News: Software News

7 accessibility features in Windows 11 that make life easier for everyone

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 19:27:15 +0000

Discover seven accessibility features anyone can use to improve customization and productivity.

Windows 11 offers a comprehensive list of accessibility features designed to improve usability for all users, regardless of their abilities. However, these tools not only support individuals with specific needs, but they can also help improve anyone's overall experience.

For example, you can use the mouse settings to change the pointer's style, and you can even enable the indicator to make it easier to find the pointer on the screen. Also, it's possible to customize the appearance of the text cursor to improve usability.

You will also find features such as Live Captions to show captions on the screen from any voice or video content. Voice Access allows you to control your computer with only your voice. Similarly, the Voice Typing feature can help you type a document using your voice and more.

In this how-to guide, I'll share seven accessibility features that everyone should be using on Windows 11.

Best accessibility for anyone using Windows 11

These are some accessibility features that can help anyone boost the overall navigation experience on Windows 11.

1. Customise mouse appearance

Microsoft categorizes the mouse settings as accessibility features, but anyone can use them to make the pointer a little more personal and fun.

To change the mouse pointer appearance, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Mouse pointer and touch" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Select the Custom option under the "Mouse pointer style" section.
Choose the new color scheme for the pointer.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Quick tip: You can also create a custom color with the "Choose another color" option.

If you want to personalize even further, you can use the "Customize printer image" setting to set a custom icon for each state of the mouse pointer. (This is a new option that may or may not be available for everyone at the time you're reading this guide.)

In addition, you can make the mouse pointer bigger or smaller using the "Size" slider.

One particular option I also usually turn on is the "Mouse indicator" feature, which allows you to press the "Ctrl" key to show a circle around the mouse pointer to make it easier to find on the screen.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Microsoft is also porting other legacy mouse features to this page, including mouse pointer trails and shadow.

2. Change text cursor appearance

Although you wouldn't typically think about the text cursor since it's just a flashing visual indicator that shows where text will be entered or edited on the screen, you can also customize its color and thickness.

To change the text cursor appearance, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Text cursor" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Text cursor indicator" toggle switch.
Select the size of the indicator.
Choose the new color scheme for the text indicator.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Quick tip: You can also create a custom color with the "Choose another color" option.

Choose how thin or thick the text cursor is using the "Text cursor thickness" slider.

Once you complete the steps, the changes will apply to the text cursor.

3. Show live captions from any media

Live Captions is a feature that provides real-time transcription of audio into text on your screen. In other words, this means that whether you're watching videos, attending virtual meetings, listening to podcasts, or even playing games, you can see what's being said in text format.

To enable Live Captions on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Captions" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Live Captions" toggle switch.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Click the "Yes, continue" button (if applicable).
Click the Continue button (if applicable).

After you complete the steps, you can use the "Windows key + Ctrl + L" keyboard shortcut to control the feature. For example, if you turn the feature on, the system will use the on-device components to generate captions from any content with audio.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

This feature works virtually with any source of audio, including online streaming (such as YouTube), local files, virtual meetings, music, podcasts, and even games.

4. Control your PC with voice commands

On Windows 11, you can also control your computer entirely with your voice without a keyboard or mouse. It's built directly into the operating system and can function offline after an initial language file download.

As an accessibility feature, it's particularly helpful for individuals with limited mobility or temporary injuries, but anyone can use it for a hands-free experience.

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Speech" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Voice Access" toggle switch.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Click the "I agree" button (if applicable).
Set up your device's microphone using the Voice Access Guide app.

You can click the "Done" button to start using the feature or the "Start guide" button to learn the basics about Voice Access.

For example, you can say: "Voice Access wake up" to turn the microphone on to interact with the feature.

You can launch and switch between apps, open and close windows, manage your desktop, and perform system tasks like shutting down or restarting your computer.

Command examples: "Open File Explorer," "Switch to ," "Close window," "Go to desktop," "Shut down PC."

You can also navigate through various elements on your screen, including menus, buttons, links, and folders.

Command examples: "Click Start," "Scroll down," "Show numbers" (to display numbers on clickable items), "Click 5" (to select a numbered item), and "Show grid" (to refine mouse pointer placement).

Furthermore, you can control the mouse pointer with your voice, allowing for precise clicks, double-clicks, right-clicks, and even drag-and-drop actions.

Command examples: "Click," "Right click," "Double-click," "Mouse grid" (to move the mouse to a specific point on a monitor).

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You can always use the "Help" (?) menu in the Voice Access interface to access the app and view all the commands. You can even create shortcuts for one or multiple actions using the "Voice shortcuts" feature.

5. Convert voice into text with dictation

Voice Typing is a feature that allows you to convert your spoken words into text in virtually any text field on your computer.

In other words, you can use this feature to dictate emails, documents, messages, search queries, and more, speeding up your writing process and providing an alternative to traditional keyboard typing.

To get started with Voice Typing, use these steps:

Invoke the "Windows key + H" keyboard shortcut.
Click the Microphone button to start dictation.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

After you complete the steps, you can create text from voice on any application with a text field.

Optionally, you can open the Voice Typing settings to turn on the option to launch the feature when it detects you're in a text box.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

You can also turn on automatic punctuation and change the microphone source as needed.

6. Show scrollbar on all apps

Windows 11 introduced a more minimalist design, including making scrollbars thinner and often hiding them by default until you hover your mouse pointer over the area where they appear or begin scrolling. The idea was to provide a cleaner, less cluttered visual interface, especially on touch-enabled devices.

However, this "auto-hide" behavior can be annoying or even slow productivity for many users, which is why Windows 11 provides an option always to show scrollbars.

To always show the scrollbar, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Visual effects" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Always show scrollbars" toggle switch.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Once you complete the steps, apps like File Explorer and Settings app will always show the scrollbar to improve navigation across the operating system.

7. Control keyboard sensitivity when typing

Filter Keys is a feature that allows you to control the sensitivity of the keyboard by setting options to ignore or slow down repeated keystrokes.

It's designed to assist individuals with mobility challenges, but you can always use it to improve your typing experience if you find yourself accidentally pressing keys multiple times or have difficulty holding down keys for the correct duration.

To change the filter keys settings on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Accessibility.
Click the "Keyboard" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Click on the "Filter keys" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Filter keys" toggle switch.
Turn on the "Ignore quick keystrokes (slow keys)" toggle switch.
Choose the time in seconds in the "Wait before accepting a keystroke" setting.

(Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

Turn on the "Ignore unintended keystrokes (bounce keys)" toggle switch.
Choose the time in seconds in the "Wait before accepting repeated keystrokes" setting.
Turn on the "Ignore repeated keystrokes (repeated keys)" toggle switch.
Choose the time in seconds in the "Wait before accepting the first repeated keystroke" setting.
Choose the time in seconds in the "Wait before accepting subsequent repeated keystroke" setting.

It's important to adjust and test the settings until you arrive at the best configuration for your needs.

Do you regularly use any of the Windows 11 accessibility features to enhance your experience? Let me know in the comments.

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MS-DEFCON 2: Do you need that update?

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 19:24:38 +0000

By Susan Bradley

Microsoft is blurring the lines between those updates that I consider mandatory and those that some administrators might need for their networks.

For many years, I’ve urged folks to immediately install Microsoft’s out-of-band updates to protect us from whatever was occurring in the attack. But now, Microsoft is not communicating well. It’s hard to know whether these updates are needed.

Therefore, I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2. Put updates on pause, and don’t install the out-of-band updates from May. Mea culpa: I realize that we lowered the level just a week ago, but these updates arrived after that, giving me too little time to figure them out. As I say, poor communication from Microsoft.

Windows 10 received not one but two out-of-band updates during the month of May. The first, KB5061768 on May 19, specifically fixes this issue:

A known issue on devices with Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) enabled on 10th generation or later Intel vPro processors. On these systems, installing the May 13, 2025, Windows security update (KB5058379) might cause the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process to terminate unexpectedly, triggering an Automatic Repair prompting for the BitLocker recovery key to continue.

If you have a 10th-gen Intel vPro processor on your Windows 10 computer and BitLocker is not enabled, you do not need this out-of-band update.

The second, KB5061979 for Windows 10, includes the fix above and then includes an additional fix:

An issue in the direct send path for a guest physical address (GPA). This issue caused confidential virtual machines running on Hyper-V with Windows Server 2022 to intermittently stop responding or restart unexpectedly. As a result, service availability was affected, and manual intervention was required. This problem primarily impacted Azure confidential VMs.

This would impact only hosted machines, not physical Windows 10 computers.

Windows 11 24H2 received a similar out-of-band update, KB5061977, fixing the Hyper-V platform:

An issue in the direct send path for a guest physical address (GPA) where confidential virtual machines running on Hyper-V with Windows Server 2025 might intermittently stop responding or restart unexpectedly, affecting service availability and requiring manual intervention. This issue primarily affects Azure confidential VMs.

Windows 11 23H2 got its share with KB5062170:

This update addresses an issue where some customers encountered a recovery error with error code 0xc0000098 while installing the May 2025 Windows security update (KB5058405) on Windows 11, version 22H2 and 23H2 devices. This update will not install on systems that successfully applied KB5058405.

