Microsoft Weekly: Windows 11 requirements are here to stay, Patch Tuesday, deals, and more

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at the latest Patch Tuesday updates, non-negotiable Windows 11 requirements that are not going anywhere, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, a new and slightly confusing Copilot app, gaming news, and more.

Table of contents:

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

Windows 11 and 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 but still supported versions.

As expected, on Tuesday, Microsoft released this month's security and quality updates for Windows 10 and 11. KB5048667 and KB5048685 arrived for those with Windows 11, while Windows 10 users received KB5048652, KB5048661, KB50448671, and KB5048703.

Shortly after the release of the December 2024 Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft lifted an update block preventing some users with certain USB devices from updating to Windows 11.

Also, Microsoft has updated one of its support documents to clarify that it would not lower Windows 11's system requirements. Despite some interesting findings and experiments conducted by users, Windows 11 will continue requiring TPM 2.0, 4 GB of RAM, and pretty recent processors from AMD and Intel.

If you use Suggested Actions in Windows 11, we have bad news for you: the feature is on its way out. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that Suggested Actions in Windows 11 are now deprecated, and a future update will remove it from the operating system. The company is also removing NTLM from Windows 11 version 24H2 and Server 2025.

If you live in Europe and you want a fancy new Copilot+ PC, check out HONOR's new MagicBook Art 14 laptop. It is now available for preorder in certain European countries, offering users a thin and powerful laptop with some interesting quirk and beautiful design.

We finish this week's Windows 11 section with a story about the operating system running on an Android phone. While doing something like that requires a lot of effort, the result, according to the project's author, turned out to be running "pretty smooth."

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:

Windows 11 build 22635.4580, which was released last week in the Beta Channel, contains a hidden feature that lets you place an emoji button in the tray area. Not everyone knows about the emoji panel and its key shortcut, so Microsoft wants to improve the feature's discoverability with a new entry on the taskbar.

In addition to new preview builds, Microsoft released a new Copilot app for Windows 10 and 11 Insiders. Microsoft said that the updated version is "fully native," but users quickly discovered that it is still a web wrapper. At least there is a new shortcut and a fancier UI.

As for more useful and positive changes, Windows Insiders with iPhones can have a sort of AirDrop feature on Windows 11. The latest Phone Link update for Windows 11 allows the sharing of files between iPhones and PCs.

If you are a Windows Insider with a Copilot+ PC, be careful when using the Recall feature. As it turned out, despite reassurances from Microsoft, Recall still captures a lot of sensitive data like credit card information, social security numbers, and more. While it can filter out such information on certain web pages, there are many times when Recall's filters do not work.

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 Files Preview app is now available in the Microsoft Store. If you have purchased the stable release in the Microsoft Store, you can get it for free until the end of this year. With Files Preview, you can test early updates before they roll out to all users.

Stardock released a couple of updates to its productivity-focused applications on Windows 10 and 11. Multiplicity 4 (an app that lets you control several computers with one keyboard and mouse), for one, received Seamless Display, ARM support, multi-monitor streaming, improved audio, better security, and other changes.

Start11 also got an update with a major new feature that lets you move the taskbar to the left or right. It is available in version 2.5 beta, and a public release is scheduled for the next month.

Microsoft made some quiet changes in Skype and its ability to make landline and mobile calls. From now on, Skype users can no longer purchase Skype Credits or Skype phone numbers. As such, making landline and mobile calls from Skype now requires buying a subscription, whose price depends on where you want to call. As for Skype phone numbers, they are no longer available for purchase at all, albeit existing numbers will continue working fine.

Other notable updates include the following:

• Logitech Options Plus 1.85 arrived with new backlighting features for MX Mini and more.
• Microsoft Teams for iPad now supports external webcams.
• Mozilla released Firefox 133.0.3 with fixes for missing scrollbars, incorrect window positioning, and more.
• Microsoft Teams Public Preview now lets you take control of presentations.
• Meta Quest v72 update is out with improved integration with Windows 11 PCs and more.
• Bing is removing cached links from search results.

• Microsoft introduced Phi-4, a 14B parameter state-of-the-art small language model.

   

And here are the newest drivers and firmware released this week:

• Intel Arc 32.0.101.6325/101.6252 WHQL with support for the new Arc B580 graphics card.
• Surface Pro 11 and Laptop 7 received big updates with plenty of various fixes.

Reviews are in

Here are the hardware or software reviews we published this week.

Steven Parker reviewed the Narwal Freo Z Ultra—a pretty advanced robovac with mopping, AI, a big dust cabin, and other handy features. It is a good choice, as long as you can swallow its pretty hefty price tag.

Robbie Khan reviewed the DOOGEE S200, a rugged smartphone with a massive battery and an extra display on the back. However, at some point, the review process went sideways with some unexpected results (no cats were harmed in the process, though).

On the gaming side

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

Forza Motorsport received Update 15 with new content and graphical improvements. The update adds an Australia Tour, a bunch of Aussie cars, and new graphical features for gamers with compatible hardware. The game now supports ray-traced global illumination for better visual and more immersive lighting.

Starfield and Doom received a rather unexpected crossover, in which Starfield players can wear Doom Slayer's armor, use some of its iconic weapons, and complete a special quest.

Rocksteady Studios is killing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Season 4 Episode 8 will be the final seasonal episode for the game after its rather disastrous launch in February 2024. Although the game will no longer receive any updates, gamers will be able to continue playing it as long as servers remain online.

Cyberpunk 2077 received an update with dynamic car paints, expanded character customization, and a photo mode. Update 2.2 is now available on all supported platforms. By the way, look out for even more features and content for the game, as it was announced on CD Projekt RED's social media channels.

There is some good news for those into emulation. RPCS3, a popular PlayStation 3 emulator, received Arm64 support, which enables PlayStation 3 emulation on devices like Apple Silicon-powered Macs and Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X processors.

Microsoft announced some big changes for its cloud game streaming platform. Xbox Cloud Gaming now allows Xbox Insiders to stream some of the games they own, even if they are not available in Game Pass. However, keep in mind that the feature requires the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier, and the number of supported games is currently limited to roughly 50 titles.

There were plenty of interesting announcements during The Game Awards 2024 show. Mafia: The Old Country trailer is out, showing off the prequel setting and new protagonist, Enzo; The Last of Us Part II Remastered for PC was announced; Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2 is coming in 2025 (the first gameplay trailer is out); and The Witcher IV was finally unveiled with a cinematic reveal trailer.

Deals and Freebies

The Epic Games Store is giving away The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. You can get this game for $0 until December 19. Also, the store is about to start its daily giveaways, so look out for more freebies beginning tomorrow. As usual, more deals are available in our weekly Weekend PC Game Deals Series.

Other gaming stories include the following:

• Valve has updated Steam with a new feature that lets you configure when games can install updates.
• Nvidia announced new games for GeForce NOW, including The Thing: Remastered, Legacy of Kain remasters, and more.
• Space Engineers 2 announced with massive upgrades to the sandbox and physics system.

• Space Marine 2 update adds a new mission, parry rework, DLSS and FSR frame-gen, and more.

• Helldivers 2 received a new faction, a drivable vehicle, urban environments, and more.

Source

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