In a nutshell, Secure Boot is a special mechanism that ensures that your PC is using verified firmware and a trusted bootloader. Certificates released in 2011 will expire in June 2026, and if left outdated, will disrupt the integrity of the device startup process. Without new certificates, Windows Boot Manager and Secure Boot components can't receive security fixes, leaving affected devices exposed to bootkit malware (such as BlackLotus), which is very hard to detect with standard antivirus software. Other results of having expired Secure Boot certificates include the inability to trust software signed with new certificates.

PCs that could be affected by expired certificates include physical and virtual machines (VMs) with supported versions of Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2. Copilot+ PCs released in 2025 are not affected.

To avoid these potentially disastrous consequences, Microsoft urges organizations and users to update their entire PC fleet to newer certificates, which were released in 2023:

So, what do you need to do? Microsoft says that the easiest solution is to let Microsoft manage your Windows updates. In the upcoming months, Microsoft will release new certificates as part of monthly cumulative updates, so it will take care of everything for you. The company also recommends enrolling Windows 10 devices in the Extended Security Updates program, which is free for regular consumers and paid for enterprises. Microsoft will also provide the necessary certificates for Linux systems that dual-boot Windows.

Of course, not every Windows PC can receive such updates. For example, so-called "air-gapped" devices, which are physically isolated from the internet and local networks, cannot receive updates like your home PC does. For such devices, Microsoft offers limited support, which is detailed in the blog post. You can also track Windows Secure Boot certificate updates on a newly published support document.

You can check if your system has Secure Boot enabled by pressing Win + R, typing msinfo32, and checking "Secure Boot State."

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Here is the changelog that Mozilla published in the official documentation:

• Fixed text contrast issues in the sidebar with some dark themes. (Bug 1971487)
• Fixed a startup crash experienced by some users caused by DLL injection. (Bug 1973947)

You can update Firefox to the latest version by heading to Menu > Help > About Firefox. Alternatively, you can get it from the official website or the Microsoft Store (Windows 10 and 11).

In case you missed it, Firefox 140 arrived on June 24. It introduced several important changes, including the ability to resize the pinned tab section when using vertical tabs (more upgrades are coming to the browser in this area), custom search engine support, tab unloading via right-click, various security fixes, and more. The update also removed the Pocket toolbar icon and the Pocket integration on the new tab page. Mozilla recently killed Pocket and Fakesport in order to focus more on its main product, the Firefox browser.

You can find full release notes for Firefox 140.0.1 in our dedicated article.

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Microsoft is also trying to make it easy to set up Extended Security Updates (ESU) with a new tool. You can see in the image below:

Following that, today, the company has shared a new guide on how to activate ESU via Intune in the case of Windows 10 office PCs that are not supported on Windows 11. First up, Microsoft has reminded users of the prerequisites of Windows 10 ESU:

• The system needs to be on Windows 10 22H2 with KB5046613 (November 2024 Patch Tuesday) or newer.

• The device needs access to the network endpoints required for client activation.

• The process that is used for activation needs administrative privileges on the device.

   

The guide contains several PowerShell scripts and are meant for IT admins and system admins. One of those is a validation script "Check-Win10ESUPrereq.ps1" that Microsoft has published to help "verify a device has the required version and patch level for Windows and it can communicate to the required network endpoints." Essentially, it checks if the aforementioned requirements are satisfied and can be used for troubleshooting against those prerequisites.

After the "validation," Microsoft says there are two ways to proceed with the ESU key activation. First. it can be done by either Remediation through: Detection Script (Win10ESUActivation-detect.ps1) and Remediation Script (Win10ESUActivation-remediate.ps1).

And second, by Win32 Application with Win32 Install Script (Win10ESU-install.ps1) and Win32 Detection Script (Win10ESU-detection.ps1).

In the case of Remediations, Microsoft mentions "some licensing considerations" due to which "some smaller companies may not have that option."

Finally, Microsoft has also shared some Activation IDs for manual verification via Slmgr VB script for obtaining volume activation information:

• Win10 ESU Year1: f520e45e-7413-4a34-a497-d2765967d094

• Win10 ESU Year2: 1043add5-23b1-4afb-9a0f-64343c8f3f8d

• Win10 ESU Year3: 83d49986-add3-41d7-ba33-87c7bfb5c0fb

   

You can check the full guide and the details here on Microsoft's official Tech Community website.

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Those improvements include the so-called Quick Machine Recovery, a redesigned "Blue Screen of Death," and changes to kernel access for anti-virus software. For those unfamiliar, Quick Machine Recovery is a new feature that fixes computers that cannot boot. When big outages occur, say a botched update, malware, or another issue, Microsoft can quickly deploy the necessary fixes and apply them via Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This enables quick machine recovery (hence the name) without the need for manual, often complex interventions from IT administrators.

Quick Machine Recovery will be available in all Windows 11 editions with version 24H2 and newer. It will be enabled by default for those using Windows 11 Home, and IT admins will have control over it on systems with Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise. You can read more about QMR in the official documentation.

Another improvement is the redesigned Blue Screen of Death. It complements some of the crash dump collection improvements introduced by Microsoft in Windows 11 version 24H2, which enable faster restarts when system crashes occur. Thanks to that, it only takes about two seconds for the system to gather the necessary data and restart.

With the redesigned interface, Microsoft makes it easier to read and understand what happened. Additionally, the new UI aligns with the rest of Windows 11's design and provides the necessary technical information, including the stop code and the driver that failed.

