A development build of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11 operating system leaked last week. One feature that looks like it is going to be improved is the window snapping functionality of the operating system.

 

Microsoft introduced snap functionality for Windows when it released Windows 7. It kept the functionality in Windows 8 and Windows 10, and plans to improve it in Windows 11. Vista and XP users could introduce the functionality with third-party tools such as AquaSnap.

 

Basically, what snap does is allow users to snap Windows to the left or right side of the screen, so that they take up half of the screen size. You can also snap to the top to make it go fullscreen.

 

New functionality is mapped to the maximize button of windows in Windows 11. When you hover the mouse cursor over the maximize button, a list of window layouts is presented to you. The selection depends on the monitor resolution. Four different layouts are presented on low resolutions and six on higher resolutions.

 

 

The two-windows side-by-side layout is still there, but so are several others:

 

• Two windows side-by-side taking up the same amount of space.
• Two windows side-by-side with a ratio of 66.6% to 33.3%.
• Three windows side-by-side all taking up the same amount of space.
• Three windows, one taking up half the screen, the other two sharing the remaining screen vertically.
• Four windows all taking up a quarter of the screen.
• Three windows side-by-side, with the middle one taking up more space than the windows on the left and right of it.

 

Ashwin created the following animated gif to visualize the functionality in Windows 11.

 

 

Move the mouse cursor over a window field in one of the layouts and activate it with a click. The window is resized and moved automatically to fit the new position. Other windows may be presented to fill out the space for the other windows of the layout.

 

The new functionality resembles the FanzyZones tool of Microsoft's PowerToys tools collection, as it features similar layouts. The program separates the desktop into zones that Windows can be placed in. Holding down Shift while moving windows displays the zones, and you can snap them to one to automatically resize and position them.

 

The new snap layout functionality of Windows 11 improves snap by expanding the available layouts. Whether it will be possible to make use of those using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts remains to be seen.

Nvidia's latest driver release is primarily focused on bringing technologies like ray tracing and DLSS support to even more games including Doom Eternal, Rust, LEGO Builder’s Journey, and Escape From Tarkov, but there are some other features attached too. The WHQL-certified 471.11 Game Ready driver also has support for the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, and comes recommended for anyone picking up EA's upcoming racer F1 2021.

 

The Doom Eternal update carrying ray tracing capabilities alongside Nvidia DLSS for added performance will be landing on June 29. Meanwhile, Escape From Tarkov will be seeing Nvidia Reflex being implemented soon for reduced system latency. LEGO Builder’s Journey launches with ray-traced effects and DLSS later today on Steam.

 

Rust already received Reflex support in a previous update, and on July 1, DLSS will be enabled as the latest Nvidia technology to reach it. DLSS support has also reached games running the Vulkan API on Linux via Proton, with DirectX support planned to arrive this fall.

The GeForce Experience app has undergone some overhauls as well according to the company, improving the "FPS Counter, One-Click Automatic GPU Tuning, Freestyle filters, and HDR Screenshot Capture features." Lastly, the G-Sync compatible displays list has increased by four monitors with the driver, bringing support for the AOC AG274US4R6B and AG254FWG8R4, the ASUS VG28UQL1A, and the LG 32GN650/32GN63T.

 

Below are the bug fixes included in this release, and VR fans should be happy to see that the longstanding stuttering problem seems to have finally been tracked down:

• [World of Warcraft: Shadowlands]: Random flicker may occur in certain locations in the game [3206341]
• [SLI][GeForce GTX 980M]: The system locks with a black screen upon booting into Windows. no repro with 457.51. [3266090]
• [Surround][GeForce RTX 3090]: With Surround active, setting Bezel Correction disables Surround. [3286449]
• [Crossfire][GeForce Experience][FreeStyle]: Freestyle might not work on Crossfire after the game is updated. [200736765]
• [HDR]: Some specific HDMI displays might show some flickering in HDR mode. [200729987]
• [Steam VR game]: Stuttering and lagging occur upon launching a game while any GPU hardware monitoring tool is running in the background. [3152190]
• [NVIDIA Ampere GPU]: Colors may appear incorrect in games if sharpen Freestyle filter is used with HDR enabled. [200658208]
• Display may flicker or lose signal when launching a game on an adaptive-sync VRR monitor in multi-monitor configuration when sharing the same display mode [3314055]
• DisplayPort monitor may not wake from sleep when connected in extended mode with an HDMI 2.1 display that is powered off. [3281998]

Here are the open issues to keep an eye out for:

• [Batman Arkham Knight]: The game crashes when turbulence smoke is enabled. [3202250]
• [YouTube]: Video playback stutters while scrolling down the YouTube page. [3129705]
• DPC latency is higher when color mode is set to 8-bit color compared to 10-bit color. [3316424]

Keep in mind that come this October, Nvidia will be dropping support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 as well as its classic Kepler architecture products — GTX 600 and 700 series.

 

The new 471.11 Game Ready driver is available for download on the GeForce Experience app and via the links below for standalone installations. The release notes are here.

 

Desktop GPUs:

 

Download: Windows 7, 8, 8.1 | Windows 10 – Standard / DCH

 

Notebook GPUs:

 

Download: Windows 7, 8, 8.1 | Windows 10 - Standard / DCH

 

AMD today released its first display driver update for the month of June in the form of the new Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.6.1 driver. The update is significant in both good and bad ways.

 

We start with the good news first which says the new Radeon Software 21.6.1 driver adds support for the company's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) image upscaling technology that also launches today as announced earlier by AMD.

AMD has stated that FSR support is coming to select titles today and while the company hasn't specified anything, it did show off Godfall at its Computex presentation running the FSR demos confirming at least one of the games. Besides Godfall, a report says that are six more games planned with FSR support at launch, and many more coming soon after. You can find all those details here.

 

In terms of game support, the driver is optimized for Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance which lands today on PC. Support for the recently launched RDNA 2-based RX 6800M laptop GPU has also been added. The driver however does not indicate support for the slightly cut down 6700M part even though they are built using the same chip.

