Our Picks

Last week, we posted a feature on the brief history of Lindows, the Linux-based operating system that not only had a name similar to Microsoft's Windows but tried its best to compete with Windows in the PC market.
 
Another OS that launched several years before Lindows also tried to challenge both Windows and Apple's Mac OS in the growing PC market. The nearly forgotten operating system was called BeOS, and it still has some fans today.

The release of Windows 11 in October 2021 ended feature development for Windows 10, leaving it as a mature, stable operating system without drama. However, in late 2023, Microsoft decided to make a U-turn and get back to the Windows 10 drawing board. The OS has already received Copilot and a new lock screen weather widget, and you can expect more soon, even though Windows 10 is less than two years away from its end of life.

Aptos, the new default font for Office apps might not be a welcome change for users.

What you need to know

Microsoft's new default font for Office apps, Aptos, is rolling out to more users.

Multiple users have taken to social media platforms to express how much they dislike the change.

What is this? An operating system for ants? It should be at least 3 times bigger than this.

2024 is certainly looking like it is going to be an interesting year given how there are multiple possibilities about the next generation of Windows. Till very recently, most of the tech world seemed to have almost total faith in the idea that the next generation of Windows, casually referred to by the community as "Windows 12," will be landing this year. This was based on an earlier rumor that Microsoft was re-adopting its three-year Windows release cadence.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Marvels' tops the chart, followed by 'Napoleon'. ‘'Wonka' 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.

If your computer is getting sluggish, use these tips on Windows 11 to restore performance.
On Windows 11 or any version of the operating system, it's a matter of time before you notice a decline in speed and responsiveness. Usually, this happens due to misconfiguration, compatibility issues, bugs, malware, hardware problems, and so on.

We do not know much about Microsoft's plans for 2024 and beyond when it comes to the Windows operating system. Rumors suggest that the company could release Windows 12 this year, but others suggest that this won't be the case after all.

Do you use the Firefox Multi-Account Containers add-on? Have you ever wondered how to delete a website from a container? Here is how to manage the site list in Firefox Containers.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at the latest stories from the world of Microsoft published on Neowin between January 14 and 21. Those include rumors about Windows '12' requiring much more RAM than its predecessors, a Microsoft hack that happened in November 2023, right after the company announced major changes in its cybersecurity efforts, fresh Windows 11 preview builds in the Dev and Beta channels, app updates, and plenty of gaming news.

"Microsoft account is already here" is an error message that you may receive when you try to switch from a local account to a Microsoft account on Windows 11 or 10 devices.

Microsoft usually releases new Windows 11 virtual machines every month, shortly after Patch Tuesday updates. However, the company skipped December 2023, leaving those using its evaluation virtual machines hanging without a newer release. The wait is finally over, and Microsoft has a new set of fresh Windows 11 virtual machines you can use for free for 90 days.

Microsoft highlights important steps you should follow when upgrading to Windows 11, and how you can do that without losing important files from your old PC.

Fan-made concepts are always fun to look at as they often offer a drastically different version than what the official one is. Part of the charm of such concepts is that they highlight what the fans of that product deeply desire to have. As such, at Neowin, we cover some of these interesting ideas as our community consists mainly of Windows enthusiasts who generally love going through the abstracts presented.

Rufus, everyone's favorite app for creating bootable media for installing Windows, Linux, or other operating systems, has been updated to version 4.4. The latest release is now available for download from the official website and its GitHub repository, bringing users several improvements, bug fixes, and compatibility enhancements.

Google is rolling out a change to the Incognito Mode disclaimer of the company's Chrome web browser. It admits in it that it is tracking users even while the mode is active. The company settled a $5 billion privacy lawsuit over tracking in Incognito Mode in December 2023.
 
The lawsuit accused Google of tracking Chrome users across Google and non-Google websites while Incognito Mode was active. Google operates some of the world's largest Internet sites, but these pale when it comes to the company's access to data on non-Google properties. Google ads and analytics are widely used on the Internet.

Back in November, the internet was abuzz with conspiracy theories of Google purposely slowing down YouTube on Mozilla Firefox while its own browser, Chrome, would work fine. However, those rumors were shot down soon after as Google explained that it was not just Firefox that was the subject of "suboptimal viewing" experience and that it was happening irrespective of the browser. Google put the blame on "installed ad blockers."

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Napoleon' tops the chart, followed by 'Oppenheimer'. ‘'Lift' 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.

Adblock and Adblock Plus users report performance issues on YouTube, initially blamed on Google but later determined to be an issue in the popular ad-blocking extension.

Start back up may be displayed in File Explorer on Windows 11 if you open certain folders. The command is displayed in the path field and its placement may irritate some users of the operating system because of that.

Continuing a long-standing annual tradition, today we publish our list of the most popular torrent sites at the start of 2024.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at the first Patch Tuesday updates of 2024, a sudden rebirth of Windows 10, a lot of hardware announcements at CES 2024, fresh new Windows 11 preview builds, and a bunch of neat app updates.

The first Windows 11 preview build in 2024 introduced a new weather widget for the operating system's lock screen with richer visuals and the ability to open more weather data from the lock screen (in Microsoft Edge, of course, not the stock Weather app). In a somewhat surprising move, Microsoft decided to port the new widget from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

These are the three easiest ways to check the Windows activation status.

On Windows 11, whether you use the "Home" or "Pro" edition, the setup must go through the activation process before accessing all the features, such as changing the desktop wallpaper. 

Yes, you can now control your RGB devices from within the Windows 11 settings, and here's how.

On Windows 11, "Dynamic Lighting" is a feature available since version 23H2 that allows you to control LED-powered devices, such as mice, keyboards, and other illuminated accessories that connect to your computer.