation Security settings.

Outlook

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an issue that was allowing users to be able to download protected attachments.
• We fixed an error caused when forwarding large or long-running recurring meetings as ICAL.

Access

Notable Fixes

• We fixed an error that was causing tables dropped into the query design or system relationship window to appear in a different location than where they were dropped.

Office Suite

Notable Fixes

• We fixed a performance issue related to inserting or editing rows on some versions of Windows.
• We fixed an issue related to the following scenario: when using Create Video to export a video from a presentation at the default OneDrive location, an error message would appear saying that the location is not available.
• We fixed an issue where some documents were saving with an incomplete task pane.
• We improved behavior during file save to a location requiring user access approval. The Grant Access screen should now appear to allow user access approval.

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

Windows Office Insider Preview Build 114416.20006 fixes auto-save bug

Although we have covered Windows 11's new features and capabilities multiple times, we feel that now is as good a time as any to dive deeper into specific features, compare them to Windows 10, and see how they can be further improved. As such, we'll be starting with Windows Search in this piece. Please note that the screenshots are from Windows 11 version 22000.132 released a few days ago and Windows 10 21H1 version 19043.1165.

Before we dive into what has changed in Windows 11 Search compared to that present in Windows 10, we feel it is better to quickly walk through some features which have not been changed, or at least, have not been modified significantly. First up, we have the Windows Search settings (pictured above) which can be found in the "Privacy and security" settings.

The configurations available are almost identical to what you would find in "Searching Windows" in Windows 10. You have the regular indexing configurations, excluded folders, two options for "Find my files", and some information related to indexing. Microsoft has only shuffled around the order of these settings and changed a bit of the wording, the general purpose is still the same.

The same is the case with the options available on top of the Search UI which has categories like "All", "Apps", "Documents", and more, exactly like Windows 10. There are also the "Give Feedback" icon along with the three-dotted menu on the top right corner which will be familiar to Windows 10 users.

However, this UI has changed significantly compared to Windows 10. For one, you can't add a search box in the taskbar. For people such as myself you hid that UI anyway, this is not a major concern. For people who did have a search box of considerable width across their taskbar, this change will likely come as a disappointment.

The Search UI itself has been altered a bit as well. Compare it to Windows 10 above, and you'll immediately notice the presence of the search bar at the top of the component in Windows 11 rather than at the bottom. The Windows 11 Search UI also has rounded corners similar to other components of the OS too, and it also appears cleaner. There are also some additional "Quick searches" available in Windows 11 such as "New movies", "Translate", and "Markets today", although that could be related to regions and preferences.

This look is perhaps also enhanced by the fact that the Windows 11Search UI hovers slightly above the taskbar and does not touch its top pane. This gives it the impression of being a separate "windowed" component and makes it feel less cluttered.

One nifty Search-related feature that I really like in Windows 11 is the "hints" capability shown above. Essentially, when you hover over the Search icon, you get your three most recent searches displayed in a small window. You can either jump to them directly through this UI or you can click on the search bar at the top to display the full UI. This capability is not present at all in Windows 10 and I personally welcome it.

Moving on to the main purpose of Search, which is, well, searching. I don't have any hard figures to back this up since I don't have two identical configurations to test both operating systems. I have Windows 10 running on a Core i7 machine with a 512GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. Meanwhile, Windows 11 is running in Oracle VM VirtualBox on the same machine and uses 50GB of SSD storage and 4GB of RAM from the same resources.

Despite this clear disparity in resources, Windows 11 Search feels much, much snappier compared to that present in Windows 10. It keeps updating results in close-to-real-time on the virtual machine while Windows 10 noticeably stutters and jitters while responding to keystrokes and updating results at the same time. I'm not technical enough to attempt to dig deep into the implementation of the component on both these operating systems, but in my experience, Windows 11 Search is clearly superior in terms of performance. I realize that Windows Search has to sift through more files on Windows 10 since that is not a fresh install, but to tackle this scenario, I searched for Windows Settings configuration items so both operating systems prioritize that, and Windows 11 still outperformed its predecessor.

One of my pet peeves with Windows 10 Search is its tendency to favor web search results rather than on-device results. A very good example of this is in the side-by-side screenshot I captured above. As mentioned, I am running Windows 11 in a VM inside a Windows 10 guest machine so the left side of the screen shows the Search results for Windows 10 whereas the right side shows results from Windows 11.

For testing purposes, I created a "Test" directory on the desktop of both operating systems. And then fired a search query for "Test" while keeping case-sensitivity in mind. As you can see above, even though the directories are same - on each independent OS -, Windows 10 favored Bing search results for COVID-19 tests and internet speed tests, while Windows 11 quickly grabbed the correct directory. Even secondary search results for "Test" show Windows 11 configurations, and web results are at a much lower priority. So, it's clear that Microsoft has significantly upgraded its Windows Search implementation, which may account for some speed improvements as well, but mileage may vary for different use-cases.

Finally, another relatively minor change we have in Windows 11 is that the Search UI has also been added to the Start menu. In contrast, Windows 10 did not have a Search bar in the Start menu at all. While I welcome this change, the implementation is very odd, to say the least. When you click on the Search bar in the Start menu, the menu closes and the native Search UI opens instead. Considering that this is a rather poor user experience right now, I hope Microsoft will be updating this ahead of the general release to make it seem more native.

Overall, there is a lot to like about Search in Windows 11. The performance seems better, the search results are better, whoever added the "hints" on hover should be given a raise, and the UI is much cleaner. That said, there is still room for improvement. Personally speaking, I would prefer that the white space in the UI is better utilized or reduced, the Search in the Start menu be baked in to the component better, and the search bar in the "hints" to work directly in the smaller window instead of blowing up to the full UI. The good news is that we're still a few months away from general availability so if you have some nitpicking to do as well, please let us know in the comments section below and report it to Microsoft via Feedback Hub.

Closer Look: Search in Windows 11

Microsoft today released a new Windows 11 Insider Preview build for both Beta and Dev channel users. This has been the case in the past few weeks, where Insiders in both channels have been receiving the same builds. Build 22000.160 that is rolling out today brings with it – unsurprisingly – a couple of general improvements along with the usual crop of fixes.

One significant addition comes in the way of the update to the Alarms and Clock app, which is now called Clock. The update had been teased by the firm in the past and brings with it new features such as Focus Timer, Spotify, and To Do integration. Additionally, Focus Sessions lets users set a timer to focus on tasks while listening to their Spotify playlists right within the app. There is also a Habit Building feature that lets users set goals and track their progress.

Another change is to the estimates feature for Windows Updates that provides users an estimate of the time required for a restart when installing updates. The firm is removing the feature for those running these builds on traditional hard drives (HDDs), making it exclusive to SSD users. The company does add that it aims to bring back the feature after ironing out bugs.

What’s still missing in these builds is support for running Android apps through the Microsoft Store via an in-built Amazon app store. While the company showed off the capability as part of the original Windows 11 announcement, the feature is nowhere to be found, even as builds have now begun rolling out to the Beta channel. It is anybody’s guess whether the feature will make it in time for the fall release of Windows 11.

Additionally, Dev channel builds are usually not tied to a specific Windows release. With builds being released simultaneously for Dev and Beta, pointing towards a level of stability and completion of the OS, Dev channel users might soon begin testing bits of the OS that will be slated to make it into the version slated for release next year. This is why the firm is urging users interested in staying on stable builds to move to the Beta channel from the Dev channel.