 

Moving on to the list of fixes that the release brings, there are a few of them, to say the least. The annoyance caused by AMD's Cleanup utility also removing the chipset drivers, and such should finally be over to Radeon users as the problem has supposedly been fixed with this release.

 

Here's the full list of bug fixes:

• Radeon FreeSync™ may intermittently become locked while on desktop after performing task switching between extended and primary displays upon closing a game, causing poor performance or stuttering.

• Anno 1800™ may crash upon launching this game when running DirectX®12.

• AMD cleanup utility may clean up chipset/RAID installer related folders/registries from the system.

• Some Radeon Graphics products may experience lower than expected performance in Destiny 2™ when compared to previous Radeon Software versions.

• Upon joining the AMD User Experience Program, the AMD User Experience Program Master service may have higher than expected CPU utilization.

• Enabling Ray Tracing while running Ring of Elysium™ on DirectX®12 may cause this game to crash.

And here are those issues that still remain:

• Resident Evil Village™ may experience an intermittent application hang or TDR on AMD Radeon VII graphics products in the first mission of the game.

• Enhanced Sync may cause a black screen to occur when enabled on some games and system configurations. Any users who may be experiencing issues with Enhanced Sync enabled should disable it as a temporary workaround.

• Connecting two displays with large differences in resolution/refresh rates may cause flickering on Radeon RX Vega series graphics products.

• An Oculus service error may be received on Radeon RX 5000 & 6000 series graphics products which prevents the Oculus Link setup software from running.

• Radeon performance metrics and logging features may intermittently report extremely high and incorrect memory clock values.

• If Ryzen Master is not detected in Adrenalin software after installation, a system restart may be required.

• If Blue or Black screen is observed in mobile systems, temporarily disable Enhanced sign-in

• A driver mismatch error may appear when two versions of Radeon software (Windows Store & AMD Support versions) are installed on your system. As a temporary workaround, launch the Windows Store version of Radeon software.

• AMD is investigating an issue that may cause a small impact to battery life on AMD Ryzen 5000 notebooks.

• A Blue or Black screen may be observed after updating to the latest Radeon Software. A workaround is to disable core isolation.

• AMD is investigating a D3 error code that may be seen in some motherboard after updating to the latest Radeon Software.

• Lower than expected performance may be observed on select AMD Athlon™ mobile systems.

There's also a problem persisting with AMD Link for Windows:

• Intermittent grey frame corruption might be observed when streaming with HEVC on certain configurations via an Internet connection. A workaround is to use the AVC encoding setting instead.

Compatibility-wise however there is a major shift with this driver compared to earlier releases and a lot of Radeon users who run older setups will be affected. The 21.6.1 driver ends support for Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of Windows, and also won't be supporting pre-Polaris cards. This means the driver is only compatible with Windows 10 64-bit OS and Radeon RX 400 series or newer graphics cards. The move is similar to what Nvidia pulled for pre-Windows 10 and also with its legacy 700 series Kepler GPUs.

 

So if you have a compatible setup and wish to download the Radeon Software 21.6.1 driver, head over to the official release notes page here.

 

Microsoft today released optional cumulative updates to Windows 10 versions 21H1, 20H2, and 2004. These are part of the company’s optional C/D releases for supported versions, meaning these are not automatically downloaded and installed like the usual Patch Tuesday updates. The fixes in these builds will be rolled into the Patch Tuesday release that will happen on the second Tuesday of July.

 

Today, all three fully supported Windows 10 versions are receiving KB5003690, bumping the build numbers to 19043.1081, 19042.1081, and 19041.1081 for versions 21H1, 20H2, and 2004, respectively. The reason that all three versions are receiving the same patch is that they are built on the same codebase as that of version 2004, with the October 2020 Update and the May 2021 Update being just enablement packages.

 

As for what’s included in these builds, there are fixes to improve gaming performance issues that users began reporting in April, which the firm acknowledged and released a fix for – essentially rolling back the code that caused the issue using Known Issue Rollback (KIR). Additionally, the update also fixes the problem with the News and Interests widget displaying blurry text – something that was recently added to the list of known issues for Windows 10. Other fixes include addressing sign-in problems when using a pin or a fingerprint for authentication.

 

Here are the highlights of today’s update:

• Updates an issue in a small subset of users that have lower than expected performance in games after installing KB5000842 or later.
• Updates an issue that causes the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) to suddenly stop working while you are typing.
• Updates an issue in which signing in using a PIN fails. The error message is "Something happened and your PIN isn’t available. Click to set up your PIN again."
• Updates an issue that, in certain cases, takes you out of the exclusive virtual reality (VR) app and back to Windows Mixed Reality Home when you press the Windows button on the controller.
• Updates an issue that causes blurry text on the news and interests button on the Windows taskbar for some screen resolutions.
• Updates an issue with Search box graphics on the Windows taskbar that occurs if you right-click the taskbar and turn off News and interests. This graphics issue is especially visible when using dark mode.
• Updates an issue that might prevent you from using your fingerprint to sign in after startup or waking up your device from sleep.

And here is the complete changelog for the builds:

• Addresses an issue that causes communication between apps to stop working after you enable the “AppMgmt_COM_SearchForCLSID” policy.
• Addresses a performance issue in the MultiByteToWideChar() function that occurs when it is used in a non-English locale.
• Addresses an issue that prevents sorting from working properly when using multiple versions of National Language Support (NLS) sorting.
• Addresses an issue in a small subset of users that have lower than expected performance in games after installing KB5000842 or later.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) to suddenly stop working while you are typing.
• Addresses an issue that causes WMIMigrationPlugin.dll to return an error when you attempt to migrate in offline mode.
• Addresses an issue with the Set-RuleOption PowerShell command that fails to provide the option for the Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policy to treat files signed with an expired certificate as unsigned.
• Addresses an issue that causes Windows to stop working when it uses AppLocker to validate a file that has multiple signatures. The error is 0x3B.
• Addresses an issue that might cause BitLocker to go into recovery mode after updating the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) firmware. This occurs when the "Interactive logon: Machine account lockout Threshold" policy is set and there were incorrect password attempts.
• Addresses an issue that causes Windows to generate many AppLocker or SmartLocker success events.
• Addresses an issue with authenticating for a domain controller when Credential Guard and Remote Credential Guard are enabled.
• Addresses an issue that prevents certain screen reader apps from running when Hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) is enabled.
• Addresses an issue in which signing in using a PIN fails. The error message is "Something happened and your PIN isn’t available. Click to set up your PIN again."
• Adds Windows support for System Management Mode protections (firmware protection version 2.0) for certain processors that support Secure Launch.
• Addresses an issue that, in certain cases, takes you out of the exclusive virtual reality (VR) app and back to Windows Mixed Reality Home when you press the Windows button on the controller. With this update, when you press the Windows button, the Windows Start menu appears. When you close the Start menu, you will go back to the exclusive VR app.
• Improves the accuracy and efficiency of sensitive data analysis in the Microsoft 365 Endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) Classification Engine.
• Addresses an issue with the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) VPN service on remote access server (RAS) servers. Periodically, users cannot connect a VPN to the server over the IKE protocol. This issue might start several hours or days after restarting the server or restarting the IKEEXT service. Some users can connect while many others cannot connect because the service is in DoS Protection mode, which limits incoming connection attempts.
• Addresses an issue that causes Wi-Fi connections to fail because of an invalid Message Integrity Check (MIC) on a four-way handshake if Management Frame Protection (MFP) is enabled.
• Addresses an issue that might cause a VPN to fail after renewing a user auto-enrolled certificate. The error message is "There are no more files".
• Addresses an issue with the Tunnel Extensible Authentication protocol (TEAP) that replaces the outer identity with “anonymous” even though identity privacy is not selected or is disabled.
• Addresses an issue that causes Remote Desktop sessions to stop responding while the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is enabled.
• Adds support for the USB Test and Measurement Class.
• Addresses an issue in Adamsync.exe that affects the syncing of large Active Directory subtrees.
• Addresses an error that occurs when the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) bind cache is full, and the LDAP client library receives a referral.
• Addresses a redirector stop error that is caused by a race condition that occurs when the system deletes binding objects when connections close.
• Addresses an issue that prevents users from setting or querying disk quotas on the C drive.
• Addresses an issue that causes 16-bit apps that run on NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) to stop working when you open them.
• Addresses an issue that causes fontdrvhost.exe to stop working when Compact Font Format version 2 (CFF2) fonts are installed.
• Addresses an issue that might prevent End User Defined Characters (EUDC) from printing correctly because of font fallback settings.
• Addresses an issue that causes blurry text on the news and interests button on the Windows taskbar for some display configurations.
• Addresses an issue with Search box graphics on the Windows taskbar that occurs if you use the taskbar’s context menu to turn off News and interests. This graphics issue is especially visible when using dark mode.
• Addresses an issue that might cause signing in with your fingerprint to fail after the system starts up or resumes from sleep.

These updates will show up in Windows Update as optional updates, giving users the choice to install them. Those who wish to skip these cumulative patches will be served the fixes along with other improvements as part of the Patch Tuesday update next month. That update will also include fixes for the installation issue for Xbox Game Pass titles.

The Windows 10 volume pop-up has long been a pet peeve of mine, being barely adapted from Windows 8, and, being designed for touch screen use, is generally too large and hangs around too long.

 

Windows 11 is Microsoft’s chance to start over, and developer Ahmed Walid may have found the new Windows 11 version.

 

The control appears to have been copied Windows 10x and was part of C-Shell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A now-removed Microsoft Azure support document had revealed Windows 11 as the upcoming version of Windows two weeks ago, and everyone missed it until now.

 

Microsoft is revealing their new version of Windows this Thursday, June 24, at 11 AM EST, but has not publicly announced the name of the next OS.

 

While a leaked build of Windows 11 has pretty much confirmed the new name, a new Azure support document spotted this weekend adds further confirmation.

 

When Microsoft changes their support documentation, they also commit the changes to GitHub to keep track of previous versions and easily revert changes.

 

As first spotted by BetaWiki owner Ryuzaki, Microsoft changed an Azure support doc over two weeks ago that clearly showed a reference to "Windows 11" in the document.

Was there a Windows 11 mention literally hanging around in Azure docs for two weeks without anyone noticing?https://t.co/8MZrYESDyj pic.twitter.com/UIUtzu6QjQ

— Ryuzaki (@rezedus) June 18, 2021

An archived screenshot of the commit differences shows that Microsoft made the change over 17 days ago.

Microsoft has since removed the entire GitHub repository containing the reference to Windows 11, but WindowsLatest could grab a screenshot before Microsoft deleted it.

In addition to the documentation, Microsoft is also running an advertisement in the Google Search results promoting their upcoming Windows event.

 

This advertisement shows the search keywords 'Windows 11', 'Windows', and 'Windows operating system.' 

However, it is not displayed when you search for 'Window 10', 'Windows 7',  or even 'Windows 12' in BleepingComputer's tests.

 

While the advertisement is not necessarily confirmation of the name, it shows that Microsoft is targeting the 'Windows 11' keyword for their upcoming Windows event.

 

It is pretty much confirmed that Windows 11 is the next version of Windows, but we will know for sure in just three days.

Quickly send open tabs to your other devices to pick up where you left off

 

Microsoft is rolling out a new update for its Edge browser that will allow users to easily pick up where they left off when switching between devices.

 

The software giant's tab sharing feature has undergone months of testing on desktop and mobile in Edge's Canary Channel and now it will soon be available to users that aren't Microsoft Edge Insiders.

 

Microsoft Edge's new tab sharing tool allows users to send tabs to different devices with just a few clicks so that they don't need to email a URL to themselves or go through their history to find a particular webpage in order to pick up where they left off.

 

The company's tab sharing tool is now rolling out to a small group of users on Windows 10 and macOS though it will likely become available to all Edge users soon.

Sharing tabs in Edge

To test out Edge's tab sharing tool, you'll first need to open a webpage in the browser, click on the address bar and then select the “Send this page” option. 

