• YouTube announced it's hit 150 million subscribers across Premium and YouTube Music
• The platform also generated $11.2 billion in ad revenue
• Users say free tier ads are only getting worse, with some calling them 'unbearable'

YouTube announced that it has surpassed a whopping 150 million subscribers across its Premium and YouTube Music experiences — marking a huge milestone for the video platform and one of the best music streaming services.

Alphabet Inc CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced the figures in the platform’s Q3 earnings release on Wednesday (October 28), which increased by 25 million from a total of 125 million subscribers in March 2025, though individual numbers for Premium and YouTube Music weren’t disclosed. Pichai also shared that YouTube’s ad revenue rose to more than $11.2 billion compared to $10.3 billion in 2025.

Speaking about the milestone, Google’s Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, said "With Premium and Premium Lite, viewers have choice. As more people opt into premium experiences, it’s a win for viewers, creators, and our business. Subscriptions help fund the creator ecosystem and drive the platform forward."

YouTube has accumulated over 25 million subscribers between now and when it last confirmed its total membership count in March 2025. When you break that down, that’s approximately 1.25 million new subscribers signing up each month, and it’s only going to increase.

While it’s not a traditional on-demand film and TV content platform, YouTube has emerged as a serious competitor among the best streaming services. In 2017, the company launched YouTube TV, and according to a recent report from Nielsen, it has surpassed Netflix in popularity for TV viewing. In July 2026, 49% of TV time was viewed via streaming platforms, with YouTube making up 14.2% of that, followed by Netflix at 7.8%.

There’s no denying YouTube Premium is rising in popularity, but as the company puts more effort into improving its paid services, a number of users have said its free version is becoming increasingly difficult to use because of the number of ads.

Earlier this year, I bit the bullet and signed up to a YouTube Premium free trial and, annoyingly, the experience was vastly more enjoyable. Not only does it grant you ad-free viewing, you get background and offline listening, as well as small but handy control tools and full access to YouTube Music. But once you go back to its free version, that’s when you truly realize how out of control YouTube’s ads have become — and I’m not the only one who’s noticed (see below).

In addition to YouTube’s ‘completely unbearable’ ads, users have also pointed out the rise in AI-generated sponsored content which one Redditor claims advertise "obvious scam products". The combination of the two is the main catalyst for users abandoning YouTube as a platform altogether, and tech-savvy users are already opting for alternative ways to bypass ads.

One of the most popular ways YouTube viewers are working their way around ads is downloading browsers such as Brave, which users on Reddit have praised. Browsers like this come with built-in ad blockers, so it can automatically skip over ads when you’re streaming YouTube for free.

While YouTube gives you the option to tailor your ad experience and block certain types of promotional content, some users claim that when they do this, YouTube only feeds these ads to them even more. One user on Reddit used Old Spice as an example, saying "it's like blocking them has a reverse effect." Similarly, another user had an experience where they reported a potential scam ad, only for YouTube to email them with a counterargument.

I’m with a lot of other users who continue to call out YouTube for how expensive Premium has become (it now costs $15.99 / £12.99 / AU$22.99 a month), especially when you factor in your existing streaming subscriptions, so many of us just put up with its free service. Despite enjoying what Premium had to offer during my free trial, it doesn’t justify adding another subscription plan to my roster — my bank account will fall out with me.

• Windows 11 has a new preview (optional) update
• This introduces the ability to fully tailor the right-click (context) menu to your liking, as well as speeding up its performance
• That's great, but you're best off steering clear of a preview update and waiting for the full release in under two weeks – but even then, this feature will be on a gradual rollout

Windows 11 now has one of the most-wanted interface capabilities for many people, namely the ability to customize the right-click menu – but it's not quite fully finalized yet (although that's imminent).

The menu that pops up when you right-click on a file (or folder) is also known as the 'context' menu as it presents a bunch of options that vary contextually based on the type of file clicked – but in Windows 11, it's currently a sprawling affair.

Those who hate the lengthy right-click menu will now be able to customize it after installing a new Windows 11 update, although this is an optional release, meaning it's still in preview. This feature will be in next month's patch, the November update, though, so you haven't got long to wait for the full release (less than two weeks, in fact).

The customization settings for the right-click menu include the ability to remove Windows commands you're not fond of – like 'Send to' for example – or add abilities that you'd like to have, and also choose the apps you want to appear in the context menu.

It's a full range of customization and you can also elect to have the top panel of the menu (cut, paste, rename and so forth) directly integrated instead, so these functions appear alongside everything else (in a Windows 10 style – and you can shift the layout around too, moving Properties to the foot of the menu for example).

Microsoft boasts that the new right-click menu is faster, too: "The updated menu opens more quickly, reduces clutter, and gives you more control over the commands and app extensions that appear when you right-click."

As you may have noticed, all this work has been in testing for a while now.

Analysis: rolling frustrations and a lengthy wait

The immediate response on the likes of Reddit seems positive, and there are Windows 11 users who have taken the plunge with this preview update who are observing that the right-click menu is indeed a lot faster.

One Redditor enthuses: "The new context menu is so good! Way faster, customization is cool."

Others acknowledge that this is undoubtedly a good move, but don't understand why it took Microsoft so long to get here: "Not bad imo. Crazy it took them 5 years though."

While the feedback is generally positive, there are complaints from those who have installed the update but haven't received the new context menu. This is because the right-click revamp has been implemented via a gradual rollout, so it's only being drip-fed through to a certain amount of PCs at a time (of those who have installed the optional update). As another Redditor puts it: "Those gradual rollouts though…"

You can force the feature to be deployed to your PC using a Windows configuration utility (ViVeTool), but I wouldn't recommend that approach. Microsoft tests the waters in a limited way for good reasons, especially with features still in preview, so you're running a larger than normal risk of some nasty bug ruining your day.

Anyway, you've waited five years for this performance and options tuning, as those on Reddit are keen to point out – so what's another couple of weeks? I'd hold on for the official November update, keeping clear of this preview, but even then, it'll still be a gradual rollout, and you may need some patience.

Still, the good news is that the context ball is rolling, and it hopefully won't be too long before the majority of Windows 11 users gain access to this important upgrade for a key piece of the UI.

• Pixelmator Pro gets a new AI-powered Generate Fill tool
• Keynote, Pages, and Numbers add AI assistants and OpenAI model support
• Final Cut Pro gains thousands of MotionVFX creative assets in November

Apple's Pro and Tell week is marching on, and alongside the reveal of the M6-powered iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, the Cupertino-based giant is also shining a spotlight on software. Specifically, Apple Creator Studio is getting a wide-ranging update that brings a fresh batch of features and, ultimately, packs in more value.

As it stands, Apple Creator Studio is a software subscription priced at $12.99 / £12.99 / AU$19.99 a month or $129 / £129 / AU$199 per year, giving you access to Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Pixelmator Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Logic Pro across Mac, iPad, and iPhone. All that stays the same, including the especially excellent education discount — $2.99 / £2.99 / AU$4.99 per month or $29.99 / £29.99 / AU$49.99 per year — but there are some pretty big updates here, with AI playing a starring role.

Leading the charge is Pixelmator Pro, which is getting a new Generate Fill tool. This lets you select an area of an image, describe what you want to add or change, and let AI do the heavy lifting. It's the kind of feature that could come in handy when you're editing a photo and don't want to jump between apps to get the result you're after. It'll also help level the playing field between Pixelmator Pro and Adobe Photoshop by filling a feature gap.

Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are also getting AI assistants designed to help you create presentations, write documents, and work with spreadsheets. Most interestingly, you'll be able to use OpenAI models alongside Apple's own, opening up more possibilities for working with AI in these apps. The apps also support compatible external AI tools, potentially making them a more useful part of your broader workflow.

With Final Cut Pro, Apple is bringing MotionVFX content directly into its pro video editing suite, making thousands of creative elements, including transitions, templates, effects, and titles, available for use in your projects. It's another welcome addition that should let you get more done directly inside Final Cut Pro, rather than having to rely on other tools.

