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The developer of the multi-boot tool Ventoy has released a new utility called iVentoy. Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drives using one or more disk image formats. Unlike tools such as Rufus, which support creating a bootable USB drive using a single operating system, Ventoy supports multiple operating systems on a single drive.

A couple of days ago, Ventoy received its latest update with version 1.0.93. The new version fixes multiple bugs and issues like incorrect installation when plugging out the USB, a booting issue with Fedora/CentOS, EFI chainloader image device path issue, and more.

Today is Sunday, so it is time for Microsoft Weekly, your regular software giant news roundup bringing the most interesting stories from the last seven days. During the 25th week of 2023, we saw AI-generated Windows keys, new preview builds to test, Microsoft pressing the undo button, Windows 11 and ME celebrating their birthdays, and many more.

Why hasn't Microsoft made this app themselves?
What you need to know
An app called DisplayBuddy allows you to control the brightness of your external monitors through the system tray. Windows 11 does not support this functionality natively, though some monitor manufacturers, such as Dell, have similar apps. DisplayBuddy is available for $6.99 through the Microsoft Store, and you can try it for free.

Firefox 114.0.2 is the second point update for Firefox 114. It is a non-security update for the stable channel of the Firefox web browser that fixes several crashes in the browser and corrects Web Extensions regressions.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Extraction 2' tops the chart, followed by 'Fast X'. ‘Kandahar' completes the top three.
 
The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only.
 
These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into the piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources.

Last month, Microsoft hosted its annual Build developer conference, where the company announced dozens of Windows 11 features and tools for app-makers (check our coverage here if you missed the most interesting stories). Now it is June, the traditionally gaming-filled month. Even though the physical E3 conference is no longer with us, we still had a lot of gaming-related news, new title announcements, showcases, and more exciting stuff for those playing on PC or Xbox.
 
But it is not all just games—this week delivered plenty of other news from the world of Microsoft, so here is your weekly recap highlighting new Windows 11 features, upcoming games, controversies, bugs, and other traditional stuff.

It was the second Tuesday of the month this week and as such, Microsoft released Patch Tuesday updates on Windows 10 (KB5027215, among others), and Windows 11 (KB5027231).
 
The update addressed security issues, among other bugs, and as is often the case, there are major bugs affecting it as well. On Windows 11, Patch Tuesday was causing Malwarebytes to go a bit haywire and block Google Chrome. Meanwhile, users reported that Windows 10 update is having installation issues.

Windows is a complex piece of software with a long history, and it is no secret that even the latest versions still have massive chunks of legacy code and features that very few people need or use.
 
With each release, Microsoft is trying to make its OS more modern without breaking its core features or upsetting customers with unnecessary changes, which often results in old features being removed or notably reworked. That is precisely what is happening in the latest Windows 11 preview build from the Dev Channel.
 
Windows 11 build 23481 removes several legacy File Explorer settings. Microsoft says the affected options have been around for ages and are no longer regularly used by Windows 11 customers. Therefore, Windows developers decided that the active File Explorer redesign presents a good opportunity for a cleanup. Here are the features Microsoft wants to delete...

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Fast X' tops the chart, followed by 'John Wick: Chapter 4'. ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie' completes the top three.
 
The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only.
 
These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into the piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources.
 
This week we have two newcomers on the list. “Fast X”, which came out as a high-quality pirate release, is the most downloaded title.

Microsoft has released the June Patch Tuesday update KB5027231 for Windows 11 users, taking it up to build 22621.1848. It comes with several highlights and improvements and carries the improvements made available in the KB5026446 update released towards the end of May.

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 June 2023 on Windows Server 20H2, and Windows 10 for the latest supported versions, 21H2, and 22H2. The new updates are being distributed under KB5027215, bumping up the builds to 19044.3086 and 19045.3086. You can find standalone links to download the new update on Microsoft Update Catalog at this link here.

Microsoft has announced the end of support for Windows 10 version 21H2. Select editions of the operating system will no longer receive monthly updates with security improvements, bugfixes, and other necessary changes. Therefore, those using Windows 10 version 21H2 should update to a newer release as soon as possible to keep their systems protected and up to date.
 
As the name implies, Windows 10 version 21H2 arrived in the second half of 2021 with a modest list of changes. It received 18 months of active support for Home, Professional, Professional Education, and Professional for Workstations SKUs. Business-focused editions, Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise multi-session, will continue receiving updates for one more year—Microsoft plans to drop their support on June 11, 2024.

Google aims to bring slight enhancements with the Chrome Refresh 2023 update, and the company is getting ready to launch it for mass usage later this year. The "Chrome Refresh 2023" major design update for Google Chrome will be available on Windows 11, macOS, and other platforms.
 
Chrome Refresh 2023 is now going out to testers in Canary via "Google Labs," a new means to test forthcoming improvements after previously being concealed by experimental flags. Luckily, you don't have to wait for the official release and test it beforehand!
 
