Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Some of the most exciting software developments associated with Microsoft are to be found in PowerToys. Here it is possible to see inspired developers innovating as they create new tools for Windows 11 and Windows 10.

There has been a large number of new utilities added over the course of the last year, and there's another exciting one on the way. What's promised is a "quickaccess systemtray launcher", and it will make it easier than ever to launch your most frequently used PowerToys modules.

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The uptake of Windows 11 has been rather slow, almost certainly slower than Microsoft would have hoped. With Windows 10 users sticking doggedly to their slightly aging operating system, the company is seeking way to promote and simplify Windows 11 upgrades -- and with the KB5020683 update, it has done just this.

KB5020683 is an out-of-band update that Microsoft released recently to little fanfare. It has one aim: improving the out-of-box experience (OOBE) so users have the option to upgrade to Windows 11 immediately.

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Dropbox has announced plans to acquire "key assets" from Boxcryptor in a move that will boost security for business users.

The acquisition will bring zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption to users signed up for business account. It is something that Dropbox undoubtedly hopes will help increase confidence in its cloud storage service.

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It is the time of the month when Microsoft release preview versions of Windows updates. True to form, the company has released the KB5020044 update for Windows 11 22H2.

As well as fixing various issues, this update also brings new features such as combining Windows Spotlight with Themes on the Personalization page, and helpful information for OneDrive users. It also fixes game performance issues which caused Microsoft to block upgrades to Windows 11 2022 Update for some users. And true to form, the update also breaks some things as well as fixing others; in this case, Task Manager.

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There have been numerous compatibility holds put in place that have prevented large swathes of people from upgrading to Windows 11 2022 Update. One of the more recent blocks affected gamers, with Microsoft standing in the way of upgrades because of impaired game performance under Windows 11 22H2.

But now Microsoft has lifted the safeguard holding, meaning that more gamers are able to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 11. Sadly it is not good news for everyone, as the block has only been partially lifted.

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The known issues with Windows 11 22H2 keep on coming thick and fast. Microsoft may want to move all Windows 10 users onto Windows 11, but the constant stream of problems is enough to put off just about anyone.

Now the company has confirmed yet another issue with the latest update to the operating system. Warning that "Connections may fail when using Remote Desktop Connection Brokers", Microsoft offers a workaround -- but not a fix -- for those affected.

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While Microsoft would prefer that everyone upgrade to Windows 11, this is really not happening to the extent the company would hope. There are still millions of users sticking with Windows 10 for one reason or another, and for these people there is a big update to install.

Just as Microsoft released Windows 11 22H2 (the 2022 Update), so the company also released Windows 10 22H2 a little while ago. Now, in a significant but quiet announcement, Microsoft says that the update has been designated for broad deployment, meaning that it is available to a larger number of eligible Windows 10 devices.

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Microsoft has made two big announcements about Windows Subsystem for Linux. Not only is the Microsoft Store app the default version, it is also losing the Preview label as it is now generally available for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The change means that Microsoft is switching away from offering WSL as an optional component of Windows itself. The company says that it has brought the app to the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 users following community requests, pointing out that this means that "Windows 10 can now run Linux GUI apps".

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While -- thankfully -- not terribly common, it is certainly not unknown for Windows 11 to just hang. If you have found yourself with a frozen desktop, you may have thought there was no alternative but to restart your computer.

But no matter whether your system froze while you were in the middle of a gaming session, while you were given a presentation, or just surfing the web, there is something else you can try.

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There have been complaints recently about Microsoft using the Start menu to promote its own OneDrive service as well as suggesting websites, but another upcoming addition to Windows 11 is likely be rather better received.

Hidden among the numerous new features of Windows 11 build 25247, is an update to the network connectivity icon that appears in the notification area of the taskbar. It provides at-a-glance information about whether your VPN is active.

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Around two months after acknowledging an issue with some printer drivers and Windows 11 2022 Update, Microsoft has addressed the problem and lifted the safeguard hold it had put in place.

The safeguard hold meant that people with printers using Microsoft IPP Class Driver or Universal Print Class Driver were blocked from upgrading to Windows 11 22H2. But in removing the block, Microsoft has opened up the latest version of Windows 11 to more people.

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Citing customer feedback, Microsoft has taken the decision to bring SwiftKey back to the App Store. Back at the beginning of October, the company delisted the iOS keyboard app resulting in complaints from the app's many users.

Not only has Microsoft reinstated SwiftKey, the company says that it is "investing heavily in the keyboard" but has not offered any specific details about what this means.

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Almost two years after Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, Elon Musk has permitted the former US president back onto the site. Trump was evicted form the site following the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol

This weekend Musk conducted a poll on Twitter asking people to vote about whether or not to "reinstate former President Trump". After more than 15 million votes were cast, a majority voted in favor, and it wasn't long before Trump's account was reactivated.

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In the world of social media, most of the attention is -- understandably -- focused on what's happening at Twitter, but there are changes afoot at Facebook too.

Starting at the beginning of December, some information fields are being removed from user profiles. The fields in question are Religious Views, Political Views, Address, and Interested In, with the latter being the field used to indicate sexual orientation.

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Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has been nothing short of chaotic, leading to thousands of employees being fired, an unknown number resigning, countless users jumping ship, and confusion for those left behind. So... what to do? Download your Twitter archive.

It is one thing to find a new home on a Twitter alternative such as Mastodon, but what about everything you are leaving behind? While the future of Twitter is very much an unknown, it is hanging in the balance, and recent events have shown that just about anything is possible. Rumors abound about the site being closed, so if you are concerned about losing years' worth of tweets -- many of which may contain valuable data -- here's how to go about downloading them for posterity.

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