Software & Apps - Page 5

Last week, we shared a story that involved Microsoft's Windows boss, Pavan Davuluri, posting on social media that Windows is "evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere." Basically, it refers to a plan to turn every major component in Windows into an AI agent that you can interact with using speech, text, and natural language.

As expected, this announcement didn't go down well, with the post quickly getting hundreds of negative comments from Windows users, engineers, developers, and PC enthusiasts. Although a big slice of the comments were along the lines of "no thanks" (with more colorful language), many were constructive, detailing why Windows 11's current state felt like a mess of inefficiencies, telemetry, bugs, and other issues.

It got to the point where Pavan Davuluri turned off the ability to comment on his post about Windows becoming an "agentic OS," but not before the message was received loud and clear. In response to a separate post by technology writer Gergely Orosz, who discussed how this new direction would see software engineers ditch Windows as a platform, Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri said, "We want developers to choose Windows."

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Elon Musk have joined in with the recent round of Windows 11 bashing since Microsoft revealed its grand plan to focus more heavily on AI and Copilot in the desktop OS.

As Windows Latest noticed, in a post on X from the official Windows account which was explaining how the 'Hey Copilot' voice command is the "new shortcut to everything Windows 11 can do", Sweeney chimed in with a swift jab that read: "Hey Copilot, make my taskbar vertical and don't ask me to create a Windows account ever again!"

Musk saw the post and agreed, noting "especially the Windows account part" before adding a flame plus tears of joy emojis. (It's a Microsoft account, guys, technically).

Microsoft's current Windows boss, Pavan Davuluri, recently took to the social media platform X to proclaim, "Windows is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere." Written to promote the upcoming Microsoft Ignite event, taking place in San Francisco and online later this month, this message also serves as a reminder that Windows is undergoing a fundamental transformation to become AI-powered.

If you're wondering what Pavan Davuluri means when he says "Windows is evolving into an agentic OS," this means that all significant parts of the operating system, including security, will involve users engaging with AI agents for tasks such as browsing, locating files, opening documents, and managing calendars and schedules. Instead of clicking on files and folders and menus, you'll instead talk to AI with natural language, and it will handle the rest.

Windows 11 and Windows 10 are currently the most popular operating systems among PC users. That said, when it comes to Windows 11, with or without AI features like Copilot, being popular in terms of the number of users is not the same thing as being likable. The consensus among PC enthusiasts is that Windows 11 is bloated, buggy, slow, and in need of a ground-up tune-up or redesign. So, the idea of it transforming into an "agentic OS" is not going down well.

Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows 11 with version 26H1 hitting the preview stage for Insiders on the Canary Channel, ready for next-gen Qualcomm and NVIDIA silicon based on the Arm architecture.

The company explained in a new blog post that "26H1 is not a feature update for version 25H2 and only includes platform changes to support specific silicon. There is no action required from customers".

What makes this really interesting is that NVIDIA has its new N1X and N1 processors in the ovens, and while they've been going through extensive delays (you can read more about that in the links above), they're coming, and Microsoft is preparing the OS groundwork for them. Not only does NVIDIA have new Arm-based silicon coming out, but Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon X2 processor will be out, and now Windows 11 will be ready for it.

A new report citing internal documents has revealed that Meta internally projected it would earn billions from ignoring scam advertisements on its platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The bombshell report from Reuters revealed five years of Meta's practices, along with failures to prevent scammers from exploiting users on its platforms. As the documents showed, Meta was tentative about removing accounts; it even considered the "scammiest scammers". The hesitation to remove these accounts was, in part, a concern about the revenue drop the company could face without them on these platforms.

Instead of immediately removing accounts it believed to be scam, Meta enabled these accounts to accrue more than 500 strikes without them being disabled. Moreover, the report states that Meta increased the cost to run ads for these accounts, as the documents indicate Meta "penalizing" scam accounts by charging higher rates. Furthermore, the documents showed Meta acknowledging that scam accounts used Meta's system to target users who were more likely to click on the scam advertisements.

Australia's eSafety Commission has declared that it will now be restricting access to platforms Reddit and Kick to individuals under the age of 16, which widens the recently implemented social media ban across the country.

The live-streaming platform Kick and messaging board Reddit are now joining Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, which all now fall under the eSafety Commission's strict ban. Communications Minister Anika Wells announced on Wednesday that she had met with the major social media platforms to ensure there was "no excuse for failure" in making sure the ban was implemented.

Platforms that fail to correctly implement the ban by December 10 can face fines of up to $49.5 AUD million ($32.15 million USD). Some of the tech companies have argued that the Australian government's delayed release of information has made it difficult for them to implement the ban by December 10, as they don't have enough time to prepare for the incoming restrictions.

Microsoft wants to make Windows 11 updates easier to understand, and has a new naming scheme to help cut through some of the confusion that can be caused by convoluted names.

