Our Picks

Microsoft is rolling out a fresh new build for Windows Insiders in the Dev channel, bringing build 22483 that includes a bunch of bug fixes and a tiny new feature. However, those waiting for Android app support might have to wait slightly longer, as support for running Android apps will first head to Beta channel users only.
 
While it is odd that a new feature is first being tested in the Beta channel instead of the Dev channel, it is likely due to the fact that support for running Android apps might be being readied for the version of Windows 11 currently available publicly. It will be no surprise to see the feature make it to the Dev channel eventually. Additionally, some fixes made as part of today's build will also make it to the Beta and Release Preview channels, before eventually making it to the generally available version.

With Windows 11, Microsoft has finally redesigned the modern Settings app.
 
The new Settings app uses a sidebar and breadcrumbs to help users easily navigate between different pages, and it also features new controls for customization, managing network, power usage, disk management, and more.
 
The settings app has been significantly improved, but several Control Panel features are still missing.
 
Thankfully, Windows 11 still comes with the Control Panel and File Explorer-based advanced configuration page called "God Mode" that allows you to easily access all advanced tools, features, and tasks.

A couple of days ago, VMware received an update to 16.2.0 build-18760230 that broke the dark mode, VMware has acknowledged this and plans to release a fix soon, but the interesting thing about this build is that it includes an undocumented change for the TPM requirement, essentially adding a software level TPM, rather than an emulated hardware one.
 
If you have been using a Windows 11 virtual machine in VMware Workstation Pro with TPM enabled, you will be used to having to set and enter a password for each encrypted VM, but with this update you can now remove the encryption and add in the software level TPM flag instead. Fortunately, the flag also works in the free VMware Workstation Player.
 
The following assumes you have not encrypted the VM further with BitLocker within Windows, if you have you may need to decrypt the drive first before performing the steps below.

Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I want to reverse this delta
 
Microsoft is boasting of how it reckons to have reduced the size of Windows 11 updates. Surprisingly "cutting hardware support" didn't feature.
 
The monthly cycle of fixes for Microsoft's wares has been the bane of many an administrator's life over the years. The operating system's decision to go for a lengthy lie-down at inopportune times while updates were being downloaded and applied have become something of a running joke, particularly with much of the world's move to remote working and occasionally iffy domestic internet connectivity.

Microsoft today announced improvements to how Microsoft Edge is listed in Windows Task Manager on Windows 11 PCs. Instead of a list of processes named Microsoft Edge, you can now see a detailed view of the Microsoft Edge processes as shown in the image above.

Microsoft's new Windows 11 has a ton of security-based features baked into it like Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), Virtualization-based Security (VBS), and more, which - much to the annoyance of certain users - have lead to some strict system requirements. While they were still present in Windows 10, they weren't however enforced on users unlike now in Windows 11.
 
The company though has defended its position and recently, David Weston, Partner Director of Enterprise and OS Security at Microsoft, explained why these features have played a key role in ensuring a secure experience for Windows 11 users.

AMD’s processor range has been on the ascent the last few years,  but the company has been held back in one area –  the company’s AMD Ryzen 5000 processors have not been able to support technology like eGPUs because Thunderbolt 3 was a proprietary Intel technology.
 
Thankfully standards have moved forward, and the new USB 4 standard folds in support for Thunderbold 3 and there is evidence that AMD’s new Ryzen 6000 processors will be supporting that technology.
 
A new Linux kernel driver patch submitted by AMD engineers for Penguin OS now includes USB 4 DisplayPort 1.4 tunnelling which, along with DisplayPort 2.0 Alternate Mode, are two mandatory features of USB 4.

While Windows 11 may be making all the headlines lately, it is important to note that Windows 10 version 21H2 is on the horizon as well. Although Microsoft doesn't have a firm release date as of yet, the near-final build made its way to the Release Preview channel for consumers and businesses recently.
 
Windows 10 version 20H2 came out on October 20, 2020, which means that we can expect version 21H2 to arrive in a similar timeframe as well. This also makes sense from the perspective of Windows 11's staggered rollout, which began on October 5 (check out our review here). In fact, Microsoft might even decide to give its big OS refresh a few more weeks under the spotlight before letting people know that they also have Windows 10 version 21H2 as an option.

Widgets are just one of the new features in Windows 11. Some people like it, some people don't, we are not going to debate its usefulness here.
 
The problem with the app, is that the user isn't really given the choice whether they want it or not. Just because it is a new feature isn't a reason to pre-enable the option.

Windows 11 was publicly released yesterday and there are several ways users wanting to upgrade can go about installing it. In fact, Microsoft even made the TPM check bypass via registry hack official last night as a valid workaround for users on older unsupported PCs. Of course, the company issued its fair share of warnings.
 
Installation errors however can happen with anyone irrespective of whether you're running a supported system or not. For example, the image below shows an error code "0x8007007f" which is reported to happen around the 71% installation mark. This seems to be occurring when using the Installation Assistant.

Microsoft has officially released Windows 11 and ISO images that allow you to create bootable media to perform clean installs of the operating system and troubleshoot bugs and problems.
 
If you are not familiar with ISO images, they are a sector-by-sector copy of a DVD into a disk image file that you can save on your computer. These ISO images can then be used to create bootable media, such as a bootable USB drive, or mounted directly as a drive letter in Windows.

Windows 11 is now officially available for download, as announced by Microsoft on its blog. Despite the fact that in the United States it is still October 4, the company decided to release a new operating system early, because in a number of countries is already October 5. Thus, if you recently purchased a computer based on Windows 10, then you can now upgrade to Windows 11.
 
Microsoft notes that the upgrade to Windows 11 will roll out gradually. First of all, the system will receive new devices, and then the company will start releasing an update for the rest of the supported PCs. The update distribution process is expected to complete by mid-2022.

Microsoft and Google have both released new Stable Channel Builds that patch a critical Chromium-based Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability which could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code upon successful exploitation. For Edge, it is version 94.0.992.31, while for Google Chrome, it is version 94.0.4606.61. The new builds are based on Chromium version 94.0.4606.54.
 
The vulnerability has been assigned the ID "CVE-2021-37973" and the flaw was discovered by a Google Security engineer Clément Lecigne with assistance from Sergei Glazunov and Mark Brand, among others.
 
Google states it found the UAF vulnerability in its Portals feature and according to CERT, "a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service condition on the system".

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a novel technique adopted by threat actors to deliberately evade detection with the help of malformed digital signatures of its malware payloads.
 
"Attackers created malformed code signatures that are treated as valid by Windows but are not able to be decoded or checked by OpenSSL code — which is used in a number of security scanning products," Google Threat Analysis Group's Neel Mehta said in a write-up published on Thursday.
 
The new mechanism was observed to be exploited by a notorious family of unwanted software known as OpenSUpdater that's used to download and install other suspicious programs on compromised systems. Most targets of the campaign are users located in the U.S. who are prone to downloading cracked versions of games and other grey-area software.

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.