Consumers

The good news for consumers is that none of these updates will automatically install. You must go to the Microsoft catalog and manually download the update in order to obtain them. I don’t see consumers impacted by these issues. I do recommend that you place updating on hold as we get ready to receive the June updates and start testing them.

Businesses

Businesses can also decide to skip these updates and pause deploying updates until June’s updates come out. Unless you are specifically impacted, I recommend not installing these out-of-band updates at this time.

For both businesses and consumers, it’s time to pause — don’t install any out-of-band updates.

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How to make the most of Google Keep

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 19:18:19 +0000

Google’s unassuming note-taking app has plenty to offer.

As part of my job as a tech writer, and as part of my ongoing efforts to get organized at some point, I’ve tested a whole pile of note-taking apps through the years: the simple, the sophisticated, the quirky, the AI-powered, and on it goes. It’s a popular app category, and there’s no shortage of options.

Amid all these different choices, one of the apps that I find myself regularly coming back to is Google Keep. It’s fast and easy to get around, it works on just about any device, and once you dig a little deeper into its colorful sticky note interface, there are plenty of useful features to take advantage of.

Whether you’re a current Google Keep user looking to do more with the app or you’re wondering whether Google Keep has enough to tempt you away from whatever note-taking system you’re using at the moment, these are some of its most appealing features.

Change the look

Get your notes looking exactly the way you want.

Right from the start, the colorful Post-it note look of Google Keep gives you a neat way of arranging your notes: yellow for to-dos and blue for shopping lists, for example, or whatever suits you.

There are 11 different pastel colors to pick from besides the default white, and on top of that, you’ve got nine background pictures you can use instead, covering themes like celebration, places, recipes, and music.

These backgrounds can be swapped around at any time by clicking on the paint palette icon at the bottom of every note.

Apply labels to notes

Google Keep borrows a trick from Gmail with labels: individual notes can have multiple labels, so something can be tagged with “family” and “urgent” or “ideas” and “vacation.” It’s a handy way of bringing order to your notes, even as their numbers grow into the dozens or hundreds.

Labels can help you with searches as well. As you would expect from a Google product, Google Keep has a search function that’s fast and accurate: click inside the search box at the top of the web interface, and you can limit your query to notes that match a certain label (or category or color).

On the web, your labels are listed to the left for easy access. To apply a label on an open note, click the three dots at the bottom of the note, then Add label (or Change labels).

Format your text

You can now format your text in both the Android and web versions of Keep. You can make it bold, italicized, underlined, or crossed out; you can also change the size to an H1 or H2 heading. Look for the icon with an underlined A at the bottom of the note. (Unfortunately, this isn’t yet available in the iOS version.)

Make a to-do list

If you want to be able to check off items in a list, it’s easy: in an open note, click the three dots (or the plus icon in the mobile app) at the bottom of the note and select Show checkboxes. (If you decide you don’t want them, you can go back and select Hide checkboxes.)

Collaborate

You can easily collaborate on notes with other people.

Google Keep lets you collaborate on notes with other people, too, without the feature ever getting overly complicated. Click the collaborator icon on an open note (the figure with a plus next to it), then enter the email addresses of the contacts you want to share it with. (On the mobile app, you’ll find the icon by clicking on the three dots at the bottom of the screen.)

You don’t get to see who makes which edits like you do in Google Docs, but you do get updates when someone makes changes to a note, and you can see at the bottom of each note who your collaborators are.

Set reminders

As with collaboration, reminders are a genuinely useful feature implemented in a straightforward way. You can get notifications from the Google Keep app at a specific time or even when you reach a specific place (if you’ve got the mobile app installed). Reminders can be set to repeat, so you could set up a household chore list that gives you a nudge at the same time every week.

To set a reminder on the web version, just click on the little Remind me icon at the bottom of each note (which looks like a small bell), then set the options as needed. On the mobile version, the icon is at the top of the screen.

Pin your note

Sometimes, you create a note that you want to be able to find immediately. In that case, you can pin the note to the top of your list by tapping the pin icon at the top of the note. However, be careful about overusing this; I sometimes find that if I pin too many notes, they become just as difficult to find as if I didn’t pin them at all.

Grab text from images

You can not only add images to notes using the image icon at the bottom of the note but you can also extract the text from them as well. In the web version, just click the three dots, then Grab image text. In the mobile version, tap the image, then the three dots in the upper right and Grab image text. As long as the letters in the photo or in your drawing are legible enough, you get a copy of them printed underneath — something that can be very handy if you are, for example, taking a photo of a business card.

Scribble away

You can add hand-drawn scribbles. In the web version, click the three dots and then Add drawing; in the mobile version, click the plus icon and Drawing.

Turn a note into a Doc

Notes can be quickly converted into documents in Google Docs by clicking on the three dots at the bottom of a note and choosing Copy to Google Docs. (In the mobile app, click the three dots and select Send > Copy to Google Docs.)

Mobile app only

There are a couple of additional features that are available in Keep’s mobile apps for Android and iOS.

You can record voice notes by tapping on the plus icon at the bottom of the screen and then Audio (Android) or tapping the plus icon and then Recording (iOS). The created note will have both the audio file as an embed and the transcript of the audio as the accompanying text. This can be especially useful if you need to quickly record a thought for later use; if you have the Keep Quick capture widget on your homescreen, you can tap it or say “Google, take a note” to record your new note.

Voice notes include both audio and a transcription.

You can also add a photo to an open note by tapping the plus icon and then Take photo. If you want to start a new note with a photo, just tap the plus icon at the bottom of the screen, tap Image, and select either Take photo (for a new photo) or Choose image (to select one from your photo gallery).

Update June 5th, 2025: This article was originally published on October 16th, 2019, and has been updated to account for changes in the OS and to add additional features.

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AMD 25.6.1 driver out with RX 9060 XT support and a lot more FSR 4 games

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 19:16:26 +0000

A brand-new hardware launch is happening today for AMD, and to make sure its new GPUs are running properly, a new graphics driver has also landed right alongside it. The AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.6.1 driver lands with support for the RX 9060 XT and the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700, while also finally updating the number of games that support its AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 upscaling technology.

The consumer space-targeted RX 9060 XT graphics card comes in 8GB and 16GB flavors starting at $300 and $350 price points, respectively. Check out our launch coverage for this RDNA 4 GPU for more details here.

At the same time, the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 comes in for handling professional workloads with a whopping 32GB of VRAM. While support for this card has already arrived with the latest driver, AMD is expecting to ship the product sometime in July 2025.

The driver has also added official support for Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny Remaster as well, the Capcom-developed action game from last month.

As for fixes, AMD has said that it has resolved reversed Quality and Performance selections in the Radeon Boost UI, as well as Le Mans Ultimate performance issues on RX 9070 series GPUs.

There are quite a few known issues AMD is still working on:

Stutter and lower than expected performance may be observed when using alt-tab and streaming to Discord with multiple monitors.
Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Marvel Spiderman 2 with Ray Tracing enabled on Radeon™ RX 9060 XT.
Intermittent application crash may be observed when first launching The Last of Us Part 1 on Radeon™ RX 9060 XT graphics products.
Stutter may be observed while playing games with some VR headsets at 80Hz or 90Hz refresh rate on some AMD Radeon™ Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 7000 series. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to change the refresh rate as a temporary workaround.
Intermittent system or application crash may be observed while playing Cyberpunk 2077 on some AMD Radeon™ Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 7000 series.
Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Monster Hunter Wilds with Radeon™ Anti-Lag and Instant Replay enabled.
Artifacts or corruption may appear while playing Battlefield™ V on Radeon™ RX 7000 series graphics products.
Stutter may be observed while playing Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Season 03 ‘Verdansk’ map on some AMD Graphics Products.
Stutter and lower than expected performance may be observed while playing 4K resolution YouTube videos in Chromium. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to play videos in full screen as a temporary workaround.
Texture flickering or corruption may appear while playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered with AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution enabled on Radeon™ RX 9070 XT. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to disable AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution as a temporary workaround.

As for FSR 4, these games are now supported by the popular upscaling tech for gaining more frames:

Deadzone: Rogue	Rem Survival
F1 25	Runescape: Dragonwilds
Frostpunk 2	Star Wars Outlaws
Legacy: Steel & Sorcery	Steel Seed
Lords of the Fallen	Stellar Blade
Planetaries	Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O
QANGA	Wild Assault

The complete list of games with FSR 4 support, as well as upcoming implementations, can be found on AMD's support page here.

The WHQL-certified AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.6.1 driver can now be downloaded from the AMD Software app as well as the changelog page on its official website here.

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Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9.4 released bringing performance improvements, bug fixes and more

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 19:14:07 +0000

Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9.4 is now out, marking the first official release in its 1.9.x series. This application, for anyone new to it, is a tool from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It first came out in March 2020. Its main job is to make getting an operating system onto a microSD card or USB drive for any Raspberry Pi computer super simple, even if you hate the command line. It handles downloading selected OS images and writing them correctly, cutting out several manual steps that used to trip people up, like finding the right image version or using complicated disk utility tools.

This version brings solid user interface improvements for a smoother experience, involving internal tweaks that contribute to a more polished feel. Much work went into global accessibility, adding new Korean and Georgian translations. Updates also cover Chinese, German, Spanish, Italian, and many others. Naturally, a good number of bugs got squashed, including a fix for tricky long filename issues on Windows and an issue with the Escape key in the options popup.

