The company has updated the announcement posts and confirmed that there is indeed a bug with disappearing features on systems with the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle on. To address this, Microsoft released a new configuration update, which you can now download. Here is what the message says:

[Updated 10/2/2025]

 

Known Issue: We’ve been hearing your feedback that some Insiders on Dev and Beta Channels have lost some updated features that were rolled recently rolled out to Insiders with the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle on*.

 

Insiders may see an update on their devices for “Windows Configuration Update” that is meant to address this issue.

You can find full release notes for builds 26120.6760 and 26220.6760 here. These builds have a shared code base with identical changes as part of this year's Windows 11 feature update. Microsoft released Windows 11 version 25H2 on September 30, and you can already update to it via Windows Update or using the updated Media Creation Tool app. Just keep in mind that the latter currently does not work on Windows on ARM computers, and Microsoft is investigating this issue.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:36 am AEST (my time).

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In September 2025, 63.04% of all Windows users who participated in the survey reported using a computer with Windows 11 installed. Over one month, the operating system increased its market share by 2.65 points. Windows 10 lost 2.9 points, and it currently holds 32.18% of all Windows users. While Valve does not plan to end Windows 10 support any time soon, it will pull the plug on 32-bit Windows 10 soon.

The mysterious "Windows 2022 64-bit," which occasionally pops in Valve's reports, is third with 0.09%, and Windows 7 is last with 0.07% and no changes. Speaking of Windows 7, Statcounter reported a sudden increase in Windows 7's global market share ahead of the end of Windows 10 support.

Overall, 95.4% (-0.19 points) of all users access Steam from Windows-based machines. Linux is second with 2.68% (+0.04 points), and Apple's macOS is third with 1.91% (+0.14 points). Keep in mind that participation in the survey is optional, and it is not offered to 100% of all Steam users.

As for hardware preferences, the laptop variant of the Nvidia RTX 4060 is back at the number one most popular graphics card on Steam. It currently has a 4.63% market share (+0.2 points), while the desktop RTX 3060 is second with 4.25% (-0.37 points). The RTX 3050 is third with a 2.94% (+0.03 points) share. Nvidia remains the dominant GPU maker on Steam with an overwhelming 74.12% market share, outpacing AMD with 17.81% and Intel with 7.71%. On the CPU side, things are more evenly spread, with Intel having 57.68% and AMD 42.32%.

Other hardware parts still include the classic 16GB of RAM (41.76%), a 6-core processor (28.78%), 8GB of video memory (33.66%), up to 250GB on the primary drive, and a 1080p display.

You can find more information on the official Steam website.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:33 am AEST (my time).

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Starting off with chat and collaboration enhancements, we have Channel Agents that we previously discussed in detail here. Currently in public preview, they are designed to automate tedious tasks on your behalf. Another interesting update for channels in Teams is the threaded UX which makes it easier to follow in-depth conversations on specific topics. Those with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license can also generate AI-powered summaries for threads. Finally, the Workplace app has also been redesigned to make it intuitive, so that it is easier to automate tasks through AI-powered workflow templates.

In terms of platform improvements, we have the ability to quickly share apps and agents in Teams. Furthermore, the Teams AI Library has been updated to facilitate the creation of custom AI agents. In addition, the GitHub app is now in public preview, which should be a boon for developers.

Switching gears to meetings, webinars, and town halls, the Facilitator Agent in Teams is now available. It manages end-to-end flows for meetings, such as setting agendas, inferring goals from conversations, send reminders, and set goals, among many other things. Other improvements include countdown timers for Teams meetings, the mic volume indicator, organizer controls in meeting toolbar, enhanced privacy for live captions, and dedicated private chats for organizers and presenters of webinars. Those with Teams Premium licenses can also leverage the Prevent Screen Capture Functionality, as well as decorated backgrounds for GCC and GCC-High customers.

As usual, lots of devices are now Teams-certified, including:

• Yealink MeetingBoard Pro MTRW Series-65 and-75
• MAXHUB XBar U50 and V50 Kit
• AudioCodes RXV200 + RXVCam70 + Shure Large Room Kit
• Owl Labs Meeting Owl 4+
• Yealink MP45 Teams
• Logitech Zone Vibe Wireless (Native Bluetooth)
• Yealink WH68 Teams USB-C/A
• Yealink WH64 Mono Teams & WH64 Dual Teams
• Yealink WH64 Hybrid Mono Teams & WH64 Hybrid Dual Teams
• Yealink WH63 E2 Teams
• Yealink UH48 Dual Teams USB-C/A
• Yealink UH46 Mono Teams USB-C/A & UH46 Dual Teams USB-C/A
• Yealink UH35 Mono Teams USB-A & UH35 Dual Teams USB-A
• Yealink BH74 Teams USB-C/A

That's not all, though. There are tons of improvements in tow for Teams Phone, Teams Rooms, frontline worker solutions, and more - you can read more about them here.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:32 am AEST (my time).

