I've always been a fan of physical media, be it movies, music, or games. I'm also old enough that I grew up in a time when it's all we had; there was no Spotify or Netflix.

Slowly I'm working through it all to create digital copies for both archival purposes and convenience since there are plenty of situations where it's not practical to put a disc in a machine and consume its content.

Right now I'm working through a vast stack of CDs acquired from the days when cars had CD players, not just screens connected to your phone or directly to streaming services. But I quickly found that the app I've used for this process in the past, the stock Windows 11 Media Player, nowadays isn't up to scratch.

It will still rip CDs, but it's no good for the metadata anymore. Microsoft turned off the online tool that you could use to grab it, but even then, I figured I could just enter it manually, right?

Seems that doesn't work all the time, either. Even on the few CDs I have that actually have the metadata on them already. It took ripping a few discs for me to realize that information wasn't being applied to some or all tracks, and the artwork wasn't sticking, either. So I needed a replacement, and frankly, I should have just gone for this out of the gate.

Enter Exact Audio Copy (EAC). A free app that is absurdly powerful and does the job right the first time.

Without online metadata the process takes too long anyway

Admittedly, it's been a while since I last digitized a stack of CDs, and it had completely passed me by that Microsoft had turned off the service to get the information online. It's a pretty poor experience for a stock app, even if it's a feature that's increasingly used by fewer people.

A better solution would have been to update the app, allowing its users to find an alternative source of this information. There are options out there, such as MusicBrainz, a free and open-source database of metadata. Maybe I'm asking too much; after all, Microsoft didn't even update the app to remove the option to check for metadata.

It's still there; it just gives you an error if you try and use it. I actually quite like the stock Media Player app, and still use it to play music. It's simple and mostly nice to use. If it's not going to work properly, though, just remove it altogether.

Exact Audio Copy is the perfect solution

Fortunately there is always an alternative, and in this case, it's called Exact Audio Copy (EAC). There will be folks out there that have known of this app for years and are screaming at my incompetence for not going straight to it.

But I didn't know it existed. I'm glad I do now.

This isn't a full tutorial on how to use the app, mostly because I'm doing one specific thing, but it is really powerful. There are plenty of better tutorials out there, such as this one.

All I want is an accurate rip in FLAC, a standardized filename structure, metadata, and album artwork applied. The good news is that if you just want the same thing every time, EAC will run you through a setup wizard when you first use it. From there, you shouldn't need to touch your settings again.

The only thing I did need to change was the metadata provider. The default option is only free for 10 rips, but you can change it within the app to MusicBrainz, which is completely free.

I now know I should have used this all along. AccurateRip will check your CD against a database of other exact rips to ensure yours is as perfect as it can possibly be. It can deal with scratched discs (of which I sadly own several), and it communicates directly with the hardware.

I may be underselling it, but I'm as far from an expert as there is on this stuff. There are plenty of more knowledgeable folks out there, like this post on Flemming's blog that is an excellent resource for getting set up properly.

EAC isn't the only alternative to using Media Player, but it's the one I tried first, and I'm happy. I may try and get in the weeds at some point, but for now it's doing what I need. Archiving my CDs accurately, with good quality, and all the necessary metadata.

If you've any tips or tricks to share on this process, or even an alternative worth trying, be sure to drop them in the comments below.

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Built as an alternative to the standard File Explorer in Windows 11, Files is an open-source project that always seems to stay one step ahead of Microsoft. Its latest update to Files v4.2.7 is a perfect example, as it focuses on improving the speed and overall responsiveness of the right-click menu before the official context menu upgrade comes to Windows.

The optimization trend extends to multitasking in Files, as v4.2.7 also improves its memory cleanup habits when any tabs are closed. Efficient tabs are a headline feature of the app, even if the experience feels quite similar to File Explorer — including its support for keyboard shortcuts — but Windows PC enthusiasts will undoubtedly appreciate any efforts to lower memory usage.

The context menu is improving in multiple ways

We already knew that plans to fix Windows 11's slow context menus are coming with a major overhaul, and it certainly feels overdue, but it's a step in the right direction for Microsoft. Nevertheless, some of our YouTube audience certainly share this sentiment, and I wouldn't be surprised if Files sees broader adoption among like-minded PC users with updates like this.

I first started using the Files App on my primary laptop shortly after v4.0 launched, when it added more flexibility for the right-click context menu. It isn't installed on all of my PCs, but on my travels I find it quite useful alongside my portable mainstays like PowerToys Run. Anything that lowers my RAM usage is a winner in my eyes, whether it comes from Microsoft or elsewhere.

You can try Files — and even make it your default file manager in Windows 11 without uninstalling File Explorer or damaging your OS in any way — to see if you prefer the experience over Microsoft's default implementation. If you don't, it's no big deal; you can revert to the standard experience by uninstalling it, as you would with any other app. Give it a shot.

Files v4.2.7 changelog

• What’s New in Files v4.2.7
  • Improved context menu performance
    • Opening the right-click context menu is now noticeably faster and more responsive.
  • Open a new tab by middle-clicking the tab strip
    • You can now open a new tab by middle-clicking an empty area of the tab strip, giving you a quick way to add tabs without reaching for the new tab button.
  • Select items opened from other apps
    • When you open a file’s location from another application, Files now selects that item in the folder automatically.
  • Reduced memory usage after closing tabs
    • Files now frees up more memory when tabs are closed, helping keep the app lightweight during long sessions.
• Fixes
  • Fixed issue with the filter text box being cleared.

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GitHub is down for thousands of users, potentially costing millions of dollars in lost productivity. Outages started around 9:40 AM ET and affect API requests, pull requests, and webhooks.

The issues also affect Copilot. A massive number of developers and companies rely on GitHub and Copilot to get work done, so even a few hours of serious issues can be costly.

The official GitHub status page states:

"We are experiencing high error rates around 20% for web experiences and api traffic. Archive downloads and raw repository content downloads are experiencing an approximate 50% error rate. SAML and OIDC authentication, SCIM, and Team Sync are also impacted. We are still working to identify the root cause and will continue to post updates as we learn more and perform mitigation."

The cause of the outage is unknown at this time.

"We identified the problematic component and have taken corrective actions. There are strong signs of recovery but we are still working to completely restore service, with error rates still remaining slightly elevated. We will post further updates as recovery continues."

This is a developing story. We will update this piece as more information becomes available.

A former Microsoft engineer is working on a way to make Live Tiles relevant in 2026. Jeff Fritz, who worked at Microsoft until last month, has been showcasing an app called DayFrame on several of his recent live streams.

DayFrame is what happens when Windows Phone and Outlook have a baby. The app features a persistent hub with shortcuts to your email, calendar, contacts, and other tools. The layout is inspired by Windows Phone and would look natural on a Lumia smartphone.

Fans of retro Windows design will appreciate the Live -Tile-inspired interface, icons, and text. Though the app is built with classic Windows UI elements in mind, the experience won't be exclusive to PC. DayFrame will be available on both Windows and Mac when it ships.

"Instead of juggling separate apps, DayFrame gives every part of your personal world a home behind a single shell," reads the DayFrame website. "A persistent tile rail on the left keeps your modules one tap away — bold, square, unmistakably blue — while the main pane shows whatever you're focused on right now."

Sadly, the app is not available yet and is simply listed as "Coming soon." But Fritz mentioned on X that a private preview for the app should be available in the next week or so.

Fritz notes that the screenshots shown on the DayFrame website are of "real, running code," so they're more than just design mockups.

DayFrame is designed to be expanded over time. Each module is built independently and tested separately, which allows Fritz to add new modules without affecting preexisting ones.

The concept behind DayFrame is intriguing. A lot of apps feel like cookie-cutter tools made with templates. While DayFrame is inspired by Windows Phone, it takes the familiar layout and builds on it.

I'd love to see DayFrame be embraced by a community of developers after it comes out. Maybe we'll see some unique modules added to the app.

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A dramatic saga is unfolding on X, and VLC and Microsoft Defender are at the center of it. Things kicked off when video game designer Jonathan Blow criticized the open source community due to an issue he had with VLC.

A curious issue causes MP3 files to take a while to open in VLC. In some cases, opening a file can take over 30 seconds.

"Finally switched *away* from VLC *to* Microsoft Media Player, because VLC now takes 33 seconds to start playing an mp3 after clicking on it," said Blow. He added, "A large sector of open source software is in a truly embarrassing place now..."

Blow's post now shows a community note because the bug is due to Microsoft Defender, not VLC. Or at least, that's the claim of several people on X.

VideoLAN, the makers of VLC, responded to Blow:

"This is because of a « bug » from Microsoft Defender in one update of Windows 11, who magically made VLC plugins cache quarantined by Windows. Reinstalling VLC or regeneration of the plugin cache will fix this. Calling open source software embarrassing when it is a Windows update that broke it is quite disrespectful."

In response, Blow claimed that he had to fix an issue that was caused by a faulty graphics driver sent out by AMD. His post suggests that VLC should fix the issue even if the problem is caused by Microsoft Defender.

What's actually happening?

My wife would say that this is all a "storm in a teacup." I don't see the need to be as aggressive about this topic as people have been on X.

Over on Reddit, cooler heads prevailed. A discussion on the topic happened in the r/pcmasterrace subreddit. There, people focused on what's causing the issue and how to fix it.

At least some of the issue is related to Microsoft Defender. That's clear because adding VLC's folder as an exception to Defender fixes the problem, as highlighted by user "nicktheone."

If it were exclusively an issue with VLC, creating the exception within Microsoft Defender would not solve it.

Of course, you could still debate whose responsibility it is to fix the issue. Even a bug related to Microsoft Defender could potentially be fixed by the VideoLAN team. That's certainly what Blow did while spending much of his Wednesday afternoon arguing with people on X.

How to create an exception for VLC in Microsoft Defender

You shouldn't have to create an exception for VLC in Microsoft Defender to open an MP3 in less than 30 seconds, but... here we are. Luckily, the steps to do so are simple:

• Open Windows Security
• Select Virus & threat protection
• Select Manage settings
• Select Add or remove exclusions (it's at the bottom of the page)
• Click Add an exclusion
• Select Folder
• Navigate to C:\Program Files\VideoLAN
• Click Select Folder

Before making an exclusion, VLC took about five seconds to open an MP3 on my computer. After creating an exclusion, opening the same file took under one second.

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Microsoft is too pushy with its Edge browser, according to a recent survey shared by the Browser Choice Alliance. Polling 2,000 adults in the United States provided some insight regarding how easy it is to switch browsers on Windows 11 and if the operating system respects user choice.

Microsoft has been criticized for years for pushing Edge. Windows 11 introduced settings that make changing the default browser more complicated, such as a person electing to change their default only affected certain file types. The situation has improved a bit over the years, but it's still surprisingly difficult to just tell Windows 11 to never use Edge.

It's important to note that the Browser Choice Alliance includes several members that compete directly with Microsoft Edge. Chrome, Vivaldi, and Opera are all part of the alliance. That does not discount the experience of the people surveyed, but it provides some context.

Many members of the Browser Choice Alliance would benefit from more freedom about browser choice and simpler default settings. I would argue that those would also be good things for everyday users as well.

With that in mind, here are some of the highlights of what the Browser Choice Alliance found through its survey:

• 86 percent of those surveyed believe they should have primary control over their default browser and 80 percent want "one-click browser default."
• 26 percent of participants have Edge as their default browser compared to only 19 percent who say they would choose Edge as their default browser.
• 72 percent of participants who tried to change their default browser within the last two years ran into challenges, such as Edge being recommended and applications or links opening in Edge despite that browser not being set as default.
• 29 percent of those surveyed claim Windows system updates "contributed to their browser preference being changed or reset."
• Older adults often struggle with setting their default browser.
  • 44 percent of those surveyed ages 65 or older claimed changing their default browser was complex. Only 15 percent of people ages 18 to 44 said the same.
  • 61 percent of participants 65 or older said they were not confident setting their default browser.

The survey results are not surprising, except perhaps that 14 percent of participants do not think they should be able to pick their default browser.

Microsoft is so eager to push people to use its Edge browser that when forced to give users more choices by the EU, Microsoft only shipped those changes within the EU. The company could have used that as an opportunity to just give people greater control over their PCs, but it didn't.

The fact that MSEdgeRedirect and EdgeDeflector ever existed is a stain on Microsoft's reputation. Those tools, which forced links to open with your default browser either don't work or are limited now.

Microsoft claimed having widgets or other system components open in Edge regardless of if Edge is the default helps ensure the best end-to-end experience. Many, including myself, question the validity of that claim.

With Microsoft following in the footsteps of Google by discontinuing support for MV2 extensions, uBlock Origin will no longer work in Edge. That extension is a must-have for some users, so they may be on the lookout for a new browser. But based on the recent survey performed by the Browser Choice Alliance, changing to a different default browser may be more challenging than it should be.

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Microsoft Edge will soon drop support for Manifest Version 2 (MV2), which means uBlock Origin will stop working in the browser. But Windows 11 users still have some browsing options that will support uBlock Origin and other MV2 extensions.

The Firefox account on X shared a simple message in response to an article about Edge ending support for certain extensions: "Firefox support for uBlock Origin is not going anywhere."

Brave shared a longer message, which emphasized that "Brave will keep supporting uBlock Origin" and that Brave hosts uBlock Origin and other MV2 extensions on its own servers. To enable MV2 extensions in Brave, you need to go to Settings > Extensions > Manifest v2 extensions.

Brave also has a built-in ad blocker that's unaffected by the MV2 changes.

Firefox runs on the Quantum browser engine, which is built specifically for that browser and is separate from Chromium. Brave is a Chromium browser. With both Chromium and non-Chromium options, people have a variety of ways to continue to use uBlock Origin.

Why are some browsers stopping uBlock Origin from working?

MV2 is an extension platform that developers can build upon. That older platform is being replaced by Manifest Version 3 (MV3), which is more secure and provides better performance than MV2.

The transition from MV2 to MV3 brings improvements, but it also removes support for the WebRequest API, which lets ad blockers dynamically intercept and block requests before they load.

The side effect of the transition is that uBlock Origin no longer works.

Since uBlock Origin Lite is an MV3 extension, it does not dynamically intercept content before it loads.

It's about more than blocking ads

In our recent poll about ad blockers, over 70% of respondents said they use uBlock Origin. Since that poll appeared in a piece about Edge ending support for uBlock Origin, the results are a bit self-selective, but still interesting. Even among those already interested in uBlock Origin news, 12% said they use uBlock Origin Lite.

While uBlock Origin Lite blocks many ads, it does not process ads in the same way as uBlock Origin. The full version of uBlock Origin intercepts the ads entirely, which reduces bandwidth usage and improves browser performance.

If you've ever loaded a web page and noticed that ads appear to be slowing things down, uBlock Origin would help in that situation but uBlock Origin Lite would not.

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Microsoft Edge may soon let you sign in with an Apple account. The latest Canary build of Edge includes flags that, if enabled, let you sign into the browser with your Apple account.

Using your Apple account within Edge will make it easier to keep your bookmarks, history, and other content synced across your phone and your PC. Many people, including myself, use a computer running Windows 11 and an iPhone.

The change was spotted by Leo Varela, who often leaks or highlights features in Edge and other browsers.

Microsoft did not initially plan to support non-Microsoft accounts within Edge. Google account support rolled out recently and now support for Apple accounts appears to be on the way.