Changes specific to operating systems are also clear. Windows users get an installer using Inno Setup. Its program files, installer, and uninstaller are now signed for better Windows security. For macOS, .app file naming in .dmg packages is fixed, and building the software is more reliable. Linux users can now hide system drives from the destination list, a great way to prevent accidentally wiping your main computer drives. The Linux AppImage also disables Wayland support by default.

The full list of changes is outlined below:

Fixed minor errors in Simplified Chinese translation
Updated translations for German, Catalan, Spanish, Slovak, Portuguese, Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Korean, and Georgian
Explicitly added --tree to lsblk to hide partitions from the top-level output
CMake now displays the version as v1.9.1
Added support for quiet uninstallation on Windows
Applied regex to match SSH public keys during OS customization
Updated dependencies:
- libarchive (3.7.4 → 3.7.7 → 3.8.0)
- zlib (removed preconfigured header → updated to 1.4.1.1)
- cURL (8.8 → 8.11.0 → 8.13.0)
- nghttp2 (updated to 1.65.0)
- zstd (updated to 1.5.7)
- xz/liblzma (updated to 5.8.1)
Windows-specific updates:
- Switched to Inno Setup for the installer
- Added code signing for binaries, installer, and uninstaller
- Enabled administrator privileges and NSIS removal support
- Fixed a bug causing incorrect saving of long filenames
macOS-specific updates:
- Fixed .app naming in .dmg packages
- Improved build reliability and copyright
Linux-specific updates:
- System drives are now hidden in destination popup
- Wayland support disabled in AppImage
General UI/UX improvements:
- Fixed OptionsPopup not handling the Esc key
- Improved QML code structure, accessibility, and linting
- Made options popup modal
- Split main UI into component files
- Added a Style singleton and ImCloseButton component
Internationalization (i18n):
- Made "Recommended" OS string translatable
- Made "gigabytes" translatable
Packaging improvements:
- Custom AppImage build script with Qt detection
- Custom Qt build script with unprivileged mode
- Qt 6.9.0 included
- Dependencies migrated to FetchContent system
Build system:
- CMake version bumped to 3.22
- Various improvements and hardening applied
Removed "Show password" checkbox in OS customization settings
Reverted unneeded changes in long filename size calculation
Internal refactoring and performance improvements in download and extract operations
Added support for more archive formats via libarchive

Lastly, it's worth noting that the system requirements have changed since version 1.9.0: macOS users will need version 11 or later; Windows users, Windows 10 or newer; Ubuntu users, version 22.04 or newer; and Debian users, Bookworm or later.

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ChatGPT can now connect to Outlook, Teams, Gmail, Google Drive, and other services

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 02:46:35 +0000

Apart from regular consumers, ChatGPT is also growing fast among business users. In fact, OpenAI now has 3 million paying (Enterprise, Team, and Edu) business users, up from 2 million in February.

During a live stream today targeted toward business users, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT can now connect to more external services to pull in real-time context and provide more useful responses for users.

The following are some of the external connectors available in ChatGPT Deep Research for Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users:

Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft SharePoint
Dropbox
Box
Google Drive
Gmail
Liner

In addition to the above, IT admins in organizations can now build custom ChatGPT connectors using the popular Model Context Protocol (MCP). These custom connectors will allow organizations to make use of the data available inside their proprietary systems and other apps within ChatGPT, alongside pre-built connectors.

Today, the ChatGPT team also announced a new feature called record mode for ChatGPT Team users on macOS. The record mode feature will allow users to capture meeting audio and get meeting transcriptions, meeting action items, summaries, etc. ChatGPT record mode will also be available to Plus, Pro, Enterprise, and Edu users in the future.

Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer at OpenAI, tweeted the following regarding today’s launch:

"These launch first to our B2B customers and to everyone else ASAP. The Deep Research connectors are additionally rolling out to Plus and Pro users starting today, and MCP support will be available to Pro users. Can't wait to hear what you think!"

While ChatGPT's new connectors and features mark significant progress, it faces a formidable challenge in the enterprise market against Microsoft 365 Copilot, which enjoys native integration within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

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Windows 11 gets improved Start menu Phone Link integration and more in build 27871

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:03:46 +0000

Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 11 Canary Channel build 27871 for Windows Insiders. Today's build contains little, except for Phone Link improvements, energy saver management in Microsoft Intune, and various fixes.

With build 27871, IT administrators can now control the energy savings on PCs in Microsoft Intune. Policies can be managed using the Local Group Policy Editor or the Microsoft Intune Admin Center. When enabled, energy saver limits background activity and reduces screen brightness, ensuring that devices consume less power while maintaining optimal performance.

Phone Link integration in the Start menu received the same changes that Microsoft introduced earlier this week in the Dev and Beta Channels. Notifications are now appearing grouped on the Phone Link pane in the Start menu, Android users can enable screen mirroring with one click, and iPhone photo memories are now supported.

Finally, Microsoft adjusted the "needy state pill" under apps that require your attention. Those pills are now larger and more visible.

Fixes in build 27871 include the following:

[General]

We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you had disconnected network drives when doing a search from Home it might prevent searches from executing and you’d remain on Home.

Fixed an issue where tapping the View button in File Explorer with touch would crash File Explorer.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + Number wasn’t working anymore for switching windows in the taskbar.

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.

Fixed an issue when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, where if keyboard focus went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, causing some screen readers to just say “pane”.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of Settings > System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.

Fixed an issue where the storage card in Settings > System > About showed a garbage character instead of the proper disk size.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an issue where when using Administrator Protection, some apps might not follow your preference if it was set to dark mode.

[Task Manager]

Fixed the issue causing search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager to not work.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue in the last few Canary flights where audio devices with high sampling (like 192Hz) and multiple channels weren’t producing sound.

Fixed an issue which could cause the startup sound not to play, though it was enabled.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.

Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages might unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause unexpected scaling and window position changes after sleep/resume for some devices.

[Voice access]

Fixed an issue which could voice access to freeze with error “working on it” when dictating.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor.

Fixed an issue where some of the commands when using xml to setup were unexpectedly not being run.

Fixed an issue when installing Windows from installation media, where if you changed your keyboard layout from the default, it may still use the default when entering the product key.

Fixed an issue when installing Windows from installation media, where certain partitions may show an extremely large erroneous size.

And here are the known bugs:

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.

We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue where the taskbar is unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to the latest Canary builds. This is impacting a few other scenarios, leading to unexpected black or white in some UI.

You can find the announcement post on the official Windows Blogs website.

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Intel's new GPU driver adds support for FBC: Firebreak, Stellar Blade, and more

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:02:26 +0000

Intel has released a new non-WHQL driver under version 32.0.101.6876. The update brings support and optimizations for four games and a single fix for visual artifacts that appear in certain situations. Here is the list of newly-supported games in driver 32.0.101.6876 on systems with Intel Arc B-Series, A-Series, and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Arc graphics:

FBC: Firebreak
Rematch
Stellar Blade
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege X

There is also a single bug fixed in today's release:

Intermittent visual artifacts may appear in certain usage scenarios.

Known issues remain the same as in the latest WHQL release, except for a new bug that causes audio glitches on handheld devices:

Certain handheld devices may experience audio glitches and lower-than-expected performance while audio is playing.

You can mitigate the problem by following a guide that Intel published on the official forum. It requires reinstalling the graphics and NPU drivers on the affected systems. A proper fix will be available in a future driver update.

You can install Intel 32.0.101.6876 non-WHQL driver on PCs with 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 with the following graphics products from Intel:

Discrete GPUs	Integrated GPUs
Intel Arc A-Series (Alchemist) Intel Arc B-Series (Battlemage) Intel Iris Xe Discrete Graphics (DG1)	Intel Core Ultra Series 2 (Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake) Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) Intel Core 14th Gen (Raptor Lake Refresh) Intel Core 13th Gen (Raptor Lake) Intel Core 12th Gen (Alder Lake) Intel Core 11th Gen (Tiger Lake)

You can download the driver from the official website here. Full release notes are available here (PDF). Keep in mind that this is a non-WHQL driver, which means it could be less stable than certified WHQL drivers.

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Nvidia shares Windows hotfix driver 576.66 for FC 25 crashes, browser video bugs, and more

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 02:22:44 +0000

Nvidia has been on a roll lately with its release of hotfix drivers, which are essentially emergency display driver updates meant to fix issues.. The company's GeForce RTX 5000 series graphics cards have been plagued with several issues, and these hotfixes as well as the regular GameReady driver updates, are being pushed out to clear up the software side problems.

The first hotfix was released in early March with version 572.65 that resolved black screen bootups. This was followed by another, version 572.75, that addressed clocking issues. After that, version 576.15 helped fix Windows Sleep and Modern Standby-related temperature monitoring bugs.

With the latest hotfix driver update, 576.66, Nvidia says that it has resolved a video playback bug in web browsers that can lead to red-green flashing and similar corruption of that nature. Aside from that, the driver also fixes multiple game crashes including EA Sports FC 25, and more.

Nvidia notes that the new hotfix driver is based on its latest GameReady driver 576.52. As a refresher, that driver added support for Nvidia's new RTX 5060.