In addition to the new Clock app, today’s build also brings a single bug fix, which is odd considering that the OS is inching towards general availability. Here is the fix included in today’s build:

• Taskbar:
  • We fixed an issue where the “location in use” icon was showing in the Taskbar sometimes even though the usage was blocked by your preferences.

Along with the fix, there are a bunch of known issues that users must be aware of. The list is long and includes a few that have been on the list for a while. Here is everything that you should be aware of:

• [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.
• We’re 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. We have posted a workaround on Answers.
• [BETA CHANNEL] We’re 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.
• We’re 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.
  • On pen enabled devices, apps may not launch from the Search panel. If you experience this issue, please log out and back in to resolve the issue.
• Settings:
  • Certain searches using the search box in Settings may crash Settings.
• Bluetooth:
  • We’re 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.
  • [Family widget] Some users may see a ‘connect a device to see screen time activity’ message even with screen time settings enable.
  • [Family widget] Location information may not be available for some users on iOS.
• Store:
  • We 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
    • Experience is localized for English (US) only. Additional languages and locales forthcoming.
    • When you make an outgoing call, while you do not hear a ring tone, the user interface shows that the call is getting connected.
    • In a video call, sometimes people videos freeze or display a black image. There is a workaround to this issue, which is to pin the video that freezes and unpin it to fix the problem.
    • When switching between calls, the previous call is not automatically put on hold, so audio and video streams continue on both calls. Be sure to complete a call before taking another.

In addition to the build, Microsoft is today releasing the first ISO images for Windows 11. You can head here to download the ISOs and clean install the OS from scratch, something that you could not have done until now with Windows 11.

Windows 11 build 22000.160 heads to Dev and Beta channels with a new Clock app and more

Since introducing Microsoft 365 we have added 24 apps to the suites—Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate, Stream, Planner, Visio, OneDrive, Yammer, and Whiteboard—and have released over 1,400 new features and capabilities.

Microsoft also confirmed that there are no changes to pricing for education and consumer products for now.

Updated Microsoft 365 pricing:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic (from $5 to $6 per user)
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium (from $20 to $22)
• Office 365 E1 (from $8 to $10)
• Office 365 E3 (from $20 to $23)
• Office 365 E5 (from $35 to $38)
• Microsoft 365 E3 (from $32 to $36)

The above pricing changes will go into effect in six months. Along with the price increase, Microsoft also announced unlimited dial-in capabilities for Microsoft Teams meetings across our enterprise, business, frontline, and government suites over the next few months. Unlimited dial-in will allow users to join their Microsoft Teams meeting from virtually any device regardless of location.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft announces the first substantive price increase for Microsoft 365

Microsoft releases the first-ever Windows 11 ISO images

Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution designed especially for newcomers to Linux. It is designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, secure, and privacy-respecting.

There are several ways you can get started with Zorin OS. The first is to download Zorin OS Core which is the free edition of the distro. If you prefer the XFCE desktop environment, you can try their Zorin OS Lite which is targeted for basic use on low-spec PCs.

There is also a paid version which is called Zorin OS Pro and includes some additional layouts for the desktop as well as additional artwork and advanced productivity software for $39. This is a great way to help the developers cover some of their costs.

Today the Zorin’s devs has finally released the next major version Zorin OS 16, which is based on Ubuntu 20.04. It will be supported with software updates and security patches until April 2025. Let’s see what are the new features.

What’s New in Zorin OS 16

Zorin OS 16 has a surprising number of changes, innovations and improvements, both underwater and visual. It is loaded with new features and improvements to take your computer to a whole new level.

Installation

Zorin OS 16 is one of the easiest-to-install Linux distribution available today. Its installation is almost identical to Ubuntu’s.

Appearance

Zorin OS 16 has been refreshed with a revamped and refined appearance out of the box. There is a new, more polished default theme that’s easier on the eyes. You’ll find detailed touches and delightful animations throughout the system that elevate your computing experience.

Zorin points to its premium desktop layouts, including the new Windows 11 flavor, as well as new and updated applications out of the box. The new grid menu, activities overview button, and taskbar icons are placed front and center for easy access and effortless navigation on screens of all sizes. It is available as an option in Zorin OS 16 Pro.

The new version also brings dynamic wallpaper to the table, which changes based on the time of day. The entire theme can adapt, switching automatically to Dark Mode at night.

It is important to note that the lock screen now displays a blurred version of your desktop wallpaper.

Customizable Taskbar

It’s now easier than ever to view the status of your running apps at a glance. The taskbar now displays badges showing the number of unread messages as well as progress bars for ongoing operations, like when copying large files in the Files app.

Zorin OS 16 Performance

Speed has been a top focus in Zorin OS 16, so the desktop runs dramatically snappier on a wide range of hardware, old and new.

Performance optimizations have been made at every level of the operating system, from the kernel to the desktop environment. Apps open faster, animations are smoother, and loading times are reduced so you can spend more time being productive.

Touchpad Gestures

In Zorin OS 16 there are touchpad gestures that weren’t available before, as standard. If you’re using a laptop, moving between your apps and workspaces is even quicker and easier. Zorin OS introduces multi-touch touchpad gestures, enabled out of the box. Now you can switch between workspaces with fluid 1:1 motion by swiping 4 fingers up or down. Pinch on the touchpad with 3 fingers to open the activities overview and instantly see every app running on your workspaces.

Flathub is Now Enabled by Default

More and more open source and proprietary applications are being distributed via sources like Flathub, and are growing very fast in popularity. Zorin OS 16 already supported multiple application formats, but now also offers applications from the Flathub repository out of the box.

Zorin OS comes pre-loaded with the app catalogs of Flathub, the Snap store, and the Ubuntu & Zorin OS APT repositories, as well as the capability to install .deb & AppImage packages. In addition to, Zorin OS 16 comes with a built-in database that detects popular Windows installer files, so that the system can guide you through the installation process (optionally using Windows App Support, powered by WINE).

The Linux kernel in this new major version has been updated to version 5.11.

The built-in Software store has also received many under-the-hood optimizations as well as user interface improvements to make it even easier to find and install apps from different sources.

Download Zorin OS 16

Zorin OS 16 is available in a paid “Pro” version and a “Core” free version. Other editions of Zorin OS 16 such as “Lite” and “Education” will be released over the coming months.

Now that you are probably excited about trying out Zorin OS yourself, you can download it via the following button:

Download Zorin OS 16

After the .iso file has been downloaded successfully to your computer, the easiest option would be to make a bootable usb drive and install from it.

Source

The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 7.2, including a native build for Apple Silicon though users are warned not to use it "for any critical purpose."

The new release is not a big one for features but is nevertheless notable for a couple of reasons.

First, there is now an official Apple Silicon build which can be found here, though the Foundation said that "because of the early stage of development on this specific platform, binaries are provided but should not be used for any critical purpose."

Second, there has been an effort to further improve compatibility with Microsoft Office document formats, with hundreds of fixes to small details that previously prevented identical rendering.

Both Microsoft Office and LibreOffice use an XML document format. According to the foundation: "Microsoft files are still based on the proprietary format deprecated by the ISO in April 2008, and not on the ISO approved standard, so they have a large amount of hidden artificial complexity." The native format of LibreOffice is the rival Open Document (ODF) standard.

Behind this comment lurks a large amount of intricacy. The Office XML wars data from the early 2000s when Sun led the open-source community in trying to disrupt the dominance of Microsoft Office by promoting its free OpenOffice alternative (LibreOffice was forked from the OpenOffice code).