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Over the past few years, Microsoft has doubled down on its generative AI efforts, especially after making a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI. More recently, CEO Satya Nadella indicated that the company was shifting focus from Bill Gates' software factory vision, diversifying its portfolio into intelligence, integration, and AI.

Not too long ago, our Executive Editor Jez Corden criticized Microsoft's branding strategy, calling it poor and misguided, particularly highlighting the rebranding of Microsoft Office to Microsoft 365, and more recently, the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

"Copilot isn't ready for the prime time in my view, operating as a basic web wrapper for ChatGPT with painfully limited system-level integration, features, and capabilities," added Corden. And as it now seems, Microsoft seems to share similar sentiments and could potentially be in the process of addressing its over-the-top Copilot branding across its tech stack.

Right now, two Copilot apps are available across mobile app stores. The first was built by Microsoft from the ground up to meet consumer needs, while the other is a simple rebrand of the Microsoft Office app.

To an average user, it might be difficult to tell these apps apart, especially since they consistently share a similar user experience, which means that they could just as easily overlook productivity tools like Excel and Word built into the platform.

In a recent town hall meeting, a Microsoft employee asked what measures the company is putting in place to address the confusion that users might feel when interacting with these tools (via Business Insider).

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared an interesting approach and solution for this issue:

Microsoft's rationale for this decision is that even when workplaces themselves aren't offering AI licenses, IT workers are still utilizing the technology through alternative means like personal accounts. This can be particularly dangerous since those personal tools haven't been vetted for organizational use, so Microsoft wants to enable a safer alternative through "bring your own Copilot".

Basically, IT workers can sign into Microsoft 365 apps through both personal and work accounts, so Redmond is allowing them to use their personal Copilot license in work documents, even if their organization doesn't offer a commercial Copilot license itself. However, Microsoft has informed IT admins that Copilot's access to work documents is strictly controlled by the user account's permissions, so enterprise data is protected.

Fortunately, admins do have the ability to disable this functionality altogether or for specific users. Regardless, all Copilot actions are auditable and follow compliance policies set by the organization, so enterprise security remains intact. It is also important to note that the personal Microsoft 365 account does not get access to the work file; it's only Copilot that does. Additionally, some Copilot functionalities require a commercial license, because your personal Copilot may work in the open file, but it won't be able to grab relevant insights from your organization's SharePoint environment.

This shift in strategy from Microsoft is pretty major, so it's no surprise that it has set up a dedicated FAQs section to alleviate the potential concerns of IT admins. Among these is clarification that this functionality is not available for government customers and that Microsoft will not use work data interactions to train its models. You can find out more details here.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:29 am AEST (my time).

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The driver adds support for the game on systems with Intel Arc A-series and B-series graphics cards and Intel Core Ultra processors with built-in Intel Arc graphics. As for fixed bugs, Intel resolved intermittent visual corruption in the export window in Topaz Video on systems with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chips.

Here are the known bugs that remain:

Intel Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources during gameplay.
• Visual corruptions may appear in certain scenarios with multiple application interactions.
• Satisfactory (VK) may experience an application crash while launching game. It is recommended to launch the game with default DX12 API to avoid application crash.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may experience an application crash while switching Graphics API to DX11.
• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio may experience an intermittent application crash while running the benchmark. Recommendation is to change the timeout slider to 1500 seconds or higher, to wait for each test to complete, in PugetBench* benchmark settings.

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• Satisfactory (VK) may experience an application crash while launching game. It is recommended to launch the game with default DX12 API to avoid application crash.
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (DX12) may experience an application crash with Ray-Tracing and XeSS enabled.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may experience an application crash while switching Graphics API to DX11.
• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio may experience an intermittent application crash while running the benchmark. Recommendation is to change the timeout slider to 1500 seconds or higher, to wait for each test to complete, in PugetBench benchmark settings.

Intel Core Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may experience an application crash while switching Graphics API to DX11.

Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources during gameplay.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may experience an application crash while switching Graphics API to DX11.
• Topaz Video AI may experience visual artifacts when using certain AI models.

Intel 32.0.101.8135 non-WHQL supports 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 PCs with the following Intel processors and graphics cards:

You can download the driver from the official website here. Full release notes are available here (PDF).

