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Microsoft has signed deal with CoreWeave for AI computing power, say sources by Paul Hill Microsoft has signed a deal with CoreWeave, a provider of AI computing power, that could be worth billions of dollars over a number of years. The news was disclosed by sources familiar with the matter, to CNBC. While Microsoft and CoreWeave have failed to confirm the information, the sources told CNBC that the deal was made to ensure that OpenAI’s ChatGPT had enough computing power going forward. Through a partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI currently uses Microsoft Azure infrastructure to run ChatGPT, which is resource intensive. It seems that the agreement was made earlier this year. In recent weeks, we’ve seen the price of NVIDIA’s shares rocket up as investors anticipate higher earnings for the company on the back of generative AI services like ChatGPT. CoreWeave offers cloud computing services also powered by NVIDIA hardware. The revelation about this deal comes just one day after CoreWeave announced that it had secured $200 million in a Series B funding extension, bringing the round’s total to $421 million. The $200 million was invested by Magnetar Capital. According to CoreWeave, the funding is helping it fill a gap in the market that legacy cloud computing providers are struggling to fill. “By combining easy access to high-powered GPUs for training AI models with fast and flexible infrastructure and by focusing on a specific type of compute, CoreWeave continues to differentiate itself from other companies in the space,” said Ernie Rogers, Magnetar’s chief operating officer. “Magnetar believes CoreWeave sits in a sweet spot for enabling world-class results across a number of industries. We are proud to have been the lead investor for CoreWeave’s Series B funding round and its extension.” Now that knowledge of this agreement is public, it could add even more fuel to NVIDIA’s stock price as it suggests the company could see even more demand for its products as CoreWeave seeks to provide resources for Microsoft and OpenAI. Source: CNBC

Microsoft PowerToys 0.70.1 fixes Peek network shares, Mouse Without Borders bugs, and more by Steven Parker Microsoft has released a patch update for PowerToys 0.70, which was released just over a week ago along with a couple of new PowerToys. However, some bugs were discovered in that release and therefore a patch was deemed important enough to release an update. it contains all of the features present in the previous release as well as a number of bug fixes that are listed below. This is a patch release to fix issues in v70.0 to fix some bugs we deemed important for stability based on incoming rates. See v0.70.0 for full release notes. Microsoft also added a warning about Mouse Without Borders potentially disabling service mode after upgrading to 0.70.1, the note is as follows: Warning: Service mode in Mouse Without Borders might be disabled after upgrading and will need to be activated again. Changelog: #26142, #26439 and #26525 - UX improvements in the Peek and Mouse Without Borders settings pages. #26152 - The new PowerToys Run plugin for opening other PowerToys was missing some files in the installer and should work properly now. #26235 - Peek and Mouse Without Borders process crashes in event viewer should now be reported correctly on Bug Reports. #26150 - The Peek shortcut is now only captured if the active window is the Desktop, Explorer or Peek. #26192 - Users can now use the Settings to specify host name and IP correlation in Mouse Without Borders, to account for VPN scenarios. #24047 - Fixed a cause for possible leaks and/or infinite cycles in C# utilities that use events. #26137 - The Peek windows can be closed using the Escape key. #26181 - Created a setting for Peek to always run not elevated, so that it handles files in network shares correctly. #26318, #26373 and #26431 - Peek and dev file preview now support showing Visual Studio project common files and .ini compatible files. #26419 - Fixed a blinking issue when loading code files in Peek. #26160 - Fixed a playback notification that would stick when using Peek on video files. #26243 - Peek now tries to appear on the same monitor as the File Explorer window that triggers it. #26133 - Fixed small Peek UI on high DPIs. #26361, #26162 and #26478 - Reduced Peek memory usage and possible leaks. #26246 - Fixed Mouse Without Borders layout always resetting to one row after some time. #26366 - Added a setting to close the Peek window after it loses focus. #26338 - Fixed the mouse activating thumbnails on top of the screen when switching to another machine in Mouse Without Borders. #26470 - Fixed a silent Peek crash when trying to open it from File Explorer with no files selected. #26261 - Fixed an issue causing Mouse Without Borders to prevent other connected machines from going to sleep. #26454 - Disabled a deprecated shortcut in Mouse Without Borders that was interfering with other software. #26517 - Don't remove the Mouse Without Borders service on upgrade. This issue will still affect users upgrading from 0.70.0 to a newer version, but it's fixed going forward. #26521 - When Mouse Without Borders detects the service doesn't exist, it will still try to operate in the "no service" mode. #26524 - Fixed a bug causing Mouse Without Borders to click a window on the current machine when switching to another machine. #26259 - Added a winget-cli configuration file for PowerToys. You can download PowerToys 0.70.1 from the Microsoft Store using this link, winget (Command Prompt as Administrator and enter the command: winget install --id Microsoft.PowerToys, or the official repository on GitHub. If you already have PowerToys installed on your computer, the app will notify you about available updates, or you can manually update from the settings. As noted above, you can also learn about changes in the previous 0.70 release.

Microsoft 365 Insider Mac users get new search features for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint by John Callaham The Microsoft 365 Insider program has some updates today for Mac PC owners. The Mac apps for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have some improvements in their search features. Microsoft's blog post describes the new features. The biggest one is the ability to turn on smart search suggestions. This will allow Mac users of these apps to get suggestions for their next words before they type them. Mac users can open any document in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and then click on the Search box in the top right corner. They can then select search suggestions to enable this feature. In addition, the Mac apps can now be used to search for things other than text such as commands, help articles, or web results. If you want to search for a specific command, all you have to do is just type in in the corner Search box. Web search results include things like definitions, media, and Bing results. If you want to search for these items in a document just click on the Open Search pane. You can also right-click anywhere on the document and then you can click on the Open Search pane in the shortcut menu. If you want to use keyboard shortcuts to use the search features you can do that as well: Open Search dropdown - Cmd + Ctrl + U Find in document - Cmd + F Open Search pane - Cmd + Ctrl + L Finally, Microsoft has made the Smart Lookup pane more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. That includes improved VoiceOver support and keyboard navigation. There is one known issue, with Microsoft stating that the Search drop-down menu does not close when the ribbon tabs are clicked. This is available now for all Mac Microsoft Office 2021 owners, and people on the Microsoft 365 Insider beta channel running on version 16.74 (Build 23043001) or later.

