• Fans think they've uncovered The Elder Scrolls 6's eight-letter subtitle
• Redditor 'starfieldnovember' suggests the subtitle is "Sentinel"
• The clue comes from Starfield's character creator and employee number, which, translated via the alphabet, spells "Sentinel"

The Elder Scrolls 6 fans believe they've uncovered the game's secret subtitle, and it may have been under our noses the entire time.

Earlier this week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma shared an X post that blew up, which read, "Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls 6: ******** this morning. The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater."

Of course, fans instantly began speculating what those eight asterisks could be; Hammerfell? Nope, too many letters. Redguard? Already been used. But one fan has offered up their own theory, and it's the best one yet.

According to Redditor 'starfieldnovember', The Elder Scrolls 6's subtitle could be "Sentinel," and the clue has been hidden in Starfield's character creator without anyone realizing until now (via IGN).

"By the way, Sentinel was already teased in Starfield," they began. "In Starfield Direct and in the final game, we can see our employee number during character creation. Random string of numbers at first look, but if you translate it by dividing it into pairs and then using the corresponding letter of the alphabet, you get SENTINEL.

"This title was at our noses for more than 3 years, and we somehow missed it."

Other fans seem to agree with the theory, not only because Bethesda loves to hide easter eggs in its games, but because Sentinel is a major coastal capital city located in the northwestern hills of Hammerfell, which is rumored to be the setting of The Elder Scrolls 6.

What's more, Bethesda developer Michael Kirkbride replied "Yep" to a separate Reddit post after a fan suggested the name could be Sentinel, which seems like a done deal, but we'll have to wait and see.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed in June 2018, and its announcement has now become as old as The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was at the time. Over eight years later, there's still no development update on the game, besides Sharma's confirmation that she's played it, and no release date.

In November 2025, Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, said the game is "still a long way off," and revealed at the time that the studio "did a big play test."

It was also speculated that Bethesda could shadowdrop the game, just like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered in April 2025, and when the idea was brought up to Howard, he didn't immediately reject it.

"You might say that was a test run. It worked out well," he said on Oblivion Remastered.

In the meantime, Bethesda is currently working on remasters of both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and continuing support for Starfield.

• Microsoft is again under fire for aggressively pushing Edge
• A survey conducted by the Browser Choice Alliance shows how deep some problems run
• That includes encountering 'challenges' while attempting to change default browsers, and users who get stuck with Edge when they don't want it

Microsoft has again come under fire for the way it pushes the Edge browser on Windows 11 users.

Windows Central highlighted a survey from the Browser Choice Alliance (BCA) which makes it clear that there are still issues around the way Edge is promoted in Microsoft's desktop operating system.

This was a poll of 2,000 adults in the US who own a Windows PC (either a laptop or desktop), and it found that the majority of respondents (86%) believe they should have "primary control over default browser choice", and moreover, most of those (80%) believe there should be a one-click system to pick that default.

The survey also found that: "72% of Windows users who tried changing default browsers in the past 1-2 years reported that they encountered challenges while attempting to do so."

That includes Windows "recommending or redirecting them back to the pre-installed browser" (Edge), or having website links or apps still open in Edge when it's not their default choice.

The BCA further observed: "Even after selecting a preferred browser, nearly 1 in 3 Windows users report experiences and tactics that undermine their ability to maintain that choice over time. They've fallen into a Reset Trap."

On that subject, 29% of users said that a Windows system update had "contributed to their browser preference being changed or reset".

Interestingly, 19% of respondents said that Edge was their preferred browser — which seems high compared to global stats — although 26% indicated that Microsoft's browser was set as their default in Windows 11. That means 7% of those surveyed had Edge as their default when they didn't want it.

Some of those presumably 'stuck' in this way may be older Windows 11 users, based on the survey's discovery that 44% of those over the age of 65 reported that changing their browser was a "complex" task in Windows 11, compared to 15% of those in the 18 to 44 age group.

61% of those aged over 65 felt "slightly or not at all confident in their own ability to consistently select and run the browser of their choice", which is a worryingly large percentage.

The survey maker concludes: "Microsoft should respect consumer preferences by removing unnecessary barriers and ensure users, not its operating system, remain in control over their browser experience."

Analysis: choice not challenges, Microsoft

It's worth noting that the Browser Choice Alliance is an organization that contains some rival browser makers, including Google (Chrome), Opera and Vivaldi. This doesn't make the report any less valid, but it's something to bear in mind.

I don't think there's any arguing with the broad conclusion drawn here, and that there are unnecessary hoops to jump through, and various annoyances, pertaining to Edge being foisted on Windows 11 users. On top of links unexpectedly opening in Edge, or outright resets of browser preferences in some situations, there's also Microsoft pushing folks to use its browser through 'recommendations' or ads of one kind or another.

It's all anti-consumer nonsense that needs to be stopped, and the fact that just over 70% of those who took the survey said they had "encountered challenges" in trying to change their default browser really isn't good enough.

Microsoft can do better than this, and in the EU, it does do better than in the US (or other regions) as another recent report commissioned by Mozilla (the maker of Firefox) pointed out.

Mozilla alleges that Microsoft engages in trick wording, nagging, preselection, and other underhand tactics to try to get Edge picked as the browser for Windows 11. However, due to regulations in the EU, countries in that region escape a lot of the more dubious activity in this regard. So, why doesn't Microsoft apply this improved approach with less hassling elsewhere? We know the answer to that, of course: it doesn't make any business sense.

It's not a good look if a company only implements pro-consumer policies because it's forced to, and for no other reason. But here we are…

Microsoft is certainly hearing Windows 11 users as part of the great campaign to fix the operating system, so maybe it'll start listening to browser users who want a fairer, more level playing field in the desktop OS. History very much suggests that it won't, though.

• A limited-edition Gears of War: E-Day Xbox Wireless Controller has been revealed
• The controller releases on September 30 and can be pre-ordered now for $89.99 / £84.99
• A separate 8BitDo charging dock is also up for pre-order

Xbox has unveiled its limited-edition Gears of War: E-Day Xbox Wireless Controller ahead of the game's launch on October 6.

"To celebrate the launch of Gears of War: E-Day, we’re giving fans two new ways to immerse themselves in one of gaming’s most iconic universes," reads the Xbox Wire announcement post. "Together, these offerings pay tribute to Emergence Day with hardware inspired by the symbols, scars, and battles that defined humanity’s war against the Locust Horde."

Starting today, fans can pre-order the Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller at participating retailers worldwide and the Xbox online store. The controller, which was "inspired by the horror and brutality unleashed on Emergence Day," will be released on September 30 and cost $89.99 / £84.99.

Where to buy the Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller

Fans seem to love the design, with one on Reddit saying, "My wallet is not gonna be happy." Another on X said, "They look frigging awesome."

"Drawing from the E-holes that scar the world of Gears of War: E-Day, the controller features 3D molded, laser-etched details of cracked asphalt with red, glowing cracks created by the power of an erupting E-hole, exposing the iconic Crimson Omen beneath the surface," the description reads.

"Blacked-out ABXY buttons are punctuated by a transparent red X button, while matching red triggers and a transparent D-pad reflect the destruction left in the wake of Emergence Day. A dark silver metallic COG tag on the battery door signifies Never Fight Alone. Squad up. Textured grips round out a design built for fans ready to carry a piece of Sera into every battle."

Additionally, beginning September 30, fans can design their own E-Day controller with Xbox Design Lab, featuring exclusive artwork from heavy metal illustrator Luke Preece.

8BitDo is also releasing an Ultimate Charging Dock for Xbox Controllers – Gears of War: E-Day complimentary accessory, which is compatible with Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One Wireless controllers, and includes an 8BitDo rechargeable battery pack. The charging dock will cost $33.99 / £29.54.

• Photos of a Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe laptop have been leaked
• It's clearly similar to Apple's MacBook Neo in terms of its overall appearance and striking colors
• That said, the Lenovo device offers a better port selection and hints suggest it'll be more powerful, so likely pricier – but all of this is just theorizing

Lenovo appears to be readying a rival to the MacBook Neo, based on leaked photos of the laptop that have just surfaced.

Windows Latest got hold of the promo images of Lenovo's IdeaPad Vibe, publishing a bunch of them to give us a good look at the notebook (add your own seasoning around any such leak, but the material looks authentic enough).

Going by the trendy name, the 'Vibe' and the range of punchy colors (including a striking yellow, green and pink), it seems clear enough that this is aimed squarely at the Neo's territory – not to mention that it looks more than a little similar to Apple's laptop.

There are differences, of course: you won't find a Copilot key on a MacBook (mind you, a good many people don't want to find it on their Windows laptop, either).

Lenovo has also pushed for more connectivity than the MacBook Neo, and that's the biggest difference we can see just looking at the photos.

There's a pair of USB-A ports on one side, and two USB-C connectors on the other, along with an HDMI port, headphone jack and a microSD slot. As a reminder, you only get two USB-C ports with the Neo, plus a headphone jack, a barebones allocation for connectivity (and that's before we even mention the older USB speeds the MacBook Neo uses).

The photos also show cooling vents on the underside of the IdeaPad Vibe, so there'll be a fan for cooling (the Neo is passively cooled, meaning there's no fan).

There are thin bezels around the screen, and a tiny panel on top to house the webcam which also has a privacy shutter.

While the leak doesn't provide any specs, we do learn that based on the image file names, there will be one model with an AMD CPU, and one with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip – although they both look identical.

Analysis: competitive vibes

The MacBook Neo has certainly stirred things up in the world of Windows laptops. It did this by coming in at a price point that surprised many (myself included), with Apple offering a lot of value with its new lowest-tier MacBook, which was very much recognized by buyers – it started flying off the shelves. Part of the cost-cutting effort here was dropping the RAM to 8GB, as you may recall, but despite this the Neo still manages to provide enough pep to cover everyday computing duties.