Of course, you could use Edge without any account at all. The browser works without requiring signing in. But syncing data and some other features require using some sort of account to sign in.

Windows Central take

It's interesting to see how Microsoft's cross-platform app strategy has shifted over the years. Some apps have been available on other platforms for over a decade, but Microsoft increased its efforts to have a presence on iOS and Android after shutting down Windows Phone.

With no phone operating system of its own, Microsoft aimed to provide a premier experience for its services on Android and iOS to meet people where they are. Microsoft bought up popular apps like Wunderlist and SwiftKey to make a Microsoft experience on mobile platforms made by Google and Apple.

Back in 2015, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about his "iPhone Pro," which was just a normal iPhone with a bunch of Microsoft apps on it.

These days, several Microsoft apps feel like abandonware and others lag behind the competition. The glory days of the "iPhone Pro" are over.

I do appreciate flexibility when it comes to signing in to Edge, but I can't help but wonder if adding support for Google and Apple accounts is an admission that Microsoft can't even get people to use a Microsoft account in Microsoft Edge.

Rather than trying to force users into the Microsoft umbrella, the company seems to be accepting its mobile reality. It is finally conceding that to keep PC users on Edge, it has to let them live inside Google and Apple's account ecosystems instead.

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Microsoft PowerToys will soon add on-device support for Phi Silica. Microsoft called that small language model (SLM) "small but mighty" when announcing it in 2024. Now, that model is available for Advanced Paste in the latest PowerToys preview.

Advanced Paste is a utility in PowerToys that formats content from your clipboard. It supports several formats, including plain text, markdown, and JSON. You can also use it to extract text from images using OCR and transcode audio and video files.

When first launched, Advanced Paste required an OpenAI API key, but PowerToys later added support for other models. Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Gemini, and Mistral are cloud services that work with Advanced Paste. Foundry Local and Ollama both work with the feature locally.

Phi Silica is now available as an option for local AI processing in the latest preview.

While you may not have heard of Phi Silica, you've likely heard of tools it powers if you have a Copilot+ PC. Click to Do and on-device rewriting in Word and Outlook are powered by Phi Silica.

Phi Silica uses the NPU of a device, which helps with efficiency.

The GitHub page for PowerToys lists all the changes in the latest preview. Here are the highlights from the same page:

PowerToys v0.101.2211.0 Highlights

• Advanced Paste: Added an on-device Phi Silica provider and more per-action AI customization options.
• Command Palette: Improved dialog handling, icon loading, memory cleanup, theme behavior, and dock performance monitoring.
• Window management: Improved shutdown behavior across FancyZones, Grab And Move, and Always On Top, and made Always On Top borders render solidly at full opacity.
• Keyboard Manager: Fixed the elevated Run Program browse flow in the new editor.
• Mouse Jump: Moved Mouse Jump to the newer WinUI app architecture and packaged its new binaries into signed release builds.
• Settings: Added an update channel selector and a guided Bug Report flow with progress and a GitHub shortcut.
• Quick Accent: Made press-and-hold activation cancel cleanly so the picker appears only when intended.
• Preview releases: Added dedicated preview-release versioning and update-channel support so preview builds can be published and tested independently from stable releases.

PowerToys has a growing library of utilities, so there's a lot to look at in the latest preview even if you do not care about AI. Command Palette will perform better and Window management has been improved across FancyZones, Grab And Move, and Always On Top.

Mouse Jump being moved to WinUI modernizes the utility and gets it in line with Microsoft's push to use WinUI across Windows.

WinUI 3 is the native framework for Windows. Microsoft is moving several key components of the OS to WinUI 3 and rebuilding that framework.

The latest preview of PowerToys also makes it possible for preview builds to be published and tested independently.

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Like millions of other people, I have a Windows 11 PC and an iPhone. I'm envious of some of the ways Macs and iPhones connect, but I still rely on Windows 11 for everyday work and my hobbies.

AirDrop is one of the features I want the most when looking over the digital fence at my friends who are fully in the Apple ecosystem. While you cannot use AirDrop on a PC, there are some great alternatives.

"Does anyone actually have a good way to transfer files between an iPhone and a Windows PC?" asked Reddit user Palunath in the r/Windows11 subreddit. Users responded with several options, but two stood out: Blip and LocalSend.

Reddit delivered with both those recommendations. I downloaded both and have used them over the last week. I'm hardly the first person to highlight these apps, but if people are asking for AirDrop alternatives on Windows 11, they likely haven't heard of Blip and LocalSend.

Top pick: Blip

Transferring files is quicker and easier if both of your devices are on the same network, but Blip works when on different networks as well.

Blip is my top pick. It's easy to use, has an interface that feels familiar, and it's extremely fast. It's similar to AirDrop but without the Apple exclusivity.

Blip supports sending files and folders without any size limits (Blip's website says "99TB? Game on").

Not having to zip folders is a big plus, as is being able to send large photo files.

Blip is free for non-commercial use. If you're a business user or want priority speed, you can subscribe for $25 per user per month.

Signing up for Blip is easy and just requires entering your email and confirming the code you're sent.

Blip's website has download links for all supported platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux.

Secure second: LocalSend

LocalSend works very well, but its structure has some pros and cons. Because it works through your network, it works without the internet. It's also incredibly fast, assuming your Wi-Fi network has quick speeds.

LocalSend doesn't require an account or logging in. Your devices from the network just appear within the app. You can mark devices as favorites to streamline sharing as well.

You can download LocalSend through its website (or just use the service through that site). LocalSend is free to use.

You can send files to a single recipient or multiple recipients as well, which makes LocalSend feel a bit more like AirDrop.

LocalSend is open-source, fully offline, and peer-to-peer, so it's a great choice for people who value privacy.

The obvious drawback is that LocalSend is for sending files locally. If you just need to send files at home or work when devices are on the same network, LocalSend provides a seamless experience.

OneDrive and iCloud

Blip and LocalSend are made for sharing files on demand. If you want to sync entire folders or all of your files, you can use apps like OneDrive or iCloud.

In my experience, these apps are much slower at syncing and sending files, but they're a great way to back up content.

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Microsoft accidentally shipped the new OneDrive Photos app to millions of PCs recently. Microsoft EVP of Apps and Agents Jeff Teper explained that the app was shipped earlier than intended.

We now have more details about the OneDrive Photos app, courtesy of the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. While the app was rolled out to PCs accidentally, Microsoft plans to release it in the future. When the app does ship (on purpose), there will be options to manage it or uninstall it.

There are two entries on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap related to OneDrive Photos. The first is about greater control that will be given to admins:

"OneDrive is adding administrative controls for the Photos experience on Windows. Organizations can manage whether users sign in with personal Microsoft accounts. These controls help IT teams align OneDrive Photos with their access, data governance, and device-management requirements."

That feature should start rolling out this month. Considering that the OneDrive Photos app was accidentally installed on some managed PCs that were unable to use the app, these administrative controls should be a welcome addition.

The second entry is about all users and the option to remove the OneDrive Photos app:

"OneDrive is giving people more control over their Windows experience by allowing them to uninstall the OneDrive Photos experience independently. Removing the Photos experience does not uninstall the OneDrive app, interrupt file sync, or delete photos and files. This provides a clear removal option for people who prefer to manage their photos with another app."

That feature is expected to roll out next month. As always, roadmap dates are estimates and subject to shift.

Those entries, which were first spotted by Neowin, were only added to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap after the accidental rollout and following backlash. We may see more details on the roadmap about OneDrive Photos soon.

The main question surrounding the OneDrive Photos app is why it needs to exist at all. Microsoft's Photos app for Windows already integrates with OneDrive. The OneDrive Photos app is a web-based experience that is less native and seemingly against the current goals Microsoft has set to improve its first-party apps.

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I’ll be honest: I’ve never liked Apple’s notch design. I find it intrusive, and the whole “Dynamic Island” thing always felt like a marketing trick to justify a hardware compromise.

So when I saw Notchify pop up on Reddit, my first thought was, why would anyone want that on Windows?

But curiosity won. I downloaded it from the Microsoft Store, tried the free trial, and within minutes I realized something—this indie app actually makes the concept work in a way that feels right on a PC.

That said, if you're a bit horrified at the idea, I mean, I totally get it. But hear me out.

What Notchify does

At its core, Notchify is pretty simple. The app creates a “fake” notch or “island” at the top of your screen. And yes, its functionality is what actually saves it. You can use it to display notifications, media playback controls, weather, battery, timers, microphone indicators, and more.

There's even a built-in clipboard for copied content and quick access.

You can see some of it in action in the above embedded video.

The settings are straightforward. You can toggle between Island (disconnected) and Notch (connected) modes, pick which monitor it appears on, and decide if it should launch at startup.

The Appearance tab lets you adjust the theme, blur, and popup behavior for volume or brightness changes. The Widgets section is where the fun begins, as you can mix and match small widgets like battery display, time, and microphone indicators, or go big with calendar, weather, and media playback.

The notch lives on your PC as "always on top," and when you mouse over it, it expands with whatever info you chose it to display. The animations are a bit janky, but it works.

It’s clean, modern, and surprisingly polished for an indie project. The dark theme looks great.

Why I ended up liking it (mostly)

I use a massive 52-inch Dell Ultrasharp monitor, and one of the downsides of that much screen real estate is that my eyes are constantly darting around for notifications, time, or playback controls.

Notchify fixes that by putting everything in one place.

I still don’t love the idea of a notch (it’s not my aesthetic), but I can’t deny how practical it is. Having a small, centralized hub for quick info saves me from scanning the corners of my display. It’s one of those things that quietly improves workflow without demanding attention.

And if you've listened to me on our podcast, you know my big beef with Windows 11 is how I can't adjust where notifications appear from, which seems dumb in 2026.

For anyone switching from macOS to Windows 11, Notchify might even make the transition easier. It brings a familiar visual cue while adding more flexibility than Apple’s version ever offered, and that's kinda cool.

Probably the most obvious issue is that Windows 11 doesn't "wrap" around the app, so when running apps full screen (like your web browser), you may end up blocking access to some features. And no, you can't move it around, which was a bit surprising.

The best part of this story isn’t just the app; it’s the community that helped shape it. On Reddit, user GuppyFarmer posted a detailed breakdown of Notchify’s CPU usage, pointing out that it was higher than expected. Instead of brushing it off, the developer responded, thanked them, and used the data to fix the issue.

That kind of interaction is what makes indie development fun. Constructive feedback, not just complaints, helps these projects grow. GuppyFarmer’s analysis gave the dev exactly what they needed to optimize performance, and the result is a smoother, more efficient app for everyone.

Too often, feedback online turns into negativity. Here, it turned into progress.

My takeaway

The app costs $1.99 after the free trial, which feels completely fair for what it offers. It’s not bloated, it’s not subscription-based, and it’s updated based on real user input. That’s the kind of indie pricing model I’ll always support.

I still don’t want a notch on my laptop or desktop, but Notchify convinced me that the idea can be useful when done right. It’s a small, clever utility that adds genuine functionality to Windows, and maybe it'll inspire some other creations to solve some problems.

And hey, it proves what many of us already know: good ideas don’t have to come from big companies. Sometimes, a single developer with a Reddit post can create something that feels fresh and helpful.

If you’re curious, give the free trial a spin. You might find yourself liking it more than you expect.

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If you use uBlock Origin on Microsoft Edge, it's time to start looking at alternatives. Microsoft has shared a timeline for the transition away from Manifest Version 2 (MV2) extensions. That transition will end support for uBlock Origin on Edge, alongside a small group of other extensions.

Microsoft aims to fully transition consumers away from MV2 extensions by the end of 2026. Some users will start seeing notices about the change this month (August 2026). Microsoft will then gradually turn off MV2 extensions by default over the coming months.

Enterprise users will be transitioned away from MV2 extensions in 2027.

It's not a surprise that MV2 support is being discontinued. In fact, the surprise is that we finally have a confirmed date for the end of support. Microsoft has had MV2 support on the chopping block for ages but had not committed to a firm cutoff date.

MV2 and its replacement Manifest Version 3 (MV3) are extension platforms that developers can build upon. There are technical differences between the two, the most notable is that MV3 limits the WebRequest API, which allows ad blockers to dynamically intercept and block network requests before they load.

Since Edge is built on Chromium, which is Google's open-source engine, Google pushing MV3 affects Microsoft Edge.

This shift to MV3 is not arbitrary; there are practical benefits to the switch. MV3 is more secure and provides better performance than MV2. Some believe the transition to MV3 is being pushed to give Google more control over ads on the web, though that is up for debate.

The end of MV2 support will affect several extensions, but the biggest one is uBlock Origin. I suspect few would care about the end of MV2 support if uBlock Origin were unaffected.

Microsoft states that 95% of the top MV2 extensions in the Edge Add-ons store have been moved to MV3. There are only 58 MV2-based extensions in the Edge Add-on Store at all. Only three of those MV2-based extensions do not have MV3-based equivalents available.

There is a version of uBlock Origin that works with MV3, though it's uBlock Origin Lite. That extension lacks some of the granular controls of the full version. It also works differently in the background, hiding most content rather than preventing items from loading.

Many people could replace uBlock Origin with uBlock Origin Lite without issue, but power users could struggle with the change. Some people plan to switch browsers before changing ad blockers.

Mozilla Firefox still supports the tech needed for uBlock Origin to function. Brave committed to keeping MV2 extensions working as well.

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Microsoft Outlook has a handful of changes in the works that will make it easier to stay on top of emails and events. Some of the upgrades, such as drag and drop support for rescheduling events, will change how you interact with Outlook, while others are smaller upgrades.

All of the improvements are detailed on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. I've taken five of the most exciting entries from that roadmap and gathered them in the chart below.

Being able to filter messages to only show those with calendar invitations will save me a lot of time. I get a lot of calendar invites from my wife to coordinate our schedules, but I also get a lot of emails from my wife about other things.

After finding those events, I'll be able to move them around in Outlook by dragging and dropping them. Since we have a young child, we often need to move things to different times of the day to align with naptime. I wish drag and drop support was on the way to the web version of Outlook as well, but the roadmap entry only mentions iOS and Android.

Which features would you like to see added to Outlook? Are there any improvements on the way that you're especially excited about? Let us know in the comments!

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In most modern homes, people rarely depend on a single shared computer anymore. Instead, most families use a combination of Windows 11 laptops, macOS devices, Android phones, iPhones, tablets, smart TVs, and cloud services, all connected through the same home network. The problem is that one weak device can compromise the entire network.

As digital life spreads across more devices and services, security gaps become easier to overlook. Attackers increasingly target the weakest link, often a device without proper protection, outdated software, or a misconfigured app.

TL;DR

• The risk: Users today rely on multiple devices, accounts, and platforms.
• The solution: All-in-one protection makes digital safety easy by eliminating coverage gaps between different operating systems.
• Bitdefender Total Security: Provides a seamless multi-device coverage starting point for Windows 11, macOS, iOS, and Android.
• Bitdefender Premium Security: Includes integrated privacy tools, such as an unlimited VPN, to remove data caps and protect public connections.
• Bitdefender Ultimate Security: Offers identity-first digital protection with identity theft insurance and real-time monitoring.

