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Microsoft launches Copilot Pro, a $20 subscription with advanced AI features for individuals by Taras Buria Microsoft has officially unveiled Copilot Pro—a subscription service targeting individual consumers to give them more advanced AI capabilities and "supercharge their Copilot experience." Copilot has been a free service for regular users so far, but now Microsoft is ready to step it up and offer a paid tier with more features. Copilot Pro is now available for $20 per month for one user. For that price, customers get access to Copilot in Office applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on Windows, macOS, and iPad (currently in preview with English being the only supported language, plus you need an active Microsoft 365 subscription). You can type your request directly in the app you need, plus get additional features, such as email summary, etc. The subscription also gives you priority access to the latest models, starting with OpenAI's GPT-4 Turbo, which ensures fast performance during peak hours and gives you the option to toggle between different models to optimize your experience and interaction with the service. Copilot Pro offers a few extra perks for image generation via Designed (also known as Bing Image Creator). You get 100 boosts per day for faster generation, more detailed outputs, and landscape mode support. Finally, Copilot Pro will soon let you build a custom Copilot GPT tailored to your specific need or topic. This feature is coming soon in Copilot GPT Builder. However, Microsoft is rolling out an initial set of Copilot GPTs with a focus on particular purposes, such as cooking, travel, fitness, and more. All Copilot users can access Copilot GPTs, while Pro subscribers will soon be able to create their own using simple prompts. In addition to Copilot Pro, Microsoft formally announced Copilot apps for iOS and Android, plus expanded Copilot for Microsoft 365 availability to small and medium-sized businesses, eliminating the minimum seat requirement for commercial plans.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available for all businesses, large and small by John Callaham In November 2023, Microsoft officially launched Copilot for Microsoft 365 Enterprise customers, specifically for large companies that had signed up for Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 enterprise plans. The cost to access the Copilot generative AI features was set up as $30 a month per person. Today, Microsoft announced an expansion of that effort. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available for all businesses, both big and small. Now, customers with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard plans can add Copilot and all of its features and uses. Like the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans, the smaller Business Premium and Business Standard plans are $30 a month per person. Not only is the service expanding to more businesses, but Microsoft is also ditching the previous 300-seat minimum to get Copilot added to a Microsoft 365 business subscription. Now, there is no minimal seat amount needed, which means a single person who runs a business on their own can add Copilot with just one seat required. If any customers are still on the older Office 365 E3 and E5 plans, they can also access Copilot for the first time without the need to have a Microsoft 365 account. Finally, any commercial business customers can go through the many different Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider partners to subscribe to Copilot for Microsoft 365. Microsoft also offered up an update on Copilot for Microsoft 365 since it launched in November. Since it became generally available in late 2023, the list of companies that use the service has expanded to include Visa, BP, Honda, Pfizer, Accenture, KPMG, and PwC. These new announcements come on the same day as Microsoft's reveal of Copilot Pro. It will give individuals more features and more powerful access to the Copilot AI compared to the current free version for the cost of $20 a month.

Microsoft will soon let people make their own Copilot chatbots similar to OpenAI's GPTs by John Callaham In November 2023, OpenAI announced plans to release GPTs, custom chatbots based on the company's ChatGPT. Today, Microsoft announced its own plans to offer custom AI chatbots tailored to specific needs and topics. As part of today's many Copilot announcements, including Copilot Pro and the expansion of Copilot for Microsoft 365, the company also announced Copilot GPTs. Like OpenAI's GPTs, Copilot GPTs will allow users to "customize the behavior of Microsoft Copilot on a topic that is of particular interest to you." Microsoft added that it will offer up a number of previously created custom Copilot GPTs starting today. They will be able to answer questions from users on topics like fitness, travel, and cooking. As part of the features that will be enabled for people who pay $20 a month to access the Copilot Pro service, those subscribers will be able to make their own custom Copilot GPTs. Microsoft plans to launch a new app called Copilot GPT Builder, which is made specifically for these kinds of tasks. So far, Microsoft has not revealed anything more about how Pro users will be able to make their own chatbots with Copilot GPT Builder, saying only, "Stay tuned for more on this experience as we get closer to availability." There's no word on what the app itself will be like, how easy or hard it will be to use, and what platform or platforms it will support. When OpenAI announced GPTs, it also revealed that users would be able to share their custom chatbots with the rest of the world via the GPT store. That store finally launched last week, and OpenAI indicated that later in the first quarter of 2024, creators of those custom chatbots would be able to get some revenue if people actually used their custom GPTs. Microsoft has yet to announce plans to offer a similar revenue path for custom Copilot GPTs.

Microsoft announces dedicated Copilot apps for iOS and Android by Taras Buria Microsoft has formally announced the recently spotted Copilot apps for Android and iOS. Copilot mobile apps are now official as a part of today's feature drop for Microsoft's AI-powered assistant. Microsoft says the new Copilot apps for iOS and Android give customers access to the power of Copilot on the go. You can sign in with your Microsoft account and sync chats across devices, continue conversations started earlier, and use most of Copilot's "magical capabilities" on a smaller screen. Supported features also include access to GPT-4, DALLE-3 image generator, and the ability to upload pictures from your phone into conversations with Copilot. Future additions and upgrades will be available on mobile as well. In addition to dedicated Copilot apps, Microsoft will soon launch an updated Microsoft 365 app with access to Copilot for individuals with Microsoft accounts, allowing you to interact with Copilot without leaving the app and exporting the content of your conversations into Word or PDF documents. However, if you want to use Copilot for drafting documents directly in Word or summarizing emails in Outlook, prepare to pay since those capabilities are part of Copilot Pro, a $20/mo subscription. Other Copilot-related announcements include updates for commercial users (no more minimum seat requirement), Copilot GPTs focusing on specific topics, and the upcoming ability to build your own Copilot GPT using a simple set of prompts. You can download the new Copilot app for Android from the Google Play Store. Those using iPhones and iPads can get the same app from the App Store using this link. The Microsoft 365 app is available here (Android) and here (iOS). Interestingly, Copilot is also available on mobile via the Microsoft Edge browser, which recently got the new "AI Browser" name. Now you have a new way to interact with Copilot without switching from Chrome, Safari, or other mobile browsers.

