Microsoft Weekly: People roast Microsoft executives and lame Copilot ads

This week's news recap is here, bringing you the latest Microsoft stories about people roasting tone-deaf tweets from Windows executives, new Windows 11 preview builds, Patch Tuesday updates, fixed Windows bugs, and 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.

The funniest Windows story of the week is about Pavan Davulur, the current Windows chief, who published a post on X, claiming that the operating system is evolving into an agentic OS to "unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere." He was quickly ratioed in replies, where users caused a massive backlash to the point of Pavan limiting who can reply to his tweets. Oof.

However, a few days later, Pavan decided to address the criticism with a new post, claiming that the company knows how to fix its operating system and it is not blind to user feedback. Ironically, users slammed Microsoft once again for a botched Copilot ad that only showed how useless it actually is.

As usual, on Tuesday, Microsoft released the latest security updates for supported Windows 11 versions. Windows 10, which is now unsupported, received its first update in the Extended Security Update program in the form of KB5071959. These updates improved security and fixed quite a lot of major bugs. Also, Microsoft released a new version of the Media Creation Tool to address various bugs and issues.

In addition to that, Microsoft increased the rollout scope of Windows 11 version 23H2. It is now available to more supported devices, as Windows 11 version 23H2 is no longer supported.

Windows 11 is now more friendly to third-party password managers. This week, Microsoft released improved passkey integration with third-party services, such as Bitwarden and 1Password, which allows seamless access to passkeys for improved security.

We also have a new update for Flyoobe, a popular customization app that also lets you skip Windows 11's hardware requirements. This time, version 2.0 introduced a major UI redesign, now available as a separate preview release. Alternatively, you can use the latest release of tiny11. This lightweight and debloated Windows 11 mod now comes with the latest November 2025 security updates and new features.

If you want to try the new full-screen Xbox experience on your computer without buying one of the latest Xbox ROG Ally consoles, which arguably have some notable flaws, you can check out this guide. It describes how to enable the new experience on any handheld and even on desktop PCs.

Finally, check out this story about a former Microsoft software engineer explaining why Windows sucks and what to do with it. And to close off this week's Windows section, check out this interesting Windows "26" concept:

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

The new Windows 11 preview builds have a few interesting bits hidden inside them. For one, Microsoft is reportedly working on haptic feedback for various actions across the operating system. A dedicated toggle and intensity slider were discovered in the latest Dev release. Rumors say these will work on laptops with haptic trackpads.

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.

The beef between third-party browsers and Microsoft continues, as the Browser Choice Alliance accused the software giant of bribing customers to continue to use the Microsoft Edge browser. The bribe? Microsoft Reward points, which have real cash value and can be exchanged for goods, such as discounts, subscriptions, and more.

Speaking of browsers, we had a bunch of big releases this week. Firefox 145 is now available, and it is an important update, as it killed 32-bit Linux support. Additionally, it features improved privacy protections, a new way to work with PDF files, and more.

Opera, on the other hand, continues releasing various unorthodox updates to see what sticks, thus offering users a more unique experience. This time, the company partnered with Spotify to develop a new dynamic theme catering to music lovers.

Vivaldi also received a big update. Version 7.7 arrived with a new privacy dashboard, improved cross-device tab syncing, and more upgrades.

Finally, Microsoft launched Visual Studio 2026 and .NET 10 with big performance improvements, and over 300 feature requests implemented across the company's flagship IDE.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Microsoft killed a popular KMS activation hack for Windows 10 and 11.
• Microsoft announced the general availability of Surveys Agent for all Microsoft 365 Copilot customers.

• Some exciting features are coming soon to Edge, Excel, Outlook, and Copilot.

• Microsoft reveals the architecture powering its new Azure AI superfactory.

• Microsoft solves a major OneNote annoyance on Windows.

   

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

• Microsoft will release a new low-latency audio driver for Windows on Arm in 2026.

• AMD releases Windows 11 25H2 RAID drivers for many chipsets.

• AMD 25.11.1 driver adds Ryzen 7500X3D, Black Ops 7, ARC Raiders, and Anno 117 support. There is also FSR Redstone Ray Regeneration for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

This week, we reviewed the Baseus VD1 Pro, an interesting and budget-friendly 4K dash cam, which has one stand-out feature: a solar panel to provide power for the parking surveillance system. This sub-$200 camera comes with a rear-view 1080p camera and everything you need to record your driving without purchasing additional accessories.

By the way, in case you missed it, the early deal offer on the UGREEN NASync DH4300 Plus, which we reviewed earlier this month, is still live. You can get this sleek NAS for as little as $364.99.

On the gaming side

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

The biggest gaming story from this week is, without a question, the announcement of a bunch of new hardware from Valve. The company, which many accuse of not knowing how to count to three, announced a new console, a VR headset, and a new controller. Prices are currently unknown, but the hardware and the overall approach look very promising.

If you expect major news about the upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI, Todd Howard has bad news for you. The head of Bethestda Game Studios revealed that the game, initially announced seven years ago, is "still a long way off."

Xbox users in India now have access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. This week, Microsoft expanded its cloud gaming service to India, where it is part of various Game Pass tiers that start from ~5.63/mo and go all the way to ~$15.68.

The original Red Dead Redemption is back. The critically acclaimed game is finally coming to current-gen consoles, and even mobile devices, allowing you to play the iconic title on Android, iOS, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Nvidia announced new games for GeForce NOW. Black Ops 7, Anno 117, Rue Valley, Megabonk, RV There Yet, and other titles are now available to play in the cloud, as long as you own them.

Deals and freebies

As usual, we published our weekly Weekend PC Game Deals article, bringing you a list of multiple game discounts across various storefronts, including a giveaway from the Epic Game Store and Ubisoft. The latter is letting everyone grab a free copy of Immortals Fenyx Rising on PC.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• Fortnite is getting Xbox Play Anywhere support alongside Game Pass Ultimate benefits.

• FromSoftware's new Elden Ring Nightreign DLC brings back a popular Dark Souls boss.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post. Feedback welcome.

Posted Monday 17 November 2025 at 3:46 am AEST (my time).

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