All of this is coming in November as a free update for existing subscribers, though Apple isn't sharing specific timing just yet. These updates should also be right at home on the new Macs announced this week, but I'm curious to see if Apple introduces any more surprises, like the much-rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro, during its Pro and Tell event tomorrow.

• Windows 11's internet speed test currently redirects to a Bing search to facilitate the test
• This is clunky to say the least — and an annoying piece of Bing promotion — but now Microsoft is changing things
• In a new preview build the speed test is fully integrated into Windows 11 — as it should have been in the first place

Microsoft has thought better of one of the methods it was using to push Bing in Windows 11 — via an internet speed test — and we can but hope that maybe it's seeing sense from a broader perspective about such promotional trickery.

Windows Central reports that, in a recent preview release for Windows 11 (build 26340.9767), Microsoft has applied some changes to the Quick Settings panel (accessed via the taskbar).

In the release notes, Microsoft says: "We're making it faster and easier to check the performance of your internet connection in Windows. Windows Insiders can now run an internet speed test and see the results directly in Quick Settings, without being redirected to a browser."

As it stands, when using this feature it simply opens an online speed test in your default browser — but it's in the Bing search page (giving Microsoft some web traffic, of course). With this change it's actually a native speed test that works in Windows 11, as it should always have been in the first place.

You can start the new speed test from Quick Settings, or access it by right-clicking on the network icon in the system tray on the right of the taskbar.

Note that this is just in testing for now, and it's still at an early stage (the Experimental channel), but it should eventually come to all Windows 11 users.

Analysis: fixing Windows 11 includes getting rid of this kind of nonsense

It's useful to have a built-in speed test right in the OS for those occasions when you're curious to learn what kind of online speeds you're getting — maybe you're streaming a video and it's buffering or glitching, and you're wondering if that's the fault of the service, or whether your internet connection has hit a rocky patch.

However, it's hardly convenient to be redirected to a web browser to have that test conducted.

Microsoft says of this change: "This updated experience builds on the internet speed test we previously introduced for Windows Insiders, bringing the test and its results directly into Windows."

Which makes it sound like the current implementation was always just a stopgap or a temporary stepping stone, but let's be honest about this: we all know it was another way that Microsoft was trying to push traffic to Bing.

It's far from the only time that Microsoft has tried this kind of trick, and most recently, we've witnessed the Bing Wallpaper app once again crowbarring in Bing searches for people who merely click on a blank part of their desktop (see the further explanation of that incident here).

No, the Bing Wallpaper client isn't part of Windows 11 by default, but it's nonetheless a piece of Microsoft software, and it demonstrates that the company's attitude is still leaning towards exploring annoying ways of promoting its own services — this is another great example — at the cost of the user.

As one Redditor observed of the current Bing-laden internet speed test in Windows 11: "This is the kind of stuff that pushed me to Linux. Overall it wasn't too bad, but Linux (Fedora in my case) feels like a breath of fresh air."

All of these kinds of practices need to end, and at least this fresh move in testing is a hopeful sign that Microsoft is finally realizing this, given that it's battling to fix Windows 11 and change public sentiment around its desktop operating system this year — needless Bing promotion certainly won't help that cause.

• A new Windows 11 feature is in testing, but it doesn't work yet
• It's an option to enable Intel's 'Advanced Performance Extensions' or APX to boost the performance of some apps
• This will benefit Intel's next-gen CPUs, and AMD's processors will be in line for this speed boost eventually, too

There's a new Windows 11 feature to boost the performance of apps that's been spotted in testing, but only PCs with Intel's next-gen desktop CPUs (codenamed Nova Lake) will benefit from this initially.

Windows Latest noticed that a regular Windows 11 watcher, XenoPanther on X, posted a screenshot of an option for 'Advanced Performance Extensions' (APX) which is present in a recent preview release of Microsoft's OS (build 29695).

Intel explains that APX "expands the entire x86 instruction set with access to more registers and adds new features that improve general-purpose performance."

This means that app developers can take advantage of this feature to speed up the performance of their software. How much of a boost any given app might get is, as ever, going to be variable, but some applications might end up with a nice performance bump (games probably won't get much benefit, in case you were wondering).

There are a couple of catches here, however, including that apps will have to be recompiled to take advantage of APX, although Intel observes that actual changes to the application's code aren't expected to be necessary.

It's worth noting that Linux already added support for APX some time back.

Analysis: there are barriers to entry – but AMD chips will get this

Right now, this APX toggle is present in Windows 11 test builds, but it doesn't do anything at all, which is hardly surprising given that there aren't any Intel CPUs which support the feature yet. What this shows is that Microsoft is preparing the ground for this capability, which will be supported with Intel's next generation of desktop silicon. These Intel Core Ultra Series 4 processors are expected to debut early in 2027, so they are still some way off.

Existing generations of silicon from the Intel Core Series 3 families and earlier won't ever get the benefit of APX, as this is something that needs to be baked into the chip at production. So, existing PCs will not get the speed boosts from this feature, which is a shame.

Theoretically, this could be an additional reason to upgrade your CPU, but there's another catch here in that Intel's Core Series 4 CPUs require a new processor socket, and therefore a new motherboard for your PC. So that means an extensive upgrade for a desktop PC – or an impossible one for laptop owners – meaning that both Intel and Microsoft could be hoping that APX is another way to shift some new laptops in difficult conditions when the market is dipping.

How about AMD processors? This is an Intel technology, as noted, so you might assume you can forget about seeing APX with a Ryzen CPU, but actually as Windows Latest points out, Team Red is collaborating with Team Blue to get the benefit of this feature.

With AMD involved, it's more likely that developers will use the feature, and that'll help Intel's case for its usefulness. However, again, the support needs to be baked into the chip, so the earliest this might happen on the Ryzen side would be the Zen 6 family – or possibly the following generation (rumors seem to favor the latter). At any rate, support is coming for AMD chips as well.

Meanwhile, some of the online commenters remain skeptical. One Redditor observes of this potential speed boost: "I'll believe it when I see it!"

Others aren't happy about the support here, and the need for an upgrade, complaining: "Imagine locking a performance boost behind a platform..."

But as noted, this is a feature that requires new hardware in the chip itself, it's not something that can be added to finished silicon.

As far as Windows 11 itself is concerned more broadly, Microsoft is busy working to boost performance in all kinds of ways, including applying a couple of new tricks to speed up the launch times of apps and menus. There's also a major goal to ensure that Window 11 runs better on 8GB of RAM, too.

Canon recently unveiled its new Dual Pixel 3D, or DP3D for short — an image generation technology making use of Canon’s proprietary Dual Pixel AF technology. The new technology piggybacks off Canon’s proprietary Dual Pixel AF technology found in many of its EOS mirrorless cameras, which splits each pixel on the camera sensor into two separate light-sensitive photodiodes.

This tech has delivered reliable and snappy autofocus in recent years — if the two images on each photodiode line up perfectly, the image is in focus, if they don’t line up then the camera knows which direction to move the autofocus motor to rapidly lock on.

The new Dual Pixel 3D feature can be used to create immersive three-dimensional images via Canon’s new Dual Pixel 3D Converter app which was released in October.

While launched in tandem with the hotly-anticipated Canon EOS R8 Mark II on September 16 — a full-frame which makes use of the new feature — it’s good news for owners like myself of any Canon EOS mirrorless camera with Dual Pixel AF, stretching back to older generation models such as the EOS R5 and EOS R6 Mark II, which will be able to benefit without a firmware update (although updating the firmware is always a good idea to stay up date with the latest features and bug fixes).

I downloaded the Canon Dual Pixel 3D Converter app to put it through its paces — here’s everything you need to know to get started…

How to take photos for Canon DP3D

To begin, you’ll need a Canon EOS camera with Dual Pixel AF. It’s safe to say if you own one of Canon’s interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras in recent years, then your camera will likely feature Dual Pixel AF and be able to make use of this new tech.

