Software & Apps

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 release preview update KB5124010 has received user complaints that the update is causing certain games to crash. Reported by Neowin, multiple user reports claim that Windows 11's latest preview update is causing Battlefield 6, WARDOGS, and some other games with anti-cheat support to crash.

Neowin pointed to several Reddit posts and Steam posts showing users complaining about Battlefield 6, WARDOGS, and EAC games crashing. Some users report just Battlefield 6 crashing on their PCs; others report WARDOGS crashing on their PCs, and some others also reported Battlefield 2042 and Fallout New Vegas crashing with the update.

The workaround is to completely uninstall KB5124010, which reportedly helped several gamers fix their game-crashing issues. There's still no full confirmation that anti-cheat issues are causing these games to crash, but it appears all of the games that are proving problematic with the Windows update do have some form of anti-cheat, whether that be Easy Anti-Cheat or another anti-cheat system.

After taking heavy flak for reintroducing global age verification to Discord, the team behind the popular communication platform is listening to community feedback and is adopting a new age verification system that users don't have to touch. According to a blog post by Discord, the app now has an automated age estimation model that reportedly has a 90% success rate of guessing what your age is.

Discord's new age estimation model does this by checking how long a Discord user's account has existed, what types of servers a user has joined, what games they play, activity levels, and more, while not looking at messages or calls to preserve the user's privacy. The model Discord is using specifically is the XGBoost architecture, a tree-based ensemble method that learns from previous mistakes. Discord claims that the signals its verification model uses deliver accuracy on par with biometrics. Additionally, Discord has also implemented more ways for manual age verification, including methods that don't require an ID or a selfie, when the estimation model does get someone's age wrong.

Discord claims this model is part of its plan to get ahead of future policies that might force Discord to implement identification systems that are less focused on privacy. The Discord team initially revealed its plan to reintroduce age verification a few weeks ago, codenamed 'Tiny Bronco,' where it also laid out plans to introduce teen restrictions, including no access to adult-only servers/channels, blurring sensitive media, including in DMs, a speaking ban in stage channels, and requiring message requests for teenagers.

Apple is significantly expanding what iCloud+ subscribers get for their money, bundling Apple TV and Apple Arcade into every paid iCloud+ tier across more than 100 countries at no additional cost. The change will roll out progressively through the end of September and includes even the cheapest 50GB iCloud+ plan, making it one of the more substantial value additions Apple has made to the subscription in years.

The bundle also extends to Family Sharing, meaning up to five family members can access the storage, Apple TV, and Apple Arcade through a single plan. Apple Arcade currently offers more than 200 games without ads or in-app purchases, and existing game saves and progress will be preserved for anyone transitioning from a standalone Arcade subscription.

Existing iCloud+ subscribers in eligible countries will automatically receive access to both services. Anyone currently paying separately for Apple TV or Apple Arcade will be migrated to iCloud+ and have their standalone subscriptions cancelled.

If you've been hoping for an easy way to make a local account with a Windows 11 installation, apparently your wish has come true - via an improbable sounding bug.

Windows Latest brought our attention to this new 'workaround' which is seemingly a glitch that allows you to avoid having to tie your fresh install of Windows 11 to a Microsoft account. The bug was first discovered by Bob Pony and posted on X as you can see above.

How does it work? During Windows 11 setup when you reach the screen where the OS wants you to add your Microsoft account, all that needs to be done is to click the 'Learn more' link in the explanatory text (under sign-in options) - not the larger 'Learn more' link at the bottom of the panel. You'll then be whisked away to the screen for creating a local account (weirdly).

A hacker is offering a database allegedly containing personal information on 40,000 Twitch streamers. The data was advertised on a renowned dark web marketplace and reportedly includes usernames, email addresses, legal names, follower counts, and more.

Researchers examining a sample of 501 records say the data appears to have been scraped rather than stolen through a direct breach, meaning Twitch itself wasn't hacked and the information on the streamers was obtained elsewhere.

Publicly available information like usernames and follower counts is already accessible, while legal names may have been pulled from linked social profiles. However, the database contained hidden email addresses, suggesting the Twitch API could have been exploited using stolen access tokens. However, that isn't confirmed, either.

Microsoft has pushed out an emergency Windows 11 patch after last week's Patch Tuesday release broke several things at once. KB5129195 is a mandatory out-of-band cumulative update for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, taking them to builds 26100.9457 and 26200.9457. Windows 11 26H1 gets its own companion patch, KB5129194.