Since then, we've seen a host of planned 8GB laptops that run Windows 11, which was inevitable really, given the RAM crisis pushing up the price of memory (and storage, as well as other components) so much. The Neo also gave these machines a mainstream lead to follow, as it were.

An obvious sticking point, however, is Windows 11's performance running on 8GB compared to macOS. Now, Microsoft is working on fixing Windows 11 so it's speedier with just 8GB, and I'd argue that the Neo is a big reason for this happening. Well, that and the RAM crisis, of course.

In short, the MacBook Neo has forced Windows laptop makers (and Microsoft) to up their game, and Lenovo's effort here couldn't be a much clearer statement of echoing Apple's tactics with its budget laptop.

That said, the IdeaPad Vibe looks to be a more premium device than the Neo, with clues to that such as the privacy shutter, the much beefier port selection, as well as the overall sleek lines, and the active cooling. The latter means the Vibe will likely offer a good deal more performance grunt than the Neo, and it's surely going to be pricier as a result.

We don't get a hint of the price tag, but I'm betting that even after Apple's MacBook Neo price hike – it's no longer quite as affordable as it was at launch – the Lenovo machine's going to be a fair bit more expensive. We shall see, but the price is the main concern here, along with the people on Reddit who have reservations about Lenovo's build quality compared to Apple's (which really nailed quality in a lower-priced laptop).

One Redditor is skeptical and observes: "Pretty sure it won't share the same build quality [as Apple]."

Another adds: "IdeaPad 3 I had, had pretty bad hinges, lasts 1-2 year only."

The IdeaPad Vibe will obviously have to perform well enough on the build quality front if it does want to get in on the action and capitalize on the Neo's current popularity.

• MyOffice closes St. Petersburg and Innopolis development centers, moving remaining staff into Kaspersky Lab's Moscow office after restructuring
• Parent company New Cloud Technologies restated its 2025 accounts in June 2026, raising the net loss from 4.02 billion to 8.82 billion rubles, roughly $107 million, while revenue halved to about 1 billion rubles
• Kaspersky Lab, which owns 68.8%, has moved the asset to "slow burn" mode, with its CEO saying publicly that import substitution does not work in the office segment

Russia's flagship attempt to replace Microsoft Office has closed the office where the product was actually built.

MyOffice, developed by New Cloud Technologies, has reportedly closed its St. Petersburg and Innopolis development centers, according to news outlet Vedomosti (in Russian), which spoke with current and former employees.

CEO Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky confirmed several offices had closed without saying which ones, and said that remaining staff had moved to the Moscow office of the company's controlling shareholder, Kaspersky Lab, in the Olympia Park business center.

An expected exit for Russia's take on Microsoft Office?

After four years in a captive market, a state mandate, and no Microsoft to compete with, MyOffice still managed to lose two points of market share, and its financials suggest a potential long-term rout for the software company.

The numbers in MyOffice's case are possibly the most damning here; its net loss for 2025 was 8.82 billion rubles (roughly $107 million), a sevenfold increase over the previous year.

It is important to note that this follows a June 18 2026 resubmission of its accounts for the year, which more than doubled its reported loss (RU) from 4.02 billion rubles to its current level; much of this was due to impairment losses on the company's intangible assets (software).

This was somewhat prompted by the company, which is majority-owned by Kaspersky Labs (68.8%), as it cut back on several services and products, many of which were quietly discontinued as part of a restructuring that also saw it lay off employees in a bid to balance its books.

This includes several products that form the backbone of its software offerings: Mailion, MyOffice Mail, Squadus, and Documents Online, which saw development suspended even as current deployments were sustained.

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the CEO of Kaspersky Labs, Eugene Kaspersky, told TASS that the asset was loss-making and had been moved to what he called "slow-burn mode", with development investment cut. Product development and support, he said, would continue at a reduced level. He went further than the financials required, stating that import substitution does not work in the office segment.

This is a damning verdict for a company that is 24.96 billion rubles in debt to its primary shareholder, up 33% over the last year.

Despite having the most perfect set of conditions, including Microsoft formally withdrawing from the domestic market amid lawsuits and a legal mandate from the state for local bodies and critical infrastructure operators to operate domestic software only, MyOffice did not manage to turn its windfall to its advantage; its product share of the domestic market actually shrunk from 5% to 3% (RU) in 2025. Its retreat is simply the result of its failure to make people use its products despite the competitive advantages it was offered.

• Windows 11's August update is now rolling out
• It brings faster launch speeds to apps via functionality that was previously only available for certain Windows menus
• There's also a smart feature for Voice Access that deals with background noise interference, and some tweaks for search in Windows 11

Windows 11's August update has arrived, and it's mostly minor work, although there are a few notable moves with this new patch.

One important introduction is that Microsoft is extending a previously rolled-out feature — a secret sauce for faster launch times — to cover apps in Windows 11. That's good news for the performance you'll experience in the OS in general, and there are a couple of other nifty improvements besides.

Let's take a look at those, and I'll also round up some highlights of the rest of the work that's present in Windows 11's latest patch for those who are planning to grab it.

1. Faster app launches

One key move here is that apps are now going to launch faster in Windows 11, thanks to the extension of a previously rolled-out feature called Low Latency Profile (LLP).

Windows Latest flagged the deployment of this capability, which speeds up the launching of apps considerably. Note that LLP first debuted in June, but it only applied to certain parts of the Windows 11 interface (like the Start menu, for example, or Notification Center), and now it works for all your apps.

LLP nudges the processor when an app (or menu) is launched, asking for a brief speed boost so that the app in question will load a lot more quickly. If you have Task Manager open when you run an app, you'll see that as you start it, the CPU will ramp up its speed for a second or two, before returning to normal once the program is running.

Bear in mind that this ability is on a controlled rollout, which is normal for this sort of feature, as Microsoft tests the waters to make sure it's working as intended. This means you may have to wait a little while before getting it.

(While you can force the enablement of LLP with apps by using a bit of trickery via a Windows configuration tool, I wouldn't recommend this approach, and I'd advise simply waiting for the rollout to happen naturally. There could be a good reason why your PC has been swerved for this particular feature).

2. Voice Access improved to filter out background noise

Windows 11's built-in voice functionality (Voice Access) also gets a boost this month with a new feature called Voice Isolation. If this is switched on, it filters out any background noise, including other people speaking, so only your voice is picked up. Microsoft informs us (in the optional June update release notes, which was this patch in preview) that there's a setup process required to recognize your voice, but you only have to do this once.

There's another setting that just removes background noise (any non-speaking sounds), which doesn't require any setup. For those who do want the full Voice Isolation experience, you'll find the setup is accessed in Voice Access settings > Improve speech recognition.

3. Windows search improvements

Microsoft keeps taking steps to make Windows 11 search more user-friendly, and there are a couple of worthwhile additions in this update. First off, we're told that when searching for apps, Windows will handle typos better, so if you misspell the software you're hunting for, it should still be found. Likewise, partial app names will produce a result.

Furthermore, when you're searching for a Windows 11 setting, the more useful options should now appear higher in the returned search results. While these are more minor tweaks, Microsoft is clearly making strides towards search becoming a good deal better, and that includes some important streamlining work that's inbound (including ditching web results).

What else is new?

Other changes delivered by the August update for Windows 11 include new gesture controls for precision touchpads, which include the ability to adjust the default speed for zoom and scroll gestures. In the latter case, you also get scrolling acceleration applied so the more you repeat the gesture, the faster the scrolling becomes, allowing you to zip through long documents or web pages.

A useful piece of functionality has returned for laptops, too, namely the ability to set a level for when Energy Saver should be turned on (in Settings > System > Power & Battery). This was previously removed as Microsoft wanted the energy-saving feature to manage itself, but users were confused as to where the option had gone, and still wanted a manual setting present — so it's back (for now).

Widgets have also been tidied up so that the Lock screen only shows the weather by default (rather than multiple widgets), and notification badges in the taskbar use the Windows accent color rather than being red (making them less of a distraction).

There's a whole raft of minor tweaks, including Windows Hello getting support for peripheral fingerprint sensors and the addition of a "parental controls notice" during Windows 11 setup that points out online safety features for families.

• The unannounced Xbox Elite Series 3 controller may have leaked
• Photos were posted to Reddit and have since been deleted
• They showed a plausible-looking gamepad with a built-in screen

A Reddit user seems to have somehow managed to get their hands on a prototype Xbox Elite Series 3 controller, and the upcoming gamepad appears to have some surprising features.

In a now-deleted post to the r/Controller subreddit, the author asked, "Anyone know what controller this is?" and claimed they managed to buy the accessory on the online marketplace website OfferUp.

The post also included a handful of photos of the alleged controller, which hasn't even been officially announced, and they certainly seem genuine — or at least very difficult to fake.

It looks quite similar to the Xbox Elite Series 2 overall, but with some key differences. These include a redesigned, more plate-like D-pad, two weird scroll wheels at the bottom, and a little LED screen embedded at the top. Other major differences include the addition of a removable rechargeable battery pack, which lines up with information surfaced back in May.

The screen is definitely the most interesting detail here, and I wonder how it could function in the finished product. One photo shows it displaying an animation of a spaceship flying towards an Xbox Series X console, which makes me think that it could be used as a cute way to denote the controller's pairing status.

High-end third-party controllers like the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited and Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra already have their own screens. They can be used to edit controller settings, swap between profiles, and even receive text messages, hinting at some possible uses Microsoft might have in store.

Unfortunately, the poster says they haven't been able to pair the controller with any of their consoles — prompting others to speculate that it could be a special developer unit that requires a registered Xbox dev account.

With units appearing in the wild, it seems reasonable to assume that an official reveal isn't far away. We might even see the controller unveiled at Gamescom 2026 later this month.

