Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-seven 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 last cumulative update for Windows 10 version 21H2. The operating system has reached end of servicing. Devices that have not been updated yet to either Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11 may be updated to continue receiving support.
How to access the hidden Emergency Restart option in Microsoft Windows


There are a lot of hidden or lesser-known features tucked away inside Windows 10 and Windows 11.
One of these undocumented functions is the Emergency Restart option which can really help if you run into problems with your PC and the Start button isn't working, or your system locks up while being used remotely.
Microsoft brings Windows 10 21H2 to end of service


With the release of the June 2023 security updates for Windows 10, Microsoft has brought Windows 10 21H2 to the end of service. This means that the Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations versions of Windows 10 21H2 will no longer receive any more updates.
End of service for Windows 10 21H2 has been known about for quite some time, and Microsoft recently reminded users that it was about to happen. What has upset some, however, are the forced upgrades that Microsoft is implementing.
Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-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.
Microsoft plans to retire the Cortana application for Windows 10 and 11 later this year. Cortana will live on in some of Microsoft's products for now, but it is clear that it won't play a major role anymore.
Microsoft is killing off Cortana in Windows 10 and Windows 11 later this year


Given that it never really generated a huge degree of excitement, you would be forgiven for having forgotten about Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana. Now the company has announced that support for the Cortana app for Windows 10 and Windows 11 is coming to an end.
Microsoft has not made a huge fuss about killing off the app, slipping out the news in a support document rather than a blog post. But the end of support for the app does not mean that Cortana is disappearing altogether.
Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-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 claims that it has improved the performance of its Windows 11 operating system significantly in the past couple of months.
Watch Windows 10 being installed (and running) on Windows XP


Although most people have long since moved on from Windows XP, some people are still running the ancient OS, even though Microsoft stopped supporting it way back in 2014.
Although the lack of support means continuing to use XP is a risky endeavor, it’s a stable and capable operating system that’s even able to run Windows 10.
Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-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 has started the rollout of the latest Moments update for Windows 11. It introduces a bunch of new features and improvements, including extended live captions support, an option to display seconds in the system tray clock, and an easier way to copy two-factor authentication codes.
Microsoft warns of intermittent failures when copying and saving files in Windows 10 and Windows 11


Microsoft has issued a warning to Windows users that saving or copying files might intermittently fail. The problem affects both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and Microsoft draws particular attention to "Document not saved" error messages in Microsoft Office apps.
While the save and copy issues are more prevalent in commercial and enterprise environments, the problems can affect all users of Windows 10 and Windows 11. There is currently no fix available, but Microsoft has offered up a slightly laughable workaround.
80 percent of businesses are not ready for Windows 11


Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14 2025, just over two years away. But new research from Lansweeper shows that eight out of 10 businesses are still running it.
Windows 11 is gradually creeping into the enterprise but the process is slow. October 2022, data from Lansweeper shows just 2.61 percent of Windows 11 compatible devices were running Windows 11. Recently updated Windows 11 adoption rate figures show that this has now increased to 5.47 percent.
Microsoft acknowledges Start menu, Windows search and UWP app issues... but says Windows updates are not to blame


If you have been experiencing problems opening the Start menu, launching UWP apps or accessing Windows search, you can draw some comfort from the fact that Microsoft is acknowledging that something is going wrong.
But, to make a change, the company is shifting the blame away from an often-at-fault Windows update. Microsoft says that the cornucopia of issues -- which can affect both Windows 10 and Windows 11 -- stem from updates to apps themselves rather than a problematic update for Windows.
Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-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.
The next Moments update for Windows will be released soon. It adds smaller features to the system and improves existing features, such as system-wide Captions support or support for Content Adaptive Brightness Control.
Microsoft provides more details about the drawn-out death of Internet Explorer 11


You thought Internet Explorer was dead and buried? Almost... but not quite. IE11 is still clinging to life, but Microsoft has detailed plans to finish the task of killing it off.
While the company has used updates to disable the browser in Windows 10, parts of it remain in the operating system. Microsoft has now provided an update about how it plans to completely eliminate Internet Explorer 11 -- which remains accessible in certain circumstances -- from Windows.
Is anyone using the Preview pane in File Explorer?


Windows’ default file management tool, File Explorer, has a preview pane. Windows users may toggle it with the keyboard shortcut Alt-P or the selection of View > Preview Pane.
It displays previews of supported file types. If you select an image in the main pane, a thumbnail of that image is displayed in the preview pane.
Best Windows apps this week


Five-hundred-and-forty-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 security updates for Windows 10 and 11 this week. The updates address several critical issues in the operating systems.
Recent Headlines
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.