Fragmented security increases household risk because attackers exploit the weakest device

Using different security solutions across devices creates an unbalanced level of protection. A Windows 11 laptop might have an antivirus installed, while a child's Android tablet might not, and this inconsistency can create openings that malicious individuals can exploit.

Can one vulnerable device really compromise the whole home?

Yes. Modern cyberattacks often use lateral movement, meaning malware on one device can scan the network for others. If one device (laptop, tablet, or phone) is compromised, it can expose other devices in the network.

According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, around 60 percent of breaches involve the human element, including non‑malicious actions such as mistakes, misconfigurations, or falling for phishing scams.

When each device in the home uses a different security solution, the chances of mistakes increase.

Why all‑in‑one protection solves this problem

A single security solution reduces that configuration friction. Instead of juggling different apps, settings, and alerts, every device follows the same protection solution. This reduces the number of decisions families must make, and fewer decisions mean fewer gaps.

Why is an all-in-one suite better than several specialized apps?

Because it removes configuration friction, using a unified protection means all your devices use the same security system, so you don't have to worry about differences between Android and Windows 11. Everything is built on a single platform, helping eliminate potential weak points that attackers could exploit.

Bitdefender Total Security provides seamless multi‑device coverage

A single defense system is the appropriate solution for busy homes because it stops the manual labor required to stay safe. Bitdefender Total Security is designed as a single protection layer for mixed devices in the home. It brings Windows 11, macOS, iOS, and Android under one unified dashboard.

Key features of the Total Security tier:

• Central dashboard: It monitors the security status of every family device from a single location.
• Real‑time protection: Uses advanced threat detection to block malware, ransomware, and zero‑day threats.
• Integrated privacy tools: It includes webcam and microphone protection to alert you when apps attempt unauthorized access.

Bitdefender consistently ranks at the top of independent laboratory tests. In the latest AV‑Comparatives Real‑World Protection Test, Bitdefender achieved a 99.5 percent protection rate with one of the lowest false‑positive scores.

Users can start with Antivirus Plus for essential protection on a single device before moving to full-suite plans.

Bitdefender also offers multiple protection tiers, including Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Bitdefender Total Security and Bitdefender Premium Security, making it easier to scale protection across different operating systems and devices.

Bitdefender Premium Security removes common limitations like VPN data caps

While the standard "Total Security" suite is robust, the jump to Premium Security is where all-in-one protection is the more practical choice because it removes common limitations, such as VPN data caps, that often lead users to avoid certain security features altogether.

Is upgrading to Bitdefender Premium Security worth it?

Yes, for most homes, upgrading to Bitdefender Premium Security is worth it, especially if you regularly use public Wi-Fi, travel often, or work remotely. An unlimited VPN adds a layer of protection by encrypting your internet traffic without the hassle of data limits.

Why is an integrated password manager helpful?

Integration creates an easier-to-manage experience. Bitdefender's Password Manager is great for shared households because it helps family members generate strong, unique passwords, as well as sync them across devices and reduce password reuse, a major cause of account compromise.

For users who want broader privacy and identity protections, Bitdefender expands its lineup with Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Bitdefender Total Security, Bitdefender Premium Security and Bitdefender Ultimate Security, adding advanced identity monitoring and digital safety tools.

Bitdefender Ultimate Security adds identity‑first protection for modern home

Device protection still matters, but these days your personal data is just as exposed. Families share devices, accounts, and the same wireless network, which creates more chances for information to slip through the cracks. Bitdefender Ultimate Security focuses on that risk, adding tools aimed at protecting financial and personal data, not just the devices themselves.

Key features of the Ultimate Security tier:

• Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection monitors across thousands of websites and dark‑web sources.
• Real‑time breach alerts.
• It offers up to $2 million in identity theft insurance.
• Access to restoration specialists.

What happens if your identity is stolen?

Bitdefender's specialists help guide you through restoring your identity, credit, and accounts, a process that can otherwise take a long time.

FAQs about common household security questions

Bottom line

A security setup is only as good as how well it’s maintained across your devices. When protection is split between different apps and services, it's easy for something to get missed. An all-in-one approach reduces that complexity by bringing device security, account protection, and privacy tools into one place.

Bitdefender brings device protection, privacy tools, and identity monitoring under one system, reducing the complexity that usually causes security gaps at home.

For larger households managing multiple users and devices, Family Plans provide centralized protection and easier subscription management across the entire home network.

Explore how Bitdefender security solutions can help protect your devices, identity, and privacy – all in one place.

Microsoft Edge has a lot of built-in features that go unnoticed. Read Aloud has been part of Edge for a long time, and I use it all the time to review articles and listen to content. But after weeks of testing, I understand how Edge's Read Aloud feature stacks up against a dedicated tool for text-to-speech.

Speechify launched a Windows app earlier this year that adds real-time text-to-speech and voice typing to PCs. There was already a Speechify web extension, which is what I used for testing here. Speechify shared Premium access with me to help me assess their app and extension, so I've had several months to get used to them and compare them to alternatives.

Interestingly, Speechify and Read Aloud in Edge excelled in different areas.

Accuracy and cadence

Read Aloud supports a large library of voices. These are fun to play around with since there are quite a few English options sporting different accents.

All of the voices marked as "Natural" in Read Aloud sound fluid and are easy to understand. Occasionally, the feature will pause for a moment as it decides where to jump to next on a page (more on that below).

Read Aloud finds text well and presents pages using voice, allowing you to multitask or absorb content through both reading and listening.

While Edge's voices sound fluid, Speechify's voices sound more natural. They sound as if a voice actor is in a booth reading to you. There's a bit more bass in each voice and more depth than what's in Edge.

Speechify has several celebrity voices, which to be honest I'm not too fussed about. I don't need robot Gwyneth Paltrow to read me the latest Xbox news, but it's an option if you'd like her to.

Voices in Speechify are labeled based on their key characteristic, such as "Velvety" or "Easygoing." The "Resonant" Dominic voice would be a great choice to read the next Sarah J. Maas novel, but I don't think he's the best option for tech news.

Because Speechify's voices are clear and natural-sounding, you can play them at faster speeds before they sound ridiculous. I'm able to play Speechify voices at over 2.2x speed and still understand them. Edge's Read Aloud voices max out at around 2x speed before they're difficult to understand.

Dealing with the modern web

The modern web is full of inserts, page breaks, ads, and other components. When you read an article online, you rarely see a large block of uninterrupted text. In fact, my editor would tell me off if I published a piece of just text.

In order for articles to be visually engaging, publishers place block quotes, embedded posts, videos, and other items. When you read an article, you scan over certain content without thinking. If you spend a lot of time on the web, you've learned what should be read as part of an article, such as a block quote, and what is separate, like a list of related pieces.

Microsoft Edge's Read Aloud feature has not learned the same lessons. It will jarringly jump between the main text of a piece and a "You May Like" section.

In contrast, Speechify sticks with the main text of an article and hops over inserts that are off-topic. In my testing, Speechify correctly identifies the content I'd like read, such as block quotes, but bypasses things I'd want to circle back to later and click.

Both Read Aloud in Edge and Speechify hopped past ads in my experience, which is nice.

Is Edge Read Aloud better than Speechify?

Edge's Read Aloud feature is surprisingly solid for a free tool that's built into Microsoft's browser. If you only care about listening to the web, it's the better choice for most people.

Speechify is not worth its subscription cost if you only plan to use it to listen to articles out loud. A large portion of Speechify's value comes from its dictation features.

Don't get me wrong, Speechify is very good at reading websites and documents out loud. I prefer how it handles ads, text blocks inserted into pieces, and other website components. I also prefer the voices in Speechify.

But Edge's built-in Read Aloud feature works well and is free. Paying $29 per month is a large investment to listen to articles.

If you need to dictate text and listen to articles, I'd suggest trying Speechify.

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Windows power users, PC builders, and admins have a new tool at their disposal that makes it easy to restore a PC after reinstalling Windows or setting up a new PC. The app, called Endstate, streamlines the process of reinstalling applications and can also restore your settings and preferences within supported apps.

Endstate is a free app designed for Windows, though Linux and macOS support are on the way. You can grab Endstate through GitHub.

I spoke with the developer of Endstate to better understand where the app is now and where it could evolve in the future.

Endstate uses WinGet and Chocolatey, which allow it to install a massive library of applications available across those package managers. But the real standout feature is that Endstate can capture the settings of your app into a zip file to make restoration simple.

When you reinstall Windows or set up a new PC, you have to install your required apps as well. A package manager like Chocolatey or WinGet can streamline that process, but the restored applications will be set to their factory defaults. All the toggles and settings you spent time customizing are reset to their base state.

Endstate supports settings restoration on 357 apps right now. Among those supported are some big-name apps such as MSI Afterburner, Adobe Lightroom Classic, VS Code, Windows Terminal, PowerToys, Git, Obsidian, OBS Studio, Notepad++ and ShareX.

Settings restoration is separate from app restoration. If an app is available through Chocolatey or WinGet but does not support settings restore, Endstate can still install the app.

Restoring settings is also done on a per-app basis.

You can use Endstate without an account and the app works offline.

Windows vs iOS and Android

Despite any Apple marketing campaigns about how many apps there are on iOS, Windows trounces all other operating systems when it comes to app selection. That is in part because everything from ancient programs to modern web apps works on Windows 11.

Because of the legacy support on Windows 11, we don't get all the benefits of modern applications on PCs. For example, any iOS or Android user may have read this article and been confused because saving and restoring app settings is commonplace on smartphones.

But on Windows 11, Endstate fills a notable gap. With only 357 apps that support settings restoration, Endstate has a ways to go before matching the native experience on iOS and Android, but it's still nice to see. I hope more app developers embrace Endstate and make it possible to save and restore settings.

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Microsoft Whiteboard will still be available after August 22, 2026, but you may not be able to use it. After that date, the app will require a Microsoft Business account. Users with personal accounts will still be able to view and export previously created content for a short time, but they will not be able to create or edit whiteboards. After September 5, 2026, personal users will have their content deleted.

The change is happening because Microsoft is moving storage for Microsoft Whiteboard to OneDrive for Business. That transition will also bring new features and other changes. A side effect is that people without a business account will be left out of the Whiteboard experience.

If you are signed into Microsoft Whiteboard with a personal account, you'll be met with the following message when you open the app:

"Microsoft Whiteboard for Microsoft account is being retired

Starting from August 22, 2026, you will no longer be able to create or edit whiteboards. However, you can continue to view and export them until September 5, 2026, after which they will be permanently deleted. Please export any whiteboards you'd like to keep."

Reddit user "DownhillHasASign" asked about the warning message and others were quick to clarify the situation.

Best Microsoft Whiteboard alternative on Windows 11

Earlier this year I took a closer look at Markerpad as an alternative to Microsoft Whiteboard. Markerpad is a lightweight app that's incredibly snappy.

Markerpad is a native application that feels more responsive than Microsoft's offering, but it comes with tradeoffs. The biggest one is that Markerpad is for local use. It does not support syncing to the web or online collaboration.

If you just want a whiteboard app for quick sketches or content you plan to share through another app, Markerpad is an excellent choice.

I need to test alternatives for Microsoft Whiteboard that support online collaboration. One of the most popular choices is Miro, though that app requires a monthly subscription to use more than three boards. I would appreciate suggestions for which apps to try, so please share in the comments.

Of course, if you're a business user you can continue to use Microsoft Whiteboard. It's a solid choice for those already in the Microsoft ecosystem and that have a Microsoft Business account.

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Microsoft will place another meeting feature behind a paywall. Outlook's Meeting Insight feature will be retired by early September 2026. After that date, meeting insights will not appear in event details and Outlook users will not see relevant files and emails brought up by Meeting Insight.

The replacement to Meeting Insight is the "Prepare for this meeting" experience. That feature summarizes relevant content for a meeting, such as tasks and documents.

According to Microsoft, the change is being made to "provide a more intelligent and context-aware meeting preparation experience." That may be true, but it comes with the side benefit to Microsoft of requiring a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Meeting Insight within Outlook did not require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Microsoft detailed the change through the Microsoft 365 Message Center (archived here):

"Microsoft is retiring Outlook's Meeting Insights by early September 2026, replacing it with Microsoft 365 Copilot's meeting preparation features for licensed users. Meeting Insights will be removed across platforms, with no action required but recommended communication, documentation updates, and user training. No compliance issues noted."

Meeting Insight in Outlook and the "Prepare for this meeting" experience are somewhat similar, but I wouldn't call the switch a one-for-one swap. Meeting Insight brings up the actual files and emails related to a meeting. The "Prepare for this meeting" experience creates a summary of relevant content.

While summaries can be useful, they are not replacements for source material. That's even more the case if users already include summaries in relevant documents and emails.

Curbing Copilot

I thought Microsoft had seen the light when it came to Copilot. The company appeared to be shifting away from the term in some spaces, such as Copilot+ PCs. Several of the latest Windows laptops are not marketed as Copilot+ PCs even if they are.

Microsoft cancelled plans to ship several Copilot-branded AI features to Windows 11 earlier this year.

But the company's near obsession with Copilot still permeates through Microsoft 365, often behind a paywall. Back in April, Microsoft started requiring a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to use Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Now, more functionality that was once free will require payment.

With Copilot, it always felt like Microsoft thought it had a good idea and decided to run with it everywhere. There are almost 80 distinct products labeled as Copilot, though that figure is in flux.

Heck, Microsoft had a Copilot OS in the works at one point, though it's not known if that was ever meant to see the light of day.

Now that Microsoft has thrown every type of Copilot against the wall to see what sticks, the company will start squeezing money from users where it can. Over time, I think we'll see more useful features moved behind paywalls and free equivalents removed or stripped down.

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A new clipboard manager for Windows 11 is here, and it's better than Microsoft's in a few key ways. "Edge Drop" is still in its early stages of development, but the current preview build is very promising.

Edge Drop is a clipboard manager that can also be used for some light file management. It stays tucked away on the left side of your screen until you swipe your mouse over it or use a keyboard shortcut (Alt + C).

The app supports text, images, and several file types. Any item you copy on Windows 11 is added to Edge Drop by default. You can also drag items into Edge Drop.

Drag and drop functionality makes it easy to grab a few files, place them in Edge Drop, and then paste them somewhere else.

Edge Drop supports stacking content together, which I find useful for organizing projects. I'd love to see stacks work with different content types, such as text and images.

The developer of Edge Drop, AdiArtist, shared the app on Reddit. You can download Edge Drop through the app's website and read more about it on GitHub.

As a quick note, I wouldn't get used to the name of the app. Microsoft already has a feature named "Edge Drop." Even though that browser feature is being retired, I suspect Microsoft will want to protect the name.

Windows 11 Clipboard vs Edge Drop

Windows 11 already has a robust, built-in clipboard history that you can summon with Win + V. It supports pinning items, syncing across devices, and has been an integral part of my workflow for years. Even with Edge Drop installed, I'm not abandoning it.

Where Windows 11's clipboard is heavily keyboard-driven, Edge Drop is more built for the mouse. If you're working on a creative project, dragging and dropping items into organized stacks feels completely natural.

It reminds me of when I reviewed the HyperSpace TrackPad Pro (which, sadly, was canceled). Using that trackpad shifted my workflow; editing video with it felt entirely different than navigating a webpage. It didn't replace my mouse, but it became a perfect companion tool.