In a newly published blog post about the Windows Resiliency Initiative, Microsoft announced that Quick Machine Recovery and the redesigned BSOD will be available to the public later this summer. Currently, they are being tested by users in the Windows Insider program.

Additionally, Microsoft introduced the Windows Resiliency Initiative e-book, a guide designed to help organizations better understand how Windows protects them and their users from major disruptions. You can check it out using this link (PDF). All these improvements are one of the reasons why users and businesses should consider updating to Windows 11 and leaving its predecessor behind, even though customers can receive an extra year of Windows 10 support for free.

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Microsoft Family Safety helps parents monitor their children's activity across desktop and mobile devices, providing screen time management, content filtering, app controls, location tracking, communication monitoring, and activity reports.

Redmond acknowledged the bug after widespread user reports since early June that they were unable to launch Google Chrome on their PCs or experienced the web browser randomly crashing, as first reported by The Verge.

As the company explained this week, the known issue is caused by the web filtering tool, which prompts children to ask for their parents' approval to use other browsers.

However, because of this bug, Family Safety will also block new versions of previously approved web browsers, preventing them from launching or causing them to shut down unexpectedly on affected devices.

"The blocking behavior continues to work, however, when a browser updates to a new version, the latest version of the browser cannot be blocked until we add it to the block list. Microsoft is currently adding the latest versions of Chrome and other browsers to the block list," the company said in a Windows release health update.

"As Microsoft continues to update the block list, we've received reports of a new issue affecting Google Chrome and some browsers. When children try to open these browsers, they shut down unexpectedly.

"However, the standard workflow is to prompt a parental approval message stating, 'You'll need to ask to use this app.' Once the approval is consented, the browser operates as intended. This issue is only observed when the Activity reporting feature is turned off."

This known issue affects devices running Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 or later, and Microsoft is currently working to find a fix for this issue.

Until a fix is available, affected users are advised to turn on the 'Activity reporting' feature under Windows settings in Microsoft Family Safety, which will allow parents to receive approval requests as expected.

"We are actively working on a resolution for the two key issues: the missing parental consent prompts and the unintended temporary unblocking of the latest versions of Google Chrome and other browsers after a browser update with a version change," Redmond added.

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In a blog post, Microsoft has stated that it has updated the AI models list available in Visual Studio to default to smarter options. For example, Copilot will now use GPT-4.1 rather than GPT-4o, since it offers better responses with faster performance. In addition, users can now select between the following models to enhance their coding experience based on their preferences:

• Claude Sonnet 4
• Claude Opus 4
• Claude Sonnet 3.5
• Claude 3.7 (non-thinking and thinking)
• OpenAI o3 mini
• Gemini 2.0 Flash
• Gemini 2.5 Pro

Microsoft has noted that your selected model will persist across your workflows, so if you're unsure about which model to leverage, you can refer to its documentation here. Furthermore, Visual Studio is making it easier to switch between models that are included in your plan through a prompt in the model selector.

When it comes to billing updates, Microsoft has built a new Copilot Consumptions user experience that can be accessed by navigating to the Copilot badge present in the top-right corner of the IDE. As the name suggests, this panel shows your consumption in an easily digestible format. You can also click on Manage Plan, which will take you to the GitHub website.

It is important to note that some models are request-heavy, and Visual Studio will now indicate this to you while you are selecting your model. If you exhaust your premium requests, you will shift to a standard model seamlessly. You should also keep in mind that the GitHub Copilot pricing plans have been updated, and the billing experience in Visual Studio does reflect them.

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After sending cease-and-desist letters to VMware users whose support contracts had expired and who subsequently declined to subscribe to one of Broadcom’s VMware bundles, Broadcom has started the process of conducting audits on former VMware customers.

Broadcom stopped selling VMware perpetual licenses in November 2023 in favor of pushing a small number of VMware SKUs that feature multiple VMware offerings. Since Broadcom is forcefully bundling VMware products, the costs associated with running VMware have skyrocketed, with customers frequently citing 300 percent price hikes and some firms claiming even larger increases. As a result, some VMware users have opted to keep using VMware perpetual licenses, even though Broadcom refuses to renew most of those clients’ support services.

This year, Broadcom started sending such VMware users cease-and-desist letters [PDF], telling organizations to stop using any maintenance releases/updates, minor releases, major releases/upgrades extensions, enhancements, patches, bug fixes, or security patches (except for zero-day security patches) that VMware issued since the user’s support contract ended.

The letters also warned of potential audits, which appear to be underway now.

Broadcom starts auditing

Ars Technica reviewed a letter that a software provider and VMware user in the Netherlands received that is dated June 20 and informs the firm that it “has been selected for a formal audit of its use of VMware software and support services” [PDF]. The security professional who provided Ars with the letter asked to keep their name and their employers’ name anonymous out of privacy concerns.

The anonymous employee told Ars that their company had been a VMware customer for “about” a decade before deciding not to sign up for a new contract with Broadcom’s VMware a year ago. The company had been using VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere.

“Our CEO decided to not extend the support contract because of the costs,” the employee said. “This already impacts us security-wise because we can no longer get updates (unless the CVSS score is critical).”

The letter notes that an auditing firm, Connor Consulting, which is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices around the globe, will perform a review of the company’s “VMware deployment and entitlements, which may include fieldwork or remote testing and meetings with members of your accounting, licensing, and management information systems functions.” The letter informs its recipient that someone from Connor will reach out and that the VMware user should respond within three business days.

