Yesterday, Microsoft started rolling out the Windows 10 May 2021 Update to everyone. Along with the announcement, Microsoft also confirmed the demise of Windows 10X but promised to bring its features to Windows 10. However, Windows 10X was not the only thing that got axed yesterday.

Late last night, the Redmond giant published a list of features that got deprecated or removed from the May 2021 Update. The list of removed features include the Legacy Microsoft Edge and XDDM-based remote display driver. This should not come as a surprise since Microsoft was no longer supporting Legacy Edge after the official launch of Chromium-based Edge. You can head down to check out the full list of removed features:

Apart from this, Microsoft has also deprecated a couple of features meaning the company will not be working on them moving forward and they might be removed in the future. You can check out the list of deprecated features below:

The list includes two features namely, Personalization roaming and Windows Management Instrumentation Command line. The latter of the two will be superseded by Windows PowerShell and the deprecation applies only to the command-line management tool.

Windows 10 May 2021 Update is now rolling out to Windows 10 users and like the previous updates, Microsoft will be rolling the update out in batches to prevent any major issues. Users, however, can use the Media Creation Tool or the Upgrade Assistant to download and install the update manually.

Source: Here are the features being deprecated or removed from Windows 10 May 2021 Update

Returning to its usual Tuesday schedule, Microsoft today released a new Edge Dev build that brings a few new features. The update bumps the version up to 92.0.891.1 and is the first of the version 92 builds to contain significant feature additions, along with the usual set of bug fixes and other improvements.

Headlining the list of new features is a new grey theme for Immersive Reader, which brings a nifty alternative to the current bright and dark preferences. There are also a few new improvements to vertical tabs, with the browser now allowing users to turn on or off the feature in all currently open windows. The company is also bringing the ability for users to hide the title bar when using vertical tabs, something that was spotted earlier today.

Here is the complete list of features being added in today’s build:

• Added a dark gray theme to Immersive Reader.
• Added a Setting to turn on or off vertical tabs in all currently open windows.
• Added a setting to hide the title bar when tabs are in vertical mode.
• Finished rolling out Microsoft Rewards integration in the Account button.
• Added support for remembering the pin state of the History and Downloads menus (remembering pin state in general is still controlled behind a flag).

As usual, the release also contains a bunch of bug fixes to improve the reliability of the browser. Here’s what’s fixed:

• Fixed an issue on Mac where dragging a tab out of a window sometimes crashes the browser.
• Fixed a crash on startup on Mac.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where the browser sometimes doesn’t open if multiple profiles are present.
• Fixed a crash when using Shopping features.
• Fixed an issue where some websites fail to install as apps.
• Fixed a hang when using IE mode tabs.

And there is also a list of fixes that are being made to address changed behavior. These include fixes for issues such as the one that prevents the browser from restoring tabs after a forced restart, sidebar search issues, and more. Here is the complete list:

• Improved the Cookies In Use dialog.
• Fixed an issue where tabs sometimes aren’t restored after the browser is forcibly closed by a Windows Update-initiated machine restart.
• Fixed an issue where certain site data is deleted when the browser closes due to the setting to do so being turned on, even though those sites were on the exception list and thus should have been preserved.
• Fixed an issue where searching for settings sometimes causes the Settings page to go blank.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where some parts of the fullscreen Shy UI don’t respond to input.
• Fixed an issue where videos sometimes aren’t scaled or sized properly.
• Fixed an issue where the search sidebar sometimes can’t be closed.
• Fixed an issue where PWAs or websites installed as apps that are installed in multiple profiles sometimes have multiple Taskbar shortcuts instead of just one.
• Fixed an issue where websites installed as apps sometimes don’t have icons on their shortcuts when they should.
• Fixed an issue where changing the copy/paste settings doesn’t affect content already on the clipboard.
• Fixed an issue where tooltips sometimes are placed incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where the profile picture on the profile Settings page sometimes is broken.
• Fixed an issue where the pages that open when the browser is first opened sometimes change unexpectedly.
• Fixed an issue where certain navigations are blocked that shouldn’t be when Family Safety is enabled.
• Fixed an issue in kiosk mode where the browser never resets after an allotted period of time if the current page is in IE mode.

Lastly, there are the known issues that the company is keeping a track of. Some of the issues listed – such as the problem with YouTube video playback – are being tracked for a while. Here is the complete list of the known issues:

• Certain extensions such as the Microsoft Editor extension don’t work on Linux. As soon as they’re installed, they crash and are disabled. We’re currently investigating.
• Users of certain ad blocking extensions may experience playback errors on Youtube. As a workaround, temporarily disabling the extension should allow playback to proceed. See this help article for more details.
• Some users are still running into an issue where all tabs and extensions immediately crash with a STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH error. The most common cause of this error is outdated security or antivirus software from vendors like Symantec, and in those cases, updating that software will fix it.
• Users of the Kaspersky Internet Suite who have the associated extension installed may sometimes see webpages like Gmail fail to load. This failure is due to the main Kaspersky software being out of date, and is thus fixed by making sure the latest version is installed.
• Some users are still seeing favorites get duplicated. This issue should be reduced now that automatic deduplication has been introduced into Insider channels, but we’re still rolling that out in Stable. We’ve also seen duplication happen when running the manual deduplicator on multiple machines before either machine has a chance to fully sync its changes, so make sure to leave plenty of time in between runs of the deduplicator.
• Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in one dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note that this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is most likely related to our ongoing work to bring scrolling back to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the edge://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag.