This is great news for users of older Canon mirrorless cameras like myself as my older EOS R5 and previous generation Canon EOS R6 Mark II will still be able to make full use of this brand-new technology.

Your camera will, however, also need to be paired with one of the compatible Canon RF lenses. The list goes beyond specialist Canon RF 5.2mm F2.8L Dual Fisheye or RF-S 3.9mm F3.5 Dual Fisheye, but it is a little limited and also won't currently work with older EF or EF-S glass. We published a full list of compatible Canon cameras and lenses that you can use to enjoy this new technology when it was first announced.

Canon says, “Specific shooting conditions and techniques are necessary to generate accurate depth information to eliminate blind spots, allow for the required depth of field, subject and background separation, subject depth and surface texture.”

In my experience the software works best when your subject is taken on a clean background (no bokeh) and without too many blind spots which make it harder for the software to create its 3D effect.

You also want an object that’s relatively flat with not too much depth; little bumps are fine such as small pieces of fruit on a tart, but large peaks in depth will cause more significant issues and make the effect much more noticeable and fake-looking.

Two of the compatible lenses Canon lists are the Canon RF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM and Canon RF 35mm f1.8 IS Macro STM, both of which are macro lenses. Yet, when I shot with both of these I later got an alert in DP3D warning me for shooting too close to my subject! The result still turned out fine, though.

To use the new software you’ll need to make sure you’re shooting not only in the RAW format, but Canon's Dual Pixel RAW (see above). This setting was found in the very first camera menu on my Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Note that shooting Dual Pixel RAW will produce files roughly twice the size, take longer to write to your memory card, and can't be taken when using the electronic shutter.

Alongside 3D, Dual Pixel RAW can be useful for correcting minor parallax error, shifting bokeh or focus and reducing flare, but if you don't intend to utilize these capabilities within Canon's DPP, I would suggest turning it off when you don't need it to avoid compromizing the camera's performance.

Make sure your subject and focal point are in focus and that your shutter speed is fast enough to shoot handheld – if you’re in doubt shoot on a tripod. You’ll also want to make sure your exposure is correct so that the image isn’t too bright or dark. Canon recommends you don’t close the aperture down past f/5.6 and also keep the camera's sensitivity under ISO 1600 – a warning sign will be displayed on your image when you import it into DP3D otherwise and you won’t get optimal 3D results.

Installing the Canon DP3D app on Windows 11

With the image taken it’s time to open up the new Canon Dual Pixel 3D Converter app, which is currently only available for Windows PC running the latest Windows 11 operating system. Read our guide on How to plan a smooth Windows 10 to Windows 11 migration.

Canon also added “The application will initially be available free of charge”, though specifications and terms of use may change in the future – in other words, it’s initially free but you might need to pay to use it in the future.

When you're up and running with Windows 11 you’ll be able to run the installation wizard which can be downloaded from Canon’s site. Make sure that once downloaded you extract the ZIP file and then double-click the DP3dInstaller-W1.0.0.13.exe file from the unzipped folder to begin the installation.

Now you’ll need to choose which area you live in - you have the options: USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In the following screen you can choose the country you live in and also select your language. Once you’ve ticked the box to accept the license agreement you can hit next which takes you to the final setup screen, click Install here.

It’s also worth noting at the bottom of the same Canon site, you can download five sample images made up of a mix of food and flowers which you can play around with if you are yet to shoot with Dual Pixel RAW enabled, or perhaps you don’t own a Canon EOS mirrorless camera and what to see what all the fuss is about. Note, the sample files are downloaded as a DP3D _Sample.zip file and you’ll need to extract these files by right-clicking on the folder and choosing Extract before you can use these images in DP3D.

Creating 3D images in the DP3D app

The DP3D app allows users to fine-tune the degree of depth, making a more pronounced 3D effect or a more subtle ‘flat’ appearance. The technology also makes it easy to isolate your subject and remove or replace the background before outputting a 3D model or stereoscopic photo.

Dual Pixel RAW files and supported Canon EOS R8 Mark II JPEGs contain depth information derived from the slightly different views captured by the two photodiodes on each pixel. Using proprietary algorithms, Canon converts this phase-difference information into 3D shape data, which is combined with high-quality image data captured by selected EOS cameras as surface textures to create realistic and detailed 3D models.

Once you’ve loaded up DP3D you’ll need to click the folder icon at the top of the main window and then navigate to the folder where you’ve saved your Dual Pixel RAW files.

You have two main options – either create a 3D model which you can edit further in a 3D editor such as Blender, or you can create a Preview which creates a very short video with limited options, essentially doing a basic pan from left to right to show off the 3D depth effect. You also have options here to change the background, add a foreground and frame. You can also choose the quality of the video when you click Export Preview. Here you can also set the quality to High, Medium or Low quality (18, 8 or 4 Mbps), choose your own filename and where you want to save the video.

However, I found those options rather limiting within DP3D so I would instead click Export 3D Model where you’ll have the choice between OBJ and GLB files to edit further in your 3D editor of choice. You can also use Windows 3D viewer and even Preview on Mac to play around with these 3D files and explore the different angles produced by DP3D.

With the 3D file created you can use a program such as Windows 3D Viewer or Blender, which is free to download. In a program such as either of these options you’ll have way more options than DP3D for changing the angle, rotation and lighting, which is great for exporting still images. For videos, you’ll also be able to change the direction and duration of pans so you can get it looking perfect for what you need.

Conclusion

After playing around with DP3D for some time and with various pictures and subject matter, I think it’s fun and interesting that Canon has released it for free - after all, additional functionality to the cameras which we already own is certainly welcome.

However, the results have limited uses and more often than not look quite poor. Are there situations where somebody might need to get a little 3D animation from a 2D image? Sure — marketeers looking to animate food or product shots for videos and reels seems like a perfectly adequate use for Canon's new DP3D tech.

While it’s admirable that Canon is trying to squeeze the most out of the pixels taken in-camera, this is one of those situations where I sadly think AI can probably do it better.

Canon is trying to stretch and manipulate the pixels already there, whereas AI can create brand new pixels and frames based on what it thinks should be there, and that’s likely to create smoother results with fewer artefacts. For still images, the Rotate Object feature found in Photoshop Beta is likely to produce better results and is glimpse of what lies ahead in our editing futures.

• Windows 11 has an alternative take on Recall in testing
• It's an app called the 'Context Vault' offering a similar supercharged search experience
• In this case, though, you have to manually add content to the vault – there's no automatic regular screenshotting of the activity on your PC

Hate the idea of Recall in Windows 11? You wouldn't be alone, so Microsoft is trying a new spin on the idea of an AI-powered supercharged search which is a lot more limited than Recall – although the initial reaction has still been rather negative.

Windows Latest discovered that Microsoft is working on Project Pantheon, the current name of which is the 'Context Vault', and rather than being built into Windows 11 like Recall, this has to be installed from the Microsoft Store.

This isn't just an optional feature, then, it's an app you have to actively seek out, and it works quite differently to Recall in that it doesn't automatically take regular screenshots (snapshots) of the activity on your PC.

Instead, you must manually add the files or content you want to use with the Context Vault, so its AI powers can then make use of them.

To what end? Similar to Recall, you can ask the AI questions about the contents of the vault, or get it to organize material, planning the likes of a summer trip (the example Windows Latest gives) from documents, images, web pages, or even clipboard text saved to the vault.

Note that the app isn't yet officially available, and not listed in the Microsoft Store as such, but Windows Latest managed to find it nonetheless.

Context Vault doesn't necessarily need a Copilot+ PC – or a powerful local NPU, in other words, as it can leverage cloud-based AI – and you can give third-party AI like Claude access to the content in your vault, too, we're told. There's even a panel that tracks your AI token usage in the current build of the vault.

Bear in mind that this is still an early version of the feature, and it sounds pretty wonky right now. It's not clear if this app is something Microsoft will definitely carry forward to a release version for Windows 11, as ever with functionality in testing.

