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If you have an HDR-compatible monitor or TV connected to your computer, you probably know that playing HDR content in Windows 11 requires enabling a toggle in display settings. While HDR content looks good, the rest of the operating system becomes slightly washed out. Microsoft appears to be working on fixing this inconvenience.

By Susan Bradley

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a Microsoft worm event.

It is no secret that there were few who appreciated the steep system requirements put forth by Microsoft when it announced Windows 11. The supported list of CPUs excluded several processors that were less than five years old at that time (mid-2021), including powerful chips like Ryzen 1st Gen 6-core and 8-core CPUs, as well as Intel's 6th and 7th gen i7 models.

While the general user may be unaware of it, browser wars continue to wage on as each of them tries to secure and keep as much of the user base as they can, often seemingly venturing into controversial territories.

In February of this year, Microsoft announced plans to expand invitations to upgrade more people to Windows 11. In other words, start nagging Windows 10 users with eligible devices to upgrade to Windows 11. Since Windows 10 is now getting close to its end of support, Microsoft feels like it is time to expedite the upgrade process. However, the company had to adjust its course of action.

Clean installs of Windows 11 version 24H2 now have BitLocker device encryption enabled.
Microsoft is making BitLocker device encryption a default feature in its next major update to Windows 11. If you clean install the 24H2 version that’s rolling out in the coming months, device encryption will be enabled by default when you first sign in or set up a device with a Microsoft account or work / school account.

Google is switching the ruleset for extensions in Chrome soon. The updated version is controversial, as it will end several popular extensions for Chrome, including the world's most popular ad-blocker uBlock Origin.

Microsoft has released Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 23H2, 22H2, and 21H2. The 23H2 and 22H2 versions' update is delivered via KB5041585, while the 21H2 update is KB5041592. You will be on build versions 22621.4037, 22631.4037, and 22000.3147, respectively, after applying the update.

It's the second Tuesday of the month, which means it's Patch Tuesday time again. As such, today, Microsoft is rolling out the monthly security update (also called "B release") for August 2024 on Windows Server 20H2 and Windows 10 for the latest supported versions, 20H2, 21H2, and 22H2. The new updates are being distributed under KB5041580, bumping up the builds to 19044.4780 and 19045.4780.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Despicable Me 4' tops the chart, followed by 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. 'The Instigators' 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 a new and now-working layout for the Start menu in Windows 11, Paint 3D going six feet under, a new deprecated feature in Windows 11, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, some gaming news, important changes in Nvidia drivers for users with old hardware, app updates, and more.

By Susan Bradley

Hold off on updates from both companies until they are fully vetted.

With so much activity around forthcoming Windows updates, continued caution is recommended.

That’s why I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

Towards the end of last month, Microsoft released its non-security Windows preview update (C- release) for Windows 11 and Windows 10 under KB5040527 and KB5040525, respectively. However, a few days later, the company also quietly released one for Windows 11 version 24H2 (2024 update) as well under KB5040529 for Copilot+ PCs.

Both AMD Ryzen 9700X and Ryzen 9600X CPUs offer just minor improvements in gaming performance. But they perform well in applications and their power efficiency.

The Bing Wallpaper app recommends "different browser settings" for fast and secure search results.

About two months ago, Microsoft announced that the new Sticky Notes app was finally "available to all users." However, as it usually goes with Microsoft products, the rollout began gradually, and it took a while for Microsoft to finish it. Now, every OneNote user on Windows can access the new Sticky Notes app, and people are not happy about it.

There is a big new update for Files, a great file manager for Windows 10 and 11. In the latest release, version 3.6, developers introduce Dual Pane improvements, a new action menu, custom folder backgrounds, performance optimization for large folders, and many small changes.

In February of this year, Nvidia released the new Nvidia app, a program that aims to unify the Nvidia Control Panel, GeForce Experience, and RTX Experience. Today, the app received a new update with support for extra features, such as display settings, RTX Video controls, app sorting, new localization, and more.

Nvidia has released a new driver for supported graphics cards. Version 560.81 is now available for download with a bunch of important fixes. There are no optimizations for new games, but those playing Farming Simulator 22 will be happy to know that 560.81 fixed the bug with the game crashing on systems with RTX 30/40 Series and driver 560.70.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'A Quiet Place: Day One' tops the chart, followed by 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' completes the top three.

Do you remember that story about old computers unable to run recent Windows 11 versions due to the missing POPCNT instruction set? As it turned out, the problem is not just about installing the latest OS on ancient hardware. Windows 10 users with old processors may now stuck in a blue screen of death loop due to unsupported Nvidia graphics drivers.

Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)
 
August 4, 2024
 
Video length: 13m 24s
 
0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - August 4, 2024
1:42 Intel Cuts 15,000+ Jobs As CPU Scandal Deepens, Class Action Lawsuits Loom
5:06 AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs Almost Ready, Pricing Leaks
6:40 AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Reviewed, Impressive Efficiency and Performance
 
TECH BRIEFS
 
8:48 Nvidia hit by antitrust investigation
9:24 Bad GDDR6X might mean supply shortage for RTX 4070 and up
9:47 Intel to Launch "Lunar Lake" Core Ultra Chips on September 3rd
10:34 Newegg expands hardware trade-in program to include CPUs
11:18 Logitech has an idea for a “forever mouse” that requires a subscription
12:13 Microsoft 365 and Azure outage takes down multiple services

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at Microsoft's latest financial report, fresh Windows 11 stats, big updates for Skype (yes, it is still alive), a new PowerToys release, some good and not-so-good gaming news, one new Windows 11 preview build, and more.

Google Chrome is now encouraging uBlock Origin users who have updated to the latest version to switch to other ad blockers before Manifest v2 extensions are disabled.
 
As uBlock Origin lead developer and maintainer Raymond Hill explained on Friday, this is the result of Google deprecating support for the Manifest v2 (MV2) extensions platform in favor of Manifest v3 (MV3).

Here are nearly two dozen lesser-known features you should try in Windows 11.

Windows 11 has a slew of features designed to enhance your productivity, creativity, and overall computer experience. While many of these features are well-known, there are hidden gems that most users overlook.