Microsoft

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.

We know that PowerToys fans are always looking out for new modules to play with, and Microsoft is quite generous in sprinkling these across releases. But new releases are also about new features, bug fixes, and important tweaks and changes.

In an upcoming release, Microsoft is planning some significant changes for the suite of utilities. Key among the changes is support for theming and using custom backgrounds. One of the modules in line for these changes is the beloved Command Palette.

Despite its age, there are many inconsistencies to be found in Windows 11. New-look aspects sit alongside components which have not been updated since the days of Windows 10, or even earlier.

As part of the continual evolution of the operating system, Microsoft has plans to bring a visual update to the Run dialog. What does this UI update mean?

Microsoft has addressed a security flaw in Windows that has been exploited since at least 2017. The company has not made an official announcement about the fix, but it was spotted by 0patch.

The flaw is known as the Microsoft Windows LNK File UI Misrepresentation Remote Code Execution Vulnerability and has been tracked as CVE-2025-9491. The fix was included in the November batch of updates for Windows.

Microsoft has managed to do it yet again. On the face of things, the KB5070311 preview update is a great update that not only addresses problems such as File Explorer freezing, but also introduces a raft of new Copilot features.

But, as you will have probably gathered, it does not end there. The KB5070311 preview update is another issue-riddled update, this time breaking dark mode in File Explorer.

The new version of Outlook has not proved as popular as Microsoft would have liked, and the company has just been forced to admit to another problem with the email client.

Microsoft has published a warning about a problem with open Excel file attachments, noting that the issue has been around for about two weeks. The cause appears to be the use of non-ASCII characters in file names, and a fix is in the works.

Just last year, Google lodged an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in the EU. Now, a week into the probe by investigators, Google has had a change of heart and has withdrawn the complaint.

The 2024 complaint was filed by Google Cloud, with Microsoft accused of trying to lock users into its Azure product through licensing of Windows, Office and other software. Just last week, the European Commission launched a series of investigations, and this has been the catalyst for Google’s complaint withdrawal.

If you have suddenly found it more difficult to log into Windows 11, you should know that you are not alone. Microsoft has just confirmed that a recent update had the unwanted side effect of hiding the password sign-in option from the lock screen.

This was not something that all users of Windows 11 will have been affected by as there are various factors to consider. Nonetheless, this is a worrying problem that has caused a good deal of confusion and is still yet to be resolved.

With the end of mainstream support for Windows 10 having reached us over a month ago, Microsoft will have been hoping that users will feel forced into upgrading to Windows 11. Has this happened? Not really.

Dell has revealed that there are millions upon millions of PCs out there that are still running Windows 10 and simply cannot run Windows 11. The company also used its Q3 earnings call to share the news that PC sales are slowing – something it predicts will continue into 2026.

A hatred of having to use the Microsoft Store to update many Windows 11 apps is far from being a unique experience. Thankfully, it looks as though Microsoft is working to make some improvements in this area to help alleviate some of the annoyance.

The latest Insider builds of Windows 11 have been found to include an "app updates" page in the Settings app. This, assuming it becomes a mainstream feature, will make life a lot easier for Windows 11 users.

The question we ask every time there is a new PowerToys release is whether or not there are any new modules or options to play with. With the release of PowerToys v0.96.1 being a very minor update in terms of version number, there is a nice surprise in store.

Sadly, if you are hoping for a brand new module, you are going to have to wait a little longer. We know of several utilities that are in the pipeline, but they are not ready yet. What we do see in this small update, however, is a nice surprise for Windows 10 users – the return of the Image Resizer tool.