• Someone has ported Word for Windows 1.1a to Windows 11
• It's a fully native port
• It's not easy to get it up and running on your system — should you wish to — but there are other alternatives to the feature-creep of Notepad

Somebody has taken a version of Word from 1990 and created a fully functional port for Windows 11 — and as you might imagine, this is a word processor with an incredibly light footprint.

Tom's Hardware noticed this feat, which was achieved by Justin Marshall, who's the developer behind the 'Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a' project on GitHub.

As Marshall explains, this is not an emulator or some kind of fudge, rather it's a "fully working native Windows x64 port" of Word for Windows 1.1a which was codenamed 'Opus' back in the day.

This port was possible because Microsoft released the source code for the app (over 10 years ago), and Marshall took that code and ran with it. (As Tom's notes, it's available from the Computer History Museum).

Marshall explains that the project builds on that original Word source code (and complementary resources) with "modern replacements for the 16-bit assembly, segmented-memory, and Win16 platform boundaries".

The result is a very simple word processor that takes the idea of a streamlined app to new levels. Indeed, this modern take on Word for Windows 1.1a can fit in less than 1MB of RAM in Windows 11. How's that for lean? And there's not a drop of AI in sight…

Analysis: Word up

Can those fed up with Microsoft's feature-creep in Notepad, or other bloat, go and pick up this spin on Word from 1990 for a breath of fresh air in terms of a lightweight word processor? No, unfortunately, as there's no installation package to simply download and fire up.

That's because, as Marshall points out, the "historical source files retain their original Microsoft and third-party copyright notices", which means that commercial use or even sharing copies on the web isn't permitted.

This is why if you want to use Word for Windows 1.1a on your modern PC, you'll need to get it up and running by following the instructions on GitHub. This isn't for the technically faint-of-heart, as you might guess, and you'll need Visual Studio 2022 with Desktop development with C++, a Windows 11 (or 10) SDK installed through Visual Studio, as well as CMake 3.25 (or newer) and PowerShell.

In short, it's unlikely that many people will go to the effort, but it's not surprising that a fair bit of interest has been stoked in this project simply because of not just the novelty — although that's obviously the driving factor — but also as it's an illustration of how far Word can be stripped back, running with such a tiny footprint and resource usage.

One Redditor commenting on this simply said: "Not all heroes wear capes."

Another observed: "For the curious, Microsoft Office 97 will install and run on Windows 11 with no hassle. I've been using it for years now just for the fun of it."

Bear in mind, of course, that should you take that approach, you'll be lagging behind considerably for supported file formats, and also in the security stakes (that's the main drawback with using apps that haven't been updated in a long time, and lack patches against exploits that have since popped up).

If you are keen on a lightweight alternative to Notepad, then take a look at TinyRetroPad, which is built very much in the same vein as the original Microsoft text editor, and is just as tiny as the name suggests.

• Microsoft Teams is bringing badges to your profile card
• Badges will include a user's particular awards and certifications
• Microsoft says this will make the experience more consistent across Teams and Outlook

If you're really looking to show off your skills at work, then Microsoft Teams might have the perfect answer for you - however it might not be for everyone.

The online collaboration platform has announced it is working on bringing "Badges" to your Microsoft Teams profile card, allowing users to display all their achievements to anyone who cares to look.

The addition will show Awards and Certifications on a user's profile card, where they will show up as badges, giving you an easy way to show off exactly what you can do.

Badge of honor

"You can now see Awards and Certifications as badges on a user’s profile card, bringing a more consistent experience across Teams and Outlook," a Microsoft 365 roadmap post outlining the feature explained.

The feature is listed as being "in development" right now, with an expected release date of September 2026. Upon release, it will be available to users across Windows and Mac around the world.

Badges have been available to Microsoft 365 users since 2023, designed as a way for users to display their expertise and qualifications (see above example) on specific cards.

The cards are currently available in several programs, including Outlook and the Copilot app, with their expansion to Teams clearly part of Microsoft's push to make the platform more informative.

This includes a recent upgrade to block bad bots with "smarter protection" which will let humans check all participants in a call are who they say they are, including bots in a call lobby, much like a nightclub bouncer.

Microsoft Teams is also working on a feature which will automatically update a user's work location when they connect to an office Wi-Fi network - hopefully meaning less confusion about where workers actually are situated, but bad news for those looking for a quiet day in the office tucked into a corner.

• Microsoft has hiked the cost of a Windows 11 license for PC makers
• A new report claims that the annual price increase is 'significantly' more this year
• That's really not going to help the PC market, coming on top of all the pain with hardware price rises that we're already experiencing

PC prices are already facing various unfortunate pressures — thanks to the RAM crisis, and other increased component costs aside from memory –— but it appears that Microsoft is throwing fuel on the fire with hikes on the software side.

Wccftech spotted a report from Economic Daily News (EDN), a Taiwanese site, claiming that Microsoft has increased the price it charges PC makers for a Windows 11 license. Apparently the cost of installing Windows 11 on a pre-built desktop PC or a laptop has gone up by 7% to 10% as of last month.

Of course, bear in mind this is just a rumor (and the article is translated, so we need to be careful about any potentially lost meaning), but it's an alarming sounding prospect.

Microsoft puts up the price of a Windows 11 license every year, so this isn't new or unexpected, but normally Microsoft applies a single-digit increase, and this year the price hike has reportedly been a good deal more, possibly tipping into double-digits (10%). The (translated) article calls this a "significant increase" compared to past years, and the information comes from an executive at an (unnamed) PC maker.

Seemingly current product prices already reflect Microsoft's extra charge, with the bigger rises in fees having been given to PCs with faster processors, we're told.

EDN observes that the prices of PCs are expected to rise by 5% in the third quarter of 2026, at least for Acer and Asus systems in the Taiwanese market. Other regions and vendors may, of course, vary, but all OEMs (PC makers) must pay Microsoft for a Windows 11 license (if using the OS, of course).

Analysis: software salt

As noted, these cost increases are supposedly already priced into hardware on the shelves, and EDN observes that neither consumers nor businesses have really batted an eyelid.

That's mainly because the hardware-based pricing misery — for more expensive RAM, SSDs, GPUs (increasingly of late) and other components — is driving the nastier price rises, and the Windows 11 increase is relatively small fry in comparison. So, this software hike has purportedly flown under the radar, effectively eclipsed by the hardware pain.

If this report is true, and Microsoft has indeed put prices up a good deal more than normal, that's a distinctly unhelpful move. On the hardware side of the equation, we know prices to manufacture goods are going up — and that cost increases will inevitably be passed on to the end buyer. That's just business, but there's no obvious reason why software costs should be hiked more than normal, other than what the cynical might suggest appears to be opportunism from Microsoft (and maybe the growing cost of the AI side of the company).

This is effectively rubbing software salt into hardware wounds, and the PC market could really do without it. Although speaking of salt, all of this depends on whether this rumor is on the money, and I think it's worth remaining somewhat skeptical in that regard, albeit that EDN has proved a reliable source in the past.

• Windows 11's Weather app uses a surprising amount of RAM
• It consumes over 1GB at times — and worse still, pushes adverts
• This is a lot of what's wrong with Windows 11 in a nutshell

If you want a neatly crystallized summary of some of the key remaining failings of Windows 11 — pain points Microsoft has yet to fix in its campaign to right the wrongs of the OS — you only need to look at the Weather app.

This is one of Microsoft's default apps with Windows 11, and as Windows Latest pointed out, the RAM that this software eats up is mind-boggling, frankly.

The tech site observed that the Weather app somehow used over 1.2GB of system memory, and that this isn't far off five times as much as the native Weather app on macOS (which uses something like 250MB of RAM).

On my Windows 11 machine I didn't see quite that level of resource usage, but the Weather app did consume around a peak of 1GB at times (although that did drop as low as 800MB, and that was the level I saw it running at in the main). That's still a lot of memory, though, and it's clear the app has a heavy system footprint.

On top of that, there's an additional downside here, which is that you get adverts displayed alongside your forecasts and weather details (in panels at the side). These are full-on adverts, too, for the likes of shoes or medical insurance, not just Microsoft's nudges to use its products like OneDrive or similar.

As Windows Latest observes, this is because this app is actually the MSN Weather app, with the adverts being pulled over from the MSN network.

Analysis: a shower of adverts

Granted, the app provides a lot of weather information, and it's pretty comprehensive — but at what cost? What should be a lightweight and streamlined app consumes an improbable amount of RAM. Why is that? Well, it's due to Weather being a web app, one that, when you peek behind the hood, is running eight separate Chromium processes.

That's a clunky way of working, and the high level of resource usage this causes is particularly unwelcome in the current climate of the RAM crisis, where 8GB laptops are being brought back to try and keep costs down as manufacturers struggle to keep a lid on prices.

Okay, so Microsoft is looking at performance improvements across the board for Windows 11, and it's specifically aiming to address the issue of the memory footprint for 8GB PCs. And hopefully the Weather app will get some attention as part of that streamlining, and sooner rather than later.

For now, though, even if you don't use Weather, it remains a clear reminder of what's wrong with some parts of Windows 11 in terms of unnecessary bloat, both in the way the app is programmed, and the addition of those adverts (which doubtless don't help performance, either). These ads are present in Windows 10's Weather app, too, in case you were wondering, and it's surely a simple enough job — and an easy win — for Microsoft to at least ditch these.

As you might imagine, there have been a fair few potshots fired at Microsoft over this on social media, and one Redditor echoes something I've said myself in the past: "It's honestly ridiculous that we pay for a premium operating system and still get served ads inside basic native apps like Weather."

This is a key point for me. You can either have a free operating system that pays for itself via promotional bits and pieces — you can't really argue with that if you've forked out nothing for the privilege of running an OS — or you have a paid one that has no promotions.

Microsoft has promised to chill on the upselling in Windows 11, and it looks like the Weather app would be a good place to revisit with that in mind.

