That broken page reference counting issue that led to memory leaking on v4.14+ was merged for Linux 5.16 and now working its way back to prior stable series that are still maintained. There have also been other reference counting problems recently fixed too by multiple parties. The hope is this Page Table Check kernel feature will be able to prevent this class of memory corruption issues in the kernel moving forward -- it amounts to checking at insertion time of page table entries that there is no illegal sharing.

The Page Table Check feature will check for illegal sharing when pages are inserted/removed that there is no illegal sharing that stems from double mapping. If corruption is detected, the kernel will crash. As well, this extra checking does cause some performance implications as well as extra memory overhead.

Due to the performance/memory costs of the proposed Page Table Check, it would be off by default. Activation would require building with the PAGE_TABLE_CHECK build option enabled plus booting the kernel with the page_table_check=on parameter to enable it at run-time.

More details for those interested in this work that is currently out for review as a "request for comments" can be found via the kernel mailing list.

As part of a separate patch series, there was also sent out on Tuesday a set of pages hardening page _refcount by the same Google engineers involved with hopes of improving debugging around the reference counting code and reducing problems around it such as the memory corruption.

Source

Nvidia’s Arm acquisition undergoes more scrutiny by the UK government

IBM clears the 100-qubit mark with its new processor

Intel is celebrating 50 years since the launch of the Intel 4004, the world’s first commercially available microprocessor that would be the basis for future chips that are used in computers and phones today as well as more cutting edge technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices. According to Intel, the 4004 was important because it proved that complex integrated circuits could be built on a chip the size of a fingernail.

Commenting on the 4004, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said:

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 4004 chip. Think of how much we’ve accomplished in the past half-century. This is a sacred moment for technology. This is what made computing really take off!”

The Intel 4004 was developed by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stan Mazor. Two years before the chip’s release in November 1971, Intel was approached by Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation about designing some integrated circuits for the Busicom 141-PF, an engineering prototype calculator that it was working on. Twelve chips were originally planned but eventually this was whittled down to four, of which, the Intel 4004 was one.

Similarly to how we look back at the NASA Apollo missions and balk at the idea that the on-board computers were far less powerful than our smartphones, the Intel 4004 was as powerful as the first electronic computer that was built in 1946 which was the size of a whole room.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how long we continue to use machines that use the classical computing paradigm now that most of the big tech firms are working on quantum computers. According to IBM, quantum chips could outperform standard chips in some tasks in just two years.

Intel marks 50 years since the launch of the first commercially available microprocessor

Patch Tuesday and updates galore

Microsoft releases cumulative updates for its operating systems on the second Tuesday of each month, and this time was no different. Windows 7 is still supported until the start of 2023 for those who are subscribed to Extended Security Updates (ESU) and users of the OS got some fixes for printer issues and zero width Pen not behaving correctly. Windows 8.1 had similar fixes for printer issues but the patch notes for both the operating systems still note some more printer problems and their respective workarounds. Be sure to check out their details here.

The Windows 10 Patch Tuesday notes were quite similar too. Microsoft highlighted some security updates and a fix for a zero width Pen, but pointed out a bunch of other known issues related to Edge installation, printer, and updates not installing correctly. The company noted that due to the "minimal operations during the holidays and the upcoming Western new year", there won't be any C release in the month of December. However, the B release or Patch Tuesday security updates will be released as per the normal schedule. Find out more about this here.

Interestingly, the Windows 11 Patch Tuesday fixed a few problems but apparently has no known issues. That's not all when it comes to the OS though. Dev Channel Insiders were treated to build 22449 which notably adds the ability to quickly share open app windows on the taskbar directly with Microsoft Teams calls. That said, this capability will be rolled out in a staggered manner. There are tons of other bug fixes and known issues that you can check out here too. Yesterday, Microsoft also released build 22449.1010 to the Dev Channel, but it brought no changes as it is just a servicing update.

The Beta Channel was not forgotten either. Insiders on that ring received build 22000.346 which fixes lots of issues related to printer connectivity and File Explorer. The patch notes are quite lengthy so be sure to check them out here if you're on the Beta Channel for Windows 11.

Finally, the new Microsoft Store has started rolling out to non-Insiders of Windows 10 too. However, since it is being made available in a staggered manner, not everyone will receive it at the same time.

Welcome Windows 11 SE and Surface Laptop SE

After being leaked a few weeks ago, Microsoft took to the stage to unveil the Surface Laptop SE powered by Windows 11 SE. The device is targeted at K-8 students and sports an affordable price tag of $249, thanks to 11.6-inch 1366x768 display, plastic body, an Intel Celeron processor, and up to 8GB of RAM coupled with up to 128GB of storage.

Talking more about Windows 11 SE, no one really knows what the "SE" in the new SKU officially stands for. Given that people have a lot of questions surrounding the OS and how it differs from the standard Windows 11 offering, we dove into its documentation and prepared a somewhat brief summary discussing the salient points about Windows 11 SE for our readers.

Essentially, Windows 11 SE is aimed only at K-8 students and while Microsoft isn't restricted OEMs from selling it elsewhere, it doesn't think that this will become a trend given the OS' restriction and management requirements via Intune for Education. It is a cloud-first OS but it might still be faster than traditional Windows in some productivity scenario given its optimizations for low-powered devices. Find out more about this and lots of related topics in our deep-dive here.

Partnerships and integrations and blockers, oh my!

This week, Meta (formerly Facebook) announced that it has partnered with Microsoft to integrate its Workplace enterprise communication platform with Teams. While both tools are essentially rivals, the two companies believe that integrating them will offer a seamless solution for customers who use Workplace and Teams both. This is a multifaceted approach with content sync between the two platforms available right now and the ability to stream meetings from Teams to Workplace groups becoming available in early 2022.

Mozilla managed to mend some bridges with Microsoft as well and now offers its Firefox browser through the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and Windows 11. This release is built on Firefox' own Gecko engine and is not tied to the OS' engine. As such, it packs all the features available in the regular Firefox release.

The Redmond tech giant and IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl have teamed up for a strategic global partnership through which solutions build on Microsoft Cloud will be offered to customers. The aim will be to modernize applications and enhance hybrid cloud adoption processes.

Microsoft is not being friendly with everyone though. Its latest Dev Channel build essentially renders EdgeDeflector useless which means that it has become impossible for third-parties to change the default browser in Edge to something else again. Similarly, the company also removed APK sideloading app WSATools for Windows 11 without any explanations. However, the developer has recently stated that Microsoft has reached out with more information about how to get the app approved again. All's well that ends well, we suppose.

