Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.96.1 with a nice surprise for Windows 10 users
The question we ask every time there is a new PowerToys release is whether or not there are any new modules or options to play with. With the release of PowerToys v0.96.1 being a very minor update in terms of version number, there is a nice surprise in store.
Sadly, if you are hoping for a brand new module, you are going to have to wait a little longer. We know of several utilities that are in the pipeline, but they are not ready yet. What we do see in this small update, however, is a nice surprise for Windows 10 users – the return of the Image Resizer tool.
The full changelog for PowerToys v0.96.1 is pretty short – this is a minor release of which Microsoft says: “This patch release fixes several important stability issues identified in v0.96.0 based on incoming reports. Check out the v0.96.0 notes for the full list of changes”.
What is new here is as follows:
Advanced Paste
- #43766: Removed deprecated OpenAI Prompt Execution Settings properties, enabling use of new models such as GPT-5.1 in Azure OpenAI.
- #43768: Updated Foundry Local model parameters to allow for longer output tokens.
- #43716: Fixed an issue where a model could appear unavailable immediately after being downloaded from Foundry Local.
Image Resizer
- #43763: Brought Image Resizer back to Windows 10.
Awake
- #43785: Fixed timed mode not expiring correctly.
While it was not really the case that Windows 10 users were being spitefully deprived of access to Image Resizer, there were problems with the module which the PowerToys teams needed to work on.
When startup problems appeared for Image Resizer on Windows 10, a pull request appeared on the GitHub repository:
Windows 10 can’t launch the app using the Sparse Package. Remove the app manifest so that Image Resizer can start properly on Windows 10.
We will figure out how to support Sparse Packages on Windows 10 in the next release.
True to form, the PowerToys team works quickly to put things right, meaning that Windows 10 users did not have to miss out for too long.
If you already have PowerToys installed, just use the built-in update option to upgrade to this new version. Otherwise, you can grab the software from GitHub.