Microsoft

While Microsoft would prefer that everyone upgrade to Windows 11, this is really not happening to the extent the company would hope. There are still millions of users sticking with Windows 10 for one reason or another, and for these people there is a big update to install.

Just as Microsoft released Windows 11 22H2 (the 2022 Update), so the company also released Windows 10 22H2 a little while ago. Now, in a significant but quiet announcement, Microsoft says that the update has been designated for broad deployment, meaning that it is available to a larger number of eligible Windows 10 devices.

Microsoft has made two big announcements about Windows Subsystem for Linux. Not only is the Microsoft Store app the default version, it is also losing the Preview label as it is now generally available for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The change means that Microsoft is switching away from offering WSL as an optional component of Windows itself. The company says that it has brought the app to the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 users following community requests, pointing out that this means that "Windows 10 can now run Linux GUI apps".

While -- thankfully -- not terribly common, it is certainly not unknown for Windows 11 to just hang. If you have found yourself with a frozen desktop, you may have thought there was no alternative but to restart your computer.

But no matter whether your system froze while you were in the middle of a gaming session, while you were given a presentation, or just surfing the web, there is something else you can try.

There have been complaints recently about Microsoft using the Start menu to promote its own OneDrive service as well as suggesting websites, but another upcoming addition to Windows 11 is likely be rather better received.

Hidden among the numerous new features of Windows 11 build 25247, is an update to the network connectivity icon that appears in the notification area of the taskbar. It provides at-a-glance information about whether your VPN is active.

Around two months after acknowledging an issue with some printer drivers and Windows 11 2022 Update, Microsoft has addressed the problem and lifted the safeguard hold it had put in place.

The safeguard hold meant that people with printers using Microsoft IPP Class Driver or Universal Print Class Driver were blocked from upgrading to Windows 11 22H2. But in removing the block, Microsoft has opened up the latest version of Windows 11 to more people.

Citing customer feedback, Microsoft has taken the decision to bring SwiftKey back to the App Store. Back at the beginning of October, the company delisted the iOS keyboard app resulting in complaints from the app's many users.

Not only has Microsoft reinstated SwiftKey, the company says that it is "investing heavily in the keyboard" but has not offered any specific details about what this means.

It’s nearly the weekend and in celebration of that Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel.

It’s later in the week than usual, but worth the wait as Windows 11 Build 25247 comes with several new features including Energy Recommendations, improvements for Task Manager, and tweaks to the Account settings page. You can also now access Windows Studio Effects from Quick Settings.

It is just a few days since Microsoft acknowledged problems with Kerberos authentication. Affecting Windows Servers with the Domain Controller role, the issues mean that domain user sign in could fail, Remote Desktop connection could fail to connect, and more.

Now the company has released a series of emergency updates to resolve the issues. A total of six out-of-band updates are available (KB5021652, KB5021653, KB5021654, KB5021655, KB5021656 and KB5021657), and they must be manually installed.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.