Following Windows 11 RAR support, Microsoft Winget gets ZIP install, native PowerShell by Sayan Sen Microsoft recently turned a lot of heads when it announced support for opening RAR files on Windows 11. WinRAR, which has often been a staple on people's PCs for such archive file formats seems to have mixed feelings about the matter as it also appreciates what Microsoft has done. In related news, Microsoft has now added support for installing ZIP files on its Windows Package Manager CLI or winget with the latest version. Aside from that, it has also received native PowerShell support, and many more changes and bugfixes. These two major features were requested back in 2020. The full changelog is given below: Features Support installing .zip files #140 Add Native PowerShell Support #221 Support --no-upgrade option for install flow #2655 Bugs Fix issue that only 1 dependency package is installed #2761 Crash in list command #2273 Add SYSTEM to explicit ACLs #2370 What's Changed Add refreshed Store source certs by @yao-msft in #3149 Block msix provisioning api calls where known OS bugs exist by @yao-msft in #2855 Add rest interface 1.4 to supported list by @yao-msft in #2853 Return localization independent string for help links by @AmelBawa-msft in #2786 Don't treat the COM subcommands as distinct for telemetry by @JohnMcPMS in #2792 Update PowerShell Module Dependency Docs by @ryfu-msft in #2797 Adjust spacing and punctuation for manifest validation messages by @Trenly in #2805 Apply latest localized strings patch by @ryfu-msft in #2816 UpdateBinVer script support for updating build version only by @yao-msft in #2818 Stop using m_summary in the global globals for telemetry by @florelis in #2820 Enable long aliases by @Trenly in #2107 Check symlink target before removal by @ryfu-msft in #2242 Bump version to 1.4 by @ryfu-msft in #2263 Apply latest localization patch by @ryfu-msft in #2264 Feat: Show package tags by @Trenly in #2235 Add support for UnsupportedArguments by @ryfu-msft in #2216 Validate manifest installers (MSIX) by @AmelBawa-msft in #2215 Improve index dependency consistency check by @yao-msft in #2247 Fix spacing in 1.2 singleton schema by @ryfu-msft in #2276 Fix unsupported args unit tests by @ryfu-msft in #2277 Mitigate crash that can occur when installed version is null by @JohnMcPMS in #2278 Create WinGetUtil functionality for running installed package correlation by @JohnMcPMS in #2221 Addition of Initial 1.3 Schema by @ryfu-msft in #2189 Add extra compilation flags for debug info by @florelis in #2281 Migrate FabricBot Tasks to Config-as-Code by @msftbot in #2285 Update fabricbot.json by @vedantmgoyal2009 in #2293 Fix WinGetUtil WinGetCreateManifest result by @yao-msft in #2296 Add alternate name to Usage String by @Trenly in #2268 Prevent null characters from getting into SQLite by @JohnMcPMS in #2289 Schema additions for Zip support by @ryfu-msft in #2288 Feat: Wait upon command completion by @Trenly in #2236 Move Release Notes to new line and indent by @Trenly in #2312 Remove /Zi compilation flag by @florelis in #2325 Update VCLibs file hash in correlation test script by @florelis in #2326 Add UndockedRegFreeWinRT by @jontab in #2333 Implementation for Zip Install (Non-Portable) by @ryfu-msft in #2320 Don't fail fast by @JohnMcPMS in #2335 Fix WinGetUtil index operations for manifest dependencies without min version by @yao-msft in #2337 Explicit ACLs by @JohnMcPMS in #2324 Prevent access to parent directories from relativeFilePath for archive install by @ryfu-msft in #2342 Make zip install an experimental feature by @ryfu-msft in #2351 Add InstallationMetadata to manifests for future deep installation detection by @yao-msft in #2350 Expand WinMD discovery by @jontab in #2348 Move to using sqlite3_errmsg to extract a contextual error for SQLite failures by @JohnMcPMS in #2352 Add in-process and out-of-process E2E tests by @AmelBawa-msft in #2315 Implement FolderFileWatcher by @msftrubengu in #2336 Update CsWinRTWindowsMetadata value by @AmelBawa-msft in #2357 Remove correlation blocker for remote->local in some cases by @JohnMcPMS in #2362 Update documentation with 1.3 settings by @ryfu-msft in #2363 Add Microsoft.WinGet.Client PowerShell Module files by @jontab in #2314 Fix file overwrite warning displayed on clean first install by @ryfu-msft in #2375 Logging improvements by @JohnMcPMS in #2378 Add SYSTEM to explicit ACLs by @JohnMcPMS in #2370 Remove tests that no longer serve a purpose by @JohnMcPMS in #2379 Check for symlink creation privilege for portable install by @ryfu-msft in #2369 Server certificate pinning for Store source by @JohnMcPMS in #2347 Remove scope filter from being applied to portables by @ryfu-msft in #2383 Validate SignatureSha256 for MSIX packages during the manifest validation by @AmelBawa-msft in #2384 Enable MSI testing in CI/CD pipeline by @JohnMcPMS in #2386 Standardize 'Show' labels to manifest fields by @Trenly in #2311 fix ms-windows-store link not rendered in md by @iamCristYe in #2403 Add command aliases by @Trenly in #2390 Add support for RequireExplicitUpgrade manifest element by @florelis in #1795 Add the ability to specify "scope or unknown" via COM by @JohnMcPMS in #2402 Collect scope in installer metadata by @JohnMcPMS in #2415 Copy winget unpackaged logs in E2E tests by @florelis in #2441 Ensure default values are passed to nested installers within zip by @ryfu-msft in #2413 Add prompts when installer aborts terminal or needs install location by @florelis in #1814 Update Labels from Hash Command by @Trenly in #2431 Add DisplayName to InstallationMetadata installed files by @yao-msft in #2442 Use UpgradeCode for matching MSI apps by @florelis in #2418 Add support for installing portables without developer mode and running as admin by @ryfu-msft in #2401 Increase manifest schema version to 1.4 by @yao-msft in #2451 Update Documentation for schema 1.2 by @Trenly in #2429 Increase PackageIdentifier segments to max 8 by @yao-msft in #2461 Use check-spelling/check-spelling@v0.0.20 by @jsoref in #2467 ZIP support spec by @ryfu-msft in #2270 Show PurchaseUrl if present in manifest by @Trenly in #2416 Add PortableIndex for tracking portable files by @ryfu-msft in #2459 Add $schema to cgmanifest.json by @JamieMagee in #2487 Update README link to VS Installer Project extension by @bsivanov in #2488 Removed en-US in links by @ImJoakim in #2494 Add logo to README.md by @vedantmgoyal2009 in #2507 Return error codes for dependencies failure by @hackean-msft in #2410 Add ExpectedReturnCode::ReturnResponse for PackageInUseByApplication by @Trenly in #2492 Suppress reboot by default on msiexec based installers by @gerardog in #2499 Fix installer metadata collection by @yao-msft in #2517 Add Aliases to allow for quick upgrade of all and unknown by @Trenly in #2518 Expose deeper installation detection through Com by @yao-msft in #2420 Add PureLib subtree by @ryfu-msft in #2511 Suppress reboot by default on Inno Setup based installers by @SpecterShell in #2536 Add client support for parsing rest schema v1.4 by @yao-msft in #2473 Add experimental argument to open logs folder by @Trenly in #2510 Add support for installing portables from a zip by @ryfu-msft in #2500 Map operation return code for msstore type installation failure as well by @yao-msft in #2540 Fix installer renaming failure from encoded url by @yao-msft in #2555 Add Pure to component governance manifest by @ryfu-msft in #2556 Added WinGetUtil E2E tests by @AmelBawa-msft in #2542 Add space before path when files remain on uninstall by @Trenly in #2560 Additional logging when validating portable file fails by @Trenly in #2562 Make Symlink Target Canonical by @Trenly in #2563 Implement archive malware scan for local manifests by @ryfu-msft in #2566 Improve installer selection during upgrade by @yao-msft in #2570 Add zip installation to experimental features section of Settings.md by @infinitepower18 in #2584 Make Install flow aware of package installed status by @yao-msft in #2539 Enable mechanism for some control over correlation by @JohnMcPMS in #2577 Mini spec on upcoming install and upgrade flow improvements by @yao-msft in #2535 Download MSIX installer during manifest validation (if necessary) by @AmelBawa-msft in #2587 Always fall back on msix streaming failure by @yao-msft in #2590 Remove MSIX installers after validation is done by @AmelBawa-msft in #2591 Fix error when everything fails by @JohnMcPMS in #2593 Fix PowerShell module for release configuration by @ryfu-msft in #2599 Treat little numbers as big numbers by @JohnMcPMS in #2606 Fix compliance issues by setting Newtonsoft.Json to recommended version by @yao-msft in #2609 Fix internal build by @yao-msft in #2610 Added info about reinstalling App Installer to troubleshooting README.md by @AdmiralSnyder in #2616 Update protocols max items to 64 by @ryfu-msft in #2620 Print command aliases added on portable install by @Trenly in #2621 Add Expected Return Code for InvalidParameter by @Trenly in #2635 Add an issue option to guide users to winget-pkgs for package issues by @SpecterShell in #2658 Get arguments when using archive type package by @Trenly in #2660 Revert "Get arguments when using archive type package" by @Trenly in #2663 Disable toast notification for silent mode for MSStore type installation by @yao-msft in #2652 Support --no-upgrade option for install flow by @yao-msft in #2655 Group policy control for BypassCertificatePinningForMicrosoftStore by @AmelBawa-msft in #2637 Update localized strings by @ryfu-msft in #2684 Manifest (Msix) installer validation - Try parsing package version by @AmelBawa-msft in #2692 Update NuGet Packages by @Trenly in #2690 Don't enable/disable admin settings if group policy prevents it by @AmelBawa-msft in #2683 Add spectre configuration for PureLib by @ryfu-msft in #2704 Fix renaming issue with invalid file character url by @yao-msft in #2708 Remove and Add UndockedRegFreeWinRT library by @ryfu-msft in #2713 Clean build from winget-cli by @msftrubengu in #2698 Upgrade check-spelling to v0.0.21 by @jsoref in #2728 Add source ls alias for source list by @florelis in #2736 Standardize how arguments are used in resource strings by @florelis in #2737 Support for PowerShell cmdlets in admin mode by @ryfu-msft in #2642 Add PowerShell cmdlet help text and examples by @ryfu-msft in #2732 Miscellaneous project cleanup by @yao-msft in #2738 spelling: installation by @jsoref in #2739 Update powershell module target framework to 4.8 by @ryfu-msft in #2741 Allow upgrade for unknown version packages by @ryfu-msft in #2747 Add ARM and ARM64 build configuration for powershell module by @ryfu-msft in #2744 Bump Newtonsoft.Json from 13.0.1 to 13.0.2 in /src/AppInstallerCLIE2ETests by @dependabot in #2754 Bump Newtonsoft.Json from 13.0.1 to 13.0.2 in /src/WinGetUtilInterop.UnitTests by @dependabot in #2753 Infra changes for Microsoft.WinGet.Client and AppInstallerCLIE2ETests by @msftrubengu in #2746 Remove nuget config file by @ryfu-msft in #2756 Add empty pin command by @florelis in #2733 Update DesktopAppInstaller.adml by @AmelBawa-msft in #2759 Fix issue that only 1 dependency package is installed by @yao-msft in #2761 Export command for winget settings. by @msftrubengu in #2719 Suppress warnings for CA1416 in PowerShell module by @ryfu-msft in #2762 Restore nuget.config file for public dependencies by @ryfu-msft in #2763 Separate Archive Scan argument related to security from --force by @Trenly in #2622 Fix winget after a call to winget settings export by @msftrubengu in #2767 Add additional admin setting to match security related group policies by @yao-msft in #2772 Prepare PowerShell Module for Release Build by @ryfu-msft in #2768 More localization friendly source strings and context commenting by @AmelBawa-msft in #2454 Make zip feature stable by @ryfu-msft in #2774 Add scope support to more commands and add provisioning support for msix and msstore types by @yao-msft in #2766 Split tests in Workflow.cpp into multiple files by @florelis in #2773 Update localized strings by @ryfu-msft in #2783 Suppress CA1416 warning #2 by @ryfu-msft in #2784 You can head over to GitHub to download the latest Winget version 1.4.11071.