• Microsoft has admitted it's automatically installing an app on Windows 11
• The OneDrive Photos app is also being deployed mistakenly to business PCs as well as consumers
• There are a few odd things about this episode, and it's an anti-consumer move that doesn't sit well with Microsoft's broader goals to make Windows 11 better

Microsoft is in hot water after an odd decision to roll out a OneDrive Photos app to Windows 11 PCs used by consumers (with it also accidentally deploying the app to enterprise systems).

Windows Latest reports that Microsoft "effectively" told the website that the OneDrive Photos app is being automatically installed on Windows 11 computers whether it's wanted or not.

OneDrive Photos is a separate app to OneDrive, and it's designed for photo viewing and organization (with a light editing element bolted on). However, it's plain user-hostile behavior to have this software stealthily piped to a Windows 11 PC and forcibly installed.

What if you don't want it? What if you don't even use OneDrive sync at all, and you aren't signed in with a Microsoft account on your PC? Tough — you still get OneDrive Photos, as Windows Latest points out.

Even more bizarrely, this app — which is labelled as a beta — is appearing on business PCs, which it definitely shouldn't be doing (it's only used with a personal Microsoft account).

Microsoft wouldn't previously comment on the appearance of the OneDrive Photos app, but at least the company has now acknowledged that it is being installed on Windows 11 PCs.

There's still no official comment on why business devices would be getting this software, but Windows Latest tells us that it "understands that the rollout to enterprise PCs was not intentional". So apparently this was a mistake, and one that Microsoft is presumably in the process of correcting.

It's worth noting that there's also been some controversy about AI scanning faces for a feature in OneDrive Photos, accessed via the 'People' option, but this is only active if you explicitly allow it to be turned on (it's clearly opt-in, in other words).

Microsoft has clarified that if 'face grouping' is enabled, it runs only in the cloud with OneDrive photos (not other images on your PC), and any data collected is removed 30 days after you turn it off. The company has also assured users that it isn't using any photo data to train AI models on faces.

Analysis: I'm trying to tell you now, it's sabotage…

What is Microsoft playing at here? I really don't know, but this OneDrive Photos affair is a mess for a lot of reasons, and as you might guess, it has rubbed people up the wrong way. For starters, business users are very unhappy about having a piece of consumer-targeted beta software automatically deployed on their PCs, and are busy writing scripts to remove it (like this one on Reddit for example), rather than waiting for Microsoft to fix its error.

This is a baffling move for consumers too, because as noted, even if you don't use OneDrive at all, you'll still get this partner photo app. You can't even remove the OneDrive Photos app without deleting OneDrive as well — so if you do use the cloud storage app and sync features in Windows 11, but don't want this extra Photos application, well, you're stuck with it. You can have both, or neither.

That latter situation will change, though, Windows Latest informs us, and Microsoft is preparing an update that lets you remove the OneDrive Photos app without needing to nuke OneDrive entirely. I should hope so, too, and it's confusing how this rollout of a beta app went ahead without that choice in place.

The broad reaction on Reddit has been heated to say the least, and this is just more grit for anyone with an anti-Microsoft axe to grind.

One Redditor said "I'm uninstalling Windows. Linux is a little bit of a pain but worth it." There are more than a few similar comments in that thread, whether they're from people vowing to switch to Linux, or those who've already departed for OS pastures greener: "So glad I left Windows behind. Good riddance."

Interestingly, there are reports of this app appearing on Windows 10 PCs in the Reddit thread those comments are drawn from, although I haven't seen it on my computer with that OS (while it is on my Windows 11 system).

The trouble with all this is that it underlines how Microsoft is a vast corporation where the various limbs aren't always moving in alignment with the same aims. While the right hand is fixing Windows 11 and implementing a whole bunch of crowd-pleasing features or tweaks, the left hand is still messing around with anti-consumer initiatives such as this. Did no one tell the OneDrive team that Microsoft is supposed to be going full-tilt to persuade everyone that Windows 11 is the place to be, and that the software giant has mended its pushier and more obnoxious ways?

Apparently not, and just as we don't want third-party apps for the likes of monitors pushed on us quietly, in the background, via Windows Update, we don't want to unknowingly get first-party Microsoft software sprung on us, either.

Sort it out, Microsoft, please, because this is becoming an embarrassing oversight in terms of the big (and otherwise commendable) drive to make Windows 11 better.

• Microsoft temporarily rolls back planned Teams tool concerning muted chats
• The update would have made it easier to organize (and ignore) unnecessary conversations
• It's not known when the update will get back in progress

Microsoft has pulled an update which would have made it much easier for Teams users to organize their chats - particularly those which have been muted.

The company had revealed it was working on new built-in sections within Teams to house all the muted chats in one area, meaning users shouldn't be distracted or annoyed by unnecessary alerts.

However the update has now been "temporarily rolled back", with Microsoft apologizing for the "inconvenience".

A bit of a shame?

The move is a slightly odd one, as the description of the update makes it sound like something all Teams users would appreciate.

In its Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the company said the new grouping will "help reduce clutter and keep conversations easy to find" - but also probably help lower stress levels for users plagued by alerts on chats they don't need to know about.

The change, which was in the works for users across Android, iOS, desktop and web, would have seen muted chats grouped together in a dedicated area, while meeting chats would have been able to be collected into a single section for quick access.

Microsoft had even added that "You’re always in control", as each section would have been able to be activated or turned off based on a user's specific preferences.

The new Meeting chats section would have replaced the Meeting chats filter, found at the top of the chat and channel list, giving users a much better insight to their conversations.

Microsoft hasn't given any details as to why the update is delayed, or when it will be coming back onto the workbench, so we'll just have to wait and see.

As mentioned, it's a shame, as Teams users no doubt would have welcomed any relief from the overload of chats. Slack already offers this feature, with muted channels and conversations hidden away if desired, so maybe Microsoft is taking extra time to finesse and develop the feature before releasing it to users.

• Microsoft is eating humble pie over its unrealistic RAM recommendations
• It has deleted articles that pushed 32GB as an ideal or 'no-worries' loadout
• Apple is also feeling the heat in the RAM crisis, with rumors that it's struggling to secure an alternative source of memory supply from China

There are some fresh twists with the RAM crisis hitting some big tech companies, as Microsoft has backtracked on its previous memory recommendations, and even Apple is apparently finding it difficult to cope with the scarcity of memory.

Let's discuss Microsoft first, and as Windows Latest pointed out, the company has been busy backpedalling on previous memory recommendations now that the RAM crisis – which just keeps getting worse – has made those suggestions look foolish.

Microsoft previously had support documents in its Windows Learning Center which have now been removed, and Windows Latest highlights two of them. One was about optimizing your gaming PC, and it advised that "32GB is ideal for serious players who run the most demanding titles" (albeit the article also said 16GB was "plenty" for most games).

Another piece said that 32GB of RAM was the "no-worries zone", and that article was also quietly deleted as there was some backlash against this, given that it was published when the price of system memory had become ridiculous. (And buying a 32GB kit was very much a worry for your wallet).

The links to those articles now redirect to the home page of the Learning Center, and Microsoft is evidently trying to forget about pushing 32GB of RAM as an 'ideal' or 'worry-free' target for memory on your PC.

More broadly, since Copilot+ PCs were launched and the AI features for these devices made them require 16GB, Microsoft has obviously been keen to have that as a baseline memory configuration. Except now, a change of stance is necessary, as with the RAM crisis reaching alarming new heights, Microsoft has been forced to enact huge price hikes with its Surface devices.

And of course, the latest twist with that Surface hardware is that Microsoft has brought back 8GB models with last year's Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Which makes it kind of difficult to push 16GB as a minimum, let alone make suggestions that 32GB is where it's really at for properly smooth performance.

The abandonment of these Learning Center articles is hardly surprising, then, and Microsoft is also addressing how speedily Windows 11 runs with 8GB of memory (not quickly enough currently). One of its promises with fixing the OS was better performance with a leaner RAM loadout, and Microsoft just made it clear that the company is now actively working to make Windows 11 run better with 8GB before the end of the year.

This has become a vital goal, really, when you consider that Apple has pulled off a commendable showing of performance with its MacBook Neo that packs 8GB of RAM. That was effectively a gauntlet thrown down for Microsoft – something of a declaration that macOS is coming to try to take Windows 11's market share – and one that the Windows maker had to respond to (which became clear enough when Microsoft went on the attack against the Neo).

Apple turnover: China play rumored to end in a fumble

Speaking of Apple, Microsoft isn't the only tech giant being buffeted by the rising costs caused by the RAM storm. While it has had a big success with the Neo, the challenge for Tim Cook's firm – soon to be John Ternus's, of course – is to maintain that momentum, and by all accounts, that's proving a tricky task.

Recent Mac price hikes have caused a good deal of pain – taking some of the wind out of the good ship Neo's sails – and Apple is trying to secure its RAM supply lines for the future, with rumors abounding that it's turning to Chinese chip makers to find extra production capacity.

The latest speculation, however, is that according to a report from Digital Daily (a Korean tech site, via Wccftech), Apple has floundered in negotiations with Chinese memory giant CXMT.

Apparently CXMT has strong enough domestic demand that it doesn't have to offer more attractive pricing to Apple. Essentially, CXMT is holding the line and has "insisted on prices that were higher or similar to those offered by Samsung or SK Hynix" (bear in mind there may be nuances lost with the translation of the article).

You get the message, though: Apple is failing to obtain better deals on mobile DRAM, which includes LPDDR5X, for its iPhones (and that RAM is also used in its MacBooks, of course). And CXMT was supposed to be an escape route from the difficulties of getting enough RAM inventory from Samsung and SK Hynix (and also Micron, a key supplier for Apple), but it seems like a dead-end for now.

At least if this report is correct, but analyst Tim Culpan has also written a short post which backs up the notion that Apple is in trouble here. Culpan writes: "Apple and its suppliers are scrambling to get enough memory chips for its upcoming release of new iPhone models."