Microsoft Rewards points are back to their previous amounts on their home page by John Callaham In late 2023, Microsoft started cutting back on the amount of points people could earn for completing daily tasks in its Microsoft Rewards program. When we asked Microsoft about those changes in late November 2023, a spokesperson would not offer a direct answer, saying only that the company "regularly evolved" the Rewards program over the years, adding, "We evaluate every change for consistency and fairness, tuning the methods and frequency through which our members can earn points." Now, it looks like Microsoft has walked back on at least some of those changes. According to Xbox enthusiast IdleSloth on his X (formerly Twitter) account, the number of points people could earn daily on the Rewards home page has gone back to their previous amounts. (FYI) Microsoft Rewards points have returned to 5, 10, and 30 points per reward again 👏 pic.twitter.com/hWzWSDYu5L — Idle Sloth💙💛 (@IdleSloth84_) January 15, 2024 In November, daily points went down to just one or two points for each task on the Microsoft Rewards page. Now those numbers are back to 5, 10, or even 30 points that Rewards members have earned. There's no word on why exactly Microsoft has backtracked on this issue. It's possible that the amount of protests from long-time Microsoft Rewards members played a factor in this decision. While the daily points that can be earned on the Microsoft Rewards pages may be back to previous levels, Microsoft has still made some changes in other aspects of the program. Xbox gamers recently found out that the number of weekly and monthly Xbox Game Pass Quest points they could earn has increased, but on the flip side, it might take them longer to complete these quests than it took under the previous system. Microsoft has not been transparent at all about all of these changes that have been made to the Rewards program, and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.

An unannounced Halo battle royale game is rumored to have been canceled by John Callaham An in-development Halo game that was supposed to bring Microsoft's sci-fi shooter series into the popular battle royale genre has reportedly been canceled before the game was officially announced. The new report comes from the popular XboxEra podcast this weekend (via Eurogamer). During the podcast, noted Xbox leaker "Shpeshal_Nick" mentioned that he had received reports that the Halo battle royale game, which he says was being developed under the code name Project Tatanka, had been canceled after years of development. He did not offer an explanation of why the development of the game had stopped. The Halo battle royale game was reportedly being developed at 343 Industries in collaboration with Certain Affinity, which had worked on a number of previous games in the Halo franchise. While the game has never been officially announced by Microsoft, Certain Affinity's CEO Max Hoberman mentioned in a YouTube interview in July 2023 that their biggest current project at the time was a new collaboration with 343 Industries. This would not be the first time a new Halo game from a third-party developer had been canceled before it was officially revealed. Original Age of Empires and Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios was working on a Halo-based massively multiplayer game for Microsoft, but that project was reportedly shut down in 2007. Ensemble Studios itself would be closed by Microsoft in 2009, after completing work on Halo Wars. If the reports on the cancelation of the Halo battle royale game are accurate, it's unknown how that might affect Certain Affinity. The developer was also working on its own original first-person shooter game, which it revealed in September under the code name Project Loro. No details about that game have been revealed, and Certain Affinity was shopping around to see if it could get a publisher to release the title.

Microsoft: We are working on KB5034441/KB5034440 "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" fix by Sayan Sen Microsoft released the first Windows 10 and 11 Patch Tuesday updates of 2024, last week, with the January updates KB5034122 and KB5034123 respectively. The updates are meant to address security issues within Windows. The one for 11 also fixes the recent Wi-Fi troubles that led to networks not connecting or the Wi-Fi icon not showing. In a separate article, the company has also detailed a fix for a WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) security vulnerability that can lead to BitLocker encryption bypass. The issue is being tracked under ID "CVE-2024-20666". Microsoft said that the security flaw could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption if they are able to get physical access to an unpatched PC. However, this is not one of those WinRE updates that is seamlessly installing on PCs. Users report that the update is failing to install with the error message "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" which indicates insufficient WinRE partition size. The solution is to resize the partition manually. You can do so by following this dedicated guide here. Neowin forum supervisor / mod and ESET's Distinguished Researcher Aryeh Goretsky (X account) also experienced the issue which they were able to fix by increasing the recovery partition. Goretsky writes: Hello, I can confirm that the KB5034441 hotfix failed on a Windows 10 VM with a Windows Recovery partition that was 511MB in size. I decided to increase it to 1024MB in size, just in case more space was needed in the future. The hotfix installed normally afterwards. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Microsoft of course has been aware of this problem almost from the start which is why it has been recommending the manual resize workaround as soon as it published the WinRE updates. Yesterday, on its Windows health dashboard, the company has added the issue and notes that a fix is coming via a future update. Microsoft says: Devices attempting to install the January 2024 Windows Recovery Environment update ( KB5034441/KB5034440) might display an error related to the size of the Recovery Environment's partition. Resulting from this error, the following message might be displayed. "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" Workaround: It might be necessary to increase the size of the WinRE partition in order to avoid this issue and complete the installation. Note that 250 megabytes of free space is required in the recovery partition. Guidance to change the WinRE partition size can be found in KB5028997: Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update. Next steps: We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release. Aside from this BitLocker encryption vulnerability, Microsoft has recently updated its Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool to patch against a Remote Code Execution (RCE) security flaw.

Surface Pro 5 and Pro 5 LTE are no longer supported by Taras Buria If you have a fifth-generation Surface Pro, which is also known as the Surface Pro Model 1807, or just Surface Pro "5," Microsoft has bad news: your tablet is no longer supported. January 15, 2024, marks the end of the life of this computer, meaning it will no longer receive driver or firmware updates. Microsoft introduced the fifth-generation Surface Pro on May 23, 2017, at a special event held in China. Apart from the OG Surface Pro from 2012, it was the only Surface Pro without a number in its name. The gist was that the computer did not have enough changes to justify a true generation upgrade. Despite promising "over 800 new enhancements," Surface Pro "5" was a minor spec bump with mostly new processors. On the outside, the fifth-gen Surface Pro was identical to its predecessor, down to its color, port placement, etc. Still, the tablet introduced a few notable changes. For example, there was a fanless configuration with a base-level seventh-gen Intel Core i5 processor. Upper-spec models with Intel Core i7 chips featured a reworked thermal design for improved heat dissipation. And the biggest upgrade of all was an optional LTE configuration, a returning feature from the ill-fated ARM-powered Surface 2 and the entry-level Surface 3, the only Surface to ever ship with a micro-B USB port (remember those?). Despite not offering enough visual changes or earth-shattering updates, the fifth-gen Surface Pro was a much better device than its predecessor. It had better battery life, more performance, and much less troublesome hardware. Intel's Skylake generation gave plenty of headaches for Surface Pro 4/Surface Book owners, and the Surface Pro 5, with its Kaby Lake chips, offered a much less stressful experience. Interestingly, in late 2018, Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 6, which was also virtually the same as its preceding generation. It got a properly numbered name despite not having enough changes for a "true new generation." Also, did you know that the Surface Pro 6 reached its end of life much earlier than its predecessor? Microsoft ended Surface Pro 6 support on June 30, 2023. Although Microsoft launched the LTE version of the Surface Pro 5 a few months later, it ended its life alongside the standard Wi-Fi version. The end of support means the computer will no longer receive new drivers or firmware updates. You will continue getting operating system updates as long as it remains supported, but the overall experience might get worse with time, especially with Microsoft planning to add new features to Windows 10. As a reminder, the fifth-generation Surface Pro does not officially support Windows 11. With the Surface Pro 5 now being six feet under, the next Surface device to kick the bucket is the Surface Pro 7. The last Surface Pro in the classic design (minus the Pro 7+ for enterprise) will reach its end of life on February 28, 2024.

Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly: New email sync button for Outlook and more by John Callaham This week's look back at the last seven days of new entries on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap website will include some upcoming features for Outlook, Teams, and Microsoft Stream. Microsoft Outlook: New email sync button is coming Microsoft previously said it was going to be putting lots of new features and improvements in the new Outlook for Windows in 2024. One of the new features is due in February 2024 for both Outlook for Windows and on the web. It will add a new email sync button to the app. A button option to initiate email sync is coming to the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web, this will allow users to ensure that their send and receive email experience is up-to-date. This functionality will be within the View tab of the Ribbon. Microsoft Teams - New co-organizer feature for Town Hall and more Microsoft Teams on Windows. Mac and the web will add a new Town Hall feature in February: Co-organizers can edit town hall details, publish the event, and cancel the event, similar to the organizer. Another new Teams feature for Windows due in February will offer some new call setting additions: End users will now be able to change their external call routing settings directly from the Teams app, allowing them to decide how incoming PSTN calls are routed. Calls can be redirected based on existing unanswered call settings or sent to voicemail. This new capability provides more flexibility for handling customer communications. More updates for Microsoft Stream and Forms Microsoft Stream business users will be able to put in reactions to videos starting in June 2024. This feature will allow users to add or remove reactions to specific points of a recorded video via Stream Web App and Embed. Viewers will be able to see how their colleagues feel about a video and show their support towards the video owner. These reactions will be present in the timeline to highlight the most important parts of the video and can be used for navigation. Also, owners of the video can see detailed analytics about when viewers are reacting to videos and have ability to disable the feature. The Microsoft 365 Roadmap also mentions that Stream users will be able to add a video to a playlist directly from an embedded video in March. Microsoft Forms users will be able to check out a new sync feature with Excel in a preview starting later in January. Microsoft Forms supports quickly and easily syncing form responses to an Excel file. Now you’ll always have the latest information, updated automatically, so you can leverage the full range of Excel functions to analyze your data and collab with your peers. The new feature will become generally available in July. That's all for this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap roundup. Come back next Sunday to see what's been added to the roadmap in the next seven days.

