Articles about Microsoft

Microsoft has started the roll out of the Xbox November update, and this time around it is big news.

Among the new features added with this latest release is the ability to connect to Discord voice channels directly from a console, eliminating the need for a mobile for setup. Other additions include better power options, a new Captures app, and the option to start your live stream directly from your Xbox with Twitch, Lightstream and Streamlabs.

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Microsoft has been increasing its focus on Linux for some years now, including introducing the ability to run a GNU/Linux environment inside Windows 10 and Windows 11 via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This includes most command-line tools, utilities, and applications.

12 days ago, Microsoft released version 0.70.8 of the tool, which fixed plenty of issues and added some extra features. Now, the company announces it is removing the Preview label and making WSL in the Microsoft Store "generally available".

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Insider versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a watermark on the bottom right-hand side of the desktop that shows the version of Windows you’re running and the current build number. This makes it easy to see which build you’re on, so you’ll know whether or not you’re up to date.

This watermark gets removed from stable Windows 10 and 11 updates (and from Insider builds rolled out close to the release date), but you can easily add it back, so you can see at a glance which version of Windows you’re on.

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Whether for reasons of aesthetics, or to be a little kinder to the eyes, the introduction of a dark mode option to Windows was real blessing. But there are times when dark mode is not appropriate, and it is a surprisingly lengthy process to temporarily disable it. Thankfully, Microsoft is working on a solution.

The company has been spotted experimenting with a dark mode toggle that reduces switching between light and dark mode to a couple of clicks.

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After November's Patch Tuesday releases, and ahead of the latest batch of updates for 2022, Microsoft has released a preview of the KB5019157 update.

The company draws attention to three particular highlights of this update including fixing an issue that saw Microsoft Store Update failing. Also highlighted are fixes for daylight savings problems as well as an issue with pinned apps in the Start menu.

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The torrent of problematic updates for Windows shows no signs of drying up. Since Patch Tuesday this month, Microsoft has already confirmed a Direct Access connectivity issue in various versions of Windows (which it sort of fixed by rolling back the update), now the company has issued a warning that this month's updates are also causing problems with Kerberos authentication.

Despite the fact the issue can lead to sign-in problems, failed Remote Desktop connections and printing not working, Microsoft is yet to offer either a fix or a workaround. Virtually every version of Windows is affected.

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Microsoft has acknowledged an issue affecting Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022 that may result in Direct Access connectivity problems.

The problem can arise after installing KB5019509 or later updates, and as a result of the discovery, Microsoft has performed yet another Known Issue Rollback (KIR) -- one of a growing number. The company has also published details of a workaround for those affected.

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For many people cloud storage is now pretty much essential. There's no shortage of services to choose from, but Google Drive and Microsoft's OneDrive are among the most popular. For users of Microsoft's cloud storage, there is some bad news -- and we're not talking about unwanted ads for OneDrive in the Windows 11 Start menu.

The company has announced that, as of next year, it is consolidating cloud storage across Microsoft 365 apps. What this means in practice is that users of Outlook.com will effectively end up with less storage space for personal files as email attachments will count soon eat into OneDrive quotas.

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The uptake of Windows 11 may have been far lower than Microsoft would have hoped, but upgrades to the Windows 11 2022 Update are even smaller in number. While some people have been eager to jump on the 22H2 update, for many users it is not advisable or simply not possible.

There are numerous compatibility holds in place that block automatic upgrading to Windows 11 2022 Update. The latest issue sees Microsoft confirming poor game performance under Windows 11 22H2, with the company putting a block in place to help eliminate disappointment.

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The last update to PowerToys was a hugely significant one, adding two great new utilities in the form of a HOSTS file editor and the File Locksmith tool. Just a week on, it is time for another update.

The newly launched PowerToys v0.64.1 is described as a patch release and it includes a number of updates for several utilities. Among the tools receiving attention are FancyZones, Color Picker and File Locksmith.

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It is the time of the month when Microsoft publishes its Patch Tuesday updates, and as part of this, the company has just released two significant security updates for Windows 11 -- KB5019961 and KB5019980.

Available for Windows 11 21H2 and 22H2 respectively, the KB5019961 and KB5019980 updates not only address key security issues, but also add new features and options, as well as fixing non-security related bugs.

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For Windows users of a certain age, the name PowerToys summons to mind utilities such as TweakUI. In the age of Windows 11, Microsoft saw fit to resurrect and update the much-loved utility collection, and the suite of tools goes from strength to strength as it is developed and updated.

The have been a number of incredible utilities added to PowerToys in recent months, as well as some handy new settings, and you may well have spent some considerable time setting things up to your liking. To save having to do all of that hard work again, here's how to backup and restore your PowerToys settings, and how to transfer settings to another PC.

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If you're someone who has previously been irritated by Microsoft displaying ads in Windows, prepare to roll your eyes, gnash your teeth and howl in anguish. Windows 11 users are finding that the company is now showing advertisements in the Start menu.

As has been the case in the past, Microsoft is using Start menu ads to promote its own products and services -- specifically OneDrive and Microsoft accounts. Unsurprisingly, the reaction from users who have seen the ads has been less than positive.

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Since the release of Window 11 2022 Update, Microsoft has implemented numerous compatibility holds to prevent certain users from upgrading. The latest block is something of a strange one, having been applied to anyone who has previously used the capture feature in the Xbox Game Bar app.

While Microsoft has fixed the issue with the KB5018496 update, this is currently only available in preview and will not get a proper release until later in the month.

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Although Windows 11 has been out for over a year, and we’ve already received the first 'moment' (feature update) for it, Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2), it really isn’t doing as well as it could be, and there is already talk of its successor, Windows 12.

What does Microsoft need to do to make its next OS more appealing? Bringing back some of the features missing from Windows 10 would be a start, but there are plenty of other modern ideas.

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