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:27 am AEST (my time).

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In Beta 2, Discover has been updated with around six bug fixes, including an issue where it did not prioritize a user's default package source. This problem meant that if a user preferred system packages, Discover might still show a Flatpak first in the search results if the Flatpak has more complete appstream data. When you would click on the application, it defaulted to the Flatpak source instead of your preferred choice, which defeated the purpose of setting a default in the first place.

In Plasma Shell, there's a fix that addresses the issue where the software could become completely unresponsive. This happened when you went into the "Edit Application" window for an application, navigated to the "Application" tab, and then opened the "Advanced Options" subwindow.

Moving on to KWin, the dev team addressed a high-priority issue where dragging a picture in a Chromium-based browser (like Chrome, Edge, Brave) or an Electron-based application (like VSCode) running on Wayland would break the UI. The tab or application would simply stop registering mouse clicks after you tried to drag something. The temporary solution was to revert the code that caused the regression.

Other KWin fixes include unifying the naming for the "Peek at Desktop" feature, making sure XdgToplevelWindow always has an application icon, and re-enabling wl_drm by default on Wayland.

Plasma Desktop in 6.5 Beta 2 has been updated with a fix for users who were experiencing an annoying behavior with the Application Dashboard. Previously, the dashboard would not close when it lost focus, meaning it would stay open over everything else if you clicked on a window on another monitor. Any text you typed would go into the dashboard's search field instead of your active window.

If you're interested, you can read the full release notes on KDE's official announcement blog.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:26 am AEST (my time).

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The new keyboard support is also fully compatible with Wayland for both traditional layouts and iBus input methods, this resolves a previous Xorg-only limitation. The team said that the On-Screen Keyboard has been re-implemented natively in Cinnamon to remove the dependency on libcaribou. This implementation brings support for Input Methods and layout switching directly within the OSK. The team has also said they took the opportunity to improve the look of the OSK.

Another part of Cinnamon that got updated is the application menu which has received a complete redesign and new layout. Key changes include the adding a sidebar for sections like the user avatar, places, and favorite applications. The system buttons, such as shutdown, were moved to the top right, next to the search bar. Application descriptions are now displayed under the app name in the application section and the category section was made smaller and less noticeable to shift focus onto the applications themselves.

Earlier this year, the Linux Mint team said that the next Linux Mint release will land in December with the main focus being on the next version of Cinnamon. This means that all the features discussed in this article should be available in just a few months.

Source: Linux Mint

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:24 am AEST (my time).

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The new Control Center consolidates all settings into scrollable pages that are easy to navigate. It’s built on a lightweight core that loads functionality from plugin libraries, which means it’s easily extensible by developers and third parties. For those that want to create extensions, Raspberry Pi has left instructions on the Control Center GitHub page.

This upgrade also focuses on future-proofing the platform against the Year 2038 problem. This update introduces a change to use a 64-bit value for its time system, replacing the old 32-bit value. This change addresses the Year 2038 problem where the old 32-bit value would have overflowed and reset the calendar on January 19, 2038. The new 64-bit value means the calendar won’t overflow until approximately the year 292,277,026,596. The big shift required rebuilding many parts of Trixie, though users won’t really notice the change in daily operation.

A change that users will notice is that the desktop has an updated theme with a completely new set of icons, a new font (Nunito Sans Light), new desktop backgrounds, and minor tweaks. This version also uses a new image creation process that is more modular. This makes it easier to create customized versions of the image and formally allows conversion between a Lite (command-line) image and a full desktop image.

Raspberry Pi strongly recommends that you perform a clean flash of the Trixie image using Raspberry Pi Imager or by downloading the file directly. Upgrading a running Bookworm image is strongly advised against due to potential issues.

There are also some specific device details to be aware about too. For example, Raspberry Pi 5 users connected via Ethernet can access the embedded Imager in the bootloader by holding Shift while connecting power. Additionally, several product packages, specifically for the Raspberry AI HAT+ and AI Kit, the TV HAT, and Wolfram Mathematica, aren’t available in Trixie yet.

You can find the download on the Raspberry Pi downloads page.

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Posted Friday 3 October 2025 at 4:23 am AEST (my time).

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Bases was first introduced back in version 1.9.0 as a core plugin for turning your collections of notes into structured databases. It is quite useful for things like project management or tracking a reading list. The system uses a special .base extension but keeps all the data stored right where it has always been, in your local Markdown files and YAML frontmatter.