The Windows 11 Paint app gets dark mode and more in a new Dev and Canary Insider update by John Callaham Many Windows 11 users have been waiting patiently for the company's Paint app to add a dark mode. Some people were not so patient. Mod developers have been putting in a dark mode feature in Paint via third-party apps for a while now. Today, the long wait is over, at least if you are a member of the Windows Insider program. Microsoft revealed today that Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels can download the new version (11.2304.17.0) of the Paint app. Yes, it does finally include a dark mode. Microsoft stated: With this update, we are introducing support for dark mode in Paint. By default, Paint will adapt to your system theme preferences, but you can change this option yourself on the brand-new settings page. In addition to the new dark mode, the new Paint app for Dev and Canary Insiders includes some new features and improvements for its zoom mode: The classic presets are still available, but you can now also zoom in and out with finer granularity increments on the zoom slider or set a custom zoom value for even greater precision. We are also introducing a new fit to screen option to quickly optimize zoom to match your window size. Microsoft has also made changes to the Paint App's Image Properties dialogs: They now match the style of the new Windows 11 design and fit in with the new Paint app backdrop as well as many accessibility and usability improvements to dialogs throughout the app. We have also improved access key and keyboard shortcut support throughout the app for improved accessibility and productivity with keyboard. There's no word yet on when these features will be available for all Windows 11 users. Hopefully the rest of us won't have to wait too much longer to get the dark mode in the Paint app.

Windows 11 Beta Channel (KB5026443) adds WPA3 support to Phone Link instant hotspot by John Callaham Today, Microsoft has released builds 22621.1830 and 22631.1830 (KB5026443) to the Beta Channel for Windows 11 Insiders. The company writes in its blog post: Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.1830 and Build 22631.1830 (KB5026443) to the Beta Channel. Build 22631.1830 = New features rolling out. Build 22621.1830 = New features off by default. There's just one new feature in this release. It adds WPA3 support to the Phone Link instant hotspot feature: Changes and Improvements in Build 22631.1830 [Networking] We added WPA3 support to the Phone Link instant hotspot feature for more secure connections to a phone’s hotspot. Also made fixes to respect metered connection settings, reduce duplicate profiles, and show the phone’s display name in the network list. Microsoft also has a reminder for Beta Insider users: REMINDER: Insiders who were previously on Build 22624 will automatically get moved to Build 22631 via an enablement package. The enablement package artificially increments the build number for the update with new features getting rolled out and turned on to make it easier to differentiate from devices with the update with features off by default. This approach is being used for the Beta Channel only and is not indicative of any changes or plans for final feature rollouts. Insiders who landed in the group with new features turned off by default (Build 22621.xxxx) can check for updates and choose to install the update that will have features rolling out (Build 22631.xxxx). Here's some more info for Insiders: Important Insider Links Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out our Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey. You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here. Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel. You can check out the full blog post here.