The full changelog for the new hotfix driver 576.66 is given below:

Dune: Awakening may crash during gameplay [5273568]
EA Sports FC 25 may crash during gameplay [5251937]
[RTX 50 series] Dragons Dogma 2 displays shadow flicker [5252205]
[RTX 50 series] Video playback in a web browser may show brief red/green flash corruption [5241341]
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 may crash [5283401]

If you are encountering problems like the ones described above on Windows 11 or 10, you should definitely try updating the driver to the hotfix version here. In order to download the update, head over to Nvidia's official website on this page where you can also view the driver's release notes.

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The real story behind Steve Ballmer's "Developers!" chant — a concoction of Microsoft's flawed "just a platform company" culture and a dire need to collaborate with third-party developers

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 02:17:42 +0000

After decades of mystery, former Microsoft CEO reveals the story behind his viral "Developers!" chant at company events.

Earlier this year, during Microsoft's 50th birthday celebration, we seemingly got a front-row seat to Copilot AI's evolution into a companion and real friend, fully equipped with memory and a virtual body as part of Microsoft's AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman's, future plans for the AI-powered chatbot.

But perhaps more interestingly, we also got a free nostalgic trip down memory lane, courtesy of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who took the stage at the special Copilot event for his Developers! Developers! Developers! chant.

The viral chant can be traced back to a Microsoft developer conference in the early 2000s, which was often associated with Ballmer. Around the same time, the executive had just assumed his new role as Microsoft CEO, after Bill Gates stepped down from the helm.

During an episode of the Acquired podcast, Ballmer recently revealed that there's much more to the chant than just hype. He indicated that he used the viral chant as a call to action for Microsoft (via Business Insider). At the time, the company had doubled down on developing Windows, Windows Server, and ActiveX.

However, the tech giant wasn't as enthusiastic and proactive in getting third-party developers to build on top of these platforms. Ballmer saw this as a threat, facing fierce competition from the likes of Linux.

Steve Ballmer also revealed that he was frustrated with Microsoft's culture in the early 2000s, predominantly viewing it as "just a platform company."

I'm trying to tell people at that time that third parties really mattered, and you got different opinions inside Microsoft. I was just frustrated with myself and my inability to get people out of, 'We're just a platform company.'

Former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer

As such, Ballmer's infamous chant was a call to action for Microsoft to take a proactive approach in encouraging developers to build on its platforms. "You have to be able to communicate that you really care about developers who are not your own," Ballmer added. "We just had to tell people, 'We want you, we want you, we want you.'"

"I have my own kind of wild style," Ballmer concluded.

Interestingly, fast forward into the future, Microsoft has seemingly gotten over the hump and is working closely with third-party developers across its platforms. Elsewhere, Ballmer revealed that he had a difficult time emotionally detaching from Microsoft; he almost sold all his stock to expedite the process.

Ballmer also always had a sense of humor about the whole thing, including briefly redoing his chant at Microsoft's 50th Anniversary event, held in Redmond earlier in April, as captured on camera by our editor-in-chief, Daniel Rubino, and shared above.

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I still hate the new Outlook, but it's more tolerable after this update

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:01:19 +0000

The new Outlook just gained several features, including multiple offline functions.

Microsoft's controversial new Outlook app has a major update. If you're on the latest version of the app, you'll be able to access Copilot Pro or use AI credits through a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. The app now supports email coaching with Copilot and several new features as well.

The June 2025 update for the new Outlook adds support for replying and forwarding emails in a .pst file, moving emails between accounts, and searching for folders while offline.

Microsoft also added the ability to add shared folders to Favorites within the new Outlook.

If you're not a fan of Copilot in Outlook, you can disable the tool through Outlook's Copilot control page.

All of the changes to Outlook are improvements, but I doubt they'll be enough to convert those who dislike the web-based app.

Below is the full change log from Microsoft.

What's new in new Outlook for Windows

When logged into Outlook with an account that has access to Copilot Pro or AI credits through a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, Copilot features will be available for all connected email accounts. This includes Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, MSN.com, and third-party providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud, as long as they are logged into Outlook on the same device. Learn more by visiting Sharing Copilot in Outlook.

Get email coaching with Copilot

Have an important email to write and want to feel confident that it effectively conveys your intended message? With Copilot in Outlook, you can get helpful suggestions on how to adjust the tone, clarity, and reader sentiment before you hit send. Learn more by visiting Get email coaching with Copilot in Outlook.

Reply and forward emails in a PST file

With this update of support for .pst files (also known as Outlook Data File) in the new Outlook for Windows, users will be able to reply and forward emails in a .pst file. Future releases of new Outlook will expand the support for .pst file capabilities.

Move emails between accounts

Consumer users can now seamlessly move emails between their personal accounts, streamlining organization and productivity.

For Enterprise users, this feature is off by default and is controlled by a policy managed by administrators. By enabling this policy, admins can grant their users the ability to move emails between accounts in a way that aligns with organizational needs and policies.

Offline "Days of email to save" expanded to 30 days

The default mail sync window in offline mode has been expanded from 7 days to 30 days.

Offline search folders

Search folders, which help users group emails based on certain criteria, are now available while offline.

Undo send while offline

The ability to cancel an email message after you've selected Send is now supported offline.

Add shared folders to Favorites

We're thrilled to announce that you can now add shared folders to your Favorites. This enhancement offers increased flexibility and convenience, allowing easy access to important shared content directly from your Favorites list.

External tag in contact suggestions

An External tag will be added to contact suggestions that appear in the dropdown when entering contacts in the email compose form.

Disable Copilot in Outlook

To disable Copilot, open the Settings window and visit the Copilot > Copilot control page. From there, you can switch the Turn on Copilot control off.

Why I hate the new Outlook

Microsoft made the Mail & Calendar app inoperable earlier this year.

(Image credit: Windows Central)

The cliché goes, "Actions speak louder than words." Microsoft's actions say the tech giant does not care about native apps on Windows 11.

The built-in video editor that ships with Windows 11 is a web app, as is the new version of Outlook.

I admit that some web apps are fine on Windows 11, but I still prefer a nice native app over a wrapped website.

The new Outlook is now forced onto Windows 10 and ships with Windows 11 despite being worse in several ways compared to Mail & Calendar.

The new Outlook is slower than Mail & Calendar, has issues with notifications, and takes up significantly more RAM than the app it replaces.

I should clarify that Mail & Calendar was better than the new Outlook. Microsoft has since dropped support for Mail & Calendar and the app can no longer send or receive emails.

Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden said it best when explaining why the new Outlook is not ready for prime time:

"That’s probably because it’s not a Windows app, it’s a web app. For whatever reason, Microsoft thinks it’s okay for the default Windows mailing experience to be no better than a [glorified] website. When I compare this experience to the clean and lightweight one of Apple Mail on the Mac, or Samsung Mail on a Galaxy Tablet, it’s simply no contest. Those apps are easier to use, smoother to navigate, and faster too."

Microsoft has shipped several updates since Bowden's editorial was published, but the core issues he raised remain.

I don't hate the interface of the new Outlook as much as some do, but I miss the native performance of Mail & Calendar.

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Microsoft confirms Windows Outlook breaks in many ways after major Calendar feature upgrade

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:59:24 +0000

Microsoft has been trying to get more users onto New Outlook for Windows, and it is doing so not just by enforcing the newer app but also by making improvements along the way. In doing so, though, the company has caused the Classic Outlook app to bug out in the past.

The classic app received a major Shared Calendar-related upgrade recently, with many " long-awaited improvements" as well as "small changes in form and function." As the name suggests, the Outlook Shared Calendar essentially allows multiple people to interact with and manage the calendar.

With Shared Calendar improvements enabled, users will see the following changes:

Instant sync and view of shared calendars
Editing series end date does not reset the past
Accepting meeting without having to send a response
Last Modified By no longer shown in the meeting item
Adding same calendar multiple times can't be done
Duplicate calendars simultaneously selection
Attachments addition not possible when responding to a meeting invitation
Event drafts auto-save changes
The "Download shared folders" setting is ignored

Unfortunately, as with any major feature upgrade, there are bugs, and Microsoft has confirmed this is no different. The tech giant has shared official guidance for it so that users can work around the problems. According to the company, "Shared Calendar improvements are now enabled by default in the most recent versions of Outlook, in all update channels for Microsoft 365 Apps," and thus, the bugs are likely to affect many.

