Our Picks

Microsoft released Windows 11 version 23H2 this week. And while the ISOs have been available since the announcement, the official Microsoft Media Creation Tool is still not able to download the update. When inquired about the matter, the company confirmed that it still needed "optimization" and would be ready next week.

Sayan Sen contributed to this feature, and also provided the benchmark graphics.
 
Tech and gaming enthusiasts will swear blindly that their choice of OS is the best: wherever you look online you will find different results, on the one hand, Windows 10 is better, on the other, Windows 11 should be your choice. It's a hard question to answer with so many different variations of hardware and software being used with test results, so why not try to answer it with some of the best hardware currently at our disposal.

Microsoft has updated the official Windows 10 and 11 documentation, detailing three new deprecated services in its client operating system, one of which dates back to the MS-DOS era. The latest deprecated components include Computer Browser, Webclient Service, and Remote Mailslots (via @XenoPanther on X).

Microsoft's Insider builds often tend to reveal interesting features that are hidden from plain sight as they are not a part of the announced set of features, changes, and improvements in release notes. The latest Canary build 25987 is the same as Windows enthusiast and Twitter (now X) user Xeno noticed some new DLL and EXE files in the System32 folder.

Microsoft today has released a new Beta Channel build for Windows Insiders. The new build, 22635.2700 (KB5031452), does not contain several new features or improvements like most of the time. However, the blog still reminds Beta channel insiders that they will be no longer part of bifurcated testing with two separate builds.

Earlier this week, Microsoft began rolling out Windows 11 version 23H2, also called the Windows 11 2023 update. Towards the end of September, the tech giant started shipping the Windows 11 Moment 4 release and the two feature updates essentially bring several new feature additions.
 
You can find all such features that shipped early, that were supposedly planned for the 23H2 update, in this article. One of the features that has been released to more users with this update is Copilot (in preview).
 
However, if you, for some reason, do not like it and want it disabled, the latest version of DoNotSpy11 adds the option to do so, alongside support for Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 Moment 4. The version also lets you make several tweaks to Edge and the Start menu.

The Movies & TV app will no longer be pre-installed on Windows 11 starting next year.

On October 31, 2023, Microsoft launched Windows 11 version 23H2. The latest feature update for the operating system delivers multiple new features and improvements, such as a new volume mixer, taskbar improvements, native RAR support, Windows Copilot, and more. However, if you plan to clean-install Windows 11 version 23H2, note that the Media Creation Tool app still returns version 22H2, not 23H2. We noticed the incorrect version when clean-installing the OS earlier today.

Microsoft, earlier today, released Windows 11 version 23H2. This hardly came as a surprise though. Besides Microsoft's own confirmation that the update was indeed arriving in Q4 (as promised earlier), there was mounting evidence over the last couple of weeks which showed that the company was now in overdrive mode in order to make sure compatibility issues would not be bothering users (both home as well as enterprise).

A few days ago, Stardock released a big update for Start11, a popular Start menu alternative in Windows 10 and 11 and one of the apps we recommend for fixing Windows 11's odd inconveniences. Now, a new update is available for Start11 v2 users. It addresses several things based on the initial feedback from customers and fixes a few bugs.

NVIDIA has issued a new graphics driver with optimizations for the upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare III release and fixes for increased loading times and reduced performance in Halo Infinite. In addition, version 546.01 brings DLSS 3 support for Desynced, Jusant, and RoboCop: Rogue City.
 
If you plan to play Call of Duty Modern Warfare III on your PC, check out the game's hardware requirements.

You can use the netstat command to monitor and troubleshoot many network problems, and in this guide, I'll show you how.

Windows 11 version 23H2 is now available. Microsoft has released the latest "major update" for its operating system, allowing users to download official images for clean installations or in-place upgrades.

Microsoft has updated its Windows 11-based virtual machines available for free during a 90-day evaluation period. The latest update, version 2310, is built upon the September 2023 Patch Tuesday updates, build number 22621.2283 (version 22H2).
 
