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In March, Microsoft officially announced its plans to launch a new stand-alone version of its Office apps under the branding of Office 2024. Today, the company stated that a public preview of Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 for commercial customers is now available.

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a new Release Preview update for Windows Insiders who are still using Windows 10. Build 19045.4353 does not contain anything all too exciting, but there is one change that might raise a few eyebrows. Microsoft is now testing new banners in the Settings app to make users with local accounts switch to Microsoft Accounts.

The 2024 update for Windows 11, version 24H2, is expected to be unveiled later this year. According to reports, the RTM (release to manufacturing) is going to happen this month itself, and the timing seems to align with another recent development wherein Microsoft released a Windows Insider build for HLK (Hardware Lab Kit) which essentially helps test and verify hardware compatibility.

Back at the start of March, Microsoft released an Edge update that was leading to Out of Memory (OOM) errors even on systems with more than sufficient system RAM. The company was forced to pull the update and later explained that it was a dying Defender feature that was causing the OOM errors.

Microsoft has already released one feature update for Windows 11 this year. However, the "Moment 5" update was rather minor, with a few notable changes and new features. Version 24H2, which will be released in the second half of 2024, will offer users much more.

Intel has a Big Problem... - Paul's Tech News April 14

We have talked about what software every PC should have... but today we are going to talk about what software you should NEVER install... EVER!

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Dune: Part Two' tops the chart, followed by 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. ‘'Sleeping Dogs' 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.

Microsoft has released the latest Windows 10 Release Preview build 19045.4353 for members of that Windows Insider Program channel. The build number is 19045.4353, under KB5036979, It adds support for adding Microsoft Account notifications which will be displayed on the Start menu. It also has a number of bug fixes and improvements.

Last month, we covered an unofficial utility that lets Windows users in-place upgrade from one Windows edition, say Home to Pro, without having to go through a clean installation. The utility is called "Helper-Tool für Windows 10/11 Inplace-Upgrades und Editionswechsel" which translates to "Helper tool for Windows 10/11 inplace upgrades and edition changes". You can read about it in full in our dedicated coverage.

Apple's macOS and iOS both have a dedicated Settings page where you can check your connected phones, tablets, computers, and other devices and, if necessary, remove them from your account. Currently, Windows 11 does not have such a Settings page, but Microsoft is working on fixing that as soon as possible.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at Microsoft adding more ads to Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge, Patch Tuesday updates with their fixes, compatibility blocks, and full-screen banners, the Moment 5 Update arriving to all users, old Windows Server builds leaking (they are old after all), some fresh wallpapers, Windows XP celebrating ten years since its final security update, and more.

It has only been a couple of days since an ex-Microsoft veteran engineer had heavily criticized the performance of Windows 11, especially the Start menu. In case you missed the story, a former Microsoft veteran engineer, Andy Young, took to Twitter (now X) to publish his thoughts about the current state of Windows 11.

At the end of last month, we reported on several issues users were facing when trying to install the Windows 11 optional update KB5035942. These issues included BSODs, black screens, and more problems. A major reason for the excitement around this update was the fact that Microsoft was rolling out its Moment 5 feature update to more users.

Microsoft recently pushed the latest Windows 11 Insider build 22635.3495 for Beta channel members and announced that it will be skipping Canary or Dev channels. In the official changelog for build 22635.3495, one of the highlights was that Microsoft will start testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu with the latest Insider build.

Popular third-party utility BloatyNosy underwent a couple of major transformations recently. First, it received more features to become an AI remover from Windows, and second, it also went through a renaming as many thought the application's name was odd, even though it is quite useful.

Windows 11 is now a monetization path for Microsoft and a billboard for the company's services.

Advanced Paste with Local AI is on the way to PowerToys, though we don't know what it is yet.

We are about 18 months away from the end of mainstream Windows 10 support, but Microsoft thinks it is time to start nagging warning Windows 10 users about the inevitable. Users on Reddit report spotting a new full-screen ad with a notification that Windows 10 is about to reach its end of life in October 2025, even though it is still getting new features (there are even rumors about Microsoft re-opening the Windows Insider Program for Windows 10).

One of the biggest gripes about Windows 11 that users have had is the stringent system requirements Microsoft introduced. The company reasoned that it had to do with improving the OS security, though, this does not mean that your system is entirely safe as even the firmware maker's logo can pose a threat, and the mandatory requirements like Secure Boot are of no use.

Stardock is rolling out a new update for Start11 v2. Version 2.07 is now available for download with a few important changes and fixes for the bugs reported by users. To get the latest version, open the configuration panel, click About, and press the Check for updates button.

You've seen ads in the top half of the Windows 11 Start menu, but now the company is testing them in the bottom half of the menu.

Beeper combines up to 14 chat services via a secure, decentralized network on Windows, Linux, and mobile devices.

The problem is reportedly especially problematic on games that were created in Unreal Engine.

Intel's 13th and 14th Gen Core i9 CPUs are reportedly causing problems when it comes to PC gaming.

If you have a Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer with a network card from Intel, you can download a new Wi-Fi driver under version 23.40.0. The latest release delivers fixes for blue screens of death, yellow exclamation marks in Windows Device Manager, and more.