Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-nine 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 confirmed that Windows Copilot is coming to Windows 10. The AI promises combines Bing Chat functionality with Windows-specific functions.

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Microsoft will give Europeans the option to remove Edge and Bing from Windows

Windows 11 logo on a laptop

Microsoft is giving users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 living in the European Economic Area (EEA) greater control over their software. The company will soon be making it possible to extricate Microsoft Edge and Bing from the operating system.

This is not really by choice, however. Microsoft is introducing the changes in order to comply with the EEA's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The removal options will be rolling out to Windows 11 users in preview first followed by Windows 10. Microsoft says that both Windows 10 22H2 and Winodws 11 23H2 will be fully compliant by March next year.

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Microsoft confirms Copilot is coming to Windows 10 in a major update

Copilot in Windows 10

Microsoft may have previously indicated that Windows 10 is not going to receive any more significant updates, but the company has made an announcement that indicates a change of heart. The AI-powered assistant Copilot is coming from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

While on one hand this is slightly surprising given the previous stance on not bringing new features to Windows 10, there have been recent rumors that Copilot was going to be making its way to Windows 10. This is now official, and the ball is in motion

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Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-eight 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 announced plans to retire the Tips app on Windows. Three Windows services will also be removed because of security concerns.

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Microsoft looks likely to bring AI assistant Copilot to Windows 10

Copilot

Windows Copilot has been available to users of Windows 11 for a little while now, as Microsoft continues its march into the world of artificial intelligence. Now it seems that the company is looking bring the AI-powered assistant to Windows 10 as well.

This is, in some regards, a little surprising -- particularly given the age of Windows 10. But there are still over a billion Windows 10 users out there, so it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to tap into this to extend the userbase for Copilot.

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Microsoft is killing off three Windows services because of security concerns

Microsoft mirror building logo

It is usually the case that new versions of Windows see the arrival of new features and options, but Microsoft is also known to take things away. This month, Microsoft has taken the decision to deprecate three features and services, including WebDAV, in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Also for the chop are the Remote Mailslots protocol and the Computer Browser service. The reason for killing off the trio is security, with age meaning that there are now far better options available.

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Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-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.

The Windows 11 2023 Update is now available. You can install it via Windows Update or download ISO images, if you prefer those.

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Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-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.

It is still unclear when Windows 11 version 23H2, the next Windows 11 feature update, will be released. Eagle-eyed users have now spotted Windows 11 23H2 ISOs on Microsoft servers.

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Demands grow for Microsoft to extend the life of Windows 10 and offer security updates for longer

Stacks of old PCs

Citing concerns about making millions of Windows 10 PCs unsupported and obsolete, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) is calling on Microsoft to extend support for the operating system. Environmental concerns are also highlighted.

Windows 10 is set to be dropped from Microsoft's support list in 2025, meaning there will be no more security updates for the millions of people still using this version of Windows. PIRG points out that many PCs simply cannot be upgraded to Window 11, and large numbers of people cannot afford to upgrade their hardware. This is why the network of organizations is petitioning Microsoft to rethink its decision.

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Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-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 plans to move several native apps to a new System Components hub in Windows 11. The apps include Get Help, Microsoft Store and Windows Security. A new Systems label will be shown in the Start Menu as well and, somewhat surprisingly, for more apps.

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Rectify11 3.0 arrives to fix Windows 11 -- download it now

Rectify11 on laptop

Although Microsoft is actively updating Windows 11, fixing problems and adding new features to its latest operating system -- most notably with the introduction of AI in the form of Copilot -- there are still lots of problems evident in the OS.

These issues and design inconsistencies ruin Windows 11 for many users, but thankfully Rectify11 is here to solve those, and the software has just been updated to version 3.0.

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Microsoft is investigating failed 8007000D errors and installations of Windows 10's KB5031356 update

Windows 10 logo on a beach

This month’s Patch Tuesday update was a significant one for Windows 10 users. The release of the KB5031356 update saw Microsoft addressing a number of security flaws, as well as fixing other issues -- and even introducing some new features.

But there have been problems. Following reports from users, Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating instances of the update failing to install. The company says that the most frequently encountered issue is Error 8007000D (ERROR_INVALID_DATA), and it is using a KIR (Known Issue Rollback) to recall the update for now.

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Best Windows apps this week

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Five-hundred-and-sixty-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.

Windows 11 version 21H2, also known as the initial release version of Windows 11, is no longer supported. Users are encouraged to upgrade to Windows 11 version 22H2 to stay supported.

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Microsoft patches the problems in Windows 10 with the KB5031356 update

Windows 10 laptop

For anyone running Windows 10 21H2 or Windows 10 22H2, Microsoft has a new cumulative update that fixes various issues with the operating system as well as introducing new features and options.

As is customary, Microsoft provides sparse details about the security issues the update addresses, but it does share information about the various other improvements included in the KB5031356 update.

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Play PC games on your Android phone for free using Winlator 2.0 [Updated]

Winlator-Xanadu

If you want to play Android games on your PC, there are third-party emulators like Bluestacks available to install, or you can make use of the Windows Subsystem for Android on Windows 11.

Surprisingly, though, you can do the reverse and play PC games on your Android device. 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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