Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Microsoft is giving users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 living in the European Economic Area (EEA) greater control over their software. The company will soon be making it possible to extricate Microsoft Edge and Bing from the operating system.

This is not really by choice, however. Microsoft is introducing the changes in order to comply with the EEA's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The removal options will be rolling out to Windows 11 users in preview first followed by Windows 10. Microsoft says that both Windows 10 22H2 and Winodws 11 23H2 will be fully compliant by March next year.

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Microsoft may have previously indicated that Windows 10 is not going to receive any more significant updates, but the company has made an announcement that indicates a change of heart. The AI-powered assistant Copilot is coming from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

While on one hand this is slightly surprising given the previous stance on not bringing new features to Windows 10, there have been recent rumors that Copilot was going to be making its way to Windows 10. This is now official, and the ball is in motion

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Microsoft has announced a rebranding of Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise to Copilot as part of its "vision to bring Microsoft Copilot to everyone". There is now a lengthy list of products under the Copilot banner, including Microsoft Copilot and Copilot in Windows, but this latest rebrand feels a little odd.

Despite describing Bing as "our leading experience for the web" Microsoft has opted to ditch much of the Bing branding as it embraces Copilot more fully. The company has also revealed that Copilot will become generally available on December 1.

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Microsoft is slowly but surely trimming the fat away from Windows 11. Over the course of recent months, the company has either removed or announced the future removal of numerous app components, including the Tips and WordPad apps.

Now a new victim has been added to the list. With the release of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23590 to the Dev Channel, Microsoft has revealed that screen recording stalwart Steps Recorder is no longer being updated and is lined up for removal further down the line.

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It is that time of the month again; Microsoft has released a slew of updates including the KB5032190 update for Windows 11.

As this is a cumulative update that includes security fixes, it is therefore mandatory. But the security patches, while nice, are far from being the highlight. KB5032190 is the update with which Microsoft is giving all Windows 11 users access to the new features of Moment 4, including Taskbar changes and Windows Copilot.

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There is some good news for anyone who wants or needs to stick with Windows Server 2012 for a little longer.

Just a month after Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Embedded Server 2012 R2 reached end of support, Microsoft has announced that administrators are able to get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs).

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Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each month when Microsoft releases updates for Windows, has been with us for a long time now. In fact, Microsoft has been using the predictable schedule for releasing patches for no less than 20 years.

The emergence of Patch Tuesday -- a day anticipated for its bug-fixing and dreaded for its bug-introductions -- dates back to the days of Bill Gates and Windows Vista. In celebrating the incredible landmark of two decades of update releases on a reliable timetable, Microsoft has shared some of the history behind it and reiterated the importance of updating the operating system in this way.

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In a sea of messaging apps, WhatsApp remains one of the most widely used, its popularity buoyed by end-to-end encryption. Meta has now added a new feature aimed at "those who are particularly privacy-conscious".

There is a new option to protect your IP address by hiding it from other WhatsApp users during calls. This is important as IP addresses can reveal quite a lot, including location. While the new call relaying privacy measures are likely to be welcomed, there are a couple of significant caveats to keep in mind.

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Microsoft is far from being a stranger to killing off features in Windows, and this even holds true for the latest version of the operating system, Windows 11. It is usually the case that things that are removed are old, broken, or pose a security risk -- such as recently removed services like WebDAV -- but not always.

The latest victim of Microsoft's deprecation drive is the Tips app that has been used for years to provide users with helpful information and advice about getting the best from Windows.

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Windows Copilot has been available to users of Windows 11 for a little while now, as Microsoft continues its march into the world of artificial intelligence. Now it seems that the company is looking bring the AI-powered assistant to Windows 10 as well.

This is, in some regards, a little surprising -- particularly given the age of Windows 10. But there are still over a billion Windows 10 users out there, so it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to tap into this to extend the userbase for Copilot.

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With so much focus on Google Maps as a navigation tool, it is easy to forget that Google also owns Waze and that this app is often home to far more exciting and useful features.

Demonstrating this, Google has just announced a new feature for Waze that is partly AI-powered, partly community driven; Crash History Alerts. This road safety feature is very much what it sounds like -- a warning system that lets users know about potentially dangerous, crash-prone roads based on historical data.

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Google is introducing new tools in both Chrome and Google search that should help to make online shopping a little cheaper. With the holiday season just around the corner and shoppers eager to save money, the timing is ideal.

Chrome users are gaining access to a new feature that will seek out discount codes much like services such as Honey. There is also a new section landing in search results that makes it easier to track down products that are on sale.

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If you're in the market for a VPN, you're not short of choice. In fact the sheer number of VPN apps out there can be quite overwhelming, and it's a situation that is hardly improved by the existence of a seemingly endless number of fake tools.

So Google has come up with something of a solution -- albeit one that is only going to be of help to Android users. The company is looking to make Google Play a safer place to inhabit, and as part of this it is going to be highlighting VPN apps that have been independently audited so users know they can be trusted. The likes of NordVPN, Express VPN and Google's own Google One are among the first to get the seal of approval.

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It is usually the case that new versions of Windows see the arrival of new features and options, but Microsoft is also known to take things away. This month, Microsoft has taken the decision to deprecate three features and services, including WebDAV, in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Also for the chop are the Remote Mailslots protocol and the Computer Browser service. The reason for killing off the trio is security, with age meaning that there are now far better options available.

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Microsoft recently made Windows 11 23H2 available to those who are willing to seek it out, with an automatic roll out due shortly. The company has also released Windows 11 23H2 (or Windows 11 2023 Update) as an ISO image so it is possible to create installation media manually.

But for anyone who has been hoping to use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to create installation media automatically is in for some disappointment. The availability of Windows 11 23H2 though this route has been delayed.

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