For many users, myself included, Windows 10 and 11 are functional but unremarkable. The design, while supposedly modern, tends to be a bit, well, boring. The current design comes across as bland, offering little of the warmth or personality that once defined Windows. Remember Windows XP? Whatever happened to the Microsoft that gave us that leap forward in design a couple of decades ago?

Thankfully, there is a solution at hand. Seelen UI is a free tool that reimagines what a Windows desktop can be, giving users the tools to break free from Microsoft monotony. It offers a number of customization features that will let you craft a unique, stylish and practical workspace.

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With Windows 10 set to reach its end of life later this year, Microsoft has been taking every opportunity to heavily push Windows 11 as the only upgrade path for users. The latest operating system share figures from StatCounter show the message is getting through -- slowly -- with Windows 11 achieving 36.65 percent of the market, an increase of 2.53 percentage points since last month.

What that means, of course, is that Windows 10 still has 60.33 percent, suggesting users aren’t in a huge rush to move away from their OS of choice to the AI-riddled sequel. Let’s be honest, Windows 11 isn’t the only game in town for Windows 10 users looking to make the move. One of the more popular alternatives is Nitrux Linux, which has just hit a new milestone.

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If you’re running Windows 11 or Windows 10 but miss the look and feel of Windows 7, there’s a simple yet brilliant way to transform your newer OS into the older one.

This process, which takes just five mouse clicks, brings back all the features you may have missed, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Gadgets, and, of course, those classic Windows 7 games. The familiar, fuss-free Start menu also returns. This transformation works on all versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11, up to 24H2.

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Six-hundred-thirty-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft announced two new Surface for Business Copilot+ PCs this week that are powered by Intel Core Ultra processors.

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When Microsoft released the January security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11 earlier this month, there were soon complaints from users about audio issues. Having only recently acknowledged a link between the update and the problems, Microsoft has now issued a fix.

The release of the KB5050094 update will give those who are willing to install preview versions of updates the chance to get their audio devices working again. The way in which this problem is being address is not ideal, and will raise questions from many people.

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With the v0.88 release cycle for PowerToys, Microsoft says that it will be focusing on “new features, stability, and improvements”. And the release of PowerToys v0.88.0 gets things off to a good start with the arrival of a new tool.

But this release also sees Microsoft giving with one hand and taking with the other. The arrival of the new ZoomIt module is balanced by the departure of Video Conference Mute which has been deprecated and removed from the suite of Windows utilities.

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Six-hundred-thirty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

The latest version of Windows 11 has reached broad availability. The update will be offered on more devices as a consequence and outdated devices may be forced upgraded to version 24H2.

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It can hardly have escaped the notice of anyone that Windows 10 is reaching the end of support later this year. By now, it is abundantly clear that there will be no more (official) security updates as of October, but there are other casualties that are starting to become apparent.

Fans of using themes as a way of customising the look of Windows will be sad to hear that the official Microsoft page that is used to host hundreds of themes is due to be closed down.

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The most recent big update to Windows 11 has been available for more than three months now, and if you have not yet opted to make the leap, Microsoft may be about to do it for you.

The Windows 11 2024 Update is now, in Microsoft’s words, “broadly available”. While there is a lot of focus on getting Windows 10 users to upgrade before their operating system reaches end of life, fans of older editions of Windows 11 need to be aware that forced updates could see Windows 11 24H2 installed whether you are ready or not.

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Six-hundred-thirty in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Next month, Microsoft will install the new Outlook app as part of the February security updates on all unmanaged PCs. Microsoft says there is no way to block that initial installation, but users can remove it again and block it afterwards.

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When Windows 10 first launched back in 2015, it sparked a major backlash for its aggressive data collection practices. Features like default telemetry settings and forced updates left many people feeling uncomfortable with the new OS. Microsoft eventually dialed back some of the most invasive elements, but the damage was done, and some users still worry about how much control the company has over their data.

Beyond privacy concerns, Windows 10 has also faced criticism for performance issues, especially on older hardware, and for limiting user control with automatic updates and a lack of flexibility in system customization. The good news is there is a solution.

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It has been hard to escape reminders that Windows 10 reaches end of support later this year; Microsoft has made much of the fact that there will be no more security updates after October 14. But there are further consequences awaiting anyone who decides to keep using Windows 10.

Microsoft has revealed that when Windows 10 support ends, Microsoft 365 apps (or Office to most people) will also stop working. Users are left with two options -- switch to an Office alternative, or upgrade to Windows 11.

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Auslogics has unveiled its first major release of BoostSpeed for over two years with the release of Auslogics BoostSpeed 14.0. The Windows optimization suite -- available as a free cut-down version alongside a fully featured Pro version, which you can have for just $19.95 -- gains eye-catching new features, optimizations and a major revamp of its user interface.

Existing users will notice the difference immediately on launching the new program. BoostSpeed 14.0 ditches the multi-Dashboard approach by consolidating Basic and Advanced dashboards into a single interface.

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While making much of the end of support for Windows 10, practically begging users to move on to Windows 11, Microsoft is sending out some confusing signals. The company has announced that the new Outlook for Windows will be forcibly installed on the aging operating system.

Somewhat unusually, the app will be pushed out as part of February’s security updates. This is likely to lead to mixed reactions; some people will be unhappy at having software installed against their will, while others will be pleased to get something new and more secure.

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Six-hundred-twenty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Windows 10 users will mass-migrate to Windows 11 this year according to Microsoft. The older version of Windows will run out of support in ten months. Users may extend support for a year officially though.

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