ODF standardisation was part of that effort. Worried about losing market share because of standards mandated by governments and others, Microsoft embarked on its own standardisation effort, Office Open XML (OOXML).

Both are now ISO standards, but the complexity of Microsoft's formats, the huge legacy of existing documents going back to the '80s, and the fact that these formats are designed for Microsoft Office, means that OOXML is far from ideal as a universal document format.

LibreOffice 7.2 on Windows 10

A further complication is that in theory a variety of OOXML called Strict is the preferred standard, but in practice everyone (including Microsoft) uses OOXML Transitional, and realistically it seems that the period of transition may never end. This is the issue referenced by The Document Foundation above yet LibreOffice itself saves in the Transitional format, and an open issue to support Strict gets little attention. In practice, therefore, the Strict format is less well supported than Transitional – even though Microsoft has offered Strict as an option since 2012.

The US Library of Congress has some pragmatic notes on these formats. Regarding ODF, it said: "Despite official mandates and recommendations, adoption of ODF formats has been slow, particularly in the US," and reveals that the library has "around 52,000 files" with formats in the ODF family.

As for OOXML, the library said that it has nearly 800,000 files in .docx, which it considers an "acceptable format for textual works," unlike the older binary Microsoft Office formats. The library also notes the interest in converting documents from OOXML to ODF and said: "Although simple documents can be effectively converted, a round-trip to an identical document should never be expected."

Some Microsoft Office rivals made the decision to use Microsoft's formats as their own native formats. The makers of OnlyOffice claimed that "all the objects present in OnlyOffice are created strictly according to MS Office format specs. So, if you look at a doc as a set of objects, OnlyOffice's object models corresponds to OOXML specifications, while Libre's object model corresponds to ODF's ones."

Similarly, SoftMaker Office said that it "uses the Microsoft Office formats DOCX, XLSX and PPTX natively, obviating the need to convert documents for colleagues or business partners."

Compatibility hassles: A document with a diagram can get corrupted when saved as .docx from LibreOffice Writer (top is how it looks reopened in Microsoft Word)

Following the work done in LibreOffice 7.2, is its support for Microsoft Office formats now so good that this is no longer a concern? In search of a complex document, we took a 150-page PDF, used Word to convert it to .docx, and opened it in LibreOffice Writer.

The result was impressive: the document looked the same in Word and in Writer. Next, to test round-tripping, we saved the document as Open Document Text (.odt) and then resaved as .docx and opened it in Word. This was not so good: diagrams had gone wrong and were now broken up and overlaying the text, when reopened in Word.

A further experiment established that even without the intermediate step, just changing one character and saving the document corrupted it when opened in Word. Incidentally, this test also showed that using Microsoft Office support for Open Document formats is challenging: in our test, importing the .odt version to Word made the diagrams disappear completely.

No doubt the many improvements the LibreOffice team has made will make compatibility better and many documents will interoperate smoothly, but our brief experiment shows that sticking to one format and Office suite does still reduce friction in some cases.

There is a good financial and standards-based rationale for making that single suite LibreOffice, but against that, Microsoft Office is so deeply embedded that it remains a challenge. That said, in 2014, the UK Government Digital Service selected PDF/A or HTML for view-only government documents, and Open Document Format (ODF) for editable documents.

LibreOffice 7.2 is not just about document compatibility. Users can also enjoy new features like multiple columns in text boxes, new templates for the Impress presentation graphics application, full background fills in Writer, user interface improvements, and a new object inspector for developers. We covered many of these here.

Occasional compatibility hassles aside, LibreOffice remains among the most useful and widely used open-source desktop applications and, unlike Microsoft Office, is available for Linux as well as Mac and Windows. ®

Source

The process to set a Default apps choice in the new OS could be a tedious one for some as you'd have to choose the default app for different file types separately. Furthermore, you'd also be asked via a prompt to reconsider your decision if switching away from Edge. Apparently, this is how Default apps works in most of the popular browsers in Windows 11 except Mozilla Firefox.

That is not all as Windows 11 widgets are said to ignore the set Default apps choices entirely and launch Edge instead. Here's what a Brave spokesperson has said in a statement to The Verge regarding this:

It appears that Windows 11 widgets will ignore a user’s default browser choice and open Microsoft Edge for the content instead,

Brave puts users first and we condemn this Windows 11 approach, because the choice of a default browser has many implications for individuals and their privacy. Users should be free to choose.

Firefox, Vivaldi, and Opera have also responded to The Verge as they too appear annoyed at how Default apps settings for browsers currently function. Their statements are given below.

Selena Deckelmann, SVP at Firefox:

We have been increasingly worried about the trend on Windows,

Since Windows 10, users have had to take additional and unnecessary steps to set and retain their default browser settings. These barriers are confusing at best and seem designed to undermine a user’s choice for a non-Microsoft browser.

Opera EVP, Krystian Kolondra:

It’s very unfortunate when a platform vendor is obscurifying a common use case to improve the standing of their own product,

We would like to encourage all platform vendors to respect user choice and allow competition on their platforms. Taking away user choice is a step backwards.

Vivaldi:

Microsoft has a history of doing this, and it seems they are getting progressively worse,

With every new version of Windows, it is getting harder [to change defaults]. They understand that the only way they can get people to use their browsers is to lock them in.

Google Chrome SVP, Hiroshi Lockheimer, on Twitter:

This from the company that claims to be the most open, with "the most choice." I hope this is just a developer preview thing, and the shipping version of Windows 11 lives up to their claims. This is far from "choice."

So far, Microsoft hasn't put out any statement in response to this criticism. It is possible that the change is only experimentation in the preview builds as Lockheimer mentions, perhaps to gauge the reaction and feedback of its rivals and users. Or it could be something permanent.

Source and image: The Verge

Windows 11 Default apps settings for browsers is facing backlash from rivals

The changes implemented with the Windows 11 Start menu have been quite a hot topic since the first builds became available for Windows Insiders. The fact that it has been dumbed down quite a bit into a glorified 'Recents' jumplist has people already looking for alternatives and solutions. Just over a week ago, Stardock launched Start11 to bring back the Start menus of previous Windows versions, however the Windows 10 style with its Live Tiles was notably absent from the Beta.

A Neowin reader, Dot Matrix, decided to share his own vision of what the Start menu could look like in Windows 11, and even went so far as to submit it as a suggestion on the Feedback Hub.

As you can see above, the Start Menu returns to a Windows 10 layout with 'All apps' on the left and groups of pinned apps on the right. Instead of Live Tiles, we see the icons of the apps. Dot Matrix goes on to say "there's no more "recommended" section. That can go to hell." I can see where he's coming from. It's cool and all, but it is not very privacy orientated. In many ways, it's worse than Jumplist suggestions, which can be turned off in previous Windows versions. It can also be turned off in Windows 11 but it is a global setting, so if you disable it, you will get a half-empty Start menu and no Jumplist or File Explorer recommendations. (Why not split off those options, Microsoft?).

Here we can see a full screen version of the Start menu which could be invoked through a tablet mode. All in all, it is already more useful than what is currently shipping with Windows 11, even if all the whitespace gives me a bit of a headache.

And finally, as is shown above, what about moving the entire Widget pane and the spiritual successor to Live Tiles back into the Start menu instead of a flyout pane?