'Scrambling' is a word that evokes quite a sense of panic, and indeed with the iPhone 18 models – and the foldable offering – not much more than a month away from launch now (in theory), I'd bet there are some heated words flying here and there. Culpan notes: "Assemblers are working with Apple to rush shipments of DRAM used in mobile devices."

That report is specifically about smartphones, mind, but this same situation applies to mobile RAM that's also used in MacBooks.

The overall theme is more RAM misery all round, which is hardly a surprise given all the negative news we've been hearing on the grapevine of late. GPU pricing has been the latest round of doom and gloom over the past week or two, and I don't think the pessimistic news is going to stop flowing for the foreseeable.

It's not bad news for everyone, though. A source in the semiconductor industry told Digital Daily that: "With the general-purpose DRAM floor remaining unbroken and Samsung and SK Hynix monopolizing the lead in high-value AI memory such as HBM4, the operating profit margins and global market control of the domestic semiconductor sector are expected to rise even more steeply in the second half of the year."

So, it's a familiar story: profits will be on the up and up for memory makers, while consumers will be suffering the pain of the hikes. Apple's purported rush for RAM supplies as the clock runs down on the iPhone launch window is a particularly worrying sounding story, one that doesn't bode well in terms of avoiding more Mac (and iPhone) price rises in the future. Neither can we rule out more Surface price rises, or other laptops for that matter.

• Microsoft aims to cut down on "tokenmaxxing" by employees
• New guidelines will look to control AI token use to focus on ROI
• This is despite Microsoft reporting record financial results recently

Microsoft has apparently been forced to introduce limits on how much AI usage its engineers are allowed followed reports that some have been taking things to extreme.

The software giant is looking to cut back on "tokenmaxxing" within the company - where employees use far more AI tokens that may be necessary.

In an email seen by 404 Media, Microsoft warned employees that new limits on token usage would be introduced as it looked to focus on getting the most out of its AI platforms.

New guidelines

“As we accelerate our use of GitHub Copilot to deliver on our goals, we all need to be aware of how we consume tokens,” the email to employees from Jay Parikh, an executive vice president at Microsoft said.

“Tokenmaxxing is not what we are optimizing for," he continued. "I want all of us focused on maximizing outcomes that move the needle for our customers and our business.”

“As such, we are updating our internal guidance and managing token spend with the same discipline we apply to every other critical resource."

In a bid to achieve “get greater value from our token investment”, Parikh went on to say Microsoft is making access to the cheaper OpenAI GPT-5.6 model the default model for internal use.

Employees were also reminded (via a link to updated internal Copilot guidelines) that as of July 2026 Microsoft divisions have an “AI token budget target,” with employees also able to track their individual AI spending.

“While there is no target spend value being shared at this time. The data shows that many engineers spend in the range of hundreds of dollars a month to a few thousand dollars in tokens,” 404 Media reported the guidelines as saying.

Parikh noted that Microsoft does not want to impair the company’s progress towards becoming “AI-first,” and that it will keep learning and adjusting its AI policies as models and products evolve.

“We are not optimizing for fewer tokens,” he said. “We are optimizing for more impact per token."

The restrictions may come as a surprise to some Microsoft employees, given that the company recently reported yet another bumper financial quarter, and in that respect should have money to splash out on AI usage.

However it is the latest step by Microsoft as it looks to focus internal AI usage. In May 2026, it was reported the company was reportedly canceling most of the Claude Code license it uses internally, with engineers being told to use GitHub Copilot CLI, with users given a June 30 2026 deadline to remove Claude Code from their workflows.

However tokenmaxxing has proven to be an issue at other tech giants - perhaps most notoriously at Uber, which was forced to admit it had exhausted its entire annual 2026 AI coding token budget in just four months due to massive employee adoption of agentic tools like Anthropic PBC's Claude Code and Cursor.

Amazon also recently revealed it had spent $1.8 million on an internal Claude Sonnet deployment intended for matching author details with product listings, after it ballooned far beyond its planned budget and was ultimately given menial tasks to do.

• Phishing campaign used fake Teams notifications to route victims to a genuine Microsoft sign-in page
• Rather than stealing passwords, attackers asked victims to approve permissions for an attacker-controlled app, gaining access to mail, files, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and calendars without defeating MFA
• Check Point says the technique has been commoditized in 2026 into a rentable service; the practical defense is restricting app consent rather than relying on users to spot a fake

A phishing campaign that ran from late June into July 2026 did something that breaks most of the advice organizations have spent a decade teaching their staff: it sent victims to a real Microsoft login page.

Check Point's email research team, which disclosed the campaign, identified more than 200 phishing emails targeting users across roughly 120 organizations worldwide.

The lure was a fake Microsoft Teams notification with a genuine destination; what actually compromised accounts was not a stolen password but a permissions prompt that the victim clicked through voluntarily.

A sophisticated attack that relied on tricking users into granting permissions

Check Point noted in its brief that what actually compromised the accounts was not a stolen password but a permissions prompt that the victim clicked through voluntarily. This is a reminder of a stark change in attackers' tactics: they have stopped forging Microsoft's front door and started walking through it.

The email appeared to be a Microsoft Planner task-assignment notification. The sender name read "There's New Activity On Team," the subject line claimed that HR had sent three messages via Teams chat, and the body referenced a payroll and benefits update, along with a counter showing four overdue employee tasks.

To someone who works in security, the message had its own telltale signs of being a typical phishing attempt: every link in the email, including both call-to-action buttons, routed through the same redirect. And the visible sender address belonged to the recipient's own organization, meaning the email appeared to have been sent to the same person it came from.

The link opened a real OAuth authorization URL on login.microsoftonline.com, not a look-alike domain. Signing in displayed a permissions prompt asking the user to approve the permissions or accept them on behalf of their organization.

If they did, Microsoft redirected the browser to the redirect address specified in the original request, which in this particular campaign was an AWS API Gateway endpoint under the attackers' control. The authorization code was delivered there, and the attackers exchanged it for access. No password was stolen at any point, and there was no fake page to spot.

This is not unlike how the phishing-as-a-service Kali365 platform compromises Microsoft accounts, but instead of stealing session cookies or OAuth tokens, it opts for a more permanent illicit grant of consent.

This runs counter to the usual security training checklist, which emphasizes adhering to norms rather than going against the grain; users are told to check the URL, look for the padlock, and watch for misspelled domains. None of those measures matter because there is nothing forged to catch. The domain and certificate are Microsoft's, while the sign-in page is the one the user sees every morning, offering a false sense of security to a user not looking for this particular attack vector.

Multi-factor authentication does not help either; it protects the login sequence but not access to the user's data post-login. The attacker never needs the password or the second factor because they walk away with a token granted by the user's valid session, a technique called 'consent phishing'.

There are many ways to prevent this, but the simplest two are asking users to check every single permission/consent screen they click (the phishing attempt still requires users to allow it) and limiting access to permissions for user accounts that applications can request via Microsoft Entra at the system administrator level.

It would be prudent to do the latter at a minimum, even as Check Point notes that the campaign is no longer active because the underlying technique it used is not going anywhere.

• A controversy has erupted over a background process in Windows 11
• It turns out that process isn't new, and neither is it a surprise introduction from Microsoft that 'does nothing for you' except pipe telemetry back
• A Microsoft exec clarified the purpose of the process, and that it doesn't send any data back unless you want to do that

There's been some more controversy over privacy and telemetry in Windows 11, and while this particular alarm bell turned out to be falsely rung in the end, it does point to wider issues around the mistrust of Microsoft in general.

As Windows Latest reports, this story starts with a post on X from a user called Xilly who drew attention to an apparent new process in Windows 11 called 'Windows Health and Optimized Experiences'.

However, as Windows Latest – and others on X – observe, this isn't a new background service in Microsoft's OS at all. In fact, it has been kicking around in Windows 11 for over a year now (since May 2025).

The additional nuance, though, is that this process was only introduced in testing in the Canary channel back in May of last year, and it seems to have only just come through to Windows 11 release builds now. That's as far as I can tell, and this is what Xilly points out on X.

So, it is in fact relatively new to release builds – and presumably rolling out now – but nonetheless the service itself has been known about for a long time. The real problem here is the way Xilly frames it as monitoring your PC for certain metrics related to laptop battery management, and that: "If you are on a desktop gaming PC it does nothing for you except run in the background" (while eating resources and engaging in telemetry, "sending data to Microsoft every 15 minutes").

Xilly's post prompted a response from Scott Hanselman, who is a VP and member of technical staff at Microsoft as well as a prominent voice in the Fix Windows 11 campaign.

Hanselman made it clear that the process is not new, as already discussed, and that it's for system diagnostics: "When Windows detects slow or sluggish behavior, it can record targeted performance traces locally under %SystemRoot%\Temp\DiagOutputDir\Whesvc that can be filed with Feedback Hub. It's not laptop specific."

So, this is a process that detects poor performance and files diagnostics locally, which can then be fed back to Microsoft if the user wishes.

Hanselman also highlights the dramatic approach Xilly took ("saying things in all capitals"), and Windows Latest further points out that the X user runs a business for optimizing gaming PCs, and pushes that service in a reply to their own original post.

Analysis: trust, telemetry, and what Microsoft needs to do

To summarize, then, Xilly's description of the service is incorrect, and while this background process does collect diagnostic data on how Windows 11 is running, it's written locally (with a negligible performance impact) and only sent to Microsoft if you actively submit feedback from your PC (via the Feedback Hub). The key phrasing in Hanselman's response is that the relevant data "can" be filed with Microsoft (not "will" be filed, as in it'll automatically happen).

Xilly also suggested that this was something Microsoft just sneaked in (hence the 'all caps' warning), when in fact it has been documented in preview builds before, and as Windows Latest notes, it's part of the Adaptive Energy Saver feature for helping to extend battery life.