Microsoft Weekly: Windows 10 is getting new features again, Patch Tuesday updates, and more by Taras Buria In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at the first Patch Tuesday updates of 2024, a sudden rebirth of Windows 10, a lot of hardware announcements at CES 2024, fresh new Windows 11 preview builds, and a bunch of neat app updates. Table of contents: Windows 11 news Updates are available Gaming news A blast from Microsoft's past Random fact about Microsoft Windows 11 Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions. The first Patch Tuesday update roundup is now available for download on supported Windows 10 and 11 versions: Windows 10 Windows 11 KB5034122 with builds numbers 19044.3930 and 19045.3930 The updates resolve security vulnerabilities. KB5034123 with build numbers 22621.3007 and 22631.3007 The updates fix security vulnerabilities and resolve several bugs causing abnormal shutdowns after 60 seconds and breaking specific Wi-Fi adapters. In addition, it brings the recently announced lock screen weather widget to all users. In addition, Microsoft released KB5034440 and KB5034441 to fix a security flaw in WinRE that can lead to BitLocker encryption bypass. The tech giant also updated its Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool with an RCE vulnerability patch. Do you remember last week's story about Windows 11 "version 24H1" with Wi-Fi 7 support teased by Dell? The new Wi-Fi standard and devices to support it are upon us, with Wi-Fi 7 being locked in by Wi-Fi Alliance. That means the governing body is now certifying devices to support the latest and greatest Wi-Fi standard. Windows 11 still does not support Wi-Fi 7, so expect an update to resolve that in the near future. Windows Insider Program Here is what Microsoft released for testing this week: Canary Channel Dev Channel Beta Channel Release Preview Nothing in Canary Build 23615 with Copilot improvements, USB4 Gen 4 support, and more. Build 22635.3061 (KB5034215) KB5034204 for Windows 11 with multiple improvements, new languages for handwriting, and more. KB5034203 for Windows 10 with eye control improvements and various fixes. Notable changes in the latest preview builds include support for 80Gbps USB4 for the upcoming laptops powered by Intel's 14th Gen processors and a rather odd change that automatically opens Copilot when Windows starts. Luckily, the latter is only available as an experiment on multi-monitor setups with the primary display larger than 27 inches in diagonal. Speaking of the Copilot, the company revealed more details about the recently announced Copilot key. As it turned out, that key is not mandatory, and manufacturers are free to select where to place it on their keyboards. Interestingly, Windows 10 is about to get some developer love back. Microsoft said it would add the new lock screen weather widget to Windows 10. Moreover, according to a new report, Microsoft plans to reopen the Beta Channel for Windows 10 users, letting them try new features before the public rollout. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. It looks like Notepad will soon get another big update. As spotted by users, the app is about to get an AI treatment called "Cowriter," with options to rewrite the text, make it shorter, make it longer, change the tone, and change the format. Microsoft has yet to announce the feature, so expect more details soon. The File app, our favorite third-party alternative to the stock File Explorer, received a new feature update under version 3.1. It introduced a tray icon, smart archive extraction, better drag-and-drop support, improved sorting, and more. The update is now available for download from the Microsoft Store and GitHub. Microsoft has a new PowerToys release. Version 0.77 introduced a new "Command Not Found" module and various additions and fixes for existing tools. Future PowerToys updates will bring additional enhancements, such as the ability to change language and better update notifications. Also, Microsoft released Dev Home 0.9 with one major change: Windows 10 support. Those sticking to the good old Windows 10 can now use Microsoft's latest Dev-focused application and its capabilities. Other notable updates released this week include the following: New features for Windows 365 Boot and Switch for Cloud PCs. New features for Microsoft Teams to assist retail store workers. Microsoft teams up with Typeface to add AI-powered features to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 support for Azure storage accounts will end on November 1, 2024. And here are the latest drivers released this week: Intel 31.0.101.5085 and 5122 WHQL with 14th Gen processors and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown support. Intel Wi-Fi 23.20.0 and Bluetooth 23.10.0 drivers with fixes for blue screens of death, the "No Wi-Fi networks found" message and more. Finally, check out this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly with the latest additions of upcoming features for productivity apps from Microsoft. Plenty of changes for Microsoft Teams users, video translation on Stream, and more. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more. NVIDIA prepared plenty of gaming announcements for this year's Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. Besides a trio of new graphics cards, NVIDIA revealed several improvements for its cloud gaming service, GeForce NOW. It will soon let you pay for a daily pass for $3.99 or $7.99, use G-SYNC with compatible monitors, stream in higher resolution on Android (up to 1440p), and, of course, new titles to play, such as critically acclaimed Diablo IV and Overwatch 2. With the release of the initial RTX 40 SUPER lineup, NVIDIA discontinued the original RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Ti. Gamers can also expect a flood of old games remastered with modern technology. NVIDIA revealed its plans to launch RTX Remix open beta on January 22, giving mod-makers a chance to resurrect old DirectX 8 and 9 games with the latest gaming tech, such as PBR textures, ray tracing, DLSS, generative AI textures, and more. Need for Speed Underground 2 Remastered? Yes, please! Speaking of ray tracing, look out for ray-tracing-based effects coming to Diablo IV on PC in March 2024. A bunch of upcoming games will also get DLSS 3 support, such as Half-Life 2 RTX, Horizon Forbidden West, Layers of Fear, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and more. On the "red side," AMD has unveiled its first desktop Ryzen 8000 processors, but do not let the name fool you. Ryzen 8000G chips are still based on the Zen 4 architecture. The biggest change is that these are the first desktop parts with dedicated AI-accelerating hardware or NPU. The integrated graphics on this is also very capable, which, according to AMD, can outperform NVIDIA's discrete GTX 1650. If that does not sound nor look impressive or tempting, here is a new GPU from AMD: the RX 7600 XT is now official with its generous 16GB of video memory to eat 1080p for breakfast and even take on 1440p gaming for $329. Finally, on the blue side, Intel unveiled the rest of its 14th Gen processors for desktop computers, giving potential customers more choice when building a PC powered by Intel's latest chips. The company also revealed new 14th Gen HX and U series laptop chips. Moving from hardware updates to game updates, here is some good news for those still playing Bethesda's Starfield: the next update will be the biggest one so far, and the studio promises over one hundred fixes and improvements to make your gaming experience better. Forza Motorsport is another Microsoft-owned title in need of some improvements. Turn 10 Studios said it will use player feedback to address multiple complaints and make the recently launched simulator better. Minecraft Legends is no longer supported. Mojang announced that the game will no longer receive new content updates, pulling the plug on the title in less than a year since its launch in April 2023. However, the studio is open to exploring other ideas for more potential spin-offs of the popular sandbox game purchased by Microsoft in 2014. Xbox fans should mark January 18 on their calendars. Microsoft has scheduled the Xbox Developer Direct event, which is expected to showcase some upcoming games, such as Avowed, Hellblade II, Ara: History Untold, and more. We might also see Bethesda's upcoming Indiana Jones game there. Finally, Paramount revealed the full and final trailer for the upcoming second season of the Halo TV show. Deals and freebies If you are looking for something new to play without ruining your wallet, check out this week's Weekend PC Game Deals issue covering Ubisoft specials, a sailing freebie from the Epic Games Store, various bundles, and more. Here are more gaming-related stories published this week: Square Enix will launch an open beta for Final Fantasy XIV Online on Xbox Series X|S in late February 2024. Some Xbox first-party games like Sea of Thieves might be coming soon to PlayStation 5. Hyperkin is bringing back the iconic Xbox Controller S, and its modern reincarnation is called "DuchesS." A blast from Microsoft's past John Callaham's weekly "Look back" series provides throwbacks into the past, detailing the company's products, partnerships, mishaps, and successes from years ago. This week's blast from the past is about the company's canceled plans to publish an MMO game based on Marvel Comics. Also, with plenty of CES 2024 news flooding your news feed, here is a brief look back at some wacky concepts and ideas Razer showcased at CES in the past. Tri-screen laptops, a gaming chair with a curved 60-inch OLED monitor, a modular gaming desk, a gaming projector extending your primary display, and more. Random fact about Microsoft And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things. Some think Windows is Microsoft's oldest and longest-standing product. However, that is not true. Microsoft Flight Simulator is the oldest brand the company owns and still supports and develops. Windows, in fact, is three years younger than Microsoft Flight Simulator, which was initially released for MS-DOS in 1982. This year, the company is expected to release a new version called Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. You can find other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series using this link. Also, you can support Neowin by subscribing to our Newsletter to get regular news recaps delivered directly to your email.

Windows 11 is getting 80Gbps USB4 Gen 4 support by Taras Buria Microsoft is working on adding support for the latest USB standard into its operating system. Windows 11 build 23615 (released earlier this week) introduced USB4 Gen 4 support, which is capable of operating at speeds of up to 80Gbps on compatible hardware. USB Implementers Forum released the USB4 specification in August 2019. Two years later, Microsoft introduced USB4 support in the initial release of Windows 11 (version 21H2). In September 2022, USB4 2.0 was introduced with 80 and 120Gbps modes over the now-standard Type-C connector, and Microsoft is now ensuring its operating system can work with the latest USB generation, which is about to arrive in the first consumer products. In the release notes for build 23615, the company said the increased performance of USB4 2.0 "enables next generation of high-performance displays, storage, and connectivity." At the same time, USB4 2.0 is fully compatible with accessories made for older USB and Thunderbolt generations with the Type-C connector. Although USB4 2.0 support is present in the latest Windows 11 preview build, you need the latest and greatest hardware to try it out. According to Microsoft, USB4 2.0 80Gpbs will initially launch on select devices with Intel's recently introduced 14th Gen mobile processors. The new Razer Blade 18 will be among the first Windows laptops with USB4 2.0 support. Other features in Windows 11 build 23615 include the ability to open Copilot when Windows starts. Microsoft is experimenting with this feature on multi-monitor devices with 27-inch or larger primary monitors and a minimum width of 1920 pixels. The good news is that Copilot autostart is a feature you can turn off in the Settings app. You can learn more about Windows 11 build 23615 from the Dev Channel here. Microsoft also released ISO files for clean installations, which you can download from the official Windows Insider website.