Analysis: is a retake on Recall going to fly?

On the one hand, the full user control over what content Context Vault can access compared to Recall could be a big selling point. On the other hand, using the cloud for running the AI processes is obviously more of a privacy concern (although you don't have to go that route to be fair).

Windows Latest has been led to believe that Microsoft is considering other ways to make the Context Vault more secure, including encryption and per-app access controls, as well as requiring a Windows Hello login for access (as Recall does) to protect the vault from possible local attackers jumping on your device.

As noted at the outset, the reaction to this idea in testing is generally skeptical, and many folks simply see it as 'yet more AI' that Microsoft is cramming into Windows 11 (although it isn't actually confirmed this is coming to the OS, of course).

As one Redditor puts it, this is a classic case of "solving [a] problem [that] doesn't exist."

Another agrees: "Yeah, Microsoft can't even be creative in thinking up something even marginally useful in an extremely far fetched scenario. Literally never in my life felt the need or wanted a tool like Recall or this equally s****y version of it. This problem was solved circa 2000 with bookmarks and Word/Excel documents. Not whatever convoluted trash this is."

In fairness, others are more positive, and there are Recall users out there. One commenter on the same thread says: "I use Recall all the time, it has been a gamechanger for me, I just wish it synced between my devices so I could look up something on my desktop I saw on my tablet."

The one thing that seems clear enough is that the anti-Recall folks aren't going to be swayed by a different take on the same concept, even one that sports a pretty radical change.

The kind of people this might persuade are those who most likely won't be drawn to comment on this idea in testing one way or another. I think it's certainly an alternative that's worth trying for Microsoft, provided it's implemented in a secure enough manner, of course.

• Windows 11 is cutting some Copilot features on the right-click menu
• At the same time, a Microsoft exec said that "AI has already helped our design team accelerate significantly"
• The exec added that "we're even seeing designers contribute directly to code fixes" and this has caused quite a stir online with anti-AI pushback

Windows 11 is getting tweaked to cut back on Copilot functionality, while at the same time, a Microsoft exec has admitted that the operating system's design team are using AI to help them – which has provoked something of a reaction, as you might expect.

First up, the move to cut back on AI, which as Windows Latest reports consists of stripping out some Copilot options from Windows 11's context menu, the one which pops up when you right-click on a file or folder.

In a post on the Microsoft 365 Message Center, the company explained: "We're retiring the OneDrive Copilot Summarize, Create FAQ, Compare Files, Ask a question, Explain image, Explain images, Compare images, Extract text actions from the File Explorer context menu."

These are Copilot actions which are tied to OneDrive, then, that folks who don't use Microsoft's cloud storage wouldn't have seen anyway.

You can still reach these options using the 'Ask Copilot' icon in the right-click menu, so overall, this is a streamlining change for the better (albeit one that some users won't even realize has happened).

It's not being implemented right away, but from mid-November, and by the end of the year, these options will have disappeared from Windows 11's context menu.

Now for the more controversial development that Windows Latest also noticed, namely a comment from a Microsoft executive on X. Diego Baca, who is VP of Design for Windows, posted in reply to a comment pushing for "Windows design unification" (better consistency) and using AI to help to that end.

Baca observed: "On AI agents, 100% agree. I'm not the best person to speak to the engineering side, but AI has already helped our design team accelerate significantly. We're even seeing designers contribute directly to code fixes that improve craft, consistency, and quality. That's exciting progress, and we're only getting started."

The key part of this that's getting picked up on social media is the admission that AI is being used by the Windows 11 design team to ensure tasks are completed more swiftly, and that it's helping designers to contribute code fixes. As you might guess, there are some unhappy people out there due to this admission.

Analysis: a chorus of noticing

As noted, the reaction on Reddit has been predictably full of barbs and withering fire at Microsoft. This upvoted post complains: "We noticed [the use of AI in coding], the rapid decline in quality, every patch bricking at least some devices, major releases bricking entire fleets, and the introduction of major security vulnerabilities that are easily exploitable makes it clear the codebase is being vibecoded with insufficient code review and testing."

In fact, there's quite a chorusing of "we noticed" or "we know" regarding Microsoft turning to AI in coding, as well as the inevitable "slop" accusations, including the likes of: "And this is how Linux goes mainstream, not because it becomes better, but because Microslop becomes unusable thanks to AI integrations." (I should note that as you may have seen, Linux has its own controversies with AI, but that's a whole other story).

At any rate, I think we need to dig down a bit into the meaning of Baca's statement here. When the exec says, "AI has already helped our design team accelerate significantly," it's a pretty broad statement – perhaps referring to assistance on the design brainstorming front more than coding.

Yes, designers may "contribute directly to code fixes" now with the help of AI, but how often is that really happening? I'm guessing not that much, and that this work is more about simple interface tweaks and polish than anything, and this code will be passed to software engineers to be fully checked and reviewed – the main hope being it saves a bit of time. There's a lot of the Windows interface to fix, after all.

I think the hostility here is a bit unfair given that Baca is just trying to be honest about what Microsoft is doing, and I don't think the reality is that Windows 11's interface is suddenly being vibe-coded (by AI) to any great extent. What's happening is that Windows 11 users are jumping on this and venting because they're fed up of too many bugs, and that has nothing to do with the design team.

For me, this is about Microsoft's broader failure with Windows 11 bug testing and flaky updates, which isn't something you can lay at the door of AI as such. Rather, this is about the overall QA (quality assurance) processes which aren't picking up these problems and sorting them out before release (whether any given bug was introduced by AI, or not).

This is what's really the root cause of the outbursts on social media here, and the comments about patches going wrong and general unreliability. And this is what Microsoft really needs to fix, and fast – it remains the biggest problem with Windows 11 that needs addressing.

• Windows 11 has a new preview build with a change to boost performance
• It's just for Edge to begin with, and it means that if the browser is already running, new instances of the app will launch faster
• Microsoft's plan is to introduce this to a wider range of Windows 11 apps

Microsoft is making another move to tune up Windows 11 so it launches some apps more swiftly, although this is just in testing for now.

Windows Latest noticed that the latest build in the Release Preview channel (the final stage of testing) applies a change to bring in "accelerated app launches" for Microsoft Edge in a certain scenario. Namely that when Edge is already running, further instances of the web browser being opened will appear at a faster speed.

Microsoft tells us that: "When you select a link or open Edge from the taskbar or Start menu while Edge is already running in the background, Windows now routes your request directly to the running instance instead of first starting an extra, temporary process."

This shortened launch path for when Edge is 'warm' (already running) means a considerably faster launch time, as Windows Latest verified.

The tech site also points out that only the first 'cold' start of the browser will be slower (with the longer launch process), as even if you open Edge, then close it, if you run the app again, it's still 'warm' as the relevant processes have spun up in the background.

Analysis: broader benefits, but why did all this take so long?

If you don't use Edge (and that's doubtless most of you), then you might be thinking: what's the big deal anyway? Well, this is a first step in testing towards a grander goal, namely a "broader Windows capability that any app can adopt to speed up its own launches" as Microsoft explains in the preview build's release notes.

Eventually, we could see multiple apps benefiting from what's an apparently considerable performance boost when launching, assuming that they're already running (and warmed up). It could be some time before Microsoft opens this up to third-party developers, mind, and then they have to get around to implementing the functionality.

At any rate, it's a useful new feature, and one that comes on top of Microsoft's existing work in enabling preloading for certain Windows 11 apps, notably Edge itself and File Explorer. We've also witnessed the introduction of the Low Latency Profile feature, which represents a nice CPU speed boost for Windows 11's menus and also apps.

The main question is: why did it take Microsoft so long to get around to these performance improvements? File Explorer being slow was a complaint from the start with Windows 11, and yet we've had to suffer this – and various other instances of sluggishness – for years before they've been fixed. It was only this year, when Microsoft properly turned its attention to fixing Windows 11, that we've seen solutions flooding forth.