I feel the same way about Edge Drop. It’s a convenient, mouse-oriented clipboard manager that’s always just a gesture away, and it has earned a permanent spot right alongside Windows 11's default clipboard.

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The day when AI isn't completely polarizing feels like it'll never arrive, and there's a definite divide between those for and those against.

This drama has now spilled into the Linux kernel, prompting a lengthy and firm response from its creator, Linus Torvalds (via GamingOnLinux).

It emerged as a topic referencing using AI and a tool called "Sashiko" for agentic reviews of changes to the Linux kernel. Then in swoops Torvalds to firmly put his foot down.

The full transcript of his response is below:

"Yes.

And no, that's not the position of the Linux kernel. I realize that some people really dislike AI, but this is an area where I'm willing to absolutely put my foot down as the top-level maintainer.

Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it.

Or just walk away.

AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one.

It may not have been that "clearly" even just a year ago, but it's no longer in question today.

There are other questions around AI (like what the economy of it will actually look like in the end), but "is it useful" is no longer one of those questions. Anybody who doubts that clearly hasn't actually used it.

Yes, it can also be a somewhat painful tool, both for maintainer workloads and just from a "it keeps finding embarrassing bugs" standpoint.

But the solution is not to put your head in the sand and sing "La La La, I can't hear you" at the top of your voice like some people seem to do.

The solution is to make sure those LLM tools _help_ maintainers instead of just causing them pain. There's no question on that side.

We're not forcing anybody to use it, but I will very loudly ignore people who try to argue against other people from using it.

And no, AI isn't perfect. But Christ, anybody who points to the problems at AI had better be looking in the mirror and pointing at themselves at the same time.

Because it's not like natural intelligence is always all that great either.

The kernel project has been and will continue to be about the technology.

Sure, the social angle of working on open source is important and often a very motivating part of the project, but in the end that's a side benefit, not the _point_ of the project.

This is *NOT* some kind of "social warrior" project, never has been, and never will be.

In the kernel community we do open source because it results in better technology, not because of religious reasons.

And so we make decisions primarily based on technical merit. Not fear of new tools.

Linus"

I can already see the pitchforks rising, but let's take a step back. While Torvalds does appear to be flexing some muscle, if you read carefully, he's also not actually advocating for AI.

"AI is a tool... And clearly a useful one." There's no ideology behind it. He's not suddenly saying that the Linux kernel is going to be built using AI. More that if it can be used to make certain parts of the process better, then it will be.

And as he says, human intelligence isn't exactly perfect, is it?

It's a sticky wicket and sure to provoke some discussion. Linux is where many of the most serious enthusiasts go, and plenty just have a fundamental opposition to AI. I'm not getting into that, because it's exhausting, and we've been round and round on the topic plenty.

I do like Torvalds' approach in addressing this, though. Unlike, say, Microsoft, there are no business interests to push and bank accounts to swell by pushing the general public into using AI. There's also an alternative; if you don't like it, you can fork it and make your own. There are already plenty of custom kernels on Linux.

He's simply being pragmatic. The genie is free from the lamp; AI is here, and ignoring it simply isn't an option. Everyone can have their own opinion, but as he states, Linux isn't a "social warrior" project. They're just trying to make the best software, and increasingly, that's going to mean folks leveraging AI. Like it or not.

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If you ever feel like you need a break from social media and influencers, you may long for the more fun-focused video content of yesteryear. Windows Movie Maker was a simple program for creating videos, and it can now be yours once again.

The folks at The Internet Archive uploaded Windows Movie Maker 6.0, making it easily accessible and preserving it. The app has been tested on Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11.

Downloading ancient technology can be a fun way to see how far things have changed over the years. Generally, Windows and its built-in apps have improved since the year 2000. But the modern movie-making app on Windows, Clipchamp, falls short of Windows Movie Maker in one key area.

Clipchamp now requires you to sync content to OneDrive to edit video projects. Media within your projects can be stored locally, but the projects cannot be edited unless you save the project to OneDrive.

That controversial change arguably broke Clipchamp. The app still works, but it does not feel like an app that should be bundled with Windows 11. Instead, it feels like a cloud-based app you should download alongside Microsoft 365.

Windows Movie Maker may lack the modern features of Clipchamp, but at least it works offline.

Perhaps Microsoft could justify requiring OneDrive to edit videos if projects could easily extend across devices, but that's not the case. Microsoft retired Clipchamp for iOS last month, meaning you can no longer export video files from that app. Users are now encouraged to uninstall Clipchamp from any iOS devices.

Microsoft never even made an Android version of Clipchamp, so the company has effectively restricted the app solely to the desktop. There is a web version of Clipchamp, but it is optimized for desktop use.

How to download Windows Movie Maker for Windows 11

Windows Movie Maker was not meant for modern versions of Windows, but it can run on Windows 11 or Windows 10. The download link for the program is available through the Internet Archive.

As a warning, I had to refresh the page a few times to get the link to work. The Internet Archive claimed it was a bad link for some reason, but it does work after refreshing.

The file is available in several formats. I'd argue the easiest to use is the executable file because many people have clicked to install one of those before.

To install Windows Movie Maker, you'll need to click through the installation steps, agree to some terms, and click finish.

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Microsoft Edge may soon let you force any website into dark mode. The option is one of several features in testing that are part of "Web Remix" within Edge.

Web Remix allows you to customize the look of a webpage. With a few clicks, you can change a page's color, font size, and toggle it to dark mode.

But the feature is about more than appearances. Web Remix can convert prices that appear on a page to local currency, summarize a page, or simplify a long article.

Here's what you can do with Web Remix, according to Microsoft:

• Simplify a long article for easier reading
• Add a summary to a detailed page
• Turn a recipe into a shopping list
• Convert prices to your local currency
• Update the appearance of a webpage

Web Remix runs locally and functions similarly to Read mode in that you can click a button in the address bar to enable it or disable it.

Since this feature is in preview testing, there's always a chance that it does not ship. Just last week, I covered the development of a great Microsoft Teams feature being paused while in preview.

You can enable Web Remix in Edge Canary by enabling the "Web Remix" and "Web Remix Internals" flags.

You can use Web Remix to force any website into dark mode, even if the site does not support the feature natively. However, the results will not be perfect. Converting a site to dark mode is more complex than it may appear, since there are many elements that need to remain unchanged.

Leo Varela, who spotted the feature on Edge, was kind enough to show Windows Central swapped to dark mode through Web Remix. The feature does an okay job, though I'd argue it was too aggressive in inverting certain elements. For example, the social media icons and the home bar should not be changed to black and grey, respectively.

The reason extensions like Dark Reader and Dark Mode - Night Eye cost money for full functionality is that converting sites to dark mode requires fine controls and nuance. Those extensions and similar extensions on other platforms let you customize dark mode and give more control than Web Remix.

But for a free tool that's still in early testing, Web Remix does a nice job. Its other features are a nice bonus as well. But I've been obsessed with dark mode since the days of Windows Phone, so I care most about that.

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A great feature won't make it to Microsoft Teams, at least anytime soon. Microsoft began testing two minimized views in Teams earlier this year, but development of the features has been paused.

The idea was that when an active meeting window was minimized, Teams would show a minimized window with shortcuts to perform actions like raising your hand or sharing a reaction. One option called Expanded view showed up to four participant videos, while the Compact view focused on quick actions and settings.

"Updated July 7, 2026: We have paused release to GA at this time. We will communicate via Message center when we are ready to proceed. Thank you for your patience," reads the Microsoft 365 Message Center (archived here).

The views were meant to start rolling out in May 2026, but they now sit stuck in the development pipeline. Neowin spotted that the feature was paused.

There's always a chance that preview features will be changed significantly before release or cancelled. Microsoft also needs to work out any issues before shipping a change to Teams.

Microsoft did not share why it paused the development of these minimized views. They both seem like worthwhile additions to Teams that make multitasking easier. I hope Microsoft ships them to Teams eventually.

Teams gets new features regularly. The communication platform gets so many updates that Microsoft has to list changes in a monthly blog post.

But the most talked about Teams feature this year was omitted from the last roundup. Teams now has a controversial feature that lets your boss see where you are if you're connected to Wi-Fi networks at work.

Microsoft was accused of making Teams a "lapdog for your boss," but the company has made changes to the feature since first unveiling it. Microsoft delayed the rollout of that feature, changed the name of the option, and added better privacy controls.

The minimized views within Teams may go through a similar journey. We could see them in the future with altered controls, a new name, or in the same form but at a later date.

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I've heard the term slop bandied around more times than I'd like recently, but today was the first time I'd heard it in the context of Amazon shopping. Meet Knockoff Shopping, the Chrome extension that de-slops your Amazon search results.

What does this mean? Well, if you've used the site at all recently to look for basic items, whether it be clothes, phone cases, or such, you'll notice that many reputable brands are now buried in a sea of items with capitalized letters. Items that appear to be coming from Temu or AliExpress.

Often, you'll be looking for something like a hairdryer, perhaps, and find an identical model listed under 3 different brand names, all trying their damnest to look like Dyson. Should I buy DRYSON, BLOWY, or the SKIBIDI RIZZ hairdryer? It's hard to decide.

Well, someone has had the gumption to create a Chrome Extension to solve this problem; it promises to filter "trademark-squat pseudo-brands (the SZHLUXes and HORUSDYs) out of your search results, so what's left are brands with a reputation to lose."

You can simply head to knockoff.shopping to get the extension and try it for yourself, but here are some more tips on getting it to work for you.

Using Knockoff

I've had issues with these "knockoff" brands myself recently while shopping for an ultrasonic cleaner for my son's retainer. We've now ordered two seemingly identical models under different brand names, and both have given up the ghost after a week.

Third time lucky, right? Well, I'm going to use the tool to help me narrow down my search this time. As you can see in the screenshot above, when I search for the item, my results are flooded with similar-looking items from different pseudo-brands that feel the need to shout their names at me. COSLUS! HYCHIKA! SEANCHEER! BUY US!

Following my installation of the tool, I can fiddle with the options before I go on my search to add brands that I don't want to be filtered, so ANKER and UGREEN, for example, are reputable electronic brands I trust; I don't want those filtered.

Now, upon running the search again, you can either have the tool 'dim' the dodgy results so you can still see them and make changes, or have it hide them completely. For now, I've set mine to dim results so I can start to teach it what I do and don't want to see.

Here I have selected to block this brand permanently. On the other hand, if I see brands I trust, I can tell the tool to add them to the Allow list for me.

Creator Josh Pigford has already mentioned on his X account some brands that may be inadvertently filtered out. I don't recognize many of these, but BIODANCE and LANIEGE are at least reputable Korean skincare brands, and I would add them to my filter.

The tool has now helped me select a third, and hopefully more reliable, cleaner for my son's retainer. It also helped me see more clearly that many of the 'dimmed' brands were around the same price, so I paid a little more for something potentially longer lasting.

I've only just started using the tool myself, afterall it's only been a day! But others are already reporting great success with it and I hope to have even better results as I tweak what I do and don't want to see. The extension is currently only available on Google Chrome, but it's coming to Safari and Firefox soon. No word on Microsoft Edge (yet).

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Have you ever wondered why minimum specs continue to creep upward? Part of the problem is that developers don't need to be as efficient as they did decades ago.

A recent video by Dave Plummer highlights the bloat of modern applications by following the journey of Plummer making a notepad that's just 2,686 bytes.

App development is complex, and there are genuinely good reasons that games and programs require such high specs in 2026. But generally speaking, programming doesn't have the constraints of yesteryear, so developers don't need to trim code.

A single app not being optimized is not that much of an issue, but when every program on your PC is bloated, problems pop up. The same productivity workflow today requires more RAM than it did in 2015.

For context, Windows 10 launched with a minimum requirement of just 1GB (for 32-bit) and 2GB of RAM (for 64-bit). Windows 11 requires at least 4GB just to boot the operating system, but most users want much more memory. It was controversial when Microsoft and other companies started offering new PCs with 8GB of RAM this year.

Plummer is best known for creating the Windows Task Manager. He also discusses programming and Windows history on his YouTube channel.

In a recent video, Plummer shared how he made a small notepad application that's smaller in size than a YouTube thumbnail.

Tiny Retro Pad has the core functionality of the original Notepad app built by Microsoft. Notably, it lacks the modern features seen in Notepad, such as Copilot. Considering Notepad's addition of Copilot was mocked by many, Tiny Retro Pad is an improvement in some ways.

Making a notepad app that's under 4,096 bytes is more about working within constraints than the specific size of the final app. In the early days of Windows, there were several limits placed on developers, such as hardware caps. Having to work within those constraints forced developers to be more efficient.

Plummer was able to keep Tiny Retro Pad small by utilizing what's already in Windows.

"A tiny native Windows program does not bring along its own entire civilization. It arrives with a lunchbox and a map of the city," said Plummer.

Later in the video, he added, "The program is small because it is not carrying what the platform already has. And that is a lesson that modern software could stand to remember. Not every app needs to bundle the universe. Not every utility needs to ship with a browser engine."

Nowadays, PCs, tablets, and phones have absurd specs. Even modest devices have several gigabytes of memory and tons of storage. Those specs make modern workflows possible, but they also leave room for lazy development.

"Somehow it seems modern software manages to go the other way. You just want a text box and somehow you've imported a runtime, a layout engine, a renderer, a dependency tree, a telemetry client, an auto updater, and a small portion of Chromium," said Plummer.

No one needs a notepad application that's less than 4,000 bytes, but if more app developers focused on efficient code, Windows 11 would feel smoother across the board.

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Raise your hand if you've heard this one before: a third-party file management app beat File Explorer to the punch. This time, it's with a clever Tree View that rolled out to Files with an update to version 4.2.

In the latest version of Files, the sidebar includes a view that displays folders in an expandable hierarchy. If you're like me and use subfolders to organize your files, Tree View is an incredible addition.

The update to version 4.2 is large and includes several other additions, including a new Open With flyout and improvements to how the breadcrumb bar appears.

Here's a quick summary of what's new in Files version 4.2 sorted into categories. The app's website has a detailed change log covering the same updates:

Navigation & Multi-Pane Upgrades

• Tree View sidebar: Browse folders in an expandable hierarchy directly from the sidebar.
• Drag a tab to create a new pane: Split your view by dragging a tab to the side, top, or bottom of the file area.
• Open folders in the other pane: Right-click a folder to launch it directly into your secondary pane.
• Open in new pane improvements: Reorganized context menus and Command Palette options give you control over how a new pane is arranged.
• Breadcrumb bar improvements: Adds a cleaner chevron design and new right-click context options to open specific folders in new tabs, windows, or panes.

UI & Quality of Life Tweaks

• Open With toolbar flyout: Quick access to compatible apps directly from your customized toolbar.
• Always show file extensions when renaming: Extensions stay visible while editing a file's name.
• Media file metadata improvements: You can now add metadata to fields that were previously empty.
• Search in Toolbar Customization: A new search box makes finding and adding specific toolbar actions easier.
• Layout scrolling: Cycle through different layout modes using Ctrl + scroll wheel.
• Reverse tab scroll direction: A new setting lets you flip the mouse-wheel behavior when scrolling over the tab bar.
• Improved tab tear-off: Dragging a tab out to create a new window now launches the window exactly where you dropped it.
• Improved continue where you left off: Startup behavior is more reliable.
• Network Discovery banner: Displays a warning on the Network page if locations are missing because Windows Network Discovery is turned off.