 

Doing so will allow you to send the current webpage you're viewing to all of your support devices that are currently signed into your Microsoft account. The shared tab will then appear on the receiving device with a notification from Microsoft Edge that includes both the name and URL of the webpage. 

Alternatively, you can also right-click on any link in your address bar and select the device you want to share it with. It's worth noting that you will need to have Microsoft Edge installed on your other devices and be signed into your Microsoft account to take advantage of this feature.

Since the release of Chromium-based Edge last year, Microsoft has continued to add new features to its browser. While tab sharing is a welcome addition to Edge, both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have allowed users to send tabs to other devices since 2019.

 

Via Windows Latest

 

Work on Microsoft's open source tools collection for Windows continues. The next tool that the developers plan to integrate is called Awake, and as the name suggests, can be used to keep the PC from changing its power state.

 

Microsoft released the first preview of "the new" PowerToys for Windows 10 in 2019. The initial version supported just two features: a shortcut guide and FancyZones, a tool to create windows layouts to improve productivity. New tools were added to the collection regularly, and the latest version includes tools to rename files, a keyboard manager and application launcher, image resizer, color picker, microphone muter, and more.

 

Awake, formerly called Espresso, is a new tool that will soon be integrated into the collection. Windows users may use third-party tools to keep their PC from entering sleep mode. To name just a few, which we reviewed in the past: Caffeine, Sleep Blocker, Don't Sleep, or Stand-Bye.

 

Issue 4246 on GitHub describes the functionality of the tool:

This feature would prevent the OS from going to sleep with the options to set a timer for when it can go back to sleep

A screenshot was published that highlights some of the functionality of the tool (under its previous name Espresso).

 

 

You can enable or disable the tool, just like any other main tool in PowerToys. When enabled, options are provided to keep the display active and to keep the PC awake permanently or for a specified period. The developers may also add a system tray icon so that users may control the functionality right from the system tray icon. Additionally, options to invoke awake from the command line may also be added.

Closing Words

Awake will keep the PC and the display awake when it is enabled. While there are plenty of other tools and options available to keep the PC from entering Sleep mode or turning off the monitor, users of PowerToys may appreciate the addition. No one has to use it, but if it is integrated well, it may replace some of the other tools on user systems that are used for the purpose.

 

Earlier this week, a Windows 11 build leaked online giving us the first look at the upcoming OS update. While, the new update comes with a visual overhaul, it also brings back a long lost feature. Tucked between the File Explorer and Task View sits the widgets option. If you have used Windows 7 in the past then you must be familiar with the widgets option. Unfortunately, the widgets option in the leaked Windows 11 build is just News and Interests which was launched for Windows 10 earlier this year.

 

However, reliable Microsoft insider, Walking Cat claims that Microsoft is planning to add support for third-party widgets that will allow users to customize the widgets menu as per their liking. However, initially, Windows 11 will support only first-party widgets, with third-party support rolling out later.

This is further confirmed by Rafael Rivera who did not find APIs related to third-party widgets in the leaked build indicating that the initial Windows 11 update will not ship with support for the third-party widgets.

Microsoft is expected to announce Windows 11 at an event next week. However, thanks to the recent leak, we were able to take a look at Windows 11 this week. You can check out our first impressions as well as hands-on articles for more information on Windows 11. In essence, the new update merges Windows 10 and Windows 10x while also bringing performance improvements as well as features such as the new window snapping assist.

 

Introduced in Windows Vista, gadgets would display in a fixed sidebar initially that would provide users with information, entertainment and more.

 

You could use them to display weather information, photos, news, a clock, calendar, or system information.

 

Microsoft decided to retire gadgets and the sidebar in preparation of the launch of its Windows 8 operating system. Back then, Microsoft argued that gadgets were a security risk and had to go because of that. Users could still get them back in Windows 8 and even Windows 10, either as unofficial gadget packets of the official gadgets, or as third-party gadgets using tools like Rainmeter.

 

A development build of Windows 11 leaked this week, and with it came something that looked like gadgets functionality.

 

 

Windows Widgets, Microsoft dropped the gadgets name, will be part of the upcoming Windows 11 operating system, it appears. While things may change, considering that the leaked copy is a development build and not a final one, widgets will most likely be supported by Microsoft's new operating system.

 

Support does not necessarily mean that you will be able to install third-party widgets. Twitter user WalkingCat suggests that widgets will be first-party only at first, but that this could change along the way.

 

We only know of the News and Interests widget right now. Launched in recent versions of Windows 10, it is now the first widget in Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system. One small change is that it opens on the left and no longer on the right when activated.

 

 

Widgets are powered by Microsoft Edge's WebView2, which apps and other components on the system may use as well. Security is no longer an issue because of that component (no more than for any application that uses it).

 

Microsoft could create a widgets category in the Store so that developers could publish them in the Store.

 

Widgets might even replace Live Tiles, a feature that Microsoft has disabled currently in Windows 11. Not all Live Tiles are useful, but some users may like some tiles, and these could be replaced by widgets and placed prominently on the desktop by the user to improve their visibility.

 

It is too early to tell what Windows Widgets mean for third-party solutions like Rainmeter. It seems unlikely that the introduction will have a big impact on these projects in the beginning.

 

Closing Words

 

Gadgets are making a comeback as widgets, at least for first-party widgets that Microsoft creates. There is a chance that third-parties may be allowed to create widgets for the operating system in the future.

 

Now You: what is your take on widgets?

 

With Microsoft getting ready to unveil the new Windows 11 operating system, we take a look at some of the new Registry hacks that can be used to customize your device.

 

A preview build of Windows 11 was leaked online last week, giving us a sneak peek at the new features Microsoft is bringing to its next generation of Windows.

 

These new features are user interface changes for the Taskbar, Start Menu, and other components unique to Windows 11.

 

Below we have gathered the new Windows 11 Registry keys that allow you to customize the behavior and appearance of the operating system's new features.

 

It should be noted that other new Registry entries do not perform any observable behavior. This is likely due to the leaked Windows 11 build being an early preview without the latest Windows Feature Experience Pack, enhancing the operating ystem's functionality.