In addition to giving every user a chance to try the latest Windows 11 version without buying a license, Windows Development Environment virtual machines offer access to everything you may need to start developing Windows apps.

Yes, it's possible to control the mouse with your keyboard, and here's how on Windows 11.
On Windows 11, you can use the keyboard keypad to move the mouse pointer and perform tasks, such as drag and drop, click, and double-click, and in this guide, I'll show you the process.  
 
Although the mouse is easy to use, there are scenarios when using the keyboard to control the pointer on the screen can come in handy. For example, the mouse (or touchpad) suddenly stops working, and you don't have access to another hardware replacement, or it's not possible for you to use a mouse, to name a few.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' tops the chart, followed by 'Saw X'. ‘Expend4bles' 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.

Google is cracking down on the use of content blockers on YouTube. More and more users see prompts that "ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube". Currently, Google appears to test various designs and restrictions. YouTube users may bypass YouTube's anti-adblocker prompts for now, but there is no telling for how long these will work.
 
Even major content blockers such as uBlock Origin run into issues from time to time. These do get addressed quickly though, but it is still annoying when it happens.
 
There are alternatives to blocking ads on YouTube. One of them is to redirect videos to privacy friendly third-party sites.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at more reorgs at Microsoft, another veteran leaving the company, the Moment 4 update rolling out to more customers, another change in the Windows 11 supported processor list, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, gaming news, financial reports, and more.

@NTDEV_, the creator of modified and stripped-off Windows images, has released the latest addition to its tiny10 and tiny11 family. The tiny11 core project "brings everything you love about Windows" in an even smaller package. If the "regular" tiny11 was too large or demanding for you, tiny11 core is here with its ISO weighing only 2GB and the entire installation requiring a tad more than 3GB.

A massive week of PC and gaming news included stories about the future of Windows and the ghost of Windows Phone haunting Google.
What a week it has been when it comes to news in the world of Windows, PCs, and gaming. Windows Phone got its revenge against YouTube, Microsoft's CEO admitted it was a mistake to end Windows Phone, and Qualcomm unveiled a processor that could revolutionize Windows computing. On top of that, Microsoft leadership discussed features that we'll see in Windows 12.

Stardock announced Start11 v2 and the release preview of the industry's most advanced Start menu, today. This program allows users to fully customize the Windows 10 and 11 Start menu experience with unique features and designs and restore classic functionality from previous versions of Windows.
 
New with Start11 v2 are three new Start menu styles that seamlessly blend with Windows 10 and 11. Each new style is customizable from top to bottom with a focus on a different theme: Apps, Professional, and Launcher.

Here's a blast from Windows XP's past.

Well-respected software engineer David Cutler discussed Windows Longhorn and its development in a 9-minute-long video interview.

He explains that a buggy codebase impacted the operating system's development, with the "worst code he has ever seen" causing severe bugs.

Cutler started working on a new 64-bit system after AMD reached out with claims that it is less intrusive and can run 32-bit applications at speed on the 64-bit machine.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' tops the chart, followed by 'Saw X'. ‘Expend4bles' 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.

Back in July, Microsoft for the first time, publicly announced Windows 11 version 23H2. Alongside that, the company also clarified that the system requirements for the feature update will remain unchanged.
 
While many thought, including Neowin, that the September 26 feature update was 23H2, the reason being the tech giant had earlier disclosed a Q4 release time frame for the update, Microsoft clarified later that it had been planned for a different date (also in the same quarter). However, Microsoft did roll out a bunch of 23H2 features early with the Moment 4 update (We had an in-depth look at all such features back in early September).

Microsoft may be open to the idea of Windows customers trying Linux, but it surely does not want you to try Chrome or other browsers. Downloading the most popular browser using Microsoft Edge is already a nightmare filled with banners and stop-gaps, and nothing seems to be stopping Microsoft from adding even more.
 
Last weekend, we noticed that an attempt to download Google Chrome using Microsoft Edge results in the latter opening its sidebar with a poll, asking you to explain to Microsoft how you could dare try downloading Google Chrome. Of course, the exact wording is more tame, but you get the idea.