The new lock screen weather widget is now available for all Windows 11 users in KB5034123 by Taras Buria On January 3, 2024, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 preview build in the Dev Channel, bringing Windows Insiders a new lock screen widget to try. After a very brief period of testing, the new weather widget is now available for all users in the Stable Channel. Microsoft is rolling out the redesigned weather experience on the lock screen as a part of this month's cumulative updates (KB5034123 released on January 9, 2023). This is a gradual rollout, which means some users will get the new widget later than others. Microsoft says the new experience will be available for all in the coming weeks. Microsoft introduced weather on the lock screen almost twelve years ago when it launched Windows 8. The new version released earlier this month displays more information with richer visuals, plus it lets you click the widget to get more weather data in Microsoft Edge (even if you have the Weather app installed). According to Microsoft, the widget works with all lock screen backgrounds, such as Windows Spotlight, a single picture, or a slideshow. You can force-enable the new weather widget using the ViVeTool app: Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin). Switch Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile with the Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcut or by clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive. Type vivetool /enable /id:47526873 /variant:1 /variantpayloadkind:1 /variantpayload:1 and press Enter (credit for the ID goes to @PhantomOfEarth) Restart your computer. Interestingly, Windows 10 will soon get the same feature. The release notes for the latest Release Preview update mention the redesigned weather experience, albeit without specific details. That, in addition to Copilot, is a part of Microsoft's recent strategy shift to continue adding new capabilities to the outgoing operating system.

Microsoft wants you to use Copilot as soon as your widescreen PC starts by Taras Buria Microsoft is experimenting with forcing encouraging more Windows customers to use Copilot. The company is toying around with the idea of opening its AI-powered assistant whenever your computer turns on, saving you one taskbar click. Users spotted it several months ago, and now it is official. Microsoft announced the change in the release notes for build 23615, which shipped in the Dev Channel earlier this week. Shortly after that, Microsoft added more insights into it. There is still no information on what the logic behind the decision was (besides the obvious engagement-boosting). Still, at least it is limited to large displays with 27 inches in diagonal and a minimum width of 1920 pixels. More importantly, Copilot autostart is limited to multi-monitor setups only—you should not expect that thing to pop on your screen every time you power on the computer if you use only one display. Microsoft knows that such changes are likely to upset a few Windows users, so it provides the option to turn off Copilot autostart. Head to Settings > Personalization > Copilot in Windows and toggle off the "Open Copilot when Windows starts" option. It is worth reminding that changes and new features in Windows 11 preview builds are often experimental and temporary. Some of them will never see the light of day, so it is too early to tell whether Microsoft will ship Copilot autostart to all users. If you want or do not want that to happen, send your feedback to Microsoft using the Feedback Hub app. Here is what Microsoft said about that in the release notes for build 23615. We regularly try out different experiences with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel that may not ever ship, and others could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready. What do you think about Copilot autostart in Windows 11?

Starfield's next update will be its biggest yet with over 100 fixes and improvements by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Before the holiday break, Bethesda had been pushing out a steady stream of updates to its new space RPG Starfield since its launch last year. Just as the studio promised, the 2024 updates will soon start rolling out, and the first is slated to be the biggest one yet. Announced via its official social media channels, Bethesda is planning on bringing an update filled with "over 100 fixes and improvements" to Xbox console and PC players. Before that though, a Steam beta will kick off to test the stability of the changes, echoing the testing steps behind the DLSS update from November. "This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests," the studio says in a tweet. "Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos." Some screenshots were also shared to showcase the lighting and shadow improvements, seen them embedded above and below. Here are some more improvements included in the update: "Additionally, this update brings stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements ranging from additional widescreen support to improved textures, lighting, and shadows. Other fixes and improvements include sun disk geometry, planet ring shadows, bulldozed objects reappearing when returning to an Outpost, ship hatches marked inaccessible, and another fix for asteroids following ships." This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests. Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos. pic.twitter.com/EkJl2qbpAh — Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) January 12, 2024 The Starfield beta update will launch for Steam users via a beta channel on January 17, with its changelog also coming on that date. Two weeks later, the update will launch to all players across Xbox, PC, and Game Pass. More updates with features like modding support, FSR 3 and XeSS, new ways to travel, and more are coming later in 2024 too. Bethesda is also working on the game's first story expansion, Shattered Space. While only a name has been revealed about this DLC for now, we may get more information about it during the Xbox Developer_Direct showcase next week.

Microsoft confirms there will be no Windows 11 Canary Channel build released this week by John Callaham It's been a rather busy week for Windows updates. Regular users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 got new Patch Tuesday updates. Also, release preview updates were launched for Windows 11 and Windows 10, the latter of which added the new Weather lock screen experience that was previously added to Windows 11 insider builds. Speaking of which, Windows Insider Program members on both the Beta and Dev channels got new Windows 11 builds this week. The Beta update added that Weather lock screen feature, and a new Windows Share URL address update for web browsers. The new Dev channel build added support for the new and faster USB 80Gbps standard. However, if you are a member of the Windows Insider Program in the Canary channel, you will have to wait at least a few days longer to get a new build. Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc confirmed that news when we asked him about it on his X (formerly Twitter account. He replied, "Unfortunately we will not have a new Canary build this week." There's no word on why there won't be a new Canary Channel Insider build, although we can speculate that the team in charge of the build simply was not ready to launch it to Canary testers this week. Still, this is a rare week when we won't see a new Canary Channel release. The last Canary Channel build, 26020 was released on January 3. The release had quite a few new additions, including more language support for voice access, using multiple displays for voice features, and previews of new voices in more languages. It also was the first build that won't install the WordPad and People apps after a clean install of the OS. A new report from Windows Central claims that Microsoft is thinking about restarting the old Windows Insider Program Beta Channel for Windows 10 users, now that Microsoft has decided to continue to add new features to the older operating system.

Microsoft issues KB5034440, KB5034441 Windows updates for BitLocker Secure Boot flaw by Sayan Sen Update: Microsoft has confirmed a true fix is coming so users don't have to manually work around the problem. Microsoft released the first Windows 10 and 11 Patch Tuesday updates of 2024 earlier yesterday with the January updates KB5034122 and KB5034123 respectively. The updates are meant to address security issues within Windows. The one for 11 also fixes the recent Wi-Fi troubles that led to networks not connecting or the Wi-Fi icon not showing. In a separate article, the company has also detailed another security fix for a BitLocker Secure Boot bypass vulnerability that is being tracked under ID "CVE-2024-20666". Microsoft says that the security flaw could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption if they are able to get physical access to an unpatched PC. The issue has been addressed by KB5034441 (on Windows 10) and KB5034440 (on Windows 11) which is a WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) update. Microsoft in its bulletins explains: KB5034440: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 11, version 21H2: January 9, 2024 Summary This update addresses a security vulnerability that could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption by using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). ... KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024 Summary This update addresses a security vulnerability that could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption by using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). You cannot manually download this update from the Microsoft Update Catalog website as it will automatically be downloaded whilst you are connected to the internet alongside the Patch Tuesday update. The patch is being rolled out to both Windows 10 versions, 22H2 and 21H2. Alongside this, Microsoft has also cautioned about inadequate space on the recovery partition which can lead to a "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" error message. It writes: Some computers might not have a recovery partition that is large enough to complete this update. Because of this, the update for WinRE might fail. In this case, you will receive the following error message: Windows Recovery Environment servicing failed. (CBS_E_INSUFFICIENT_DISK_SPACE) Known issue Because of an issue in the error code handling routine, you might receive the following error message instead of the expected error message when there is insufficient disk space: 0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE You can fix this issue by allocating an additional 250 MB of storage space to the recovery partition. Details on how to do that can be found in this dedicated article. Aside from this, the company has also addressed an RCE vulnerability for the recently released Printer metadata fixer tool.