Other Notable Highlights

• Windows Fonts folder: Items inside this directory now show proper font thumbnails.
• Archive selection: Creating a new archive now automatically selects it.
• File In Use dialog: Added a "Skip" button.

I'm a big fan of Files, not just as a replacement to Windows 11's built-in File Explorer, but as a showcase of design and features. The developer of Files often experiments with new designs to improve usability or functionality within the app.

There are plenty of File Explorer alternatives, like File Pilot that's now in beta. But I have an affinity for Files. It's a gorgeous app that integrates features and design elements that are often adopted by Microsoft later. Using Files is like looking at an alternate dimension in which Microsoft cares about consistency and design.

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Microsoft has apparently heard the complaints that make it clear not everyone wants AI in their daily meetings. An upcoming change will make it possible to disable Copilot, Facilitator, and meeting recap within Teams.

Before you get excited about vanquishing the AI features, only licensed meeting organizers will be able to toggle the features on or off.

Here's the planned timeline for the release of the controls:

• Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early July 2026 (previously early June) and expect to complete by mid-July 2026 (previously mid-June).
• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out mid-July 2026 (previously mid-June) and expect to complete by end-of-July 2026 (previously late June).

Microsoft sent word of the changes through the Microsoft 365 Message Center. If you're not an admin, you can read them through the Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive.

All versions of Teams will be affected by the change (desktop, web, and mobile).

Meeting AI is a collection of features within Teams. It includes Copilot, Facilitator, and Intelligent recap. Admins can disable all Meeting AI features with a single toggle or enable or disable tools individually.

While it's easy to criticize AI, and there are times for it, these Teams features can be useful. Facilitator can provide information to address knowledge gaps automatically. Intelligent recap uses AI to take notes, create summaries, and gather highlights.

But as is the case with many AI features, people want the option to disable them. The new options coming to Teams make that much easier for admins.

When used as a way to enhance the work of a person, AI can improve productivity. But when people over rely on AI, quality suffers. Earlier this year, analyst Dennis Xu joked about banning AI use on Friday afternoons.

Xu's comments were tongue-in-check, but the general idea was that people would be too lazy on a Friday afternoon to double-check work completed by AI tools.

Considering that even Microsoft researchers suggest AI chatbots get "dumber" the longer you talk to them, it makes sense to give meeting organizers simple toggles to disable AI in Teams.

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Microsoft Edge just became a bit more like Google Chrome, but in a way people will probably like. Following a recent update, you can now sign in to Edge with a Google account, allowing you to bring your bookmarks, history, and other content into Edge with less work.

The change is part of a controlled rollout that began with version 150.0.4078.48 of Edge. It may take some time for it to roll out to your system.

We've known about this addition for a while. A Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry revealed the update last month. But now, it is shipping to everyone rather than just being in the works.

The full release notes break down all the changes.

Microsoft Edge (July 2026 Update): Feature Updates

• Clarify choices surrounding third-party cookie settings. Language under 'Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies' is updated to better describe the choices users have when managing third-party cookies.
• Sign in to Edge with a Google account. Users can now sign in to Microsoft Edge using a Google account in addition to a Microsoft account from the profile menu and Edge sign-in screen. Available for Windows and macOS devices. Admins can control availability of this feature using the NonMicrosoftAccountSignInEnabled policy. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.
• Intune MAM Protected Downloads. The protected downloads feature for Intune MAM now saves downloaded files to the 'Documents > Microsoft Edge > Downloads' folder in OneDrive.
• Enterprise WebView2 runtime downgrade via DowngradeVersion policy. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 150, enterprises can actively use the 'DowngradeVersion' policy to downgrade WebView2 applications. Administrators can temporarily roll back specific applications to a previous WebView2 Evergreen Runtime version (N-1 or N-2) using the new 'DowngradeVersion' policy in msedgewebview2.admx. The policy allows enterprises to mitigate critical regressions by specifying per-application executable-to-version mappings. The Edge Updater installs the target version side-by-side, and the WebView2 Loader redirects targeted applications accordingly. Downgrades automatically expire with each new WebView2 release. Applications pinned to N-1 remain on the same version (now becoming N-2) and automatically update in the next release, while applications pinned to N-2 revert to the current Evergreen Runtime. The policy applies only to enterprise-managed devices (domain-joined or MDM-enrolled). For more information, see Microsoft Edge WebView2 Policy Documentation.
• Update to the "View in File Explorer" feature. When the ConfigureViewInFileExplorer policy is enabled, the View in File Explorer feature can be used in SharePoint document libraries. Microsoft Edge has updated the feature to enforce additional validation and restrictions when triggered by webpages to improve security.
• Security Update Alerts in the Edge management service. Administrators can choose a severity threshold and receive alerts when a new Microsoft Edge update includes security fixes that meet or exceed that level, including zero-day fixes. This helps organizations quickly identify updates that may require attention while avoiding unnecessary notifications for routine releases. Note: This experience is in public preview and is available by opting in to Targeted Release in the Microsoft 365 admin center. For more information, see Monitoring dashboard.

Microsoft also shared some reminders about changes to Edge, including the Sidebar app list being retired.

Originally, Microsoft did not plan to integrate Google services into Microsoft Edge. But the company seems to have shifted its stance following feedback over the years.

You don't need a Microsoft account to use Edge, but until now, you did need one to sync your data. Supporting Google account sign-ins lets you have a fuller browsing experience without having to use a Microsoft account.

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Two of the best Microsoft 365 deals of the year just dropped, but they're only available for a limited time. Right now, Microsoft 365 Personal is discounted to $59.99 and Microsoft 365 Family has been slashed to $89.99. Both deals get you 12 months of access.

If you know you need a Microsoft 365 subscription, stop reading and just see if the deals below are still live. Woot discounts run out of stock quickly, especially when they're on a popular software suite like Microsoft 365.

Why subscribe to Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is a massive software suite with several must-have programs. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are perhaps the best known, but a subscription also comes with 1TB of OneDrive storage per user.

Microsoft 365 subscribers also get access to extras like Microsoft Defender for security, Microsoft Editor, and premium tools in Clipchamp for video editing.

I've subscribed to Microsoft 365 since it launched, and had an Office 365 subscription before the suite was rebranded over a decade ago.

For years, Microsoft kept the price of Microsoft 365 Personal (was $69.99) and Microsoft 365 Family (was $99.99) the same. That changed when prices increased at the beginning of last year.

At the time, that price increase was met with severe pushback. But considering the state of the global economy right now, maybe we judged Microsoft too harshly.

The temporary discounts through Woot cut through all of that and slash Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family to prices that would be discounts back in 2014.

FAQ

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Microsoft rolled out a bunch of new features for Microsoft Teams in June. Calls, meetings, and Teams Rooms have all received updates. As usual, Microsoft gathered together all the new features in a blog post.

Here are the highlights from June, though the item missing from this list is more interesting than anything listed in the blog post:

• New calling agents
• Brand impersonation protection
• Redesigned in-meeting controls
• Bot detection
• Facilitator in Teams Rooms
• IntelliFrame people labels

Interestingly, Microsoft did not mention the controversial feature in Teams that allows your boss to see where you are when connected to Wi-Fi networks at work.

That feature drew criticism when first announced. Microsoft offered clarification and delayed the rollout, but "workplace check-in via Wi-Fi" is now generally available. The feature was previously known as "Automatic Update of work location."

I'm not sure why the feature was omitted from the post recapping everything that shipped to Teams in June. I thought I may have had my dates mixed up, but the Teams blog post from June 12, 2026 states (emphasis added):

"We’re introducing workplace check-in via Wi-Fi for Microsoft Places and Teams, designed to help employees coordinate in-person work by keeping their workplace location up to date when they’re in the office."

Based on Microsoft's phrasing, it seems like Automatic Update of work location should be included in the roundup.

My favorite new Microsoft Teams features 💬

Advanced file discovery and filters are the biggest addition to Teams for my workflow. The improved contextual search in Teams indexes every file uploaded to a channel. You can then filter for file type, sender, and date within a channel.

Slack has similar functionality and I use it often. I'm happy to see improved filters and file searching in Teams.

I also love the new Quick Share option in Teams. Sharing options can be accessed by hovering, right-clicking, using overflow menus, and using shared tabs. The fact that OneDrive and SharePoint content shared through Quick Share retains permissions helps ensure privacy.

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In recent months, Microsoft has taken significant steps to improve the Windows 11 user experience through its Windows K2 initiative, including scaling back where Copilot and its integrations appear across the interface.

And now, these efforts appear to have extended to Microsoft Edge. As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its AI-powered history search feature in the Chromium-based browser

"Enhanced search finds sites in your History even when you use a synonym, phrase, or typo," Microsoft added. "After this feature is turned on, sites you visit will be shown in enhanced history search results. An on-device model is trained using your data, which never leaves your device and is never sent to Microsoft. Admins can use the EdgeHistoryAISearchEnabled policy to disable this feature."

Microsoft promised that the feature would leverage on-device AI, keeping your data private, secure, and away from the cloud. It's worth noting that the feature was rolling out to users in waves.

The company has since made an update on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry (dated June 25, 2026), indicating:

"We have decided not to move forward with this change at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Neowin reported that many users described the feature as "creepy," while others voiced concerns about trusting Microsoft to keep their data on-device. Some also criticized it as yet another attempt to turn Edge into bloatware.

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Microsoft needs to copy a new feature that makes it easier to multitask on Windows 11. But rather than Sherlocking a third-party app, Microsoft just needs to copy a concept proposed for its own app, PowerToys.

Every once in a while a feature gets added to PowerToys that makes me wonder "why isn't this part of Windows?" FancyZones immediately comes to mind, and Microsoft seems to agree since improved snapping in Windows 11 takes inspiration from that feature.

PowerToys may have another winner on its hands in AltWindowCycle, though I think a new name may be needed.

The utility allows you to switch between windows with a keyboard shortcut. It's similar to Alt + Tab, but it works within a single app. Clint Rutkas explained the tool in a GitHub pull request:

"Introduces a new utility: AltWindowCycle to quickly switch between windows from the same process using Alt + `. It works like Alt + Tab, but scoped to the app you’re already in. Perfect for juggling multiple browser windows, terminals, or editor instances."

AltWindowCycle is still in its early stages. If it is finished and made a part of PowerToys, I hope it also makes its way to Windows 11.

If it does become part of Windows 11, AltWindowCycle would help Microsoft's operating system catch up to macOS and some Linux distros, which use either Alt + \` or Cmd + ` to cycle through windows of the same app, albeit a bit differently.

Many PowerToys features are niche and would be considered bloat by non-power users if included with Windows 11. But a small shortcut that makes multitasking easier would be a natural addition to Windows 11, especially since AltWindowCycle works similarly to the well-known Alt + Tab shortcut.

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I love widgets. Microsoft seems much cooler on the concept. Sure, Windows 11 has a Widgets Panel, but it's barely useful due to its lack of quality widgets. That's why I was so excited to see WidBar highlighted on Reddit.

WidBar is a new app that allows you to add widgets to the empty spaces of the Windows 11 taskbar. It's still in beta, but it's off to a promising start.

The developer of WidBar, Andrea Del Bello, shared the app and detailed its progress.

At the moment, WidBar only has a pair of widgets: "Now Playing" and "System Metrics." They're basic but they do a good job showcasing the app.

Within WidBar, you can drag and drop widgets into a preview of your taskbar. Different widgets can be placed on various monitors.

Any developer can make widgets for WidBar. Del Bello explained how that works on Reddit:

"Each widget is just a small packaged app that you publish to the Microsoft Store like any other app, and WidBar picks it up on its own: there's no separate plugin store, no manual install into WidBar, and no approval from me. The moment your widget is installed from the Store, WidBar recognizes it automatically, it appears in the catalog, and the user can drop it onto the taskbar."

Del Bello also provided a template for making WidBar widgets on GitHub.

Putting Microsoft to shame

WidBar has two supported widgets right now and is still in beta, but it already surpasses Windows 11's Widgets Panel in an important way.

Incredibly, the Widgets Panel lacks a Now Playing widget from Microsoft. Windows 11 has those controls, but they appear in the Action Center. That shows how much Microsoft thinks about the Widgets Panel.

There is a widget made by Stefan vd called "S Media Controls" that seems to fill the gap, but I've only used it briefly in testing.

Even if you give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and argue having audio controls in the Action Center and the Widgets Panel, it won't take much to catch up.

With just two supported widgets, WidBar is well on its way to beating the Widgets Panel. There are a grand total of 56 widgets in the Microsoft Store for the Widgets Panel. And that count includes "My Tic-Tac-Toe" and several entries that appear to be money grabs that offer little functionality.

Add a clock, a calendar, a recent files shortcut and WidBar is almost 10% of the way to the entire Widgets Panel ecosystem.

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PowerToys just received a small but important update that brings the app to version 0.100.1. The update focuses on fixes to version 0.100.0 of the app, which included a bunch of new features.

Normally I wouldn't cover a small update to an app, but in this case the bugs prevented core features of PowerToys from working. Luckily, the bugs have been squashed.

One issue caused keys that had been remapped to non-modifier keys to be delivered as system-key events. An example of that is mapping Alt to Backspace could result in deleting whole words instead of individual characters.

Another bug prevented monitors from waking from standby after selecting On through Power Display.

The developers of PowerToys log all the changes to the app on GitHub.

PowerToys v0.100.1

Highlights

• This patch release fixes several important stability and behavior issues identified in v0.100.0 based on incoming reports. Check out the v0.100.0 notes for the full list of changes.

Color Picker

• Fixed a bug where the main Color Picker window could appear inside the zoomed-in picker view in #48762 by @daverayment

Command Palette

• Fixed Run history initialization in AOT builds in #48463
• Fixed a bug where the Performance Monitor dock item could show ??? after restart in #48682 by @giruuuuj
• Fixed the Hibernate command using the Sleep icon in #48689 by @MrBisquit
• Limited the "pin to dock" dialog to displays where the dock is enabled in #48723

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed modifier keys remapped to non-modifier keys being delivered as system-key events, which caused unexpected behavior in apps such as Alt-to-Backspace deleting whole words in #47192 by @oMatheusmol

Power Display

• Fixed a bug where selecting On in the monitor power-state control did not wake a monitor from standby in #48628
• Fixed built-in display detection and brightness control on dual-GPU laptops where the internal panel is driven by the discrete GPU in #48637

PowerToys Run

• Fixed VS Code Workspaces discovery after VS Code moved recently opened workspace data to shared storage in #47505

Quick Access

• Fixed Quick Access flyout crashes caused by unhandled XAML exceptions during launch or page navigation in #48457

Shortcut Guide

• Fixed a crash when navigating between Shortcut Guide sidebar sections in #48481
• Fixed number-key rendering in shortcut manifests and added a Postman shortcut manifest in #48461 by @brycewc
• Updated bundled shortcut manifests to use the literal number-key token so number keys render correctly across apps in #48757 by @brycewc

ZoomIt

• Fixed a race condition in audio initialization for ZoomIt video recording in #48685 by @MarioHewardt

Power Display is one of my favorite utilities in PowerToys. It allows you to manage the brightness and other settings of your external monitor through a series of flyouts. It saves me the hassle of reaching around the bottom or back of my display to adjust settings with awkward buttons.