Here are some of the bugs Microsoft is investigating, as well as their workarounds:

Bug	Workaround
Meeting cancellation sent unexpectedly to some attendees in classic Outlook In a REST shared calendar, after adding or removing an attendee, or forwarding a meeting, a meeting cancellation may be sent unexpectedly to some attendees.	Use the Outlook Web App or new Outlook when adding or removing an attendee or forwarding a meeting.
Attendees do not get updates on attachment changes by Delegate When a delegate sends an update on a meeting that requires removing an attachment on an occurrence of a meeting series, the recipients may not get some or all of the attachment changes. In the delegate's Sync Issues folder, you'll see sync errors. Example: 17:23:26 Synchronizer Version 16.0.15313 17:23:26 Synchronizing Mailbox 'Delegate User' 17:23:26 Synchronizing local changes in folder 'Manager User' 17:23:27 Uploading to server 'https://outlook.office365.com/mapi/emsmdb/?xxxxxxxx-xx' 17:23:30 Error synchronizing folder 17:23:30 [0-320]	There is no known workaround. It is recommended, whenever possible, to save attachments to SharePoint or to OneDrive and share with a link.
After an attachment is deleted from an existing meeting, it may reappear after being deleted	Please wait approximately one minute to give the sync time to complete. Additionally, it is advisable to save attachments to SharePoint or OneDrive whenever possible and share them using a link.
A meeting created by a delegate with limited calendar access disappears and is unsent when a sensitivity label other than "Normal" is selected	Three potential solutions to address this issue, each with their own implications for functionality: Manager can update delegate's permissions to allow viewing of private items. Delegate can change the sensitivity label of the meeting to "Normal". Delegate can disable Shared Calendar Improvements (not recommended).

Aside from these, Microsoft has also fixed several other bugs, which you can find in the official support article here on the company's website.

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New Outlook for Windows gets a major boost with June 2025 Update

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:57:22 +0000

Despite widespread criticism, Microsoft has remained focused on replacing the classic Outlook for Windows with the new web-based Outlook app for everyone. Every month, Microsoft releases updates to the new Outlook app based on user feedback.

Today, Microsoft released the June 2025 update for Outlook for Windows with several improvements, including some of the most requested features by Outlook users.

With this latest update, Microsoft has improved support for .pst (Outlook Data File) files. You can now reply to and forward emails in a stored .pst file. Microsoft is also working on further improving support for .pst files in the new Outlook for Windows.

If you're using the new Outlook app with your personal Microsoft account that has access to Copilot Pro or AI credits through a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, Copilot features will now be available even for other personal email accounts configured in the Outlook app. This Copilot sharing feature works with email addresses such as Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, MSN.com, and third-party providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud.

Microsoft has also added the ability to easily move emails between personal accounts. This feature is disabled by default for enterprise users, but admins can enable it if needed.

With this update, Microsoft has increased the default mail sync window in offline mode from 7 days to 30 days. Additionally, you can now access search folders and cancel an email after selecting Send in offline mode.

This new update also brings email coaching support through Copilot. Copilot can now suggest adjustments to tone, clarity, and reader sentiment before you hit Send. If you are annoyed with Copilot, you can now disable Copilot completely by going to the Copilot > Copilot control page in the Settings window.

In this release, Microsoft has added the ability to add shared folders to your Favorites, making it easier to access content directly from the Favorites list.

Finally, an "External" tag will be added to external contact suggestions that appear in the dropdown menu when entering contacts in the email compose form, helping you distinguish between your organization's and external contacts.

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As Windows 10 support winds down, KDE welcomes "Windows 10 exiles" to Linux

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:55:46 +0000

Early last month, we reported on a Linux (KDE)-backed initiative called "End of 10," which aimed to show folks how to save their unsupported Windows 10 PCs by installing Linux. Now, as we speed towards October 14, 2025, end-of-support date for Windows 10, KDE is still urging, or rather, inviting what it calls "Windows 10 exiles" to consider making the switch.

KDE's message is pretty blunt: your Windows 10 computer is about to become "junk" and "officially obsolete" once Microsoft pulls the plug on support. The organization paints a grim picture of unpatched bugs leading to increased risks of being hacked, potentially compromising your data and identity.

Beyond security, KDE suggests that new versions of applications will cease to run, and Microsoft will effectively block upgrades to newer Windows versions unless you purchase new hardware. KDE calls this "tech extortion" and points to the environmental impact of discarded PCs. The alternative presented is to "upgrade the smart way" by keeping existing hardware and installing Linux, specifically highlighting its Plasma desktop, which it claims can run well even on machines a decade old.

To entice users, KDE details why Plasma could be a good fit. The environment aims for a familiar feel, with a launch menu and workspace akin to what Windows users are accustomed to, but also offers extensive customization to mimic Windows, macOS, or create something entirely unique. Being open source and developed by a nonprofit, Plasma is free. KDE also points to powerful features like multiple virtual desktops and the Dolphin file manager's built-in connectivity tools for servers and cloud services.

Recognizing that switching operating systems is a significant step, KDE offers advice for the transition. It concedes Linux "does take some getting used to" and encourages new users to lean on the community for help. A key piece of advice is not to expect the exact same Windows programs but to look for Linux applications that perform similar functions, noting that essentials like Firefox and LibreOffice often come pre-installed. For additional software, KDE points to package managers like its Discover application, which acts as an app store.

KDE also outlines what it believes users will not miss from Windows, such as viruses, ads injected into the operating system, spyware, forced updates, and mandatory account registrations. Interestingly, this "What will you miss" section, while focusing on shedding unwanted Windows behaviors, didn't mention the real things you'd also miss, like the full Adobe Creative Suite, specific Microsoft Office desktop applications, or popular titles like Call of Duty and Fortnite, which are often unsupported due to anti-cheat systems that don't work on Linux.

If this all sounds good to you, the most straightforward way to get started is by downloading a Linux distribution (or "distro") that comes with KDE Plasma as its default desktop environment. A few good options include Kubuntu, Fedora KDE Spin, openSUSE, and KDE Neon. But as KDE notes, Plasma isn't your only option. Other desktop environments exist, like GNOME, Xfce, and Cinnamon.

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Nvidia App gets light theme, bug fixes, and support for more games

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:52:20 +0000

Nvidia has released a new update for the Nvidia App on Windows. Version 11.0.4 is now available with a few changes, such as automatic theme switching with light mode support, Windows Narrator support, fixed bugs, and optimal settings for 12 new games.

With today's update, Nvidia App now supports light mode. You can switch between modes in settings or let the app follow the system settings (Windows still does not support automatic theme switching). To change the mode, go to Settings > Features > Theme.

In addition, Nvidia App now supports Windows Narrator. The system's native screen reader can now properly read aloud on-screen content to improve accessibility for those relying on assistive technologies.

Next, the list of games that Nvidia App can tune for optimal performance has been extended with 12 new titles:

Assassin's Creed: Shadows
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Deadlock
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN
Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced
Half-Life 2 with RTX

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
inZOI
Monster Hunter Wilds
Split Fiction
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

Finally, Nvidia App 11.0.4 fixes the following bugs:

Fixed an issue where DLSS-FG defaults to 2x irrespective of in-game setting when DLSS override model is set to "Latest” and Frame generation is set to “Use the 3D application setting".
Fixed an issue where the driver download could not be completed.
Fixed an issue where the recording bitrate setting was not saved.
Fixed an issue where HDR video colors were not encoded properly for HEVC and AV1 playback.
Fixed a bug where the in-game overlay was not accessible on the GeForce RTX 5070.
Fixed an issue where a PC reboot would reset microphone boost to an incorrect value.
Fixed an issue where Highlights summary window could not be disabled.
Various stability fixes.

You can download the Nvidia App from the official website. Full release notes are available here.

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Refined dock and bug fixes land in latest Elementary OS 8 updates

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:50:28 +0000

If you're running Elementary OS 8, there's a new round of updates available, bringing some neat enhancements, particularly to its signature Dock and the underlying window manager, Gala. If you are not familiar, Elementary OS positions itself as a polished alternative to Windows and macOS. It runs its own custom desktop environment called Pantheon, with Gala handling all the window management magic, like animations and how windows behave.

In the new update, the Dock gets some notable new tricks, including the return of a couple of features that old-school Plank (the Dock's foundation) users might remember. For starters, the Dock now shows multiple indicator dots beneath an app icon if you have more than one window open for that application, which is useful for quickly seeing what is running. Plus, if you are dragging something and hover over an app icon in the Dock, it will cycle through that app's open windows, making it easier to drop your item into the right place.

You can also now long-press an app icon to bring up its context menu, a nice touch for those who prefer that interaction. The elementary OS team also squashed some bugs related to hide modes and memory usage, keeping things running smoothly.

Gala itself recently got a massive update, addressing around 20 reported issues and introducing a brand new Gesture Controller. This means users can now swipe up in the Multitasking View to close windows, a slick and intuitive gesture. App titles are now always shown in Multitasking View, a significant improvement for touchscreen users. Users also get notified when they take a screenshot with a keyboard shortcut, and this notification lets them jump straight to the image in Files.

Some other welcome Gala improvements include saving window states on sleep and shutdown, and fixing an annoying bug where menus might only show once. For gamers, a fix for Lutris Flatpak installations causing Gala to crash with GE Proton setups will be a relief, and users of the Postman app will be happy to know that window captures for it are no longer partially rendered.

Shifting back to Elementary OS 8, in System Settings, choosing light or dark mode properly snoozes your schedule instead of outright disabling it. The Reduce Motion setting has been expanded to cover a wider array of animations, which is a blessing for folks prone to motion sickness. Hotcorners got some fixes too, and there is a new option to keep them active even when an application is full screen.

Other notable updates include added screen reader support for notifications and the shortcut overlay, fixes for Flatpak sandbox issues that affected apps like Steam, and the latest version of GNOME Web, which brought better performance and a redesigned bookmarks sidebar.

You can download all these updates by opening System Settings, heading to System, and hitting "Update All."