 

We will update this list as new Registry hacks are discovered.

Switch back to the Windows 10 'Classic' Start Menu

When the preview build of Windows 11 was leaked online, one of the most controversial changes was the new Windows 10 Start Menu. 

 

With Windows 11, Microsoft did away with the Start Menu we associated with Windows and replaced it with a new one based on the now shelved Windows 10X.

While some people like the new Windows 11 Start Menu, many do not and wish they could switch back to the Windows 10 version.

 

The good news is that Microsoft has added a 'Start_ShowClassicMode ' Registry value that allows you to enable what they call "Classic Mode" that uses the Windows 10 Start Menu.

 

To modify this registry value, you would create a DWORD 32-bit value named 'Start_ShowClassicMode' under the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ "Start_ShowClassicMode"

Possible DWORD 32-bit settings for the Start_ShowClassicMode value are:

 

0 = Use the new Windows 11 Start Menu
1 = Enable Windows 10 'Classic' Start Menu

Windows 11 taskbar size

Windows 11 allows you to change the height and size of the icons on the taskbar via a Registry value named "TaskbarSi."

 

When configuring the TaskbarSi value, you can specify whether you want to show a small, medium, or large taskbar, with each size illustrated below.

To modify this registry value, you would create a DWORD 32-bit value named 'TaskbarSi' under the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ "TaskbarSi"

Possible DWORD 32-bit settings for the TaskbarSi value are:

 

0 = Small
1 = Medium
2 = Large

Widgets icon visibility on the taskbar

Windows 11 has renamed the Windows 10 News and Interests feature into 'Widgets' and displays it as an icon on the taskbar, as shown below.

To control whether the Widgets button is visible on the taskbar, Microsoft introduced a new 'TaskbarDa' Registry value.

 

To modify this registry value, you would create a DWORD 32-bit value named 'TaskbarDa' under the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ "TaskbarDa"

Possible DWORD 32-bit settings for the TaskbarDa value are:

 

0 = Hidden
1 = Visible

Windows 11 taskbar alignment

Windows 11 now allows you to center or left align the Start button and pinned taskbar programs on the taskbar.

To control the alignment of the Windows 11 taskbar, Microsoft introduced a new 'TaskbarAl ' Registry value.

 

To modify this registry value, you would create a DWORD 32-bit value named 'TaskbarAl' under the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ "TaskbarAl"

Possible DWORD 32-bit settings for the TaskbarAl value are:

 

0 = Left
1 = Center

Enable or disable the new Windows 11 Snap Assist flyout

Windows 11 introduces a redesigned Snap Assist feature where you can hover over the maximize button to see a flyout containing four predefined Windows snap layouts.

In Windows 11, you can now access four predefined Windows snap layouts by hovering your mouse cursor over the maximize button in an open window, as shown below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ "EnableSnapAssistFlyout"

Possible DWORD 32-bit settings for the EnableSnapAssistFlyout value are:

 

0 = Disable
1 = Enable

 

You need to restart Windows 11 or the Windows Explorer process for changes to this setting to take effect.

 

Microsoft recently announced its Windows event for June 24 and the company has been slowly dropping hints in teasers that suggest Windows 11 or next-gen OS is around the corner.

 

The company also uploaded 11 minutes long relaxing music video on YouTube, which shows off sunlight passing through the company's logo to form the number '11' on the ground.

 

Windows 11 preview build recently leaked online, confirming the speculation and reports that the next generation of Windows is called "Windows 11". Thanks to the leaked build, we know pretty much everything about Windows 11.

Windows 11 Start Menu and taskbar

Unlike Windows 10 or Windows 8, Windows 11 comes with centered Start Menu and taskbar, similar to ChromeOS.

 

Start Menu doesn't come with traditional live tiles. It comes with a new interface that uses static icons for Microsoft Store apps, Microsoft Edge-powered Progressive Web Apps and other programs, similar to Windows 10X and Chrome.

By default, the Start Menu will include pinned apps and services like Calculator, Microsoft Edge, and Settings. Like Windows 10, Windows 11's Start Menu will show apps and websites only. However, users won’t be able to group apps to create a folder, a feature that is currently offered on Windows 10's live tile interface.

 

You can still right-click on any icon to access the app’s settings and pin it to the taskbar

You can always restore the left-aligned taskbar and switch between three different sizes – small, medium and large. The small size is aimed at desktops with mouse support and medium or large size appears to be very touch-friendly.

 

At the moment, users need to modify their Registry to change the size of the taskbar. It's likely that taskbar customization options will be offered via Windows Settings to switch between different sizes of Windows taskbar.

The same modern Settings app is offered, which can be used to customize Start Menu with additional shortcuts. You can also use it to customize the Action Center, desktop wallpaper, system accent, and enable transparency effect for the taskbar, and more.

 

Some Windows features are now maintained outside the usual Windows updates using experience packs.

Windows 11 user interface overhaul and legacy components

Windows 11 looks a lot like Windows 10 and it is essentially a Windows 10X shell for Windows 10. Microsoft has introduced new colorful icons, rounded corners, and new animations.

 

Fortunately, if you don't like modern alternatives, legacy features are still included on Windows 11.

 

Users can launch and operate Control Panel, Device Manager, Disk Management and all other legacy tools. Microsoft is not modernizing the interface of these legacy features and components, but there's one visible change - Microsoft has enabled rounded corners and shadow effects.

Icons within the Control Panel and other pages have been revamped with a touch of Microsoft’s modern Fluent Design.

 

Microsoft seems to be replacing sharp edges with rounded corners almost everywhere, as shown in the below screenshot of Device Manager.

These changes are not huge, but proper implementation of rounded corners is necessary to maintain consistency across the platform.

 

In our tests, we also observed rounded corner and shadow effects in ODBC Data Source Administrator, which is one of the oldest legacy parts of Windows and was first introduced in Windows 3.1-era.

 

Remember that this is a leaked build and Microsoft is still working on Windows 11, which is going to look and work better than the leaked update.

File Explorer

Windows 11 will bring new icons, rounded corners, and dark mode improvements to File Explorer.

