Articles about Windows 11

It is now almost a month since Microsoft started the rollout of Windows 11 2022 Update. While there have been a number of issues standing in the way of some people upgrading, Microsoft is keen that people understand the benefit of installing the first major update to Windows 11 since it launched last year.

As part of this awareness drive, Microsoft has published an article filled with Windows 11 tips. In the name of numerical neatness, there are 11 tips in total, all focused on the new features and options of Windows 11 2022 Update -- or Windows 11 22H2 as it is also known.

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Earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the latest model in its Surface Pro range, the Surface Pro 9.

The company also debuted a new model of its Surface Laptop. The upgraded device comes with the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i5/i7 processor and Thunderbolt 4 and is now verified as an Intel Evo device, which Microsoft says means it’s over 50 percent more powerful than its predecessor. There's no AMD option this time around, unfortunately.

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It’s been ten years since Microsoft debuted the original Surface Pro and while that launch was far from a huge success, the tech giant has continued to stick with the line, producing ever better devices.

Today sees the launch of the Surface Pro 9 and buyers of the updated 2-1 device have a choice of processors -- 12th Gen Intel Core processor built on the Intel Evo platform with Thunderbolt 4, or the Microsoft SQ 3 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon with 5G connectivity.

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Chromebooks sure have come a long way. What was once merely a glorified web browser running atop meager hardware has morphed into a legitimate Windows alternative for home, education, and business use. You can even get Chromebooks with high-quality hardware these days. Thanks to cloud-based video-game-streaming, Chromebooks can serve as gaming computers nowadays too.

Today, Acer launches its first-ever Chromebook designed specifically for gamers. Powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core processor and equipped with at least 8GB of RAM, the 16-inch Acer Chromebook 516 GE should be perfect for game-streaming platforms like NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Amazon Luna to name a few. And yes, this Chrome OS laptop has an RGB keyboard.

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After Microsoft launched Windows 10 back in 2015 it devoted a lot of time and resources to -- shall we say -- 'encouraging' people and businesses to make the switch from Windows 7, even kindly going as far as to automatically upgrading their systems for them.

Things are very different with Windows 11 as Microsoft is happy for the new OS to coexist alongside its predecessor, for the time being at least. There is a downside to this approach however, as it means there’s not the rush to upgrade that Microsoft will have been hoping for, to the point where significantly more businesses are running Windows 7 than Windows 11, despite the former having reached end of life ages ago.

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The problems with Windows 11 2022 Update just keep on coming. Microsoft has just confirmed an issue that people have been complaining about since the release of the first major update for Windows 11 -- slow file copying.

It is a problem that the company previous acknowledged quite quietly when it released the preview version of the KB5017389 update recently, but is now being rather more open about. Microsoft is describing the issue as "slower SMB read performance for large files in 22H2", and while there is currently no fix, there is a workaround.

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Five-hundred-and-eleven 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 Spotify application is being installed on some Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems without user consent. The Spotify app can be uninstalled as any other applications from Settings > Apps and other locations.

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It is not very often we are told to disable security features -- usually, we're enabling options, or leaving things well alone. But now Microsoft has issued some advice about improving game performance in Windows 11, and it involves turning off security features of the operating system.

The somewhat surprising advice comes in a support document entitled Options to Optimize Gaming Performance in Windows 11. Microsoft does point out, however, that this is meant to be done only when gaming, and that security should be re-enabled afterwards.

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The problems with Windows 11 2022 Update keep on popping up, and now Microsoft has issued a warning that "provisioning packages might not work as expected".

What this means in practice is that the Windows 11 OOBE (Out of Box Experience) may not complete, or it might cause unexpected restarts. Microsoft warns that the likes of businesses and schools are most likely to be affected by the issues.

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It’s been a big week for Microsoft already this week as yesterday the software giant began rolling out new features to some Windows 11 2022 Update users, including tabs in Explorer.

Today, the company delivers a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel. Build 25217 comes with the usual collection of fixes and improvements, but also introduces support for third party widgets.

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If you have an HDR monitor connected to your Windows 11 PC, Microsoft has a new app to help you out.

The company has just released the Windows HDR Calibration app to simplify the process of optimizing an HDR display. It's an app that was announced a number of months ago, but it has only just seen the light of day.

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If you have upgraded to Windows 11 2022 Update and found that you are having issues connecting to Remote Desktop, you will be pleased to hear that Microsoft is aware of the problems and is currently investigating.

There has been no official acknowledgement that Windows 11 22H2 is the cause of Remote Desktop issues, but a Microsoft employee has noted the issue and is interacting with affected users in the company's Community forums.

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When Microsoft started the rollout of Windows 11 2022 Update (Windows 11 22H2) recently, there was disappointment that some of the promised features -- such as tabs in Explorer -- were missing. Now the company is starting to push some additional features out to users who are running the Release Preview version of Windows 11.

So, what can you expect from this feature push? Tabs! File Explorer now has tabs, plus some other enhancements, and there's a new taskbar overflow menu. There's more too.

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If you have noticed the appearance of the Spotify app on your computer but you don't recall installing it, you are not alone. There are multiple reports -- or complaints, even -- from users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 that the app has installed itself without permission.

It is certainly not unknown for Microsoft to forcibly install apps on computers, but on previous occasions when apps have been foisted onto people, there has been some sort of announcement or notification. This has not happened this time around, so it is not quite clear what is going on. One thing is undeniable though: people are not happy.

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Brace yourself for a new PowerToys utility. Microsoft's developers are busy working away on a new tool called File Locksmith which will be welcomed by anyone who has ever been greeted by a message informing them that a file cannot be deleted because it is being used.

File Locksmith will add a new entry to the context menu in Windows 11 -- "What's using this file?". The tool will then reveal which processes are using the file in question.

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