The long and short is that there's nothing to worry about here, but what this episode serves as is a reminder of how Microsoft is short on trust when it comes to issues around privacy.

It's clear how quickly some Windows 11 users were to believe Xilly's accusation on X and other social media such as Reddit. For example, in this Reddit thread, despite one poster pointing out the reality of the situation in a nutshell (pretty much), there's a notable amount of complaining about why this process is sending data to Microsoft (which it isn't), or broader complaints along the lines of: "If you choose to install a spyware OS, expect to be spied on."

In fact, the most upvoted comment is: "Honestly, if any big tech giant wants to spy on you, they don't need a separate service. The MSA/online account [Microsoft account] is more than enough."

There are many people out there online who believe that, one way or another, Microsoft is spying on them to quite an extent with Windows. That stems from a broader level of distrust that's been stoked by the historical level of telemetry in Microsoft's desktop operating system since Windows 10 emerged, with reports periodically popping up to highlight these issues in that OS and Windows 11. Add to that all of Microsoft's promotional activity (and some outright adverts), as well as the likes of the Recall feature helping to pile on the skepticism (Microsoft handled that one really badly), and you can see why there's a problem with doubters here.

I keep saying that one thing Microsoft isn't properly addressing with the fix Windows 11 campaign is the level of telemetry performed by the OS, and I think it's high time that the company did this, and introduced a new choice for a zero level of telemetry (save for baseline security-related aspects). That option is lacking on Windows 11 Home, and it should be present and easily accessible, as this would go a long way to help cure some of the ill feeling out there around Windows 11 'spying' on people.

• Microsoft's disc-to-digital feature for Xbox consoles will reportedly release this month
• The Verge reports that the feature will allow developers to bring their Xbox 360 games to "Xbox PCs", handheld devices, and "next-gen Xbox devices" like Project Helix
• A 2027-2028 "gradual" rollout is expected "across next-gen devices"

Microsoft's rumored disc-to-digital feature, which would allow players to digitize their existing physical Xbox game library, will reportedly roll out this month and be available for Project Helix.

That's according to a leaked document obtained by The Verge, which appears to show a roadmap of features scheduled for release over the next few months, into next year, and into 2028.

Last month, sources familiar with Microsoft's plans claimed the company was working on a way for Xbox users to digitize their physical games. It was reported that the feature would allow users to insert a compatible disc, install, and play the game, granting them a digital entitlement on their account.

The feature would work with Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs, not with Xbox 360 or original Xbox consoles. However, it was suggested that some Xbox One discs might not work.

The Verge now reports that Microsoft will allow developers to bring their Xbox 360 games not just to Xbox consoles, but "Xbox PCs", handheld devices, and "next-gen Xbox devices" like Project Helix.

Developers can opt in to making their old-gen titles backward compatible, giving them control over prices and whether they would be available on Game Pass.

As per the roadmap, the feature is scheduled for a "gradual" rollout between 2027 and 2028 "across next-gen devices," while the "full launch" of original Xbox games on PC via Game Pass or the Xbox Store is set for October 2026.

The outlet also said a public beta for the disc-to-digital program was set for July, with general availability for all Xbox One and Series X owners slated for August. It's understood that Microsoft originally planned to test the feature with Xbox Insiders last month, but the beta was delayed, and now it’s unclear if the August general release is still on course.

Elsewhere, Xbox Series X and Series S prices have increased once again in the UK. The Xbox Series X 1TB All-Digital version will now cost £619.99, up from £449.99, while the disc edition will go up from £499.99 to £669.99.

• LinkedIn will hold GPU investment and its compute and storage footprint flat rather than expanding its AI data centers
• The company says it roughly doubled the efficiency of its existing GPUs in six months through accumulated improvements to utilization, model distillation, and workload allocation, not a single breakthrough
• This makes it an exception to the rule under owner Microsoft's umbrella

LinkedIn has revealed it does not plan to spend aggressively on expanding its AI data centers over its next fiscal year - instead keeping GPU investment flat and holding its compute and storage footprint roughly where it is.

The stated reason is not restraint for its own sake: the company says it has found ways to get about twice as much out of its existing GPUs over the past six months and intends to spend that headroom on new features rather than new hardware.

Speaking to Wired, Erran Berger, LinkedIn's engineering CTO, framed the goal as keeping the compute footprint flat or close to it while still shipping more compute-hungry things into production - all while acknowledging this is an unusual position to take publicly right now.

Skipping the norm, both at the industry-level and the parent company

LinkedIn has been wholly owned by Microsoft since its December 2016 acquisition of the company for $26.2 billion.

Despite being part of the software giant, LinkedIn's approach seems vastly different from that of a company that recently saw its shares rally hard as it showcased AI spending finally resulting in measurable returns.

Microsoft also recently closed its own fiscal year, reporting $41 billion in capital expenditure in the most recent quarter alone. It added 31 data centers in that quarter and 88 across the year, and expects to spend more than $50 billion in the current quarter.

This draws an interesting parallel: while one part of Microsoft is deploying capital at a rate few companies in history have matched, a subsidiary with more than a billion users has decided to sit out the year, citing efficiency gains. This makes it a considerably more interesting approach than what would otherwise be a "company shows AI discipline" affair.

While parallels exist, it is prudent to point out that Microsoft's spending is overwhelmingly driven by Azure customer demand, and specifically by capacity it has contracted to supply to OpenAI, rather than by internal product workloads, while LinkedIn's compute is a rounding error against that.

Despite that, it offers an interesting alternative perspective when a large consumer platform can add generative AI features for a year without adding hardware; still, it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that AI features and capacity growth are inseparable.

What makes this possible for LinkedIn?

The answer runs back to a decision most coverage treated as an embarrassment at the time.

LinkedIn announced in 2019 that it would migrate its infrastructure onto Azure under a project codenamed Blueshift. In 2022, it quietly shelved that plan. An internal memo at the time cited Azure's own demand pressures and said LinkedIn would focus on scaling its on-premises infrastructure instead; subsequent reporting established that the migration had also run into difficulties because LinkedIn's in-house tooling did not transfer cleanly to Azure.

LinkedIn instead committed to its own data centers in Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.

LinkedIn's CTO for infrastructure, Raghu Hiremagalur, now argues that owning the full stack is precisely what makes this year's plan feasible, because the company can instrument every layer and treat efficiency as a standing investment rather than a one-off cost-cutting exercise.

“I really want to double underscore that for a company of our scale, to say a full year we're going to do this with no incremental storage and compute is no small feat, but it's taken a ton of work to get there," Hiremagalur said.

Reading what, in 2022, was a retreat as a 2026 advantage is self-serving, but it is not obviously wrong. The efficiency work itself is described as an accumulation rather than a breakthrough: better GPU utilization and workload allocation, distilling larger models into smaller ones, and rethinking how work is divided across training, inference, storage, and systems design.

Hiremagalur has also said the cost of serving each query had been climbing steadily while stored data was doubling annually, which he characterized as unsustainable. That is the more revealing framing. The efficiency push reads less like a strategic choice about the AI market and more like a company that looked at its own cost curve and decided it had to bend.

It makes it worth pointing out that LinkedIn has not really solved anything; It is that a platform of this size has publicly said out loud that its compute constraint is deliberate, at a moment when the four largest US hyperscalers have committed to something in the region of $600 billion to $700 billion of capital expenditure for the calendar year between them.

Almost every incentive in the industry currently runs toward announcing capacity rather than efficiency, making it an interesting outlier in a field dominated by daily capex announcements.

The more useful question is whether the approach holds. If it does, the argument that AI product ambition requires proportional growth in hardware gets meaningfully weaker. If it does not, this will read as an efficiency drive that met the hardware demands of a real product roadmap but failed to do so at a time when AI spending is increasingly scrutinized, even as LinkedIn itself recently allowed users to mark what they feel is 'AI slop'.

• Microsoft has summarized its campaign to fix Windows 11 so far
• The company also let us know what work is coming, including making the OS run better with 8GB of RAM
• That should have been the case from the start, though – and there's a missing piece of the puzzle to address as highlighted by Windows 11 users

Microsoft has made it clear that it's working to ensure that Windows 11 runs better on 8GB of system memory, as well as letting us know about other elements of the OS the company is going to fix as 2026 rolls on.

This was part of a blog post which is an update on the progress made with the campaign to fix Windows 11 that kicked off in March, summarizing all the work Microsoft has done – and there's been a lot of that, without a doubt. (I recently picked out the most important changes so far, if you're interested).

Microsoft also highlighted four new areas it's going to deal with during the rest of the year, and one of those is Windows 11's RAM usage.

Microsoft wrote: "Memory optimization for 8GB and above. Reducing Windows memory footprint to deliver a fast and responsive Windows experience across the PCs customers use every day."

As well as a promise, this is an acknowledgement of the RAM crisis, which is preventing people from upgrading their memory, but more to the point, it's forcing laptop makers to go backwards in some respects, dropping RAM loadouts to 8GB for some models. (Whereas previously we'd been moving noticeably towards 16GB as a baseline).

As to what else Microsoft has on its fixing checklist, that includes making Windows 11's setup a faster and more efficient experience, as well as a better setup for families (including parental controls being more readily accessible). Finally, Microsoft says voice functionality is also being worked on, to make "voice more natural and fluid to interact across the apps you use every day".

Analysis: it's about time really – and there's another issue that needs to be addressed, too

Microsoft talked about RAM optimization and "lowering the baseline memory footprint for Windows" back when the campaign to fix its OS first began. So really, this is just a reassurance that this work is underway and should be arriving before the end of the year, and that it's specifically focused on ensuring 8GB is an acceptable amount of memory for running Windows 11.

As noted, there's more pressure around this now thanks to the RAM crisis getting worse, and laptop makers looking to produce more 8GB models in a cost-saving effort. On top of that, there's the embarrassment of the MacBook Neo showing that Apple can do 8GB, and do it well, with macOS.