The letter, signed by Aiden Fitzgerald, director of global sales operations at Broadcom, claims that Broadcom will use its time “as efficiently and productively as possible to minimize disruption.”

Still, the security worker that Ars spoke with is concerned about the implications of the audit and said they “expect a big financial impact” for their employer. They added:

Because we are focusing on saving costs and are on a pretty tight financial budget, this will likely have impact on the salary negotiations or even layoffs of employees. Currently, we have some very stressed IT managers [and] legal department [employees] …

The employee noted that they are unsure if their employer exceeded its license limits. If the firm did, it could face “big” financial repercussions, the worker noted.

Users deny wrongdoing

As Broadcom works to ensure that people aren’t using VMware outside its terms, some suggest that the semiconductor giant is wasting some time by investigating organizations that aren’t violating agreements.

After Broadcom started sending cease-and-desist letters, at least one firm claimed that it got a letter from Broadcom despite no longer using VMware at all.

Additionally, various companies claimed that they received a cease-and-desist from Broadcom despite not implementing any updates after their VMware support contract expired.

The employee at the Dutch firm that received an audit notice this month claimed that the only update that their employer has issued to the VMware offerings it uses since support ended was a “critical security patch.”

That employee also claimed to Ars that their company didn’t receive a cease-and-desist letter from Broadcom before being informed of an audit.

Broadcom didn’t respond to Ars' request for comment ahead of publication, so we’re unable to confirm if the company is sending audit letters without sending cease-and-desist letters first. Ars also reached out to Connor Consulting but didn’t hear back.

“When we saw the news that they were going to send cease-and-desist letters and audits, our management thought it was a bluff and that they would never do that,” the anonymous security worker said.

Broadcom’s litigious techniques to ensure VMware agreements are followed have soured its image among some current and former customers. Broadcom’s $69 billion VMware acquisition has proven lucrative, but as Broadcom approaches two years of VMware ownership, there are still calls for regulation of its practices, which some customers and partners believe are “legally and ethically flawed.”

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These point releases do not bring too many changes, and all the changes that are introduced are identical across all three versions. Here are the release notes this time:

• Fixed an accessibility issue that caused the screen reader unable to read the text.
• Added librime-plugin-lua for ibus-rime users to support Lua scripts. This only affects zh_CN by default.
• Added policykit-desktop-privileges to the default app list to allow no-password prompts for mount, simple updates, etc.

As a new Linux distribution on the scene, updating it is not as straightforward as opening a software store and tapping the upgrade button. For now, upgrades rely on a script. To update your computer using this script, open up a terminal window and type do_anduinos_upgrade. Running this command will bring you up to the latest point release for your respective major version, even if you’re not on the latest point release right now.

In the future, Anduin Xue, the Microsoft employee who develops AnduinOS, wants to allow you to grab new versions via sudo apt upgrade. For the time being, users will need to stick to running the script to ensure their device is up to date.

Last month, it was announced that AnduinOS 1.4 will be based on Ubuntu 25.10 and will drop in late October, while Anduin OS 1.5 will be based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and arrive in late April 2026. Hopefully, we will see more maturation with those updates, such as upgrading the system with an apt command instead of a script.

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In a new Microsoft Learn entry, the Redmond tech firm has identified two more bugs. The first one has to do with Family Safety not effectively blocking Chrome in Windows. Basically, parents typically control access to other browsers through the web filtering feature in Family Safety. On the backend, Microsoft blocks browsers through a blocklist, which also requires the version of the browser that should be blocked.

Now, the company has acknowledged that it has not added the latest version of Chrome and some other browsers to this list, which means that they are unblocked for now and accessible to children on PCs managed by their parents. The firm is in the process of updating its blocklist.

In parallel, Microsoft has received reports of Chrome and some other browsers crashing on PCs with Family Safety enabled. Typically, when you open the browser on such a PC, you would be greeted with the prompt "You'll need to ask to use this app", which is a part of the parental consent flow. However, instead of showing this message, Chrome is crashing.

During its investigation, Microsoft has discovered that this happens when the Activity reporting configuration in Family Safety is disabled. So, to work around this issue, the tech giant has requested parents to turn on this feature as it works on a more concrete fix. The company has indicated that it is still working to resolve both issues more effectively and that it will share more information as it becomes available.

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In the latest Windows 11 preview builds, which were released earlier this week, Microsoft attempted to fix the incorrect startup sound, but only the Beta Channel received the necessary fix. The one from the Dev Channel, however, still has the incorrect chime. In the now-updated release notes, Microsoft says that "this fix for this issue unfortunately is not working correctly in this build." Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Insider team acknowledged the failed attempt in replies to a user on X:

This week's Dev and Beta channels have nearly identical changelogs, so it is a bit odd to see a fix working differently. It shows that despite apparent similarities, these builds have many different bits under the hood, and things do not always work as expected in the Windows 11 preview program.

In case you missed it, this week's Windows 11 preview builds introduced two big changes: a new Home page for Recall and the ability to change where system indicators appear on the screen. While it is cool to have some extra customization, Microsoft still does not want to address popular feedback requests like moving the taskbar to the top or sides. However, the company delivered quite a few user-requested changes, so not all hope is lost.

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However, Microsoft would beg to differ; the company has published a new blog post about the new features that are coming to New Outlook. In the post, Microsoft has also mentioned about how the "new agile codebase" and the app's "design" (ahem!) makes it better for "stability, performance and security", and how the New Outlook has features that were never there on the classic app. It writes:

Outlook for Windows' new agile codebase has made it easier for stability, performance and security by design. We deliver features that were never implemented in classic Outlook.