Obsidian 1.10.0 updates Bases with some powerful new ways to visualize that data. There is now a new Maps plugin that lets you see your entries on a map. The team also introduced a new List view that displays files as bulleted or numbered lists, complete with support for multi-line content and nested properties. You can also now group data by a specific property and create table summaries by right-clicking a column.

As for improvements, the system will now periodically refetch the results of file.backlinks and other formulas, which keeps your data from getting stale. You can now click the ribbon item with modifier keys to open a file in a new tab, a new split, or an entirely new window. The initial Bases API shipped with this release and can be found in this GitHub repo.

Other changes with version 1.10.0 include a fix that reloads your selected theme whenever its appearance.json file changes. The app now activates the tab to the right when you close a tab, instead of the one on the left.

In the File Explorer, your sort layout is saved after a change, and using keyboard shortcuts to navigate files now correctly updates the sidebars. Properties also received some attention, with list properties now allowing duplicate values and the Global Properties view gaining the ability to delete a property from all your notes at once.

Obsidian is a free application for personal use, but if you want early access to test out the features in this release, you would have to purchase a Catalyst license. It is a one-time payment that supports the developers. Or you can just wait till this update lands in the Stable channel for everyone.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 6:53 pm AEST (my time).

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Five enhancements were delivered to Excel in September, spread across Windows, web, and iOS. We'll start with Excel for web, which exclusively netted two improvements for customers who have joined the Frontier program. For those unaware, "Frontier" is a term that Redmond has coined for companies and individuals which adopt AI quickly to accelerate and scale their growth.

The first feature in tow is Agent Mode in Excel, which we have covered in detail here. It basically introduces an AI agent specifically for Excel to handle agentic tasks through automation using native Excel features. It is available through Microsoft 365 Copilot, Family, and Personal plans, and is coming to Windows soon too. The other capability is a COPILOT() function that enables easier data manipulation, it was already made available to Windows and Mac Insiders in August.

Next, we have automatic formula completion once again powered by AI as soon as you type in the "=" symbol. We have written about this in detail here, including its availability for web users and Windows Insiders.

Meanwhile, Windows Insiders leveraging Excel received a new Python Initialization Editor, allowing them to customize how Python boots up in Excel. This is particularly useful for people who write some boilerplate code such as import functions in their scripts each time they write code.

Finally, iOS Insiders with Excel netted Copilot-powered file previews, which do exactly what they say on the tin and are available through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app for iOS.

As usual, you can offer feedback to Microsoft on existing features and request new capabilities through the Excel app on the platform of your choice or through the dedicated feedback portal here.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 6:53 pm AEST (my time).

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The feature list is for home PCs only though, and there are some things that set them apart from enterprise and office PCs. For example, Recall is disabled by default for office PCs.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has confirmed that it has not been able to deliver all the new features promised. The tech giant has added in an updated changelog section notifying that users would be missing out on Administrator Protection that was announced back in May earlier this year.

Administrator protection requires user verification via Windows Hello before granting admin rights. Windows Hello recognizes a user's face using the camera and authenticates biometrics using a fingerprint scanner. This is a new feature to enhance security which is why such input devices will be disabled by default when apps try to access them, and enablement will require "explicit user consent."

On the updated changelog, Microsoft writes:

A feature previously listed in the September 2025 non-security update (KB5065789) will roll out in a future date.

 

• [Administrator Protection Preview] Administrator protection aims to protect free floating admin rights for administrator users allowing them to still perform all admin functions with just-in-time admin privileges. This feature is off by default and needs to be enabled via OMA-URI in Intune or via group policy.

Microsoft has not specified when the feature will be available as it only states that it will "roll out in a future date." Perhaps the company is ironing out some bugs that caught the eye before release. This is a good move by Microsoft considering the impact of bugs and issues on enterprise environments is often much greater.

As an admin, this may also be a great time to ensure you have planned for upgrading to Windows 11 25H2 appropriately as Microsoft recently shared an important cautionary message regarding it.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 6:52 pm AEST (my time).

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This comes just weeks after JetBrains made RubyMine free for non-commercial use. For RubyMine, the free license comes with some limitations on the "Code With Me" collaborative coding feature. Other JetBrains IDEs in the free for non-commercial use camp include RustRover, CLion, Rider, and WebStorm.

So what qualifies as non-commercial use? JetBrains says it covers projects that are not "intended to generate commercial benefits". This means you can use it for learning, hobby projects, and unpaid open-source contributions. Content creators can also use the free license, even for monetized tutorials and videos. However, if you're working for an NGO and getting paid for your work, you will still need a commercial license.

