Software & Apps - Page 12

When Windows 11 arrived, it received a rather lukewarm reception - something that continues up until today, in some respects (as evidenced by the OS adoption figures) - and some of that reaction was bound up in the interface.

Granted, most of the grimacing was around mysterious and baffling UI changes (getting rid of 'never combine', taskbar options and so on), but there were folks who didn't take to the new look (and especially the Start menu).

Of course, if you want to tinker and customize Windows 11, you have a raft of options and software to help you, and one intrepid modder has illustrated how radical a change it's possible to make - in reskinning Windows 11 to look like Windows 95.

Microsoft has announced it's releasing a new build of the world's most popular operating system despite its scheduled appearance on the proverbial chopping block next year.

That operating system is Windows 10, and according to a new Windows blog post, the operating system has gotten Windows 10 22H2 19045.5070 (KB5045594) in both the Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel for Insiders. For those who don't know, Microsoft will end support with Windows 10 in October 2025, which will cause millions of PCs around the world to become exponentially vulnerable to security breaches - not to mention obsolete if they don't meet the hardware requirements for a Windows 11 upgrade.

Beta and Release Preview channel users for Windows 10 may begin to notice new changes to the account manager and the Star Menu. One user described the changes as unnecessary and the equivalent of a supermarket reorganizing its shelves just because management believe it's the right thing to do. Notably, when Microsoft severs support with Windows 10 in October next year the operating system will continue to function, but it will no longer receive security updates.

Windows 11 users are getting the 24H2 update, but as this upgrade is being gradually rolled out, some folks are encountering problems - one of which is 24H2 seemingly eating some of their drive space.

You may recall that we previously reported on this issue, whereby after the 24H2 update has been installed, the user will see 8.6GB of cached files for the upgrade, which can be removed by Disk Cleanup. However, when that cleanup is actioned, Windows 11 still reports that the 8.6GB of files remain.

This has left many people scratching their heads, but now Microsoft has come forth with an explanation. Essentially, the cleanup operation actually works fine, the bug is in the figure reported by Windows 11. So, your drive has actually had said space freed, it's just that the OS still says the files are present.

Windows 10 will run out of support in less than a year now, but Microsoft is still developing the older OS - despite mulling a feature-freeze at one point - and drafting over features from Windows 11.

In a new Windows 10 preview - build 19045 in the Beta and Release Preview channels - there's a backported feature as highlighted by regular Windows leaker PhantomOfEarth on X.

This is the 'Copy' button in the Share menu which was brought into Windows 11 a few months back (plus you get a preview of the file's icon and its size), though we should note this isn't live in preview yet. It's hidden behind the scenes, and you need to use ViVeTool to enable the functionality.

Microsoft has rolled out the Windows 11 24H2 update and according to some reports it contains a collection of data that users are unable to delete.

It's not uncommon for Microsoft to include what many users would find unnecessary content within their updates, which are typically removed by those who are so inclined to purge their system of any unwanted Microsoft software. File remnants in various forms has been recognized by Microsoft who stated Windows keeps multiple copies of all installed updates from Windows Update, "even after installing newer versions of updates."

However, for those wanting to remove these unwanted files to free up storage, Microsoft provides the Disk Cleanup tool or the Windows Setting application. However, it appears that 8.63 GB of data cannot be removed from the system after downloading the Windows 11 24H2 update. The Register reports that regardless of how much a user deletes it or restarts Windows 11, it will still remain.

Windows 11 has run into more trouble with its 24H2 update, with fresh revelations that the upgrade is causing serious problems with internet connectivity in some cases.

Windows Report highlighted the issues (as flagged by PC World) and there are posts from people who have upgraded to Windows 11 24H2 complaining about internet-related woes for both wired and Wi-Fi connections with 24H2.

There are various reports on Microsoft's Answers.com forum, with a lengthy thread containing some 60 replies underlining that this isn't an isolated issue. (At the same time, it may not be all that widespread, either - as there isn't an overwhelming volume of posts).

Windows 11's latest updates have arrived - yesterday was Patch Tuesday, of course - and it appears that the painful bugs which were present in last month's preview of the cumulative update for 23H2 have been stamped out in the full release.