Personally, I think the widgets pane in Windows 11 is not well thought-out. Microsoft is saying that to get 'at a glance info' for weather and news, open the pane from the taskbar, completely missing out on an opportunity to pin these widgets on the desktop itself. As our screens get larger and wider (I have a 5180x1440 Ultrawide screen), it makes sense to be able to place widgets directly on the desktop. A news alert? Unless you purposely decide to check the widgets pane, you aren't going to see it, you have far more chance of seeing it if it is pinned on the desktop. Microsoft took a great idea with Live Tiles and implemented it poorly in Windows 10, insofar that they are now discontinued altogether.

Anyway, I am rambling. If you like these Start menu concepts and think Microsoft should expand on it, all you can do is upvote it on the Feedback Hub right here. You can also give some feedback on these concepts in the comments below or directly in the forum thread.

Concept: Here is a better Windows 11 Start menu, based off the Windows 10 one

What’s new in Windows 10 Build 19044.1200:

• Adding WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security
• Windows Hello for Business introduces a new deployment method called cloud trust to support simplified passwordless deployments and achieve a deploy-to-run state within a few minutes
• GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute intensive workflows

It also includes the following improvements:

• We fixed an issue that prevents users from tracking Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) activation failures.
• We fixed a threading issue that might cause the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service to stop working when it is under a high load.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider host process to stop working. This occurs because of an unhandled access violation that occurs when using the Desired State Configuration (DSC).
• We fixed an issue that causes file migration between Distributed File System (DFS) paths that are stored on different volumes to fail. This issue occurs when you implement the migration using PowerShell scripts that use the Move-Item command.
• We fixed an issue that prevents you from writing to a WMI repository after a low memory condition occurs.
• We fixed an issue that resets the brightness for standard dynamic range (SDR) content on high-dynamic range (HDR) monitors. This occurs after you restart the system or reconnect to the system remotely.
• We fixed an issue that might cause an external monitor to display a black screen after Hibernation. This issue might occur when the external monitor connects to a docking station using a certain hardware interface.
• We fixed a memory leak that occurs when you use nested classes within VBScript.
• We fixed an issue that prevents you from typing any words in the username box during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) process. This issue occurs when you use the Chinese Input Method Editor (IME).
• We fixed an issue that causes applications that use a shim to stop working. This issue occurs on devices that do not have edgegdi.dll installed. The error message is, “The code execution cannot proceed because edgegdi.dll was not found”.
• We fixed an issue that might prevent you from minimizing an application that uses unthemed windows.
• We fixed an issue that might cause your device to stop working during a touch input gesture. This issue occurs if you bring more fingers into contact with the touchpad or screen during the middle of the gesture.
• We fixed an issue with resizing images that might produce flickering and residual line artifacts.
• We fixed an issue with copying and pasting a text box into Office 365 apps. The IME prevents you from inserting text into the text box.
• We fixed an issue that prevents USB audio headsets from working on laptops that support USB audio offload. This issue occurs if you installed third-party audio drivers on the laptops.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Code Integrity rules from working correctly when specifying Package Family Name rules in a Code Integrity policy. This issue occurs because of the incorrect handling of case-sensitive names.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the ShellHWDetection service from starting on a Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) device and prevents you from managing BitLocker drive encryption.
• We fixed an issue in Windows Defender Exploit Protection that prevents some Microsoft Office applications from working on machines that have certain processors.
• We fixed an issue that causes the IME toolbar to appear even when the Remote App is closed.
• We fixed an issue that might occur when you configure the policy, “Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days on system restart”. If a user has been signed in for longer than the time specified in the policy, the device might unexpectedly delete profiles at startup.
• We fixed an issue with the Microsoft OneDrive sync setting “Always keep on this device”. The setting is unexpectedly reset to “Known folders only” after you install Windows updates.
• We fixed an issue that provides the wrong Furigana result when a user cancels the Japanese reconversion.
• We fixed a rare condition that prevents Bluetooth headsets from connecting using the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for music playback and causes the headsets to only work for voice calls.
• We added the “Target Product Version” policy. With this, administrators can specify the Windows product they want devices to migrate to or remain on (for example, Windows 10 or Windows 11).
• We increased the default number of entries in the local security authority (LSA) Lookup Cache to improve lookup performance in high lookup volume scenarios.
• We fixed an issue that might create duplicate built-in local accounts, such as administrator or guest account, during an in-place upgrade. This issue occurs if you previously renamed those accounts. As a result, the Local Users and Groups MMC snap-in (msc) appears blank with no accounts after the upgrade. This update removes the duplicate accounts from the local Security Account Manager (SAM) database on the affected machines. If the system detected and removed duplicate accounts, it logs a Directory-Services-SAM event, with ID 16986, in the System event log.
• We fixed a stop error 0x1E in srv2!Smb2CheckAndInvalidateCCFFile.
• We fixed an issue that might cause transfer validations to fail with the error, “HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component”. This issue occurs when you use Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012 as sources.
• We fixed an issue that might cause a system to stop working after a deduplication filter detects damage in a reparse point. This issue occurs because of deduplication driver changes introduced in a previous update.
• We fixed an issue with using the robocopy command with the backup option (/B) to fix data loss. This issue occurs when the source location contains tiered Azure File Sync files or tiered Cloud Files.
• We stopped running queries against OneSettings APIs from the obsolete Storage Health feature.
• We enabled over 1400 new mobile device management (MDM) policies. With them, you can configure policies that Group Policies also support. These new MDM policies include administrative template (ADMX) policies, such as App Compat, Event Forwarding, Servicing, and Task Scheduler. Starting in September 2021, you can use the Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) Settings Catalog to configure these new MDM policies.

Known issue:

• The Windows Update settings page may hang after you download an optional update. Close and reopen the Windows Update settings page if you encounter this.

To check and see if you’re running Windows 10, version 21H2, just type “winver” into the Windows search box on the Taskbar. It should show as “Version 21H2”.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 19044.1200 (21H2) with support for new Wi-Fi standard and more

Windows 10 Build 19043.1200 update includes the following improvements:

• We fixed an issue that prevents users from tracking Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) activation failures.
• We fixed a threading issue that might cause the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service to stop working when it is under a high load.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider host process to stop working. This occurs because of an unhandled access violation that occurs when using the Desired State Configuration (DSC).
• We fixed an issue that causes file migration between Distributed File System (DFS) paths that are stored on different volumes to fail. This issue occurs when you implement the migration using PowerShell scripts that use the Move-Item command.
• We fixed an issue that prevents you from writing to a WMI repository after a low memory condition occurs.
• We fixed an issue that resets the brightness for standard dynamic range (SDR) content on high-dynamic range (HDR) monitors. This occurs after you restart the system or reconnect to the system remotely.
• We fixed an issue that might cause an external monitor to display a black screen after Hibernation. This issue might occur when the external monitor connects to a docking station using a certain hardware interface.
• We fixed a memory leak that occurs when you use nested classes within VBScript.
• We fixed an issue that prevents you from typing any words in the username box during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) process. This issue occurs when you use the Chinese Input Method Editor (IME).
• We fixed an issue that causes applications that use a shim to stop working. This issue occurs on devices that do not have edgegdi.dll installed. The error message is, “The code execution cannot proceed because edgegdi.dll was not found”.
• We fixed an issue that might prevent you from minimizing an application that uses unthemed windows.
• We fixed an issue that might cause your device to stop working during a touch input gesture. This issue occurs if you bring more fingers into contact with the touchpad or screen during the middle of the gesture.
• We fixed an issue with resizing images that might produce flickering and residual line artifacts.
• We fixed an issue with copying and pasting a text box into Office 365 apps. The IME prevents you from inserting text into the text box.
• We fixed an issue that prevents USB audio headsets from working on laptops that support USB audio offload. This issue occurs if you installed third-party audio drivers on the laptops.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Code Integrity rules from working correctly when specifying Package Family Name rules in a Code Integrity policy. This issue occurs because of the incorrect handling of case-sensitive names.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the ShellHWDetection service from starting on a Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) device and prevents you from managing BitLocker drive encryption.
• We fixed an issue in Windows Defender Exploit Protection that prevents some Microsoft Office applications from working on machines that have certain processors.
• We fixed an issue that causes the IME toolbar to appear even when the Remote App is closed.
• We fixed an issue that might occur when you configure the policy, “Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days on system restart”. If a user has been signed in for longer than the time specified in the policy, the device might unexpectedly delete profiles at startup.
• We fixed an issue with the Microsoft OneDrive sync setting “Always keep on this device”. The setting is unexpectedly reset to “Known folders only” after you install Windows updates.
• We fixed an issue that provides the wrong Furigana result when a user cancels the Japanese reconversion.
• We fixed a rare condition that prevents Bluetooth headsets from connecting using the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for music playback and causes the headsets to only work for voice calls.
• We added the “Target Product Version” policy. With this, administrators can specify the Windows product they want devices to migrate to or remain on (for example, Windows 10 or Windows 11).
• We increased the default number of entries in the local security authority (LSA) Lookup Cache to improve lookup performance in high lookup volume scenarios.
• We fixed an issue that might create duplicate built-in local accounts, such as administrator or guest account, during an in-place upgrade. This issue occurs if you previously renamed those accounts. As a result, the Local Users and Groups MMC snap-in (msc) appears blank with no accounts after the upgrade. This update removes the duplicate accounts from the local Security Account Manager (SAM) database on the affected machines. If the system detected and removed duplicate accounts, it logs a Directory-Services-SAM event, with ID 16986, in the System event log.
• We fixed a stop error 0x1E in srv2!Smb2CheckAndInvalidateCCFFile.
• We fixed an issue that might cause transfer validations to fail with the error, “HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component”. This issue occurs when you use Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012 as sources.
• We fixed an issue that might cause a system to stop working after a deduplication filter detects damage in a reparse point. This issue occurs because of deduplication driver changes introduced in a previous update.
• We fixed an issue with using the robocopy command with the backup option (/B) to fix data loss. This issue occurs when the source location contains tiered Azure File Sync files or tiered Cloud Files.
• We stopped running queries against OneSettings APIs from the obsolete Storage Health feature.
• We enabled over 1400 new mobile device management (MDM) policies. With them, you can configure policies that Group Policies also support. These new MDM policies include administrative template (ADMX) policies, such as App Compat, Event Forwarding, Servicing, and Task Scheduler. Starting in September 2021, you can use the Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) Settings Catalog to configure these new MDM policies.

Known issue:

• The Windows Update settings page may hang after you download an optional update. Close and reopen the Windows Update settings page if you encounter this.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 19043.1200 (21H1) to Release Preview Channel Insiders

Today, Panay has posted another teaser video on Twitter, showing off a refresh heading to Paint, a much-loved offering that has had its place in Windows for years. The teaser shows off an updated UI with modern icons, rounded corners, and support for light and dark themes. Theming options, especially, seem to be a focus across in-box apps, with even the Calculator now sporting that feature. There also seem to be easier ways to choose the font style and brush types, especially suited for users with a stylus.

The classic Paint app has seen a few rocky days, with the company formerly planning to replace the offering in favor of Paint 3D. However, earlier this year, Paint 3D was stopped being bundled with new installs of Insider builds, signaling the end of the firm’s focus on the app, and the 3D paradigm in Windows itself. Now, the revival of the popular classic offering might come as a welcome move by those who still rely on the simple yet functional tool.

Just like the other Windows 11 in-box apps, the updated Paint app might also be served via the Microsoft Store. In addition to Paint, the Redmond giant is also expected to revamp the Photos app with improvements, which it teased during its Windows 11 announcement. Since these app updates are being rolled out via the Store, they need not be tied to Windows 11 builds.

Microsoft teases an updated Paint app for Windows 11

The new and improved inking experience on the web is now available by downloading the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds and running the code sample presented on Microsoft’s blog post on the latest Microsoft Edge Dev Channel.

Technical Details

In Chromium-based browsers today, pen events are first sent to the browser process, which in turn forwards these events to a web application’s JavaScript event loop. The time delay between when the browser process receives these events and when they reach the application can sometimes be significant, depending on the rest of the main thread, resulting in the latency seen when inking.

To improve this, behind the scenes of the InkPresenter implementation on Windows 11, Microsoft Edge is using a new Windows API that will work directly with the operating system’s compositor to draw additional ink strokes outside of Microsoft Edge’s application loop. Thanks to this API, instead of waiting to deliver the event to the web application via JavaScript, we can take these points and provide them to the operating system compositor as soon as we receive them. The compositor can then connect the points with ink strokes and draw these strokes in the next frame that is to be presented to the screen, dramatically reducing latency.

For operating systems like Windows 10 and Linux that don’t have this API, a polyfill implemented directly in Microsoft Edge will take over and provide predictive rendering for ink strokes beyond the last known trusted PointerEvent. This implementation is intended to work similarly to the Windows 11 API – it leverages the points that the browser knows about, along with some predicted points to draw an extension to the application’s ink stroke at the last moment. While the effect isn’t as powerful as the Windows 11 API, it can still provide a much-improved experience for users!

Looking Ahead

As mentioned in the introduction, the work to implement this API was done as an upstream contribution to the Chromium project and is turned on by default for any Chromium-based browsers.

Going forward, Microsoft will be continuing to tune the prediction values provided by the Edge-implemented polyfill for non-Windows 11 installations. They hope to continue to see improvements in latency as they adjust the values and algorithm that the prediction system is using.

To read more about the Ink API and track its progress along the standards track, you can visit the draft specification page on GitHub: Ink API.

Developers can read more about implementing it at Microsoft here.

Microsoft says Windows 11 Edge Ink API improves ink latency on the web by up to 240%

An image of the updated appearance was leaked by Alumia, who says it applies to the Compact UI of the app.

The main change appears to be that the connection status icons are now next to the image of your handset rather than below.

The old UI can be seen below:

The new UI will presumably roll out to Insiders in the near future.

via ALumia

Microsoft’s Your Phone app getting Compact UI updates

A new post on the Dotnet developer blog by Stephen Toub, Partner Software Engineer, .NET, offers insights on the benchmark tests and the performance improvements compared to previous versions of .NET.

According to the post, about 6500 merged pull requests landed in .NET 6, excluding automated pull requests by bots. Of these, about 550 improve performance in one area or another, according to Microsoft.

The post is technical in nature; it contains a lot of code, examples and instructions to run the benchmark to verify the results. BenchmarkDotNet was used for the majority of results.

As examples, here are the benchmark results of Just In Time benchmark tests. Most tests compare the performance of .NET 6.0 with .NET 5.0, but you find other .NET versions used in some of the tests as well.

You can check out the full blog post at the Dot Net Dev Blog for a full rundown of all tests, code examples, and explanations why performance improved for a particular benchmark test.