 

Now, you can enjoy top-requested features in Outlook like pinning important emails, tabbed search to find people, files and Teams messages more easily, iCal sync, scheduled mail, new themes and colored mailbox folders, and more.

In other words, the tech giant clearly disagrees with those who continue praising the classic application.

While the points raised by Microsoft about performance are subjective, to their credit, there is certainly truth to the statement. Recently, classic Outlook has broken multiple times.

For example, Microsoft pushed a big Calendar-related feature upgrade which bugged out the classic Outlook app in several different ways. And more recently, we reported on how opening and sending an email, which is the most basic function of a mail app, now causes it to crash.

Now coming to the new features Microsoft talks about today, first up, it mentions an upgrade to the Shared mailbox experience and the new “Shared with me” page that lets users "view permissions on shared folders or mailboxes to identify and resolve access issues."

Microsoft also mentions Copilot in the app and how it will keep "adding Copilot features into Outlook every month" to help improve user productivity. Some of these features include "Chat side pane, Summarize, Drafts, Schedule from email, and more" as well as features like "Prioritize my Inbox" for commercial users.

Microsoft also mentions offline and PST (Outlook data/personal storage table) additions that are continuing to improve. The company is right in this regard as it recently confirmed another new offline feature for New Outlook. And PST file support is also here.

When it comes to working across devices, Microsoft also highlights how switching between devices is much improved. It adds how "thanks to the common codebase, web users also enjoy most of the innovations and classic capabilities arriving in Outlook for Windows."

Finally, Microsoft expresses what it feels is the best way forward for users who still use the classic Outlook app to move to New Outlook and explains why it is best if you spend the most time on the newer app:

The transition to Outlook for Windows is intended to be gradual, allowing you ample time to explore and become comfortable with its new capabilities. We recommend using the toggle in classic Outlook to try the updated Outlook for Windows experience. This will copy your settings, forward your protocols, and provide a welcoming experience.

 

....

 

we encourage you to spend as much time as possible working in the updated Outlook experience. This will help you fully experience its enhanced capabilities and discover new, efficient ways of communicating.

You can view the blog post here on Microsoft's official Tech Community website.

Is Microsoft right? Did you move to New Outlook yet, or are you holding on to Classic Outlook? Let us know in the comments.

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For starters, Excel for Windows, Mac, and web received the context awareness enhancement for Copilot as mentioned previously and discussed in detail here. In addition, the Windows and Mac variants of Excel netted value tokens. These acts as indicators within cells which show what rich data format or data type is being hosted in that range of cells. Examples include geographies and currencies, which also show up as icons within the cells.

Meanwhile, the web version of Excel received Copilot formula generation that you can see as soon as you press the "=" symbol in the cells or the formula bar. You can simply describe the data manipulation that are you trying to achieve in the prompt bar and Copilot will write that formula on your behalf.

Lastly, Excel for mobile customers can now view shared Excel files online without signing in with a personal Microsoft account. However, in order to make changes or leave comments, they will need to sign in, which makes sense from a traceability perspective. That said, this feature is currently available for Insiders on Android devices only. Speaking on Insiders, this community on iOS can now search for templates for Excel too. This was apparently requested by many customers so it has been tagged as "Feedback in Action (#FIA)". Microsoft has urged customers to provide further feedback on Excel from within the software or through the dedicated feedback portal available here.

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Despite Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, recent emerging reports suggest that the once-best "tech bromance" in history is seemingly fraying amid tension over the ChatGPT maker's for-profit transition.

In May, Microsoft Teams lead Jeff Taper admitted that Copilot and ChatGPT are virtually the same thing, but the former sports better security and a more powerful user experience.

This doesn't come as a surprise as Microsoft heavily relies on OpenAI's tech to power its AI efforts, including Copilot.

However, Microsoft's AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, revealed that the company is in the process of developing its own frontier AI models, though it might be 3 to 6 months behind OpenAI's. Suleyman revealed that Microsoft's strategy is to play a close second to OpenAI.

Regardless of Microsoft's efforts to make Copilot a superior product compared to OpenAI's ChatGPT, users are seemingly more inclined towards the latter. As is the case with Amgen.

According to Bloomberg, the drugmaker announced its plan to buy 20,000 Copilot licenses for its employees last spring. However, this isn't the case 13 months later, as the company is now using ChatGPT.

The company now prefers plain old ChatGPT over Microsoft Copilot based on feedback from its employees, citing its prowess in research and summarization of scientific documentation. Amgen Inc. revealed that it had also noticed that OpenAI's user experience had improved significantly.

Back in April, Fedora 42 made its long-awaited arrival as an officially supported Linux distro on WSL. For Fedora lovers, such as myself, it was great news.

Since then, however, another Fedora-based distro has also, quietly, released an official image for WSL. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Release 10 is now available, too, as of May, despite no apparent fanfare.

Unfortunately, most of us will never be able to use it, as, like regular RHEL, it's locked behind an enterprise subscription. The IBM-owned company offers RHEL to enterprise customers backed with optimizations, certification, and full support for a range of business use.

Many Linux distributions handle their core installation using Calamares, which is a fantastic distro-agnostic tool for getting the OS onto a drive. The experience after that first boot, however, often lacks a certain polish compared to what you would find on a new Mac or Windows machine.