However, the update for Windows 11 24H2 doesn't look to have been so smooth for some folks thus far, and while there aren't quite such showstopping bugs, there are some annoyances for sure - and some oddness, too.

First of all, the good news on Windows 11 23H2, with the new update fixing the mentioned major problems with Blue Screens of Death (and Green Screens, too) and multiple forced reboots. There were other bugs too, with wireless peripherals and more.

A startling new bug in Microsoft Word can mean that saving a (certain format) file actually deletes that document.

Yes, this is a strange one indeed, and Neowin flagged up the serious glitch in Word that could potentially cause you quite a bit of grief - at least if you don't realize what has happened (it's not difficult to retrieve the deleted file if you do catch on, thankfully).

At any rate, the way Word is misfiring goes like this: if your document has a capitalized extension - such as .RTF rather than .rtf - and it's being saved to your local drive, if you quit Word with unsaved changes, and then click to save those changes on exit, the file ends up being deleted.

YouTube has confirmed it's responsible for deleting thousands of accounts and videos that were mistakenly flagged as violations against its terms of service.

9to5Google pointed out that many YouTube account holders reported the loss of access to YouTube content. These reports were quickly followed up by YouTube in a support thread that confirmed bugs were present and they were affecting many aspects of the platform such as access to paid features such as YouTube TV, YouTube Premium, and YouTube Music.

Additionally, the bugs also affected other YouTube features, such as playlists. Along with the deleted of specific channels these bugs also removed videos from the platform. Reports indicate that affected users were sent unclear instructions by YouTube that ultimately weren't helpful in the recovery of their accounts. Additionally, another user claimed there was no way to lodge an appeal of the decision by YouTube.

Windows 11's Phone Link app is getting an AI-powered feature that was spotted in testing earlier this year, but is now rolling out to everyone.

This is 'suggested replies' which provides exactly that - short potential replies to the texts you get, within Phone Link - and this functionality is rolling out now (so not everyone will have it just yet, but it's coming).

The replies are generated via AI (in the cloud, not on-device), and they will only appear for certain messages. Namely texts where the AI can actually get a handle on the conversation enough to be able to generate some possible responses.

Windows 11 no longer has WordPad, with Microsoft finally giving the venerable app the chop with the 24H2 update.

This comes as no surprise, because Microsoft had already deprecated WordPad - that happened late in 2023 - marking it for removal from Windows 11. Following that, it was yanked from test builds of the OS at the start of 2024, and we were informed that the app would be cast out of Windows 11 when the 24H2 update came around.

Well, 24H2 is now here - or it's rolling out, anyway - and as promised, there is no WordPad anymore. Furthermore, fresh installs of Windows 11 won't come with WordPad either.

Some folks aren't so keen on the size of the taskbar buttons with Windows 11, and if you fall into the group that feels the icons are oversized, there's some good news for you going by a change hidden in testing.

As uncovered by PhantomOfEarth in a beta build of Windows 11 (22635), there's going to be an option to have the taskbar icons made smaller - but this is hidden in the preview right now.

The leaker uncovered the change by using ViVeTool (a Windows configuration tool) and just because the concept is present in testing, in the background, doesn't mean Microsoft will ever enable it. But there's certainly a chance that'll happen.

Windows 11 24H2 is finally here, the annual update for Microsoft's desktop operating system for this year, and its launch has arrived rather out of the blue.

Microsoft notes that the rollout will be a phased affair, which is always the case with these major updates. So, if you don't get Windows 11 24H2 straight away, don't be surprised - the initial batch of PCs that the 24H2 update is piped to will probably be a relatively narrow selection.

As Microsoft becomes more confident about how solid the 24H2 update is, and that there aren't any big bugs - or truly nasty showstoppers - involved anywhere, the scope and speed of the rollout will be increased.

Windows 11's latest update has been causing quite some chaos for some of those who have installed the preview - to the point that Microsoft has now pulled it completely (and issued a rollback for those who've installed it).