The company says it is making DataGrip free because its research showed a clear need among up-and-coming developers:

Our research shows that:

 

More than 40% of early-career developers and students use SQL alongside other languages. Over 70% of users work with multiple databases in their personal projects, with MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and SQLite leading the rankings. We believe that by making DataGrip free in these cases, we can help you write high-quality SQL code and be even more productive when working with databases, giving you more time to focus on building great projects.

As for the features you get with the free license, they include AI-powered code completion, an intelligent query console, an Excel-like data editor, and Git integration.

Another thing to note with the free license is the collection of data. You cannot opt out of sending "anonymous" usage statistics to the company. JetBrains is also starting to collect more detailed, code-related data to improve its AI features, which may include code snippets, prompt text, and AI responses.

To apply for a free license, you need to install DataGrip version 2025.2.4 or newer. During startup, you will select the "Non-commercial use" option and log in with a JetBrains Account. Or if you have DataGrip installed already, you can go to Help, Register, deactivate your current license, and then select the non-commercial option from the menu.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 6:51 pm AEST (my time).

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According to a new message on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, the company will soon begin rolling out its new Microsoft 365 Companion apps: People, Calendar, and Files. Initially released as optional, these companions are becoming mandatory on Windows 11 PCs with Microsoft 365 desktop client apps. Microsoft confirmed automatic installations in August, and now we have a timeline.

Microsoft 365 Companions are mini taskbar apps that you can launch in a small window right from your taskbar to quickly get some information you need, such as a file, contact, or event within your organization. Microsoft adds that there is also Copilot integration for contextual AI assistance.

In addition to installing those apps without asking anybody, Microsoft will make sure they open on device startup. The reasoning behind this is to "ensure the apps show relevant results as soon as users open the app." Here is what Microsoft says in the announcement:

These taskbar-integrated apps are designed to streamline everyday workflows, helping users stay focused, reduce context switching, and complete tasks faster.

 

With Copilot integration, users can ground their prompts in the right context—whether it’s a shared file, a meeting, or a collaborator. This integration allows users to catch up, summarize, and take action more efficiently.

Microsoft will start the rollout later this month, and it plans to complete it by late December. This change affects all Windows 11 users with Microsoft 365 apps, but IT admins can opt out of this ordeal in Device Configuration settings in Admin Center. It is also possible to disable launch on startup in each app's settings.

In other Microsoft 365 news, the company announced a new, more expensive Microsoft 365 plan that integrates Office apps and AI, alongside a set of redesigned icons for Word, Excel, and other programs.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 12:16 pm AEST (my time).

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The company also explained how upgrading to the new Windows version from 24H2 is really quite easy, pointing out the enablement package (eKB5054156) that is required to do so. Microsoft highlighted that a single restart is all it takes to upgrade from 24H2 to 25H2, and this greatly reduces downtime.

That is something Microsoft has been actively working on for a while, ie, keeping device downtime down, which is why the company introduced hotpatching earlier in the year in May and made it a default thing about a month later in June. The objective behind the debut of hotpatch updates is to provide "immediate protection, consistent security" while "minimizing disruptions".

Today the Redmond giant issued an important caution for IT admins and sysadmins regarding upgrading to the Windows 11 2025 Update in the case of enterprise and office PCs that are utilizing the hotpatching feature.

Microsoft follows a hotpatching release cycle schedule where "baseline" updates, that require reboots, are installed every quarter, while the "hotpatches", that do not require reboots, are installed between those baseline releases.

The company has cautioned that installing Windows 11 25H2 in a non-baseline month will break the hotpatch delivery cycle. It writes: "Devices that upgrade during a designated baseline release period (such as October) will remain eligible for hotpatching. Devices that upgrade during a non-baseline month (such as November) will temporarily stop receiving hotpatch updates. Instead, these devices will receive standard security updates that require a restart until the next baseline release (that is January 2026)."

For those wondering how a baseline update is different, it essentially includes the latest security fixes as well as the cumulative new features, whereas the hotpatches only contain security updates.

The table below shows the release cycle for baseline updates and hotpatches:

Thus, the upcoming October 2025 Patch Tuesday is scheduled to be the baseline. For those who want to learn more, they can check out Microsoft's message here on the Windows Health dashboard webpage on the company's official site.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 12:15 pm AEST (my time).

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Even though Windows 11 version 25H2 shares the same branch and features with Windows version 24H2, it still has a separate documentation for known issues and bugs that Microsoft is currently busy fixing. If you want to upgrade from a previous Windows 11 release, be sure to check out the list of known issues. Perhaps, there is a deal-breaking bug for you, so beware.