Windows 11 build 23471 gets File Explorer tab merging, a redesigned network lock, and more by Sayan Sen Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 build to Dev Channel Insiders. The new build, 23471, adds more features to the tabbed File Explorer and fixes bugs in it as well. It has a new Add Phone photos option in Gallery, a new redesigned Network flyout lock, and more. The full changelog is given below: What’s new in Build 23471 Add Phone Photos in File Explorer Gallery Accessing your phone’s camera roll from your PC is an important everyday task that is now easier with File Explorer Gallery. There is a new button in the Command Bar titled “Add Phone Photos” that will help with setting up your PC to be ready to show these photos in Gallery. Clicking this button today will open a URL with a QR code that you can scan with your phone to get started. Add Phone Photos option on the command bar in File Explorer.NOTE: Users may need to opt into OneDrive’s Insider Program to get a version of the OneDrive sync client that handles the protocol invoked when clicking this button. To join the OneDrive Insider Program, open OneDrive settings by bringing up the OneDrive flyout from the system tray; from there, navigate to the About page and turn on the toggle for the OneDrive Insider Program. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File Explorer. Narrator natural voices in Spanish (Spain and Mexico) We are introducing new natural voices in Spanish (Spain and Mexico) that allow Narrator users to comfortably browse the web, read, and write mail, and do more. Natural Narrator voices use modern, on-device text to speech and once downloaded are supported without an internet connection. To use one of the natural voices, add it to your PC by following these steps: Open Narrator Settings by pressing the WIN + Ctrl + N hotkey. Under Narrator’s voice, select the Add button next to Add natural voices. Select the voice you want to install. You can install all voices, but you must install them separately. The new Spanish (Spain) voices are Microsoft Alvaro and Microsoft Elvira. The new Spanish (Mexico) voices are Microsoft Jorge and Microsoft Dalia. To start the download of the selected voice, select Install. The new voice will download and be ready for use in a few minutes, depending on your internet download speed. When the new voice has downloaded, in Narrator settings select your preferred voice from the drop-down menu in Narrator’s voice > Choose a voice. Note: If your display language is not set to Spanish , then in step 3 you will first need to select “Choose a different language” and then select the appropriate language followed by the specific voice. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (Win + F) under Accessibility > Narrator. Changes and Improvements [Lock screen] We have updated the network flyout on the Lock screen to align with Windows 11 design principles. Network flyout on Lock screen now aligns to the Windows 11 design principles.[File Explorer] We are beginning to roll out the ability to tear out and merge tabs in File Explorer. This feature is beginning to roll out, so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away. Gallery in File Explorer, which began rolling out with Build 23435, is now available for all Insiders in the Dev Channel. [Settings] It is easier to control whether to use cellular when Wi-Fi is available but poor, using a new toggle which has been added to Settings > Network & Internet > Cellular. Fixes [File Explorer] Fixed an issue where pressing Shift + F10 wasn’t opening the context menu in File Explorer. Fixed an issue where access keys appeared inconsistently if no button was pressed. We fixed the following issues for Insiders previewing the Windows App SDK version of File Explorer Fixed an issue that was causing explorer.exe to crash when opening the context menu for some Insiders. This same issue is believed to be the cause of some Insiders seeing an older design instead of the updated one. We fixed the following issues for Insiders with Gallery in File Explorer: Fixed an explorer.exe crash in the last flight related to loading/interacting with the scrollbar in Gallery. Fixed an issue where Gallery may require clicking twice on the node in the navigation pane for initial load. Fixed an issue where minimizing and reopening File Explorer would lose your scroll position in Gallery. Hovering your mouse over pictures in Gallery should now show a tooltip with information about the picture. Live updates (including filtering) are now enabled and no longer require using the Refresh button manually. Fixed an issue where some file types (e.g., .heic) were not rendered correctly or performantly. We fixed the following issues for Insiders with the modernized details pane in File Explorer: Made the background for thumbnails a little lighter in light mode so it doesn’t stand out as much. If you have Narrator running when you open the details pane, it should now announce the file name. If the setting to show file name extensions has been enabled, that will now be reflected in the details pane too. [Taskbar] Fixed an issue that was causing the taskbar to get cut off when switching to and from the tablet-optimized taskbar. [Search on the Taskbar] We have fixed the issue causing Insiders to see an empty tooltip displayed momentarily in certain cases including while the gleam is hovered if the new hover behavior for the search box and search highlight gleam is enabled. [Other] Fixed an issue where Narrator with Braille support wasn’t reading numbered lists correctly in Microsoft 365 apps. 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 [Dev Drive] On a reboot, additional filters beyond AV might be attached to your Dev Drive. To check what filters are attached, please run ‘fsutil devdrv query :’ in Windows PowerShell. If you are seeing more than your AV filters, you can run ‘fsutil volume dismount :’ and then ‘fsutil devdrv query :’. After those steps, you should only see your AV filters. There might be variable performance on different hardware. If you notice slower performance on your machine, please file feedback! [Search on the Taskbar] [NEW] Navigating the search flyout on the taskbar with the keyboard arrow keys will not work as expected. Narrator customers may not be able to navigate down the left side panel of the search flyout. Text scaling may not work in the search flyout. [File Explorer] Insiders may experience a File Explorer crash when dragging the scroll bar or attempting to close the window during an extended file-loading process. Insiders who have Gallery in File Explorer will see the following issues: Thumbnail loading performance for dehydrated cloud files and memory usage in large collections are known issues we are focused on improving. Please capture Performance traces in Feedback Hub for any performance-related issues. Rebuilding your Indexer can help if thumbnails are missing for cloud files; Search for “Indexing Options” and look in Advanced settings to find the rebuild tool. Insiders will have issues with the following commands on recommended files in File Explorer: Clicking on the Share command will currently bring up the Windows share sheet (non-OneDrive). [Taskbar & System Tray] The taskbar may not show the correct apps if you’re using multiple desktops. [Notifications] The copy button for quickly copying two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in notification toasts (first introduced in Build 23403) is currently not working in this build. A fix is coming in a future flight. [Backup and Restore] Backups of a PC that was set up using a restore may not show up in subsequent restores. Restore of solid color desktop backgrounds are not yet supported. You can find the official blog post here.

Rainbow Six Siege, Farming Sim 22, and Ghostrunner hit Xbox Free Play Days this weekend by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft's Free Play Days promotion for Xbox users took a rare break last week, but it's making up for it with a hit-filled games offering this time. The latest promotion has three games to try out for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members on console: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Farming Simulator 22: Platinum Edition, and Ghostrunner. Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft's long-running tactical shooter experience, offers five versus five action with a variety of operatives. Each available character comes with high-tech abilities, and the title touts levels with a large amount of destructibility for promoting strategic insertions. Next up is Ghostrunner, the single-player sci-fi experience where players take the role of a cyborg ninja, who slices and parkours through fast-paced and brutal levels. Both the enemies and the player character die in one hit, meaning players have to go through levels with precision to make it out alive. A sequel was also announced recently. The last game having a free event on Xbox this weekend is Farming Simulator 22. The latest entry in the hugely popular sim franchise offers over 500 farming machinery from real-world manufacturers to begin players' farming journey across agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. All the Free Play Days games of this weekend have discounts attached to them as well, making it cheaper to continue a playthrough even after the temporary free-to-play sessions. Here are the games' Microsoft Store pages for easy access: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Operator Edition - $35.99 (Xbox One, Series X|S) Farming Simulator 22 – Platinum Edition - 47.99 (Xbox One, Series X|S) Ghostrunner - $11.99 (Xbox One, Series X|S) This latest lineup of Xbox Free Play Days titles is available to install and try out through the weekend. Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members have access to the three games from now until Sunday, June 4 at 11:59pm PDT.

Report claims Redfall developer Arkane Austin was understaffed and lacked direction by John Callaham Redfall was considered by Microsoft to be one of its big first-party exclusive games for its Xbox consoles and for the PC before it launched on May 2. Instead, the vampire-themed multiplayer PvE shooter received mediocre, at best, reviews from both game critics and gamers in general. Even Microsoft's Xbox head Phil Spencer admitted in a post-launch interview he was "disappointed" with the game's release. Now a new report from Bloomberg, using unnamed sources, claims that the development of Redfall at the Arkane Austin studio was troubled from start to finish. The studio's last game, before Microsoft's acquired its parent company ZeniMax Studios in 2021, was the critically acclaimed sci-fi single-player first-person shooter Prey. However, it wasn't a commercial success so the team came up with the multiplayer-themed Redfall to target a larger audience. However, the article claims that after the game got started in 2018, the direction of its development became unclear. It stated: Staff members said that, over time, they grew frustrated with management’s frequently shifting references to other games, such as Far Cry and Borderlands, that left each department with varying ideas of what exactly they were making. Throughout the development, the fundamental tension between single-player and multiplayer design remained unresolved. Arkane Austin also had issues with team members leaving and also encountered problems bringing in people to replace them. The studio reportedly had less than 100 team members, which is not that huge considering the type of multiplayer game that Redfall was aiming to provide to gamers. In the end, Redfall didn't come together, despite delays in its release date. It remains to be seen how the game will fare in the future, even if Arkane Austin continues to try to improve it and add content.