This project had its first commit way back in late 2020 and showed a lot of initial promise before it essentially laid dormant between mid-2022 and early this year. The git history from that period mostly consists of automated translation syncs. The project got revived back in March, thanks to some foundational work from developer Carl Schwan, with Kristen McWilliam then joining in May and hitting the accelerator. McWilliam recently shared the latest project progress, detailing just how far the tool has come.

For a start, it actually compiles and runs now, a solid milestone for any revived project. Apart from that, the placeholder user creation screen has been replaced with a functional backend that sets up a new account. The UI has been polished to look much more at home on a modern Plasma desktop, and language and keyboard layout selection modules are now in place. Here's the full list of changes:

• Got it to compile and run.
• Added a whole bunch of fixes, cleanup, and polish to the UI, UX, and dev experience.
• Implemented actual user creation (previously, name and password fields were just placeholder UI).
• Added front and back ends for language selection.
• Added ECM logging.
• Cleaned up debug output (it was making changes harder than they needed to be).
• Set up basic CI.
• Added front and back ends for keyboard layout selection.

According to McWilliam, getting the keyboard module working was a huge pain, requiring a good bit of code from Plasma's existing system settings to be refactored for this new use case. Maybe, in the future, when you set up a new Plasma-powered distro, you will be greeted with this integrated OOBE.

For now, there are still hurdles to overcome. The team needs to figure out the chicken-and-egg problem of how to handle tasks that require system permissions before the user has even set their password. The current plan involves using a special system user and a polkit rule to get around it. Another hurdle is ensuring the tool runs automatically on the very first boot, a job that will likely fall to systemd.

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If you are not familiar, Autopatch is a Microsoft cloud service that helps automate Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Teams updates by configuring various update deployment policies.

During that announcement, Microsoft had said that hotpatching via Autopatch would be coming in June. As such, this week, the tech giant has released some more details about it as the service is now starting to be available via Microsoft Intune MDM (Mobile Device Management).

In a recent entry on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center website, Microsoft has confirmed that going forward, new policies will have hotpatching enabled by default for Windows quality updates. It has explained when the rollout of this change starts and how enterprise and organizations can benefit:

Newly created Windows quality update policies will have hotpatch updates enabled by default to streamline policy creation.

 

Hotpatch updates will be automatically enabled for new policies starting on June 23, 2025 or soon after.

 

Organizations using Windows Autopatch will benefit from faster security compliance and reduced downtime for devices running supported Windows editions.

Meanwhile, for already existing policies, Microsoft has also provided detailed steps through which IT admins and system admins will be able to make hotpatching default for Windows quality updates. It involves navigating to the Intune admin center Settings and toggling the "Automatic update deployment" policy. It writes:

To enable hotpatch updates on your existing policies:

 

1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
2. Navigate to Devices > Windows updates > Quality updates.
3. Select the quality update policy you wish to modify. A new screen with its properties will appear.
4. Select Edit in the “Settings” section.Under “Automatic update deployment” settings, locate the option "When available, apply without restarting the device ("hotpatch")."
5. Toggle it to Allow.

Those who have access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center can view the entry under the message ID MC1101876.

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In the newly published blog post, Microsoft outlined several key features that make Windows 11 a better operating system, not just a poorly reskinned Windows 10, as some think. Microsoft quotes faster performance, simpler navigation, new features and experiences, and better security. Here are some of those reasons:

• Security: Making TPM 2.0 and implementing other security features like Smart App Control and VBS helped reduce security incidents. Microsoft claims "a reported 62% drop in security incidents and a 3x reported reduction in firmware attacks."
• Speed: Windows 11 features several Windows Update improvements that make update installation faster by up to 2.3 times than Windows 10. This is a pretty strong argument, considering how much people hate installing updates, especially on their PCs.
• Modernized user experience: Windows 11 has several productivity-boosting features like Snap Layouts, virtual desktop improvements, and more. Microsoft also mentions cleaner looks of the taskbar and Start menu, but we all know that those areas are the reason why many actually do not want to upgrade to Windows 11, even though some notable improvements are on the way.
• Accessibility improvements: This is legitimately a big reason to update if you rely on assistive technologies. Windows 11 is more accessible than its predecessor and features brand-new accessibility features like Voice Access, Focus Sessions for fewer distractions, Live Captions, Voice Typing, and more. You can check out an overview of all Windows 11 accessibility features here.
• New AI-powered features: Windows 11 has several exclusive AI features that are not available on Windows 10. They include Recall, Click to Do, AI-powered Windows Search, a Settings agent, Paint Cocreator, and more. However, these are only available on new devices, and you cannot get them when upgrading an existing PC from Windows 10 to 11. Still, some AI features work on all devices as well, such as the recently launched Copilot Vision.

If those reasons are not enough, no worries. Microsoft lets users stay on Windows 10 even after the end of support. Today, Microsoft announced that the Extended Security Update program would be free for all customers. All you need to do is back up your PC settings in the Windows Backup app using your Microsoft Account (paid options are still present). You can learn more about that here.

What about you? Do you think Windows 11 has enough solid reasons for you to switch and forget about Windows 10?

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Microsoft is rolling out KB5062324 gradually. You can get it by heading to Settings > Windows Update and toggling "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available." After that, restart your computer and check for available updates. Windows Update should properly detect KB5062324 and download it to fix issues with update detection.

In the support document for KB5062324, Microsoft added that the bug could be mitigated by restarting Windows. This will get Windows Update unstuck and allow the system to finish update scanning. Users can also get a permanent solution by downloading KB5058499 (the May 2025 non-security update) or a newer release. Note that the bug only affects computers with Windows 11 version 24H2. Older releases are unaffected.