Dev Channel

• Visual Studio 2022 and .NET 6 are now generally available
• You can now pop up chats in new windows on Teams
• There are less than six months to go before .NET 5 reaches end of support
• Microsoft may be integrating Office more deeply with its Edge browser
• Microsoft revealed some more details about its Privacy Preserving Machine Learning (PPML) initiative
• Forza Horizon 5 is the biggest Xbox Game Studios launch to date with over five million players
• Xbox Design Lab now offers more customization options for controllers

• Your Ryzen-based Windows 11 PCs could be snappier with new StoreMI 2.1.0.205

Under the spotlight

In this week's combo of Closer Look articles, I discussed the UI and usability revamps to both the Settings app and the dedicated Windows Update section. Microsoft is clearly on the right track even if it's Settings app is not perfect yet.

Meanwhile, our very own Asher Madan and Pulasthi Ariyasinghe reviewed both the campaign and multiplayer components of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Although it's more of the same (which includes benefits and flaws both), that does not mean that it doesn't have its moments of fun. Check out Asher's review of the campaign here and Pulasthi's review of the multiplayer component here.

Finally, Asher also took a look at Battlefield 2042 on Xbox Series X, talking about how the title has massive potential but needs further polish before it becomes a truly stellar experience. The game is currently in early access but will officially launch on November 19. Check out Asher's impressions of Battlefield 2042 here.

Logging off

For this week's most interesting news item, we talk about how a visual glitch in multiple Windows 11 preview builds results in the battery percentage being shown as over 100%. This is, of course, physically impossible so don't go singing the praises about how Windows 11 has increased your device's battery life just yet. Microsoft is investigating the issue so expect a fix soon.

Microsoft Weekly: Overcharged batteries, Patch Tuesday, and Surface Laptop SE

This Intel-contributed change to the Linux kernel is about allowing certain devices to be probed by a kernel module without changing their power states / being powered up. It's a bit of a corner case with normally not being able to properly probe the hardware and load the driver without the component being initialized and ensuring it can successfully light up and work. This won't magically work for all drivers/hardware but depends upon necessary ACPI support being advertised.

Intel's motivation for allowing a driver to probe a device powered off is actually around laptop web cameras... With some web cameras, powering up the web camera will (obviously) result in the camera's privacy LED lighting up too. For security reasons, the camera privacy LED is not normally controllable by the operating system software. But to avoid interrupting the user's experience and thinking Linux or something may be spying on them when the system is booting, there is this desire to probe a device while powered off. The privacy LED lighting in the current behavior normally is very brief but this would eliminate the need to turn on the camera while loading the kernel driver.

But on the downside, if there are hardware issues that won't be known until trying to use the driver/camera. With the initial Intel patches their changes targeted the imx319 and at24 drivers while other Linux kernel drivers moving forward may find use for this functionality if having the necessary ACPI capability.

The code is going in through the ACPI tree as it introduces the "_DSC" object for the power management object indicating the deepest D-State a device can be in for evaluating its configuration objects. Devices supporting this _DSC ACPI object can let the kernel know it can remain in a D3cold state or similar during the driver probe process and to not fully power it on. The ACPI spec proposal was made earlier this year here.

The ACPI update allowing this _DSC support for probing without changing of power states can be found via this pull request.

Source

INTEL-SA-00562 was made public on Tuesday around security vulnerabilities in the BIOS reference code for processors ranging from 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable to 11th Gen Core to Celeron and Pentium processors... Rather broad exposure across Intel CPU product lines for recent generations and going back to at least the likes of the 7th Gen Core processors.

The vulnerabilities in the BIOS reference code could lead to privilege escalation of local users and carries a CVSS base score of "high" at 8.2 for both CVEs. CVE-2021-0157 is tracking insufficient control flow management in this BIOS firmware and CVE-2021-0158 is for improper input validation by the BIOS firmware.

Also disclosed on Tuesday and being mitigated by updated firmware is INTEL-SA-00528 (CVE-2021-0146) around a security vulnerability in various Atom, Celeron, and Pentium processors. These affected processors allow activating test/debug logic at run-time that could be used by unauthenticated users to escalate their privileges. This carries a high CVSS base score of 7.1.

For both of these Intel security advisories, it is important to note that it requires a malicious actor to first have local user access to the system and then the risk from there is privilege escalation. So public multi-user systems, servers, etc, are obviously most at risk and impacted by these new vulnerabilities.

The precise details on the vulnerabilities within the Intel BIOS reference code doesn't appear to have been made public yet. However, given many OEMs relying on that reference code and the number of affected processors, there is broad exposure on INTEL-SA-00562. Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other vendors have already begun rolling out updated BIOSes to address these newly disclosed vulnerabilities. Intel Platform Update (IPU) Update 2021.2 for November 2021 has the necessary firmware updates.

So particularly for those at risk of having potentially nefarious local user access to affected hardware, start checking for BIOS updates. Thankfully for Linux systems with LVFS/FWUPD we continue to see more hardware vendors pushing down BIOS updates.

Source

Fail0verflow announcement suggests a private exploit to expose system's secure kernel.

Hacking group Fail0verflow announced Sunday evening that it had obtained the encryption "root keys" for the PlayStation 5, an important first step in any effort to unlock the system and allow users to run homebrew software.

 

The tweeted announcement includes an image of what appears to be the PS5's decrypted firmware files, highlighting code that references the system's "secure loader." Analyzing that decrypted firmware could let Fail0verflow (or other hackers) reverse engineer the code and create custom firmware with the ability to load homebrew PS5 software (signed by those same symmetric keys to get the PS5 to recognize them as authentic).

 

Extracting the PS5's system software and installing a replacement both require some sort of exploit that provides read and/or write access to the PS5's usually secure kernel. Fail0verflow's post does not detail the exploit the group used, but the tweet says the keys were "obtained from software," suggesting the keys didn't need to make any modifications to the hardware itself.

 

Separately this weekend, well-known PlayStation hacker theFlow0 tweeted a screenshot showing a "Debug Settings" option amid the usual list of PS5 settings. As console-hacking news site Wololo explains, this debug setting was previously only seen on development hardware, where the GUI looks significantly different. But TheFlow0's tweet appears to come from the built-in sharing function of a retail PS5, suggesting he has also used an exploit to enable the internal flags that unlock the mode on standard consumer hardware.

 

TheFlow0 adds that he has "no plans for disclosure" of his PS5 exploit at this point. In recent years, TheFlow0 has taken part in Sony bug-bounty programs that reward the responsible disclosure of security flaws in PlayStation hardware.

A history of hacking

The weekend announcement from Fail0verflow comes roughly 11 years after the group announced that it had uncovered the private keys for the PlayStation 3 by taking advantage of a faulty cryptography implementation on Sony's part. Sony later sued members of the collective for what it said was circumventing the system's security; hacker George "GeoHot" Hotz discovered the same information independently and published the actual key on his website (the case was later settled).

 

Back in 2013, Fail0verflow wrote a blog post suggesting that "we may have reached the point where homebrew on closed game consoles is no longer appealing," thanks in part to "a very real threat of litigation" and the fact that "game pirates would become not just big users of the result of those efforts, but by far the overwhelming majority (not because there are more pirates, but because there are fewer homebrewers)." But in 2018, Fail0verflow was one of a number of hacking groups that discovered the "unpatchable" exploit allowing unsigned code to run on the Nintendo Switch.

