Articles about Windows 11

Five-hundred-and-fifty-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 is testing several Windows Copilot plugins currently that promise to change the upcoming feature from a simple tool that integrates Bing Chat in Windows into something that administrators might find useful. Notepad and the Windows Snipping are also getting improvements soon.

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Notepad is one of the longest standing Windows apps, having been around for decades. Over the years, there have been slow, gradual improvements and now Microsoft has delivered a much-needed update to the beloved text editor.

Bringing the app more in line with word processors like Microsoft Word, this latest update sees the arrival of automatic file saves and more.

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Kicking off the v0.73 release cycle, which is "focused on new features, stability and improvements", Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.73.0, complete with a new module -- Crop And Lock.

The latest addition to the PowerToys family is described as making it possible to "crop a current application into a smaller window or just create a thumbnail. Focus the target window and press the shortcut to start cropping". This update also includes a number of bug fixes and a range of new features for existing modules.

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Microsoft has released an updated version of its screen capture and screen recording utility, Snipping Tool. As well as bug fixes there are improvements and additions to the Windows 11 tool.

The latest version of the app introduces a number of key changes including the arrival of the combined capture bar, something Microsoft says simplifies switching between screen grabbing and screen recording. There are also changes to audio recording options.

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Windows Copilot -- Microsoft's latest AI tool -- may not seem groundbreakingly useful yet, but all of this is set to change. Microsoft is currently testing a series of plugins for the artificial intelligence-powered assistant that will make it a valuable asset for getting things done at OS-level in Windows 11.

Rather than simply being a glorified version of the new AI-driven Bing, Windows Copilot's plugins allow for tight integration with Windows 11. This means that users will be able to call on Copilot to change settings, interact with the operating system and apps, and much more. Importantly, by taking a plugin-based, modular approach, Microsoft is helping to ensure that Windows Copilot does not become a bloated behemoth.

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Following on from the Meltdown flaw and other related vulnerabilities, a more recent security issue was discovered in the form of Downfall. Tracked as CVE-2022-40982, exploitation of the flaw is known as a transient execution attack and it affects Intel CPUs.

Microsoft has not only acknowledged that the problem exists, but has now provided details of mitigation techniques that can be used. In security advisory KB5029778, the company gives instructions for users of Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server.

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When Microsoft released the KB5029351 update for Windows 11 a few days ago, it didn't take long for complaints to start. Owners of systems with MSI motherboards started to see UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR error messages and Blue Screens of Death.

Microsoft has said that it is investigating the issue, but its announcement was worded quite defensively. The company said: "We are presently investigating to determine if this is an issue caused by Microsoft". Thankfully, MSI has stepped up to the plate and offered up a workaround.

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Microsoft is planning on pulling the plug on Windows 10 relatively soon, leaving users with the choice of sticking with an unsupported operating system, or switching to Windows 11. It's possible the software giant will announce Windows 12 before that happens, but Microsoft has so far said nothing about its future OS, although we have seen some hints about it tucked away in Windows 11.

If you're wondering what Windows 12 could look like, take a look at MiracleOS.

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Five-hundred-and-fifty-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 optional update KB5029331 for Windows 10 brings the Windows Backup app to the operating system. It is not a full backup solution, as it limits backups to specific data and offers to save the data only to OneDrive.

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Installing updates for Windows is always something of a gamble, and this is greatly magnified for anyone who chooses to install the preview versions Microsoft releases each month. A good case in point is the KB5029351 update preview that was released for Windows 11 this week.

There are lots of positive changes introduced by this update, but there are also numerous reports of blue screens and UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR errors. There's good news and bad news to come.

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Windows 10 may be starting to get a little long in the tooth, but Microsoft -- like many, many users -- is not quite ready to abandon it yet.

And with the release of the KB5029331 update, the company is treating those who have chosen to stick with Windows 10 to one of the newest tools from Windows 11. We're talking, of course, about the new Windows Backup app -- and you can grab it right now.

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Microsoft has released the latest batch of preview versions of its software updates, including the KB5029351 update for Windows 11 22H2. This is a non-security update, like all previews, but it includes a large number of bug fixes and an impressive number of a changes, additions and improvements.

The first highlight Microsoft draws attention to is a new hover behavior and options for Search, but there's much more to the KB5029351 update. There are numerous Group Policy changes, including the introduction of policy that can be used by administrators to enable optional updates.

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Having already brought Windows 11's backup tool to Windows 10, Microsoft is porting more apps back to the older version of its operating system.

The latest Windows 11 app to be offered to Windows 10 users is the Photos app. But if you are wondering why Microsoft continues to eliminate reasons to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, the company has a few tricks up its sleeve.

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Five-hundred-and-fifty-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.

Windows 11 users may soon uninstall more native applications. Microsoft unlocked the apps Camera, Cortana, Photos, People and Remote Desktop (MSTSC) in the latest development builds.

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Few people would argue with the notion that Windows 11 comes with more than a little baggage. If you buy a computer with the operating system pre-installed, you can almost always expect the inclusion of bloatware from the manufacturer, but there are plenty of unwanted components even after a clean installation.

With the latest build of Windows 11, however, this is changing. Microsoft is apparently aware, and -- more importantly -- taking notice, of the fact that users are annoyed by having apps forced upon them without the option of uninstalling them. So the company is making it possible to remove more of Windows 11's built-in apps and components.

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