Windows Central noticed a new support document from Microsoft explaining the change to Windows Update. The idea is to introduce "more intuitive and consistent" naming practices that are more focused on the core aspects of each update, and therefore easier to understand.

For example, the cumulative update provided every month for Windows 11 will be known as a "monthly security update" and optional releases (coming at the end of the month) will be called "monthly preview non-security updates".

YouTube has published a new press release that reveals the video platform will now be using artificial intelligence to upscale low-quality videos to 1080p (HD).

In a new blog post on the official YouTube blog, the company outlines how it will be using the power of AI to give a resolution bump to lower quality videos to make them easier to watch on higher resolution displays, such as 4K, or even 8K TVs. Notably, YouTube states that it will also be expanding the thumbnail file size limit from 2 megabytes to 50 megabytes, which enables the use of 4K thumbnails for creators.

As for the upscaling, YouTube writes that AI upscaling on sub-1080p (HD) content will be enabled by default, but creators, or the uploaders of the video will be able to disable the feature upon upload, with YouTube writing, "creators will retain complete control over their library."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or ACCC, is an independent government body that monitors fair trading and robust consumer protection laws in Australia. The body's latest target is Microsoft, which it is suing for allegedly misleading 2.7 million Australian consumers over its Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

It all boils down to recent price increases for Microsoft 365 plans, which cover the Microsoft Office suite, cloud storage, and more. Basically, Microsoft increased the subscription price for Microsoft 365 after integrating its Copilot AI tools and services. The only problem, from the ACCC's perspective, is that the company "deliberately hid" the fact that subscribers could have kept the old price if they didn't want Copilot.

According to the ACCC's investigation, once Microsoft increased prices on October 31, 2024, customers were notified that their auto-renewal would include the higher Microsoft 365 pricing, with the only other option being to cancel the service. However, once the cancellation process began, customers were informed about a hidden "classic" Copilot-free plan at the previous price point.

Apple Maps is soon to get adverts, much in the same vein as Google Maps, if some fresh speculation is to be believed.

If you're thinking this is just a rumor so it's most likely fine to ignore it, well, you might be right there, but it comes from one of the more reliable Apple leakers, Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg (via TechRadar) - so that gives it a bit more weight than your average rumor.

At any rate, the theory is that Apple will use paid promotion in its Maps app, possibly as soon as next year (it's only a couple of months away now).

Twitch streamer Emiru was sexually assaulted at TwitchCon this year, resulting in a slew of backlash for the company over its lacklustre security protocols during meet-and-greets.

Emiru was conducting a meet-and-greet with fans when a male fan, who had jumped over multiple barriers, approached her and attempted to kiss her before her security stepped in and removed the individual. Emiru, along with multiple other streamers at the event and fans, has called out Twitch for its lacklustre security protocols for protecting its streamers at the company's own event, as well as the repercussions for people who violate the rules and guidelines for attending it.

Now, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has acknowledged the situation publicly in a recent statement posted to the official Twitch X account. According to the CEO, "we take our responsibility to keep you safe seriously. We know that TwitchCon means a lot to a lot of people, and it means a lot to us." Clancy also recognized what happened to Emiru, and acknowledged the company "failed" in both "allowing it to occur, and in our response following." Clancy also apologized to Emiru for everything that took place.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has announced "Atlas," a new AI-powered web browser that will be directly competing with Google Chrome, the most popular web browser in the world.

The ChatGPT creator is looking to take away market share from Google, which currently maintains 66% of the web browser market with Google Chrome. OpenAI has announced via a new press release that Atlas is built with ChatGPT at its core, and with that, the new web browser will be removing the classic search bar that is found at the top of most popular web browsers, and instead, users will be querying ChatGPT directly, which opens via a sidebar.

Notably, Atlas will also be able to summarize content on a webpage, analyze data from any site, and even compare products. Additionally, Atlas comes with an "agent mode," which enables paid users to have an AI agent interact with a website on their behalf, which means the agent can complete designated tasks such as filling out forms, researching a topic, or even completing a shopping list.

Meta has removed the Messenger app from both the Windows and macOS application marketplaces, as the company is discontinuing the desktop app entirely.

Messenger on Windows will officially stop working on December 14, 2025, according to a notification within the app itself. On Mac, Messenger will undergo a deprecation process, which allows users 60 days to use the app before it is fully deprecated.

Once the 60 days are over, users will be blocked from using the Mac Messenger app, and instead, will be automatically directed to Facebook for messaging. Users will be informed that the deprecation process has begun with an in-app notification.

Windows 11 25H2 update, which is the big October 2025 update for the operating system, is rolling out now to all users. Although it's light on bringing new features to the OS, the update is introducing a number of new bugs, including one that breaks the ability to recover Windows 11. Yes, as part of a newOctober 14, 2025 - KB5066835 update for Windows 11 25H2 that "addresses security issues for your Windows operating system," Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) has become unusable.

