The most popular operating system in the world, Microsoft’s Windows is the software that powers hundreds of millions of PCs. Introduced back in November 1985, Windows has changed and evolved over time to grow as gaming, design, development, and productivity needs have shifted. Whether XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, or, most recently, Windows 11, Microsoft’s OS is one of the most important pieces of software ever made.
Microsoft is making the AI-powered assistant available to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel, where they can ask it to do things like take a screenshot or summarize a website in Edge.
Not all Insiders will gain access to Copilot right away, as Microsoft says it will continue to roll the feature out in the “coming weeks.”
[Windows Insider Blog]
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The latest Spectre model is a solid competitor to Dell’s high-end XPS, but there’s a big difference in battery life.
The operating system can already alert you if you’re typing a reused or insecure password into a brand-new password field — but you can now enable it for copy/paste too in the Insider Preview.
To try it, enable warnings in Windows Security > App & browser control > Reputation-based protection > Phishing protection.
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The Yoga Book 9i jettisons the traditional lower laptop deck for a second touchscreen, which opens up some interesting use cases along with some compromises.
Similar to the Windows 11 emoji update that’s now in testing, Microsoft originally promised this update to the Paint app a couple of years ago. After rolling it out to more limited test groups in June, Microsoft just announced that dark mode for Paint in Windows 11 is now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the beta channel.
The password manager, 1Password, is now available on the Microsoft Store. While you could previously download the app for Windows from the 1Password website, this means more people can find it from Microsoft’s marketplace.
The latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build (25905) will make it easier to sync the more than decade-old media device that was the brown alternative to the popular shiny white iPod. Zune had a cult following and most recently scored a posthumous product placement in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
Microsoft emphasizes Zune remains “totally unsupported and still discontinued,” but the update will eventually be released to all Windows users.
Proton has finally launched its Drive app for Windows, allowing you to access all your stored images, videos, and other files from your desktop. The privacy-focused company also offers Drive apps for iOS, Android, macOS, and on the web.
Unlike Google Drive, the files you store in Proton Drive are secured with end-to-end encryption to keep your content away from third parties. It’s free for 1GB of storage, with paid plans starting at $4.99 per month for 200GB.
Windows Central shows you how to get the Threads app installed using Windows Subsystem for Android, a feature that allows you to install and use Android apps on your Windows 11 machine.
Threads, sort of a spin-off of Instagram that wants to be the new Twitter, reached 95 million users overnight after less than a week, wildly outpacing other, similar clones.
A new version of Windows 365, designed for frontline workers and shift work, is now generally available. These flexible cloud PCs will soon be integrated into Windows 365 Boot on Windows 11 so businesses can boot straight into cloud-powered virtual PCs instead of a local install. Windows 365 Frontline will also automatically power on soon prior to the start of someone’s shift, speeding up the logon process.
In the release notes of Firefox 115, developers note that Windows 7 and Windows 8, as well as macOS 10.12, 10.13, and 10.14, are all being moved to an extended support release version so they can continue to receive security updates.
To update to 116 when it’s released, you’ll need a PC running Windows 10, macOS Catalina 10.15, or something newer.
Google Chrome dropped support for Windows 7/8 in February.
Windows 11 is losing those apps starting in 2024, the company announced yesterday (via XDA Developers).
Microsoft has been testing the new Outlook for some time, and starting next year it will be the default on new Windows PCs. To test it now, look for the “Try the new Outlook” toggle in the current Mail or Calendar app on an up-to-date Windows 11 PC.
And it’s probably intentional: the XP wallpaper photo was taken in Sonoma, California. The new MacOS name? MacOS Sonoma.
Many people (including yours truly) are having problems with Chromium browsers and other apps flickering after installing the 535.98 driver released May 30th.
The problem seems linked to multiple monitor setups and having G-Sync enabled. A post to Nvidia’s forums says they’ve identified a fix, but until it’s rolled out, you can try an earlier driver or disable hardware acceleration in any apps that are having problems.
[Nvidia GeForce Forums]
Microsoft announced the Intelligent Recap feature for Microsoft Teams Premium back in October last year, and now it’s available in the US (EU gets it in August).
Intelligent Recap generates meeting notes with AI, adding possible follow-up tasks and timeline markers so you can skip to relevant parts of a meeting recording. Eventually, Microsoft says, it’ll generate chapters.
The Vivobook 15 is a 15-inch budget alternative to the Acer Aspire 5 but with some of the same problems.