As you can see in the above screenshot, Microsoft has improved File Explorer for tablets to help users with touchscreen, so they can easily interact with files without switching to tablet mode.

 

File Explorer has been updated with better consistency, so you can expect a new context menu with rounded corners.

 

The Debian Project has announced the availability of Debian 10.10. As with other Debian point releases, Debian 10.10 does not constitute a major release to Debian, rather, it rolls up all the latest packages into a brand new ISO that can be used to install Debian without then having to apply post-install updates.

 

Anyone who is currently using Debian and has kept their system up-to-date will be on Debian 10.10 already. If you were thinking about installing Debian 10 with pre-existing installation media; you can do that and apply available updates later. Just because Debian 10.10 has been released, it doesn’t mean you have to create new installation media.

 

Some popular packages that have received updates in this update include the Linux Kernel, Nvidia graphics drivers, OpenVPN, Firefox ESR, OpenSSL, Chromium, and OpenJDK. One package, sogo-connector, was removed from this Debian version because it was incompatible with the current Thunderbird version bundled with Debian 10.10.

 

In the next few weeks or months, we should get a release date for Debian 11 Bullseye. Each new Debian release has arrived every two years since 2005 and Debian 10 was released on July 6, 2019, meaning Debian 11 is due any time now. No exact date has been provided yet but it has been announced that Debian 11 will reach its Full Freeze on July 17, something it only intends to do shortly before the actual release.

 

Control Panel, Device Manager and other dusty old corners of the UI

Windows 11 is purportedly inbound with a major redesign for later in 2021 that we’ve already seen courtesy of a leaked build, and that overhaul will apparently reach out to touch even the oldest legacy parts of the operating system’s interface.

 

As Windows Latest reports, the old-style Control Panel, which is still present in the OS (alongside the new Settings panel, as it is in Windows 10) now has the rounded corners which will apparently be a more or less all-pervading theme of Windows 11. Some of the icons within the Control Panel also seem to have been revamped (and perhaps more are due a fresh lick of paint, as remember the leaked build is still an early working version of Windows 11 – well, theoretically).

Those rounded corners are also coming to the disk management tool, and other dusty old corners of Windows like the Device Manager. Even the ODBC Data Source Administrator, which as Windows Latest notes is one of the oldest legacy parts of Windows, is getting its sharp edges replaced with rounded corners on its panel.

Tweaking and tuning

The changes for these long-standing legacy portions of Windows are not huge, then, but they really are necessary to maintain the consistency across Microsoft’s operating system as much as possible, and avoid any jarring experiences when popping into the windows which are less traveled.

 

There’s a minimal amount of tweaking evident here, though, mainly revolving around either the rounded corners or fine-tuned icons, but that makes sense in that hopefully, one bright and fine day, Microsoft will be able to ditch elements like the old Control Panel entirely.

 

Having the Control Panel and the Settings app duplicating a lot of functionality only serves to confuse folks, particularly those new to Windows – and remember, we’ve already seen signs that Microsoft’s plans are to ditch the Control Panel entirely at some point down the road.

A Windows 11 ISO leaked to the web earlier this week, bringing the ability for enthusiasts to try out the upcoming OS from Microsoft and get an early look at the changes, including some cool new wallpapers. In the few days that the build has been out, users have been giving the OS a spin and finding some quirks in it. One such interesting – and surprising – aspect was found by our reader Adam (warwagon) relating to the Windows 11 Home Out-of-box experience (OOBE) process.

 

The Redmond firm has constantly pushed for users to log in to their Microsoft accounts on Windows 10 when setting up a new device and has made it difficult for users to skip the sign-in process. The workaround on desktops was to unplug the ethernet cable and select the “I don’t have internet” option to go ahead with a “limited setup” that allowed users to set up a local account. For Windows 11 Home users, however, that might no longer work – unless the OOBE experience is further tweaked in newer (and official) builds.

We tried this on multiple VMs and even on a physical machine and noticed that on the screen prompting users to connect to a Wi-Fi network, there is no “I don’t have internet” option for users to choose from and go ahead with creating a local account. What’s more? Unlike Windows 11 Pro, the “sign-in options” menu on the page succeeding the network connection page does not contain the “Offline account” option, leaving users with no other option but to log into (or create) a Microsoft account. This is the case even when users are not connected to the internet.

However, here’s where Adam’s simple workaround came in handy, which is both amusing and surprising; When Windows 11 Home prompts users to connect to a network, a simple ‘Alt + F4’ shortcut closes the prompt, and the screen proceeds directly to the local account creation page – something that is never offered to users in the usual process. This bypasses the entire Microsoft account login screen, which is a nifty little trick for those who want to avoid signing into their accounts during the OOBE process, especially in these early days when most installs of the OS are happening on virtual machines.

 

 

Of course, those who choose to log in to their Microsoft account can head into account settings and switch into a local account after setting up their device, but currently, there seems to be no other way to circumvent the limitation in the OOBE.

 

It is not clear if the absence of the option to set up a device without a Microsoft or an internet connection at all is accidental or has to do with the fact that this leaked build is ways from what will ship to customers. While still remote, there are instances where users might want to set up their devices when not connected to a network. For now, though, the only – and simple – workaround seems to be to use the ‘Alt + F4’ shortcut to bypass the network connection screen. Seeing as the OOBE is entirely new and different from that of Windows 10, it does seem intentional.

 

Microsoft will officially show off Windows 11 on June 24, with the general release expected to happen sometime this fall.

 

Thank you, Adam, for the brilliant find and video!

After the Windows 11 ISO for build 21996.1 leaked a few days back, we at Neowin, as well as other outlets, have been exploring our way around it to get a feel of the upcoming Windows OS. You can read about our first impressions of Windows 11 here. We also briefly looked at the Pro version which you can find here.

 

A new kind of testing however was carried out by Hot Hardware, curious to find the changes made, if any, to the Windows 11 scheduler and how well it would cope with the upcoming Big-Bigger Alder Lake CPUs from Intel. In fact, AMD's next-gen Ryzen processors are also expected to feature a hybrid big.LITTLE kind of architectural design.

