Microsoft

Microsoft Lens – once known as Office Lens – has been hanging on by a thread for some time now. The original plan had been to kill off the document scanning app last year, but it was granted a stay of execution.

But now, just as we ease into 2026, Microsoft has announced a revised schedule for the retirement of the app. For fans of Microsoft Lens, there are mere weeks left until it vanishes.

The first Insider build of Windows 11 for the new year has hit download servers. The KB5072046 update takes the operating system up to build 26220.7535, and it is available to Insiders signed up to the Dev and Beta channels.

As you would probably expect, there are Copilot-related changes and additions to be found in this latest build – including Microsoft deciding to finally gives sysadmins the option to uninstall the Microsoft Copilot App on managed devices.

If you are a fan of sending documents from Microsoft Word to your Kindle device, there is some bad news. Microsoft has announced plans to retire the Send documents to Kindle option in Word some time after next month.

As is so often the case when features and options are killed off, Microsoft does not provide much in the way of detail. While the company would probably cite low usage as the reason for retirement, it has not yet provided a specific reason. We also only have a pretty vague timeline for retirement to work with.

Microsoft has announced changes to the way in which hyperlinks are added to Word documents. The company says that it wants to make working with hyperlinks as easy as working with text, and is therefore simplifying link creation across Word for Windows, macOS and the web.

While it could be argued that the previous method of converting a word or portion of text into a hyperlink was not exactly an arduous task, the change Microsoft has come up with makes it even faster and easier. So, how does it work?

Windows 11 remains a familiar choice for many users, although complaints about hardware requirements, update behavior, and uneven performance continue to make large numbers of people wonder if it’s worth sticking with.

For those users, Linux is a viable alternative and one of the better, lesser-known OS choices is Nitrux, which has now reached version 5.1.

If you have use BitLocker to secure files within Windows 11, you will almost certainly have noticed something of a performance hit. Microsoft is not unaware of this, and is taking steps to help improve things.

The company is rolling out hardware-accelerated BitLocker, which should help to provide a speed boost on systems with NVMe drives. The new approach helps to avoid bottlenecks which can massively impact on performance.

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7523 (KB5072043) to the Dev and Beta Channels, bringing with it a number of important changes and additions. As is the case with so many updates to Windows 11 at the moment, this is heavy on the AI.

The difference this time is that Microsoft is starting to focus more on business users – starting by introducing Ask Copilot on the taskbar with Microsoft 365 Copilot. The taskbar is also now adorned with Agents, but not everything is related to artificial intelligence.

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.

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.

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.

With the release of the KB5072033 update for Windows 11, Microsoft has addressed a problem that was introduced by a previous update.

Following the recent release of the KB5070311 update, Microsoft was forced to admit that it had – for many people – introduced a flashing issue when dark mode was in use. The KB5072033 update addresses this problem and more.

If you hate the endless AI that Microsoft is cramming into Windows 11, you are far from alone. While the company may believe that everything can be enhanced with artificial intelligence, there are plenty of users who are yet to be convinced.

Now, there are certainly steps you can take to avoid the AI-ificiation of Windows 11 – including sticking with Windows 10 – but it can take time to implement all of the necessary settings. If only someone has created a script to automate the disabling of AI in Windows 11. Oh… they have. Here it is.

Microsoft may wish that things were different, but not everyone is as enamoured with artificial intelligence as the company is. Windows 11 is gradually becoming infested with endless AI components, and it is not something that all users are happy about.

One particular bone of contention is the AI Actions entry in the context menu. Even people who are fans of AI sometimes struggle to see the value in its presence, and it is actively loathed by many. Microsoft is, it seems, finally listening to feedback and giving users the option to hide it.