Five-hundred-and-seventy-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 released a troubleshooting tool to fix a printing issue that identified non-HP printers as HP printers. The tool corrects the issue when run.

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The upcoming end of Windows 10 support may lead to hundreds of millions of devices becoming obsolete, potentially contributing significantly to electronic waste. The industry predicts that the end of Windows 10 support in 2024 will affect customers' refresh plans, with one in three devices expected to be replaced in the next two years.

Despite the growing capabilities of partners to refurbish and resell PCs, devices not supported by Windows 11 will not be viable for reuse, exacerbating the industry's e-waste problem.

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Microsoft has been killing off -- or at least warning of the impending death of -- a number of features of Windows recently. The likes of Steps Recorder and speech recognition are among those to have been ditched, replaced with Snipping Tool and voice access respectively.

The latest additions to the list of deprecated features are Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Edge and legacy console mode. The former affects Microsoft Edge for Business, while the latter is being converted into an optional feature that won't be part of a default installation.

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Last month, users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 started complaining about an odd problem that saw printers being renamed and the HP Smart app being forcibly installed. It took Microsoft a little while to acknowledge the issue, but ultimately the company conceded that the fault did not lie with HP.

But what those affected by the weird bug have been waiting for is a fix; this is now available in the form of KB5034510: Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool - December 2023. Microsoft says that the tool will restore any previously downloaded model information and icons and will "remove HP LaserJet M101-M106 model information, icons, and application associations" as well as uninstalling the HP Smart app for anyone without an HP printer.

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Five-hundred-and-seventy-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.

Windows Copilot is now also available for Windows 10. Microsoft released cumulative update KB5033372 this week that introduces the AI-powered tool on Windows 10 systems.

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The time of the month for Microsoft to release its security updates for Windows has rolled around again. The company has released the KB5033372 update for Windows 10, bringing not only security fixes, but other improvements and new features -- including Copilot.

As the KB5033372 update includes security fixes, it is rolling out to all Windows 10 users automatically. This means that everyone will be given access to a preview version of Microsoft's AI-powered digital assistant.

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Five-hundred-and-seventy-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.

Windows 10's official support will run out in October 2025. Microsoft confirmed that customers will be able to extend support beyond that month for a price.

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If you have noticed that Windows suddenly thinks you have an HP LaserJet M101-M106, you are not alone. The same is true if you've spotted that the HP Smart app has installed itself on your computer.

These are issues that have been affecting users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 for a little while, but Microsoft has only just acknowledged that a problem exists.

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With support for Windows 10 coming to an end in under two years, Microsoft has been trying to encourage everyone to upgrade to Windows 11. The reality is that this is not something that all Windows 10 users want to do, and it is not possible for many because of hardware requirements.

Now Microsoft has relented. The company has made a somewhat surprising move in giving all Windows 10 users the chance to pay for Extended Security Updates (ESU) when Windows 10 reaches end of service. Until now, the ESU program has only been available to larger organizations and enterprise customers. In opening it up to home users, Microsoft is effectively admitting that it foresees large numbers of people continuing to stick with Windows 10 -- so the company has decided to try to profit from this fact.

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Five-hundred-and-seventy-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.

Microsoft is testing new features all the time. Windows 11 users may soon get more out of their device's battery thanks to the new Energy Saver tool that is currently in development. Another change moves the Copilot button from its center position on the taskbar to the very right of it.

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Microsoft has released the KB5032278 update for Windows 10 22H2, bringing a number of changes and improvements including the arrival of Copilot.

This is an optional update because it is a preview of next month's patch, and because it is a preview it is a non-security update. In addition to bringing Copilot to anyone outside of the EU, the KB5032278 update also includes numerous other changes, additions and fixes.

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When it was first released, Windows 10 famously spied on users and shared all sorts of information with Microsoft. Over the years, the software giant has reigned in this behavior and introduced a wealth of privacy controls to let you manage what you share.

That said, these controls are scattered throughout the OS and finding them isn’t always easy. This is where Win10Privacy can help.

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It's easy enough to get Android games running on your PC. You can use third-party emulators like Bluestacks or NoxPlayer, or you can make use of the built-in Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 11.

If you want to do the reverse and play Windows games on your Android device, that's a little harder, but it can be done. For this you'll need Winlator. We’ve covered this Android app before, but it’s just been updated to improve compatibility and performance, and fix a number of problems.

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Five-hundred-and-seventy 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.

After what felt like ages, Microsoft's Media Creation Toolkit for Windows 11 is finally offering version 23H2 to users. Microsoft began the rollout of the feature update three weeks ago, but only via Windows Update and as direct downloads.

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Despite its age and the not-unrelated fact that end of support can be seen on the horizon, Microsoft continues to surprise by bringing new features and options to Windows 10.

With the release of this month's optional updates for the operating system, the company has announced a new option for Windows 10 admins that allows for great control of system updates. It's a feature that is being ported across from Windows 11.

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