We're talking about the optional update for September, released last week, which has been responsible for Windows 11 users getting hit by Blue Screens of Death (or indeed GSoDs, the green variety) and multiple restarts - with the Automatic Repair tool getting triggered following those repeated reboots in some cases.

On top of that, the BitLocker recovery screen is appearing for some - a bug witnessed earlier this year in Windows 11 - and there are other issues with USB and Bluetooth peripherals failing to work.

Microsoft Recall, the AI-powered search tool for Copilot+ PCs, was quickly delayed after people realized what it did and how it worked. For those who needed a reminder, Recall was touted as the big AI feature for Copilot+. It would continuously take screenshots of your PC, index them, and use generative AI to turn them into a searchable database of your PC history.

"Hey Recall, what was that funny video I watched last night on YouTube," or "Hey Recall, can you put together a list of all the new sneakers I was looking at a few weeks ago." These are two examples of a potential use; however, early hands-on with Recall showed that its screenshots were not only unencrypted but would contain sensitive material like banking information, and the database itself was an indexed wet dream for hackers.

Well, Recall is coming back, and in a new Microsoft blog post, the company has outlined how this latest version is designed with "security and privacy in mind" and core principles like ensuring sensitive data is always encrypted and that other users won't be able to access encryption keys.

If you've upgraded your Mac to the latest desktop operating system from Apple, macOS 15, then you may have been seriously annoyed by the way screen recording permission requests now work.

The good news is that there's now a fix, sort of - not from Apple, but a third-party software developer that has produced an app called Amnesia.

To recap briefly, with macOS 15 the mentioned permission requests now happen repeatedly, so instead of having to grant an app that engages in screen recording - whether that's screen grabbing, or screen sharing in the likes of Slack - permission once, you're asked multiple times.

Spotify's AI Playlist feature is finally rolling out to those on the Premium plan in the US, albeit the functionality is still in beta.

Obviously enough, it uses AI to generate a playlist based on your request, and the feature was previously made available in the UK and Australia some time ago (nearly half a year back, in fact).

The AI Playlist is now available to users in the US and Canada, as well as Ireland and New Zealand, on mobile devices (Android and iOS).

Windows 11 has not gone down well with the computing public for one reason or another - from system requirements, through to bewildering interface changes (steps backward in places), ad pushing, and other niggles besides - and we've just caught a glimpse of what we could have had instead.

Well, kind of - if Microsoft had sat down and properly thought out making a desktop operating system which is clean and streamlined, free of bloat and, yes, dare we say it, with AI pushed more to the side.

BetaNews spotted that a well-known concept creator, AR 4789 on YouTube, put together a video clip showing off a mock-up of a fictional Windows 12.1. (It's not Windows 12, as AR 4789 already did a concept for that, so this is a refinement on that previous take).

Windows 11 has become rather notorious for Microsoft jamming in adverts - or 'recommendations' of one sort of another - pretty much everywhere in the interface, but the company's latest move on the ad front looks to be a positive one.

Windows Latest noticed a recent change in test builds of Windows 11 in the Canary and Beta channels (although not everyone has seen this, so the measure is seemingly still rolling out on a limited basis).

It involves the Privacy & security panel in the Settings app, where Microsoft has taken the 'General' options page and turned it into a 'Recommendation & Offers' page.

Microsoft is scheduled to end support for Windows 10 in October 2025, but before the world's most popular operating system reaches its end of life, Redmond has rolled out a new update that addresses changes related to the European Digital Markets Act (DMA). 

One of the ways Microsoft intends to comply with the new DMA changes or operating regulations for any country that falls within the European Economic Area (EEA) is to change how signing into apps on Windows within Windows 10 and Windows 11. Reports indicate that if a user located in a country within the EEA signs into Windows and then clicks on an app, a prompt will appear asking the user if they want to use their Windows login credentials for the application. 

This feature is what Microsoft call an SSO notice, or single sign-on notice. In December 2023 the company said that if a user logins into the app with the same credentials they logged into Windows with, the SSO notice would not longer appear. However, in August Microsoft revealed the notice was appearing much more frequently then intended, for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users.