As usual, the update should be made available automatically to users running Dev channel builds. However, considering that the rollout has just begun, not all devices will receive it right away. You can head into settings and check for updates through the About Microsoft Edge section.

Source: Edge Dev build 92.0.891.1 brings vertical tabs improvements and more

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I've been using System76's Pop!_OS Linux for about five years now. Prior to that, my distribution of choice was elementary OS. Why the change?

Mostly because I purchased System76 desktop machines (first the Leopard Extreme and then the Thelio) and Pop!_OS was the default distribution. I took to Pop!_OS almost immediately. Essentially, it was System76's take on GNOME, which offered a few extras that made perfect sense.

But over time, a couple of things happened. First off, System76 started focusing on its own in-house OS, Cosmic desktop, with the goal of creating something altogether new. The problem with that was updates started to become few and fewer and then System76 decided to skip the 23.04 update completely. Of course, that's not a terrible thing, as 23.04 was not an LTS (Long Term Support) release. And Pop!_OS 22.04 was still getting security updates.

The big problem I started having was random lockups. I'd be in the middle of writing something and my desktop would freeze. Combine that with the 250Gb drive getting too close to full, and it was time for me to either do a fresh install of Pop!_OS or hop to another distribution completely.

After giving it some thought, I started to realize I was no longer as enamored of Pop!_OS as I once was. Sure, it was still a serviceable distribution, but there were aspects of the distribution that were starting to bother me. Beyond the instability I was experiencing, I didn't like the app launcher and the upgrade process was becoming a bit cumbersome.

Once I'd drawn that conclusion, it was time to decide which distribution would be my next landing spot. I considered going back to elementary OS but remembered the problems I had with Pulse Audio (the audio server) on that distribution. During my last couple of years with elementary OS, I was constantly struggling to get Pulse Audio to recognize my external microphone, which (given I was working on seven different podcasts at the time) was quite problematic. Sadly, with elementary OS 7, they seemed to have avoided migrating to Pipewire (Pulse Audio's replacement).

That decision alone prevented me from heading back to elementary OS.

I liked the Pantheon desktop layout, so I decided to find a distribution that matched that aesthetic. The search took me to Ubuntu Budgie, which I'd only recently reviewed for ZDNET.

After removing the drive containing Pop!_OS (I wanted to be able to easily go back, should the need arise), I installed a 2TB SSD drive and installed Ubuntu Budgie. Almost immediately, I remembered one of the benefits of using Pop!_OS… it's optimized for System76 hardware.

However, all it took was installing the System76 driver and everything was working to perfection.

Since the switch, I haven't experienced a single issue and am quite happy with Ubuntu Budgie.

My early days with Linux

This whole process reminded me of my early days with Linux. Back then, there weren't nearly as many Linux distributions as there are now, but there were still plenty. I started off with Caldera Open Linux 1.0 and immediately switched to Red Hat 5.0. From there I started hopping from distribution to distribution, including:

•     Mandrake Linux
•     Debian
•     Slackware
•     openSUSE
•     Ubuntu
•     elementary OS
•     Bodhi Linux
•     PCLinuxOS
•     Fedora
•     Deepin Linux
•     Zorin
•     Pop!_OS

I'd bounce between those and many others (or just switch desktops) until I found something that fitted my needs and personality at the time. Most often, however, my distribution of choice had an Ubuntu base, simply because I found it to be easier to work with.

Some might consider having so many choices would be overwhelming for users. I've always found quite the opposite to be true. With so many Linux distributions to choose from, there's always hope you'll find the perfect fit. If you don't like the distribution you're currently using, pick another one. Don't like the desktop that comes with your open-source operating system? Install something else.

Back in my early days of using Linux, that was part of the joy. With so many options, I knew if I didn't like what I had, I could "distro hop" until I found the one.

For those who don't know, the idea behind "distro hopping" is hopping from one Linux distribution to another until you find one you like. Back in my early days with Linux, the prospect of trying something new was exciting. When I'd become disenchanted with Red Hat, there was Ubuntu.

When Ubuntu lost its charm, there was elementary OS. When elementary OS had become problematic, I could always go back to Ubuntu or try something completely off the beaten path. And the second you think you've tried them all, a new distribution comes into the picture for more exciting times.

I honestly thought my days of distro hopping were over. But when Pop!_OS started showing signs of trouble for me, I knew it was time to hop again. And I don't suspect Ubuntu Budgie will be the last distribution I ever call my default. At some point, another team will release something I must try and I'll hop again.

That's part of the beauty of Linux. It's not just a more flexible, powerful, secure, and stable operating system, it's also more diverse. On top of that, you'll rarely find yourself feeling stagnant or stuck with one Linux distribution because there are hundreds to choose from.

Distro hopping with Linux has always been part of the fun. From my early days with Linux to now, I've always known the second something goes wrong or I become bored, all I have to do is select from one of the many options, install it, and see if it fits my needs. If not, on to the next.

And, as a helpful tip -- I use secondary drives to house all of my files, so when I go to re-install, I know all I have to do is remount the drives and I'm ready to go.

It never fails to give me peace of mind that Linux has my back… no matter which distribution I'm using.

Source