 

It remains to be seen if and when similar exploits for the PS5 will become public and if Sony will be able to temporarily cut them off with firmware updates as it has in the past.

Hacking group says it has found encryption keys needed to unlock the PS5

April 2020 was the last time Intel or AMD released a new $100-ish desktop CPU.

Leaked Alder Lake Core i3 would be first interesting budget CPU in almost 2 years

Alleged details by The Information lays out a basic framework of Apple Silicon to be used in future generations of the Mac line. TSMC, Apple's silicon manufacturing partner, currently utilizes the 5nm process for the first-generation of the M1 line that includes the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max.

Information outlined in the report claims that the second-generation of Apple silicon chips will still be using TSMC's 5nm process but will be enhanced. The chips will allow for two dies, in order to allow for more cores cumulatively. These chips will likely be used for an annual update to Apple's Mac line beginning next year, with tweaks for each class of second-generation chip to fit the needs of the specific line of Mac (i.e. M1 vs. M1 Pro).

However, Apple reportedly plans an even more significant leap in performance with the third-generation of silicon, codenamed Ibiza, Lobos, and Palma, which will be manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process. Doubling the die count from the second-generation to four, this may translate into Silicon having as many as 40 cores. In its current generation of Apple Silicon, Apple has one die for the M1 chip which has an 8-core CPU for its entry line computers such as the MacBook Air, while the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips can be configured with up to 10-core CPUs.

According to the report, TSMC is expected to reliable manufacture silicon based on its 3nm process by 2023 for Apple's iPhone, iPad, and Mac lines.

Apple Silicon Macs will reportedly transition to 3nm silicon with up to 40-core CPU

Microsoft Fall 2021 Ignite conference

We start this week off with Microsoft's Ignite conference. Frankly, there's just so much to cover that this section would be insanely long so we'll only highlight some of the major announcements, and if you're interested, you can always head over to the associated hyperlink or the dedicated section here to read each announcement in more detail.

In terms of highlights, Microsoft finally announced a stable build of Edge for Linux and open-sourced the backend of its Power Fx low-code programming language. In related news, the Power Platform received deeper integration with Microsoft services such as Teams while Power Apps transitioned to pay-as-you-go (PAYG) per-app licensing along with mobile apps in preview.

Additionally, Microsoft unveiled Loop as a new app with portable elements that you can utilize with other services to enhance workflows. HoloLens 2 is available at a 15% discount for the next few days and we finally have a preview of SQL Server 2022. Microsoft has described it as its most "cloud-connected" release yet due to integrations with Azure.

Talking about integration, Teams is being enhanced with Mesh so that enterprises can conduct meetings in virtual, immersive worlds with customized avatars. In the same space, Microsoft also detailed how it is making it easier for IT admins to manage deployments of Windows 11, both on-premises and on the cloud via Windows 365.

You can read more about Microsoft's Ignite 2021 in our dedicated section here.

Microsoft loves Sega

In a bit of a surprise announcement, Sega announced that it is exploring a partnership with Microsoft through which the two will collaborate to build "Super Games" in a "next-generation development environment". While no concrete details have been revealed as of yet, it appears that Sega will be using the power of Microsoft's cloud platform to build large-scale games that are online, global, and community-focused. Who knows if this will lead to an acquisition, eh?

In other news, it's a big month for Xbox Game Pass too. Several high-profile releases including Minecraft: Java and Bedrock Editions, It Takes Two, Forza Horizon 5, Football Manager 2022, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definitive Edition have made their way to Game Pass or will be launching on the service in the next few days. Microsoft has also revealed that the Sega-published Total War: Warhammer III will be heading to Xbox Game Pass for PC on day one.

Talking more about games, we learned that Forza Horizon 5 is becoming more accessible as Microsoft is introducing on-screen American and British Sign language for in-game cutscenes. The company also revealed more details about its upcoming AAA title Halo Infinite, saying that it will feature $10 Battle Passes with non-canon rewards. Interestingly, the Battle Passes won't expire but you can only activate one at a single instance.

In a bit of bad news, DRM seems to breaking games on Windows 10 and Windows 11 Alder-Lake PCs, but there's a workaround available. Intel has also published a full list of games affected by the problem.

Windows woes

It was a not-so-good week for Windows updates unfortunately. We learned that printing is broken (again!) on Windows 10 and Windows 11. This area has been an ongoing headache for Microsoft since the emergence of PrintNightmare back in July. This time, the issue is some updates in October's Patch Tuesday which break network printing. A fix is still in development but Microsoft has provided temporary workarounds until then. Here's to hoping that Microsoft gets this resolved in this month's Patch Tuesday.

That's not all, though. The expiration of a digital certificate in Windows 11 led to several native apps such as Snipping Tool and Touch Keyboard failing to launch. Thankfully, Microsoft released a fix for all versions of Windows 11 via Windows Update within a few hours.

On the good side of the fence, Microsoft released build 22494 to the Windows 11 Dev Channel. Most importantly, it packs a new mute button for Teams directly in the Taskbar and also features some UI enhancements to the default apps section. There are tons of other fixes plus some known issues in this build too and you can find out all about them here. Finally, while it is not tied to the latest Dev Channel build, Insiders on that ring can now try out Android apps on the operating system.

Dev Channel

• Microsoft is finally looking to improve the dark mode in Windows Search
• Support for the OneDrive desktop app on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 is ending next year
• Microsoft has emphasized that capturing telemetry is essential in establishing a Zero Trust architecture
• Dynamics 365 gets new services in preview and GA, enhancements for existing ones
• Teams now features better harassment detection
• Microsoft's Customer Experience Platform is now official
• Microsoft Defender for Business is coming soon
• Microsoft SQL Server on Ubuntu Pro is now available through Azure

Under the spotlight

If you want to stay on Windows 10 for some reason but still want some of the UI flavor offered by Windows 11, Neowin's very own Steven Parker has offered a handy guide around exactly this topic. It includes instructions for how to enable a centered taskbar, assigning friendly names to apps, and even a giveaway for Stardock's Start11!

Our gaming-focused News Reporter Asher Madan also dove into Forza Horizon 5 which released this week. Be sure to check out his review which talks about the stellar gameplay experience, huge roster of cars, diverse environments, and much more.

Meanwhile, in this week's combo of Closer Look, I talked about the Calendar app integration in Windows 11 - or lack thereof - and the UI updates to the Calculator app while lamenting about the fact that Microsoft takes one step forward and two steps back when it comes to Windows 11.