As of October 1, 2025, Windows 11 version 25H2 has the following known bugs:

You can track Windows 11 version 25H2 issues on the official Microsoft Learn website. As usual, Neowin will keep an eye on those developments and update you as they occur. If you want to install Windows 11 25H2 right now, check out this article, and those with unsupported PC can try this guide to install Windows 11 25H2 on ineligible hardware.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:51 am AEST (my time).

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Aside from that, Microsoft has now also shared a separate list of features that are new in Windows 11 version 25H2 for home PCs.

The biggest highlight among the wave of new capabilities, of course, includes enhancements related to the Copilot+ AI PCs with features like Recall, Click to Do, and enhanced Windows Search. Speaking of Copilot features, Microsoft has also mentioned new customizable keyboard shortcuts and more.

The company feels these improvements will matter a lot because they reshape how users interact with their Windows devices. The features are available across Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon, AMD, and Intel processors.

There are UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) updates and refinements as well across some of the core Windows elements like the Taskbar. For example, the Taskbar now supports improved icon resizing, richer previews, and a clock option with seconds, while admins gain new pin policies. Users will also notice improved indicators, live status updates during file indexing operations, and more.

The rest of the changes as highlighted by Microsoft are given below:

• Widgets now support multiple dashboards, lock screen customization, and a redesigned Discover feed with Copilot-curated stories. Users can personalize widgets and access summaries, videos, and images from trusted sources.
• File Explorer adds curated views for Microsoft 365 content, context menu dividers, and new sharing options with Android devices. Users can snooze backup reminders, restore previous tabs, and access Live Persona Cards when signed in with Entra ID. Sharing and editing images is now easier via the Windows Share window.
• Snap in Windows gets usability improvements with inline tips and keyboard shortcut guidance when users interact with the Snap Bar or Snap menu.
• Windows Settings' redesigned homepage includes top cards for system info, FAQs, and enterprise-specific views. Users can now manage AI model usage by third-party apps and access improved activation and printer rename dialogs.
• PC Migration app begins rolling out with a new pairing page in the Windows Backup app, allowing users to transfer files and settings between PCs. Full support during setup will arrive in future updates.
• Windows Resiliency Initiative adds quick machine recovery via WinRE, enabling automatic fixes for boot issues. A redesigned restart screen improves readability.
• Windows Hello introduces a modernized interface for passkey authentication across sign-in flows, Recall, and the Microsoft Store. Users can easily switch between authentication methods and enjoy a cleaner, more intuitive experience.
• Windows Share allows image editing before sharing, previews for web content, and compression level selection. Users can drag and drop files into suggested apps and customize the right-click menu for faster sharing.

You can read through them on this page here on Microsoft's official website.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:49 am AEST (my time).

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In 2025, Microsoft continues to evolve File Explorer on Windows 11, integrating AI features and bolstering usability. Significant updates enhance the context menu, streamline sharing, and optimize performance, setting a new standard for user experience in file management.

Although version 25H2 (2025 Update) doesn't introduce File Explorer changes on its own, many updates originally introduced with the older version 24H2 and through Insider builds have gradually made their way to both versions.

In this guide, I'll highlight the most notable features that Microsoft officially rolled out for File Explorer this year.

What's new in File Explorer for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2

As part of the version 24H2 and 25H2 development, these are the most interesting new improvements for File Explorer.

Context menu changes

In File Explorer, a lot of the improvements were made to the context menu.

For instance, the context menu now features dividers that separate top-level menu items (Cut, Copy, Rename, Share, and Delete) for improved readability.

Microsoft issued a warning that the Media Creation Tool app, a go-to utility for downloading Windows 11 and "burning" it to USB drives that was updated just before the release of Windows 11 version 25H2, currently does not work on systems with ARM processors.

When launching the Media Creation Tool app version 26100.6584, users with Windows on ARM PCs get the following message: "We're not sure what happened, but we're unable to run this tool on your PC." Microsoft published a message about this error in the official Windows 11 version 25H2 update history, which you can access here.

It is worth noting that the Media Creation Tool app cannot make you a bootable USB for an ARM-powered computer. However, it is still capable of making such drives for x64 machines. Therefore, if you have only one computer that cannot currently run the Media Creation Tool, you have to opt for other methods. For example, you can download the necessary ISO directly from the official website and then use tools like Rufus to write that image to your USB drive. Here is what Microsoft says:

The media creation tool doesn't support creating media for use on Arm64 devices. However, Arm64 devices are normally able to create media for x64 devices—this functionality is not working as expected.