Developers interested in .NET may download the latest preview release, .NET 6.0 Preview 7 at the time of writing, from Microsoft's Developer website. It is available for Windows (ARM, x64, x32), Linux (Arm32, Arm64, x64) and Mac OS X (Arm64, x64). Only binaries provided for Linux, installers and binaries for Windows and Mac OS.

 Benchmarks indicate big performance improvements in .NET 6

Microsoft begins final phase of Internet Explorer's demise

Just how annoying the changes are depends on your browser, though.

A report from The Verge today has drawn attention to the way current Windows 11 betas are handling third-party Web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. These tweaks continue a trend that has intensified over Windows 10's lifecycle—you can use any browser you want on Windows! But are you sure you wouldn't like to try Microsoft Edge instead? Are you sure? Are you really, really sure?

 

There are two functional changes in the current beta of Windows 11 that make switching browsers more annoying. The first is that the OS no longer pops up a window asking you if you'd like to switch browsers the first time you click a link after installing a new browser. The second is that the "default apps" screen has removed the broad app categories currently available in Windows 10. Windows 10 allows you to set the default email app, map app, music player, photo viewer, video player, and web browser from the default apps screen, while Windows 11 makes you choose an app first and assign defaults one file extension at a time.

 

Windows 10's Default Apps settings screen lets you change the default apps for a handful of common tasks, like browsing, checking email, or playing video.

 

Windows 11 currently defaults to a more granular view, which makes you change file extensions one at a time, either by searching for them or selecting an app that will handle them and then setting defaults one extension at a time.

 

Once you've selected a file extension, you get the same list of app options that exists in Windows 10.

 

When you do attempt to change the default app that handles .htm or .html files from Edge to something else, Windows 11 takes it as yet another opportunity to make sure that you're absolutely, positively sure that you actually want to switch away from Edge.

Collectively, these changes represent another escalation in Windows' never-ending quest to remind you that it comes with its own browser, and Microsoft deserves to be criticized for it. I don't need to be told the Good News about Edge every time I install a major update, use Edge to download Chrome, or visit any of Microsoft's websites with a non-Edge browser. But browser-makers can make this process a bit less annoying in practice—for example, when I install Chrome on Windows 11 and click Chrome's "set as default" button, it kicks me to the Windows 11 default apps screen. But when I click Firefox's "set as default" button, it just works, no extra clicking needed.

The way Windows 11 handles lesser-used (or merely browser-adjacent) file extensions is actually a bit less confusing than the way Windows 10 handles them. Changing the default browser setting in Windows 10 and Windows 11 leaves Microsoft Edge in charge of opening a bunch of other file extensions, including .pdf, .svg, and .shtml—you might think that this is new behavior in Windows 11, but Windows 11 just makes it easier to see. Being able to see every file extension that every app on your computer can open and which apps are in charge of opening them is handy, and Windows 11's presentation is a big improvement over Windows 10's semi-buried version of the same view.

Reverting the two biggest changes to Windows 11's browser behavior—the missing pop-up and the absent high-level version of the "Default Apps" screen—would be relatively trivial and would mostly solve the practical issues here. In the meantime, some browser-makers do seem to have figured out how to make the default-browser-switching process less painful.

Listing image by Microsoft

Switching from Microsoft Edge gets more annoying in Windows 11

And it seems the new OS also has optimizations geared towards extracting much more performance out of the hardware resources available to it, according to testing conducted by Phoronix.

Using its OpenBenchmarking Linux test suite, the site has assessed the performance of an 80 core-Intel Xeon 8380 Ice Lake 2P system and a 128 core-AMD EPYC 7763 Milan 2P system in the newly unveiled Debian 11 stable compared to the previous Debian 10.10 release.

A total of 73 benchmarks were conducted and Phoronix noted an overall improvement of about 8~10% going from Debian 10.10 to Debian 11. However, in certain tests, the boost is a lot more and the performance uplift has even more than doubled.

For example, in the NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) Embarrassingly Parallel class D (EP.D) benchmark, the Xeon 2P system is over twice faster in Debian 11.

And in the YafaRay ray tracing benchmark, the EPYC 7763 2P system has gained more. Interestingly, the AMD processor was apparently slower in Debian 10.10 but has overtaken the Xeon in the Debian 11 environment. While we are not sure, it is possible that Debian 11 is better at utilizing the higher core count available on the EPYC 7763.

These are just two out of the many tests that show the most exceptional gains. However, there are many more tests in the full performance review which you can find on Phoronix's website.

Source and images: Phoronix

Debian 11 "bullseye" offers more than ~2X performance in certain applications

This activates a tab search menu similar to Chrome’s version.

Notably, there is no sign of a tab search button such as on Chrome, and this may end up being a feature only available via the right-click menu or shortcut key.

Microsoft has however customised the Tab Search pop-up somewhat.

The font has changed, and recently closed tabs are now collapsible.

The feature currently requires a command-line switch to activate. It can be viewed by adding the –enable-features=msTabSearch command to the shortcut for Edge Canary browser.

via Leo Varela

Microsoft is getting ready to add Tab Search to Edge

He went on to say

I’m also still tracking issues with group policy deployed printers. Microsoft has made a mess of the printer deployment via group policy.  If you have v3 printer drivers they are prompting for administrative rights.  If you are an IT pro I’ll urge you to join the conversation on the patchmanagement.org list where everyone is still trying to figure out a solid solution.

A reminder for home/consumer users: If the patch is installed and you have no issues with printing, leave the patch installed, don’t uninstall it.

August updates causing issues with multi user QuickBooks

Microsoft maintains two screenshot apps on Windows 10. The original Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch, which it introduced later on as a replacement for the classic tool. In fact, when you open the Snipping Tool on Windows 10, you will see a message stating that it will be replaced with the Snip & Sketch tool eventually. It is unclear if this is ever going to happen though.

A quick comparison of the classic Snipping Tool of Windows 10 with the new Snipping Tool of Windows 11 reveals that the classic tool appears to have been the blueprint for the new screenshot tool. In fact, the new tool looks like a modern version of the classic tool on first glance.

Screenshots are saved automatically using a generic name and an increasing number. You can reset the screenshot count number.

Here is a screenshot of the classic Snipping Tool, and below that is a screenshot of the Windows 11 Snipping Tool.

The menu looks nearly identical: you get the new, mode and delay options in the new tool. Cancel and options are missing, but you get a link to the settings when you select the three-dots icon in the interface.

Compare the new interface to the Snip & Sketch tool, displayed below.

The look and feel of the main interface resembles the classic tool. When you open the settings on the other hand, you will notice that Microsoft has taken them from the Snip & Sketch tool instead, even though most options are similar.

The classic Snipping Tool's settings include seven options, including the default option to include URLs below snips automatically. The option is missing from the Snip & Sketch options and also from the options of the new Snipping Tool of Windows 11. In fact, the options of the new Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch are identical, except for the option to change the app theme of the new Snipping Tool.

But what about functionality?

The capturing modes of the new Snipping Tool are identical to those of the classic Snipping Tool and also Snip & Sketch. The delay options have been changed to 3, 5 and 10 seconds. The classic tool supported delays between 1 and 5 seconds, the Snip & Sketch tool delays of 3 and 10 seconds.

All three tools copy the captured screenshot to the clipboard by default and display it in a basic editor. The editor of the Windows 11 Snipping Tool resembles that of the Snip & Sketch tool of Windows 10.

The main toolbar offers identical options, but some icons have been moved. The undo/redo buttons are now displayed in the center of the toolbar instead of on the left side. All capturing options are available right on the toolbar in the new Snipping Tool for easier access.

