Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 25309 with an enhanced volume mixer
A couple of days ago, Microsoft began to rollout a big update for Windows 11. The Moment 2 update introduces a number of major features, including AI-powered Bing preview on the taskbar.
Of course, development on future updates for Windows 11 continues uninterrupted and today the company releases a new build for Insiders in the Dev Channel.
New PowerToys alert! Microsoft releases update adding Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text utilities
Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.68.0, an update that sees the utility collection expanding with two new modules. We heard about both Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text only recently when we learned of their impending arrival.
Mouse Jump is designed with large displays or multi-monitor setups in mind, making it easy to quickly move the mouse cursor to a particular location. Paste As Plain Text is a tool that makes it possible to paste text with all formatting stripped away.
Windows 11 gains some market share, but Windows 10 skyrockets
Yesterday, Microsoft released Moment 2, introducing a raft of new features to Windows 11, including Bing AI-power chat integration on the taskbar, Phone Link for iOS, an expansion of widgets, screen recording in Snipping Tool, and a redesigned Quick Assist app, to name just a few.
But while Microsoft is doing its best to make the new OS more appealing to would-be-upgraders, Windows 11’s share remains low.
Microsoft warns of Windows 11 startup problems after installing Moment 2 (KB5022913 update)
The release of the latest big update for Windows 11 has been eagerly anticipated for some time, and yesterday Microsoft released Moment 2. It brings massive innovations to the operating system -- as well as problems.
Also known as the KB5022913 update, Moment 2 includes an updated Taskbar search tool, improved touch optimizations, an enhanced system tray, revamped Task Manager and much more. But the update is also causing problems, with Microsoft acknowledging that having certain apps -- notably ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack -- installed may mean that Windows 11 will not start.
Microsoft's huge update to Windows 11 arrives today, with many new features, including AI-powered Bing on the taskbar
Windows 11 has been a hard sell for Microsoft. It has demanding system requirements which means it won’t run on older hardware, and it feels a bit unfinished in places. With its Moments releases, Microsoft is trying to make the new operating system more appealing, and today it adds a raft of new features.
With the latest Windows 11 feature release, Microsoft is focusing on innovation "in a few key areas". These include:
CISA director says Microsoft and Twitter should be more like Apple in terms of security
In a speech that lauded Apple for not only its security practices but also its transparency, Jen Easterly from the CISA said that Microsoft and Twitter needed to do more to keep their users secure.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director was speaking at Carnegie Mellon University where she made particular reference to multifactor authentication. Easterly praised Apple for enabling MFA by default while describing Microsoft and Twitter as "disappointing" in this area.
You may soon have Microsoft Defender installed on your computer whether you want it or not
Microsoft has started to inform subscribers to Microsoft 365 that installing Windows 365 software will soon mean you end up with Microsoft Defender as well. Additionally, a planned automatic update for Microsoft 365 means that if you already have installed the apps you need, Defender will be added anyway.
An email sent out to people signed up for Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family says that for users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 "the Defender app will soon be automatically added" to their devices. A precise date for this has not been revealed, but Microsoft says it will start in "late February".
Microsoft acknowledges offering free Windows 11 upgrades to incompatible Windows 10 PCs, but fails to apologize
Earlier this week, a number of Windows 10 users were surprised to be offered a free upgrade to Windows 11 despite the fact that their hardware did not meet the minimum system requirements set out by Microsoft.
Upon trying to take advantage of the upgrade offer -- which even appeared in virtual machines running Windows 10 -- users were unable to complete the installation. Microsoft has now acknowledged the issue, but has neither apologized nor offered an explanation.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
The next Moments update for Windows 11 is just around the corner. It is expected to be released in March 2023, and to include new features such as Energy Recommendations, a touch-optimized taskbar mode, and visual changes.
Adios, Microsoft Office 2013 support: What IT pros should know for migrations
It always sounds dire. "After five years of mainstream support, and five years of Extended Support, Office 2013 will reach the End of Extended Support on April 11, 2023," warns Microsoft. "Per the Fixed Lifecycle Policy, after this date security updates for Office 2013 will no longer be available."
At the end of support, the official statement continues, "Microsoft won’t provide any new security updates, and the continued use of Office 2013 after April 2023 may increase your organization’s exposure to security risks or impact your ability to meet compliance obligations." And dire it can be.
If you want to try out Windows 11 Moment 2 now, just jump on the Release Preview Channel
The next significant update to Windows 11 -- known as Moment 2 -- is due for release next month, but if you're eager to try things out, you can do so.
All you need to do is get yourself on the Release Preview Channel of the Windows Insider program. Microsoft has just released Windows 11 Build 22621.1343 (also known as the KB5022913 update) to this channel, and it includes everything from the upcoming Moment 2 release. And there really is quite a lot to this update.
The new AI-powered Bing preview arrives on iOS and Android today -- and in Skype
Microsoft isn’t wasting any time in rolling out and expanding its new AI-powered version of Bing. Yesterday, the company explained how it was beginning to relax some of the limitations it introduced after its AI went rogue and started insulting and gaslighting users, and also revealed future plans which included allowing users to choose the tone of AI chats in Bing.
Today, Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, announces that the launch of the new AI-powered Bing and Edge mobile apps, which arrive with bonus new features, such as voice input.
Microsoft plans to let you choose the tone of AI chats in Bing and Edge
Two weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it was introducing an enhanced version of ChatGPT into its Bing search engine and Edge browser and opened it up for testing.
Things didn’t go quite as smoothly however, and in testing it was found that the AI could go off the rails during long and intricate chats. As a result, Microsoft introduced some limits -- restricting users to five chat turns per session and a total of 50 per day. However, that limitation is set to soon be raised, and that’s not the only change that’s coming.
Microsoft to release Windows 11 Moment 3 to beta testers soon
Windows 11 Moment 3 is rumored to hit general availability towards the end of the first half of this year -- possibly in May. But before this next significant update to Windows 11 is released to the general public, it will first need to undergo beta testing -- and this could be happening very soon indeed.
Although Microsoft is yet to say anything about the release date for Moment 3, reliable leaker PhantomOfEarth has not only revealed that the beta is due for release soon, but also shared details of what it is likely to include.
Microsoft says it has resolved Outlook email filter outage that resulted in a deluge of spam
Users of Microsoft's Outlook.com have been flooded with spam and phishing emails over a period of 12 hours. It seems that the message filters for the email service suffered an outage, resulting inboxes being overwhelmed with junk mail.
While Microsoft says that the issue has now been addressed, the company has provided very little in the way of explanation for what happened.