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Asus joins Microsoft, AMD, Dell, urges you to "prepare for mandatory Windows 11 upgrade"

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:23:08 +0000

Sometime earlier this year, Microsoft quietly updated the minimum CPU requirements guidance for Windows 11 24H2. Neowin noticed the change this past week as the support document now classifies a family of CPUs from each vendor, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, such that users find it easier to make out which processors are capable of being Copilot+ PC certified.

Major OEM and hardware manufacturer Asus recently published a couple of blog posts regarding the upcoming Windows 10 end of support. The company says that it is now time to "prepare for the mandatory Windows 11 upgrade" by taking "essential steps." It writes:

"With a mandatory Windows update on the horizon, there are essential steps you should take to ensure a smooth upgrade experience. Proper preparation will not only safeguard your files and system but will also allow you to take full advantage of the innovative features Windows 11 has to offer..."

If you are on Windows 10 and are wondering why should you even bother upgrading, Asus points out the security aspect, that you will lose support and thus there will be no security updates leaving your system exposed. The firm is certainly right, there are real dangers out there.

For example, the Lumma infostealer impacted over 394,000 PCs worldwide (download this Defender definition for new ISO installations). Even official Windows files and folders can be vulnerable as we saw with the inetpub folder.

However, Asus wants you to get excited about Copilot, the new AI assistant that Microsoft has been busy pushing everywhere on its apps and services. Echoing the same sentiment as Microsoft, and others like Dell and AMD, Asus says Copilot is what sets Windows 11 apart from 10 as it writes: "What makes Windows 11 different? One word: Copilot. ... If you’ve ever wished your computer could just “do the thing” you’re trying to describe — Copilot is your new best friend."

Asus also says that you will be making the "smart move" by switching to Windows 11 now from 10. In the blog post under a subheading titled "It’s Not Just an Upgrade, It’s a Smart Move." The Taiwanese firm writes, "Upgrading to Windows 11 isn’t just about staying current ― it’s also about staying safe, working smarter, and getting more out of your computer every day."

As such, the company also published a guide on how to proceed with the upgrade.

Do you agree with Asus? When are you upgrading? Let us know below!

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Microsoft will finally stop shoving Edge down your throat, on one condition

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:17:34 +0000

Avid Windows users must be familiar with the dirty tactics Microsoft employs to push its Edge browser. It's a song as old as time; remember when Internet Explorer was primarily used as a tool to download Chrome or Firefox because it was the only thing available? Shortly after IE died, Edge inherited that legacy, becoming the browser you often had to use just to get the browser you actually wanted. Even Microsoft knows this:

For years, we have endured the relentless pop-ups after updates, third parties being blocked from changing the default browser on Windows 11, banners appearing when you dare visit a competitor's download page, a fake "how to uninstall Edge" guide, and links within Windows apps that just had to open in Edge, regardless of your set preferences.

Microsoft has announced it is dialing back some of this aggressive behavior, promising a reprieve from the constant Edge bombardment. But (and it's a pretty big but) this only applies if you're in the EEA. This shift isn't Microsoft suddenly having a profound change of heart and deciding to respect user choice out of the goodness of its heart. No, this is all thanks to the Digital Markets Act, a major EU rule that targets big online platforms, what they call "gatekeepers", because these companies have a huge impact on how the digital market works.

So, what is actually changing for users in the EEA? For starters, Microsoft Edge will not prompt you to set it as the default browser unless you actually open it directly, like by clicking its icon on the taskbar. This specific change started rolling out with Edge version 137.0.3296.52.

Other Microsoft apps will also stop bugging you to reinstall Edge if you dared to remove it, with updates for this rolling out in June to Windows 10 and 11. And speaking of default browsers, this is where a significant improvement lies. Previously, hitting "Set default" for your browser in Windows was half baked, only grabbing basic web links like http and https and HTML files. Now, if you're in the EEA, setting your default browser will also cover more obscure link types like ftp and "read," plus a wider array of web-related file formats such as .mht, .svg, .xml, and even .pdf files, provided your chosen browser says it can handle them.

The Bing app and those Windows Widgets, which previously had a nasty habit of ignoring your browser choice, will also start opening web links in your default browser. Hallelujah. Users in the EEA will also gain the ability to uninstall the Microsoft Store entirely later this year, though apps previously installed from it will still receive updates.

Windows Search is also getting an upgrade in the EEA. Right now, searching from the taskbar mostly just sends you to Bing, no matter what browser you use. But for users in the EEA, other apps will be able to plug into Windows Search and show web results too.

If an app registers as a web search provider, it'll start working as soon as you install it. You'll also be able to see results from multiple providers in the search interface, not just Bing. The usual scoping tabs will still be there if you want to filter things, but the default view will be more varied. And yes, you'll even be able to reorder the providers in Settings.

These changes are already in Windows Insider builds and are expected to roll out to Windows 10 and 11 in early June.

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Windows 11 build 26120.4230 gets new Quick machine recovery in the Settings app

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:16:03 +0000

Microsoft, today, has released the newest build to the Windows 11 24H2 Beta channel for Insiders. The new build 26120.4230, under KB5058506, brings Quick machine recovery to the Settings app, Click-to-do improvements, and more.

The full releases notes are included below:

New features being rolled out gradually with the toggle to receive updates right away enabled,

Quick machine recovery in Settings

We’re excited to introduce a new dedicated settings page for quick machine recovery which can be found under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. This update makes it easier for you to manage recovery options directly from Settings, streamlining access to important features that help keep your device running smoothly. Quick machine recovery is designed to help your device recover from widespread boot issues by applying remediations delivered directly from Microsoft.

With the new settings page, you can easily check whether the feature is enabled, configure it to automatically search for available remediations, set how often those checks occur, and choose when your device should restart to apply any necessary fixes.

IT professionals looking to set configuration options for their managed fleets are now also able to leverage the Intune Settings Catalog UI to easily configure quick machine recovery settings as documented as a part of the RemoteRemedationCSP.

Below are the changes and improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on to receive updates right away:

Click to Do (Preview)
The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:
- For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, we’re beginning to roll out Rewrite and its options, including Refine, again for Click to Do.
- Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in German, Italian and Portuguese.
Phone Link
The following improvements for Phone Link and phone companion with the Start menu are rolling out to Windows Insiders across all channels:
- Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.
- Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.
- Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. Windows iCloud app users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.

Lock screen
- We have temporarily disabled more widget options on the lock screen and support for lock screen widget personalization that began rolling out to all Windows Insiders in the previous Beta Channel flight to address some issues. We are planning to begin rolling this experience out again very shortly.
Settings
- For Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with the new agent experience in Settings, we’ve made some improvements to make the search box at the top of Settings more centered.

We’re rolling out a new Device Card for Settings Home for Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft account and in the U.S. It provides a quick snapshot of your PC’s key specs and usage, right where you need it. From the card, you can jump directly to the Settings > About page to see more detailed information about your PC. The Device Card may also help guide you toward discovering your next Windows PC – so you can shop with ease and confidence when you’re ready. NOTE: We’ve been previewing the Device Card with Windows Insiders with Settings Home on IT-managed PCs signed in with an Entra ID.

Fixes

These are the fixes gradually being rolled out in the Beta Channel with the toggle on.

Improved Windows Search
The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:
- Fixed an underlying crash causing semantic indexing to not work for some Insiders in the last couple flights.
Start menu
- Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the latest flights.
File Explorer
- Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.
- Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash doing various actions in the latest flights, including when deleting files for some Insiders.
- Fixed an issue where the recommended section in File Explorer wasn’t expanding when using the right arrow key.
- Fixed an issue which could lead to duplicate access keys in the File Explorer context menu.
The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:
- Fixed the issue where the action result canvas displayed text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files when your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language.
Settings
- Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.
- Fixed an issue with Quick Settings where if you clicked the top third of the buttons in the top row, it wouldn’t work.
Other
- Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

These fixes are rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel:

General
- We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

Finally there are some Known Issues you should be aware about, which are listed below:

Known issues

General
- After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
- The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
Xbox Controllers
- Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.
Click to Do (Preview)
- Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.
Improved Windows Search
- [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.
Taskbar & System Tray
- In some cases, taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never”.
File Explorer
The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:
Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.
Widgets
- Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience
Graphics
- [NEW] When connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays, in some cases you might see severe discoloration. You can navigate to Settings > System > Display > HDR turn off “Use Dolby Vision mode” as a workaround to resolve the issue or disconnect the display.

You can find the official announcement post here.

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Windows 11 gets a new way to fix boot issues, Widgets improvements, more in build 26200.5622

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:13:32 +0000

Microsoft is kicking off this week with a duo of new Windows 11 preview builds. Those in the Dev Channel received build 26200.5622 (KB5058512), which introduces several improvements and new features, including a new way to recover from boot issues, widget improvements, new features for Click to Do, and more.

Users with Copilot+ PCs can now try a new Click to Do feature. It lets you click a sentence in an email or any other portion of text on your screen and click "Draft with Copilot in Word" to create a document based on the selected text and your instructions. Note that this feature requires a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Also, Click to Do now supports French and Spanish languages for the rewriting tool, and text actions are now available in German, Italian, and Portuguese.

