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Microsoft is today releasing a Beta channel build. While the Dev channel got Windows 11 build 22458 yesterday, the beta channel is being served a cumulative update, bumping up the build number to 22000.194. This is to be expected since the version heading to the Beta channel is in its final stages of development, being made ready for the October 5 release. However, the version will continue receiving cumulative updates with bug fixes post-release, especially since the release is a staggered one.
 
As for the fixes themselves, there's a few that are listed below, but readers might need to be aware that this build also introduces the TPM requirements in Virtual Machines, meaning updates will be blocked if you are running Windows 11 in anything but VMWare Workstation Pro or Hyper-V Manager that is included in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows.

We take a deep-dive into the aftermath of the T-Mobile breach
 
T-Mobile’s most recent data breach leaked the personal information of 53 million people, with names, addresses and even social security numbers leaked online. 
 
Those affected face not only the risk of identity theft, but also the growing threat of SIM-swapping that can allow attackers to hijack their online accounts. 
 
While security experts have given consumers advice about how to protect themselves, some well known companies are actively preventing them from securing their accounts.

Windows 11 Requirements Check Tool is a new portable program for computer systems running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. It compares the computers hardware with Microsoft's requirements for the company's Windows 11 operating system.
 
It offers a quick option to check if a PC is compatible with Windows 11. If that is all that is required, it is as good a tool as any for the job as it displays whether the device is compatible with Windows at the top of the window when it is run.

Microsoft has released the optional KB5005101 Preview cumulative update for Windows 10 2004, Windows 10 20H2, and Windows 10 21H1 with fixes for thirty-four issues.
 
This preview update is part of Microsoft's June 2021 monthly "C" update, allowing Windows 10 users to test the upcoming fixes and changes to be released on September 14th as part of Patch Tuesday.
 
Unlike updates released on Patch Tuesday, this preview update is optional and only contains bug fixes, performance enhancements, and improvements. It does not include any security updates.

The loophole has a loophole
 
Yesterday, we wrote how Microsoft’s Windows 11 won’t technically leave millions of PCs behind — the company told us it won’t actually block you from installing Windows 11 on a PC with an older CPU, so long as you download and manually install an ISO file all by yourself. But it turns out even that technicality has a technicality. Microsoft is now threatening to withhold Windows Updates from your copy of Windows 11 — potentially even security updates — if you take that route.
 
We’re not sure why the company didn’t mention it in our original briefing, but Microsoft has since told The Verge that unsupported PCs won’t be entitled to receive Windows Updates, and that even security and driver updates may be withheld.

A developer named Blue Edge has created a Windows 11 inside a browser simulation dubbed "Windows 11 in React" using ReactJS, SCSS, CSS. The website allows you to experience what the GUI of the home screen in the next-gen OS looks like to a very limited degree. For example, you can do some basic interaction on it, like launching the Start menu, opening the Edge browser, launching the Microsoft Store, and more.

Microsoft has released Windows 11 ISO images this week, and as it's always smart to have a copy of the operating system media to resolve critical problems, we will explain how you can download the Windows 11 ISO directly from Microsoft.
 
If you are not familiar with an ISO image, they are a sector-by-sector copy of a DVD into a disk image file stored on your computer. These ISO files can then be burned onto a DVD to create a replicated, mounted as a Windows drive, or used to create a bootable USB drive.

As people continue to work remotely, staying focused on the task at hand can be challenging, especially when working at home. This article goes hands-on with a new Windows 11 feature called 'Focus Sessions' that aims to keep people focused while performing a particular task.
 
This week, Microsoft released a new version of the 'Alarms & Clock' app via the Microsoft Store with a new feature called 'Focus Sessions.'

The upcoming next major version of Microsoft .NET, .NET 6, improves performance of many operations significantly according to Microsoft's benchmark tests.
 
A new post on the Dotnet developer blog by Stephen Toub, Partner Software Engineer, .NET, offers insights on the benchmark tests and the performance improvements compared to previous versions of .NET.
 
According to the post, about 6500 merged pull requests landed in .NET 6, excluding automated pull requests by bots. Of these, about 550 improve performance in one area or another, according to Microsoft.

Here are the top features and changes that Microsoft is bringing to Windows 11
 
Last month, Microsoft finally unveiled the much-anticipated Windows 11 update. The new update comes with an updated UI, performance, and productivity improvements. Microsoft has also released the minimum system requirements for Windows 11 which includes Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 among other things, but the latter can be bypassed for now.
 
Windows 11 will look familiar to those who followed Windows 10X development closely before its untimely demise. When Microsoft ditched Windows 10X, the Redmond giant said that it plans to bring elements of Windows 10X to Windows 10. While we have already taken a look at the first Windows 11 Insider Build, this article will provide a deeper insight into top Windows 11 features.

Microsoft unveils its "Cloud PC" service Windows 365
 
Rumors about a new cloud-powered Windows by Microsoft circulated for quite some time. Microsoft put an end to the rumors with today's announcement of Windows 365 Cloud PC, a "hybrid personalized computing" experience.
 
The core difference between regular versions of Windows and Windows 365 is that the latter is streamed from the cloud, in this case using Microsoft Azure. Personal settings, files, programs and content is streamed from the cloud to any device that supports Windows 365 Cloud-PC.

Gmail update will go some way to eliminating phishing once and for all.

Verified logos in Gmail will make it harder for scammers to impersonate brands

The days of cybercriminals using spoofed logos and lookalike email addresses to trick unsuspecting users into falling for phishing scams could soon be over as Google is adding a new security feature to Gmail to make it harder to impersonate brands over email.
 