The recently fixed bug took away core functionality of Power Display, so I'm happy to see it addressed.

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Microsoft Outlook for Mac has a peculiar bug that removes the content from a previous conversation when replying to or forwarding an email. Microsoft has confirmed the issue but a fix has not shipped yet.

A user flagged the unwanted Outlook behavior and described what's happening.

Normally, replying to or forwarding an email through Outlook includes the entire original message. That inclusion makes it easier for the sender to draft their message and the recipient to have context of the conversation. But the buggy behavior in Outlook removes the previous conversation, leaving just the new message.

The problem only occurs in the legacy version of Outlook for Mac. That older Outlook, which is a native application that's been around in some form for decades, is set to be retired in October. After the cutoff, legacy Outlook for Mac will receive security updates but will no longer work with Exchange Online mailboxes.

Over 95% of Microsoft 365 users have transitioned to the new Outlook app for Mac, according to Microsoft. The new Outlook is focused on cloud accounts and is the main version going forward.

Over on the Windows side of things, Microsoft's shift to what is essentially a web app as the primary Outlook has been controversial. But the new Outlook for macOS is a native application, making an odd situation where Outlook is arguably better on macOS than on Windows.

Issues with Microsoft Outlook are nothing new. Problems even extended beyond planet earth when Commander Wiseman of the Artemis II couldn't check his email in space. But unwanted behavior is still frustrating.

"This is an extremely frustrating bug in this last update, and I hope a fix is on the way," said user Stephan in response to the original thread. They added, "This is frankly quite disappointing that something major like this completely evaded the software testing process before it was being rolled out."

While Microsoft is investigating the issue with legacy Outlook for Mac, you have two options. You can either migrate to the new Outlook (official recommendation from Microsoft) or roll back to version 16.109 of legacy Outlook for Mac.

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Microsoft Edge is about to lose yet another one of my favorite features. Edge Drop is being — ahem — dropped in favor of AI.

The latest version of Edge Canary shows a message about the change if you open the Drop feature:

"Drop is being retired. Files you share are saved in your OneDrive. Text notes need to be downloaded separately."

Microsoft does not specifically state why Drop is being retired. I believe the reason is a combination of low usage and Microsoft wanting the same space in Edge to house Copilot. We saw a similar development with the retirement of the Edge Sidebar.

Leo Varela discovered the upcoming retirement and shared screenshots on X.

I once called Microsoft Edge Drop "the best browser feature you're not using." That may have proven to be a little too accurate, because the feature is now being retired. Presumably, usage of Edge Drop was low, making other parts of the browser a higher priority.

What is Microsoft Edge Drop?

Edge Drop is a feature within the browser that lets you send messages, files and photos to yourself. All your content stays within a single thread, making it easy to find. The experience is powered by OneDrive, which is why you can still access your content after Drop is retired.

When you send something through Drop, it appears on any instance of Edge on supported devices, which currently includes desktop and mobile versions of the browser.

Drop lives within the Sidebar of Edge on your desktop, which is likely why the feature is going away. Microsoft has prioritized placing Copilot in the same spot as the Sidebar and Drop.

I think there's a way for all the Sidebar features and Copilot to coexist. Low usage figures are likely another factor in the retirement of Drop. While I love Drop, it's similar to sending messages to yourself through WhatsApp, Telegram, or any other messaging service.

The reality may be that people who want to send messages to themselves want to do so without having to use a specific browser on multiple devices.

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One of Microsoft's best free apps has been locked behind region restrictions for ages. It took Microsoft two years to progress PC Manager from beta to general release, and after two more years the app is still only available to certain people.

PC Manager shipped in 2024. Despite the app being available for years, it is still not officially available in my region. After our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino highlighted the app in a couple of our recent meetings, I decided to install PC Manager regardless of the limited rollout.

The app appears to be available in China, India, the United States, and a few other regions. But the official website for the app simply lists PC Manager as "Coming Soon."

You can work around Microsoft's restrictions by changing your region settings or downloading the app through other sources, but you shouldn't have to. Microsoft has had years to determine if there are any issues with PC Manager. It's time to ship it to more regions.

What is Microsoft PC Manager?

PC Manager is a free app for Windows 11 that allows you to optimize your system. It brings together several tools and options from throughout the operating system into a unified interface.

The app has a shortcut called "Boost" that frees up system resources and clears temporary files. It can also scan your PC in several ways to find ways to clear out junk files.

I cleared out over 100GB from my PC in just a few minutes by using PC Manager. Admittedly, many of those files were unused items in my Downloads folder, such as media packs from press releases. But PC Manager also found applications to delete, caches to clear, and temporary files to get rid of.

PC Manager also has tools to manage duplicate files and large files. A button just below those options opens Storage sense. A Toolbox within PC Manager includes shortcuts to take a screenshot, check the weather, and perform other common tasks.

That's a bit of a theme in PC Manager. Very few of the options it manages or steps it can take are exclusive to the app. What makes PC Manager valuable is that it gathers together options by category. With just a few clicks you can boost your PC, clear out old files, and delete unused apps.

Hidden ads and cheeky defaults

PC Manager is a useful app that I recommend. It also has some options that I consider borderline advertising. The "Taskbar repair" option under system protection has the box to "Enable search box on taskbar" on by default. That search box uses Bing when searching the web.

Taskbar repair's main function is to remove any toolbars that have been added to your Taskbar. If you've ever been asked to fix the PC of a friend or family member, there's a good chance you've seen an unwanted toolbar on Windows.

Defaulting to showing a search bar powered by Bing is a cheeky move, especially when PC Manager lacks a way to remove the Search bar (you have to do that through the Windows 11 Settings app).

The Extras section of app management within PC Manager shows a shortcut to get the Bing Wallpaper app. Honestly, it comes off as a bit desperate.

Overall, PC Manager is a solid application that makes it easy to optimize your PC. I just wish it were available in more regions.

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We’ve been running our new Quote of the Day segment for a few weeks, but I recently came across an intriguing line from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, taken from a 2009 TechCrunch interview (via Fortune).

"The most successful by far is Firefox," Ballmer indicated. "Chrome is a rounding error to date. Safari is a rounding error to date. But Firefox is not. The fact that there’s a lot of competitors probably is to our advantage."

For context, Microsoft dominated the browser market at the time with Internet Explorer, which controlled about 74% of the global share. Google had only just launched Chrome in 2008, but competing was tough since Internet Explorer came pre‑installed as the default on Windows PCs, giving Microsoft an enormous advantage.

“It could have been demoralizing,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai admitted at a commencement address at Stanford University. “But with that California optimism, I told the team that the fact he went out of his way to dismiss us meant we were doing something right.”

The executive didn't discount that Chrome showed early success and momentum, but that triumph was short‑lived as user growth plateaued under various constraints. However, Pichai and his team didn't let up.

Fast forward to 2026, Google now runs the browser show with a massive 70.25% hold of the market share. Microsoft Edge comes in at a distant third with 5.14% of the market share.

Microsoft has been placed under fire by companies like Mozilla in the past for allegedly using "harmful designs and deceptive tactics" to give Edge a competitive advantage over other browsers on Windows 11.

The Firefox maker recently accused Microsoft of using 'dark patterns' to force its Copilot AI on Windows 11 users. It outrightly suggested that Microsoft's "intentional" re-direction with Copilot was only prompted by overwhelming feedback from users. "They’re really admitting that they made repeated choices to serve their business over their customers," Mozilla added.

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The next time you open Microsoft Authenticator to log in to a device, you could be met with a new interface. Microsoft is rolling out a change that requires you to enter a number manually rather than tapping one of three options.

The update first appeared for enterprise and education users, but it has since started rolling out to personal Microsoft accounts. We've seen the new prompt appear on a personal device, suggesting the rollout is in progress.

At first glance, you may think that the change makes Microsoft Authenticator 33 times more secure. That would be true if malicious actors were hacking into accounts by guessing the number that appeared.

Before the change, there were only three options available, giving a theoretical blind hacker around a 33 percent chance of guessing. By requiring a two-digit number to be entered manually, there is only a 1 percent chance of guessing it right.

But attacks centered on multi-factor authentication usually aren't guessing games. Bad actors often spam users with a bunch of prompts to authenticate in the hopes that the user will approve the prompt or guess the correct number.

Accidental approvals are also an issue. With only three numbers appearing on a screen, you could tap the correct number by accident when opening the app or moving the phone around in your pocket.

Requiring a number to be entered manually reduces those risks greatly.

Microsoft has made several changes to its authenticator app to improve security. SMS codes are being phased out as an option for personal Microsoft accounts because they are insecure. SMS-based authentication is the leading source of fraud, explains Microsoft.

The change to requiring manual number entry is more pinpointed than shifting away from SMS-based authentication, but it adds another layer of security.

The update is rolling out gradually, so you may not see it yet.

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For the longest time, signing into Microsoft Edge has been tied exclusively to a Microsoft account. In practice, that meant logging into the Chromium-based browser with a Google account was virtually impossible. Well, until now.

A new Microsoft roadmap entry (ID 565860) reveals that the company is preparing to let users sign into Microsoft Edge with a Google account (via Neowin).

To that end, the feature is still in development, but it should ship to broad availability by July 2026. This is a welcome change and could make Microsoft Edge more appealing to users who don't necessarily care about the mandatory Microsoft Account requirement when signing in to the browser.

It's a refreshing change of pace and direction for Microsoft, especially given that it had categorically stated in 2020 that it had no plans to integrate Google services into Microsoft Edge by default, even though it was one of the most requested features at the time.

At least, that's one less place you have to worry about Microsoft Account being a mandatory requirement. Of course, it goes without saying that signing into Microsoft Edge with a Microsoft Account comes with many perks, including seamless syncing across devices, tighter integration with Microsoft services like OneDrive and Outlook, and enhanced security.

Elsewhere, Microsoft recently announced that Edge would be moving to a two-week release cycle for major versions of the browser, similar to Google's approach with Chrome.

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Spotify has gotten rid of its disco ball logo that received hate across the web. But if you only use Spotify on your PC, you never saw the logo at all. That fact gives us a hint as to how Spotify feels about Windows 11.

The icon was part of the Spotify 20: Your Party of the Year(s) experience that allowed users to see their first day on Spotify, the total number of songs they've listened to, their first streamed song, and their most-streamed artist.

That experience was limited to mobile users, meaning Windows 11 users could not celebrate their past with the service. Windows 11 users were also spared from seeing the controversial disco ball — or deprived depending on your point of view.

Many shared passionate responses about the logo. Spotify responded by stating the change was only temporary.

Windows 11 was not the only operating system left out. Some Android users saw the disco ball icon, but it never rolled out to everyone.

Spotify has not shared why it left Windows 11 out of the party experience. Windows 11 is often left out of short-term campaigns by Spotify, so it's not as if the company slighted Windows 11 specifically for this one.

But that highlights a greater issue. Why isn't the desktop version of Spotify part of the full experience? I know many disliked the icon, but it can be fun to look back at listening history. The demand from PC users for interactive features is clearly there. Spotify eventually brought a functional Wrapped experience to desktop after years of keeping it mobile-only.

Instead, the Windows 11 app feels completely frozen in time, missing out on modern UI overhauls and native settings such as audio equalizers. Many features are exclusive to mobile devices or better optimized for smartphone use.

It's clear that Spotify does not value integrating its app with Windows 11. The Spotify widget is an embarrassment that doesn't even show your playlists or audio controls. It just presents a few trending playlists.

Even if you hated the disco ball icon, you should be able to hate it alongside everyone else rather than be left out.

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Windows 11 might be regaining its movable taskbar after plenty of outcry from the Windows community, but that doesn't mean it's perfect for all users.

Personally, I don't mind the regular Windows 11 taskbar, although I have tweaked it in the past with ExplorerPatcher. However, while traveling around the web, I came across GroDock, and it finally made me realize what I've been missing.

GroDock is a customizable Windows 11 taskbar alternative with additional docking capabilities for apps. It's like a productivity hub that I never knew I needed.

While it doesn't completely override the native taskbar, it has certainly proven to be capable enough for me to hide the Windows version entirely.

GroDock comes from a solo hobby developer known as "Groad," and their collection of custom apps encompasses Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and more. GroDock is available for free for 7 days as an introductory trial; after that, it costs $4.99 to keep forever. Here's why that one-time cost might be worth it for you.

What can GroDock do that the Windows 11 taskbar cannot?

Let me start by highlighting some of GroDock's more enticing customization options.

You can position the bar along the top, bottom, left, or right side of your screen, and you can also choose icon alignment to be centered or off to the left or right of the bar.

Icon sizes, taskbar transparency, mica effects, theme colors, text colors, Start button logo, and hex colors can all be tweaked to your liking.

The clock is fully customizable, and in the most recent update, a calendar was added with a per-day agenda feature.

Did I mention GroDock supports multi-monitor setups? Yes, you can choose which monitors the custom taskbar shows up on.

Something I absolutely love and find super useful as someone who's constantly copy-pasting is an optional Clipboard history icon. You can even choose how many entries you want to show in the widget.

GroDock also offers an optional kanban board for To-Do lists, a basic notepad feature to jot down ideas, a code snippet repository, and a timer to keep track of how long you've been at a task.

Other optional features include system volume, screen brightness (per monitor, to boot), network info, battery life for laptops, USB devices, and more. Just like the regular Windows taskbar, but completely customizable.

Perhaps my favorite feature is the customizable Start menu style. The Classic version has cascading menus, while the Explorer version shows more options right from the start. The Modern option is more like a scrollable list of apps with a favorites section nearby.

And finally, customizable dock groups make it easy to keep your desktop clean and your favorite apps immediately accessible. You can create any number of dock groups and add any sort of apps you want to those groups, super useful for productivity aficionados.

Why use GroDock instead of the native Windows 11 taskbar?

Windows 11's taskbar is straightforward and familiar. For a lot of Windows users, that's good enough.

But as someone who spends 8+ hours a day at my PC, turning the taskbar into a true productivity tool is well worth the $5 price tag. It's essentially a central command hub for my PC, totally customizable to my liking, giving me far more control and ease of access than I've ever had before.

Something I'm sure a lot of users will appreciate is that it doesn't completely override the native taskbar. You can use GroDock as a complement to the Windows 11 taskbar, or you can use it as a total replacement.

Best part? As mentioned, you can try it out for free for 7 days. If it's not quite what you need, you never have to touch it again. And if it is too good to pass up, as I found out, the one-time $5 cost really isn't too steep.

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The Files app has beaten Microsoft to the punch once again. The same app that added tabs to file management far before Windows 11's File Explorer has added a clever way to show folder sizes.

A recent update to Files adds a button in the size column to calculate the size of a folder. The solution is a clever compromise that adds a simple way to show folder sizes without eating up system resources by showing the sizes of all folders.

The same update adds some other handy features like the option to remove all tags from a file.

Files is not the first third-party file management app to show folder sizes; OneCommander also has the option. But I enjoy following the development of Files. The app looks like what File Explorer should be. It also often adds features before Microsoft adds similar options to File Explorer.

Files v4.1.3: What's New

Calculate folder size on demand

When the Calculate folder sizes option is turned off in Settings, a View size button now appears in the Size column. Clicking it will calculate the size of that folder on demand.

Retain selection across layouts

When switching between layouts, the previously selected item now stays selected, so you don’t lose your place when changing layouts.

