Our Picks

Kim Dotcom is recovering in hospital after reportedly suffering a stroke earlier this month. Dotcom was taken to a local hospital on November 7 and then rushed to a regional hospital for treatment. A post to X in Dotcom's name on Monday informed followers that after suffering "a serious stroke" his recovery is now in the hands of "the best health professionals."

By Susan Bradley
 
Thanksgiving in America is a mere two days away. I often use the holiday to multitask while the turkey is roasting.
 
One task for you is applying updates. I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4; other than my recommendation to avoid Windows 11 24H2 for now, patching should be safe.

Firefox 133.0 is now available for download. The latest feature update for the browser delivers a new privacy feature called Bounce Tracking Protection that protects users from hidden redirects and data collection when visiting websites. There are also some improvements to the Tab overview menu and more.

If I had known these tips before, I would probably have been more productive using the Task Manager.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Smile 2' tops the chart, followed by 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. 'Alien: Romulus' 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.

Files 3.8 is now available for download. The latest update for this popular file manager on Windows 10 and 11 delivers several new features, such as alternate data stream support, new shortcuts, tab improvements, and more.

Microsoft this week released an OOBE update for Windows 11 24H2 under KB5048779. Alongside that, the company has also released a Dynamic update for setup files. These are monthly updates the company rolls out, although this time, no standalone recovery update has been released.

Back in June 2024, when Windows 11 version 24H2 was released for Arm-only Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft had assured that printer support on Windows on Arm was going to be fine and dandy, especially for Mopria standard.
 
However, recently, Neowin noticed that the tech giant had acknowledged issues with printers on Windows on Arm, though there was no word about AMD or Intel PCs, even though various online user reports suggested that it was happening on x86 (AMD64) systems as well.

A couple of days ago, Ubisoft released a game update to Star Wars Outlaws with Title Update version 1.4.0. The update was massive at 8.83 GB on PC, 10.18 GB on Xbox Series X|S, and 7.44 GB on PlayStation 5. On the PC version, Ubisoft acknowledged issues on Windows 11 24H2 and deployed a temporary hotfix version 1.4.1.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at Recall finally arriving for testing in the Insider program, new Windows 11 updates with many changes and features, a lot of Ignite news, misfired gaming launches, and more.

Microsoft has released a new build to Windows 11 Insiders flighting the Beta channel. The latest build, 22635.4515, under KB5046756, brings a performance boost to the File Explorer Context menu and an improved address bar. Alongside that, it also gets a new one-click OneDrive resume feature and passwordless improvements through WebAuthn API updates to support the passkey auth plugin. 

After months of delays, Recall is finally available for public testing in the Windows Insider Program. Microsoft listened to criticism and feedback after the early misfired launch and went the extra mile to ensure the safety of your data. However, if you plan to test the current version of Recall, beware of a known issue, due to which, in certain scenarios, Recall ignores the list of websites it should not capture.

In addition to releasing Recall in the latest Windows 11 preview build from the Dev Channel, Microsoft is rolling out a new AI-powered feature to complement existing Recall capabilities. It is called "Click to Do" (it has nothing to do with Microsoft To Do), and it provides various quick actions for snapshots so that you can continue using separate applications.

After a 15-year break, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. finally let fans of the post-apocalyptic survival series return to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone earlier this week. The game has been having a terrific launch week on Steam alone, with concurrent players reaching over 100,000 players on day one. It seems this popularity has been seen across Xbox consoles, too.

Real-Debrid, a popular streaming and download service, says it's implementing far-reaching anti-piracy measures, including hash and keyword filters, in response to a notice from the French Federation of Film Distributors. The API and instantAvailability feature are set for deactivation too, while content from "notorious" pirate sites will be blocked.

This week, Microsoft notified Windows 10 users that the operating system had problems updating packaged applications from the Microsoft Store. Affected programs would show a "Something happened on our end error," preventing users from getting the latest versions of Microsoft Teams and other first and third-party apps. Luckily, the bug is now fixed, and all you have to do is install a single Windows update.

If you are a Windows 11 user but your system is not yet on version 24H2, which just received its November 2024 non-security update, you can still get a lot of fixes and some new features in a fresh update.

This month's C-updates for Windows 10 and 11 are now available for download. If you are on the latest Windows 11 release, you can download KB5046740 to get its massive list of changes and quite a lot of new features and quality improvements. Since the update is a non-security one, feel free to skip it (Microsoft is also skipping next month's non-security updates).

In addition to non-security updates for Windows 11 versions 22H2, 23H2, and 24H2, Microsoft is rolling out November 2024 preview updates for Windows 10 users who are currently being carpet-bombed with full-screen Windows 11 update ads.

DOJ goes for Google's throat with "staggering" remedies to end search monopoly.

Welcome to Google's nightmare.

Preview build shows a rich, colorful world with satisfying, zippy combat.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launch has been marred by player frustration on Steam and social media.

In addition to dealing with a new wave of full-screen Windows 11 ads, users with Windows 10 PCs are now facing issues with updating or uninstalling applications. Microsoft has confirmed the bug and posted details on the official Windows Health Dashboard website.

Several days ago, Microsoft released its Bing Wallpaper app in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and 11. When reporting about it, some blogs took a chance to clown on the recent paid wallpaper app fiasco from a certain tech YouTuber. However, the joke is on Microsoft, as it was discovered that the free Bing Wallpaper app is borderline malware disguised as a small customization app (not the first time).

Microsoft, alongside the various Ignite 2024, announcements, also released the first hotpatch update for Windows 11 24H2 LTSC Enterprise yesterday. This update is a preview and has been released as Build 26100.2240 under KB5046696.