The fixes cover Remote Desktop Services, which Microsoft says could turn unstable and cause connection or sign-in failures. There's also a Hyper-V fix for apps that couldn't reach host folders shared with Linux VMs over Plan9, which is what had been breaking Claude Cowork on Windows. Multichannel audio on some USB Audio Class 1.0 devices works again too, and an elevation of privilege flaw in the User-Mode Power Service gets a second patch after the first one apparently didn't fully close it.

What isn't fixed is probably the part PC gamers care about. Radeon owners have been reporting driver timeouts, black screens, vanishing displays and full system freezes since KB5124008 landed, sometimes returning right after a clean driver reinstall. Reports seem to span a wide range of cards, from the RX 6600 up to the RX 9070 XT. Microsoft still hasn't acknowledged it as a known issue, and KB5129195 lists no fix for it.

Microsoft has confirmed another bug tied to its September Patch Tuesday update, and this time it's audio that's taking the hit. According to an updated Windows release health document, KB5124008, released on September 8, can cause USB Audio Class 1.0 devices to stop working entirely after installing the update.

Affected users may see a "This device cannot start (Code 10)" error in Device Manager, along with unresponsive volume controls, no sound output, or an unresponsive Sound settings page. Some devices reportedly still work fine in standard stereo mode but fail once multichannel features like 8-channel or 3D audio are switched on. A handful of users say dropping back to 2-channel mode restores audio, though that's more of a workaround than an actual fix, and it won't apply to every setup.

Microsoft hasn't shipped a resolution yet and says it's still investigating the root cause. The bug affects Windows 11 versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1, while Windows Server installs are apparently unaffected. It's unclear exactly how many devices this affects, though Microsoft limits the impact to USB Audio Class 1.0 hardware specifically, so older or generic USB DACs and headsets look like the most likely candidates.

A new PC optimization app made by the team behind Compready has been released called HyperTune geared towards mainstream gamers looking to overclock their systems. The new overclocking and optimization tool is backed by Intel directly and is designed by experienced individuals in the PC tuning and overclocking industry to squeeze out the most amount of performance from a system without compromising stability or longevity.

The Hypertune app runs on a subscription-based model for $9.99 a month or $119.99 a year - though Hypertune is offering a 50% discount on its yearly subscription at the time of writing. The app focuses on improving both hardware and software by providing automated tools for overclocking the CPU and GPU, tuning memory, and optimizing the PC's network connection. There are also tools for optimizing graphics settings through game profiles, and optimizing Windows by cleaning up unnecessary background apps. If that's not enough, users can also book a call with experienced IT technicians through Hypertune to provide a manual tune-up of your PC for $80.

The app is reportedly built on Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) software developer kit and was made in close collaboration with Intel. The developers behind Hypertune also worked with Pieter Plaisier to help improve Hypertune's overclocking capabilities. Plaisier is a famous overclocker, known as SkatterBencher, who has helped break countless overclocking records over the years. He also provides overclocking guides and puts loads of effort into making guides for real-world overclocks that focus on stability.

NVIDIA's built-in statistics overlay has quietly picked up one of its most requested missing features. Version 11.0.9 of the NVIDIA App adds CPU temperature, clock speed, and power consumption to the overlay.

NVIDIA notably did not mention the addition in the official 11.0.9 release notes, which only document DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, per-application Resizable BAR controls, and a handful of interface changes. It went largely unnoticed until Reddit picked it up.

It's worth mentioning that NVIDIA has offered CPU monitoring through its separate FrameView utility for years, but those metrics were not available in the NVIDIA App's own in-game statistics. The new update finally brings them directly into the same interface used for GPU, FPS, and DLSS information.

Microsoft has announced Project Zenith, which is a stripped-down version of Windows 11 for AI developers. It's built for devices with at least 64GB of unified memory and 250+ GB/s memory bandwidth, with the goal, as Microsoft puts it, of delivering a "ready-to-code distraction-free Windows experience" on "developer-class" devices.

With that, AMD confirms that its Ryzen AI Halo systems (aka AMD's answer to NVIDIA's DGX Spark mini PC) will be the first to support Project Zenith out of the box, with this customized, developer-focused version of Windows pre-installed with Visual Studio Code, WSL, GitHub Copilot CLI, Python 3.14+, WSL 2+ Ubuntu, PowerShell, and more to help streamline development, testing, and iteration. Microsoft confirms that more devices from its OEM partners will support Project Zenith in the coming months.