Google Chrome users may be interested in learning more about Chrome Refresh 2023 and how it may impact their browsing experience. The codename for a significant update to the Chrome browser that is scheduled to debut in 2023 is Chrome Refresh 2023. It takes design cues from Google's Material You design language, which promises to produce more individualized and adaptable user experiences for various platforms and devices.

Microsoft Edge is a feature-packed browser with many tools and options to make your browsing experience better and more convenient. However, some of those features raise privacy concerns.
 
Not so long ago, Microsoft Edge ended up in hot waters after users discovered a bug leaking your browser history to Bing. Now you may want to toggle off another feature to ensure Edge is not sending every picture you view online to Microsoft.

Microsoft often force-pushes feature updates onto user PCs. As an example, it is going to do so soon for devices with Windows 10 21H2, a version of Windows that is reaching the end of servicing status very soon.
 
While this is generally to ensure that such machines continue receiving security patches among other updates, the company actually trained its own machine learning (ML) model while doing so for Windows 10 20H2. Microsoft has explained on a separate occasion how and when it pushes these updates.
 
Alongside feature updates, quality updates, and security patches, Microsoft also pushes WHQL-signed driver updates for components belonging to third-party hardware vendors. For example, it often updates AMD, Nvidia, or Realtek drivers, among others, with what it feels is the most appropriate version of it, overwriting what the user has installed.

This week, a pre-release Windows 11 build made it to the public. Version 21380 was never publicly announced, so enthusiasts did what enthusiasts do and went deep into the build's guts to see what was inside the early Windows 11 build. They uncovered a weird mix of Windows 10 and 11 and a unique default wallpaper.
 
Unlike public Windows 11 builds and their Bloom wallpaper, pre-release version 21380 has a modified Windows 10 wallpaper (via @XenoPanther), different from what we used to see before. It is the third variant of the picture Microsoft introduced in 2015 (here is how the company created it), with slightly dimmer lights and toned-down colours.

Today, Microsoft has released builds 22621.1830 and Build 22631.1835 (KB5027305) to the Beta Channel for Windows 11 Insiders. The company writes in its blog post:
 
Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.1830 and Build 22631.1835 (KB5027305) to the Beta Channel.

I love PowerToys. I also love the Windows Package Manager. What I now love even more is that thanks to a third-party plugin I can combine the two together in a beautiful, time saving union. 
 
I've previously written how my frustrations with the Windows 11 Start Menu led me to stop using it and focused on opening things using PowerToys Run. As a Linux fan, also, this type of launcher is common to me, allowing quick access to apps and files without ever leaving the keyboard or what you're working on. 

While the shutdown of RARBG is bad news for former users, scammers are happily exploiting the confusion to boost their own traffic. One copycat in particular, which has been around for years, has sneakily managed to convince some people that the site hasn't been shut down. RARGB is working just fine! Oh, wait...
 
Last week the popular torrent site RARBG closed its doors. The operators cited personal and financial reasons for the surprise decision, which came as a shock to many.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'John Wick: Chapter 4' tops the chart, followed by 'Hypnotic'. ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie' completes the top three.
 
The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only.
 
These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into the piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources.

Microsoft Edge is arguably one of the best browsers right now. However, not very many users use it as their default browser on their Windows PC.
 
Admittedly, it hasn’t been a smooth sail, but it has gotten better over time. It’s very apparent Microsoft has been busy at work to ensure that it delivers a desirable user experience, hence the regular release cycle of features as well as improvements across the Dev, Beta, Canary, and ultimately the Stable Channel.
 
Of course, other users might prefer third-party browsers like Google Chrome or even Firefox over Microsoft Edge. And while each browser ships with its advantages, I prefer Microsoft Edge, which is why I use it as my default browser across all my devices. Here’s why.

Nvidia released a hotfix driver to address some of the flickering issues that were being reported by several GeForce GPU owners. The latest WHQL-signed display driver from Nvidia, version 535.98, is causing black screen flickering for many users.
 
The new hotfix driver release notes makes it clear that the driver only resolves the flickering problem for multiple-monitor setups when its adaptive sync technology, G-SYNC, is enabled.

Last week at Build 2023, Microsoft very casually mentioned it would add support for opening files in a number of formats to Windows 11, including opening RAR files. This move was so unexpected we decided to contact the company behind the popular file archive program WinRAR to get its reaction.
 
In the email response we received, Louise Cusworth of the WinRAR sales team stated that the company felt "honoured with Microsoft's decision." However, Cusworth did add, "Are we concerned? Of course we are, because we are a small company and Microsoft is a big international multi-billion dollar company with a lot of power. " She also stated that this developer creates "both challenges and benefits for our business."
 
Well, it would appear that WinRAR might be a bit more concerned than Cusworth let on in her statement to us last week. The official WinRAR Twitter page posted a new message stating "Us right now. #Windows11" . The well-known "This is fine" meme image of a cartoon dog surrounded by fire is right below it.

RARBG, one of the most popular torrent websites for getting high-quality versions of movies and TV shows, suddenly shut down its website today. It had been running since 2008, but apparently, a number of factors caused the people behind the site to close its virtual doors.