Really, though, Windows 11 should've been better optimized for performance right from the start – or at least after the first year or two of its existence. Why has it taken a RAM apocalypse, a huge anti-Windows backlash (prompted by AI), and the launch of a rival budget-friendly MacBook to prompt Microsoft to get off its system performance laurels and actually do something serious about how well its desktop operating system runs with a leaner amount of memory? Remember, Windows 11 is supposed to work with 4GB (as a minimum), so 8GB should not be as much of an issue as it has always been.

Obviously it's good that this is now happening, and more broadly, I'm still pleased Microsoft is addressing a whole bunch of problems with its drive to fix Windows 11. There's one piece of the puzzle omitted here, though, based on some of the feedback which has come through on social media after Microsoft's blog post update.

While Redditor 'Melchett_General' acknowledges that "some of this is very nice" when it comes to Microsoft's summarized fixes, they point out some missing bits, one of which is notably echoed elsewhere – namely the recent LG monitor controversy.

The Redditor complains: "How on earth Windows got to the state where any manufacturer that makes a device can have software 'companion' applications installed silently on a user's device without the wider internet throwing a collective fit and having Microsoft permanently change course I don't know."

In case you missed it, this refers to LG serving Windows 11 users a McAfee pop-up via its monitor software, and it's a story with some degree of nuance. Microsoft did immediately take action to get LG to banish that McAfee advert, which popped up via the LG monitor app in Windows 11, but as I discussed previously, a wider problem remains here.

This is the issue that the LG application is piped through to the operating system via Windows Update without the user's knowledge, happening automatically when the LG monitor is connected to the system.

In other words, the McAfee pop-up might have been quickly dealt with, but it's still possible for hardware makers to get Windows Update to pipe through a tool for their device.

As the Redditor elaborates: "What this seems to mean is that a 3rd party can install what they like whenever they like on your internet connected Windows computer and there's no effective way to stop it. (Aside from GP [Group Policy] edits or registry changes).

"This needs to be addressed, and there needs to be a mechanism to allow people to easily prevent this from happening."

I couldn't agree more. There should be no scenario where software is automatically installed in this way, even if the device maker might argue that the app is very much for the user's benefit. At the very least, there should be a dialog box announcing what's happening, and giving you the ability to choose not to install whatever application the hardware maker wants to put on your PC.

Notably, I haven't heard anything from Microsoft addressing this broader issue. Never mind the symptom (the McAfee pop-up), tackle the root cause of the issue (the ability for a piece of connected hardware to whisk its own software off the internet with no say from the user).

Microsoft is clearly serious about fixing everything that's wrong with Windows 11, I don't dispute that – but I find it odd that nothing has been said that directly addresses this pain point. Hopefully that won't be the case for much longer – we need some more transparency with Windows Update in this regard.

• Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that the price of Xbox consoles would rise in August, but did not reveal how much they would cost in the UK
• Now the prices are public, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative
• It follows a wider trend of increased prices driven by the sharp rise in the cost of RAM

Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that it would be raising the prices of its Xbox consoles worldwide in August, but it left the prices outside of the US a mystery. Now the price hike has actually arrived, we know how much everything now costs in the UK — and it's pretty bleak.

The price of the once entry-level 512GB Xbox Series S has shot up by £130 to an eye-watering £429.99. That's more than the newer Nintendo Switch 2 system, which retails for £395.99.

A 1TB Xbox Series X is now £669.99 (up from £499.99), meaning that there's only a £120 difference between it and the competing PlayStation 5 Pro, which costs £789.99 despite offering significantly more storage and more powerful specs.

You can see all the price changes below:

Here are the new prices in the US, which were announced back in June, for comparison:

The raised prices come as the consumer electronics market is being squeezed by a global RAM shortage, which has caused the cost of key components to skyrocket. Market analysts have also said that the US-Israel war with Iran could further compound issues.

The price of other devices like laptops, phones, and tablets has also risen, but video game consoles are often sold with slim, or sometimes no, margin, which makes manufacturers particularly susceptible to rising costs.

Back in April, Sony raised the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles by $100 / £100, citing "continued pressures in the global economic landscape". Only Nintendo has not put up the cost of its hardware since it released, though a former employee has warned that it is "inevitable."

Although part of a wider trend, the reaction to the new Xbox prices has still been overwhelmingly negative. A user on gaming forum Resetera described it as the "final nail in the coffin" for Xbox, which has struggled with sharply declining sales year-over-year.

"Makes no difference, no one is buying them either way," wrote another commenter, with others remarking on how difficult it can be to even find any Xbox products on sale in stores in Europe.

Even users that have already bought systems at lower prices seem worried: "My main concern is if a console breaks I can't afford another," one added.

• Microsoft Teams mobile users warned to update now
• Android and iOS users could risk losing access to their Calendar if not
• Deadline moved up to September 2026 as Microsoft likely reacts to end of life for EWS

Microsoft has warned Teams users that it has changed the date for them to update their smartphone apps, or risk losing access to the Calendar.

The company had originally said users of its Android and iOS apps would have until the end of October 2026 to update their services, but this deadline has now been brought forward to the end of September 2026.

Only the iOS and Android apps are affected, with web and desktop versions unaffected - and we would expect users with automatic updates enabled to get an updated version without needing to take any action.

Update Teams now

"To ensure continued access to Calendar functionality in Microsoft Teams mobile, users must update the Teams mobile app to the latest version," Microsoft wrote in its notice.

"This change helps maintain a reliable calendar experience on iOS and Android devices and ensures compatibility with ongoing Teams service updates."

Microsoft says those who aren't able to update (or forget, or ignore the warnings), "will not be able to access Calendar functionality in Teams mobile" - and nothing will be changing to Teams Calendar on desktop or web.

Users will need to update to version 8.9.0 (build 8.9.77.2026092302) or higher on iOS, and version 1416/1.0.0.2026122504 or higher on Android.

For those using at Teams on a work device - admins will need to make sure one of these updated versions are deployed before the deadline date.

The move appears to be linked to the upcoming end of support for Exchange Web Services (EWS) which allows apps to access mailboxes and other data in Exchange Online.

This is due to come into force on October 1, 2026, with shutdown having first been announced in 2023, following a number of high-profile security issues.

Microsoft notes that Teams admins can extend EWS until April 2027 if needed - however after that date,. it will no longer work.

Via The Register

• Instructions hidden as white text in a Word document can make Microsoft 365 Copilot silently alter the file it is drafting and copy the instructions into the output
• Each poisoned document becomes a carrier, so the attack spreads through ordinary internal workflows without the original malicious file and needs no macros, malware, or code execution
• Microsoft has shipped two mitigations across a 144-day disclosure, including a model upgrade, and the attack was still reproducible by the researcher

A security researcher has published a proof of concept showing that instructions hidden inside a Word document can cause Microsoft 365 Copilot to silently alter the file it is drafting, then copy those same instructions into the finished document, so the next person to use it becomes a carrier too.

Håkon Måløy, a data scientist with a doctorate in applied machine learning, disclosed the technique as the third installment of his Context Collapse series, after a 144-day coordinated disclosure with the Microsoft Security Response Center.

The reason this is being reported ahead of a fix is that it still works despite multiple attempts by Microsoft, as he notes that no robust mitigation for the broader vulnerability class is currently available.

A clever attack designed around Copilot's approach to text

The underlying attack belongs to a family known as cross-domain prompt injection, or XPIA. An attacker writes instructions in a natural-language document, formats them as white text on a white background at a small point size, and shares the file.

Because Copilot for Word strips formatting before passing text to the underlying language model, the model reads text the human never sees. This is true even for documents that are not opened by the user on purpose: The attack can trigger either when a user manually attaches a document to Copilot or when Copilot, working in Work IQ mode, searches the user's OneDrive for relevant files and finds the malicious one on its own.

It is also more dangerous than other exploits because of one key element: propagation. The hidden prompt in Måløy's proof of concept had two parts. One instructed Copilot to alter the document being drafted, in his demonstration halving every financial figure in a quarterly report.

The other instructed Copilot to copy the prompt into the new document and conceal it, framed innocuously as source tracking and readability formatting. Copilot did both, appending the instructions in white text and mentioning neither action to the user.

The disclosure timeline is the most uncomfortable part of the report. Måløy reported to MSRC on March 6 2026. Microsoft confirmed the behavior on March 31 and shipped a first mitigation in early April via a reworked Edit with Copilot experience, which successfully blocked his original prompt wording. He reproduced the attack with different wording the same week, and a second case was opened.

The second fix, on July 14, consisted of upgrading the underlying model to GPT-5.5. Måløy broke it the following day using GPT-5.6, then voluntarily offered Microsoft a further two-week delay to attempt another mitigation. The class still reproduced on the disclosure date, indicating that although a fix is in the works, the exploit is still possible to run.

A complicated issue that lacks a proper resolution

The issue goes far beyond Microsoft Word: an AI assistant must ingest untrusted content to determine whether it is relevant or hostile. But the content enters the same context window as the system prompt and the user's actual request, so by the time the model evaluates whether the text is an attack, the attacker's tokens have already shaped that evaluation.

As Måløy puts it, "the content being inspected participates in the act of inspection."

Microsoft confirmed it had reviewed the findings in a statement to The Register but stopped short of indicating a timeline for a complete fix:

“We have addressed the findings reported by the researcher and thank them for working with us through coordinated vulnerability disclosure," the company said.

"To address this class of risk, we use a defense-in-depth strategy with safeguards that block malicious instructions at multiple points and help keep tasks aligned with users’ requests. We are continuously strengthening these safeguards as the technology and threat landscape evolve. We encourage customers to install the latest updates, use multiple layers of security protection, treat content from unknown sources with caution, and review AI-generated content before using or sharing it.”

Måløy's recommendations are to treat externally sourced documents as untrusted when using them with Copilot, review attachments before starting an AI-assisted draft, and review Copilot's output carefully before sharing or reusing it.