Even for enthusiasts who aren't AI developers, some of Project Zenith's out-of-the-box features and settings sound like an improvement over vanilla Windows 11. For example, by default, File Explorer in Project Zenith shows file extensions, hidden files, full paths in the title bar, and details. Also, Start menu tips and account notifications are turned off to "reduce distractions."

Windows 11 looks to be getting a useful new addition to the widget panel that'll help you keep an eye on the battery life of your devices.

Zac Bowden of Windows Central spotted that there are references to a battery widget in the latest preview builds of Windows 11 - as flagged on Discord - although this functionality isn't actually live in testing yet.

We can see how the widget will work, though, and it will display the battery life of the host device if it's a laptop (of course), as well as the battery levels of any connected peripherals such as Bluetooth keyboards or headphones.

Windows 11 version 26H2 has landed in the Release Preview Channel, giving Insiders their first real look at this year's annual feature update before it rolls out to everyone else. Microsoft confirmed the release in a Windows Insider blog post on August 27, with the update carrying build number 26300.9278.

If you've been keeping up with monthly Windows updates, 26H2 probably won't feel like much of a jump. It ships as an enablement package, or eKB, which is a small file that switches on features already sitting dormant in the system rather than replacing anything wholesale. Versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H2 all share the same servicing branch, so most of what shows up in 26H2 has technically already been rolling out gradually through regular monthly updates.

For commercial and enterprise devices specifically, 26H2 turns on a handful of things that were previously available but not enabled by default, including Windows Settings Backup, app-specific actions from the taskbar, and some File Explorer improvements. IT admins looking to prepare their fleets can find Microsoft's guidance through the "Get ready for Windows 11, version 26H2" support page.

Microsoft is building remote power controls into Link to Windows, the Android companion app for Phone Link on Windows 11. Code discovered in an August 25 build of the app reveals a RemoteControlManager component and a flag called "isRemotePcControlsV2Enabled", which is currently disabled.

The strings point to a full set of new controls beyond the existing Lock PC button. Restart and shut down are the big ones, but there are also Update and restart and Update and shut down options. A sleep option is also present, though it comes with a caveat spelt out in the app's own warning message. Once the PC goes to sleep, it disconnects from the phone, meaning users would need physical access to wake it again.

Confirmation dialogues are also being worked on for situations where remote commands could cause problems. Restarting or shutting down during an update triggers a warning that unsaved work in open apps will be lost and cannot be saved remotely. A separate generic warning asks users to confirm they have saved anything important before pulling the trigger from their phone.

NVIDIA has confirmed that it will drop Windows 10 support for its Game Ready and Studio Drivers in November 2026, which may be a problem for millions of Steam users.

While most gamers have moved to Windows 11, millions still use Windows 10. Valve's latest Steam Hardware Survey shows 23% of Steam users are still using Windows 10, which is nearly 1 in 4 Steam users, or about 20 - 30 million Steam users. NVIDIA will release the final compatible driver in October 2026, after which users will receive only quarterly security updates through October 2029.

This announcement from NVIDIA coincides with Microsoft's original end-of-support date for Windows 10, set for October 14, 2025. NVIDIA has maintained support for one year beyond Microsoft's cutoff, giving users time to transition. But come November, users will need to upgrade to Windows 11 to receive the latest performance and game optimizations for newly released titles.

Microsoft is testing a hidden Windows 11 feature that lets users manually reserve unified memory for graphics and AI-heavy workloads, rather than leaving Windows to manage it dynamically. The discovery, internally called IntelligentCarveout, was spotted in Windows 11 Insider build 29648.1000 and confirmed by Windows Latest, with code strings referencing "reserved memory for accelerators" and "memory for graphics and AI acceleration."

For context, unified memory refers to a shared pool of high-bandwidth memory accessible by the CPU, GPU, and other processors, rather than the dedicated VRAM found on traditional discrete graphics setups. Windows currently manages that pool dynamically, shifting resources between workloads as needed.

That works fine for everyday multitasking, but it can become a problem for heavier workloads such as local AI inference or demanding games, where background tasks and foreground applications compete for the same memory.

