Microsoft Weekly: Windows bugs, new browsers, Copilot everywhere, and more

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at a lot of confirmed bugs and issues in Windows 10, 11, and Server, some odd Windows 11 stats, new Windows 11 preview builds with File Explorer improvements, new browsers for Windows, lots of Copilot news, and more.

Table of contents:

1. Windows 10 and 11 news
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Gaming news
5. Reviews are in
6. Random fact about Microsoft

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 (and even unsupported) versions.

Let us start with some stats since there are some interesting ones. Microsoft Edge is slowly increasing its market share and getting close to the 13% mark. Windows 11, on the other hand, is going down. For the second month in a row, Statcounter reports a significant decrease in Windows 11's market share. What makes the situation extra odd is Windows 11 is the first version to lose market share mid-cycle. Windows 7, meanwhile, is back above 70%, as unhappy Windows 11 users return to the classic.

While Windows 11 is reportedly not doing great in the global market, things look pretty good on the gaming side. According to Valve, Windows 11 is now just 6 points away from Windows 10. In April 2024, Windows 11 crossed the 45% mark.

Following the initial release of the reworked Tiny11 Builder script, its maker, NTDEV, released a new version with one important change: the ability to turn off telemetry (shortly after another update brought ESD support). If you think Windows 11 wants to know too much about you, the latest Tiny11 Builder is just for you.

Plenty of updates happened in the list of known bugs and issues in Windows 10, 11, Server, and more. For starters, Microsoft confirmed that KB5036893 and KB5036892 broke VPN connections on Windows 10 and 11 (some important network-related changes are coming soon). Windows Server editions are also experiencing high NTLM traffic and LSASS crashes after KB5036909.

If you cannot update your profile picture after installing Windows 11 April 2024 Cumulative Updates, rest assured that Microsoft is aware of the problem and is working on fixing the 0x80070502 Account Picture error. You can also bypass the bug and change your local profile picture without the Settings app.

Also, Microsoft confirmed it cannot fix "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" on Windows 10, which means users have to apply the necessary fixes manually.

As for more positive updates, Microsoft finally fixed the BitLocker error 6500 on Windows 10 and 11.

Microsoft plans to unveil its new ARM-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop at a special event on May 20. It turns out ASUS also has plans for that day. At 11 AM PT, the company will host an event that will feature "a collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and ASUS" to "celebrate the fist of the new-era ASUS AI PCs."

Windows Insider Program

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

Windows Insiders recently noticed a mysterious "Global.WindowsMigration" app in the Start menu, which, according to Microsoft, is just a bug. That is a component of the Windows Backup app, and it should be gone from the Start menu in future updates.

To finish the Windows section, here is Windows 8 updating straight to Windows 11 without losing data and apps. Yes, it turns out that is possible, assuming your Windows 8 PC is Windows 11-compatible.

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.

More Surface devices received new firmware updates this week. Microsoft released network, audio, and other improvements for the Surface Go 2 and the Surface Studio 2 Plus. Also, the Intel-based Surface Pro 9 got fixes for the choppy cursor and stuttery Windows animations.

Microsoft 365 Insiders can try out the new ink-to-text feature in Excel. It allows typing in handwritten text with a stylus and converting it into regular text on the fly.

Microsoft also released a bunch of new features for OneDrive on the web. Customers with school and work accounts can now work in offline mode and more. Also, the company confirmed that Copilot for OneDrive was delayed from April 2024 to summer 2024.

This week was full of other Copilot news. Outlook on iOS and Android received Copilot support, Copilot features are generally available in Viva Engage, Copilot for Microsoft 365 now supports more languages, and Copilot for Planner in Teams is now rolling out. However, all those AI news also have a dark side. Microsoft engineers (and from other companies) anonymously report big burnouts because of forced deadlines.

For Teams users, Microsoft published a lengthy support document to outline all the changes made from the class Microsoft Teams to the new one. They include Windows notifications, Settings, general appearance, search box commands, and others.

Speaking of Teams, check out a recap of all the features Microsoft added to the service in April 2024.

If you use MSN Weather to plan your day according to the weather outside, you will be glad to know that Microsoft developed some AI models that could help the company provide more accurate 30-day weather forecasts.

On the third-party side, Mozilla released another update for its browser. This time, version 125.0.3 brought fixes for the blank 0.0.0.1 page appearing out of nowhere, corrupt fonts on Linux, and other bugs.

