Microsoft Weekly: Build 2025, more Xbox games for PS5, and remastered Windows 95 wallpapers

This week's news recap is here with a lot of news and announcements from the Build 2025 developer conference, a bunch of new Windows 11 preview builds, fresh features for inbox Windows 11 apps, more Xbox games for PlayStation 5, and other stories.

Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions.

Build 2025, Microsoft's annual developer conference, took place this week. There, the company announced some interesting stuff for Windows 11. While it was primarily aimed at developers, regular users will also find some of the upcoming changes useful and interesting. The Settings app, for one, is getting the new Advanced page for the Settings app (now available in the latest preview build). There is also a new command-like editor called Edit, WinGet Configuration for quick dev environment deployments, and more.

Developers and users will also be glad to learn about the Microsoft Store improvements, which include the "last updated" date for apps, free registration for individual developers, better Health Reports in the Partner Center, direct Win32 updates, and more.

Microsoft is also improving Administrator protection in Windows 11, adding quantum encryption to Windows builds, and bringing Model Context Protocol support to its operating system.

Moving from announcements to releases, Microsoft pushed KB5061768 to Windows 10 users to address BitLocker recovery loops on certain Intel-based systems. The update is available in the Microsoft Update Catalog only (not obtainable via Windows Update).

Now, here is some interesting Windows trivia. A Microsoft engineer published a blog post explaining how Windows cleverly guesses it despitenot knowing how fast your processor actually is. Another engineer showed how bad code in apps can lead to Windows system slowdown.

Also, here is a remastered version of the original Windows 95 wallpaper, in case you want some high-resolution nostalgia on your 4K monitor, and an interesting discussion about which Windows version is the best for old PCs (not Windows 11).

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Plenty of new features in this week's builds are rolling out gradually, including AI Actions for File Explorer. However, as usual, you can enable them with a simple third-party tool. Check out this article to learn how to force-enable AI Actions in File Explorer.

Some hidden stuff for Windows 11 was also discovered this week. For one, it looks like Windows 11 will soon have its own variant of Handoff from macOS. During a Build session, Microsoft showcased how users can transfer their workflow from a mobile device and continue where they left off on Windows 11. Nothing has been publicly announced, though. Second, Microsoft is working on the ability to save screen recordings as GIFs in Snipping Tool.

What is not hidden are the new features for Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad, which Microsoft announced earlier this month at its Surface event. Those features are now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary Channels.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

At Build 2025, Microsoft announced many updates. Starting with open-source, GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code and Windows Subsystem for Linux are now open-source, which means everyone can build their own projects based on them and contribute to the development.

Recently, Microsoft sent an email asking for feedback on a new set of Office icons. While a public announcement has not been made yet, someone on Reddit took the matter into their own hands and made the icon pack themselves. Behold, a pack of high-quality Office icons that you can download right now.

Speaking of Office, Microsoft introduced its presentation customization tool for PowerPoint to Mac users. This accessibility feature helps create a logical reading flow for elements in your slide and improves other aspects that make it easier for viewers to make sense when viewing and reading your slides.

This week brought plenty of browser updates. Microsoft, for one, is making Google Chrome a bit safer by bringing Edge's automatic privilege de-elevation mechanism to the most popular browser in the world. Microsoft Edge received this feature six years ago, and now, it is finally making it to Chrome. Microsoft also released two updates: one for Edge Stable and one for Edge Beta. These updates introduced more Copilot for the new tab page and fixed a bunch of bugs.

At Build 2025, Microsoft announced several updates to its browser, including free content filtering on Edge for Business, PDF translation, summaries, and take automation. The company also proposed a new AI API web standard to help developers integrate AI functionality into their web apps.

Vivaldi received a new feature update under version 7.4. While it is not the biggest release, it introduced some neat improvements, such as better keyboard shortcut controls and enhancements to the address bar.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• PowerToys received a small update with fixes for Command Palette, Workspaces, and Quick Accent.
• Microsoft shared details about Lumma malware, which infected nearly 400,000 computers.
• Signal received a new privacy feature that blocks Windows Recall and other screenshot-taking apps.

• Microsoft Planner is getting a new feature to save hours of your time.

• Microsoft announced the public preview of SQL Server 2025.
• Microsoft announced Copilot Tuning for model training with organizational data.
• Windows AI Foundry has been unveiled as a unified platform for local AI development.
• Microsoft revealed GitHub Copilot, a coding agent competitor to OpenAI Codex.
• ExplorerPatcher for Windows 11 received a fix for version 24H2 and a few important changes.

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Nvidia 576.52 WHQL with the RTX 5060 support and bug fixes. Also, Nvidia released a firmware update for the RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti to fix black screens during reboots on systems with old motherboards.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

This week, Robbie Khan reviewed the Sharge ICEMAG 2, an interesting Qi2 wireless power bank with active cooling to keep temperatures low when charging your device wirelessly. It has a unique design and solid build quality, but some of its quirks lowered the final score.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more.

PlayStation is getting another slice of the Xbox pie. Ninja Theory announced that Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is coming to PlayStation 5 later this year. No exact dates have been shared yet, though.

Valve released an update for SteamOS. Version 3.7.8 arrived in the Stable Channel with a few important changes, such as support for other AMD-based handhelds, a battery limiter for the Steam Deck, and multiple bug fixes.

Nvidia is running a Summer Sale, during which you can purchase six months of the GeForce NOW Performance plan with a 40% discount for just $29.99. In addition, the company added support for more games, including the enhanced edition of the STALKER trilogy, Survive the Fall, Blades of Fire, Monster Train 2, and more.

Speaking of GeForce NOW, it is now available in the updated Xbox app on PC. The app can now prompt you to select the preferred streaming service: Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce NOW. Other changes in the May 2025 update include improved widgets for the GameBar and more.

Xbox Game Pass now has more games. Microsoft announced the latest additions to the catalog, which include Moster Train 2, Creatures of Ava, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Symphonia, Spray Paint Simulator, and more.

Deals and freebies

This week's Weekend PC Game Deals is full of Warhammer specials, Witcher anniversary discounts, and three freebies from the Epic Games Store, which include the just-released Deliver At All Costs.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• Ubisoft released the Siege X year 10 roadmap and new system requirements on PCs and consoles.

• Microsoft brought over 50 classic Activision games to Game Pass in the new Retro Classics app.

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