And don't get me wrong, that's great, but it also shows that Microsoft didn't take these performance problems seriously until the Windows 11 userbase was more or less in open rebellion over AI features being pushed while all these issues continued to frustrate people. It's clear enough that the optimization of Windows 11 could have been done in the past, if Microsoft was willing to graft at the task, it was just that the company didn't see it as enough of a priority – bafflingly.

I concede that even when Microsoft is doing a good thing here, I'm moaning, and that in this respect the company can't win. Fair enough, and all's well that ends well as they say, but what I'm really hoping is that Microsoft can learn from this in the future and act earlier to troubleshoot its desktop OS when it clearly has problems.

Whatever next-gen Windows turns out to be, it needs to take this new attitude and go forward with it, until Microsoft has an operating system which is running smoothly for daily operations in every important respect, from performance to usability – not to mention reliability and stable updates which is still a big issue that's left to resolve.

• A new vibe-coded app offers a simple, browser-based office suite
• Each file is 'saved' in the code for the URL
• The apps come with a variety of options for sharing links/files

AI vibe coding is now at the stage where these apps and agents can clone big-name software packages just by observing how they work. Now there's a new web app, apparently written with AI's help, that puts a simple office suite right in your browser, with no logins or cloud access required.

It's called Tiny Little Office, and it comes from veteran developer and 'technology thinker' Paul Ford. There are 10 different components here: word processor, outliner, presentation tool, spreadsheet, calculator, drawing tool, diagram maker, animator, calendar, and trip planner. You can just click around and start working.

There's one main principle the office suite is built around: the link is the document. Any changes you make to a file are saved as codes in the URL itself, and sharing that URL shares an exact copy of the file. Someone else can take that URL and make their own edits (though they'll stay local and won't sync back with yours).

When you share links, they can be protected by passwords, configured as read only, and set to expire after a certain time period (from an hour to a month). For your own use, multiple files can be saved locally in the browser, or you can choose to wipe everything each time you close down the page.

Six years in the making

Introducing Tiny Little Office tinylittleoffice.com?c=xdgpfud#/v...

— @tinylittleoffice.bsky.social (@tinylittleoffice.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-16T13:08:46.635Z

The story of the project starts six years ago, when Ford's colleague Rich Ziade built TinySheet, a small ten-line spreadsheet that ran in the browser like Tiny Little Office does now. That was followed by TinyCalendar, but the projects were eventually abandoned, as were the URLs associated with them.

Now the idea is back as a full 10-app suite of products, because "it really is easier to build small than ever before". Ford says he uses the tool to leave himself notes in Slack, and that "if Signal was an operating system, this could, one day, aspire to be its productivity suite" due to its private, simple approach.

"There are lots of tradeoffs," adds Ford. "This is not, in any way, how web apps are expected to work. The links can get unwieldy pasted in chat, and you can't upload video or images, full stop. It's not collaborative like Google Docs. It's collaborative like handing out zines at a street fair."

The Tiny Little Office code is open source and can be viewed and used by anyone, there's support for LLM agents, and you can also find Tiny Little Office on Bluesky. Quite how much of it was vibe coded isn't clear, but according to the docs posted by Ford, Claude Code was doing at least some of the work.

• Windows 11 is now 'up to 20% more responsive,' Microsoft tells us, based on benchmarking typical interface workloads
• Apparently, this performance honing 'can make an especially meaningful difference on PCs with 8GB of memory'
• A new Photos app is also out, which is a good deal speedier, alongside changes for Windows 11's Gallery and photo viewer

Microsoft has underlined how it's making Windows 11 faster and ensuring the OS uses system RAM more optimally, while also introducing a new and more performant Photos app.

In a blog post, Microsoft explained how it's been tinkering with Windows 11 to make it run faster, and that: "The result is a Windows experience that's up to 20% more responsive, with improvements you can feel as soon as you boot into your PC."

That 20% figure is quite vague, but Microsoft says it's based on measured speed increases in Windows 11 search, the right-click menu, Settings, Start menu, as well as File Explorer (the folders on the desktop) and the Snipping Tool.

These are performance boosts seen in the most recent October update for Windows 11 (well, they were tested in the September preview update, but it's the same thing) compared to the OS as it stood at the beginning of 2026. Naturally, performance will vary by device and configuration, but the gist is clear: there's a sizeable speed boost.

Microsoft observes that a big part of this nippier performance lies in better use of system resources and RAM, with improvements in memory management and efficiency.

The software giant notes: "That work can make an especially meaningful difference on PCs with 8GB of memory. Windows can now keep up to 2GB more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage, helping your PC stay responsive as you open more apps or browser tabs."

We're also told that Windows 11's background RAM use is being trimmed back, so on PCs with only 8GB of memory (or less), widgets load only when opened, reducing background workload by 200 MB.

In this blog post, Microsoft also reminds us of all the work it's done to fix Windows 11. From key interface changes for the likes of the Start menu and taskbar, through to improving Windows updates, we've also witnessed recent changes that make search faster, more accurate, and useful (and more efficient with RAM usage).

There's an entirely fresh revelation here, though, in the form of the new Photos app as mentioned at the outset.

Microsoft says it rebuilt the native Photo editor around WinUI 3 (the modern interface framework for Windows 11), and it now launches 25% faster than before. It sports a reorganized set of menus and features, including repair (unwanted object removal) and relight (to swiftly adjust the lighting of a photo).

The Photo viewer also launches faster (by about 15% on average, Microsoft claims), opens photos up to 30% faster, and has a cleaner, more streamlined design, so you see more of the picture.

It also adds a new Gallery that brings together photos on your PC and in the cloud (OneDrive and Apple iCloud). Again, expect faster launch times, more responsive scrolling, and natural-language search, so you can ask for 'pictures of my dog on the beach,' and Windows will find them (hopefully).

Analysis: progress in the right direction

Microsoft previously promised to work hard on memory optimization for Windows 11, and it's presenting clear evidence of that here, which is good to see. As I've said before, though, it's a puzzle why Microsoft hasn't done this before now, and you've got to wonder why, for example, widgets were ever allowed to eat up memory if they're not being used.

At any rate, this is useful progress, and there's a very handy bunch of enhancements for the Photos app, too, along with the associated Viewer and Gallery, with impressive performance improvements therein.

Microsoft is crystal clear about there being significant speed-ups present in Windows 11 all-round with the latest update for the OS, although we're yet to see any commentary from users who are noticing this. Admittedly, the October update has only been out for a couple of days, so it'll be interesting to watch the ongoing reaction.

Overall, this seems like continued progress in the right direction, and we can expect more performance tuning before 2026 is out.

• A new version of Tiny11 Builder is out that's 'completely redesigned'
• The developer has revamped the interface and made it more modern
• This means it's easier to use — and faster — when creating your own slimline take on Windows 11, for those keen on de-bloating the OS

If you feel Windows 11 is too bloated, one way of tackling that is to make your own light version of the OS – and it's possible to do that with a utility that's been around for a long time now.

Tiny11 Builder lets you create a custom version of Windows 11 without all the bloat you don't want — and the good news is that a new release of this tool makes it a lot more user-friendly.

The Register spotted that NTDEV, the creator of Tiny11, has released a "completely redesigned" Tiny11 Builder, with an all-new fancier interface that makes decluttering Windows 11 a lot easier.

Previously, the Builder tool relied on a cruder setup process leveraging PowerShell scripts, but with this new version you're presented with a WinUI 3 desktop app. In other words, a fully modern Windows 11 app, as you can see from the screenshots, which is a far nicer — and easier — way of working than before.

Builder is also faster now, too, with the developer explaining: "The new Builder is massively more reliable, with features like auto-resume, custom configurations (!) and leveraging the full power of modern PCs in order to speed up the process."