Logging off

This week's most interesting news item is not directly related to Microsoft but is worth highlighting given the wider ramifications that it may have for industry design practices. iFixit has discovered that Apple has made it more difficult for third-party repair outlets and DIY technicians to repair iPhone 13 displays without breaking Face ID. This is due to the presence of a microcontroller that is soldered underneath the display and is used to pair a new display with an iPhone. Consumers will now be forced to visit Apple technicians and will potentially be charged higher unless they have access to technicians possessing microsoldering tools and the associated technical expertise. Consumers and proponents of the "right to repair" movement will be hoping that other OEMs don't follow suit.

Microsoft Weekly: Love from Sega, broken Windows services, and Ignite news galore

The problem with the previous announcements was that developers had to opt into it manually, with EAC specifically explaining that developers had to upgrade to a new SDK. Not something that's actually quick and easy, since a lot of games need to go through many hands to test and approve it, especially for bigger developers.

Valve has now announced that at least for BattlEye, the experience for developers is a lot easier. Devs only need to reach out to BattlEye to have Proton support turned on. They say that "No additional work is required by the developer besides that communication". This is good news, as it's one less hurdle to overcome but it does still need developers to go and at least do that, although a quick email is a bigger incentive than upgrading some of the tech used that's for sure. On Twitter, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentioned Valve had been working with BattlEye on this for "a long while".

Additionally both Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord and ARK: Survival Evolved have already enabled this, and Valve said they "expect others to follow soon". Note: while ARK has a native Linux version, Studio Wildcard have almost never actually supported it, the port is awful. Hopefully then we will see PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS enable it, that sure would be incredible to see fully running on Linux and then the Steam Deck when it releases.

Going alone with this there's a new Proton Experimental update for November to enable this newer BattlEye support, plus also fixing a regression with the 2K launcher. To use this you need both Proton Experimental and the Steam Client Beta. Using Proton Experimental is easy, as shown below:

Make sure it's installed by searching for it in your Steam Library, then select it from the Compatibility menu in the Properties section of a game. See our quick video below:

< Watch the video ath the source page. >

For an explainer in text form:

1. Search for Proton Experimental and install if not already.
2. Right click any game on Steam and go to Properties.
3. Select the Compatibility menu on the right side.
4. Ensure the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" is ticked.
5. From the dropdown box that appears select Proton Experimental.

Source

Bethesda today revealed pricing information of the Anniversary Edition. It comes in at $49.99 / EUR €54.99 / GBP £47.99 / AUD $79.95 / RUB 3399 with digital and physical versions available. However, anyone who already owns the Skyrim Special Edition, or subscribes to Game Pass, can purchase the digital-only Anniversary Upgrade for $19.99 / EUR €19.99 / GBP £15.99 / AUD $29.95 / RUB 1429.

Also on November 11, Bethesda is updating Skyrim Special Edition with four gameplay enhancing Creations for no extra charge. This brings in fishing, a survival mode, new goods to purchase from Khajiit Caravans, as well as the Saints & Seducers Creation that includes new quests, armor sets, weapons, and more.

The freebies don't end there, as all Skyrim players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will receive a next-generation upgrade on November 11 as well. While no specifics have been shared yet, this will deliver graphics enhancements, faster loading times, and other benefits. Any earned achievements will also carry over when upgrading, but this facility won't be available for players moving from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5.

To summarize, the Anniversary Edition serves as a bundle to gain Skyrim, its DLC, plus all premium Creation Club content for one price. The next-gen console upgrade and the four free Creations are coming to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition via an update, and doesn't need a purchase.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition will cost $49.99 to purchase new, $19.99 to upgrade

Addressing the developers, the company said:

If your existing or upcoming game uses a DRM middleware, you might want to contact the middleware provider and confirm that it supports hybrid architectures in general, and the upcoming Intel ADL platform in particular. Due to the nature of modern DRM algorithms, it might use CPU detection, and should be aware of the upcoming hybrid platforms.

Here's how Intel describes the problem:

Certain third-party gaming Digital Rights Management (DRM) software may incorrectly recognize 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors efficient-cores (E-cores) as another system. This prevents games implementing that DRM software from running successfully. Games may crash during launch or gameplay, or unexpectedly shut down.

Today the company has posted a full list of titles that are affected by DRM and most if not all seem to be Denuvo-based. The games below in bold are the ones affected in Windows 11 while the rest are facing problems on Windows 10.

• Anthem*

• Bravely Default 2*

• Fishing Sim World*

• Football Manager 2019*

• Football Manager Touch 2019*

• Football Manager 2020*

• Football Manager Touch 2020*

• Legend of Mana*

• Mortal Kombat 11*

• Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2*

• Warhammer I*

• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla*

• Far Cry Primal*

• Fernbus Simulator*

• For Honor*

• Lost in Random*

• Madden 22*

• Maneater*

• Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit Remastered*

• Sea of Solitude*

• Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order*

• Tourist Bus Simulator*

• Maneater*

 

Intel has reiterated that it is working with Denuvo to fix the issue. In fact, a software fix has been identified and is being rolled out.

 

Meanwhile, a workaround for some of the other titles has been identified that are affected on Windows 10 only. These games are listed below:

 

• Ace Combat 7*

• Assassins Creed Odyssey*

• Assassins Creed Origins*

• Code Vein*

• eFootball 2021*

• F1 2019*

• Far Cry New Dawn*

• FIFA 19*

• FIFA 20*

• Football Manager 2021*

• Football Manager Touch 2021*

• Ghost Recon Breakpoint*

• Ghost Recon Wildlands*

• Immortals Fenyx Rising*

• Just Cause 4*

• Life is Strange 2*

• Madden 21*

• Monopoly Plus*

• Need For Speed Heat*

• Scott Pilgrim vs The World*

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider*

• Shinobi Striker*

• Soulcalibur VI*

• Starlink*

• Team Sonic Racing*

• Total War Saga - Three Kingdoms*

• Train Sim World*

• Train Sim World 2*

• Wolfenstein Youngblood*

 

To fix the DRM issue in the games listed above, you can either update to Windows 11 or use an Intel-provided workaround called Scroll Lock workaround which enables Legacy Game Compatibility Mode. You can find the steps for this workaround here.

 

Source: Intel

 

 

Intel publishes full list of games affected by DRM on Windows 10 and 11 Alder Lake PCs

Addressing the developers, the company said:

If your existing or upcoming game uses a DRM middleware, you might want to contact the middleware provider and confirm that it supports hybrid architectures in general, and the upcoming Intel ADL platform in particular. Due to the nature of modern DRM algorithms, it might use CPU detection, and should be aware of the upcoming hybrid platforms.

Here's how Intel describes the problem:

Certain third-party gaming Digital Rights Management (DRM) software may incorrectly recognize 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors efficient-cores (E-cores) as another system. This prevents games implementing that DRM software from running successfully. Games may crash during launch or gameplay, or unexpectedly shut down.

Today, the company published a full list of affected games, mostly Denuvo-based titles, and also stated that a software fix is being rolled out by the DRM vendor. You can find it here.

