Microsoft Weekly: Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft accounts drama, Fallout 5 news, and more

This week's issue of Microsoft Weekly talks about the latest Patch Tuesday updates, users' backlash towards Microsoft, Fallout 5 news, and more.

This week's news recap is here, with a packed July Patch Tuesday, troubles for Microsoft account hack victims, the biggest Fallout news in years, and a lot more.

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.

Microsoft released this month's Patch Tuesday updates, KB5099539 for Windows 10 and KB5101650/KB5099414 for Windows 11. The updates fixed a record 570 vulnerabilities, including 61 critical flaws and three zero-days. Some of the fixes include an annoying Recycle Bin bug showing internal filenames on delete, Secure Boot certificate targeting, and SHA-2 support for trusted RDP publishers.

Microsoft also issued fresh 90-day reminders this week. Windows 11 24H2, Windows Server 2022, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 all reach end of support on October 13, 2026, while OneDrive sync loses support for Windows 10 22H1 and earlier starting August 15.

Media Creation Tool has been updated with ISOs of the Patch Tuesday's updates, so if you want to install a fresh copy of Windows 11, you can now do so with the latest version.

Streamer Joshua Khane said Microsoft permanently locked him out of his hacked account, wiping 25 years of data including his son's baby photos, with support saying its protocols don't allow restoring accounts once security settings are altered. Microsoft ultimately restored Joshua’s account after significant public backlash.

On a similar note, a Brazilian Xbox player took Microsoft to court after his hacked Xbox account was permanently suspended and he lost access to his entire digital game library, and won. A judge ordered Microsoft to restore his account and pay around $400 in damages after it refused to help.

Here are more Windows news to round out the week:

• Microsoft added a registry policy letting IT admins auto-approve SSO prompts on managed Entra ID devices
• Microsoft's Snapdragon X2-powered Surface Pro and Laptop are now available for business
• Windows 11 is matching and sometimes beating SteamOS in benchmarks on Valve's Steam Machine
• Microsoft open-sourced Comic Chat, the 90s IRC client that introduced Comic Sans to the world

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Microsoft didn’t release new builds this week, but it rolled out a batch of Windows Search improvements to Experimental channel Insiders. Changes include a calmer, less cluttered search home and clearer result source labeling. Users will be especially happy to learn that they can now disable promotional content in web results with a new privacy toggle for web/Store suggestions. The overall experience is now faster, and the search handles typos better.

Windows Search finally feels like it’s doing its job properly. Take a closer look at it.

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.

Visual Studio Code 1.129 previews a modernized UI with floating sidebar cards. There’s also a new experimental editor panel in the Agents window that docks the editor and detail area into one pane.

PowerPoint is getting 13 new Smart Layouts, 13 new Design tab themes, and a simplified file open experience that replaces multiple dialogs with a single progress screen. Full rollout is expected next month.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• NVIDIA App now supports recording in 240 FPS for select GPUs.
• UniGetUI gets performance boost by improving resource efficiency with NativeAOT
• Exchange Server 2016, 2019, and SE got security updates fixing a critical vulnerability
• Windows Server vNext build 29621 added Trusted Launch for VMs, Quick Machine Recovery, and NVMe-over-Fabrics support

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

Steven Parker had a busy week. He reviewed the REDMAGIC Astra 2 Gaming Tablet, which is seven grams lighter than last year's model but comes with a price hike. He also tested the AutoFull M6 Ultra 2.0, a gaming chair that heats, cools, and vibrates.

And if you're in the market for a NAS, Steven checked out two new UGREEN NASync boxes this week. The DXP2800 GT is a 2+2 bay setup with 10 GbE connectivity for those who don't need four HDD bays, while the DXP4800 GT is the cheapest in the 4+2-bay DXP series, though that came from some cost cutting.

On the gaming side

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

Bethesda confirmed Fallout 5 is now in pre-production. Elder Scrolls VI remains the studio's main focus, but both games run on Creation Engine 3, so Bethesda can share tools across Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Starfield. Remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are coming too, though no release dates yet.

Analyst firm Newzoo estimates Grand Theft Auto VI could pull in $3.25 billion to $5.2 billion in worldwide revenue during launch week alone. The firm predicts Rockstar will sell to 37 to 51 million copies during GTA VI’s debut week.

There's also a new console update for Xbox. The new update brings the ability to add longer gamertags, new library costumization options, and fixes a handful of known bugs.

Deals and freebies

• This weekend's Xbox Free Play Days lineup includes Grand Theft Auto Online, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, and more
• Echo Generation Midnight Edition and Luto are free to keep on the Epic Games Store this week
• Valve published its Steam sale schedule for the first half of 2027

Other gaming news includes the following:

• Marathon director departs Bungie four months into launch

• AdHoc Studio's Dispatch lands on Xbox Series X|S and Windows on July 29

• Star Citizen Alpha 4.9 adds new missions and combat UI improvements, though its Siege of Orison event slips to August

• FromSoftware is running a closed network test for The Duskbloods on Switch 2 from August 21-23

• After its split with Xbox last week, South of Midnight studio is now searching for new partners

• Battlefield 6 getting a Top Gun crossover, brings back a classic fan-favorite game mode

• Modern Warfare 4 is ditching weapon bloom in major gunplay overhaul

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post. Feedback welcome.

Posted Sunday 19 July 2026 at 7:34 am AEST (my time).

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