The browser war on Windows is heating up as a new player emerged this week. After several months of closed beta testing, The Browser Company finally released the Arc browser for all users on Windows 11. Built on Chromium, it offers uncompromised compatibility and several interesting productivity features while focusing on minimalism.

If you are also annoyed by the new "Rewrite with Copilot" popup in the latest Edge updates, check out this article to learn how to disable that. Spoiler alert: a few clicks is all it takes.

By the way, a minor update for Edge 124 introduced a built-in internet speed tester and security fixes. Microsoft Edge 125 arrived in the Beta Channel with improvements to sleeping tabs, a new memory limiter, and other changes. And as for Dev users, they received the first Edge 126 update with new media controls and fixes.

Finally, Microsoft announced the deprecation of legacy properties for high-contrast themes in the Edge browser.

Other notable updates include the following:

• Microsoft added passkey support to all consumer accounts.
• Microsoft is promising to make security its top priority from now on.
• Microsoft added Mistral Small LLM for Azure AI services.
• Microsoft plans to invest $1.7 billion in AI and cloud development in Indonesia.
• Bill Gates is reportedly still very involved at Microsoft.
• Microsoft released a new version of the Cascadia Code with new symbols, quadrants, and more.
• Wintoys received several fixes and service-related improvements.
• Microsoft is investing $2.2 billion in a major cloud and AI expansion in Malaysia.

Finally, here is this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly with the latest additions, such as Copilot in Forms, Copilot in Loop, Teams improvements, and more.

On the gaming side

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

The Xbox and PC Game Pass catalog has new games. The latest additions include Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and more. Some titles are leaving the program this month, so check out all the details here.

Sea of Thieves is now available on PlayStation 5. In addition to that, Rare launched Season 12 with new weapons, ziplines, and other content for the game released six years ago.

Starfield, another Microsoft-owned game, is getting a new expansion. The Shattered Space expansion should land this fall. While there are currently no details about it, you can expect to hear some news about it at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase, which is scheduled for June 9. And by the way, you can win a trip to that Showcase.

Speaking of showcases, check out our recap of the recent ID@XBox Digital Showcase. We may soon publish another showcase recap as The THQ Nordic 2024 Showcase was recently announced. However, you will need to wait a little longer for that one since it is coming on August 2, 2024.

Ninja Theory is getting ready to launch the much-anticipated sequel to Hellblade. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is coming May 21, and if you plan to play on your PC, better make sure it is compatible. You can do it now, as the studio released full PC hardware requirements.

Some interesting stuff is happening with Helldivers, a popular third-person sci-fi shooter, which was launched to critical acclaim a couple of months ago. Sony is forcing all PC players to get a PSN account to continue playing, and those PC players are having absolutely none of that.

Nvidia added a batch of new games to its cloud streaming service. GeForce NOW now supports Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Stromgate Closed Beta, Gray Zone Warfare, MotoGP24, FOUNDRY, INDIKA, and Orcs Must Die! 3.

Some Xbox Insiders can try dashboard background improvements. Members of the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings can set game art backgrounds for selected games on Home with any background, not just the default one.

Another thing that is currently available for Xbox Insiders is the ability to remember up to ten Wi-Fi networks on their consoles. For reference, current Xbox consoles cannot remember Wi-Fi networks at all.

Deals and Freebies

This week's edition of Weekend PC Game Deals covers Star Wars Day specials, farming festival titles, Total War, and other games across different stores, such as Steam, Epic Games, GoG, Humble Store, and more.

Reviews are in

Here are the hardware and/or software reviews published this week on Neowin

Steven Parker continues his journey through the world of mini PCs, and this week, the GEEKOM XT12 Pro went through his testing labs. This tiny Windows 11 PC is a well-built metal brick with great connectivity, fast SSD, and support for up to four displays, but it also has some downsides, such as the lack of an SD card reader or Type-C on the front panel.

After hearing some reports about mini PCs shipping with malware, Steven also conducted a bunch of AV tests on small form-factor computers from AceMagic, Beelink, and Geekom. Check out the results here.

Random fact about Microsoft

And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things.

We all know and love the Start menu button, which was first released many years ago as part of a major UI overhaul in Windows 95. Did you know that the iconic "Start" inscription may not have appeared at all? This week's random fact about Microsoft, courtesy of Windows on Windows on X, shows an early taskbar UI with just the Windows logo on the Start button. Looks familiar, right?

In 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista, which ditched the "Start" word in favor of just a simple Windows logo.

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