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A few days ago, Microsoft released Windows 11 Build 22610 for Insiders in the Beta and Dev Channel. The update offers no exciting new features and focused mainly on bug squashing. Despite that, it caught everyone's attention because the 'technical preview' watermark wasn't there on the desktop, usually indicating that the new major Windows 11 update might RTM (release to manufacturing) very soon.
 
How much sooner will Microsoft sign Windows 11 22H2 off for public release, you ask? Well, according to multiple sources, it's highly likely that Windows 11 22H2 will reach RTM this month. However, some degree of uncertainty still exists regarding the RTM date, for example WZOR (famed build tracker on Twitter) disagrees and says we should expect it at the end of June, so it's fair to say we should take all of this with a pinch of salt.

Microsoft has updated the Windows 11 Health Dashboard with details about a new now-fixed issue in the operating system. According to the company's findings, Windows 11 users could encounter weird screen flashes after entering Safe Mode with no network capabilities. Also, the bug was causing stability issues for various parts of the OS that rely on explorer.exe - a process responsible for rendering the shell, File Explorer, etc.

We are at the close of the last week of April and that means that it is time to recap everything important that went on in the Microsoft-verse in the past few days. This was an exceptionally busy week in terms of news thanks to a somewhat significant Windows 11 build, Microsoft reporting its FY22Q3 results, and a bunch of Edge improvements, including the release of version 101. Find out about all of this and more in our weekly digest for April 23 - April 29.

Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 build to the Dev and Beta Channels that introduces multiple group policies that IT administrators can use to tweak the Start menu, the taskbar, and the system tray.
 
These newly added group policies can also be configured locally by opening the group policy editor and navigating to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
 
They can also be deployed onto Windows systems via Microsoft Endpoint Manager using a profile with custom settings in Intune.

Microsoft released an optional Windows 11 update 22000.652 (KB5012643) a couple of days ago that added several changes and bug fixes including one that led to near-hour long startup delays. However, the update has apparently introduced a new bug to Windows 11 systems wherein there is flickering on the screen when one enters the Safe Mode.
 
The issue was first brought to attention by German outlet Deskmodder which noticed the problem. Others like XanxoGaming, that posted the early Ryzen 7 5800X3D review, also noted the issue:

Microsoft is working on a built-in VPN functionality for the Edge browser called 'Edge Secure Network', but there's a catch - it is not a proper replacement for your VPN.

Microsoft Edge could soon receive an integrated VPN service called the “Microsoft Edge Secure Network”. The VPN (Virtual Private Network) service would work very similar to commercial VPN services, but it could be deeply integrated within the Microsoft Edge browser.
 
Microsoft seems ready to deploy the Microsoft Edge Secure Network service. The VPN service will be powered by Cloudflare. The company assures it permanently deletes the diagnostic and support data collected, every 25 hours.

Cloudflare has revealed that it stopped dead in its tracks one of the largest HTTPS DDoS attacks on record originating from multiple countries. The firm said that the botnet was making 15.3 million requests-per-second (rps), making it the largest HTTPS DDoS attack it has witnessed against one of its customers.
 
Cloudflare said that the target of the attack was a crypto launchpad company which aims to connect crypto projects with investors. The customer is on Cloudflare’s Professional plan and was defended by Cloudflare for the less than 15 seconds that the attack was going on. Other Cloudflare customers are automatically protected from this botnet too and no action needs to be taken.

Microsoft has released the optional KB5011831 Preview cumulative update for Windows 10 20H2, Windows 10 21H1, and Windows 10 21H2 that fixes 26 bugs.
 
This update includes many bug fixes, including those for Microsoft OneDrive, Remote Desktop, News and Interest, Azure Active Directory, and delays in booting Windows 10.
 
The KB5011831 cumulative update preview is part of Microsoft's April 2022 monthly "C" update, allowing admins to test upcoming fixes to be released during the May 2022 Patch Tuesday updates.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Batman' tops the chart, followed by ‘Uncharted'. 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' completes the top three.

The Ryzen 7000 series of processors by AMD are set to release later this year. However, in a surprise to many, they will only support DDR5 RAM.

We are at the close of yet another week of April, so it's time to recap everything that went on in the world of Microsoft in the past seven days. Today, we'll be talking about some updates to Microsoft apps and services, news related to Windows updates, and a pinch of cybersecurity news for good measure. Find out about all of this in our weekly digest for April 16 - April 22.

Late last year I had, shall we say, compelling reasons to set up LinkedIn for the first time. I didn't find a job. I did, however, find a staggering number of emails in my inbox.

Alongside Windows Terminal v1.12.1098, Microsoft has also released a new pre-release version of Terminal with Terminal Preview v1.13.1098. The latter carries over some of the fixes that are already GA now, plus it adds some more too. For example, a Windows 11 animation queue issue, a stubborn ContentDialog bug, and more, have been fixed in this release.

Autoplaying videos and audio are among the most annoying aspects of the modern web. Here is how to prevent Microsoft Edge from playing video automatically on all websites.

Disable video autoplay in Edge

Microsoft Edge has a built-in setting for managing media autoplay. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to disable video autoplay in Edge by default. Instead, it offers two options: Limit and Allowed. The first option allows more relaxed and flexible control over media autoplay. For example, the browser may let videos play automatically on websites you have previously visited. The second option is self-explanatory.

Only a few days after releasing build 22598.100, Microsoft has released yet another servicing update today for Insiders, the new Windows 11 build 22598.200 (KB5014105) is available now in the Dev and Beta Channel.

This new build does not bring anything new to the table as it is a cumulative update with which the company is testing its servicing pipelines as it is often known to do. Microsoft has been frequently releasing servicing updates now as the Dev Channel builds are beaming with new and upcoming features.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Batman' tops the chart, followed by ‘X'. 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' completes the top three.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is going to release on 20th April. It comes with a unique and innovative 3D V-Cache technology which can change the future of processors.

Back when I reviewed Windows 11 for Neowin in 2021, I awarded it a score of 6.5/10, while saying that "simplification of UI isn't a terrible idea but having it there in a half-baked manner doesn't really make for an enticing user experience". Although that was my opinion based on the launch version of the OS, unfortunately, it still hasn't changed more than six months later.

It's the end of yet another week of April, which means that it's time to recap all the important events that transpired in the Microsoft-verse in the past few days. As this week was Patch Tuesday, our primary focus this time around is on Windows updates, followed by some malware news, and Edge updates. Find out more about these topics in our weekly digest for April 9 - April 15.

Microsoft has released a new build for Windows 11 Insiders on the Release Preview Channel. The new build 22000.651, brings improvements related to Secure Boot, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and many others. The long list of changes is given below:

Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The surprise move has been labeled by some experts as a whim to gain attention, while others think it's a game changer that will end with him taking over the entire company.

Microsoft released updates for its Windows operating systems on the April 2022 Patch Day. The company did not highlight any major issues in the release notes and the installation appears to have went well on most devices.
 
Some users are reporting that they can't launch popular web browsers anymore after installing the most recent Windows updates. The error message "the application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000022)" is thrown on these devices, and the issue appears to affect browsers such as Firefox, Chrome and even Microsoft's own Edge browser.

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means only one thing, that it’s Patch Tuesday. The update for Windows 11 this month is designated KB5012592 and will take your system to OS Build 22000.613. The Windows 11 service stack has also been updated to 22000.581. Interestingly, this is one of the first Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 that comes with known issues, though, it only applies to IT admins.

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 for February 2022 (also called "B release") on Windows 10 for the latest versions, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2. The new updates are being distributed under KB5012599, bumping up the builds to 19042.1645, 19043.1645, and 19044.1645.