 

For testing, the Samsung Galaxy Book S with the Lakefield Core i7-L16G7 has been used since Alder Lake isn't out yet. The aforementioned Windows 11 build 21996.1 was compared against the 21H1 update for Windows 10 to check for performance differences in the new OS.

 

The results indicate a definite improvement in performance depending on the workload. There appears to be a big improvement in browser performance:

Geekbench, which runs a variety of short burst tests, saw moderate gains in the multi-threaded (MT) test and even lower gains in the single-threaded (ST) one.

 

 

CInebench, which tests Cinema 4D rendering performance, saw modest gains when all cores were loaded fully, but the improvement was more pronounced in the ST load since the workload jumps around between cores and is more affected by the scheduler input.

 

 

A graphics workload was also tested in the form of the 3DMark Night Raid, which is a light DirectX 12 benchmark. This is the only test that saw performance regression in Windows 11.

 

 

Finally, PCMark 10 was run that tests both the CPU and GPU at the same time and is meant to simulate a real usage scenario of our PCs. The results for this were mixed as it tests a variety of different workload types.

 

 

Although these are very early days for Windows 11, and in fact, they are earlier than early to be fully honest, the results overall do look somewhat promising. In the coming days. with more available hardware and further updates, we may see more improvements still.

 

Source and images: Hot Hardware

 

Canonical has announced that Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy Gorilla is set to lose support on July 22, 2021. As the release was one of those between the Long-Term Support (LTS) releases, it only has nine months of life. Those running this particular version of Ubuntu are urged to upgrade their systems to Ubuntu 21.04 Hirsute Hippo which has been available since April.

 

To assist you in upgrading your computer, Canonical has published a guide that runs through everything you need to know and do to get to the latest version. If you’re not sure which version of Ubuntu you have, open Settings, scroll down the left-hand pane until you reach About, and then look under OS Name and you should be able to see which version you are on. Most people checking should find that they’re on Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, which is supported until 2025.

 

After July 22, systems with Ubuntu 20.10 can still be used but they won’t receive important security updates. Quickly, you’ll notice your web browser become outdated which will only increase your risk. If you have a particular use for Ubuntu 20.10 which is preventing you from upgrading, disconnecting your computer from the internet and keeping it offline is another option you have for staying safe

 

For most people, the Long-Term Support versions of Ubuntu are best because upgrades are only needed every couple of years. The interim releases, while stable, act more like a testing ground for new features between LTS releases.

 

Earlier this week, Neowin reported that the Linux Mint 20.2 beta ISOs were undergoing final testing before being made available. Today, you can now download Linux Mint 20.2 beta from a choice of the Cinnamon, MATE, or Xfce editions.

 

One of the main updates in Linux Mint 20.2 is to the Update Manager and the way it handles and alerts users to updates. On Linux Mint systems, all of the installed software, including apps, are updated centrally in the Update Manager. To bring more centralisation to the system, Cinnamon spices (add-ons in Cinnamon) are now visible in the Update Manager whenever there’s an update for them.

 

 

Another issue with the Update Manager is that, by default, the user needs to apply updates manually but not everybody does. To remedy this, infrequent notifications will be displayed to users to let them know that there are available updates. The people that see these notifications will likely not be the type of people who keep their system up to date so they are offered the option to enable automatic updates so they’re never bothered by them again. Doing things this way gives users a choice over whether updates should be forced on users.

 

There are a few new app additions in this update. The first is a new XApp called Buiky which allows you to bulk rename files on your system. Bulky is not included in the Xfce edition because the Thunar file manager already has this feature baked in. The other new app is Sticky Notes which replaces GNote as the default app for taking notes. Sticky Notes is built using GTK3, supports HiDPI, and integrates well with the desktop environment so it should be nice to use.

 

Included in the release notes is also a mention of an unofficial Warpinator app for Android. Warpinator is a tool that Linux Mint developed a little while ago that allows you to send files between Linux Mint machines on your local network. With the Warpinator Android app, you’ll be able to easily send files to and from your mobile devices.

 

Finally, the Cinnamon edition ships with Cinnamon 5.0 which includes a new content search feature. It also comes with fixes for several memory leaks which should improve its performance. A slightly unusual change coming with Cinnamon 5.0 is the ability to limit the total amount of RAM Cinnamon can use. If the limit is reached, Cinnamon will restart itself but you won’t lose your session or windows. When the limit is reached, Cinnamon becomes unresponsive for a second while performing an internal reboot.

 

In the Linux Mint world, beta testing usually runs for a couple of weeks before the stable release is made available. Upgrading from Linux Mint 20 and 21 will be made available a little bit after the stable release is made available. The upgrade should be available via the Update Manager and should be painless.

 

Earlier this week, a Windows 11 ISO for build 21996.1 leaked to the web, letting users try out the yet-to-be-announced offering from Microsoft. The build that seems to have been compiled late in May provides a first look at what the Redmond giant is teasing to be the “next generation of Windows”.

 

As the leaked build does not paint the complete picture of the OS update owing to it being a pre-release version – one that hasn’t even been released to Insiders –, Microsoft seems to want to restrict users from downloading it, which is why it is issuing DMCA complaints to Google (spotted by Fossbytes) in some regions asking the search giant to take down results containing articles from publications with links to the ISO files. Interestingly, in the linked Microsoft Japan complaint, the firm does confirm the Windows 11 name as it is requesting for the removal of “Windows 11” ISOs, claiming that those are leaked copies of “the unreleased Windows 11” OS.

The company is slated to hold a dedicated event to show off Windows 11 on June 24, and it probably (and understandably) wants users and enthusiasts to reserve their judgement about the upcoming update till it is officially unveiled. Components such as the Microsoft Store, which is said to be receiving a major refresh, are yet to be shown off or talked about. Additionally, the leaked version lacks other improvements that will likely be served through the way of Feature Experience Packs that can be delivered without the need for an OS update, something that is currently being targeted only to internal employees.