Microsoft is currently investigating the problem, so expect to hear about it more in future updates. Meanwhile, if you want to upgrade to Windows 11 version 25H2 (you can do it on an unsupported PC as well), make sure to check out the list of known bugs before heading that way, even though the process should be straightforward, particularly for Windows 11 24H2 users.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:46 am AEST (my time).

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According to the official support page for Nvidia Hotfix 581.47, previous drivers cause game crashes if the game has Chinese characters in its directory and Smooth Motion is enabled. The bug apparently affects quite a lot of gamers, which forced Nvidia to quickly release the hotfix.

Besides that, nothing has changed in the driver. Here is what the changelog says:

• Games may crash if the installed game directory contains Chinese characters while Smooth Motion is enabled.

   

Nvidia Hotfix 581.47 will be included with the next WHQL driver. Meanwhile, affected users can download the hotfix from the official support website. It also contains all the changes, improvements, and optimizations from previous drivers, so if you want to upgrade from an older release, you can install the hotfix instead of downloading driver 581.42 first.

In case you are not familiar with Nvidia Hotfix drivers, here is how the company describes their releases:

Sometimes a change that is important to many users might end up sitting and waiting until we are able to release the driver. The GeForce Hotfix driver is our way to trying to get some of these fixes out to you more quickly. These drivers are basically the same as the previous released version, with a small number of additional targeted fixes.

 

The fixes that make it in are based in part on your feedback in the Driver Feedback threads and partly on how realistic it is for us to quickly address them. These fixes (and many more) will be incorporated into the next official driver release, at which time the Hotfix driver will be taken down.

In other gaming news from Nvidia, the company recently announced a set of new games that are now playable on GeForce NOW, its cloud gaming service. Additionally, Nvidia launched a new tier with the GeForce RTX 5080 graphics cards, giving users more horsepower for modern games.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:43 am AEST (my time).

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As Chrome continues increasing its market share, other desktop browsers lose their positions. Microsoft Edge remains the second most popular browser on the desktop market, but its market share has decreased from 11.73% to 10.37%. Microsoft tries hard to lure more users into its browser, but all those efforts seemingly do not help the browser reach at least a 15% mark.

Microsoft Edge is not the only browser crumbling under Chrome's dominance. Safari currently holds 5.69%, a 0.35-point decrease in one month. Firefox also lost a chunk of its market share, going from 4.93% to 4.45%. Opera is the fifth most popular desktop browser, which currently has a 2.11% market share (+0.05 points).

Here is what the situation looks like on the desktop market as of October 1, 2025:

1. Google Chrome: 71.86% (+2.6 points)
2. Microsoft Edge: 10.37% (-1.36 points)
3. Apple Safari: 5.69% (-0.35 points)
4. Mozilla Firefox: 4.93% (-0.38 points)
5. Opera: 2.11% (+0.05 points)

Nearly every desktop browser these days is toying around with AI in search of new ways to improve the browsing experience and make users stay. Google Chrome recently received its biggest update, which brought Gemini, AI mode, and agentic capabilities to the browser. Microsoft released Copilot Mode for Edge, and Opera came in hot with Opera Neon, its first AI-powered browser with a hefty $19.90/month subscription service.

Not every user is a fan of such changes, and even some browser companies openly oppose the AI push, claiming that AI steals the joy of browsing and turns users into passive spectators. Time will tell whose approach will yield better results.

In addition to the new browser data, Statcounter published fresh info about Windows, showing Windows 10's continuous decline and some interesting developments among now-unsupported versions.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:42 am AEST (my time).

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Someone must be wishing really hard, as according to StatCounter, Windows 7 is gaining market share in the year 2025, five years after support for it officially ended. As of this week, Windows 7 is now in use on 9.61% of Windows PCs within StatCounters pool of data, and that's up from the 3.59% it had just a month ago.

For years, Windows 7 has hovered around 2% market share on StatCounter. After mainstream support ended, the last few holdouts very quickly made the move to Windows 10, but with support for Windows 10 ending now just two weeks away, it looks like many are giving Microsoft's best version of Windows another try.

Of course, StatCounter isn't an entirely accurate measure when it comes to actual usage numbers, but it can give us a rough idea about how the market is trending, and it seems people are not happy with the idea of upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10. Windows 7's sudden marketshare gain is likely a blip, but interesting nonetheless.

If you're not familiar with openSUSE, it's a free, open-source Linux distro that comes in two main flavors: you have Tumbleweed, the rolling release that gets the newest software all the time, great if you want the latest and greatest. Then there is Leap, the stable version based on the enterprise-grade SUSE Linux Enterprise. The project offers different desktop environments, including KDE, GNOME, and Xfce.

