Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

If you've been following news about the Insider builds of Windows 11 over the last couple of years, you're probably aware of the incredibly useful utility ViVeTool; we've referred to it many times here on BetaNews. This handy piece of software makes it possible to unlock Windows 11 features that Microsoft is testing with select groups of users.

It turns out that Microsoft has its own internal tool which works in very much the same way as the likes of ViVeTool. Called StagingTool, it provides access to features and options of Windows 11 that would otherwise be unavailable, and Microsoft has just leaked details of its existence.

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A PowerToys release cycle focused on stability and improvements may not sound terribly exciting, but with the newly hatched PowerToys v0.72.0 Microsoft has delivered significant updates that you won't want to miss out on.

Although there are no brand-new modules to explore, PowerToys Run has new plugins to work with. There are also a huge number of bug fixes and improvements across pretty much all areas of the utility, and a great new feature for Mouse Highlighter. On top of this, Microsoft has managed to dramatically slash the installation footprint of the PowerToys collections.

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Having previously rejected the X app from its App Store for having too short a name, Apple has had a change of heart, changing the rules for the renamed Twitter.

It used to be the case that app names had to be at least two characters in length, and this led to delay in getting the X app listed. But with Apple having relaxed for rules after Musk's latest example of spontaneity, X is the first -- and currently only -- app to be listed with a name comprising a single character.

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When you've spent any amount of time using Windows 11 with two or more monitors, it's hard to go back to a single display setup.

But while working with multiple screens is a great productivity boost, it is far from being a perfect experience. Thankfully, Microsoft feels the pain of Windows 11 users and is bringing some helpful changes to settings that will make the experience far more pleasant.

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Apple has acknowledged a flaw in its Screen Time software that means children may be able to access their iPhones and iPads longer than their parents would like.

A bug in the Downtime feature can cause Screen Time settings to reset so unlimited access is possible. Apple has confirmed that it is aware of the issue and it working to "improve the situation". But users may have doubts about the importance the company is placing on developing a fix; the bug has existed for months, and has persisted through a patch that was supposed to address the flaw back in May.

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With so many apps and websites vying for our attention, notifications and alerts have become part and parcel of being a technology user. For some time, Microsoft has used the Windows 11 system tray to indicate that there are notifications that should be looked at -- but this notification indicator is about to become less useful.

In the latest build of the operating system, the company has made an unusual change that means the system tray no longer shows how many notifications are there, just the fact that there are notifications. It is not clear what prompted the decision to remove notification counts, but is likely to be a polarizing change.

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There are many ways to use Meta's WhatsApp. From typing text-based messages through sending photos, to full-on video chats, there are options to suit just about every eventuality.

With voice messaging having proved incredibly popular, WhatsApp is now expanding its instant messaging options to include video. Just like its audio-based cousin, instant video message let you quickly record and share messages -- this time with video.

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Earlier this week, Microsoft released a preview of next month's KB5028254 update for Windows 11 22H2. While this cumulative update fixes a lot of bugs, a large number of people who have installed it are complaining of Start menu issues.

Although Microsoft concedes that there is a problem, acknowledging that some users may find that the Start menu simply does not open, the company insists that it is not at fault, instead pointing the finger of blame at third parties.

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After promising to bring a dark mode option to Bing, Microsoft has started the rollout slightly earlier than previously suggested.

The company is in the process of introducing the option of a darker visual look in both Bing Search and Bing Chat. As is usually the case with apps and websites, the dark mode offered by Bing can be enabled or disabled so it is in line with system settings, but there is also the option of opting for light or dark mode regardless of the system-wide settings that are in place.

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As part of this month's batch of update previews, we've already seen the KB5028245 update for Windows 11 21H2. For those who are running the more recent Windows 11 22H2, however, there is now the KB5028254 update.

There are many, many similarities between the KB5028245 and KB5028254 updates, and this should come as little surprise. The cumulative update for Windows 11 22H2 does have differences, though, including boosting the accuracy of brightness settings.

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It will soon be easier to check whether you want to visit a site before you click a link in Chrome. Google is currently working on bringing a new feature called Link Preview to the desktop version its web browser that will give users the ability to check out where a link leads without visiting it.

Development seems to be in the fairly early stages at the moment and while it is not yet possible to try it out, there are documents produced by the company that give a very good idea of how it will look and work.

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Amazon has announced the launch of a new page that will be used to alert customers about product recalls relating to items they have purchased. The "Your Recalls and Product Safety Alerts" page is also home to safety information that people need to be made aware of post-purchase.

Pointing out that people have previously had to rely on third-party sites and services to learn about the recall of products, the retail giant says that the page is its attempt to be proactive in ensuring that customers have access to the information they need.

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As we approach the end of the month, we reach the time when Microsoft releases preview versions of the updates that will get official launches next Patch Tuesday. This time around, it is the KB5028245 update for Windows 11.

With this cumulative update, Microsoft addresses a series of problems in Windows 11 21H2, including a VPN issue that could lead to excessive ARP requests to the network gateway. Also fixed are a bug that causes incorrect reporting of the L2 cache, and another that prevents the Windows Notification Platform from issuing notifications from apps.

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Microsoft has updated the free virtual machines it makes available for download as Windows 11 development environments.

In addition to Windows 11, the virtual machines also include various other developer-centric tools such as Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition and Ubuntu pre-installed in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2. In a nod to the fact that people work with different virtualization platforms, Microsoft has produced VMWare, Hyper-V (Gen2), VirtualBox and Parallels versions of the free VMs.

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Microsoft has been somewhat indecisive with regards to the Mail and Calendar apps for Windows 10 and Windows 11, changing the deadline for a switching to Outlook for Windows more than once.

But now the company has confirmed that it plans to go ahead with its plans to kill off Mail and Calendar -- and it has also revealed that users will be forcibly switched to Outlook for Windows. The timescale for the switch is still slightly hazy, but it is definitely coming... starting later this year.

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