Microsoft Bing Chat expands to 300 daily turns and 30 in-session turns by John Callaham Microsoft has not expanded the limit for the number of daily and in-session chat turns in its Bing Chat chatbot since mid-March. At that time, the company tested going up to 200 daily chat turns and 20 in-session chat turns before making that new limit permanent. Now, the Bing Chat team has finally pushed up those chat turn limits to a new level. Microsoft's Head of Engineering and Product for Bing, Jordi Ribas, confirmed on Twitter that users can enjoy up to 300 chat turns per day, along with up to 30 in-session chat turns. Good news, we've increased Bing Chat turn limits again to 30 per conversation and 300 per day. pic.twitter.com/S4bEP2lslq — Jordi Ribas (@JordiRib1) June 1, 2023 Of course, we do have to wonder when and if Bing Chat will ever get unlimited turn chat sessions. That remains to be seen but for now, we will take this expansion in chat turns. Microsoft seems to be adding more and more new features and improvements to Bing Chat at a much more rapid pace compared to Google's updates for its competing Bard chatbot. Last week at Microsoft Build 2023, it revealed a large number of companies that are developing third-party plugins for Bing Chat. It also added Bing Chat support inside the SwiftKey app and launched the Android widget last week as well. Microsoft is also preparing for even more updates to Bing Chat during the month of June. That includes improvements in Bing Chat's disengagement rate, along with improvements for the AI art generator Bing Image Creator. Perhaps the biggest upcoming feature is a possible experiment to add Bing Chat support for web browsers other than Microsoft Edge. That should allow Bing Chat to expand its reach to many more people who either cannot access or simply don't want to use, Microsoft Edge as their web browser.

The free version of Microsoft Teams is adding Windows 11 communities and Designer support by John Callaham While Microsoft has been adding a lot of new features lately to the paid version of its Teams service, it is not forgetting the many users who access the free edition of Teams. Today, the company revealed several new features that are rolling out today to the Windows 11, iOS, and Android versions. In a blog post, Microsoft stated that one new feature is adding direct support for the public preview version of Microsoft Designer into the free version of Teams. Designer allows users to create things like blog posts, websites, digital postcards, and more with just a few text prompts and generative AI. Microsoft is also expanding its support for its Discord-like communities feature in Teams, which launched in December 2022. With this new update, communities are coming to Windows 11 devices in addition to the Teams mobile apps. The plan is to add support for Mac, Windows 10, and the web versions as well. Microsoft also stated: Rolling out in the coming days, and beginning on Windows 11, iOS, and Android, you can join communities focused on topics like parenting, gaming, gardening, technology, remote work, and more. Community owners will be able to set their community to be visible, starting on iOS and Android, enabling it to be discovered on Teams. Other new Teams community features include the ability for users to launch polls. Also posts in the communities features can be shared via emails, and owners of communities can either approve or reject people to join their group. The Teams mobile apps will now allow users to record videos as well. The iOS app will now let users scan a document with any emails or phone numbers and invite people with that info into the Teams communities. Microsoft has also updated the GroupMe app so it can now create Microsoft Teams calls from within the app.

NVIDIA GeForce Now will add Microsoft's Age of Empires games to the cloud gaming service by John Callaham Microsoft continues to honor its agreement with NVIDIA to add its games to the GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Today, NVIDIA announced that the four games in the long-running Age of Empires RTS series will be added to GeForce Now later in June. The first three titles will be the Definitive Edition versions of those games, while gamers will get the Anniversary Edition of Age of Empires IV. NVIDIA said that the games will also get future expansions and seasons of extra content through GeForce Now. The Age of Empires franchise will join the list of at least 20 games that are due to be added to GeForce Now in the month of June. Here's the current list: Killer Frequency (New release on Steam, June 1) Amnesia: The Bunker (New release on Steam, June 6) Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (New release on Steam, June 8) Dordogne (New release on Steam, June 13) Aliens: Dark Descent (New release on Steam, June 20) Trepang2 (New release on Steam, June 21) Layers of Fear (New release on Steam) Park Beyond (New release on Steam) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction (New release on Steam) Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam) Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Steam) Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam) Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition (Steam) Derail Valley (Steam) I Am Fish (Steam) Golf Gang (Steam) Contraband Police (Steam) Bloons TD 6 (Steam) Darkest Dungeon (Steam) Darkest Dungeon II (Steam) Keep in mind that this list is tentative and that more games could be added to GeForce Now in June that have yet to be revealed. It's also possible that one or more games on this list could get delayed beyond June. NVIDIA GeForce Now added a total of 22 games in May, but one of them that was previously on the list, Conquerer’s Blade, did not actually launch last month. We will have to see if it will pop in during June.

Mouse gestures are now available for testing in Microsoft Edge by Taras Buria Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that it plans to add mouse gestures support to the Edge web browser, allowing users to perform quick actions and access various features faster. Later, a screenshot revealed that Edge would let you customize more than 14 different gestures. If you have been waiting for this feature, good news: mouse gestures are now available for testing in preview versions of Microsoft Edge. Microsoft has not announced mouse gestures yet, and enabling them requires adding a command to the browser's shortcut. However, the feature is available for everyone to try, unlike the other changes Microsoft frequently rolls out in waves (controlled feature rollout). Note that mouse gestures are available in Microsoft Edge 114 (and newer), which is coming to the Stable Channel this week. For now, mouse gestures are only available in Edge Beta, Dev, and Canary. Here is how to enable them (via Deskmodder). Enable mouse gestures in Microsoft Edge Go to edge://settings/help and ensure you have Edge 114 or newer. Right-click your Microsoft Edge shortcut and select Properties. You can also right-click Microsoft Edge on the taskbar, then right-click Microsoft Edge in the jump list, and then press Properties. Click the Target field in the Properties window and place one space after the path, then paste the following command: --enable-features=msEdgeMouseGestureDefaultEnabled,msEdgeMouseGestureSupported Click Ok to save the changes. Launch Microsoft Edge using the modified shortcut. Now you can use mouse gestures to perform various actions by moving the mouse while holding the right-click button. Microsoft Edge will highlight your mouse track and show a hint indicating what action the gesture will trigger. You can customize gestures by navigating to edge://settings/mouseGesture or Menu > Settings > Appearance > Mouse Gesture. Unfortunately, the feature does not support custom shortcuts, so there is room for improvement. Still, it is great to see Microsoft implementing a much-requested feature, especially after rejecting it for many months.