A workaround has also been posted that enables Legacy Game Compatibility Mode for several titles on Windows 10. For such games, Intel recommends that you either update to Windows 11 to resolve the issue or use this Intel-provided workaround called Scroll Lock workaround.

The steps to enable the workaround are given below:

1. Power-up system and enter system BIOS setup.

2. Enable switch Legacy Game Compatibility Mode to ON (one-time only) in BIOS.

3. Save BIOS setup changes and exit.

4. Boot to OS.

5. Toggle Keyboard Scroll Lock key ON.

6. Launch affected game title.

7. Toggle Keyboard Scroll Lock key OFF after ending game title.

Source: Intel

 DRM breaks games on Windows 10 and 11 Alder Lake PCs, but there's a workaround available now

Today Strategy Analytics reported that we could not be more wrong, as, despite the shortage of components and supply constraints, the notebook PC market delivered another great quarter with 8% year-over-year growth.

It appears premium products gained momentum due to commercial demand, while consumer spending also increased thanks to higher discounts on premium products like MacBook Air and gaming notebooks.

Chirag Upadhyay, Industry Analyst said, “The commercial customers’ upgrade kicked in as some employees returned to in-person work with the target to improve productivity. Education demand (including consumer) was better in the developed market as back to university discounts gave consumers good reason to upgrade now rather than later. It’s worth noting that the shortage of components and rising prices for manufacturing and freight costs also delayed some orders for many vendors. In other words, shipments could have been even higher.”

Eric Smith, Director – Connected Computing added, “Chromebook shipment year-over-year growth was down to single digits after many quarters of strong sales. The education demand slowed down in the US as most schools reopened for in-person learning and other spending took priority over computer purchases. A few vendors already had orders cancelled or delayed until new budget becomes available for computing devices again.”

Other notable points include:

• For the fourth quarter in a row Lenovo has dominated the market with a record in Notebook PC shipments (sell-in) of 15.3 million units in Q3 2021 (calendar year); this represented 5% growth from the 14.5 million shipped the year prior.

• HP maintained the second position in third quarter for Notebook PC, as shipments reached 14.3 million in Q3 2021 representing a -5% decline year-over-year; since the pandemic began, this was the first quarter where shipments declined year-over-year for the company

• In Q3 2021, Dell shipments grew to 12.2 million units at a 50% growth rate year-on-year; Dell maintained the third position globally but importantly gained 5.1 percentage points of market share over the last year’s quarter to reach 18.2%

• Apple MacOS business set an all-time record quarter in company history with shipments of more than 6.5 million MacBook in the September quarter, a 10% growth from Q3 2020

• Asus broke through to the top 5 ranks with improved shipments across commercial and consumer users; in Q3 2021, Asus shipments grew to 5.1 million units at a 10% growth rate year-on-year

The report goes on to note that uncertainty clouds the next several quarters as supply constraints increasingly catch up to top vendors.

The full report can be read here.

via the WC

Strategy Analytics: Dell grew notebook shipments 50% YoY in Q3 202

Boeing has secured FCC approval to deploy and operate a satellite internet system capable of beaming high-speed broadband to US consumers and businesses.  

On Wednesday, the US regulator signed off on Boeing’s application for the “V-band Constellation” satellite system, which the company originally filed back in 2017.  

However, the scope of Boeing’s system is smaller than SpaceX’s Starlink, which currently operates over 1,700 satellites in orbit. Boeing’s application calls for sending up 132 low-Earth orbiting satellites and another 15 non-geostationary satellites. (In contrast, SpaceX wants Starlink to one day span 30,000 satellites.)  

The low-Earth orbiting satellites from Boeing will also operate at an orbit of 656 miles, which is about 300 miles higher than SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. Meanwhile, the non-geostationary satellites from Boeing will circle the planet at a distance of at least 17,000 miles. 

The 702X. (Boeing. )

In a statement to PCMag, Boeing acknowledged the company's proposed satellite system will be one among many on the market.

"As the demand for satellite communications grows, diversity will be required across orbital regimes and frequencies to satisfy unique customer demands, and we see V-band as helping to provide some of that diversity," the company said. "While the application was in review with the FCC, we have continued work identifying compelling use cases for V-band and maturing the underlying technology."

When Boeing plans on launching the service was left unsaid. But In 2019, the company introduced the 702X satellite, which is capable of low-Earth orbit, and can supply internet connectivity. “More than 50 have been launched to date,” Boeing’s website says. 

The FCC also notes: “Grant of this application will enable Boeing to provide broadband and communications services to residential, commercial, institutional, governmental, and professional users in the United States and globally.”

The FCC approval means Boeing can use the requested radio spectrum to beam the internet data to and from the satellite system. However, the US regulator denied parts of Boeing’s application requesting access to certain radio frequencies, citing how the International Telecommunication Union had yet to allocate the radio spectrum for such use. 

SpaceX itself also raised concerns about Boeing’s satellite internet system causing radio interference. However, the FCC dismissed the concerns, and instead mandated the companies coordinate in good faith to eliminate potential interference problems.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from Boeing.

Source

Microsoft has started pushing the October 2021 update to Surface Book 3. The update includes thermal management improvements, device stability improvements, and fixes for some security issues, and more. You can read the full official changelog below.

Changelog

• Improves thermal management when using an external monitor.
• Addresses critical security vulnerability and improves system stability (Intel Wi-Fi & Bluetooth).
• Improves device reliability when waking from sleep.
• Enables Windows 11 feature.

It’s worth noting that the October 2021 update has already been rolled to  Surface Studio 2, Surface Pro 7,  Surface Pro 7+, and Surface Laptop 2.

The October 2021 update is now rolling out and should be available for your Surface Book 3. You can go to Settings>Update and Security>Windows Update to download and install the update.

Surface Book 3 gets October 2021 firmware update

Boston Dynamics, which was recently purchased by Korean car company Hyundai, has made a habit of releasing entertaining videos of its robots, ostensibly to promote its products and to highlight new landmarks in the design and performance of their robots. The earliest videos showed one or more of their four legged creations stomping around in natural terrain. More recent videos have shown improvements in agility as the robots do flips and bounce off nearby objects. The tactic appears to be working: BD has sold over 400 of the robots to various companies, including the New York Police Department. In this new and latest video, the robots, (all versions of Spot) recreate the performance of the Stones in action in their video. To help with realism, the team shows the robot video side-by-side with the original Stones video—while the song is playing.

As with the musical group, the robot group is led by a Mick Jagger, of sorts. Or perhaps a wannabe. The dog-like robot recreates Jagger's actions in specific detail, recreating the swagger made famous on stages around the world by the band's famous front man. The robot also lip syncs the entire song. As the song progresses, the camera moves to show two of the other members of the band—imitators of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood—as they play their instruments and at times move close to sing with their lead man. Notably, the drum kit remains vacant—there is no Charlie Watts mimic—possibly a tribute to the drummer who passed away earlier this year.