Windows 11 version 24H2 still has a few known issues awaiting their fixes. For example, there are compatibility issues with the sprotect.sys driver, which causes apps to stop responding, audio output losses on PCs with Dirac Audio, apps hanging when using cameras, and more. You can find the complete list of known issues in Windows 11 version 24H2 here.

Speaking of updates and fixes, Microsoft today released a non-security update for Windows 10. KB5061087 (build number 19045.6036) is now available for download, and it includes various fixes for the Start menu, USB printers, incorrect Windows version reporting, and more. The update arrived minutes after Microsoft announced that the Extended Security Update program would be free for Windows 10 users. Also, the company recently revealed its plans to pull legacy drivers from Windows Update.

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In today's update, Windows 10 users get fixes for the Settings app incorrectly reporting Windows version, issues with Multi-Function printers with dual protocol interface, disappearing jump list in the Start menu, and other bugs.

Here is the changelog:

• [Mobile Operator Profiles]
  • Updated: Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles.
• [App Platforms and Frameworks]
  • Fixed: An issue affecting Component Object Model (COM) functionality on Windows platforms. Remote COM activations were failing with error 0x8001011.
  • Updated: The version of the curl tool included in Windows is updated to v8.13.0.
• [Authentication Platform]
  • Fixed: An issue affecting the device registration in Entra ID Windows Account Manager (WAM) plugin.
• [Input and Composition]
  • Fixed: An issue affecting the complete removal of unused language packs and Feature on Demand (FOD) packages. This issue led to unnecessary storage use and increased Windows update installation time.
• [Print and Peripherals]
  • Fixed: An issue affecting USB-connected Multi-Function printers with dual protocol interfaces. Scanning failed and prevented using the built-in scanning functionality in the operating system.
• [Start Menu]
  • Fixed: An issue causing jump lists to disappear from the Start Menu.
  • Fixed: An issue where the Start Menu was not starting after installing an update.
• [WinSaS]
  • Fixed: Settings > System > About incorrectly shows version 2009 instead of version 22H2.
  • Change of behavior: To maintain DMA compliance in the European Economic Area (EEA), when a new default browser is set, it is automatically pinned to the Taskbar and Start menu.
  • Change of behavior: Associates HTTP and .pdf file types when setting default browser.
• [Servicing]
  • Fixed: An issue where Kiosk devices using the ForceAutoLogon configuration and Shift Override might stop responding with a blue screen after being locked and unlocked by support administrators.
• [File Server]
  • Fixed: An issue where the system may stop responding when acknowledging an Oplock break request on resources located on SMB shares.

Known issues include a single bug with Noto fonts appearing blurry in Chromium-based browsers such as Edge or Chrome. For now, the only fix is to set your screen scaling to 125% or higher.

As usual, feel free to skip KB5061087 if you do not need any of those fixes. Non-security updates are optional, and they eventually arrive with monthly Patch Tuesday updates. You can get KB5061087 from Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog using this link.

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Microsoft finally announced program enrollment details for Windows 10 users. Starting today, Windows 10 Insiders can access a new enrollment wizard through the Settings app and push notifications to set up their systems for the Extended Security Update program (ESU). More importantly, Microsoft is introducing free enrollment options, allowing Windows 10 users to remain supported for one more year without paying Microsoft a single dollar.

Now, you can get 12 more months of security updates using one of the following three options:

• Use the Windows Backup app to sync your settings to the cloud
• Pay 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points
• Pay $30 (local prices may vary)

This is the first time that Microsoft has made the Extended Security Update program available for consumers. Previously, this program was reserved for commercial customers only. However, four years after the release of Windows 11, Windows 10 remains the dominant desktop operating system. At this scope, Microsoft cannot just drop hundreds of millions of users behind. Microsoft's initial plan was to give customers 12 months of extra updates for $30, but now, the company is seemingly giving up on that.

While the $30 option is still available, the program is pretty much free for every consumer, which addresses some of the concerns I expressed earlier. 1,000 Microsoft Reward points is a pretty small price to pay, and the Windows Backup option is entirely free (all you need is to sync your PC settings using a Microsoft Account). With these two new options, Microsoft makes security updates more accessible to users (governments are already warning users about the end of Windows 10 support), giving them more time to plan their migration to Windows 11 without sending their computers to the landfill and generating thousands of tons of e-waste.

The enrollment wizard is now available to Windows 10 Insiders. Next month, it will be available outside the Insider program as part of the July non-security updates. Broad availability is expected by mid-August.

Commercial organizations can also enroll their devices today using the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program. The price is $61 per device for one year. For Windows 365, these Cloud PCs are eligible for extended security updates at no extra cost.

It is worth noting that the program only grants one year of security updates, from October 15, 2025, to October 13, 2026. However, those who need more support can opt for third-party solutions like 0patch, which promises five more years of security updates.

The end of mainstream Windows 10 support means that the company will stop providing technical support and feature/security updates outside the ESU program. As such, many developers will start dropping Windows 10 support in their products, reduce available functionality, and more. However, Windows 10 PCs will not stop working overnight. Moreover, some of Microsoft-made services will continue receiving support. Those include Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Defender updates. Microsoft 365 apps will be getting new features until August 2026 and security updates until October 10, 2028.

For many users, the biggest problem with Windows 11 is not its controversial taskbar or Start menu (which is getting a big redesign, mind you). Steeper hardware requirements prevent many users from updating their still-capable computers to a supported release. To mitigate this, Microsoft is willing to offer free security updates for one year instead of lowering Windows 11's hardware requirements. Several months ago, Microsoft doubled down on those and stressed that Windows 11's minimum hardware requirements would not be lowered.

