Microsoft is releasing a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build today with some welcome improvements to the operating system's battery icon - possibly sparing you the realization that you've chosen a dead outlet, or improperly plugged in your power adapter, or let your battery drain too much, before it's far too late.

Windows' battery icon, which has traditionally been black, is being updated with three colors "designed to communicate battery status of your PC with just a quick glance," the company writes today on its Windows Blog. A green icon will indicate your computer is charging and "in a good state," but will turn yellow when your batt …

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It's a few days short of two years since Microsoft teased 3D emoji that would eventually replace the company's old and flat designs that look stuck in Apple's iOS 7 era. But now the company has released a new Windows Insider Preview Build (25905) that will finally bring more modern 3D looks to your ghost, unicorn, and starry-eyed emoji throughout the OS.

The new emoji in the preview are similar to the ones released in Microsoft Teams last year, which added a gradient style to make the emoji appear 3D.

These 3D emoji have long been in the works after Microsoft first announced them in July 2021. But when Microsoft did bring new emoji to Wind …

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It's all too easy to allow distractions such as social media or videos to seduce us from the things we're supposed to be doing - such as, say, writing articles about Windows 11. Features such as Focus assist are now being included with operating systems to try to help us keep our eyes on the road, so to speak.

Microsoft's Focus assist was first introduced in a 2018 update of Windows 10, where it replaced a feature known as Quiet Hours, and while Windows 11 doesn't offer any radical updates, it has made the feature easier to use. Focus assist stops notifications from popping up on your screen and can be activated automatically when you put o …

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Windows 11 is now available and will be rolling out to millions of PCs worldwide. But, as with any new OS rollout, it's not going to happen overnight, and many Windows users will be waiting for a while until that magic upgrade notice appears. Don't want to wait? You don't have to - you can, with just a little effort, download and install the new version of Windows right now.

Keep in mind, though, that unlike previous versions of Windows, you may not be invited to install Windows 11 if your machine isn't considered up to its standard. That doesn't mean that you can't install the new OS - Microsoft has said if you have an older machine, you w …

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I don't know what else to call it: the Windows 11 upgrade situation is a confusing mess. Depending on when your PC was built, which components you chose, and how it was configured, there's a decent chance Microsoft will try to scare you away from installing the free upgrade, which is available a day early today. Millions of people will likely be told their systems are incompatible, and Microsoft is reserving the right to withhold security updates if you install on older systems.

But as far as we can tell, Windows 11 is largely Windows 10 with a fresh coat of paint, and there's a strong chance your Windows 10 computer will run Windows 11 jus …

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Microsoft's next version of Windows, Windows 11, is coming October 5th. In many ways, it's already here - the free update has been available for Windows Insiders to download and test for months, and recent versions like the Release Preview will likely be indistinguishable from the final operating system.

We'll have a full review from Tom Warren next week, but in the meanwhile we thought we'd give you a look at how The Verge at large feels about upgrading to the new OS - by asking every other prominent Windows user on the team to install the most recent version on their own home computers, and gathering their impressions.

Here's how it's g …

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Today, Microsoft officially reinstated its PC Health Check app for anyone to download, letting you easily see whether your computer is ready for Windows 11 ahead of its October 5th debut. (The company had previously removed the app because it was somewhat misleading, and when a more robust version returned in late August, it was only available to Windows Insiders.) You can find the app at the very bottom of this page if you scroll down, or click here if you don't mind direct downloads.

But in some ways, the new PC Health Check app is still misleading because it suggests my perfectly good 7th-gen Core i7 desktop gaming PC isn't ready for Win …

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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 Wind …

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