While the search giant announced last year that it would begin its Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) pilot, in a new blog post the company has said that it will begin rolling out BIMI support in Gmail over the coming weeks.

Hidden option brings cool 3D Parallax effect to Windows 11 lock screen
 
New Windows 11 features are still being discovered, and the latest is a hold-over from Windows 10 Mobile.
 
Windows hacker ADeltaX has discovered that Windows 11 will have a cool 3D parallax effect on the lock screen if your device has the right hardware.

Windows 11 includes the DNS-over-HTTPS privacy feature - How to use Microsoft has added a privacy feature to Windows 11 called DNS-over-HTTPS, allowing users to perform encrypted DNS lookups to bypass censorship and Internet activity.
 
When connecting to a website or other host on the Internet, your computer must first query a domain name system (DNS) server for the IP address that is associated with the hostname.
 
DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) allows your computer to perform these DNS lookups over an encrypted HTTPS connection rather than through normal plain text DNS lookups, which ISPs and governments can snoop on.

Some video sources of the event...
 
Microsoft Windows 11 Livestream Event (Microsoft)
 
The 2021 Microsoft Windows Event (YouTube 44m 51s)

Latest Windows 10 updates bring gaming performance improvements and other fixes  
 
Microsoft today released optional cumulative updates to Windows 10 versions 21H1, 20H2, and 2004. These are part of the company’s optional C/D releases for supported versions, meaning these are not automatically downloaded and installed like the usual Patch Tuesday updates. The fixes in these builds will be rolled into the Patch Tuesday release that will happen on the second Tuesday of July.
 
Today, all three fully supported Windows 10 versions are receiving KB5003690, bumping the build numbers to 19043.1081, 19042.1081, and 19041.1081 for versions 21H1, 20H2, and 2004, respectively. The reason that all three versions are receiving the same patch is that they are built on the same codebase as that of version 2004, with the October 2020 Update and the May 2021 Update being just enablement packages.

Molerats Hackers Return With New Attacks Targeting Middle Eastern Governments
 
A Middle Eastern advanced persistent threat (APT) group has resurfaced after a two-month hiatus to target government institutions in the Middle East and global government entities associated with geopolitics in the region in a rash of new campaigns observed earlier this month.
 
Sunnyvale-based enterprise security firm Proofpoint attributed the activity to a politically motivated threat actor it tracks as TA402, and known by other monikers such as Molerats and GazaHackerTeam.

A new HTTP spec proposes elimination of obnoxious “cookie banners”
Explicit privacy communication mechanism can simplify UI and limit user fatigue.

The UK Times has a particularly obnoxious cookie banner—it blocks nearly all site content until dealt with. There's also no "simple deny" option of just clicking an X.

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), passed in 2018, requires websites to ask visitors for consent prior to placing cookies. As any Internet user is now aware, this means an extra step required when visiting nearly any website for the first time—or potentially every time, if you choose not to accept cookies. A new proposed HTTP standard from None of Your Business and the Sustainable Computing Lab would allow the user to set their privacy preferences once, inside the browser itself, and have the browser communicate those preferences invisibly with any website the user visits.

Windows 11 Leaked - What we know so far about Microsoft's new OS
 
An alleged preview build for Windows 11 has been leaked, confirming the new name for Microsoft's next generation of Windows and providing a glimpse of the new features.
 
Ever since Microsoft announced that they were unveiling their next-generation version of Windows in a June 24th Windows event, speculation about its name has been running rampant.
 
If this leaked build is legitimate, and it appears it is, we now have confirmation that the next version of Windows is Windows 11.

Google’s unified Gmail interface (and Google Chat) launches for everyone
Gmail's new do-it-all interface is thankfully optional.

The new, unified Gmail rolling out to consumers today. In the sidebar, you get buttons for Gmail Inbox, Google Chat chats, Google Chat rooms, and Google Meet. You can also open this split-screen Google Docs view.

Windows 10 has an optional update problem, and it's annoying
 
Windows 10 has a frustrating and annoying problem where Windows Update will only offer one optional update at a time.
 
Microsoft commonly releases new updates that are considered optional that won't be installed automatically by Windows Update.
 
Optional updates include new Windows 10 feature updates, Windows 10 preview cumulative updates, feature experience packs, and some out-of-band fixes that target a specific bug in the operating system.

How to disable the Weather widget from the Windows 10 Taskbar

Microsoft released the KB5003637 Windows Update on Tuesday. It brings various security fixes, which you can read about in Martin's article.

Apple, Mozilla, Google, Microsoft form group to standardize browser plug-ins
 
The new WebExtensions Community Group will try to forge a common architecture for future web extensions, and is inviting developers to join the effort.

Microsoft: Russian hackers used 4 new malware in USAID phishing

Microsoft states that a Russian hacking group used four new malware families in recent phishing attacks impersonating the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
 
Thursday night, the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) disclosed that the Russian-backed hacking group APT29, also known as Nobelium, had compromised the Contact Contact account for USAID.
 
Using this legitimate marketing account, the threat actors impersonated USAID in phishing emails sent to approximately 3,000 email accounts at more than 150 different organizations, including government agencies and organizations devoted to international development, humanitarian, and human rights work.
Targeting phishing emails pretending to be from USAID.

Transform pictures into pixel art with SLK_img2pixel
Are you a fan of pixel graphics? Do you want to convert your pictures into a similar art style?
 

 
Well, you don't need to be a photo editing expert to add cool effects. The open source utility SLK_img2pixel provides an easy way to achieve the retro look that you want.
 
The application is portable, and takes up less than 4MB of storage space when extracted. SLK_img2pixel's interface is kind of old-school, and yet remains user-friendly.