In addition to its coolness factor, the video serves to showcase not just the agility of the robots but also their precision and timing, suggesting to potential customers that perhaps the robots can do more than just lug equipment around.

Source

It appears to be a successor to the ROG Flow X13

 

Leaked images show ASUS may be releasing a Surface Pro competitor that docks to an external GPU

Apple still doesn’t have an answer to touch PCs, and while the company did try to find offer an alternative of touch by adding a touch bar to the MacBook Pro, it failed to gain enough traction. The result is that the company didn’t include the touch bar in its newest MacBook Pro. The company was also quite reluctant to add the Face ID to its Macs. In a recent interview with Wall Street Journal, Apple executives have explained the reasons why the company was never in favor of adding touchscreen and Face ID to the Macs.

The reason why the Cupertino tech company chooses touch ID over Face ID is that the former is “more convenient.” “Touch ID is more convenient on a laptop since your hands are already on the keyboard,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s vice president of iPad and Mac product marketing.

When asked about why Apple is yet to make a touchscreen Mac, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, said that a touch-enabled Mac would kill iPad sales. “We make the world’s best touch computer on an iPad. It’s totally optimized for that. And the Mac is totally optimized for indirect input. We haven’t really felt a reason to change that,” said John Ternus.

In the interview, the company executives have also shared that the company has no plans for a water-resistant MacBook(via 9to5mac). You can read the full interview here.

Apple explains why Macs don’t offer Face ID and touchscreen

Not just that, the Alder Lake also brings cutting-edge next-gen features that include PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 / LPDDR5 memory support. Essentially Alder Lake's integrated memory controller (IMC) is ready for the fifth generation of double data rate (DDR) SDRAM but it is also compatible with last-gen DDR4 as well. As default spec, Intel states that the Alder Lake-S desktop CPUs would work with DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200, but higher speeds should work fine too.

Although both DDR4 and DDR5 memory standards have the same 288 pin count, the pinout and keying are different which means the 600-series chipset-based motherboards accompanying Alder Lake-S, will come in two flavors as motherboard vendors will offer both DDR5 and DDR4 variants. Hence, folks looking to build an Alder Lake-S system will have to choose one over the other. To help distinguish, the DDR4 boards are labeled as such. Here are a few examples of Z690 boards both DDR4 and DDR5:

• MSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4
• MSI MEG Z690 ACE
• Gigabyte Z690 GAMING X DDR4 (rev. 1.0)
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS MASTER (rev. 1.0)

In this article, we lay down the benefits of each of the two platforms and hope to help readers best decide what's right for their next Alder Lake-S PC.

We start off with DDR5, which is the latest and greatest offering in the case of desktop DRAM and go through some of the new features and advantages it has to offer:

• More speed = more performance, but not always

The most obvious advantage for having DDR5 memory over DDR4 is the higher speed and the additional memory bandwidth which will be on offer. This means that choosing DDR5 memory will be especially beneficial to workloads that are bandwidth-sensitive, like gaming using integrated graphics, file compression, photo editing, video encoding and transcoding, among others.

These tasks are generally much more susceptive to RAM speed and bandwidth over CAS latencies (CL). Hence, if you use your PC for running some of these applications, you should be better off with a DDR5 kit than using DDR4, even though the CL on DDR5 is much higher. It also makes more sense financially to buy DDR5 memory since a high-speed DDR4 kit, say DDR4-4400, seems almost twice as expensive as a DDR5-4800 option.

Additionally, if you buy a well-made DDR5-based Z690 motherboard now, you may in the future be able to upgrade to an even faster memory if you wanted. Something like ADATA's 12,600MT/s kit that's planned for launch later may also be a feasible option. All you'd need is a firmware update.

• Fancier, more customizable RGB lighting

A gaming PC loses its charm without some RGB lighting. If you're a gamer who agrees, there's good news for you. DDR5 apparently comes with an upgraded serial presence detect (SPD) that will now allow for a more fine-tuned customization of the RGB lighting using the manufacturer-provided software.

• New error checking capabilities

DDR5 introduces on-die error correction code (ECC) which was only limited to enterprise and server-class products previously. This will help correct single-bit errors or bit-flips and prevent data corruption. This should lead to a more reliable platform overall.

• On-DIMM power management

In the case of DDR5 memory, the power management integrated circuits (PMICs) have been moved on to the DIMM itself which were previously on the motherboard. This combined with the upgraded SPD Hub should allow for greater control and regulation of power, voltage, and current flow.

With all these advantages in favor of DDR5, you may be wondering, is there any reason at all to look back at a DDR4 option for Alder Lake-S? The answer is yes.

• DDR4 is cheap and readily available

The biggest benefit, at least for the short term, is the price of DDR4 memory. MSI recently stated that it was expecting the initial few batches of the new DDR5 products to be expensive, which is natural for any newly launched product. However, due to all the additional on-die features of DDR5 like PMIC and ECC, that we talked about earlier, the cost of manufacturing the DDR5 modules is also significantly higher than previous generation products. And we can't forget that the price of a Z690 board isn't going to be cheap either.

• DDR5 does not always equal faster

Although RAM speeds are important for some workloads, there are many other tasks that are barely affected at all by higher-speed memory. For example, rendering and video editing are amongst some of the applications least affected by DRAM speed and bandwidth, even though they tend to eat up lots of memory space. Gaming using a dedicated discrete GPU at higher resolutions is also something that shouldn't see any performance loss if you'd decide to opt for a DDR4 system.

• DDR4 = easy stopgap upgrade path to Alder Lake

DDR4, unlike DDR5, is backward compatible with previous-gen Intel processor families and sockets like LGA1200 (Intel 10th and 11th gen), LGA1151 (Intel 8th and 9th gen), as well as AMD's AM4. So if you're already on such a system that sports a top-notch, premium DDR4 kit, you can re-use that memory on a new Alder Lake-S system, provided that the DDR4 memory doesn't hinder your performance.

Likewise, you could also upgrade just your DDR4 memory for now - which will act as a stopgap or a bridge - so that the rest of the rig can be upgraded to a new LGA1700 socket-based Alder Lake-S system later. Additionally, if Intel continues with its two generations per socket trend then the 13th gen Core processors, purportedly Raptor Lake-S, could potentially also end up on your upgrade menu.

To sum it up, DDR5 is new and exciting with lots of cool new features. The fifth-gen DRAM standard brings to the table much more than just higher speeds, unlike DDR4. An enthusiast would be enticed to purchase the platform and that's awesome. However, as we pointed out above, there can be genuine reasons to opt for a DDR4 motherboard too.

Ultimately, there is no absolutely right or wrong choice here and the decision should be based on the needs and the purpose around which that system is built for. To hopefully help you make that, we listed above some of the major pros of choosing one platform over another.

DDR4 or DDR5, what's the difference and how to choose for your 12th gen Alder Lake PC

It’s no secret that China and US are competing intensely when it comes to being the world’s most prominent economic, technological and military power.