Remove all tags from a file

You can now quickly clear every tag assigned to one or more files. There are a few ways to use the new action:

• From the context menu — right-click an item, open the Tags submenu, and choose Remove tags.
• From the toolbar — when the Edit Tags button is pinned to the toolbar, the same option appears in its menu.
• From the Command Palette — open the Command Palette and search for Remove tags. You can also assign your own keyboard shortcut to it from Settings.

If you haven’t pinned the Edit Tags button to the toolbar, you can add it in a few steps:

1. Right-click the toolbar and select Customize toolbar.
2. Expand the File System group on the left.
3. Drag Edit Tags… to the list of added toolbar items.

Updated OneDrive icon

The OneDrive icon has been updated to the latest version. Files now loads it directly from the OneDrive executable, so it always matches the icon used by OneDrive itself.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue with extracting tar archives.
• Fixed an issue where the Signatures page would occasionally cause a crash.
• Fixed an issue where the Play action wasn’t available when a single media file was selected.
• Fixed an issue where Smart Extract would extract archives to the wrong location when switching tabs.
• Fixed an issue where tag search excluded folders when grouping by type.
• Fixed an issue where thumbnails would sometimes fail to refresh after a file was modified.
• Fixed an issue where a BitLocker locked drive wasn’t displayed.

Why doesn't File Explorer show folder sizes?

If you browse around File Explorer, you'll notice folders have a blank space next to them under the size column. To calculate the size of a folder, Windows needs to perform a recursive scan and add together the size of every file within a folder.

A recursive scan would not be an issue for a reasonably sized folder, but if you have a folder with thousands of files and subfolders, the scan would eat up system resources and slow things down.

As a quick side note, File Explorer does show the size of zipped folders, but that's because Windows 11 treats those as individual files, not as folders.

There are ways to make File Explorer show folder sizes, but they require mods. Windows Forum has an excellent piece detailing the process of using Windhawk to show folder sizes in File Explorer.

If you'd like a gauge of how long a recursive scan for a folder takes, hover your mouse over any folder and wait until a file size appears. It may only take a moment for a single folder, but if your PC had to do a similar scan for any folder on your screen, it would not be a smooth experience.

Files takes a different approach to showing the size of a folder by adding a prompt within the size column. I think it's more user friendly and is a clever compromise to showing folder sizes.

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Frozen apps and laggy messages can make any job more stressful. Recent updates to Microsoft Teams should lessen those issues, making chats faster, apps more reliable, and searching for people more streamlined.

A blog post by Ihor Lukyanenko breaks down how performance and reliability were improved in Teams.

Speeding up chats

Chat latency in Teams has been reduced by 20% since the start of this year. The biggest gains will be seen when "cold switching" between chats.

When you switch to a chat you've opened recently, data is in your system's memory and performance is better: that's called a warm switch. A cold switch is when you open a chat that has not been loaded recently. Microsoft focused heavily on cold switches this year.

Cold-switch latency was greatly reduced due to the changes Microsoft made. You should see a difference regardless of your hardware, but people with slower networks or older devices will see the biggest change.

Reducing app hangs

An app "hanging" refers to when it stops responding. A common way hanging affects usage is that touching the app fails to register, often forcing a restart.

Microsoft fixed the most common causes of app hangs for Teams on macOS and iOS this year. Daily users of the apps have seen a 35% decrease in hangs since the changes shipped.

Here's what the developers of Teams did on macOS, according to Lukyanenko:

• Network status monitoring – The native network status tracker was making a blocking call on the main thread to check connectivity changes. We moved this to a background thread, eliminating the single largest source of macOS freezes. 
• WebView2 library loading – Loading the WebView2 dynamic library on the main thread caused 6% of all freezes. Working with the WebView2 team, we enabled a new feature that preloads the library on a background thread, significantly reducing the blocking time during the call to create the WebView2 environment. 
• Error reporting – A URL request made during web app error reporting was blocking the main thread. We switched to an asynchronous call, resolving 1.7% of freezes with a straightforward fix. 

Improvements to Teams on iOS came from a more widespread effort that included redesigning how database operations run, caching, and offloading certain calculations.

Speeding up search

Finding people within Teams is faster as well, 25% faster, to be exact.

Search within Teams refers to more than just the app's search box. These fixes also speed up how quickly names appear when you mention someone with the @ symbol.

To improve search performance, Microsoft "optimized the query pipeline, reduced database queue congestion, and enhanced overall system throughput."

Have you noticed a difference?

Unlike many changes to Teams which we cover just as they roll out or while they're still in testing, these improvements have already shipped and have been out for months. Have you noticed a difference in app performance and reliability this year? Is Teams where it needs to be for daily use?

Lukyanenko highlights that "performance is never finished," but I'm curious if it's good enough for you to use Teams without frustration.

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PowerToys just received a big update full of features and improvements. Release v0.100.0 makes it easier to find Command Palette extensions, adds a new Shortcut Guide, and adds multi-monitor support to Dock.

PowerDisplay is now faster following the update and Zoomit supports overlaying a webcam while recording.

Despite adding new capabilities, the update to v0.100.0 makes PowerToys smaller. The app's developers have upgraded the project to .NET 10, which reduces the footprint by 15% while also improving performance.

👉RELATED: How to get started with PowerToys Command Palette

The Extension Gallery for Command Palette is the biggest change. The feature allows you to browse, install, update, and remove extensions directly within Command Palette Settings. Previously, managing extensions required you to use the Microsoft Store or WinGet.

PowerToys v0.100.0

Advanced Paste

• Fixed Advanced Paste clipboard-to-JSON conversion so clipboard read failures return an empty result instead of surfacing an exception in #48124

Command Palette

Extension Gallery & Extensions

• Added the Command Palette Extension Gallery so users can discover, browse, install, update, and uninstall community extensions from within Command Palette, with cached gallery data, extension details/screenshots, and WinGet status/progress integration in #46636 by @jiripolasek
• Added Command Palette parameter pages so extensions can prompt for lightweight command inputs directly in the search experience, including sample pages and SDK support for parameter runs in #47826
• Updated Command Palette bookmarks to collect placeholder values as inline parameters, so bookmarked commands can be filled in directly instead of opening a separate placeholders page in #47886
• Improved Command Palette Extension Gallery link handling so only HTTP/HTTPS homepage, author, install, and metadata links are shown or opened from the gallery UI in #47898 by @jiripolasek
• Fixed Command Palette Extension Gallery UI bindings so WinGet operation indicators continue to update correctly without build warnings in #47899 by @jiripolasek
• Fixed an AOT-only Command Palette Extension Gallery crash when opening an extension page with screenshots in #48065
• Updated the Command Palette extension template to use the 0.11 SDK package in #48066
• Improved Command Palette accessibility so Narrator announces checkbox labels on the Installed Apps page in Extensions settings in #48135 by @chatasweetie

Dock

• Added Command Palette Dock support for customizing dock bands separately per monitor, allowing multi-monitor setups to keep independent dock layouts in #46915
• Added Command Palette Dock edit mode support for dragging dock bands between monitors, so pinned commands can move across per-monitor dock layouts in #47921
• Added Command Palette Dock drag-and-drop bookmarking for files and URLs, immediately creating and pinning bookmarks, improving pinned folder bookmarks so they open the Command Palette browse experience in #47989
• Fixed Command Palette dock context menu commands so Page commands and confirmation dialogs open the palette at the dock item when invoked from a dock item menu in #47991
• Fixed Command Palette Dock band tooltips so they refresh when the item title or subtitle changes in #47557
• Fixed Command Palette dock startup animations so items pinned to the End section animate consistently with Start and Center items in #48099
• Fixed Command Palette dock subtitle visibility in compact mode so subtitles refresh correctly after async updates in #48088 by @michaeljolley
• Fixed Command Palette hotkey navigation when the palette is showing a transient dock page in #48089 by @michaeljolley
• Fixed a Command Palette dock window border that occasionally remained visible after disconnect/reconnect, by ensuring the owner HWND is set before frame removal in #48180
• Improved the Command Palette Pin to Dock dialog by reordering controls so they appear above the preview, making the dialog easier to scan in #48250

Performance Monitor

• Added a Battery widget to Command Palette Performance Monitor that shows live charge percentage, charging/AC status, and estimated time remaining, updating the dock-band battery icon to reflect current charge level and charging state in #47870 by @Knyrps
• Added Command Palette Performance Monitor dock bands for individual metrics like CPU, memory, network, GPU, and battery when available in #47967
• Fixed Command Palette Performance Monitor's CPU dock reading to use a 0–100% system CPU counter, preventing boosted CPUs from showing values above 100% in #47864 by @Knyrps
• Improved Command Palette Performance Monitor network widgets by giving Send and Receive distinct up/down arrow icons and simplifying their labels in #48118
• Reordered Command Palette Performance Monitor network dock bands to match Task Manager's send/receive order in #48098 by @michaeljolley
• Fixed a Command Palette Performance Monitor crash when a GPU index falls outside the available range in #48103 by @michaeljolley
• Fixed a Command Palette Performance Monitor settings file path collision that could cause widget settings to overwrite one another in #48251 by @namdpran8

Calculator

• Added rand() and randi() to the Command Palette Calculator and improved error messages by distinguishing invalid expressions, NaN, and out-of-range results in #47725 by @daverayment
• Fixed Command Palette Calculator parsing for multi-argument functions in cultures where comma is both thousands separator and argument separator, so expressions like max(1,2) and grouped numbers are handled correctly in #47731 by @daverayment
• Fixed the Command Palette and Run Calculator 'log' and 'ln' functions when whitespace separates the function name from its argument, so 'log (n)' computes log base 10 and 'ln (n)' no longer errors out in #47767 by @daverayment

Reliability & UX

• Added a pinned commands section to the Command Palette Home page with context-menu actions for reordering pinned commands in #45869 by @jiripolasek
• Updated Command Palette Shell provider to behave more like Windows Run, improving command execution and suggestions for network paths, NTFS paths, and other edge-case paths in #47642
• Improved Command Palette Window Walker by showing a loading state while open windows are queried during search in #47919
• Improved Command Palette list items by limiting visible tag pills to three and showing a +N overflow badge, preventing tags from crowding out titles in #47140
• Added a Command Palette All Apps setting to hide app description subtitles in search results for a cleaner list view in #47128
• Fixed Command Palette back navigation so the bottom command bar refreshes immediately when returning with Esc or Backspace in #47126
• Fixed Command Palette Extensions settings text so single command and fallback command counts use singular wording in #47125
• Improved Command Palette extension logging by routing extension messages to info, warning, or error logs according to their reported severity in #47896
• Updated Command Palette versioning to 0.11 in #47841
• Added stable Command Palette automation IDs so UI testing tools can reliably target controls and generated list items across sessions in #48033
• Fixed Command Palette Dock positioning when opening palette items from secondary displays, so the palette appears on the correct monitor in #48061
• Updated developer documentation with steps for debugging Command Palette directly through its Visual Studio solution filter in #48108 by @Morma016
• Added Command Palette Remote Desktop support for connecting to arbitrary hostnames typed into the list page, in addition to discovered connections in #48069 by @michaeljolley
• Improved Command Palette result scoring by synchronising fallback title and subtitle formatting so similar items rank consistently in #48085 by @michaeljolley
• Added a Command Palette "Show details" / "Hide details" toggle (with an icon) to the context menu, replacing the previous separate entries in #48140 by @chatasweetie

FancyZones

• Added translator-comment guidance to the FancyZones Editor strings 'Space around zones' and 'Highlight distance' so localizers translate them as margin/padding and adjacent-zone detection distance, fixing misleading Japanese renderings in #47226

File Explorer

• Fixed a Markdown preview crash on UTF-8 files (notably CJK content) that exceeded WebView2's NavigateToString byte limit by switching the size check to count UTF-8 bytes and falling back to the temp-file rendering path when the threshold is exceeded in #47391

File Locksmith

• Fixed File Locksmith handling of Unicode file paths when passing paths between normal and elevated runs, preventing certain non-ASCII paths from being corrupted in #47361

Grab And Move

• Fixed the LNK2038 C++/WinRT version mismatch breaking GrabAndMove on CI by adding the Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT NuGet to GrabAndMove.vcxproj so it uses the repo-pinned CppWinRT instead of whatever the Windows SDK ships in #47910
• Removed the "NEW" tag from the Grab And Move entry in Settings now that the module has shipped through a full release in #48174 by @moooyo

Image Resizer

• Added live settings reload to Image Resizer so external changes to settings.json take effect immediately without relaunching the flow in #45266 by @daverayment
• Improved Image Resizer accessibility so Narrator announces the Resize button by name and the window title now reads 'Image Resizer' instead of the generic 'WinUI Desktop' in #47752

Keyboard Manager

• Enabled the redesigned Keyboard Manager editor by default, so new installations open the WinUI 3 editor without changing settings in #48245

Mouse Without Borders

• Added Mouse Without Borders Refresh Connections to Quick Access and the Settings Dashboard so users can reconnect devices faster in #46025
• Refactored Mouse Without Borders logging cleanup with no intended user-facing behavior change in #44553 by @mikeclayton

Peek

• Added a 'Show file preview tooltip' toggle to Peek's Behavior settings so users can disable the on-hover metadata tooltip (filename, type, date modified, size), and fixed the binding so toggling off no longer leaves an empty popup attached in #46624

PowerDisplay

• Improved Power Display by automatically disabling the feature after a detected DDC/CI capability crash and showing a Settings warning before users re-enable it in #47734
• Fixed Power Display flyout keyboard handling so pressing Escape closes the window in #48026
• Improved Power Display monitor detection by rescanning displays when the screen wakes and temporarily locking controls until the refresh completes in #47876
• Updated PowerToys documentation to include telemetry events for Grab And Move and Power Display in #47228
• Updated Power Display localization comments so the product name remains untranslated in UI strings, including the system tray tooltip in #47351
• Improved Power Display monitor discovery by distinguishing internal panels from external monitors before applying brightness controls, reducing unnecessary DDC/CI probing on built-in displays in #47740
• Fixed Power Display upgrades so existing per-monitor preferences are carried forward from older monitor IDs to the current stable IDs in #47977
• Added a Power Display Max compatibility mode setting that can find monitors skipped by standard DDC discovery, with an immediate rescan and warning in Settings when enabled in #47875
• Improved Power Display brightness, contrast, and volume sliders by committing changes after a short debounce and allowing mouse-wheel adjustments in #47756
• Fixed Power Display brightness, contrast, and volume controls on monitors whose native DDC/CI ranges are not 0-100 by scaling slider percentages correctly in #47679
• Added a Power Display Settings confirmation prompt before enabling the module and improved monitor diagnostics for troubleshooting in #48111
• Fixed Power Display per-monitor settings so toggles persist across restarts, monitor reordering, and transient discovery failures in #47712
• Added a built-in Power Display monitor blacklist so known problematic displays are skipped during DDC/CI discovery and reported in logs instead of being probed in #48051
• Fixed a Power Display false-positive crash detection when the host process exits cooperatively, so the safety lockout no longer triggers on clean shutdowns in #48173 by @moooyo
• Removed the "NEW" tag from the Power Display entry in Settings now that the module has shipped through a full release in #48174 by @moooyo
• Reworked the Power Display warning dialog with clearer messaging, distinct warning kinds, and a dedicated dialog view-model so users get more actionable guidance after a DDC/CI issue in #48249

