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In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at Microsoft finally pulling the plug on Skype, Copilot helping users pirate Windows, Playground Games delaying Fable, new Windows 11 preview builds, fresh non-security updates, stats, and a lot more.

Back in July last year, the WingetUI app received a major update that brought a redesigned UI and a new name, "UniGetUI;" the author explained why the renaming was necessary.
 
The app is a very popular third-party utility among Windows enthusiasts and power users since it is quite useful for managing the downloads and installations of various packages. It is also updated fairly often with new features and other improvements, so that's another positive.

NVIDIA -$50? How about NVIDIA -$150? AMD's $599 RX 9070 XT is the GPU that I'm buying to replace my aging hardware. Here's why.

PowerToys Run is the tool I use the most on my Windows 11 PC every single day, and here are the reasons you should join me.

I use a lot of different tools on my Windows 11 PC every single day, but there's one I use more than any other; PowerToys Run.

Trouble continues for popular torrent site TorrentGalaxy. The site, which is seen as a notorious piracy market by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has been unreachable for days. While some believe that the end has come for the site, technical troubles certainly can't be ruled out.

Earlier today, news emerged about Microsoft killing Skype. Insider the app's code, users discovered a message stating that the platform will be retired in a couple of months. Now, just several hours later, we have an official confirmation from Microsoft: Skype is dead.

AMD finally released the specs of the RX 9070 and RX 9070XT...
UPDATE: US Pricing has been set at $549 for 9070 and $599 for 9070 XT

AMD has, for a second time now, announced its RX 9070 and 9070 XT -- but this time, we have prices. The AMD RX 9070 will be a 56 CU card priced at $550, with the RX 9070 XT $50 higher at $600 total, creating only a $50 gap between them. The 9070 XT is a 64 CU card, the two have the same VRAM capacity at 16GB, and power is about 80W apart. We'll have full benchmarks and reviews of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT soon, including testing against the NVIDIA RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080, 5090, and plenty of prior generation GPUs from both AMD and NVIDIA (and now also Intel). Release date for the AMD RX 9070 and 9070 XT RDNA 4 GPUs is March 6, 2025. The release date for the RTX 5070 is March 5, 2025.

Mozilla has updated the Terms of Use for Firefox, alongside an update to its Privacy Notice. This move comes as the organization wants to provide transparency about its commitment to user privacy.
 
Among the new stipulations, users are required to grant Mozilla a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" to use information entered through the browser. This vague terminology has triggered alarm bells, as it leaves ambiguous the nature of the data Mozilla may access, potentially including personal information, saved passwords, or browsing history.

A former Microsoft engineer recently took it to X to share some tips and tricks about activating Windows 11 without paying the company a single penny (yes, pirating). While it was definitely a bit awkward to see a Windows engineer pedaling piracy to a couple of hundreds of subscribers, even more odd is that Microsoft's own Copilot is not shy about telling you how to pirate Windows.

Extensions that use Manifest V3, including uBlock Origin, will soon stop working on Microsoft Edge.

If you use the uBlock Origin extension in Google Chrome or Edge, you should probably start looking for alternative browsers or extensions—either way. A few days ago, users noticed that Google had begun disabling uBlock Origin and other Manifest V2-based extensions as part of the migration to Manifest V3. Now, Microsoft Edge appears to be following suit.

Windows 11 version 24H2 is broadly available to all users with compatible hardware except for a few cases when Microsoft placed a temporary compatibility hold due to various bugs and issues. That list has just expanded with a new entry affecting AutoCAD users.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUs have reportedly been experiencing widespread crashing and failure incidents, with numerous Redditors noting that the problem is particularly prevalent on ASRock motherboards, though it is not exclusive to them.

Google Chrome and many other browsers will stop uBlock Origin from working. Luckily, there are still several options to block ads and other content on the web.

Some Google Chrome users ran into a disappointing message today. According to several people on Reddit, uBlock Origin no longer works on Chrome. It's been known for a while that uBlock Origin and several other extensions would stop working on Chrome, but the deadline is finally affecting people.

Mozilla has renewed its promise to continue supporting Manifest V2 extensions alongside Manifest V3, giving users the freedom to use the extensions they want in their browser.

By Susan Bradley

Don’t be taken in by ‘The sky is falling!’ headlines.

It’s been my experience that what is purported to be news is often based on a limited number of users, not everyone on the planet. Based on my own research and testing, I’m comfortable in lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

00:00 - The Worst GPU Launch
04:37 - NVIDIA's Response
07:10 - How This Might Have Happened (Speculation)
12:31 - Rant: DISASTROUS LAUNCH
18:36 - Our Theory's Problems: RTX 5080 Isn't Immune
19:51 - Conclusion: AMD's Opportunity

Office for Windows is getting a free, ad-supported tier that lets you create and edit documents, but has limited features and only lets you save to OneDrive.

Users are reportedly ditching Google for AI-powered tools and apps like ChatGPT, citing better accuracy and relevance.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Gorge' tops the chart, followed by 'Mufasa: The Lion King'. 'Companion' completes the top three.
 
 The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only.
 
Downloading content without permission is copyright infringement. These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at some updates for Microsoft Edge that made it notably faster, super-snappy File Explorer alternatives on Windows 10 and 11, the end of Windows 95 support in a popular app, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, deals, and more.

Several weeks ago, we published a story about Battery Flyout, a handy third-party app that offers improved battery tracking in Windows 11 laptops and tablets and connected Bluetooth devices (you can find more useful Windows 10 and 11 apps in our recent Top 10 article).
 
Now, the app has been updated with a major release that adds battery reporting. This feature offers users a quick and easy way to learn about their devices' battery health, charge cycles, and more.

NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti arrives on February 20, but how does the RTX 5070 Ti compare against its siblings at MSRP?
NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti graphics card launches on February 20 at 9 AM EST, and it's expected to involve similar stock shortages and high prices that I saw with the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launch just a few weeks ago.

If you start using Windows 11 this year, you'll want to know how to clean it up.

Windows 11 made our recent roundup of our least favorite "enshittified" products, which will come as no surprise to those of you who have followed our coverage of it over the years.