 

There is also a lot that is unknown, such as whether there will be a separate update to Windows 10 this fall (version 21H2) and what the update and support lifecycles look like for Windows 11. What seems to be increasingly certain is the ‘Windows 11’ branding, which is present in the About Windows (winver) pop-up, setup process, and even in the DMCA notices.

 

Few people have any massive expectations for Windows 11, with the OS initially appearing to simply be a rebranded Windows 10 21H2.

 

The updates to the operating system may however be more than skin-deep, going by the results of a number of benchmarks performed by YouTuber Ben Anonymous.

 

He claims to have an official version of the leaked operating system running Windows 11 Pro, and his benchmarks, compared to Windows 10, shows consistent significant performance improvements.

 

 

The results are as below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Microsoft has fixed performance issues impacting gamers running Windows 10 21H1 and 20H2 with the latest Windows 10 build released for Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channel.

 

"We fixed an issue in a small subset of users that have lower than expected performance in games after installing KB5000842 or later," the Windows Insider Program Team said.

 

The issues primarily impacted systems running games in full screen or borderless windowed modes on two or more displays. 

 

Problems experienced while playing games on affected systems include video stuttering, decreased frame rate, and flickering textures.

Fixing gaming issues, take two

With the release of the Windows 10 KB5000842 preview cumulative update at the end of March and the subsequent release of the KB5001330 update in April, Windows 10 users reported performance issues when playing games.

 

While Microsoft released an emergency fix for customers running Windows 10 2004 and 20H2 on April 24, however, some users are still reporting that the issues were not addressed on their devices.

 

The new KB5003690 update should fix the bugs on all affected systems running Windows 10 2004, 20H2, and 21H1.

 

Since the fix was rolled out to affected users worldwide using Microsoft's Known Issue Rollback (KIR) feature and was pushed via Windows Update within a 24 hours timeframe, the new rollout will probably follow the same deployment strategy.

What else is new in KB5003690

The Windows 10 21H1 Insider Preview Build 19043.1081 released for Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels also comes with a long list of fixes and improvements, including:

• We fixed an issue that causes blurry text on the news and interests button on the Windows taskbar for some display configurations.
• We fixed an issue that causes communication between apps to stop working after you enable the “AppMgmt_COM_SearchForCLSID” policy.
• We fixed a performance issue in the MultiByteToWideChar() function that occurs when it is used in a non-English locale.
• We fixed an issue that prevents sorting from working properly when using multiple versions of National Language Support (NLS) sorting.
• We fixed an issue in a small subset of users that have lower than expected performance in games after installing KB5000842 or later.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) to suddenly stop working while you are typing.
• We fixed an issue that causes WMIMigrationPlugin.dll to return an error when you attempt to migrate in offline mode.
• We fixed an issue with the Set-RuleOption PowerShell command that fails to provide the option for the Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policy to treat files signed with an expired certificate as unsigned.
• We fixed an issue that causes Windows to stop working when it uses AppLocker to validate a file that has multiple signatures. The error is 0x3B.
• We fixed an issue that might cause BitLocker to go into recovery mode after updating the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) firmware. This occurs when the “Interactive logon: Machine account lockout Threshold” policy is set and there were incorrect password attempts.
• We fixed an issue that causes Windows to generate many AppLocker or SmartLocker success events.
• We fixed an issue with authenticating for a domain controller when Credential Guard and Remote Credential Guard are enabled.
• We fixed an issue that prevents certain screen reader apps from running when Hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) is enabled.
• We fixed an issue in which signing in using a PIN fails. The error message is “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available. Click to set up your PIN again.”
• We added Windows support for System Management Mode protections (firmware protection version 2.0) for certain processors that support Secure Launch.
• We fixed an issue that, in certain cases, takes you out of the exclusive virtual reality (VR) app and back to Windows Mixed Reality Home when you press the Windows button on the controller. With this update, when you press the Windows button, the Windows Start menu appears. When you close the Start menu, you will go back to the exclusive VR app.
• We improved the accuracy and efficiency of sensitive data analysis in the Microsoft 365 Endpoint data loss prevention (DLP) Classification Engine.
• We fixed an issue with the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) VPN service on remote access server (RAS) servers. Periodically, users cannot connect a VPN to the server over the IKE protocol. This issue might start several hours or days after restarting the server or restarting the IKEEXT service. Some users can connect while many others cannot connect because the service is in DoS Protection mode, which limits incoming connection attempts.
• We fixed an issue that causes Wi-Fi connections to fail because of an invalid Message Integrity Check (MIC) on a four-way handshake if Management Frame Protection (MFP) is enabled.
• We fixed an issue that might cause a VPN to fail after renewing a user auto-enrolled certificate. The error message is “There are no more files”.
• We fixed an issue with the Tunnel Extensible Authentication protocol (TEAP) that replaces the outer identity with “anonymous” even though identity privacy is not selected or is disabled.
• We fixed an issue that causes Remote Desktop sessions to stop responding while the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is enabled.
• We added support for the USB Test and Measurement Class.
• We fixed an issue in Adamsync.exe that affects the syncing of large Active Directory subtrees.
• We fixed an error that occurs when the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) bind cache is full, and the LDAP client library receives a referral.
• We fixed a redirector stop error that is caused by a race condition that occurs when the system deletes binding objects when connections close.
• We fixed an issue that prevents users from setting or querying disk quotas on the C drive.
• We fixed an issue that causes 16-bit apps that run on NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) to stop working when you open them.

• We fixed an issue that causes fontdrvhost.exe to stop working when Compact Font Format version 2 (CFF2) fonts are installed.
• We fixed an issue that might prevent End User Defined Characters (EUDC) from printing correctly because of font fallback settings.

• We fixed an issue with Search box graphics on the Windows taskbar that occurs if you use the taskbar’s context menu to turn off News and interests. This graphics issue is especially visible when using dark mode.
• We fixed an issue that might cause signing in with your fingerprint to fail after the system starts up or resumes from sleep.
• We fixed an issue that might redirect you to the Microsoft Store page for Gaming Services when you try to install or start an Xbox Game Pass game on your Windows 10 device. Additionally, you receive error 0x80073D26 or 0x8007139F. For more information, see KB5004327.