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Last fall, Microsoft announced that individuals who wanted to keep using Windows 10 past its official end-of-support date could do so by opting into the company's Extended Security Update (ESU) program at a cost of $30 per PC. That payment would get users a single year of additional security updates. Today, less than four months before that October 14, 2025, cutoff, Microsoft is announcing additional options for people who can't or don't want to pay that fee.

Individuals who want to pay $30 for the additional year of updates will still be able to do so. But Microsoft will also extend a year of additional Windows 10 security updates to any users who opt into Windows Backup, a relatively recent Windows 10 and Windows 11 app that backs up some settings and files using a Microsoft account. Users can also opt into ESU updates by spending 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, which are handed out for everything from making purchases with your Microsoft account to doing Bing searches.

These offers don't formally extend the end-of-support date for Windows 10. But for users who don't want to move to Windows 11 or who can't do so because their PC doesn't meet the requirements, they do effectively offer an additional year of free updates for the OS that's still installed on a slim majority of the world’s Windows PCs, according to Statcounter data.

Microsoft's blog post says that Windows 10 users will be offered access to the ESU program proactively via notifications and the Settings app. Given how aggressively Microsoft has used these and other means to push Windows 11 upgrades and new Copilot+ PCs, it's at least nice that the company isn't making Windows 10 users go digging to keep getting updates. Microsoft will test these notifications in the Windows Insider Preview channel for Windows 10 starting today. They'll begin appearing for regular Windows 10 users in July and should be rolled out to all Windows 10 PCs "by mid-August."

Once enrolled, the ESU program will support consumer Windows 10 PCs until October 13, 2026. Businesses, schools, and other organizations can still get up to three years of ESU updates, but they'll have to pay for the privilege; the year of free-ish updates only applies to consumer PCs. Microsoft said recently that it plans to support the Microsoft 365 and standalone versions of the Microsoft Office apps on Windows 10 until 2028.

Free* updates

It's worth noting that the Windows Backup and Microsoft Rewards methods for getting these updates require the use of a Microsoft Account, something Microsoft has been pushing with slowly increasing intensity in Windows 11. Windows 10 pushed Microsoft Account usage in various ways, too, but it was generally easier to create and sign in with a local account; for those people, the "free" update offer seems like another effort from Microsoft to bring them into the fold.

The Windows Backup option seems intended to ease the migration to a new Windows 11 PC when the time comes. The company may be offering a short reprieve for Windows 10 users, but the goal is still to shift them to Windows 11 eventually.

"To help make your move to a Windows 11 PC, as simple and secure as possible, we recommend using Windows Backup—built right into Windows 10," writes Microsoft Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Medhi in Microsoft's blog post. "It’s an easy way to help you safely and securely transfer your data, personal files, and most settings and applications, so everything’s ready for you the moment you sign in."

People with existing Microsoft Accounts who don't want to use Windows Backup may already have the 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points you would need to enroll in the ESU program; my Microsoft account has 3,411 points attached to it for some reason despite an 18-month expiration window and even though I’ve never taken any intentional steps toward earning any. Users creating a new account for the first time can accumulate that many points fairly trivially over the course of a few days, including by downloading the Bing app and doing various Bing searches.

We have asked Microsoft several logistical questions about the ESU program enrollment. If you reset or totally reinstall Windows 10 on the same PC, is that PC automatically enrolled in the ESU program, or will users need to enroll again? If you temporarily enable Windows Backup to access the ESU program but then stop using Windows Backup, will your PC keep receiving the updates? And if you have multiple PCs, do you need to enable Windows Backup or spend the 1,000 Rewards points on each of them individually to join the ESU program? We'll update this article if we get answers to any or all of these questions.

It’s still the “year of the Windows 11 PC refresh”

As welcome as a year of basically free-of-charge Windows 10 security updates is, Microsoft is still sticking to its guns in promoting Windows 11 upgrades (for PCs that can install it) and full PC replacements (for everyone else). Medhi once again reiterated that 2025 is "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," a not particularly catchy catchphrase that the company began using back in January. Microsoft hasn't changed the end-of-support date for Windows 10, nor has it loosened the system requirements for Windows 11 to make it more broadly compatible with existing PCs.

Microsoft's efforts do seem to be paying off (or, at least, some combination of Microsoft's efforts and Windows 10 PCs naturally aging out of the install base). While Windows 10 is still running on the majority of Windows PCs worldwide (about 53 percent, according to Statcounter's May 2025 data), Windows 11's share has increased from roughly 34 percent in December 2024 to around 43 percent as of May 2025.

On PCs in the US, Statcounter's data shows Windows 11 overtaking Windows 10 in March 2025—it currently runs on around 53 percent of US-based Windows PCs, compared to 43 percent for Windows 10. Just a year ago, Statcounter's data shows Windows 10 PCs outnumbering Windows 11 PCs by roughly two to one. The Steam Hardware Survey shows a similar arc—as of May 2025, Windows 11 runs on 61 percent of Steam Windows PCs, compared to around 39 percent for Windows 10.

These stats are all a bit noisy and inconsistent, but they're useful for observing broad trend lines, and those are all pointing in the same direction: Windows 11 is making real gains after stalling out for most of 2023 and 2024.