Next is the big one. Quick Machine Recovery now has its own section in the Settings app. Announced at Ignite 2024, this feature lets you quickly resolve boot issues by applying fixes and patches within the Windows Recovery Environment. The new page enables you to check and configure the status of QMR. Windows Insiders can try QMR in action with test mode.

Windows Widgets now feature multiple boards, allowing you to switch between widget-only view and a mix of widgets and news.

Other changes include the following:

The "Open with" dialog now displays app recommendations, allowing you to discover more apps that support the selected file.
Phone Link now groups notifications in the start menu and lets you initiate screen mirroring (Android-only) with a single click. Connected iPhones can also display memories and recently synced photos.
The Settings app now has a better alignment for the search bar on Copilot+ PCs, redesigned dialogs for entering your product key, troubleshooting activation, phone activation, and retail demo to match the Windows 11 visuals.

Also, there is now a new Device Card for the Home page where you can see a brief rundown of your PC's specs.

Now, here is what was fixed (these fixes are rolling out gradually):

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:
- Fixed an underlying crash causing semantic indexing to not work for some Insiders in the last couple flights.
[Start menu]
- There have been some underlying improvements which should help address the issue where clicking your profile picture wasn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the latest flights. If you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback.
- Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the latest flights.
[File Explorer]
- Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.
- Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash doing various actions in the latest flights, including when deleting files for some Insiders.
- Fixed an issue where the recommended section in File Explorer wasn’t expanding when using the right arrow key.
- Fixed an issue which could lead to duplicate access keys in the File Explorer context menu.
The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:
- Fixed the issue where the action result canvas displayed text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files w
[Task Manager]
- Fixed an issue where after adding the new CPU Utility column, you might notice that System Idle Process always showed as 0.
- Fixed an issue where the CPU graphs in the Performance page were still using the old CPU utility calculations.
[Narrator]
- Fixed an issue where the Describe image feature of narrator wasn’t working.
[Voice Access]
- Fixed an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs wasn’t working as expected.
[Settings]
- Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.
- Fixed an issue with Quick Settings where if you clicked the top third of the buttons in the top row, it wouldn’t work.
[Other]
- Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

And there is a single fix that is available for everyone in the Dev Channel:

[General]
- We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

Finally, here is the list of known bugs:

[General]
- After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
- The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
[Xbox Controllers]
- Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.
[Click to Do (Preview)] The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:
- Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.
[Improved Windows Search]
- [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
- [NEW] In some cases, taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never”.
[File Explorer] The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:
- Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.
[Widgets]
- Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.
[Graphics]
- [NEW] When connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays, in some cases you might see severe discoloration. You can navigate to Settings > System > Display > HDR turn off “Use Dolby Vision mode” as a workaround to resolve the issue or disconnect the display.

You can find the announcement post on the official Windows Blogs website.

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Windows 11's biggest update in months also includes a major fix for gaming

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:44:22 +0000

A bug causing games to become unresponsive has been fixed with the latest preview update to Windows 11.

Windows 11's biggest update in months is set to ship in roughly one week. If you can't wait that long, you can get all the latest features right away by installing the Insider preview update for Windows 11.

Whether you update your PC now or wait until Patch Tuesday, you'll be met with a slew of new features in KB5058499 (OS Build 26100.4202), including new capabilities for Click to Do, Cross Device Resume, and a new HDR option. You'll also see improved gaming performance when playing select titles.

The good news is that Windows 11 now has improved gaming performance. The bad news is that we don't have many details on what has been fixed.

The Improvements section of a Microsoft support document for the update states:

"[Graphics kernel] Fixed: An issue where some game titles become unresponsive after upgrading to 24H2."

If you've run into some issues when trying to play games on Windows 11, those bugs may be fixed with the latest Windows 11 update.

Below are the full release notes, as shared by Microsoft.

Highlights

[Click to Do (preview)]
- New!¹Ask Copilot is a new action within Click to Do. When you highlight text or an image, Click to Do offers the Ask Copilot option. Selecting it opens Microsoft Copilot with your content in the prompt box. You can send the selected text or image directly to the Copilot app to complete your prompt.
- New! Enhance your Click to Do experience with more intelligent text actions on AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs. Use the WIN key + mouse-click or WIN + Q to select a text block, then drag to choose the text you want. Options will appear to Summarize, Create a bulleted list, or to help you Rewrite your text to sound more casual, more formal, or more polished.
- New! ²Click to Do (preview) is now available in the European Economic Area (EEA), bringing NPU-powered intelligent text actions for English to more users, along with new support for Spanish and French—enabling actions Summarize, Create a bulleted list, and Refine in these languages.
- New! If your PC has pen and inking capabilities, you can configure the shortcut button to open Click to Do with a single-click, double-click, or press and hold through Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink.
- New! You can add Click to Do as one of the four apps in the pen menu on your PC. If all slots for the pen menu are full, you might need to replace one app with Click to Do in the menu settings.
- New! Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in Spanish and French.
[Copilot]
- New! You can open Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing “Customize Copilot key on keyboard” under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
- New! To start Press to talk with Copilot on Windows, hold the Copilot key—or Win + C if your keyboard doesn’t have one—for two seconds. Press Esc or stay silent for a few seconds to end the call. Use Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. You can interact with Copilot using your voice and receive instant responses while continuing your tasks.
[Cross device resume] New! Seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you’ll get a notification asking if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file, like a Word document, that you viewed or edited on your phone within the last 5 minutes before unlocking your PC.
[Energy Saver] New! IT admins can manage Energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and MDM configurations using Microsoft Intune. This feature helps extend battery life by limiting background activity, dimming the screen, and contributing to environmental sustainability. To configure the policy, go to the Local Group Policy under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settings and “Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On.”
[Graphics] New! Manage your PC’s HDR features under Settings > System > Display. Updates include: A clearer label for “Use HDR” that better explains which media types are supported. The ability to stream HDR video even when HDR is turned off. On PCs with Dolby Vision, a new switch lets you turn Dolby Vision on or off independently of HDR—giving you more control over your viewing experience.
[Narrator] New! Enhance digital accessibility with AI-powered image descriptions in Narrator on Copilot+ PCs. This feature provides detailed descriptions of images, charts, and graphs for blind and low-vision users. To turn on Narrator, press Ctrl + Windows key + Enter or search for 'Narrator' in Windows search. Use Narrator key + Ctrl + D for image descriptions.
[Improved Windows Search]
- New! Discover the new feature that makes finding settings easier on Copilot+ PCs. Type the setting you’re looking for in the Windows search box on your taskbar without needing to remember the exact setting name. For example, use your own words to find settings like “change my theme” or “about my PC.” You no longer need to remember the exact setting name.
- New! In the EEA, you can now find cloud photos using improved Windows Search on the taskbar. Describe the photos, like 'European castles' or 'summer picnics,' in the search box. Photos from the cloud and your Copilot+ PC appear in the search results. Exact keyword matches within your cloud files will also show up. This feature is gradually rolling out to Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered PCs coming soon.
[Search on Taskbar] New! Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability.
[Settings]
- New! Find answers to commonly asked questions about your PC and Windows 11 in the new FAQs section under Settings > System > About. It covers topics like system setup, performance, and compatibility – all in one place.
- New!The dialog to rename your printer under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners now matches the Windows 11 look and feel.
- New! Mouse settings are now easier to access under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Mouse pointer and touch, with no need to open Control Panel. You’ll find updated icons for Mouse pointer speed and Enhance mouse pointer precision, plus options for customizing the mouse indicator, pointer trails, and hover activation time.
[Taskbar]
- New! Admins can configure taskbar policies so users can unpin specific apps, ensuring they are not repinned during the next policy refresh. To turn on this feature, use the new PinGeneration option.
- Fixed: When using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, if you go backwards at least once you can get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, which could lead screen readers to just say “pane.”
- Fixed: On login, the keyboard focus might unexpectedly be set to widgets in the taskbar, which can cause widgets to open.
[Voice Access]
- New! Voice access now includes an in-product experience that highlights new features and improvements. Use the settings menu to open or dismiss it anytime.
- New! You can find voice access under Accessibility in Quick Settings at the lower-right corner of your screen near the clock. To open Quick Settings, select the network, volume, or battery icon.
- Fixed: Voice access might stop responding with error “working on it” when dictating.
[Voice Typing] New! You control the profanity filter. When you turn it on, it masks profanity with asterisks. When you turn it off, words appear as spoken. To change the setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and turn on the Filter profanity switch.
[Windows Share]
- New! Make last-minute edits such as cropping, rotating, and adding filters to images shared through the Windows Share window.
- New! When you drag a local file from File Explorer or your desktop, a tray appears at the top of your screen. Drop the file into a suggested app or select More to open the Windows share window.
- New! Add apps that support sharing directly to the right-click menu for local files in File Explorer or on the desktop.
[Audio] Fixed: The startup sound might not play on boot, although it is enabled.
[Bluetooth] Fixed: Settings might stop responding when loading information about Bluetooth devices.
[Camera] Fixed: Settings might stop working when interacting with content under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.
[Display] Fixed: Unexpected changes to screen size and window position might occur after waking from sleep for some devices.
[File Explorer] Fixed: If you have disconnected network drives while conducting a search from Home, it might prevent searches from executing and you remain on Home.
[Input]
- Fixed: Voice typing won't start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.
- Fixed: When using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages might unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.
- Fixed: Typing in some apps might stop working after disconnecting from a remote desktop session.
[JPG] Fixed: When using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
[Microsoft Management Console (MMC)] Fixed: Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.
[Print] Fixed: Non-admin users can't uninstall printers that they’ve added.
[UHF Tuning] Fixed: Tuning scan for UHF channels doesn’t work, and only VHF channels are returned.
[USB] Fixed: Certain USB devices might become disconnected after sleep, until you reboot your PC.
[Windows Hello] Fixed: When using Windows Hello for Business facial recognition, the camera might unexpectedly stop working after your PC wakes from sleep, blocking login using this method.