Microsoft is finally updating Windows 11's privacy and security settings to give users more direct control over what apps can or can't access your PC or laptop's microphone, camera, and location settings. As spotted by Windows Latest, a recent Experimental Insider PC Build 26340.9212 for Windows 11 lets you choose which desktop apps can access these features.

For native Microsoft Store apps, you've been able to choose which apps can, say, access your microphone for years. However, when it comes to more traditional desktop Win32-style apps, like Discord, Chrome, and anything else that launches via a .exe file, this feature was missing. Before this update, you had a single catch-all toggle that let all desktop apps access your microphone, camera, and location settings.

And with that, you were beholden to in-app settings or Windows pop-ups to confirm which desktop app could access them. As seen in this preview build, the 'Privacy & security' section of Windows 11's Settings removes the separate "Let desktop apps access your camera/microphone/location" toggle and instead places each app in the same dropdown menu as native Microsoft Store apps.

The latest Linux kernel has made the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) a hard requirement for x86 processors, ending decades of compatibility code that allowed the operating system to run on hardware without reliable TSC support. The change, committed to Linux 7.2 under the title "x86/cpu: Make CONFIG_X86_TSC unconditional," removes the configuration logic that previously allowed the kernel to be built without TSC support.

Before you panic, this is not Linux's equivalent of Windows 11's TPM 2.0 requirement. The TSC has been present in x86 processors since the Intel Pentium launched in 1993. If your CPU was made within the last three decades, it almost certainly has one. The change is really about finally removing compatibility code for hardware that is unlikely to be running a modern Linux kernel anyway.

The TSC itself is a 64-bit register that provides high-resolution timing and can be read far more quickly than platform alternatives such as HPET or the ACPI PM timer. Reading a TSC-based timer can take tens to hundreds of CPU cycles, while falling back to a motherboard-based timer can take roughly 0.8 to 1.0 microseconds.

Microsoft has apparently settled on an answer to a question it's been asking itself for years: where does Copilot actually belong? According to a new support document, the standalone Copilot app and Microsoft 365 Copilot are merging into a single app, with the rollout starting on mobile this week, followed by Windows and macOS as an opt-in over the coming weeks.

The unified app keeps chat and image generation while adding direct access to Word, Excel, Outlook, and other Microsoft 365 apps and files, plus support for personal, work, and school accounts in one place, logically separated for data purposes. Group Chat, Podcasts, and Deep Research are all being retired for consumers starting August 18, with existing content still downloadable beforehand.

Free users keep basic chat and image creation, while a Microsoft 365 subscription apparently still unlocks higher limits and more advanced tools. CEO Satya Nadella has reportedly said a fuller "super app," which will also bring Copilot's coding and agentic tools, is coming later this quarter under exec Jacob Andreou.

Microsoft has reportedly raised the price of Windows OEM licenses by up to 10%, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News. PC brand executives cited in the report say Microsoft typically adjusts licensing fees for hardware makers every year, but the increases have historically stayed in the low single digits. Starting in July, that number jumped to an average of 7% to 10%, described as the largest hike in recent memory.

OEM licenses are the fees manufacturers pay to preinstall Windows on new laptops and desktops. Customers never see a separate line item for this cost since it gets folded into the price of the finished machine.

Microsoft hasn't confirmed the new rates publicly, and it's still unclear whether the increase applies globally or only to specific manufacturers, regions, or product tiers. These fees reportedly scale with CPU specs too, so higher-end configurations may carry steeper licensing costs than budget machines.

Microsoft Word began as a word processor for MS-DOS back in the 1980s, a time when most personal computer software was all about databases, spreadsheets, and typing up documents. Yes, a time when a PC was referred to as a Personal Computer because before then, computers were the size of rooms and limited to places like universities. Over the years, Microsoft Word has evolved, with the more familiar Microsoft Word for Windows version arriving in 1989.

With its old-school interface and lack of any special features like spell checking, it's a relic of a different time. One of the big innovations that Microsoft Word brought to the table was its WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design, meaning that what you saw on-screen was how the document would look when printed. The shift to Microsoft Word for Windows opened the door to a more intuitive user interface, helping MS Word become the most popular word processor on the market.

And with that, thanks to the source code for Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a for Windows 3.0 becoming publicly available in 2014, someone has taken the time to port it to Windows 11 as an x64 Windows executable that can run on modern PC hardware.