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Microsoft released a major update to the Canary and Dev channels this week with build 26052. The build adds Sudo, among several other things. It is also is the first official Windows 11 version 24H2 release. If reports are to be believed, we will also have another feature update for Windows 11 before that, and it reportedly lands in less than a month.

This week, Microsoft released one of the biggest Insider builds in quite a while. The build, 26052, was delivered on both the Canary and the Dev channels, and it has several interesting additions and improvements like a better Registry Editor, new Taskbar icons, and the addition of the new Sudo command on Windows. You can find all the details in the original article.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at a bit new Windows 11 preview build with some interesting features, the confirmed release of Windows 11 version 24H2, many first and third-party app updates, troublesome Xbox news, and more.

The new Outlook app for Windows 10 and 11 is a hot topic for discussion. Some users are okay with the new program, while others dislike or even openly hate it. If you are not a fan of what replaced the old Mail app on Windows 10 and 11, here is some good news: you can now go back to the old UWP application.

A few days ago, users noted that PC Manager, Microsoft's official tool for optimizing and boosting performance in Windows 10 and 11, is now available in the Microsoft Store. It promises several seemingly useful features and convenient tools, but it also contains some odd stuff and questionable capabilities.

Windows 11 version 24H2 is now official. Although complete changelogs and exact dates are still a mystery, Microsoft has said that its operating system will receive a big annual feature update later this year under the "version 24H2" moniker, confirming the recently spotted reference to version 24H2 in the official documentation.

Two and a half years ago, Microsoft shipped Windows 11 with a brand-new taskbar, which lost quite a few features when transitioning from Windows 10 to 11. Although Microsoft has already restored most of the user-requested capabilities (even added more), one aspect of the taskbar remains a bit undercooked: thumbnails.

By Susan Bradley

An international company must deal with the jurisdictions in which it operates. Microsoft is no different.

February is always marked on my calendar as the month in which Microsoft is back in full force, holidays behind them. That means we’ll see a rash of updates. I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2 as a result.

Mozilla claims that Microsoft doesn't give Windows users the freedom of choice when selecting the default browser on Windows.

By default, files opened inside the WinRAR archives are shown in Bytes instead of KB or MB or GB. There’s an easy way to fix that.

WinRAR is among the most famous .zip and .rar compression, archiving and extraction software in the world.

Looking for an honest AIDA64 Extreme review? If you need an in-depth analysis of your computer, you’ve probably heard of this tool. It allows you to check system parameters and manage the Settings, drivers, services, and processes in the system.
 
Here’s all you need to know about its features, pricing, support, ease of use, and more.

Microsoft is displaying a full-screen pop-up on Windows 10, to prompt users to upgrade to Windows 11. This is not the first time it has employed this strategy to try and attract users to move to the newer operating system.

There's been a ton of speculation lately on whether or not Microsoft will release a major update to Windows 11 this year or if the company will take a bigger leap and launch "Windows 12." However, 23 years ago today, Microsoft didn't keep us waiting or speculating about the next version of the OS. On February 5, 2001, the company officially announced it would launch Windows XP in the second half of the year.

The hype around the potential launch of next-gen Windows, something casually referred to by the community as "Windows 12," is palatable. It all started with the report alleging that Microsoft was planning a move back to its three-year release cadence for every Windows.
 
As such, more rumors started building up around this development though some of them, as Neowin pointed out, did not make much sense due to the lack of matching evidence. More recent reports paint a different picture since apparently, Microsoft has had a change of heart and as such, Windows "12" may not be happening in 2024.

Using obsolete software within state-owned services and systems is not uncommon worldwide. The cause is sometimes simply a lack of resources and necessary investments, but occasionally, it’s a mere fact that the old code is simply just enough for a given job.
 
That’s apparently the case of German railroads where 30-year-old Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is still being used. Its ongoing duty was revealed a few days ago in a job posting on the German website Gulp.de, reported the local publication Heise Online.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Beekeeper' tops the chart, followed by 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'. ‘'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.

In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at the new upcoming ads in Windows 11 and its new old setup experience, the latest financial report from Microsoft, various stats, software and game updates, new Xbox gamepads, and other news from the world of Microsoft.

There have been quite a few potential Windows alternatives that have popped up from time to time over the years. In our Look Back column, we have been revisiting some of these. For example, earlier today, we published a story on Corel Linux, and then last month we wrote about BeOS, as well as Lindows.
 
Another one, which continues its development is ReactOS, which has often casually been referred to as the "Open source Windows," and it has again received a major update this past week.

The past couple of weekends, we have been taking a look back at alternate PC operating systems that tried and failed to compete with Microsoft's Windows. Both of them employed user interfaces that were similar to Windows 95-98. One of them, BeOS, was developed completely from scratch, while another, Lindows, used Linux as its basis.

Fan-made Windows 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.

New leadership and a fragmented platform make for a tough argument for Windows 12 this year.
It’s an open secret at this point that Microsoft is gearing up to ship a significant update for Windows this year that will primarily focus on new AI experiences, much of which will be powered by next-generation silicon from the likes of Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. This next release, code-named Hudson Valley, is expected to be unveiled in early summer, and begin shipping in the fall.

The Document Foundation has released a new version of the open source Office application LibreOffice. LibreOffice 24.2 is already available for all supported platforms. Existing installations of LibreOffice may inform users about the update on the next run.

2024 is expected to bring plenty of changes to Windows and the PC market in general. While we wait for Microsoft to officially announce its plans for the next-generation Windows (maybe Windows "12"), new feature updates for Windows 11, and allegedly revised system requirements, enthusiasts are busy collecting breadcrumbs that could point to a new Windows version.

By Susan Bradley

The partition-sizing problem that emerged earlier this month is not yet fixed.

Fortunately, our deep examination of this bug has revealed nothing of a dangerous nature. Therefore, I am lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 3. It’s now time to carefully install the January updates.

Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' tops the chart, followed by 'Wonka'. ‘'Wish' 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.