Closing Words and verdict

The new Snipping Tool looks like the child of the classic Snipping Tool and the Snip & Sketch tool. It is a good decision to launch a single screenshot tool in Windows 11 and not two tools, as it removes confusion. The functionality has not changed, and that means that the new Snipping Tool remains a basic option. It may be good enough for the occasional screenshot, but if you need more options, e.g. to capture scrolling windows or better editing options, you still need to look elsewhere.

How good is Windows 11's new screen capturing app Snipping Tool?

Mozilla released Firefox 91, a new major version of the browser and new Extended Support Release base, last week. The new version of Firefox added a HTTPS-First policy for the browser's private browsing mode, re-added the Simplified Printing option and fixed security issues among other things.

Firefox 91 is also the first version that removed options to disable the browser's new Proton interface using advanced preferences.

Firefox 91.0.1 will become available later today. It is already available on Mozilla's distribution server, but it is not recommended to install this version as there is no guarantee that it is indeed the final version.

Most Firefox installations will be updated automatically via the browser's built-in updating system. Downloads will also become available later today on the official Mozilla website.

You can display the current version and run a manual check for updates by going to Menu > Help > About Firefox.

Mozilla highlights four changes in Firefox 91.0.1, but not all information is available at this point. Firefox 91.0.1 comes with "various stability fixes" and a security fix. The security information is not yet available; it will be published after Firefox 91.0.1 has been released officially. Additional information about the stability fixes is not available either.

The two remaining issues are described in detail:

• An issue caused buttons on the browser's tab bar to be resized when "certain websites" were loaded.
• An issue caused tabs from private browsing windows to be visible in non-private windows when viewing "switch-to-tab results in the address bar panel".

Both of these bugs have been fixed and should not be experienced anymore by Firefox users once the browser has been updated to the new version.

Closing Words

The official release notes do not reveal the severity of the security issue. You may want to pay attention to the Mozilla Foundation Security Advisories website, as information will be listed on that page later today.

Firefox 91.0.1 fixes stability and security issues

Frontpaged: Mozilla Forefox Browser 91.0.1

The iOS app for iPad and iPhone has been updated to version 10.3.2  and has the following changelog:

• Additional two-column thumbnail view for larger iPhones.
• Revamped PC thumbnail styling.
• Cleaned up PC bookmark list view (only available on iPhones).
• Press-and-hold semantics for PC bookmarks and workspace headers.
• New context menus for interaction with PC bookmarks and workspaces.
• Ability to duplicate PC bookmarks.
• Full preview of the PC bookmark thumbnail after a press-and-hold.
• New pull-down menu for interaction with the Connection Centre.
• Pull-to-refresh behaviour for subscribed workspaces.
• Animated sorting of PC bookmarks by name or last connected time.
• Auto-expanded search field on iPads.

The Microsoft Remote Desktop Mac app was updated to version 10.6.8 with the following changelog:

In this release we’ve worked through some bugs that were hanging around in our backlog. Some items we addressed include:

• Added background refresh for subscribed workspaces.
• Fixed an issue where the session window may jump to another monitor when auto-reconnect kicks in.
• Fixed an issue where the session window would sometimes be enlarged after connecting.
• Addressed an issue where the name of a redirected folder would be incorrect in the remote session.
• Fixed a bug that made it difficult to resize remote app windows.
• Improved the error messages that are displayed when user accounts fail to update.
• Fixed an issue where window titles in the list of connected remote apps were blank.
• Addressed a multimon issue where the mouse cursor shape would not update correctly when dragging between monitors.
• Added a checkbox to General Preferences to enable/disable Microsoft Teams optimizations.
• Added UI to report if a remote app could not be launched on the server due to not being on the system allow list.
• Fixed an issue where the session window could not be made wider when placed at the top or bottom of the screen.
• Addressed scenarios where the mouse cursor would disappear while connected to a remote PC.
• Deletion of an Azure Virtual Desktop workspace now correctly removes all associated workspaces.
• Fixed an issue where adding a folder to redirect to a bookmark would enable the “Add” button with an empty PC name.
• Addressed an issue where double-clicking the title bar incorrectly stretched the session window.
• Updated the mouse to change to a hand glyph when hovering over a red input error indicator.
• Fixed an issue where the session window would flash rapidly in the “Mission Control” or “Application windows” view.

In addition, we have continued to make updates to improve connectivity and performance metrics when connecting to Azure Virtual Desktop.

Note that by default subscribed workspaces are refreshed every six hours. This interval can be changed using the ClientSettings.WorkspaceAutoRefreshInterval user default (minimum is 30 minutes and maximum is 24 hours).

You can download and install the Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the below link. The Mac app can be found here.

via onMSFT

Microsoft Remote Desktop for iOS and Mac updated (changelog)

Of course, you had a bit of a premature start. You entered the world of technology with little more than a kernel to call your own. That was the intent of a young computer science student from Helsinki named Linus Torvalds in doing this personal fun project. In 1991, he created your code that would become the basis for a completely new approach to operating systems for computers.

The rest of that story, as they say, is history.

You suffered a name change at first. You started out being called Freax, as in “free,” “freak,” and “x” (referencing the Unix computer OS). But eventually, your creator came around to sharing his own lineage with you, christening you Linux.

Linus and his would-be computer cohorts propped you up with other code components to talk to. That combination formed a growing list of Linux distributions to power a variety of free computer operating systems.

Among the first was in 1992 was Slackware created by Patrick Volkerding. You both made a big hit for years holding an 80 percent share of the non-proprietary computer market. A few years later you had some great company. Some of Slackware’s popularity slid away, though, with the arrival of Red Hat Linux. But your kernel remained the soul of what makes Linux, well — Linux.

In 1992, four dudes — Thomas Fehr, Roland Dyroff, Burchard Steinbild, and Hubert Mante — introduced you to a new playmate called the Suse Project. That creation formed Suse Linux. A few years later Suse spawned separate commercial desktop and server enterprise editions. OpenSuse joined the relatives as the free open-source version.

More Family Diversity

Debian joined the family lineage as one of the first full-fledged Linux distributions in August 1993, created by Ian Murdock. It took him three more years to release the first stable version. What made your Debian cousin so significant was Murdock’s design for a Linux distro anyone could download and use for free. He eliminated the need for users to compile their own applications from source files.

Murdock made Debian Linux user-friendly and easy to adopt by using a live CD. This made it possible for new adopters to check out Linux without actually installing it to run it.

Business users got a special adoption boost when Red Hat Linux, which was released in 1995, debuted the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in 2003 as a paid support distro. Business-minded home users experienced a free community edition. Fedora became the proving ground for many of the features promoted to the RHEL releases.

In 2000, Daniel Robbins brought into the Linux world Gentoo Linux. It targeted developers and enterprise users with a strong connection to an alternative Unix-like BSD operating system that made managing networks easier.

That same year, Judd Vinet introduced the world to Arch Linux. It was based on the concept of rolling updated components into existing installations so major re-installation milestones were eliminated. This advanced concept geared the new distro toward more experienced users who were better equipped to handle the more complicated maintenance and configurations Arch coding required.

A Touch of Modern

A major development in the adoption of the Linux OS for both industry and home occurred in 2004 with the release of Ubuntu Linux. Its founder, South African mogul Mark Richard Shuttleworth, developed Ubuntu to be an easier, friendlier way to use the young Linux OS. His company targeted home and SMB users along with major enterprise companies.