Now, it seems that the Asian nation has leap-frogged its American rival, thanks to the former’s supercomputer breakthrough.

Chinese scientists are claiming to have built the world’s fastest programmable quantum computers, which appear to crack problems that are currently not possible for ”classical” non-quantum computers.

The researchers, led by Pan Jianwei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), say the Zuchongzhi 2.1, which takes its name from a historical 5th century Chinese mathematician-cum-astronomer and engineer, is a 66-qubit programmable superconducting quantum computer.

It is reportedly 10 million times faster than the world’s current fastest supercomputer.

Moreover, it can even handle calculations that are 100 times more complex than what Google’s Sycamore can handle.

On the other hand, Jiuzhang 2.0 is a photonic quantum computer prototype.

With 113 detected photons, it outperforms the original Jiuzhang supercomputer that had just 76.

This upgrade reportedly helps it perform Gaussian Boson Sampling a septillion times faster than the current fastest supercomputer.

This marks the first time any country has achieved this advantage in two different routes.

Physical implementation of large-scale quantum computers is one of the major challenges for the world’s frontier technologies.

Therefore, the international academic world is taking a three-step strategy for the physical implementation, and the first step is called quantum computational advantage.

The Jiuzhang 2.0 quantum supercomputer. (Photo: University of Science and Technology of China)

“This indicates that our research has entered its second stage to start realizing fault-tolerating quantum computing and near-term applications such as quantum machine learning and quantum chemistry,” said Zhu Xiaobo, a member of the research team. 

In 1981, Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman came up with the idea to invent a new type of computer based on quantum technology.

Quantum computing is considered a key technology for the next generation of information revolution. They go beyond the binary codes of 1s and 0s traditionally stored in conventional computers.

These advanced computers employ the special properties of universe’s smallest particles that may exist in multiple states — either as 1s and 0s akin to traditional computers or in any position between.

Quantum particles, which are known as “qubits” or “quantum bits,” are very flexible and can be performed by supercomputers simultaneously.

The two supercomputers are each as large as a room, said Lu Chaoyang, professor with the USTC, adding that the two differ in medium.

“Superconducting quantum computing relies on superconducting materials, and photonics quantum computing on photons,” he explained.

The successful demonstration of the quantum computational advantage marked the start of the second step of quantum computing studies.

“At present, we’re still at a very initial stage of quantum computing, and it’s too early to predict the prospects of the technology’s future application.

But it can at least improve our computing capabilities and helps scientific research in a number of fields, such as drug design, molecular simulation and code breaking,” Lu said. 

Barry Sanders, a researcher who wasn’t involved in the creation of Zuchongzhi 2.1, explains for APS Physics that the two major results shown “push experimental quantum computing to far larger problem sizes, making it much harder to find classical algorithms and classical computers that can keep up.”

There are “meaningful problems” that can benefit greatly from the abilities this technology has to offer, a majority of which are in the quantum chemistry field, he said.

“No convincing experimental demonstration has yet been reported,” Sanders states, but “these experiments further motivate efforts to put quantum sampling to practical use.”

Since it’s all still extremely new and the claims have yet to be truly verified by a party outside the researchers’ team, and Google hasn’t yet said anything about its creation losing out on this front, it does indicate a major breakthrough in quantum computing.

Zu Chongzhi was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, politician, inventor and writer during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties.

He was most notable for calculating pi (π) as between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927, a record in accuracy which would not be surpassed for 800 years.

An accomplished astronomer who calculated the time values with unprecedented precision, his methods of interpolating and the use of integration were far ahead of his time.

Zu also developed the Daming calendar (大明曆) in 465, and his son completed his work. It became the official calender of Ming Dynasty.

The quantum study was published online in the journal Physical Review Letters and Science Bulletin.

Sources: The Independent, AA.com, Fossbytes.com, Varindia.com, People’s Daily Online, Chinese Academy of Sciences, DesignTaxi.com, APS Physics, Global Times

Source

Federico Fedele, Anasua Chatterjee and Ferdinand Kuemmeth.

One of the engineering headaches in the global marathon towards a large functional quantum computer is the control of many basic memory devices – qubits – simultaneously. This is because the control of one qubit is typically negatively affected by simultaneous control pulses applied to another qubit. Now, a pair of young quantum physicists at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute –PhD student, now Postdoc, Federico Fedele, 29  and Asst. Prof. Anasua Chatterjee, 32,– working in the group of Assoc. Prof. Ferdinand Kuemmeth, have managed to overcome this obstacle.

Global qubit research is based on various technologies. While Google and IBM have come far with quantum processors based on superconductor technology, the UCPH research group is betting on semiconductor qubits – known as spin qubits.

“Broadly speaking, they consist of electron spins trapped in semiconducting nanostructures called quantum dots, such that individual spin states can be controlled and entangled with each other”, explains Federico Fedele. 

About qubits

The brain of the quantum computer that scientists are attempting to build will consist of many arrays of qubits, similar to the bits on smartphone microchips. They will make up the machine’s memory.

The famous difference is that while an ordinary bit can either store data in the state of a 1 or 0, a qubit can reside in both states simultaneously – known as quantum superposition – which makes quantum computing exponentially more powerful.

Spin qubits have the advantage of maintaining their quantum states for a long time. This potentially allows them to perform faster and more flawless computations than other platform types. And, they are so miniscule that far more of them can be squeezed onto a chip than with other qubit approaches. The more qubits, the greater a computer’s processing power. The UCPH team has extended the state of the art by fabricating and operating four qubits in a 2x2 array on a single chip.

Circuitry is 'the name of the game'

Thus far, the greatest focus of quantum technology has been on producing better and better qubits. Now it's about getting them to communicate with each other, explains Anasua Chatterjee:

"Now that we have some pretty good qubits, the name of the game is connecting them in circuits which can operate numerous qubits, while also being complex enough to be able to correct quantum calculation errors. Thus far, research in spin qubits has gotten to the point where circuits contain arrays of 2x2 or 3x3 qubits. The problem is that their qubits are only dealt with one at a time."

It is here that the young quantum physicists’ quantum circuit, made from the semiconducting substance gallium arsenide and no larger than the size of a bacterium, makes all the difference:

"The new and truly significant thing about our chip is that we can simultaneously operate and measure all qubits. This has never been demonstrated before with spin qubits – nor with many other types of qubits," says Chatterjee, who is one of two lead authors of the study, which has recently been published in the journal Physical Review X Quantum.

The illustration shows the size difference between spin qubits and superconducting qubits.

Being able to operate and measure simultaneously is essential for performing quantum calculations. Indeed, if you have to measure qubits at the end of a calculation – that is, stop the system to get a result – the fragile quantum states collapse. Thus, it is crucial that measurement is synchronous, so that the quantum states of all qubits are shut down simultaneously. If qubits are measured one by one, the slightest ambient noise can alter the quantum information in a system.