Analysis: a slicker way of cutting down Windows 11

In short, making your own installation image is less intimidating for those who aren't so technically confident, whether you're concocting a custom take on Windows 11, or just using the standard Tiny11 build. The latter removes a whole bunch of Microsoft apps and general bloat, but it keeps the central pillars of the OS, including Windows Update and Microsoft Defender (the built-in antivirus).

That said, there are caveats for those wishing to avail themselves of a super-cut-down version of Windows 11. As a custom installation of the OS, the end result isn't officially supported by Microsoft, and if you go for the default Tiny11 configuration, bear in mind that it's quite aggressive in what it strips out (so you may find features that you use suddenly aren't present).

Definitely steer clear of the 'Core' version of Tiny11, as that removes all sorts of important facets such as Windows 11 feature updates (though not security patches) and Microsoft's recovery environment (for a super-light install). Even the developer recommends that the Core install is for testing in virtual machines only.

Note that a Tiny11 install still requires a valid Windows license. While the app can be used to install Windows 11 on an older PC which doesn't meet the official system requirements, the developer doesn't guarantee that this will work flawlessly, noting that "local-account and hardware-check settings are best effort, not guaranteed bypasses on new builds". As stated, you can also use the tool to install Windows 11 with a local account (something Microsoft is still working to prevent), at least in theory, but again the bypass for this isn't guaranteed.

It's also worth bearing in mind that as with any third-party software, you use Tiny11 at your own risk.

• Ray-Ban Meta users have noticed unwanted voice recordings
• Meta says the issue is resolved but hasn't said what went wrong
• Turning off voice activation for the AI seems to fix the problem

If you're already facing a barrage of criticism over perceived privacy intrusions, then you really don't want more allegations of spying loaded on top — but that's what Meta is dealing with when it comes to its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Over on Reddit (via Android Authority), one Ray-Ban Meta user says they've found audio conversations and text transcripts saved by the glasses that were never requested or associated with a "hey Meta" command to invoke the on-board AI.

According to the individual, it's happened on three different pairs of specs (including 2nd and 3rd generation models), and others have posted in the conversation to say they've seen the same behaviour on their own Ray-Ban Metas.

Meta has responded to Android Authority, without providing much detail, and says the issue "has been resolved". We've reached out to Meta ourselves to see if there's any further comment, and will update this article if we hear back.

Check your voice logs

If you own a pair of Meta smart specs, you can check voice recording activity by opening the Meta AI app on your phone, then selecting Glasses > Device settings. Tap on the name of your glasses, then Glasses privacy > Voice activity log.

You can delete voice recordings from here, but you can't stop them being captured in the first place. In theory, they should only be recorded when you say "hey Meta", or activate the AI with a button push.

The associated privacy notice does mention voice services being "inadvertently" activated, which may be what's happened here. It also says some recordings may be reviewed by Meta staff to "help improve Meta's voice services".

Some Redditors have resorted to turning voice activation off for the integrated AI, which you can do from the same device settings screen in the Meta AI app. Clearly though, that's an inconvenience users shouldn't have to put up with to stop this from happening.

• Clicking 'Learn more' would skip Microsoft account demands when setting up Windows 11
• It now shows user data policies, so you'll have to sign in with your account (or create one)
• Having an account can make certain things easier, but it's one less choice for consumers

Microsoft has finally fixed one of the easiest ways for attackers to bypass its account requirements when installing Windows 11, but it's bad news for anybody who didn't want to sign in with – or create – a Microsoft account during setup.

Previously, users only had to click the 'Learn more' hyperlink on the sign-in screen to be taken to a local account creation screen.

Ultimately, it marks another step in the company's ongoing efforts to make Microsoft accounts mandatory during the initial setup of Windows 11 on consumer PCs.

Microsoft wants you to use an account to activate Windows 11

Before the fix, users could click the 'Learn more' link and be taken to a screen that allowed them to enter a local username, create a password, configure security questions and complete Windows 11 setup without ever entering their Microsoft username or password.

Instead, the link now opens a page that explains how the company managers user data.

The change "has been recently quietly patched server side," Bob Pony said in a Bluesky post after revealing that "a new method for skipping the mandatory Microsoft Account login in Windows 11 Home Edition has been discovered" just one month ago.

Local accounts remain supported to a certain degree, but creating them either requires technical knowledge to use a third-party tool or command-line methods, or enterprise versions of Windows rather than consumer-grade operating systems.

There are some benefits to signing in with a Microsoft account from the get-go, like speedier setup of system integrations with OneDrive, the Copilot app and other Microsoft products, however it eliminates user choice for those who prefer not to tie their PCs to their online account.

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says Copilot Code and local AI make every Windows PC an infinite software factory with no cloud token spend
• Rather than killing app stores, Microsoft is moving app hosting into Copilot, while IT leaders stay wary of citizen-built tools
• Microsoft's own engineers say local inference doesn't make sessions offline, and the routing ships later this month

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has a new pitch for the Windows PC, and it targets one of the most lucrative ideas in consumer tech.

In a post on X summarizing Microsoft's recent Windows and Surface event, Nadella told followers they no longer have to settle for whatever an app store happens to stock, because Copilot can now build the software they need on the desktop without spending any cloud tokens.

He wrote this idea without mincing any words, saying, "Your PC becomes an infinite software factory."

From Gates' factory to your desk?

The narrative is a striking line from the head of a company that sells more software than almost anyone.

But read Microsoft's own engineering documentation for the same launch, and the infinite factory starts to look rather finite: it runs best on a $5,899 laptop, it still reaches into the cloud, and the businesses Microsoft most needs to convince have spent the past year telling researchers they are worried about exactly this kind of thing.

More importantly, the factory metaphor is not new for Nadella: In a 2025 staff memo, he recalled that Bill Gates had envisioned "not just a software company, but a software factory," and argued the AI era demanded a rethink.

At a recent customer gathering, the CEO said Microsoft had progressed from code assistance through agentic coding "to software factory all within one year," and he now wants customers to open software factories of their own, spending more with Microsoft along the way.

The October 7 2026 launch builds on this ambition: a Windows Experience Blog post by Windows and Devices chief Pavan Davuluri describes hybrid intelligence, in which Copilot reads local files with permission, acts across Windows, and hands work to on-device models.

Copilot's Code experience builds an app, dashboard, or workflow from a plain-language description, and on Windows, Microsoft says it can produce native apps from one prompt. Jared Spataro, Microsoft's chief marketing officer for AI at Work, argued that building such tools is becoming "as basic a skill as writing a memo or modeling a budget."

The engine underneath is MAI-Code-1.1 Flash, Microsoft's in-house 137-billion-parameter coding model, which Nadella's post said is now optimized to run on a PC. There is a catch, however: despite Microsoft painting it as a situation where consumers are finding their AI needs "outpacing what their cloud budgets can support."

Microsoft's own engineers are more grounded about what the process entails, saying GitHub Copilot's automatic mode decides task by task whether work runs locally or in the cloud, and one diagram caption is blunt: "local inference does not make the session offline."

That routing doesn't ship until the end of October 2026; the hybrid Copilot features reach Copilot+ PCs over the coming months, and Code is rolling out first through Microsoft's Frontier early-access program. This is interesting, but somewhat predictable, because Nadella's approach, as stated, would cannibalize Microsoft's token-based business model.

An approach that routes harder tasks back to the Azure cloud makes far more sense by conserving compute where possible while still putting Microsoft's cloud compute at the center of things.

The hardware is another factor that one might be overlooking here: according to the Command Line post, the on-device version of MAI-Code-1.1 Flash is quantized down to 53GB, roughly an 80% reduction from the cloud model, and peaked at 75.5GB of memory at full context on Microsoft's test machine, a Surface Laptop Ultra built on Nvidia's RTX Spark.

That matters because eight Surface Laptop Ultra configurations are in play; only one has more than 64GB of memory, per TweakTown: the 128GB model at $5,899, which costs $3300 more than the base model and isn't available to purchase yet, meaning that potential users can't really test out how well it does compared to cloud-based solutions at a time when all performance-related figures come from Microsoft.

