Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

The situation for updates for Windows 10 remains quite confusing for many people. Now mainstream support has ended, those who are sticking with the older operating system need are reliant on the Extended Security Updates program to keep their computers safe.

But, breaking with the way things were meant to work out, Microsoft has now released an out-of-band update for Windows 10 to address an issue introduced by an earlier security patch. The KB5074976 update is a little unusual in that it needs to be manually installed. Here is what you need to know.

For anyone who uses X as a platform for chat more than anything else, the social media site’s latest move will be of interest. A new site specifically and solely for chat is now available, so you can deal with messaging without having to worry about the rest of the platform.

Separating chat and messaging away from the main site sees X competing more directly with the likes of WhatsApp. At the moment, the site has been designed with desktop users in mind, but X is also thought to be working on a mobile version.

Fintech giant Revolut has started to roll out its own mobile network across the UK. Revolut Mobile is designed – like Revolut’s banking products – with travel in mind, including a generous roaming package as standard.

The network will use Vodafone’s infrastructure and a special introductory price is available for anyone who jumps on board early on. There is a waitlist in place, with the full launch due in January 2026.

Mozilla now has a new CEO in Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, and this should be news enough. But the appointment has been accompanied by the announcement that the organization plans to transform Firefox into an AI Browser over the course of the next three years.

More than this, Firefox is set to evolve into something more than just a web browser. Details are scant at the moment, but the new CEO says that “Firefox will grow from a browser into a broader ecosystem of trusted software”.

Earlier last week, Microsoft released a cumulative update for Windows 11 in the form of the KB5072033 update. In addition to the usual raft of fixes, changes and additions, there was a curious inclusion that Microsoft did not really shout about.

The company has taken the decision to make the AppX Deployment Service (also known as Appxsvc) an automatic startup item. While Microsoft says this is to improve reliability, it is something connected to reports of high resource usage.

UK-based digital bank Monzo is ready to expand into Europe. The fintech has acquired a full banking licence from the Central Bank in Ireland, as well as from the European Central Bank.

Monzo has gone from strength to strength since it launched back in 2015. Now the company’s European headquarters will be in Dublin, where it will be regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Following a period of instability over the last few days, SoundCloud has confirmed a data breach by “a purported threat actor group”. The streaming service says that it “detected unauthorized activity in an ancillary service dashboard” and that an investigation found that “certain limited data that we hold” had been accessed.

SoundCloud says that while around 20 percent of users’ data was involved, “the data involved consisted only of email addresses and information already visible on public […] profiles”.

Microsoft has issued a warning that updates to Windows 11 may have led to problems with networking via VPN in Windows Subsystem for Linux.

The problem sees the appearance of “No route to host” errors when using mirrored networking mode. Microsoft has not provided an exhaustive list of the third-party VPNs that are experiencing problems, but highlights Cisco Secure Client and OpenVPN.

With mainstream support for Windows 10 now over, businesses and individuals are now reliant on Microsoft’s Extended Security Update program. With many people having no choice but to stick with Windows 10 for now, it is important that updates are problem-free – but this is not proving to be the case.

Microsoft has acknowledged that the KB5071546 update released earlier this month is causing problems with the Message Queuing (MSMQ) functionality. While not an issue for most home users, for businesses it can be a serious worry.

Today is the first day on which the desktop version of Facebook Messenger no longer works. As Meta announced back in October, the Mac and Windows versions of the Facebook Messenger app have now been discontinued.

For anyone who has been a regular user of the desktop app, the appearance of notifications should have served as a warning ahead of time. Now anyone attempting to log into the app will be redirected to either the Facebook website or the Facebook desktop app, depending on whether they are using Windows or macOS.

Google has suddenly – and quietly – announced that its dark web report is to be discontinued. Designed to scan the dark web for leaked personal data, Google has decided that the tool is no longer needed.

There is not long to go until the tool shut down. In just a month’s time, there will be no more scanning of the dark web for data; one month after this, the dark web report will disappear entirely. Here’s what you need to know.

iRobot Corp – perhaps most famous for its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners – has filed for bankruptcy. The company has proposed that control be handed over Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co, its main Chinese supplier.

The Chapter 11 process comes after iRobot has been under increasing pressure from various tariffs, as well as competition from lower-cost rivals. There should be – at least initially – no disruption to the company’s operations, apps should continue to function as normal, and supplies are not expected to be impacted.

New tools are landing thick and fast in WhatsApp, with Meta announcing, “another bundle of features just in time for the holidays”. There is a lot to explore, but the highlight that is being pushed is the voicemail-like missed calls messages.

There are also changes to voice and video chats, including voice chat reactions and speaker spotlighting in group videos. In addition to genuinely useful updates, there are some additions which are just nice to have – such as new stickers on Status.

Microsoft is just one of many technology firms that have a bounty program that offers financial rewards for anyone who discovers security flaws in its products and services. The company has just announced a huge expansion of the scheme so it even covers problems found in third party code.

Vice President of Engineering at Microsoft Security Response Center, Tom Gallagher, announced the broadened scope at Black Hat Europe. He stressed that “keeping our customers secure is our top priority”.

The Microsoft Store app is where you tend to go to download apps and games, but Microsoft is expanding its range of stock.

The latest addition to the Store is a new Themes department, which Microsoft says gives users a way to stamp their personality onto their computer. There are hundreds of themes to choose from, many of which are completely new for the arrival of the Themes section.