Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Windows 11 users may soon install free apps or games directly from Windows Search results. The change landed in the latest Windows 11 Canary Insider build.
Downgrading Microsoft Windows -- from Windows 11 to Windows 1.01
From Windows 1.01, released in 1985, to Windows 11, introduced in 2021, each iteration of Microsoft's operating system has brought its own set of features and improvements.
Windows 1.01, with its simple and straightforward interface, marked the beginning of an era of graphical user interfaces for the PC. Windows 2.0 introduced support for expanded memory and improved support for graphics, paving the way for more sophisticated programs and applications. Windows 3.0 brought a more refined interface, with a greater emphasis on multitasking and performance.
Microsoft releases emergency updates to address cropped screengrab privacy flaws
Following the discovery of serious vulnerabilities in the Snipping Tool app for Windows 11 and Snip & Sketch in Windows 10, Microsoft has released out-of-band updates to plug the security holes.
The flaws are similar to the recently discovered aCropalypse bug affecting Pixel mobiles, making it possible to "uncrop" cropped images and potentially expose sensitive information. Having briefly tested updates with Windows Insiders, Microsoft has now made fixes available to all Windows 10 and Windows 11 users.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft changed the schedule for Windows update previews. Preview updates are now always released in the fourth week of a month.
Microsoft is changing the release schedule for Windows update previews
For the majority of Windows users, OS updates are just something that happens in the background. But for anyone who keeps a closer eye on things, the monthly Patch Tuesday is an important day when they know the latest "stable" versions of Windows updates are released.
For some time, however, Microsoft has released preview versions of updates ahead of the wider rollout, giving eager Windows users the chance to grab the latest fixes faster -- and also serve as beta testers. Now the company has announced that a new schedule for non-security preview releases is to be used from next month.
How to install Windows on a USB Flash Drive
Windows installations benefit from fast hard drives, and installing Windows on USB Flash Drives may sound counter-intuitive on first glance. While it is true that dedicated hard drives, especially Solid State Drives, are better suited for running Windows, USB Flash drive Windows installations offer some features that these dedicated installations don’t.
Installation on a USB drive makes the Windows installation portable. You can connect it to different PCs and use it on these, provided that booting from USB is supported. One downside is that this works best with PCs that have the same hardware. This solution has other benefits; it can be used to boot a copy of Windows on a PC it was created on, even if the main hard drive is no longer available.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft unveiled Microsoft 365 Copilot yesterday, which "combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with business data and Microsoft 365 apps".
Microsoft releases PowerShell scripts (KB5025175) to help address BitLocker vulnerability
Microsoft has published details of PowerShell scripts which the company has designed to help automate updating the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to address a BitLocker security vulnerability.
The security feature bypass vulnerability affects both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and sample scripts are available for different editions of both versions of the operating system.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-three in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft released the first build to the newly created Windows 11 Canary Insider channel. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the creation of the new channel, which takes over the Dev channel's far-in-the-future developments.
This isn't Windows XP -- it's a new version of Windows 10, and you can install it now for free
If you want to run a modern operating system like Windows 10, but miss the simplicity and aesthetics of Windows XP, then we have some great news for you.
Windows EXPERIENCE Freestyle Update is a free Windows 10 mod that does a fantastic -- and virtually flawless -- job of mimicking Windows XP, and you can download and install it now directly from the Internet Archive.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft released the second Moments update as a preview update for Windows 11 earlier this week. It brings tabs to Notepad, third-party widgets, new apps, and AI-powered Bing Chat to the operating system. Users who have interface modification tools installed should avoid the update for now, as it may result in startup issues.
Windows 11 gains some market share, but Windows 10 skyrockets
Yesterday, Microsoft released Moment 2, introducing a raft of new features to Windows 11, including Bing AI-power chat integration on the taskbar, Phone Link for iOS, an expansion of widgets, screen recording in Snipping Tool, and a redesigned Quick Assist app, to name just a few.
But while Microsoft is doing its best to make the new OS more appealing to would-be-upgraders, Windows 11’s share remains low.
Microsoft acknowledges offering free Windows 11 upgrades to incompatible Windows 10 PCs, but fails to apologize
Earlier this week, a number of Windows 10 users were surprised to be offered a free upgrade to Windows 11 despite the fact that their hardware did not meet the minimum system requirements set out by Microsoft.
Upon trying to take advantage of the upgrade offer -- which even appeared in virtual machines running Windows 10 -- users were unable to complete the installation. Microsoft has now acknowledged the issue, but has neither apologized nor offered an explanation.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
The next Moments update for Windows 11 is just around the corner. It is expected to be released in March 2023, and to include new features such as Energy Recommendations, a touch-optimized taskbar mode, and visual changes.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-thirty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Microsoft released an update this week that removed Internet Explorer 11 permanently from most Windows 10 devices. Windows 10 and 11 devices are impacted by a new known issue that affects DirectX.