Microsoft will now keep all European personal cloud data within its EU data boundary by John Callaham The European Union's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules include one that requires cloud-based companies to not transfer personal data to servers overseas, including the US, without privacy safeguards. This week, Microsoft announced new plans to keep personal data from its users in Europe inside the EU. In a blog post, Microsoft announced that in 2023, it had started storing and processing customer data for a number of its cloud-based services, including Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform, and Dynamics 365. This week, that effort expanded to include storing all personal data from European users, including its automated system logs, inside Microsoft EU Data Boundary. Microsoft is also providing new transparency and documentary for its European cloud privacy and storage efforts on a new website. Finally, the company revealed that it will use EU-based technology to protect user information if those servers need to be accessed remotely to monitor their systems. That includes setting up "virtual desktop infrastructure in the EU Data Boundary for monitoring our systems", according to Microsoft. The blog post added: To ensure our EU customers receive the same world-class security as other global customers, any data transfers outside the EU for security purposes will be documented, limited to what is required for crucial cybersecurity functions, and used only for these cybersecurity purposes. Microsoft is not yet done with its EU data storage and privacy efforts. Later in 2024, it will make changes for technical support features by keeping that data inside the EU boundary, If any technical support data needs access outside the EU zone, Microsoft says it will "limit and secure any temporary data transfer required through technical approaches such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure." The company will also launch a paid technical support option that will be set up in the EU boundary. Other tech companies have been fighting with the EU over its data privacy rules. In May 2023, the EU fined Meta $1.3 billion for allegedly sending personal data of EU users of Facebook to servers based in the US without privacy safeguards. Meta is appealing the fine.

Microsoft is working on new lock screen features for Windows 10 by Taras Buria The first Windows 11 preview build in 2024 introduced a new weather widget for the operating system's lock screen with richer visuals and the ability to open more weather data from the lock screen (in Microsoft Edge, of course, not the stock Weather app). In a somewhat surprising move, Microsoft decided to port the new widget from Windows 11 to Windows 10. Microsoft announced the new weather widget for Windows 10 in the latest Release Preview update for the outgoing operating system. The company said that the richer weather experience on the lock screen would arrive on Windows 10 in the "coming weeks." You may remember that Microsoft said it no longer plans to release new feature updates for Windows 10. However, the Windows division recently experienced a notable management shift. As a result of that change, Microsoft is adjusting its efforts to port more new capabilities from Windows 11 to Windows 10, which still has an enormous install base with more than one billion monthly active devices. Copilot is probably the most notable feature Windows 10 borrowed from its successor, and the new Weather experience that serves as a gateway to MSN and Microsoft Edge (it really should launch the Weather app instead) shows that Microsoft wants to use those hundreds of millions Windows 10 users to boost its services. Moreover, according to Windows Central, Microsoft plans to resurrect the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider program for Windows 10 to let users test new features before they come to the general public. As of right now, the only channel available to Windows 10 users is Release Preview. Despite all those changes, Windows 10 is still on track to reach its end of life in October 2025. Those unwilling to migrate to Windows 11 (and whatever Microsoft plans to ship later this year) will be able to pay Microsoft for extended security updates.

Copilot rebels rejoice: Microsoft says new key won't be part of Windows device certification by Sayan Sen The tech sphere is abuzz at the moment with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and all that it can do. Microsoft of course is no exception to that as it hasn't taken its foot off the gas when it comes to AI integration in its various products and services including Windows. Microsoft's AI products are generally under the banner name of Copilot, and the company has been trying very hard to build up the hype in order to convince the industry and people why it is such a great thing to have. Back in November, Microsoft published a blog post explaining how users really needed to have Copilot even though they may not have wanted it. This was only a month after Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella expressed how they felt about Copilot, and even likened it to the second coming of the Windows Start button in terms of its potential revolutionary impact. Taking inspiration from its own idea perhaps, Microsoft, this CES, introduced the new Copilot button on keyboards that will launch Copilot, similar to the Windows key that launches the Start menu. This key, the company says, will be on new laptops and desktop keyboards starting this January; the tech giant is clearly trying to replicate the success of the Start button with this move, while also stimulating new hardware sales for manufacturers who will have to bring to market a keyboard with the new key. In a statement to Dr. Windows, Microsoft has elaborated on the position of the key. The company said: The placement of the Copilot key varies depending on the manufacturer, but generally it is on the right side of the space bar opposite the WIN key. In some cases the key replaces the right CTRL key, on some larger keyboards there is space for both the right CTRL key and the Copilot key, and in other cases the Copilot key is combined with the “Menu” key (the Menu key is accessed secondary with the Fn key + Copilot key). And if you are one of the naysayers of this key, there is some good news for you too as the article further notes that the Copilot key is apparently not mandatory and hence won't be part of Windows device certification, at least not for the moment. Hence, if you don't want the Copilot key taking up any real estate space on your keyboard, you will still have the option to choose not to, although, on laptops and notebooks, this choice will likely become very limited as they are prebuilt and you will have to balance features and performance aspects of the device as well.

Microsoft adds more features to Windows 365 Boot and Switch cloud PC services by John Callaham In September 2023, Microsoft announced that both Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch were generally available. Windows 365 Boot lets employees sign into a Windows 11 PC and they can be switched into their own personalized Cloud PC. Windows 365 Switch lets users switch from a Cloud PC to a local Windows 11 PC and vice versa. Today, Microsoft announced it is testing some new features for both Windows 365 Boot and Switch in a public preview. One is a new dedicated mode for Boot. Microsoft states: You can now log in to your Windows 365 Cloud PC from your designated company-owned device. You’ll be able to seamlessly log in to your Windows 365 Cloud PC from Windows 11 login screen using passwordless authentication methods like Windows Hello for Business. Users can also switch their Cloud PC profiles with this new dedicated mode, along with showing a profile picture for their login or lock screen and more. Another improvement for Windows 365 Boot is designed to keep people from waiting for the login process to complete if there is some kind of network issue or an incomplete setup: New smart logic proactively informs users to resolve network issues or complete app setup so they can experience a smooth login to their Cloud PC. Finally, users can make changes to certain local PC settings like their audio, display, and more while they are still logged into their cloud PC on Windows 365 Boot. Windows 365 Switch users can now directly disconnect from their cloud PC from their local PC. This can be handled by going to the Local PC selection and then clicking on Task view. They can then right-click on the Cloud PC button, and finally select the Disconnect option. There's also a new indicator on the bottom of a user's desktop that shows “Cloud PC” and “Local PC” when you switch between the two platforms. There's no word on when these and other public preview features for Windows 365 Boot and Switch will become generally available.