The death of modern enterprise software? Not yet

Despite the hardware limitations in play, it might indicate a death sentence in the making for most basic enterprise-level software solutions, even as more ambitious ports have already been in play: Developer Brandon Thomas, for one, has just released seven open source Adobe Creative Cloud alternatives that he says he built with Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5, declaring that "software is over."

His own roadmap, however, puts the Photoshop stand-in at roughly a quarter to a third of what a professional needs for daily work. Building software has become cheap. Building software someone can depend on has not.

The bigger issue will be enterprise IT, which will, I suspect, keep the gates closed for now; enterprises don't just buy features; they buy someone to call when it breaks, a patch schedule, an audit trail, and a vendor that carries liability.

Getting an open-source or AI-assisted app someone designed with zero liability in tow that could break things, create security risks, and may not come with future software updates that resolve either issue.

The survey data points the same way: a June 2026 Retool study of 307 CTOs, CIOs, and CISOs found 93% concerned about vibe-coded tools reaching production, though Retool sells an internal-tools platform pitched as the governed alternative.

A Harris Poll survey for Dataiku of 600 CIOs found 81% worried that citizen-built AI could expose sensitive data, and over half had already discovered unsanctioned AI in their organizations.

Gartner, meanwhile, predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be scrapped by the end of 2027, with analyst Anushree Verma describing many as "mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied."

Microsoft's own launch materials quietly concede the same, even taking measures to ensure that agents do not run rogue while building software or solutions on-device.

The Command Line post admits Copilot's built-in file tools are policy-checked inside the app rather than isolated by the operating system, and GitHub requires Business and Enterprise administrators to enable a policy before staff can use MAI-Code-1.1 Flash at all, while Microsoft Execution Containers, which are now generally available, allow IT to define what agents can read, modify, or execute.

The real test for Nadella's factory isn't individuals with a $5,899 laptop and a tolerance for alpha software, but businesses willing to take the risk and trust Microsoft's safeguards. Until then, one could assume the AI factory narrative will continue to run well below its advertised potential.

• Vibe-coded clones of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have appeared
• They're from the same developer who cloned the Adobe apps
• The developer says other open source software is 'broken'

The developer who used AI tools to clone the Adobe Creative Cloud suite and release the copied versions for free has now done the same with Microsoft Office.

As Tom's Hardware reports, there are now open-source versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint available, all looking very similar to the Microsoft apps and all with rebranded names: WordCraft, GridCraft, and DeckCraft, respectively.

These programs don't appear to be as far along in development as the Adobe clones, but the intention is there — and it's going to be a serious concern for large software companies wanting to protect their products.

The clones are the work of software engineer Brandon Thomas, who has been taking to social media to point out that he has years of experience in coding, even if he has been using the Anthropic AI Claude to do the bulk of the work on these recent projects.

'GIMP sucks'

There has also been criticism aimed at Thomas for choosing AI 'vibe coding' rather than supporting current open-source software like LibreOffice, GIMP, and Thunderbird. However, the developer doesn't seem to be a fan of these projects.

"GIMP sucks," says Thomas. "It has always sucked. There is no reason to save broken software." He's also recently related the story of a bad experience with LibreOffice that "killed a 40-page essay I wrote the week it was due, during finals".

The reaction on Reddit is split between those who see this as a "game-changing" positive for the software industry, and those who say "no job is safe" from the relentless march of AI and the increasingly powerful capabilities of these bots and agents.

Other commenters point out that free programs like LibreOffice and Google Docs have existed for years without damaging Microsoft Office sales too much, and question whether this lone developer will be able to keep up with bug fixes and upgrades.

• Microsoft is rolling out a new font for Microsoft 365 apps
• The 'Michelangelus' font is based on Michelangelo's handwriting
• However, it's a loose digital interpretation, and some feel that the font and the real handwriting are 'wildly different'

Think fonts are boring? Well, that's fair, they certainly aren't the most interesting topic on the planet, but every now and then one comes along that does make you sit up and take notice.

A case in point (12-point, perhaps) is that as Microsoft announced in a blog post, Michelangelo's handwriting is being rolled out to Microsoft 365 users – or a modern approximation of it at least.

The 'Michelangelus' font has been created as part of the anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter's Basilica, which took place 400 years ago (on November 18).

The font was made to be used for digital and printed materials relating to the Basilica, as well as signage inside the building, but the decision was made to share it with the world via Microsoft Office.

An Italian design agency, studiogusto, was commissioned by the Fabbrica di San Pietro to turn Michelangelo's characters into digital versions, noting that the idea was not a direct imitation of his handwriting, but to "adapt it through design into a modern tool."

Mimmo Berterame, the CEO of studiogusto, noted that: "For him [Michelangelo], [writing] was about clarity and respect for the reader. So, beauty was important, but it also needed order. Our typeface needs character and personality, but it also needs to be clear and easy to read."

In other words, the font is a modern approximation of his penmanship based on the 'rules' and feel of the writing style, so it doesn't look too over-the-top, but it still maintains some of Michelangelo's flourishes (like dotting the top of the 'h').

Analysis: fun with fonts

Some of the reaction to the font has veered towards the less-than-impressed in terms of the resemblance of the digital letters to the real handwriting. As one Redditor says: "That is certainly a very loose interpretation of the phrase 'based on.'"

A reply points out that the official press release from the Basilica di San Pietro explains that: "The typeface draws inspiration from Michelangelo Buonarroti's bold, expressive handwriting. However, it goes beyond a mere reproduction of the artist's graphic style and an imitation of his calligraphic techniques.

"The ambition is broader: to identify within his handwriting a visual logic, a system of proportions, rhythm and harmony measured by the artist's eye, and to translate this into a contemporary typographic system."

However, the original poster remains largely unmoved, noting that: "That's a noble goal and an ambitious approach, but I really don't feel their execution lives up to their intent."

Somebody else observes: "Among many other characters which don't even come close, the capital letters A and M in this interpretation are wildly different. I don't get the feeling of handwriting at all from it."

I can see where the criticism is coming from, and it stems from the fact that the design is clearly titled much more towards clarity and a more contemporary, readable look, than it is the actual handwriting. Still, regardless of how you gauge the interpretation here, the end result looks very smart.

If your curiosity is piqued and you are heading off to Word to try the new font, hold up a minute, because it hasn't been rolled out just yet.

Si Daniels, who is Principal Product Designer, Office Design, explains that the new font will be rolled out to Microsoft 365 apps at the end of the year. However, if you can't wait, you can manually download and install it from here.

• Microsoft has an initiative to improve the quality of drivers
• Intel's new Wi-Fi driver for Windows 11 contains the first glimpse of this
• More should come soon from Intel and others, and the initiative should help not just with stability, but also the performance of Windows 11

Remember Microsoft's plan to improve the quality of drivers in Windows 11? Work is well underway on this scheme, and Intel appears to be ahead of the rest of the pack in implementing this.

It's broadly known as Microsoft's Driver Quality Initiative (DQI), and Windows Latest reports that Intel has already begun to follow these new rules with its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers for Windows 11.

The tech site has dug into Intel's wireless drivers and notes that they "follow early DQI practices", although the full scope of this initiative has yet to be implemented.

Nonetheless, it's good to see that the cogs are whirring on this effort, and in Intel's release notes for a recent Wi-Fi driver for Windows 11 (v24.50.0), the company said that it was applying "enhancements aligned with Microsoft's Windows ecosystem quality initiative."

With any luck, a couple of months down the line we'll see this work come to fruition, and Intel's GPU drivers should be due for the same treatment.

Windows Latest observes that Intel is set to work on its Arc drivers and knock them into shape for the DQI, too — and Team Blue has already added support for Windows 11 26H2 with its October graphics driver update.

PC hardware makers are already testing their drivers and working on DQI compliance actively. However, so far Intel is the only company to actually release an update to the computing public running Windows 11 that has benefited from this polishing.