Improvements

[BitLocker] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where devices with BitLocker on removable drives could encounter a blue screen error after resuming from sleep or hybrid-booting.
[Boot menu screens] Fixed: This update addresses the issue where early boot screens, such as BitLocker PIN, BitLocker Recovery key, and boot menu screens, render slowly.
[Graphics kernel] Fixed: An issue where some game titles become unresponsive after upgrading to 24H2.
[Memory leak] Fixed: This update addresses an issue in the Input Service that causes increased memory usage, potentially impacting performance in multi-user, multi-lingual, and remote desktop usage.
[Multimedia] Fixed: If you turn on multi-app mode or basic camera mode in advanced camera settings, the Windows Hello Face Enrollment might not work and show a bad camera preview.
[Network] Fixed: This update addresses an issue where Windows Server 2025 always shows the network as "public" on new domain controllers. It now checks for a domain controller name before using loopback addresses to ensure proper Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) binding.

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More gamers are switching to Windows 11, according to Valve

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:42:22 +0000

The results of Valve's Hardware & Software Survey for May 2025 are here, showing the continuous increase of Windows 11's market share among gamers. Last month, Windows 11 gained 0.46 points and reached a new all-time high of 58.3%. Microsoft's latest operating system has outpaced Windows 10 for several months, and the latter now lags behind with 37%. In one month, Windows 10 lost 1.09 points as it gets closer to the end of support in October 2025.

Despite its age and unsupported status, Windows 7 still has enough users to show up on Valve's stat gauges. 0.10% of all Windows users who participated in the survey in May reported using Windows 7, even though Steam no longer receives updates on the operating system. While it still works, Windows 7 users could lose access to their libraries at any moment. The worst part is that now, with the free upgrade path from Windows 7 to Windows 10 closed, the only way is to purchase a new computer or a Windows 10 key.

Overall, Windows holds an overwhelming 95.45% of all Steam users (-0.65 points). Linux is second with 2.69% (+0.42 points), and macOS is third with 1.85% (+0.23%). While no one expects Linux to bite off a significant portion of Windows' pie any time soon, if ever, there is a growing discontent with the quality of gaming experience on Windows compared to Linux, especially on handheld devices. A recent report revealed that Microsoft even hit the pause button on its handheld console to make Windows gaming better.

On the hardware side, the most popular PC configuration has 16GB of RAM (43%), a 6-core CPU (29.79%), an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card (4.56%), 8GB of VRAM (33.67%), and a 1080p monitor (55.35%). On the GPU side, Nvidia has a whopping 74.18% share, while AMD has 17.62%, and Intel is third with 7.85%. AMD does better on the processor side, though. While Intel still trumps its rival with a 59.69% share, AMD is pretty close with a 40.31% share.

You can find more stats on the official Steam Hardware and Software Survey here.

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Windows 11's growth slowed down in May 2025

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:39:48 +0000

Although Windows 11 is becoming more popular among gamers, its worldwide growth stalled a bit last month. Statcounter reports that the system's global market share dropped from 47.32% to 43.23% in one month. While the drop is not a big one, it is still a notable slowdown compared with previous months.

Windows 10 is still the most popular Windows version worldwide. Last month, its market share increased proportionally to Windows 11's decline. Now, it sits at 53.19% (+0.25 points).

In its home country, the United States, Windows 11 is the most popular version, but in May 2025, it lost a notable chunk of users, going down from 56.36% to 52.94%. It's a similar picturen Canada, where Windows 11 holds 50.65%, a -2.05 points decrease. In the United Kingdom, however, Windows 11 climbed to a new all-time high of 57.12% (+1.43 points).

Other Windows versions, which are no longer supported, remain at the bottom of the chart, with Windows 7 having 2.48% (+0.02 points), Windows XP at 0.54% (+0.16 points), and Windows 8.1 at 0.29% (+0.01 point).

Statcounter's data is not 100% accurate, considering the methodology this service uses (probably only Microsoft can tell the exact figures, but it would not do that). Therefore, some fluctuations and inaccuracies are possible. Still, the data shows the overall market trend and the results of Microsoft's efforts to switch users from the outgoing Windows 10 to Windows 11. For example, during the last 12 months, Windows 11 has climbed from 26.19% to 43.23%, which is a 17.04 percentage point increase.

As we get closer to October 2025 and the end of Windows 10 support, Windows 11 will pick up its pace and soon become the most popular desktop operating system worldwide. However, Windows 10 is expected to repeat the Windows 7 story. The aging operating system will stick around for a while, with Microsoft and third-party companies offering additional update solutions for those who are not ready to move on.

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Wine 10.9 released bringing EGL support for all graphic drivers and several bug fixes

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:38:32 +0000

Wine 10.9 is out now, bringing EGL library support for all graphics drivers. For anyone trying to get Windows software running smoothly on Linux or macOS, this unification of EGL access promises more consistent graphical behavior and potentially better performance for applications that lean on it.

EGL is a crucial bridge, letting things like OpenGL ES (often used in mobile apps, some desktop applications, and even games) talk to your system's window manager. Having it standardized across all drivers under Wine means fewer instances where an app might render beautifully on one setup but turn into a pixelated mess or refuse to launch on another.

Gamers, and especially those dabbling with newer Windows titles, will appreciate that the bundled vkd3d, Wine's secret sauce for translating Direct3D 12 calls to Vulkan, has been upgraded to version 1.16.

Every update to vkd3d generally means improved compatibility with the latest and greatest Direct3D 12 titles and ongoing fixes for stubborn ones. Considering vkd3d is a core component for projects like Steam's Proton, which enables a massive library of Windows games on Linux and the Steam Deck, this update is certainly welcome news.

Key improvements vkd3d 1.16 brings include:

DXIL shaders are now supported in the default configuration, raising the maximum supported shader model to 6.0.
Graphics pipeline state objects can be created from shaders with embedded root signatures.
Implementation of the SetEventOnMultipleFenceCompletion() method of the ID3D12Device1 interface.
Experimental support for compiling DXIL shaders is now a fully supported and enabled-by-default feature in libvkd3d-shader.
libvkd3d-shader has initial support for geometry shaders and various new intrinsic functions.
The vkd3d demos now work on both Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS builds.

Moving on, support for compiler-based exception handling with Clang also makes an appearance; this is a technical enhancement that can lead to greater stability for applications built using that specific compiler when they are run through Wine, reducing unexpected crashes for a subset of programs. Furthermore, Wine 10.9 introduces initial groundwork for generating Windows Runtime metadata in WIDL, its Interface Definition Language tool.

As always with development releases, there is a solid list of bug fixes, 34 of them in this particular version. Some notable ones include resolving fullscreen issues with the classic 3D Pinball - Space Cadet, fixing display artifacts in Empire Earth, sorting out text display problems in the EA app launcher, and addressing crashes or visual glitches in games like Dyson Sphere Program and platforms like Geekbench 6.

If you're interested in trying out this release, follow the installation instructions for your platform: Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, or macOS. Installation guides for other platforms, including Slackware, are also available. The release notes for version 10.9 are available here.

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Live Portraits with user-customizable avatars are now in testing for Microsoft Copilot

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 07:14:43 +0000

Microsoft is building a new feature for its AI assistant, Copilot, called Live Portraits, spotted by TestingCatalog. It’s still experimental and not available yet, but it looks like it will give users a dedicated interface to choose from different visual styles of male and female figures. But hold your horses; if you could click on one right now, it would just send you to a bare-bones placeholder for voice chats.

The idea here seems to be Microsoft trying to make Copilot feel a bit more like a real, visual thing you are talking to, not just a disembodied voice, maybe even letting people cook up their own custom avatars down the line. TestingCatalog also uncovered internal references to "3D generations," though details on how it works remain scarce, with TestingCatalog claiming the company "might be building out real-time, visually expressive characters—akin to animated assistants powered by generative media."

Now, this whole Live Portraits business makes you wonder what is going to happen with that "Copilot Characters" AI personas idea that was floated around before. As TestingCatalog notes, it is entirely possible Microsoft will just mash both concepts together, giving you a range from fixed, cartoony characters to these more customizable 3D portraits. The difference seems to be that while "Characters" were more for fun and casual use, Live Portraits appear to be aimed at adults who want a polished, professional-looking avatar for their AI assistant.

Microsoft is apparently testing Live Portraits alongside some other significant upgrades, like better OneDrive uploads and updates to Copilot Pages and Memories.

The new portrait-style system will probably be arriving on the web first, particularly in areas where Copilot handles voice interactions. The desktop version might follow later.

Source and Images: TestingCatalog

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