PowerToys Run

• Improved PowerToys Run Calculator to return a friendly error for expressions whose result is a complex number (e.g. sqrt(-1)) instead of throwing during decimal conversion in #47506 by @MardSilva
• Documented the third-party PowerToys Run plugin Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.DiskAnalyzer for scanning folders/drives to find the largest files and folders in #48106 by @thetsaw

Quick Accent

• Updated Quick Accent’s popup UI to standard PowerToys styling while keeping the accent selector experience unchanged in #46604
• Improved Quick Accent language selection consistency by sharing the same language list between the accent popup and Settings UI in #47211 by @daverayment
• Added Greek Polytonic as a Quick Accent language, making polytonic Greek characters available from matching letter keys and Settings in #47021 by @daverayment and @guidotorresmx
• Fixed Quick Accent popup sizing, positioning, and selection glitches on high-DPI or multi-monitor setups, and improved Shift-key detection for navigation in #46593 by @daverayment

Settings

• Added Image Resizer size preset validation so empty or whitespace names are ignored, keeping presets named and easier to understand in #45425
• Fixed the Settings UI resource list by removing a duplicate Quick Accent Greek Polytonic language entry, allowing Settings builds to complete cleanly in #48054
• Improved Settings UI with refreshed PowerToys imagery, constrained OOBE/SCOOBE layouts, and cleaner General settings controls and icons in #48024
• Fixed the Settings “No shortcuts to show” empty-state message so it displays with a single period in #47287 by @daverayment
• Updated Grab And Move settings localization guidance so the Korean translation for “Activation modifier key” uses the feature activation meaning instead of product activation wording in #47352
• Fixed the Quick Access flyout shortcut editor so clicking Reset no longer crashes PowerToys Settings and leaves the shortcut empty cleanly in #47407
• Fixed PowerToys auto-update so it now actually relaunches after install with a 'successfully updated' toast, backs up all JSON configs before updating with restore on detected corruption, and defaults AutoDownloadUpdates to true for fresh installs in #46889
• Renamed the OOBE overview "Learn" link label to "Documentation" so the call-to-action is clearer to first-time users in #48155

Shortcut Guide

• Fixed Shortcut Guide key visuals to show readable key names instead of raw numeric key codes, while preserving arrow key glyph behavior in #48037 by @noraa-junker
• Improved Shortcut Guide V2 reliability and accuracy by showing the configured shortcut, including additional PowerToys module shortcuts, matching app manifests correctly, and exiting cleanly from Esc or the close button in #48043 by @noraa-junker
• Added Shortcut Guide V2, a redesigned shortcut reference with built-in manifests for Windows, PowerToys, and common apps, plus taskbar/context-aware navigation and updated Settings, OOBE, docs, and installer support in #40834 by @noraa-junker
• Renamed the Settings UI module label from "Shortcut Guide V2" to "Shortcut Guide" now that V2 is the only shipping version in #48151
• Fixed a Shortcut Guide V2 crash that occurred when the per-app Manifests directory was missing or unreadable, by treating the directory as empty in that case in #48171 by @MuyuanMS
• Reworded the Shortcut Guide module and OOBE descriptions so they better explain what V2 does and how to invoke it in #48248

Workspaces

• Reworked the Workspaces editor with WPF Fluent theming (dropping ControlzEx and ModernWpf), refined fonts, spacing, and Mica background, and moved action buttons to the top with full-width scrolling in #46172 by @Jay-o-Way

ZoomIt

• Removed a stale Microsoft.Windows.ImplementationLibrary NuGet import from ZoomItBreak.vcxproj that was unused but broke the official build after the .NET 10 upgrade bumped the sibling project's WIL version in #47649
• Added webcam capture overlay and multi-clip append-with-transitions support to the ZoomIt recording/trim editor, exposed the new options in the ZoomIt Settings page, and fixed microphone/webcam selection-dialog bugs along the way in #47529 by @foxmsft and @markrussinovich
• Fixed ZoomIt's record-hotkey registration so when Alt is the only modifier the window-record hotkey (base XOR Alt) is no longer registered as a modifier-less key that had been hijacking every bare keypress in #47388
• Exposed ZoomIt's 16:9 aspect-ratio toggle for the screen-region recording hotkey (default Ctrl+Shift+5) in the PowerToys Settings UI in #47695 by @foxmsft

Development

• Build / dependency improvements:
  • Updated PowerToys build and developer tooling to .NET 10, with Visual Studio 2026 now required for building from source in #41280 by @jerone and @snickler
  • Fixed Shortcut Guide v2 release signing by adding the YamlDotNet dependency to the signed binaries list in #48050
  • Updated shared PowerToys .NET runtime and library packages from 10.0.7 to 10.0.8 for the latest servicing fixes in #48010 by @snickler
  • Improved PowerToys build tooling so build scripts discover Visual Studio 2026 Insiders/Preview installations with C++ tools and skip unusable installs in #47462
  • Updated PowerToys WinUI platform dependencies, including Windows App SDK 2.0.1 and WebView2, for apps and the Command Palette extension template in #47470
  • Updated shared PowerToys .NET runtime and library packages from 10.0.6 to 10.0.7 for the latest servicing fixes in #47517 by @snickler
  • Fixed Quick Accent release signing by adding PowerAccent.Common.dll to the signed binaries list in #48058
  • Fixed Advanced Paste release signing by adding the Google Gemini-related dependency DLLs to the signed binaries list in #48001
  • Updated Advanced Paste AI dependencies, including Semantic Kernel and provider connectors, to newer package versions in #47819
• CI & automation:
  • Added a Telemetry PR Check workflow that detects telemetry event changes in pull requests and posts contributor guidance in #47889
  • Updated GitHub issue triage automation by renaming the area-labeling workflow and removing the legacy product auto-label workflow in #47911
  • Added GitHub issue triage automation that applies Product/Area labels to new or reopened issues and supports manual backfill in #47808
  • Fixed GitHub issue auto-labeling by correcting Product label names so the workflow applies existing repository labels in #48027
  • Added a GitHub Action and tester for issue triage that applies Product labels from issue template areas, with AI fallback and manual modes in #47485
  • Fixed GitHub issue auto-labeling so the workflow can authenticate with GitHub Models and apply area labels again in #47820
  • Updated spell-check CI expectations by removing obsolete tokens, reducing noisy advisory comments on pull requests in #48110
  • Updated CI to skip automatic builds for draft pull requests until they are ready for review in #47442
  • Fixed the README roadmap reference for v0.100 so it renders as a clickable milestone link in #47785
  • Updated README download guidance to point users to release assets and changes the release notes link to the releases page in #47432
  • Updated the GitHub issue tracker duplicate-resolution reply to more clearly point users to the original tracking issue in #47981
• Setup / installer:
  • Shrunk the PowerToys installer by removing genuinely-unused dependencies (System.Data.SqlClient, MFC/AMP/OpenMP VC++ runtime DLLs) and deduplicating WinAppSDK files between the install root and WinUI3Apps subfolder, reducing download size by roughly 11 MB in #47233
• Enterprise / GPO:
  • Bumped the en-US ADML revision to 1.20 to match the ADMX file, fixing a Group Policy Editor load error that prevented administrators from loading the PowerToys policy templates in #47672
  • Migrated spdlog from a git submodule to vcpkg manifest mode with an overlay port pinned to the same upstream commit (gabime/spdlog@616866fc), replacing the polyfill shim and removing the in-tree src/logging/ wrapper in #48039
  • Removed the last git submodule (deps/expected-lite) since the code path that used it had already been switched to std::expected, leaving PowerToys fully submodule-free in #48159 by @DHowett
  • Fixed a grammar typo in the PowerToy project-template README, changing "Settings Informations" to "Settings Information" in #48148 by @P-r-e-m-i-u-m
  • Moved the Command Palette API spec back into src/modules/cmdpal/doc/ so the spec lives alongside the generated API code that consumes it in #48160

PowerToys has been one of the best free Windows apps for a long time, and it keeps improving. Many online have asked why PowerToys is not built in to Windows 11. By having PowerToys separate, the app's developers can move quickly and ship updates frequently. There are also several features that people would consider bloat on Windows 11 even though they're useful additions to an app designed for power users.

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It's no secret that Microsoft has been pushing hard for its customers to transition from the built-in Windows Mail & Calendar apps to the new Outlook client. However, the move has been met with backlash and reservations from users, including our Senior Editor Zac Bowden, who argued that the client isn't yet ready for prime time with its sluggish performance as one of the major pain points.

"Enshitification," a user lamented on Reddit. "Release a new product with less functions than the old one, but promote it constantly as "new", then charge customers extra to upgrade to a product which is nearly as good as the old one, but not quite, those extra bits you need are classed as a premium add-on."

Feature parity is evidently a major point preventing most users from transitioning from the Classic Outlook to the new Outlook client. However, Microsoft is working hard to bridge this gap and has shipped 15 features over the last few months to the new Outlook client (via Neowin).

Some of these 15 features include the capability to pin a mail, which makes it easier to track important messages as they trickle in. It also features modern themes, including a dark mode. Additionally, you can temporarily snooze an email from your inbox until it becomes timely and relevant again, and a meeting recap.

Other notable additions include: improved meeting tracking, schedule send, and keyboard shortcuts to help you enhance productivity by bolstering effectiveness and efficiency.

To that end, Microsoft previously indicated that adoption and transition to the new Outlook client are slowly picking up pace; however, it's still pushing the opt-out phase by one year. This suggests that the company is giving organizations ample time to make the bold jump.

It's worth noting that Microsoft will continue supporting the Windows Mail & Calendar apps through 2029.

Have you transitioned to the new Outlook yet? Let me know in the comments.

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Last month, I reported on Microsoft's plans to retire SMS codes for authentication and account recovery on personal Microsoft accounts. The company stated that SMS-based authentication is a leading source of fraud, and outlined its plans to replace it with more secure options, such as passkeys, authenticator apps, and verified email addresses.

And now, a similar change is making its way to Microsoft’s Chromium-based web browser, Edge. The company recently removed support for the Master Password feature. Microsoft first announced the change during the rollout of Edge version 145, noting its plan to end support for master passwords in the browser’s password manager on June 4, 2026 (via TechRadarPro).

Microsoft is replacing the master password feature in Edge with device-based authentication methods such as Windows Hello (PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition). The company views Windows Hello as more secure and convenient compared to the custom primary password arrangement. This is because it is less susceptible to sophisticated attacks by bad actors since they'll need your fingerprint, face, or iris scan to access your account.

For context, a master password is designed to let you unlock and access all your online accounts. However, it can be viewed as a risk, especially if a third party knows your custom primary password. This means they can access sensitive data without your consent.

Alternatively, you can use your Windows PC's login, which is restricted to your device's hardware and won't send authentication data to the cloud.

While Windows Hello will seemingly make your passwords and online credentials more secure, the security feature also ships with its own fair share of challenges. In June 2025, multiple reports from web users indicated that Windows Hello no longer worked in the dark.

Microsoft confirmed that it wasn't a bug and that Windows now requires both IR sensors and a webcam that can see your face to sign in. If you've relied on a master password in Edge until now, it's time to consider your options for secure sign-ins — and always keep your passwords safe!

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Microsoft will use a Build 2026 session to show developers how to port x86 apps to Windows on Arm using AI agents.

NVIDIA and Microsoft aim to usher in "a new era of PC" with RTX Spark. That chip, which is a Windows on Arm processor, is a powerhouse workstation that could brute force its way to run just about any app. But the RTX Spark won't have to flex as hard to run native Arm applications.

Microsoft and Qualcomm have pushed Windows on Arm for years, and now NVIDIA has joined the fight. Microsoft claims that 90% of time spent on Windows on Arm PCs is spent within natively compiled apps. The tech giant appears eager to close that gap.

A session at Microsoft Build focuses on how to port x86 apps to run natively on Windows on Arm by using AI. Agents are a major theme of Build 2026. Those AI assistants can perform actions and handle the more mundane and repetitive aspects of coding.

"See where ARM performance gains are real today, and how agentic AI can help convert and validate x86 applications for speed, compatibility, and scale," reads the Build session description.

In this context, "native" refers to an app being optimized for a specific architecture, such as ARM64. The term native can also refer to a program that is not a webview app. Microsoft also helps developers make the other type of native apps, they're just not the focus here.

If you listen to online trolls, you'd believe Windows on Arm is incredibly niche and all of your favorite apps are incompatible. The reality is that a large number of popular apps run natively on Windows on Arm PCs. I suggest checking "Works on WoA" to check the compatibility of your must-have apps.

Apps that do not run natively need to run through Microsoft's Prism emulation. Between native apps and emulation, a large library of apps are available on Arm-powered PC.

But a large library is not the same as a comprehensive library. There are some legacy applications, enterprise apps, and other programs that will not run well on Windows on Arm systems. In select cases, required apps will not work at all.

To fill those gaps, developers need to port their apps to Windows on Arm. The Build session runs through the tools developers can use to port apps, including debuggers, profilers, and compilers.

Qualcomm's Gaurav Goel will lead the session, which runs for 15 minutes on Wednesday, June 3 at 6:20 PM ET.

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Microsoft wants more native apps and elements on Windows 11, and so should you. Native apps and native code mean better performance and smoother computing. At Build 2026, Microsoft held several sessions to help third-party developers make native applications.

A core part of the Windows K2 initiative is to rebuild pieces like the Start menu as native components, but that's only part of the effort. For the entire Windows experience to improve, third-party developers need to embrace native Windows apps.

In this piece, native refers to modern Windows apps built with the latest Windows frameworks, such as WinUI 3. Native can also describe apps compiled for a specific architecture like ARM64, but that’s a separate topic. Here I’m focusing on Windows‑native apps, not architecture‑native builds.

Microsoft is building its own team of experts to make native in-box apps and experiences for Windows 11. The tech giant also has several tools and pieces of advice for developers that want to create native apps.

A session at Build 2026 titled "Use agents to build WinUI 3 apps" taught how to use agents to assist in the development of native apps. During the session, Beth Pan and Nikola Metulev explained how to create new WinUI 3 apps, improve existing apps, and migrate apps to use the Windows UI stack.

Migrating to the WinUI 3 framework can be tricky when using AI tools. Agents and models are often trained generically, meaning they'll show unoptimized results. The WinUI agent plugin for GitHub Copilot and Claude Code is a specialized AI agent that pull WinUI skills by default.

That's one of many tools made available to developers. Microsoft also has WinUI 3 templates (in preview) to streamline native app creation.

Another Build session breaks down how to modernize apps with AI. "Modernizing apps isn’t just rewriting code—it’s untangling dependencies, tracing data flows, and making changes without breaking production," explains the session description.

Developers relying heavily on AI will need hardware that can cope. The Surface Laptop Ultra was announced at Computex, but you can bet it was mentioned at Build.

The Surface Laptop Ultra is built to handle AI agents. It will be available with up to 128GB of RAM and is the first Surface to be built on the NVIDIA RTX Spark platform.

That platform combines the N1x CPU (20-core Arm), an RTX GPU (up to 6,144 cores), and unified memory to deliver up to 1 petaflop of AI compute.

The new NVIDIA Spark laptops can handle creative apps and even games, but they're also a power play by Microsoft to win over developers.

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