The Intel 8088 processor launched 44 years ago today, and helped to start the PC revolution by John Callaham If you are working on a PC today, there's a good chance that it's using a chip that can trace its roots down to the Intel 8088 processor. That chip launched 44 years ago today, on June 1, 1979. However, its true impact on the PC industry would have to wait for a while longer. First, let's look at the hardware specs of the Intel 8088, via the company's own website. Clock speed - 8 MHz, 4.77 MHz Manufacturing process - 3-micron Number of transistors - 29,000 Addressable Memory - 64 kb Bus Speed - 8 MHz, 4.77 MHz The Intel 8088 is actually a slightly different version of the Intel 8086, which launched a year before in June 1978. Both chips had 16-bit registers. The main difference between the two CPUs is that while the 8086 had a 16-bit data bus, the 8088 only had an 8-bit data bus. This small difference would be the key to the wider use of the 8088 later. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the personal computer industry was just starting. Companies like Apple, Commodore, Tandy, and even video game console maker Atari were releasing their own PC models. IBM, known previously for its huge mainframe computers meant for large corporations, decided to get in on this new market and launch a PC of its own. Inside of designing its first PC completely on its own, as it had with its previous computers, IBM contacted third parties to help make its first PC product. The reasoning was that IBM could quickly put together a PC and put it on the market faster than if it did everything in-house. IBM's site stated: They went to Microsoft for the operating system (QDOS, renamed PC-DOS and later sold by Microsoft as MS-DOS) and to Intel for its 8088 processor. They chose an existing monitor from IBM Japan and a dot-matrix printer by Epson. Only the keyboard and the system unit itself were new designs from IBM. So why did IBM choose the Intel 8088 processor to be in its first PC? There's actually some debate on this subject. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stated in a 1997 interview with PC Magazine that he and fellow co-founder Paul Allen actually pushed IBM to use a 16-bit processor. However, David Bradley, who helped to put together the first IBM PC for the company, tells a different story in an article he wrote for Byte in 1990. He offered four main reasons for picking a processor like the Intel 8088: 1. The 64K-byte address limit had to be overcome. This requirement meant that we had to use a 16-bit microprocessor. 2. The processor and its peripherals had to be available immediately. There was no time for new LSI chip development, and manufacturing lead times meant that quantities had to be available right away. 3. We couldn't afford a long learning period; we had to use technology we were familiar with. And we needed a rich set of support chips—we wanted a system with a DMA controller, an interrupt controller, timers, and parallel ports. 4. There had to be both an operating system and applications software available for the processor. So why did IBM ultimately pick the 8088 over the 8086? Bradley said that the final choice was due to a familiar reason: it helped make the PC cheaper to produce: We chose the 8088 because of its 8-bit data bus. The smaller bus saved money in the areas of RAM, ROM, and logic for the simple system. The first IBM PC launched on August 12, 1981 with a price of $1,565. It quickly became a sales success and led not only to more IBM PC models, but also PCs made by other companies that were clones of the IBM product. They all used versions of Intel's x86 chip line. Today, the 13th Gen Intel Core processors that the company is currently selling can trace their roots back to that original 8088 model. The company is currently getting ready to launch its next chip architecture, Meteor Lake, and its also in early, early development of a 64-bit only CPU. It tried to get away from that x86 architecture with its server-themed 64-bit chip Itanium, in the 2000s but it failed to make a significant impact. However, even future Intel chips will owe a debt to the Intel 8088 that launched 44 years ago.

Microsoft fails to settle with European cloud providers amid EU antitrust investigation by Omer Dursun Microsoft faces obstacles in reaching an agreement with the CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) as the EU investigates its alleged cloud market dominance. The case involves unfair bundling practices, creating economic lock-ins that hinder customer switching and multi-cloud adoption. The complaint against Microsoft was filed by CISPE, a European organization representing 26 cloud providers. According to a CISPE spokesperson, Microsoft's offer to settle the matter was deemed insufficient, falling far short of the minimum requirements necessary for negotiations to proceed. At the heart of the case lies the allegation that Microsoft's bundled services are discriminatory towards other companies, impeding fair competition and hindering customer choice. "It was a pretty paltry offer and very far short of anything we consent acceptance of," the trade group said in the statement. "In principle, we have minimum requirements before we expect negotiations to go forward." The European Commission has already commenced inquiries by soliciting feedback from cloud service providers and customers regarding data handling and collection practices. Additionally, the Commission seeks more detailed information on how Microsoft's software bundling impacts customers' usage patterns. In response to the allegations, Microsoft stated that it was willing to address valid concerns regarding its cloud licensing terms. The company highlighted that over 100 cloud providers, including 75 based in Europe, have already taken advantage of recent licensing changes. The outcome of this dispute remains uncertain, as it is still being determined whether Microsoft will present CISPE with a revised settlement offer. It also remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached before the EU's full-scale antitrust investigation into Microsoft's practices commences. As the investigation progresses, it will be imperative for Microsoft to address the concerns raised by CISPE and the wider cloud community in order to mitigate potential antitrust implications. The EU's scrutiny of Microsoft's actions in the cloud market reflects the growing importance of fair competition. Source: The Register

Microsoft Edge Dev 115.0.1880.1 brings redesigned history, InPrivate improvements, more by Taras Buria Microsoft has released a new weekly Edge update for testing in the Dev Channel. Version 115.0.1880.1 includes several fixes and improvements, such as a slightly redesigned history hub with page previews, InPrivate improvements on iOS, and a new option for the Drop feature on Android. Here are the details. What is new in Microsoft Edge Dev 115.0.1880.1? New features: History now has the option to display thumbnail images. iOS: Added Exit InPrivate mode button. Android: Added Save to album option to … menu in Drop. Reliability improvements: Fixed browser crash when allowing permission to Microphone access. Fixed browser crash when clicking on Send feedback button on Sidebar. macOS: Fixed browser crash when playing video in full screen. Other changes: Re-added shortcut Ctrl + Shift + X for Web select. Fixed PDF keeps opening last page even when PDF view settings for last viewed location is disabled. Fixed certain websites not rendering correctly. Android: Fixed certain websites displaying something went wrong error message. WebView2: Fixed initializing the CoreWebView2Environment throws SystemArgumentException: The path is not of a legal form when using assembly merging (#3428) Fixed CoreWebView2WebMessageReceivedEventArgs.AdditionalObjects throws a Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder.RuntimeBinderException exception (#3474) Enterprise: Fixed sharing PDF file not working after it is downloaded from SharePoint on iOS. VisualSearchEnabled policy is now available for all platforms. You can download Microsoft Edge Dev from the official Edge Insider website. If you already use the Dev Channel, head to edge://settings/help to install the latest release. However, it is worth noting that many users report hangs and crashes after updating to version 115.0.1880.1, so it is better not to use Edge Dev or Canary as your primary browser. Microsoft plans to release Edge 115 to all users in the Stable Channel on the week of July 20, 2023. Insiders in the Beta Channel will get it next week.