About the chip

The four spin qubits in the chip are made of the semiconducting material gallium arsenide. Situated between the four qubits is a larger quantum dot that connects the four qubits to each other, and which the researchers can use to tune all of the qubits simultaneously.

Milestone

The realization of the new circuit is a milestone on the long road to a semiconducting quantum computer.

“To get more powerful quantum processors, we have to not only increase the number of qubits, but also the number of simultaneous operations, which is exactly what we did" states Professor Kuemmeth, who directed the research.

At the moment, one of the main challenges is that the chip's 48 control electrodes need to be tuned manually, and kept tuned continuously despite environmental drift, which is a tedious task for a human. That's why his research team is now looking into how optimization algorithms and machine learning could be used to automate tuning. To allow fabrication of even larger qubit arrays, the researchers have begun working with industrial partners to fabricate the next generation of quantum chips. Overall, the synergistic efforts from computer science, microelectronics engineering, and quantum physics may then lead spin qubits to the next milestones.

Source

Windows 11 SE

A new report emerged a couple of days ago, claiming that Microsoft is working on "Windows 11 SE" for a currently unannounced low-cost Surface laptop. Apparently, this device is targeted at students and is codenamed "Tenjin". It will feature a plastic exterior, an 11.6-inch 1366x768 display, an Intel Celeron N4120 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, USB-C and USB-A ports, and a full-sized keyboard and trackpad.

The "SE" in Windows 11 SE supposedly stands for "School Edition" or "Student Edition", but little else is known about this SKU. It will likely include optimizations and tweaks that are geared towards a school environment. Tenjin could make an appearance by the end of this year with a price tag of below $400 to compete with other offerings on the market.

Talking about Surface, that division continues to underperform as Microsoft posted a revenue of $45.3 billion for the previous quarter. This is a 22% increase compared to the same quarter in the previous year and is spearheaded by its returns from the cloud, Windows OEM, and Microsoft 365.

AdDuplex data indicates that Windows 11 is now installed on 5% of machines, and Microsoft may be looking to get it onto more PCs as it has started force-installing its PC Health Check app on more Windows 10 configurations.

Windows 10 received an optional KB5006738 update that fixes a bunch of issues related to the display of subtitles, lock screen, and other things. The OS can now take advantage of the updated Microsoft Store from Windows 11 as well.

Windows 11 was offered a significant build 22489 in the Dev channel too. It notably adds a new Settings page for "Your Microsoft account" that also contains references to Online Service Experience Packs that the company will use to improve specific features without requiring a whole OS upgrade. These packs will be served through Windows Update.

Microsoft Defender and Loop leaks

Information about some of Microsoft's in-development apps leaked this week. One of those is Microsoft Defender, which seems to have received a Windows 11 makeover, if screenshots are to be believed. That said, we recently learned that it may be available for Windows 10 too. While the Microsoft Store listing for the app is live and it can be downloaded on Windows 10, most users aren't able to bypass verification checks. Some who did manage to bypass them showed screenshots of an unfinished but revamped UI.

In the same vein, screenshots of Microsoft's unannounced "Microsoft Loop" app appeared a couple of days ago too. It seems to be a workspace app that enables collaborative sessions and interactions. The UI looks very similar to Notion, but it's unclear how it will fit into enterprise offerings considering that Teams already exists and offers many of the features showcased in leaked screenshots. That said, it appears that Microsoft doesn't want you to think too much about this as it has been issuing takedown notices against people who have been uploading screenshots of the unreleased software.

.NET Hot Reload fiasco

Microsoft faced some challenges with its .NET community in the past few days. The company initially announced that its popular Hot Reload functionality - which enables developers to alter and modify code on the fly without needing to pause will only be available with .NET 6 - in Visual Studio 2022. This led to an outcry from the community which claimed that the move indicates that Microsoft is locking the capability to its IDE, which somewhat defeats the purpose of an open-source foundation. Fortunately, the Redmond tech giant bent to public pressure and issued an apology saying that Hot Reload will indeed be included in the dotnet watch tool in .NET 6 SDK's general release on November 9.

On the other hand, Microsoft seemingly had a much better time dealing with Apple. Microsoft discovered a design flaw in macOS that allows attackers to bypass System Integrity Protection (SIP) and arbitrarily execute code, install rootkit, or even overwrite system files. This was dubbed "Shrootless" and privately reported to Apple. The Cupertino firm acknowledged the flaw, fixed it, issued patches for the public, and attributed the discovery of this vulnerability to Microsoft.

Dev Channel

• Microsoft released six minutes of gameplay footage from Halo Infinite
• IntelliSense in Visual Studio 2022 is faster by an order of 18x with Unreal Engine projects
• Microsoft is considering replacing the HTTPS lock icon with a down arrow in its Edge browser
• Microsoft's new feedback portal for Teams and Edge is now in preview
• Content moderation company Two Hat is now owned by Microsoft
• PowerToys 0.49.1 introduces Find My Mouse and adds Video Conference Mute to stable releases
• Linux has finally received a stable build of Microsoft Edge

Under the spotlight

Neowin's very own Brad Wardell talked in detail about how his Surface Pro 8 compares to the MacBook Air M1 in his daily usage, and which device is usually his go-to option. Read more of his thoughts on this topic here.

In this week's combo of Closer Look, I took a look at the touch keyboard and Storage settings present in Windows 11. I talked about how both of these capabilities have received a glow-up in the OS and become much more useful than their Windows 10 counterparts. Windows 11 is still pretty new so we're discussing the OS in more detail through our ongoing Closer Look series.

Meanwhile, Neowin's News Editor Pulasthi Ariyasinghe delved into Microsoft's latest gaming release, Age of Empires IV. He praised the game's "stellar historical campaigns bolstered by documentary-style complementary videos and the fast-paced, deeply tactical, and exciting multiplayer playgrounds". You can check out his full review here and also consider buying Age of Empires IV for yourself if the genre intrigues you.

On the other side of the fence, if you don't know how to create a bootable installation disk of Windows 11, fret not because Neowin's News Reporter Anmol Mehrotra has you covered. Check out his detailed guide which walks you through the entire process.

Last but definitely not the least, our News Reporter Moshe Jacobs discussed how Windows XP hosted the blueprint for all future versions of Windows in his insightful and nostalgic piece on the OS' 20th birthday.

Logging off

One of our most interesting articles of the week is not related to Microsoft but is still worth highlighting in our weekly catchup. If you thought that Apple couldn't think of more ways to fleece its customers, you'd be mistaken. The company's $19 Polishing Cloth accessory that is "compatible" with Apple displays is backordered well into 2022 due to massive demand. ebay listings for the item are hovering around the $50 mark at the time of this writing. Truly revolutionary stuff.

Microsoft Weekly: Windows 11 SE, Defender and Loop leaks, and .NET Hot Reload backlash