Another year of free-ish updates won't be enough to make Windows 10 completely disappear. And the fact that you need to opt in to the ESU program instead of just getting the extra updates automatically means that some less technically savvy users probably won't get the updates no matter how low the barriers to entry are. But the additional enrollment options do at least give Windows 10 users some more choices, whether they can't install Windows 11 or just don't want to.

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If Windows 10 has been your favorite version so far, but you had to move to Windows 11, you're not alone, and you should know that many users share that feeling.

Although Windows 11 builds on the foundation of its predecessor, it also introduces a new design language and interface tweaks that can feel unfamiliar. Changes like the centered Taskbar, the stripped-down Start menu, and the new version of File Explorer and Settings app may take some getting used to.

The good news is you can customize many of these elements to make it look a little more like the Windows 10 experience. Whether you prefer built-in tweaks or third-party tools, it's possible to restore the classic Start menu, reposition the Taskbar, and bring back the traditional File Explorer layout.

In this how-to guide, I'll outline two ways to customize your desktop to resemble the Windows 10 experience on Windows 11.

Warning: These instructions involve making system changes. As such, it's important that you create a before proceeding in case something breaks and you need to roll back to a good working state.

How to make Windows 11 look like 10 without third-party tools

These are the subtle changes you can make to your setup to make it look a little more like the older version.

Start menu and Taskbar alignment

On Windows 10 and previous versions, the Taskbar and Start menu have always been aligned to the left, which is a layout many users find familiar. On Windows 11, however, the default center alignment gives the interface a more modern look, but it can feel unfamiliar. Fortunately, the new version of the operating system includes a setting that lets you shift these elements back to the traditional left-aligned position.

To use the tab unload feature, you simply right-click on a single tab or a selection of tabs and hit "Unload Tab". This kicks the tab out of your computer's memory, freeing up system resources without you having to close it for good. If you are someone who keeps a lot of tabs open, this could definitely help if your machine starts to chug.

The other big thing is support for a custom search engine. If you want to use something other than the pre-packaged options, you can now add it by right-clicking a search field on a site or by manually adding it in the settings. If you are a fan of vertical tabs, you can now drag a divider to resize the pinned tabs section.

On the flip side, some things are getting the boot. The Pocket integration, including its toolbar icon and New Tab presence, has been removed completely. This follows the service's shutdown announcement and cleans up the interface a bit, for better or worse, depending on how much you used it.

As you may know, 140 is also the new base for the next Extended Support Release (ESR). This version brings a massive number of updates that non-ESR users have had for a while.

ESR is for organizations that prefer stability over new features. The new ESR brings in a massive number of features that standard users have had for a while, like vertical tabs, tab grouping, a redesigned sidebar, and better privacy protections like bounce tracking protection.

Other notable improvements in the main Firefox 140 release include:

• The full-page translation tool now works smarter, prioritizing the text in your current view to speed things up.
• Address autofill support has been rolled out to users in Italy, Poland, and Austria.
• Firefox builds in Arabic now come with a built-in dictionary for the spellchecker.
• For web developers, there is new platform support for a variety of APIs, including the CookieStore API and Service Workers in Private Browsing Mode.
• You can now remove the dedicated extensions button from the main toolbar.

If you're interested in this release, you can grab a build for your operating system from our Software Stories page. Release notes for Firefox 140 and the ESR version are also available.

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However, there can be major problems too. For example, earlier this month, we reported on an incident wherein a Windows user was locked out of their Microsoft Account when Windows flagged their OneDrive upload activities, and apparently there was no way to recover their account. We discussed how, in such a case, users can lose all their data, especially if it's BitLocker encrypted, which is not all that unlikely on Windows 11 24H2. You can read the story in full in this article here.

Meanwhile, on the topic of MSA, Microsoft has finally released a detailed step-by-step guide for fixing the Office 2024 licensing bug. The tech giant had already published an update earlier back in December last year. While that was supposed to fix the issue, the problem likely persisted for many users.

For those who need a refresher, users whose Microsoft accounts held licenses for both Office 2024 and earlier editions like Office 2021. After upgrading to Office 2024, the MSA continued to display the older version.

At the time, Microsoft only stated that installing the latest version of the Office 2024 app would fix the issue. This week, though, a detailed guide has been shared. The company writes:

If you are still having this problem after installing the latest updates, please follow the steps below.

 

[Office 2024 Microsoft account Based]

 

1. Close all open Office apps, then navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Office\Licenses.
2. Delete the Folder named “5” in that directory.
3. Launch any of the Office apps and sign in to the Microsoft account associated with Office 2024 then select Office 2024 from the available Office list.
4. Confirm Office 2024 shows on [Product Information].

 

[Office 2024 with Office Pre-installed PC for corporate]

 

1. Close all open Office apps and then navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Office\Licenses.
2. Delete the Folder named “5” in that directory.
3. Launch any of the Office apps and follow the steps to use Office 2024.
4. Confirm Office 2024 shows on [Product Information].

You can find the support article here on Microsoft's official website.

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Microsoft has announced a new Windows 11 preview build this week that includes a redesigned Windows Recall app with a new home page tab that showcases recent snapshots captured by Recall, as well as snapshots from your most used apps and websites.

The new home page interface looks super clean, and Microsoft says it's designed to "bring your recent activity and top-used content front and center, enabling you to easily get back to your previous tasks."

Indeed, the new homepage does enable the ability to quickly jump to a snapshot that was captured earlier in the day, as well as view snapshots across your top 3 most-used apps or websites at a glance. The top 3 websites or apps are based on your most used over the last 24 hours only.