Statcounter: Windows 11's climb slowed down in May 2023 by Taras Buria Several days ago, when detailing performance improvements in the latest Windows 11 update, Microsoft revealed that over one billion computers run its operating system. Unfortunately, the company did not provide extra details, such as how many devices have upgraded to Windows 11. Still, developers and customers are not in the complete dark—Statcounter's monthly reports provide regular insights into how many users each Windows version and other operating systems. Click here to learn more about Statcounter's methodology. Remember that data from third parties is never 100% accurate. According to the May 2023 report from Statcounter, Windows 10 remains the dominant operating system among Windows users. Approximately 71.9% (+0.54 points) of all customers continue using it for their daily computing needs. Windows 11, which soon turns two, slowed down a bit: 22.95%, with a slight dip compared with the previous month (-0.16 points). It will be interesting to see how the just-released "Moment 3" update will affect Windows 11's market share and if the announced at the Build conference features are tempting enough for Windows 10 customers to pull the trigger and update. Together, Windows 10 and 11 hold 94.85% of the entire market. As expected, Windows 7 took a significant nosedive when Microsoft ended the Extended Security Update program in January 2023. Still, a considerable number of users continue operating Windows 7 for all sorts of tasks. Statcounter claims the OS has a 3.61% market share (-0.17 points). Those not planning to upgrade from Windows 7 soon will be glad to learn that Mozilla is ready to continue supporting the now-dead OS for more than one extra year. Even though Windows 7 no longer receives updates, it still has a mainstream browser with regular patches and security fixes. Windows 10: 71.9% (+0.54 points) Windows 11: 22.95% (-0.16 points) Windows 7: 3.61% (-0.17 points) Windows 8.1: 0.72% (-0.13 points) Windows 8: 0.37% (-0.06 points) The honorable mention goes to Windows XP, which will soon mark ten years since the end of its extended support. Per Statcounter's findings, about 0.32% of Windows users are still rocking XP and using it to access the internet. A decade in no-update mode is nothing for a true fan! You can find more information about the Statcounter May 2023 report on the official website. A similar report covering the latest browser stats is available here.

CrowdStrike details Spyboy Terminator said to kill Microsoft Defender, Avast, and more EDRs by Sayan Sen Andrew Harris, who is the Global Senior Director at CrowdStrike, has shared details about "Terminator", an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) killing tool that is being promoted by a threat actor named "Spyboy", over on the Russian Anonymous Marketplace (RAMP). The campaign seemingly started last month, around May 21. The author Spyboy, claims that this Terminator tool is able to successfully disable twenty-three EDR and anti-virus controls. These include products from Microsoft, Sophos, CrowdStrike, AVG, Avast, ESET, Kaspersky, Mcafee, BitDefender, Malwarebytes, and more. The software is being sold at US$300 (single bypass) to US$3,000 (all-in-one bypass). CrowdStrike notes that the Terminator EDR evasion tool generates a legitimate, signed driver file Zemana Anti-Malware, that is being used to potentially exploit a security vulnerability tracked under ID "CVE-2021-31728". However, it does require elevated privileges and User Account Control (UAC) acceptance. Only Elastic detects the file as malicious whereas the file is undetected by 70 other vendors according to VirusTotal. Harris says that the tool works in a way similar to how Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) disables security components present on the system: At time of writing, the Terminator software requires administrative privileges and User Account Controls (UAC) acceptance to properly function. Once executed with the proper level of privilege, the binary will write a legitimate, signed driver file — Zemana Anti-Malware — to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ folder. The driver file is given a random name between 4 and 10 characters. This technique is similar to other Bring Your Own Driver (BYOD) campaigns observed being used by threat actors over the past several years. Under normal circumstances, the driver would be named zamguard64.sys or zam64.sys. The driver is signed by “Zemana Ltd.” and has the following thumbprint: 96A7749D856CB49DE32005BCDD8621F38E2B4C05. Once written to disk, the software loads the driver and has been observed terminating the user-mode processes of AV and EDR software. In a demo, the threat actor showed that CrowdStike Falcon EDR was successfully disabled with the help of Terminator. The image on the left (below) shows Falcon still running while the right image shows Falcon process was terminated. You may find more technical details on Spyboy's Terminator EDR killer on Andrew Harris' post on Reddit (via Soufiane on Twitter).

Rufus 4.1 restores some missing features, adds improved compatibility by Taras Buria Pete Batard, developer of the popular third-party tool Rufus, has released a new update with several improvements. Version 4.1 is now available for download from GitHub with improved compatibility with the Windows Dev Kit 2023 platform and some previously missing features, such as MS-DOS drive creation using binaries from Microsoft. Here are the release notes for Rufus 4.1: Add timeouts on enumeration queries that may stall on some systems Restore MS-DOS drive creation through the download of binaries from Microsoft Update the log button icon Fix UEFI:NTFS incompatibility with Windows Dev Kit 2023 platform (pbatard/uefi-ntfs#37) Fix more GRUB out of range pointer errors with Ubuntu/Fedora when booting in BIOS mode You can download Rufus 4.1 from Neowin, the official website, GitHub, or the Microsoft Store. Rufus is fully open-source, so enthusiasts with the necessary skills can contribute to the project's development on GitHub. For those unfamiliar, Rufus is a small app that lets you create bootable USB drives with Windows, Linux, and other operating systems. In addition to its primary feature, the program allows downloading ISO files directly from Microsoft, which makes Rufus your all-in-one program for clean-installing and servicing operating systems on various PCs. It also has a few extra aces up its sleeve, such as removing system requirements for Windows 11 (TPM, SecureBoot, UEFI, 4GB of RAM, etc.), creating a local account, disabling BitLocker, flashing BIOS or other firmware from DOS, and more. You can use Rufus on any PC running Windows 8 and newer (installable, portable, x86, x64, and ARM64). Windows 7, unfortunately, is no longer supported—the OS was dropped in version 4.0, released in late April 2023. However, Rufus can still make Windows 7-based bootable USB drives, assuming the app runs on a more modern Windows version. Check out our guide showing how to create bootable USB drives using Rufus.

Tiny10 x64 23H1 is here for those needing a debloated and lightweight Windows 10 by Taras Buria Earlier this year, NTDEV (@NTDEV_ on Twitter) released tiny10 2303 for those needing a lightweight and modern Windows 10 edition with a small disk footprint and the latest updates. The initial release was only available in the x86 or 32-bit flavor, aiming at customers with low-end hardware incapable of running the stock Windows 10 or 11. Fast forward a few months, and now tiny10 2303 or "23H1" is available in the x64 format with all the benefits of its "smaller" sibling. After months of requests, tiny10 23H1 x64 is finally here, and just like tiny10 x86 and tiny11, it brings back a very important feature: the component store! This means that now you can add new languages and features, while still being a lightweight and dependable image. pic.twitter.com/mRLBPC2udR — NTDEV (@NTDEV_) May 31, 2023 Like tiny10 2303 x86, version 23H1 is based on the same Windows 10 LTSC 21H2 (build number 19044.3031). Its main highlight is the component store support that ensures you can download monthly updates while retaining the installation's low profile and small disk footprint (Remote Desktop is also there). According to the project's developer, tiny10 23H1 is for those wanting the core Windows experience with the necessary features and security measures. Another noteworthy aspect of the new tiny10 version is the ability to perform an in-place upgrade. In other words, you can update to tiny10 23H1 from older tiny10 releases with no need for a clean install. It is worth noting that "23H1" is just a "naming convention" that indicates a release from the first half of 2023. Microsoft's official Windows 10 release is version 22H2, and the company has made it clear that users should not expect a newer release or any significant feature updates. 22H2 should be the last Windows 10 version, with the end of support scheduled for October 2025. You can download tiny10 23H2 from the Internet Archive. As usual, remember that fan-made projects like this still require activation with a genuine Windows key (7, 8, 8.1, and 10 should work) from the matching SKU. You can try using it without a license, but the installation will eventually start nagging you with activation prompts, dark desktop backgrounds, and other inconveniences. In other words, all the good stuff from the stock Windows 10. At least it no longer requires more than 20GB of space on your drive and a minimum of 2GB of RAM. If you want a more modern lightweight Windows release, check out tiny11, which offers the best of Windows 11 without unnecessary components or bloat. If you do not trust third-party Windows modifications, see this guide showing how to DIY a debloated Windows ISO for your personal needs and preferences.