Analysis: better quality goes beyond stability

What does the Driver Quality Initiative really mean? It should usher in a new era of more stable drivers for Windows 11, and therefore fewer crashes with the OS. Microsoft is focusing on upping the bar for reliability with Windows drivers that are provided by third-party hardware makers like Intel, but DQI goes beyond that.

This isn't just about preventing crashes, or wonky Windows 11 updates, but also ensuring tighter security, and that there's a higher quality of drivers coming through which don't drag down performance levels (or cause overheating issues with laptops, meaning combating excessive battery drain, too). Outdated drivers, or those that don't meet the new quality bar, will be unceremoniously ditched from Microsoft's OS.

It sounds like a big step forward for stability with Windows 11 in general, and as I've long argued now, this is an area where Microsoft has a serious problem in terms of the public perception of its desktop OS. I still think Microsoft must address issues around policing its own updates for Windows 11, though, and internal QA and testing processes.

• Microsoft has changed the way cloud storage works with the Microsoft 365 Family and Premium plans
• Instead of getting a possible total of 6TB — with 1TB for each of six family members — these plans now share 2TB between all users
• Microsoft argues this gives you greater flexibility, and that's true, but it works out badly for families where a lot of people are using cloud storage

Microsoft has changed the way the included storage works with its Microsoft 365 Family and Premium plans — and it's left quite a few people unhappy.

Neowin spotted the move, which Microsoft explained in a new support document, whereby what was previously a ceiling of 6TB of storage on OneDrive has been reduced to 2TB.

Microsoft explains that: "Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscriptions include 2TB of shared cloud storage … The primary subscriber and up to five additional members draw from the same shared storage pool."

How it worked before was that each family member was allocated 1TB of cloud storage, so in the case where a full complement of six people were using the family subscription, that meant 6TB of storage in total.

However, as it now stands in the scenario of six family members using the plan, each of them is only getting a slice of the total of 2TB, so around 330GB apiece. In other words, a third of what they were previously receiving.

This new package is in effect for new Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers from now, but for existing customers, it comes into play when their next plan renewal happens after (or on) May 2, 2027. (Quite what happens with multi-year deals isn't clear).

If you want to still have 5TB of total storage, the Microsoft 365 Pro plan gives you that, but it costs a hefty $99 (£95 / AU$165) per month, so it's a huge leap over the Family subscription (over 7x pricier).

Analysis: weasel-speak and greed?

Microsoft argues that this works out better for some family plan subscribers, and that "this approach provides more flexibility by making storage available to the people who need it most."

That's true to a point. Certainly if only the primary subscriber is using the cloud storage to any meaningful extent, they can now avail themselves of basically the whole chunk of 2TB rather than just 1TB. And obviously two main users get 1TB each, so that's the same as it was, but if there are more than a few active cloud storage users, this is a much poorer deal.

That's not the only problem, though, in that this change could hit existing subscribers in quite a nasty way. What if all (or most) of those multiple family users have already loaded up their OneDrive cloud lockers with 800GB or so, for example – they'll now have to cut that right down, or pay for more cloud storage.

So, if you're affected, you've potentially only got seven months (until May next year) to rejig your family's cloud storage and shift files elsewhere.

There's been quite a lot of negative reaction as you might guess, and observations that this amounts to a kind of bait-and-switch tactic. Someone on Reddit complains: "So disappointing seeing everyone getting sucked into this cycle. Something is cheap/liberal with features to gain customers, then jack up prices and cut features."

Others aren't happy about the 'weasel-speak' here (as in 'look, we're giving you more flexibility'), or they feel this is just another example of Microsoft's greed.

One Redditor complains: "Bad decision, they will find many customers cancel the auto renewal now."

Another simply states: "Greedy company. They never stop do they?"

In fairness to Microsoft, what was a great deal has become an okay deal cloud storage-wise – it's still not a bad offering, and 2TB is a decent amount of space for the money. But as noted, it does leave some folks very much in the lurch, and a bad taste in the mouth as we can clearly see from the online commentary.

The other worry is that now this has happened, Microsoft might look to trim the allowance of the Microsoft 365 Personal plan (for one individual) down from 1TB. I hope not, as this is a very different situation to the family subscription – there can be no arguments about 'flexibility' improvements if the company drops that storage limit.

• Windows 11 search is getting a major overhaul
• It'll be made faster, more efficient with RAM usage, and be tweaked to better understand what you're searching for
• Microsoft is also adding 'actions' to allow users to directly adjust Windows 11 options in the search box, a nifty and convenient touch

Microsoft has announced that it's forging onwards with making Windows 11's search function a faster and more streamlined experience.

In a blog post, Microsoft said it's rolling out this redesigned search experience to Windows 11 testers in the Experimental channel now (likely in a very limited fashion to begin with).

This new search is built on WinUI 3 (the contemporary interface framework for Windows 11), and as a result it'll be faster and will have less impact on your system resources. Microsoft boasts that: "Early testing shows substantial improvements in performance and memory usage, so [search] feels faster and more efficient from the moment you open it."

The search panel itself has been pared back to a single list, as opposed to the current implementation with the list on the left and the preview pane on the right. The interface therefore looks less cluttered, and it's easier to see what you're, well, searching for.

Microsoft also promises it'll work on ensuring that search more readily grasps what you're trying to find, with better handling of typos and guessing what you might mean if you're, say, attempting to find a system option and have entered the name incorrectly. This is work that the company already started in Windows 11, and the post notes that Microsoft will continue to fine-tune all this over the coming weeks.

This is what's happening initially; then, later this year, Microsoft is going to bring more features into testing. That includes inline previews and details that give you all kinds of extra info on the file you're searching (like a thumbnail for an image along with its resolution and size).

Search queries like "weather in London" will bring up an in-line card (powered by Bing) with the relevant at-a-glance details, including the likes of temperature highs and lows for the day.

The other big step is to introduce 'actions' to Windows 11 search, meaning you can simply type a command to change settings in the OS directly from the search box. Microsoft shows an example of typing 'change to dark theme' which pops up the option, then you simply click apply and you're done.

You can type 'mute' to turn off sound, or 'dim my screen' to adjust the brightness level automatically, and issue a similar range of instructions via search.

Analysis: some polarized reactions

These are clearly useful changes, although as with much of the work to fix Windows 11 this year, one of the main questions is: why wasn't this done before? It's long been known that Windows 11 search is clunky and sluggish, with too much clutter in the panel — so why has it taken Microsoft so long to address these points?

A typical barb on Reddit runs like this: "It only took decades for Microsoft to sort this abysmal search out." Someone adds that: "The only time search was decent in Windows was in Windows 98 SE."

Okay, so this kind of flak isn't fair, as other Redditors point out, but you can certainly say that it's not acceptable that Windows 11's search has been in bad shape since the launch of the OS half a decade ago.

It's good to see meaningful movement towards a slicker search is happening, and I'll definitely take this. The actions are a nifty idea, too, for quickly changing options there and then (rather than simply locating the option, and having to use extra clicks to go into Settings and adjust what you want).

As others on Reddit note, this is sort of drafting some ideas over from PowerToys (the Run tool), and something I've previously argued is that Microsoft should port over some of the functionality in that suite of utilities so it's in Windows 11 by default. Maybe that's starting to happen.

Even so, there are folks on Reddit who don't want search to be anything but an ultra-streamlined search (rather than offering the likes of actions). This Windows 11 user complains: "Why isn't the search bar just for searching? Why does it do a million other things on top of it?"

Of course, everyone's entitled to their own take, but I don't agree, and there is a lot of streamlining work going on here which Microsoft should be commended for, with the additions on top being useful in my opinion. Still, it just goes to show that the level of Microsoft hate out there is still palpable, and whatever the software giant does, it'll have its critics.

One of the most important moves with search that's just gone live in the most recent Windows 11 update is the introduction of the ability to turn off web results clutter. Again, that was a long time coming, but at least Microsoft is getting there… finally.