If you can rely on Microsoft for anything, it is that the company will use Windows to push its own products and services – just look at Copilot.
You will have noticed that Microsoft is busy squeezing Copilot into everything it possibly can. The latest victim of this treatment is the Start menu in Windows 11. This should come as no surprise – Microsoft is not only hellbent on shoving Copilot down people’s throats, it is turning to its tried and tested technique of using the Start menu to do so.
TweakNow AutoDark 1.0 is a new, free Windows 11 tool that automatically switches between light and dark mode based on your schedule, without the need for manual changes. It can even sync your wallpapers with the chosen theme and delay transitions during full-screen apps or games.
The app is very straightforward to use. Once installed, all the options are presented in a single screen, so you can set it up how you'd like in a few mouse clicks.
If you’re the sort of person who likes to be in control of what happens on your computer – as much as such a thing is possible – you may have disabled automatic updates for Microsoft Store apps.
Microsoft has, without warning or any sort of announcement, removed this option. If you have installed an app from the Microsoft Store, you are now essentially forced to keep the very latest versions of that app installed.
Microsoft has reminded users, yet again that support for Windows 10 is coming to an end. You could be forgiven for being tired of hearing about this, but as the cut-off date is very much on the horizon, Microsoft’s eagerness to ensure everyone knows is understandable.
There are now less than two months to go until Microsoft stops issuing updates to Windows 10 for anyone who has not paid for extended support. This is really not long, and while it is hard to believe that there could possibly be anyone who is not yet aware of this, there will of course be some.
You can’t have failed to be aware that Windows 10 is approaching its end of life, meaning security updates will soon stop.
For users who don’t watch to take risks with their system safety, the obvious next step is a move to Windows 11, but the newly released SparkyLinux 8.0 offers a lightweight, fast, and fully configurable alternative that supports both modern and older hardware.
It is time for a new PowerToys update, and with the release of version 0.93.0 of the utility suite, Microsoft delivers a lot.
As well as fixing bugs and making improvements to a number of the modules, PowerToys v0.93.0 features a new dashboard UX. There are no new modules this time around but there are some impressive performance improvements.
Six newly discovered Windows vulnerabilities, including one rated as critical, could crash systems, allow attackers to run malicious code, or expose sensitive data. The flaws were uncovered by Check Point Research and privately reported to Microsoft under a responsible disclosure process.
One of the most notable discoveries involves what is likely the first publicly disclosed bug in a Rust-based Windows kernel component. Rust is often chosen for its ability to prevent memory errors that have historically led to security flaws
Microsoft just found a new use for AI. Excel users can now turn to the new Explain Formula feature which uses Copilot to use artificial intelligence to understand how a formula works.
There are many advantages to this. It can serve as a way to learn about how to create new formulae of your own, but it is also a handy way to not only understand how a formula works as well as a means of debugging if the output is not what you were expecting it to be.
Microsoft OneNote is an incredibly useful tool, and a clever one – sometime too clever. After being absent for far too long, it now finally has an unformatted text pasting option.
It is hard to believe that it has taken over twenty years for this to arrive – and it is not clear why it has taken so long – but it is finally here. No longer will you have to strip out unwanted formatting, change color and so on. Unformatted text pasting is now just a keyboard shortcut away.
Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of Windows 365 Reserve, a new cloud-based service to help reduce downtime and disruption for business when disaster strikes.
Whether there is a system failure, a cyberattack, or something else goes wrong, Windows 365 Reserve provides access to a Cloud PC to help reduce disruptions. Microsoft says that it offers businesses “secure and on-demand Cloud PC access from anywhere when you need it most”.
The AI assistant market is projected to grow from $3.35 billion this year to $21.11 billion by 2030, according to Indian research firm MarketsandMarkets.
This represents a compound annual growth rate of 44.5 percent, with North America forecast to have the largest share during that five year period.
There is no shortage of generative AI tools out there, and the latest is Copilot 3D. This experimental tool from Microsoft does very much what you would expect of it – it creates three-dimensional images using artificial intelligence.
As this is an experimental tool, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Firstly, it is not a completed product so there may be issues with it. Secondly, this is an experimental tool which is still being developed, so it could change dramatically or even disappear altogether. But let’s take a look at what is currently available.
A proposal has been put forward to add a new clipboard tool to the PowerToys utility collection. Already available as a standalone app, ClipPing is a simple tool that provides a visual notification whenever the clipboard is used.
Although still in relatively early stages of development, both the tool itself and the suggestion of integrating it into PowerToys have been well-received. ClipPing serves at least a couple of purposes – both useful and security-focused.
Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27919 to Windows Insiders signed up for the Canary channel. While not a release that is jam-packed with new treats, it does include important changes to Windows Search.
Describing the changes, Microsoft uses very curious language saying that it has taken steps to “rationalize and organize Windows Search settings”. What this means in practice is that things are being made more logical, with the company apparently taking time to focus on user experience a little more.
The drum heralding the end of support for Windows 10 has been beaten almost to death, but even at this late stage there is more news about the death of the operating system.
With the mid-October date for mainstream support fast-approaching, there are still plenty of people using Windows 10. Some have opted to take up Microsoft on its last-minute offer of extended support – but a new catch has just been revealed.