Microsoft's Xbox app for Windows adds improvements to game cards and more with latest update by John Callaham As the month of May comes to a close, Microsoft is using the time to add some new features to its Xbox app for Windows. They include some improvements to game cards, some new social gaming changes, and more. The Xbox news site has the info on the update. One of the new features will allow people who are gaming on their PC to continue to view their friends list window, the chat room window, and the party window on the screen. Microsoft states: If you have two desktops, simply drag these windows onto the desktop that’s not in a full-screen game and continue to stay updated with your friends, all at-a-glance. The app now offers a way for PC games to see a streamlined version of their Xbox friends on the desktop at any time. If you see a friend that's currently online, you can click on them and start chatting. You can even see anyone who has been in a recent game with you and add them to your friends list, or import your Steam friends list by linking your Steam account to the Xbox app. The app's game cards now have more info on each game, according to the blog post: Now, you can see the game’s title along with contextual metadata like publisher, pricing, HowLongToBeat time, coming to Game Pass date, leaving Game Pass date for those games leaving soon, and more! You will see all this information as you browse through games in the app. There are also some new filter options in the Xbox app for Windows, including its HowLongToBeat score, it's rating, and more. The app also has some new game lists, including a Trending list. Finally, the accessibility settings menu in the app has been updated so you can check out these options, and other PC gaming settings, in one place. It allows users to control things like "enabling or disabling animations and background images" and more.

Games with Gold: Adios is now available to claim on Xbox and Windows by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe It was only a day ago that Microsoft announced the next lineup of Games with Gold titles incoming to its Xbox platforms, and already, one of the games is up and running. As the first bonus game of June, even though we have not reached the month just yet, a copy of Adios is now available to claim. Released in 2021, the indie title is a narrative-focused thriller experience. Players take the role of a pig farmer that has been working for the mob to dispose of bodies. The story begins with him deciding to stop these dealings with the underworld, while a would-be hitman tries to sway this decision to save his friend's life. Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can now grab a copy of the game for no extra charge. Interestingly, Windows users can also grab a copy of the title thanks to it being an Xbox Play Anywhere release. While not unheard of, it's still a rare occurrence with these promotions. Over on consoles, subscribers on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S systems can jump in too, with backwards compatibility ensuring that the latter systems can also play the game natively after claiming a copy. Head to the store link below using a Gold-enabled Microsoft account to grab the latest offer: Adios - Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows You're a pig farmer in Kansas. It's October. Cold, crisp mornings are the norm, and you have decided that you're no longer okay with letting the mob use your pigs to dispose of bodies. When your old friend - a hitman - arrives with his assistant to deliver another body, you finally screw up the courage to tell them that you're done. Don't forget that May's second Games with Gold offering, which was a copy of Hoa, will still be available to claim until June 15. A copy of the unique audio-based action-adventureentry The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is incoming to replace it on the same date. Also keep in mind that Games with Gold titles claimed via these bi-weekly promotions are only available for play while the account holder's Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription is still active.

Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit 3 will launch in Q3 2023 for HoloLens 2 developers by John Callaham Even as Apple gets ready to officially reveal its new, and expensive, mixed reality headset next week, Microsoft continues on its own path in this specific tech industry. Today, the company announced that the open source-based Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit 3 will become generally available sometime in the third quarter of 2023. In a blog post, Microsoft says this latest version of its mixed reality app development toolkit uses the OpenXR standard. That means developers that use this new tool will be able to make apps that will not only work on Microsoft's HoloLens device, but other similar headsets as well. The Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit 3 is also compatible with the popular game development engine Unity, It uses that engine's XR Management System and XR Interaction Toolkit so the tools will be more compatible with new versions of Unity. The new version of the toolkit will have these specific improvements: Faster performance: Developers can improve the performance of HoloLens 2 and resource-constrained mobile platforms. Smaller memory footprint: By utilizing OpenXR, developers can better reduce the memory footprint of their cross-platform apps. Modern user interface: Support for new Unity features like Unity 3D Canvas reduces the time it takes to code and launch apps into production. Microsoft also announced today that the Azure Communication Services Calling SDK for Unity will have a public preview launch before the end of the second quarter of 2023. Microsoft stated: Not only can developers benefit from all the features inherent in the ACS Calling SDK for UAP, but they also can leverage Unity Editor. This gives developers access to a visual interface that significantly reduces the time it takes to create, design, and build HoloLens 2 applications. In April, Microsoft released the free Windows 11 update for the HoloLens 2. The company has said it is committed to updating the HoloLens 2, but there's no word on if the company plans to release a next-gen version of its own expensive mixed reality headset.

WinRAR's Twitter post on Windows 11 RAR support is anything but fine by John Callaham Last week at Build 2023, Microsoft very casually mentioned it would add support for opening files in a number of formats to Windows 11, including opening RAR files. This move was so unexpected we decided to contact the company behind the popular file archive program WinRAR to get its reaction. In the email response we received, Louise Cusworth of the WinRAR sales team stated that the company felt "honoured with Microsoft's decision." However, Cusworth did add, "Are we concerned? Of course we are, because we are a small company and Microsoft is a big international multi-billion dollar company with a lot of power. " She also stated that this developer creates "both challenges and benefits for our business." Well, it would appear that WinRAR might be a bit more concerned than Cusworth let on in her statement to us last week. The official WinRAR Twitter page posted a new message stating "Us right now. #Windows11" . The well-known "This is fine" meme image of a cartoon dog surrounded by fire is right below it. Us right now. #Windows11 pic.twitter.com/t8WnXaWyZa — WinRAR (@WinRAR_RARLAB) May 30, 2023 Of course. WinRAR's business model was already interesting. According to its own rules, you could download the archive program and use it for free for a 40-day trial period before you technically had to pay for it. However, the truth is that most people can simply ignore that request and use WinRAR for free with little to no issues. Having said that, Windows 11's RAR support is only supposed to allow for the opening of those archive files. That means people who want to compress files in that format will still need a third party app like WinRAR. We would like to believe that loophole will keep the company going for some time. By the way, there's a new version, 6.22, of WinRAR that you can download and use right now. It's mainly a bug fixing update that addresses a few outstanding issues.

Microsoft seems to be hinting strongly at a Fable reboot update at the Xbox Games Showcase by John Callaham It's been a long, long time since we have heard anything about the Fable fantasy RPG reboot from developer Playground Games and Microsoft. In fact, we haven't heard anything about this game since it was first revealed with a brief teaser trailer during Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020. However, with the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase coming up on Sunday, June 11, it looks very likely we are finally going to get some kind of update on Fable's development. That's because Microsoft is making some not-so-subtle hints that will happen. This week on the official Xbox Twitter page, Microsoft posted a quick video of an office. The camera follows what appears to be a glitter trail that leads to a PC monitor that shows the Xbox Games Showcase logo. Do you love ✨ GAMES ✨ as much as we do? Then you won’t want to miss the Xbox Games Showcase: https://t.co/YSurRjtzpn | #Starfield #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/O1qSlXHNmY — Xbox (@Xbox) May 30, 2023 Why is this video teasing us about a Fable update? Well, in previous versions of the Fable game franchise, players follow trails of glitter to go to their next mission or assignment. In all honestly we would have been very disappointed not to get some kind of Fable update as part of the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase. Right now, all we really know for sure is that Playground Games, who previously created the popular Forza Horizon racing games for Microsoft, is the main developer of the Fable reboot, and it will also use the same engine as the Forza Horizon games. Hopefully, this will not be the last kind of teaser from Microsoft about what games we can expect to see at its June 11 event. It starts at 10 am Pacific time (1 pm Eastern time), and it will be immediately followed by the Starfield Direct event.