WinRE is the environment that you use for troubleshooting startup issues, restoring your system, resetting your PC, and accessing other tools when there are OS issues or you want to roll back updates, go into your BIOS, or repair your PC. It's an integral part of Windows, and with the latest Windows 11 25H2 update, USB keyboards and mice no longer work in the Windows Recovery Environment, rendering it unusable.

Microsoft has confirmed that the bug exists, with it being listed on the Windows 11 25H2 'Known Issues' page. Microsoft notes "this issue affects USB devices only within WinRE after installing Windows updates released on October 14, 2025," while confirming that a fix is on the way "in the coming days."

YouTube is updating the aesthetics of its video player, and it appears to have drawn significant inspiration from Apple's recent design change, which was recently rolled out to iOS devices.

In a new blog post, Google, the owner of YouTube, has announced a bunch of new changes coming to the video platform, most of which are intended to usher in a cleaner, more immersive viewing experience. The update includes an overhaul of the visual experience on mobile, web, and TV devices, which includes updated controls and icons. Google writes that these changes are to make the "viewing experience more visually satisfying while obscuring less content".

The announcement also states YouTube has made changes to the "Seek" feature, which is the ability to double-tap either side of the screen to fast-forward/rewind the video by several seconds. The improvement involves the skip feature being modernized and less intrusive to the viewing experience.

With Siri, Google, Alexa, and other voice-activated digital assistants, it's not exactly surprising to hear that Microsoft's Copilot is adding voice controls. However, Copilot Vision is something different, in that it's an AI-powered agent that can see what it is you're doing in Windows 11 and offer advice, assistance, guidance, tips, and more.

Microsoft believes that Copilot Vision is the next step in making every Windows 11 PC an AI PC. All you need to do is say "Hey Copilot" to engage with the AI agent and then use natural language to do everything from answer questions about something on-screen, analyzing documents to find something specific, or provide tips while you're playing a game.

In addition to being able to see what's on your screen, Copilot Vision will also have "full app context" for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so it can review an entire document or deck without being limited to just what's on screen. Copilot Vision is a new opt-in feature, and surprisingly, it's now available "in all markets where Copilot is offered."

It was the end of the road for Windows 10 support yesterday, but in terms of what to do next if you're running that operating system, one of the options you probably haven't considered is switching to a Commodore OS.

No, this isn't a suggestion that you head back to the eighties - the heady days of the Commodore 64 and Amiga - and start using Workbench again, but rather Commodore OS Vision 3.0.

This is Commodore's spin on Linux for the contemporary world, and as spotted by Tom's Hardware, the company is pushing its various merits, mainly angling it against Microsoft's telemetry and privacy concerns.

Discord recently confirmed that approximately 70,000 users had sensitive information compromised from an unauthorized third party, with the voice communication platform saying it wasn't Discord itself that got hacked, but one of its third-party customer service companies.

However, Discord's story has now had a wrench thrown into it as that third-party customer service company has now denied it was "hacked". Here's what happened. Discord confirmed that it was hacked, with reports stating the unauthorized party stole 1.5 terabytes worth of age verification images from the customer service company. Discord refuted these claims, saying the purported 2 million images that were stolen weren't an accurate figure, and that the hackers made off with "limited" personal information.

Discord outlined the personal information that was stolen, including names, Discord usernames, emails, and other contact information, along with limited billing information, such as payment type, last four digits of credit card numbers, purchase history, IP addresses, messages with customer support agents, and limited corporate data, such as training materials and internal presentations. Furthermore, the platform said it had immediately severed its connection with the third-party customer service company once it was made aware of the hack.

As you've no doubt seen, today is the official end of support for Windows 10, and Microsoft has managed to break the Media Creation Tool (MCT) for those thinking of making the upgrade to Windows 11.

In a case of very unfortunate timing, Windows Latest reports that Microsoft admitted that the latest spin on the Windows 11 MCT - which is used to create a bootable USB (or DVD) to install the newest OS - has gone awry.

Microsoft said:

Microsoft officially severs support from Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, marking the End-of-Life phase for the popular operating system, as it will no longer receive security updates, new features, bug fixes, or necessary patches.

While Windows 10 is more than a decade old, the operating system still has a substantial user base of hundreds of millions of people, who are now faced with the decision of upgrading the machine they currently have with the necessary hardware to run Windows 11, buy a completely new Windows 11 capable PC, abandon Windows altogether for competing operating systems such as MacOS, or simply run the risk of their current machine exponentially being prone to security breaches since Microsoft is no longer providing vital security updates to malware hunting software.

There is another option, albeit it is a band-aid fix for the situation, as Microsoft offers one-year extended security updates for Windows 10 users, but that will require a payment of $30 per system, or logging into Windows 10 with a Microsoft account to sync your settings. It should be noted that Microsoft is officially ending support for all versions of Windows 10, which means Home, Pro, and Enterprise.