A newer entrant to modernizing Linux’s popularity is the Linux Mint distribution. Started in 2006 by Clément Lefèbvre, it is based on Ubuntu and is intended to be very user-friendly and is especially good for beginners.

Linux Mint came about as a result of a major design change in Ubuntu. Lefèbvre succeeded in picking up where Ubuntu diverted. One of its mainstays is the in-house development of the Cinnamon desktop environment.

Another reason for Linux Mint’s growing popularity is its blending of some proprietary software to enhance user convenience in installing available options themselves. Other modern Linux distros do this as well. But Linux Mint makes this a focal point of its UI standard.

Seemingly Limitless Options

Depending on the counting process and source, the actual number of Linux distributions is far more expansive today than in the first two decades of the Linux kernel. Some sources put that number at over 600 Linux distros with about 500 in active development. Still, other sources asses the number of Linux distros to exceed 1,000.

It all depends on how you categorize the vast variety of form factors ranging among desktops, servers, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, and tablets. Some distros are staffed by a single developer. Others encompass large communities of volunteers, designers, coders, and testers globally. It seems that for every Linux distro that goes inactive or fully disappears, one or more newcomers fill in the gap.

All of this is the result of you, Mr. Birthday Linux. Your power and influence are awesome!

Inclusion With Diversity

The Linux OS unwittingly became a place for every possible old and new computing concept. Distro developers made many releases that mimicked and improved features and innovations from other distros. Depending on the whims of the Linux developers, different distros were offered for different folks’ computing styles.

Two primary developmental pathways emerged. Either a new distro release would follow the design and operational philosophy of a particular Linux family — be it Gentoo, Arch, Debian, Suse, Fedora, etc. — or it would be an independent offering not based on any particular Linux family. Also, sub-families exist in Linux.

For Instance, a distro could be based on one major family line but create some of its own unique elements. Consider that a very popular Linux line is Ubuntu, which is technically based on Debian. Newer distros came along that were based directly on Ubuntu rather than the broader Debian ecosystem.

Part of the derivative distro would be the unique application choices bundled in the release. Some derivatives lack access to many of the larger Linux families’ software repositories. Others have different update processes and package management tools for adding software.

Another distinguishing component with the Linux OS is the concept of desktop environments. Some distros offer only one chosen desktop. Others provide a large collection of desktop options. Some distros are lightweight, meaning they run on older hardware that needs less RAM and less powerful internal components.

These scaled-down designs often rely on window managers instead of fully-featured desktop environments. Much of the same can be said about the structure and operating components built into independent Linux distros as well.

Designing Factors

This is what distinguishes the Linux OS from other alternatives like macOS and Windows operating systems. The operating environment can be classic Linux in design. It can be minimal, or it can be something more feature packed. It all comes down to the user interface (UI) and user preferences.

Just as distro developers slice and dice the UI and Linux family components, so do they often modify existing features in the desktop design. So two different distros running the same desktop environment can be very different.

Not every Linux distro runs the same Linux kernel, either. Some distro developers stave off potential compatibility issues with the newest kernel releases by waiting for a release cycle or two of their own distro products. Other distro developers base their latest distro upgrade around a just-released kernel version.

Adding a Modern Touch

The Linux kernel, though 30 years old as the heart of the Linux OS, is not the same today than it was in its infancy. Torvalds oversees an ongoing process of updating the Linux kernel to provide better hardware, software, and security reliability.

In the same way that Linux kernel developers and distro maintainers update, modify, and improve (or sometimes worsen) the performance, so do desktop environment communities. Once popular designs and functionalities can fall out of favor. Design changes can send users screaming to other options within Linux.

That, too, is the power and flexibility that Linux acquired over these last three decades.

So once again, Happy Birthday Linux. You have had great success with dominating enterprise-server jobs and taking over cloud computing.

Still, you have yet to give us the Year of the Linux Desktop, though. But keep growing. Hopefully, you will have reason to celebrate that fete at an upcoming birthday.

The options you provide make modern Linux an operating system like no other. You even have established your family ties in Android and Chrome OS. But those are accolades for other birthday celebrations.

Source

Google has either turned off RSS support in Google Groups without telling anyone, or has failed to notice that RSS in Groups no longer functions.

RSS, which stands for either RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication, is an open content syndication protocol. It allows people to subscribe to feeds from websites and receive syndicated content from them through an app capable of reading XML-based data.

Debuting in 1999, RSS evolved into different versions and variants, like Atom, and for a time about 15 years ago was quite popular as a way to receive updates about newly published content. When Google in 2013 decided to discontinue its RSS app Google Reader, it was a controversial decision. Mozilla distanced itself from RSS in 2018.

Lately, RSS has been a low priority for tech companies focused on content distribution schemes that are easier to control and monetize, though it's still appreciated by those who need to follow updates across a wide range of websites.

Google never made Groups RSS feeds obvious. RSS links were previously tucked away on the About page of any public Google Group. But now they've vanished entirely.

Earlier this year, questions about the disappearance of RSS support in Google Groups began to appear on the Google Groups support website. The response provided by one of the non-Google moderators is that RSS feed support went away with the Google Groups desktop client redesign that debuted in May 2020 and rolled out thereafter. A mobile client design refresh followed in August 2020.

While the Groups redesign may have removed references to RSS links on Groups' About pages, the RSS backend remained in place – Groups users could still subscribe to feeds if they knew how to form the URL and those feeds were still accessible until late last month.

That was when netizens began to notice that their Google Groups RSS subscriptions no longer functioned. Mozilla's dev-security-policy mailing list, for example, relied on Google Groups RSS to distribute updates, and earlier this month switched to an alternative RSS service.

Work around the problem

Those affected by the disappearance of RSS have suggested several workarounds, like using RSS.app to generate a feed from a specific Google Group. That approach however isn't ideal because generated feeds are not formatted the same way, so details like message timestamps don't carry over.

In an email to The Register, Feross Aboukhadijeh, an open-source developer who runs Socket, expressed dismay that RSS has stopped working in Groups.

"I'm disappointed that the RSS feeds feature was removed," said Aboukhadijeh. "It was working perfectly fine and probably only a minimal maintenance burden to the Groups team."

While many internet users today may not interact with RSS, the technology is nonetheless critical infrastructure for journalists, technologists, and researchers, he contends.

"RSS is an open protocol for websites to share their information with other websites, apps, and services," he said. "It's used everywhere – it powers every podcast feed, and shares articles from almost every major news website."

Aboukhadijeh also observed that many programming communities, like Node.js, use Google Groups to announce critical security issues. "Anyone relying on the Google Group RSS feed to consume these security notices will stop getting critical security notices until they directly subscribe by email to the group," he said.

"Another casualty of this change is the @IntentToShip Twitter account which posts when browser makers announce their intent to ship, change, or remove features in their web engines," Aboukhadijeh added.

"The account is popular in the web standards community since it consolidates posts from many disparate Google Groups into a single feed. The removal of RSS in Google Groups broke their integration."

With the redesign announcement last year, Google said it would be deprecating – phasing out – 16 features, including Canned responses, Pinning topics, and Topic types, among others.

RSS support, however, is not among the doomed features. If Google mentioned its plan to drop RSS from Groups at the time, it did so very quietly.

The disappearance of RSS in Groups is all the more perplexing for Google's recent affirmation of RSS, or something like it, in Chrome for Android and its attempt to address its reputation for abruptly discontinuing services through the adoption of an enterprise API policy.

The Register asked Google to comment and we've not heard back. ®

Source