Microsoft Edge 120.0.2210.133 by Razvan Serea Introducing the new Microsoft Edge. Rebuilt from the ground up to bring you world-class compatibility and performance, the security and privacy you deserve, and new features designed to bring you the best of the web. Microsoft Edge is also available on iOS and Android, providing a true cross-platform experience. The new Microsoft Edge provides world class performance with more privacy, more productivity and more value while you browse. Built on the same technology as Chrome, Microsoft Edge has additional built-in features like Startup boost and Sleeping tabs, which boost your browsing experience with world class performance and speed that are optimized to work best with Windows. Microsoft Edge security and privacy features such as Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, Password Monitor, InPrivate search, and Kids Mode help keep you and your loved ones protected and secure online. Microsoft Edge has features to keep both you and your family protected. Enable content filters and access activity reports with your Microsoft Family Safety account and experience a kid-friendly web with Kids Mode. The new Microsoft Edge is now compatible with your favorite extensions, so it’s easy to personalize your browsing experience. Microsoft Edge 120.0.2210.133 changelog: Fixed various bugs and performance issues. Stable channel security updates are listed here. Download: Microsoft Edge (64-bit) | 169.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Microsoft Edge (32-bit) | 151.0 MB View: Microsoft Edge Website | Release History Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Windows 10 version 22H2 Release Preview build 19045.3992 (KB5034203) is now available by John Callaham Microsoft has dropped the Windows 10 version 22H2 build 19045.3992 under KB5034203 for members of the Windows Insider Program in the Release Preview channel. It includes two small new features and a number of bug fixes. Here is the changelog: New! This update adds a feature for eye control system settings. You can back up these settings from the former device while you set up a new device. Then those settings will install automatically on the new device so you can use them when you reach the desktop. New! The coming weeks will bring a richer weather experience to your lock screen. This includes dynamic, interactive weather updates. So, as you hover over the weather on your lock screen, you will see more information. When you tap or click on the weather card and sign in, Microsoft Edge opens with the full forecast in MSN weather. If you already use Weather in Settings > Personalization > lock screen > Lock screen status, there is nothing for you to do. Also, this new experience will be on by default if Lock screen status is set to “None.” Like today, lock screen status will be available when you lock your screen no matter which personalization option you select (Windows spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow). This update addresses an issue that affects an Internet Explorer shortcut. After you use a policy to remove it, the shortcut reappears. This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). A caching issue occurs. The issue causes CurrentTimeZone to change to the wrong value. This update addresses an issue that affects XPath queries on FileHash and other binary fields. It stops them from matching values in event records. This update addresses a known issue that affects BitLocker data-only encryption. A mobile device management (MDM) service, such as Microsoft Intune, might not get the right data. This update addresses an issue that affects some single-function printers. They might install as a scanner. This update addresses an issue that affects the Code Integrity Module (ci.dll). This issue stops your device from responding. This update includes quarterly changes to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file, DriverSiPolicy.p7b. It adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks. This update affects Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot systems. It adds a renewed signing certificate to the Secure Boot DB variable. You can now opt for this change. This update addresses an issue that stops you from reconnecting to an existing Remote Desktop session. Instead, you get a new one. This update addresses an issue that occurs when you change the keyboard language. The change fails to apply to RemoteApps in some scenarios. This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) Post Authentication Actions (PAA). The actions occur at restart instead of at the end of the grace period. This update addresses an issue that affects Active Directory. Bind requests to IPv6 addresses fail. This occurs when the requestor is not joined to a domain. This update addresses an issue that affects the LocalUsersAndGroups CSP. It stops processing group memberships if it cannot find a group. This update addresses an issue that affects deleted cloud files. When a cloud provider vetoes a deletion request, the files might still be removed. This update addresses an issue that affects MSIX applications. They do not open, and, in some cases, they make the host unresponsive. This occurs when they use MSIX App Attach with a CimFS image. This update addresses an issue that affects Group Policy Folder Redirection in a multi-forest deployment. The issue stops you from choosing a group account from the target domain. Because of this, you cannot apply advanced folder redirection settings to that domain. This issue occurs when the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin user. This issue affects all Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF) or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments. You can check out the full blog post here.

Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 Release Preview channel builds (KB5034204) are available by John Callaham Microsoft has dropped the latest Release Preview builds for Windows 11 version 22H2 and 23H2 for members of that channel in the Windows Inside Program, under KB5034204. The build numbers are 22621.3078 for version 22h2 and 22631.3078 for version 23H2. The builds contain a couple of small features and a large number of fixes. Here is the changelog: New! We are beginning to expanding the ability to use digital handwriting (inking) in some edit boxes for Windows Ink to the following languages and locales: Chinese Simplified (People’s Republic of China), English (Australia), English (Canada), English (India), English (United Kingdom), French (Canada), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (Korea), Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Mexico), and Spanish (Spain). This also includes more accurate recognition technology, gestures to delete, select, join, and split words and also gesture to insert a new line. New! This update adds a feature for eye control system settings. You can back up these settings from the former device while you set up a new device. Then those settings will install automatically on the new device so you can use them when you reach the desktop. This update addresses an issue that affects certain types of 7-Zip files. They appear as empty in File Explorer. This update addresses an issue that stops search from working on the Start menu for some users. The issue occurs because of a deadlock. This update addresses an issue that affects Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) in the Group Policy editor. HTML preview rendering fails. This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). A caching issue occurs. The issue causes CurrentTimeZone to change to the wrong value. This update makes Windows more reliable during power transitions. This reduces the risk of a stop error. This update addresses an issue that affects the OpenType font driver. On a certain architecture, the issue might affect how text renders for third-party applications. The update addresses a known issue that affects the color font format for COLRv1. It now renders properly. Windows uses this format to display emoji with a 3D-like appearance. This update addresses an issue to make video calls more reliable. This update addresses an issue that stops WMI from working. This occurs in certain scenarios with mobile device management (MDM) providers, such as Microsoft Intune. This update addresses a known issue that affects BitLocker data-only encryption. An MDM service, such as Microsoft Intune, might not get the right data. This update addresses an issue that causes your device to stop responding. This is intermittent and occurs after you install a print support app. This update addresses an issue that affects Access Point Name (APN) profiles. It stops you from automatically configuring APN profiles for cellular enabled devices. This occurs when you run the “netsh mbn show readyinfo *” command. This update addresses an issue that affects Trusted Platform Modules. On certain devices, they did not initialize correctly. Because of this, TPM-based scenarios stopped working. This update includes quarterly changes to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file, DriverSiPolicy.p7b. It adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks. This update affects Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot systems. It adds a renewed signing certificate to the Secure Boot DB variable. You can now opt for this change. This update addresses an issue that makes the troubleshooting process fail. This occurs when you use the Get Help app. This update addresses an issue that affects RemoteApp windows. In certain cases, they persist on client devices after you close them. This update addresses an issue that affects a remote desktop client. It might connect to a wrong instance of a user’s session. This occurs if a user has multiple sessions on the host. This update addresses an issue that occurs when you change the keyboard language. The change fails to apply to RemoteApps in some scenarios. This update addresses an issue that affects the File Explorer Gallery. It stops you from closing a tooltip. This update addresses an issue that affects Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio earbuds. They lose sound when you stream music. This update addresses an issue that affects a Bluetooth phone call. It stops the audio from routing through the PC when you answer the call on your PC. This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) Post Authentication Actions (PAA). The actions occur at restart instead of at the end of the grace period. This update addresses an issue that affects Active Directory. Bind requests to IPv6 addresses fail. This occurs when the requestor is not joined to a domain. This update addresses an issue that affects the LocalUsersAndGroups CSP. It stops processing group memberships if it cannot find a group. This update addresses an issue that affects Group Policy Folder Redirection in a multi-forest deployment. The issue stops you from choosing a group account from the target domain. Because of this, you cannot apply advanced folder redirection settings to that domain. This issue occurs when the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin user. This issue affects all Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF) or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments. You can check out the full blog post here.

Build 22635.3061: Microsoft fixes ActiveX IE Mode bug with Windows 11 KB5034215 update by Sayan Sen Microsoft today has released a new Beta Channel build for Windows Insiders. The new build, 22635.3061 under KB5034215, brings an improved lock screen weather experience as well as improved Windows Share. Aside from these, the build also fixes ActiveX bug in IE (Internet Explorer) mode, and more. The full changelog for the build is given below: Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on* [Windows Share] For Microsoft Edge and other browsers that invoke the Windows share window, the Windows share window now supports the ability to share URLs directly to WhatsApp, Gmail, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. In Microsoft Edge, you can invoke the Windows share window by clicking the share icon at the top right in the toolbar and choosing the Windows share options. New share targets for sharing links through the Windows share window.Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on* [General] This update includes a handful of fixes to improve overall reliability. New features for everyone in the Beta Channel Richer weather experience on the lock screen We are introducing a richer weather experience to your lock screen. This includes dynamic, interactive weather updates. So, as you hover over the weather experience on your lock screen, you will see more information. When you tap or click on the weather card and sign in, Microsoft Edge opens with the full forecast in MSN Weather. If you already use Weather under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Lock screen status, there is nothing for you to do. Also, this new experience will be on by default. Should you not want to see this experience, you can change your lock screen status to “None.” This rich weather experience is available when you lock your screen no matter which personalization option you select (Windows spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow). Richer weather experience on the lock screen..[We are beginning to roll this out starting with EN-US only, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders in the Beta Channel just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen. Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel [Settings] We’re beginning to update references to Azure Active Directory (AAD) to Microsoft Entra ID in Settings. Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel This update addresses an issue that affects the spellchecker. This update addresses an issue that affects the ActiveX scroll bar. It does not work in IE mode. Microsoft Store Update Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel running version 22312.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Launch Instant Arcade games while browsing: In recent months, we announced Instant Arcade where you can play some games without the need to download them. Now, you’ll be able to launch these games directly while browsing or in search results. Simply hover over the instant arcade game and click the Play Now button. Notifications for app installations: When you initiate a download from the Microsoft Store, we’ll send you a notification when your app is installed and ready to use. This can be toggled off in the store’s settings page. Notification from Store when your app is installed and ready to use.Performance improvements when installing from search or browsing: We made things a little faster when you install products from the search results page or while browsing. Animations are smoother and more seamless. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store. You can view the official blog post here on Microsoft's website.

Windows 11 Dev Channel preview build 23615 adds support for the new USB 80Gbps standard by John Callaham Microsoft has released the latest Windows 11 build for Dev Channel members of the Windows Insider Program. The new build number is 23615. The big new feature is adding support for the new USB 80Gbps standard, which is just beginning to be added to some new Windows 11 notebooks. Microsoft is also releasing ISO files for the new Windows11 Dev Channel 23516 build. Here is the changelog: What’s new in Build 23615 USB 80Gbps We are excited to announce support for the latest generation USB standard, USB 80Gbps, in this build of Windows. USB 80Gbps support will initially launch on select devices based on the Intel Core 14th Gen HX-series mobile processors, such as the new Razer Blade 18. This is the first major version update of the USB4 standard and increases performance to 80Gbps from 40Gbps. It enables the next generation of high-performance displays, storage, and connectivity. It is fully backwards compatible with peripherals built for older generations of USB and Thunderbolt and works alongside all other USB Type-C features. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Buses. Changes and Improvements [Copilot in Windows] We are trying out opening Copilot automatically when Windows starts on widescreen devices with some Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This can be managed via Settings > Personalization > Copilot. Note that this is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see this right away. New Copilot Settings page. [Windows Share] For Microsoft Edge and other browsers that invoke the Windows share window, the Windows share window now supports the ability to share URLs directly to WhatsApp, Gmail, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. In Microsoft Edge, you can invoke the Windows share window by clicking the share icon at the top right in the toolbar and choosing the Windows share options. New share targets for sharing links through the Windows share window. Fixes [Task Manager] Fixed an issue which was impacting Task Manager reliability for some Insiders. [Windows Share] Fixed an issue which was impacting Windows share window reliability for some Insiders. NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11. Known issues [Copilot in Windows] When first launching or after refreshing Copilot in Windows while using voice access, you’ll need to use “Show grid” commands to click in the “Ask me anything” box for the first time. [Widgets] Announcements from the Microsoft Start feed are still shown on the taskbar after the feed is hidden. Keyboard navigation from settings subpages back to the top-level Settings page is broken. Incorrect spacing and fonts used in some settings pages. You can check out the full blog post here.