The development team claims that Leap 16 is 2038 safe, just like Debian 13 "Trixie". This tackles the Y2K38 bug, a problem where systems using a signed 32-bit integer to track time will run out of space on January 19, 2038. To prevent this, 32-bit (ia32) support is disabled by default in Leap 16. If you still need it for older applications or games on Steam, you'd have to enable it manually.

As mentioned earlier, the hardware requirements have changed with this release. Leap 16 now demands a CPU with x86-64-v2 architecture support, which basically covers most processors made since 2008. If your machine is older than that, the team suggests moving to Tumbleweed, or Slowroll if you don't want to deal with the "bleeding edge" risk of daily updates.

The new Agama installer replaces the now deprecated YaST (Yet another Setup Tool), which has been the default for a long time. Agama is a web-based installer that provides a more modern installation process, with an interface that can be accessed locally or even remotely.

You can install multiple openSUSE versions, like Tumbleweed and Leap, from a single ISO using Agama. The installer also includes command-line tools like agama monitor that lets admins keep an eye on installations remotely.

Other updates Leap 16 brings include parallel downloads in Zypper, the package manager, to speed up software installation. The default Linux Security Module is now SELinux, though you can still install and use AppArmor after the initial setup.

The openSUSE team says this release also kicks off a new life cycle plan. We can expect annual minor releases for Leap 16 until Leap 16.6 arrives in 2031. A full successor to the Leap 16 series is expected by 2032.

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Posted Thursday 2 October 2025 at 4:40 am AEST (my time).

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Microsoft is officially rolling out the Windows 11 2025 Update (version 25H2) for compatible devices, including Copilot+ PCs.

Starting September 30, 2025, is the beginning of the gradual rollout as an optional update, and it'll take some time for the update to reach every device. In addition, since this incremental update shares the same core file system as version 24H2, it'll install as a cumulative update for devices already running the 2024 Update.

On the other hand, computers using an older release (such as Windows 11 version 23H2 or another release, including Windows 10) will require a complete reinstallation to upgrade.

Regardless of the version currently installed on your device, you can install the feature update using the "Windows Update" settings, as well as using the "Installation Assistant" or the ISO file.

This guide outlines the Microsoft servicing approach for upgrading devices to the Windows 11 2025 Update.

What devices will get the Windows 11 2025 Update first?

On September 30, 2025, the software giant began the gradual rollout of Windows 11 version 25H2 for devices already running version 24H2 that have the option to turn on the latest update as soon as it becomes available. However, it won't download automatically. You will have to manually trigger the upgrade process from the "Windows Update" settings page.

Also, only devices known to be fully compatible will be among the first to receive the update. In the following weeks and months, the company will continue to monitor the rollout, and the enablement package will then expand to additional hardware configurations.

The new update adds new features and improvements over Windows 11 24H2, but unlike 24H2, Microsoft has noted that version 25H2 is not a full OS swap. Thus you can refer to KB5065789 (Build 26200.6725/26100.6725) to get an idea of the changelog of features.

The move from 24H2 to 25H2 is more in line with how 22H2 was upgraded to 23H2, ie, via what the company refers to as an Enablement Package, as the two versions "share a common core" OS with "an identical set of system files."

In a new support article, Microsoft has explained how this works. It writes:

"Windows 11, versions 24H2 and 25H2 share a common core operating system with an identical set of system files. Therefore, the new features in Windows 11, version 25H2 are included in the latest monthly quality update for Windows 11, version 24H2 but are in an inactive and dormant state. These new features will remain dormant until they are turned on through the “enablement package,” a small, quick-to-install “master switch” that activates the Windows 11, version 25H2 features."

Microsoft has also highlighted how this makes upgrading to Windows 11 25H2 really easy as it can be done with only a single restart after installing the enablement package, as system files remain the same with only the dormant new features getting activated via the "master switch".

Getting the required enablement package or eKB for Windows 11 25H2 (KB5054156) requires nearly no effort from the user side either as it will automatically download via the Windows Update channel for home PCs and Windows Server Updates Services (WSUS) for office PCs.

The company notes that the feature update is named "Windows 11, version 25H2" in general and on WSUS it should be available classified under "Upgrades". It is noteworthy that the eKB is not available for manual downloading through the Update Catalog website.

However, there is one prerequisite as Microsoft notes that the August 2025 C-release (KB5064081) must be on your device to be eligible to receive the eKB from Windows Update or WSUS. You can find the support article here on Microsoft's official website.

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Posted Wednesday 1 October 2025 at 5:14 pm AEST (my time).

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