Constantly digging through folders, menus, and dialog boxes to find files or launch programs is a serious pain and can slow down even the speediest of Windows users. Quick Access Popup 12 has arrived, offering a faster way to launch folders, documents, apps, and websites from anywhere in Windows.

The utility, which builds on the original Folders Popup tool, lets users open commonly used locations or run commands with a middle click or a simple Win+W shortcut.

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Having already given Windows Insiders signed up to the Dev and Beta channels a new Windows 11 Start menu experience, Microsoft is doing the same for those on Canary builds.

The new look sees the Start menu being made scrollable for easier access to shortcuts, but there are various other changes too. With the new Start menu landing in the Canary channel, it could be that we are due to see even more changes being introduced as Microsoft experiments. But the new Start menu is not all that the company has added here.

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Microsoft’s development of Copilot on Windows 11 continues, and the company has just released significant updates to Insiders which are likely to win it more fans. New connection cap abilities mean that it is possible to use Copilot in conjunction with various online services including Google Calendar and Outlook.

More than this, however, Microsoft has also added new document creation capabilities. Users are now able to quickly create a variety of documents from within their Copilot sessions, including Word, Excel, and PDF.

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It’s been a long time coming, but Windows 10 is now only days away from reaching the end of its lifecycle, marking the end of updates and security support for one of Microsoft’s most widely used operating systems.

For millions of users still running the OS, this change raises an important question: what’s next? While upgrading to Windows 11 seems like the natural path forward, not every PC meets Microsoft’s stringent system requirements.

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With just a week to go until Windows 10 reaches the end of mainstream support, attention is increasingly turning to Windows 11. And with the release of the latest Dev build of the operating system, Microsoft is making changes to the OOBE.

The Out Of Box Experience is what Microsoft calls what most people refer to as the installation and setup process. With the latest changes, Microsoft is closing loopholes used to create local accounts, thereby forcing the use of a Microsoft Account.

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We have known that the day was coming, and now it has arrived. Smack in the middle of H2, Microsoft has finally made Windows 11 25H2 available – for what it is worth.

While preview builds of Windows 11 25H2 have been available to Windows Insiders for a while, and to seekers more recently. But now the rollout to everyone and anyone is underway. What can you expect from this most recent “feature update” to Windows 11? Not – as even Microsoft admits – very much, really.

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Microsoft has been forced to release an unscheduled update for Windows 11. The newly unleashed KB5068221 update addresses issues with Microsoft Office running in virtualized environments.

For those who have been experiencing the issue, the fact that this update fixes things is reason enough to install it. But Microsoft has also used this update release to share details of a workaround for a SMBv1 share problem.

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Microsoft is taking a step back in time with Windows 11, introducing a feature not seen since the days of Vista. If you are sick of a static desktop background, you will be pleased to learn that you will soon be able to use a video as your backdrop instead.

This is something Microsoft was first playing with nearly two decades ago, before scrapping it as a bad idea. Now – for reasons unknown – the company feels the time is right to revive the DreamScene feature of Windows Vista in Windows 11.

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Want to know a secret? If you don’t like Windows 11, you don’t actually have to use it! I know, shocker right? With Windows 10 support ending on 14 October 2025, millions of PCs will soon be left behind. For users who want to keep their existing desktop or laptop, Linux offers another way forward, and Zorin OS is one of the best Windows alternatives around.

Zorin OS 18 has now entered beta, giving Windows 10 users a chance to try a modern desktop that feels familiar without demanding new hardware or chucking you in at the deep end.

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Google has launched a new search app for Windows 11 which is already being likened to the Spotlight found in macOS. There is also Windows 10 support, but this may not be the case for very much longer given the operating system’s days are numbered.

This is a wide-ranging search tool, and, despite Google’s heritage, it is not limited to searching the web – although it does do this. Using a simple keyboard shortcut that works from anywhere (it is Alt + Space, if you are interested) the app can be used to search files stored locally, those in Google Drive, your apps, and more.

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Whether you are using Windows 11 on a desktop PC or a laptop, keyboard backlighting can be extraordinarily useful... or a huge annoyance. We are talking about standard lighting up of keys here, not RGB craziness, by the way.

When using a keyboard in the dark or low light, the right amount of backlighting can be a boon. But just what is the correct backlighting level is not only a matter of personal taste, but also something that is extremely circumstantial. Microsoft is about to make it much quicker and easier to adjust lighting levels so you can adapt to ambient lighting changes.

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There are plenty of internet speed test tools you can access from your browser, but it looks as though Microsoft is playing with the idea of adding one straight into Windows 11.

If the idea of an internet speed test tool being integrated into Windows 11 interests you, you should perhaps keep your expectation low. Early signs are that this is not an integrated speed tester as such, but a shortcut. Still, it is a useful feature, and making speed testing more accessible is very welcome.

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This will all be over soon, we promise you. But for a little while longer you are going to continue hearing about Windows 10. It is something that has been talked about for so long that it would be easy to start to feel numb to any more mentions of the operating system, but the end of support for Windows 10 has reached an important milestone.

Over the weekend, we hit the point of there being only 30 days left. Never one to miss an opportunity to remind users of Windows 10 about the end of support – or, indeed, to suggest upgrading to Windows 11 – Microsoft issued a reminder about the upcoming end of servicing.

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Microsoft is by no means a stranger to nagging its customers in one way or another – usually with the intention of parting people from their money. In a somewhat unusual move, the company has used the latest preview builds of Windows 11 to introduce a way to pester Microsoft 365 (or “Office” to most of us) subscribers.

A full screen “reminder” – or nag screen – has been added in the Dev and Beta builds of Windows 11 released to Windows Insiders. Microsoft, of course, is talking about it in rather different terms.

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Fans of debloating Windows now have another tool to experiment with. NTDEV, the developer behind the well known Tiny11 project, has created Nano11 Builder, a PowerShell script that hacks Microsoft’s operating system down even further.

While Tiny11 already produced a lighter and more flexible alternative to the full-fat Windows 11 install, Nano11 takes things to the extreme by automating the creation of an installer image that is a fraction of the original size.

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