He also suggested that generated documents should carry provenance metadata that records source material and model edits, which would not prevent injection but would make an infection traceable after the fact.

With Copilot extending further into agentic products that create and manipulate documents with less human oversight, the scope of how exploits like this could affect workflows (and users) will widen rather than narrow, and a complete solution is not yet in sight.

• Microsoft has won an extended stay at the Competition Appeal Tribunal while it seeks permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, having lost at both the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal
• Its argument that Office's icons and clip art placed it outside software exhaustion rules was rejected as producing "odd results", including CD software being resellable while identical downloads were not
• The jurisdiction ruling matters more than the £270 million claim, as it clears the way for a parallel collective action that could expose Microsoft to billions

Microsoft has bought itself time in its long-running fight with a British software reseller, securing an extended stay of proceedings at the Competition Appeal Tribunal while it prepares to seek permission from the UK Supreme Court to appeal.

While Microsoft has yet to appeal formally, its indication that it intends to do so buys it some breathing room against a judgment that could mean that parallel proceedings, including a £3.5 billion class action lawsuit that could compromise as many as 2.7 million members, could become a centerpiece of the software giant's future legal troubles in the UK.

The UK CAT (Competition Appeal Tribunal) has paused parts of the case as a result, and Chair Justin Turner KC noted that it was not yet known whether permission would be granted, and framed his decision as balancing the potential waste of costs if permission were granted and an appeal succeeded against the undesirability of delay in the proceedings.

A legal quagmire exacerbated by shifting legal defense from Microsoft?

Microsoft has been fighting this claim for years, dating back to 2021, when JJH Enterprises, a Derby-based reseller trading as ValueLicensing, sued Microsoft for £270 million.

The allegation is that Microsoft wrote terms into its agreements that offered customers better subscription pricing in exchange for surrendering the right to resell their perpetual licenses, thereby choking off the secondary market and pushing buyers toward Microsoft 365 even as the software giant denies wrongdoing.

ValueLicensing's case rests on the Court of Justice's 2012 decision in UsedSoft v Oracle, which held that a software vendor's distribution right is exhausted once it sells a perpetual license, including one delivered by download, so it cannot use copyright to block the onward sale of that copy.

Having contested the case as a competition matter for years, Microsoft changed its argument in 2025, recasting it as a copyright dispute. Office, it said, is not merely a computer program. It ships with icons, user interface elements, help files, and clip art, and those creative components should be governed by a different copyright regime in which exhaustion does not bite.

That argument has now failed twice. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) unanimously decided the preliminary copyright issues in ValueLicensing's favor in November 2025, and on July 7, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed both of Microsoft's appeals, one challenging the CAT's jurisdiction to rule on copyright questions at all, the other contesting the copyright findings themselves.

Microsoft's reading, the court observed, would produce "odd results": software supplied on a CD-ROM could be freely resold while the identical software delivered as a download could not, and a vendor could defeat established exhaustion principles simply by bundling some icons with its code.

At the same time, the CAT did not grant resellers unlimited freedom. Under UsedSoft, a buyer holding a single copy installed on a server and licensed for several users cannot carve off part of that user capacity for resale, because exhaustion attaches to the copy rather than the seat.

The Tribunal distinguished that from a genuine volume arrangement comprising multiple independent copies or licenses, in which reselling a corresponding number may be permissible once the seller has stopped using the copies it has passed on. That distinction sets real limits on how the secondary market can operate.

Microsoft has spent most of the period covered by the claim moving its customer base from perpetual licenses to Microsoft 365. If ValueLicensing wins outright, it wins the right to trade in a category that its opponent has been deliberately retiring for a decade. Should the Supreme Court decline to take the case, proceedings return to the Tribunal, with a trial mooted for 2027.

The jurisdiction ruling matters well beyond this claim. By confirming that the CAT can decide copyright questions where they are necessary to resolve a competition case, the Court of Appeal cleared a path for others, and The Register reported in April 2026 that Microsoft had viewed that appeal as a complete answer to Alexander Wolfson's collective action, on the basis that copyright issues could not be transferred to the High Court in a class action.

Wolfson was granted permission to intervene in support of ValueLicensing, and his claim, which could expose Microsoft to liability in the billions, now stands to benefit from the ruling.

What could this mean?

Britain's regulators have taken an interest in the same broad shift, too. On July 29 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority opened a consumer protection investigation into how Microsoft marketed its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans.

From January 2025, existing subscribers were given Copilot and other new features at no extra cost for the remainder of their term, then automatically moved onto a higher-priced plan at renewal unless they chose an alternative or canceled.

A time-limited "Classic" plan preserved the old feature set at the old price, and for annual subscribers the Copilot version cost £25 more per year.

"When a business changes its subscription plans, customers need clear and timely information about their options," said Hayley Fletcher, senior director for consumer protection at the CMA. "Our investigation will consider whether Microsoft customers were misled and ended up paying more as a result."

Microsoft said consumer trust is a priority and that it is reviewing the claims while cooperating with the inquiry. The CMA has reached no conclusions and has not accused the company of breaking the law.

That probe concerns consumer subscriptions rather than the commercial agreements at issue in the ValueLicensing case, so the two are separate matters under different regimes. What links them is the same underlying transition from one-off purchases to recurring ones.

Microsoft already faces a CMA strategic market status investigation into its business software, and Australia's competition regulator is suing the company in the Federal Court over the same Copilot and Classic plan issue, affecting an estimated 2.7 million customers. Whichever way the Supreme Court application goes, the legal scrutiny of how Microsoft moved the world onto subscriptions is not ending soon.

The scrutiny also lands in a fraught transatlantic moment. On July 24, days after the European Commission fined Google $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act, Trump announced a Section 301 investigation into EU trade practices, declaring that the United States is not a "PIGGYBANK" for Europe and promising a substantial tariff.

Brussels has consistently maintained that regulating economic activity within the bloc is its sovereign right, and that its digital rules apply to all firms operating there. Britain sits awkwardly beside that fight. Its courts are no longer bound by EU case law, and its regulators answer to nobody in Brussels, but the president's stated targets have been digital taxes and digital markets rules in general rather than the EU alone, and the UK has both.

• Microsoft launches MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, its first in-house cybersecurity model.
• It also reveals Project Perception, an agentic system whose red, blue, and green agents find, triage, and patch vulnerabilities
• The launch comes days after OpenAI said its models escaped a sandbox and attacked Hugging Face

Microsoft has unveiled two significant security announcements - MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, the first cybersecurity model it has trained in-house, and Project Perception, an agentic defense system that finds vulnerabilities, decides which ones matter, and writes and deploys the patches.

The launch took place days after OpenAI disclosed that its own models had broken out of a sandbox and hacked Hugging Face, which makes the timing either unfortunate or pointed.

With Microsoft claiming a 96% score on CyberGym, an industrial benchmark for cybersecurity, nearly 12 points above Anthropic's Claude Mythos 5, while promising as much as 50% savings in token cost, the company says it is bringing what it calls a 'well-tuned, multi-model system with access to uniquely rich historical training data',

A competitive product with excellent timing?

The Hugging Face incident drew much attention, not all of it was negative: as it painted OpenAI's models as more capable than the company's own assessments had suggested. It also sharpened a question researchers have been raising for years: what happens when a model becomes capable enough to defeat the controls placed around it?

Microsoft's answer is well-timed and two-pronged, claiming to be both cheaper and more capable than the alternatives, though the performance figures are, so far, Microsoft's own.

MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, is a sparse mixture-of-experts transformer with 137 billion total parameters, five billion active, and a 256,000-token context window, built as a cybersecurity fine-tune of MAI-Code-1-Flash, itself developed from a MAI-Thinking-1 mid-training checkpoint.

It is designed to handle up to 90% of the tasks inside MDASH, Microsoft's multi-model vulnerability harness, with OpenAI's GPT-5.4 reserved for the hardest 10 percent.

Microsoft says that split costs about half as much as its previous best MDASH configuration. For now, it runs only within MDASH and is available to approved MDASH customers through an Azure AI Foundry private preview, with no standalone API.

Project Perception is the wrapper around it, drawing on MAI-Cyber-1-Flash for its first workflow alongside frontier models such as GPT-5.4. Three classes of agent split the work: red agents probe for paths an attacker could take, blue agents investigate and decide what constitutes meaningful risk, and green agents remediate and harden.

On the specific failure that let OpenAI's models loose, Microsoft took the precaution OpenAI did not, as it says all benchmark testing ran in a network-isolated environment with no access to production systems, the public internet, or external services.

OpenAI's sandbox, by contrast, kept one route outward in the form of an internal package-fetching service, and its models found a flaw in it, escalated privileges and worked across the research network until they reached a machine with internet access. Microsoft says its isolation held. Nobody outside Microsoft has verified that.

The harder question is not containment during testing. Project Perception moves the work out of a research network and into customer production environments, where green agents are authorized to change live systems as their normal function.

There is no sandbox to escape, because acting on real infrastructure is the product. And attribution is difficult even when someone is watching: Hugging Face detected the intrusion within days and reported it to law enforcement, but had no idea who was behind it until OpenAI said so.

It also could not get help from the leading American models, which read its defensive requests as offensive ones and refused. It ended up defending itself with GLM 5.2, a Chinese open-weight model, running on its own infrastructure.

For now, the industry's answer to dangerous capability remains narrower distribution, and the one documented case of a defender needing that capability urgently ended with them reaching for a model nobody had gated.

• Hidden AI debts are attracting fresh scrutiny across America's biggest technology companies
• Massive data centre spending is testing investor confidence like never before
• Meta reportedly carries the largest off-balance-sheet obligations among the five companies

An investigation by Nikkei Asia has claimed five of America's largest tech companies are reportedly concealing huge debts outside their official financial statements.

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle together account for roughly $1.65 trillion in liabilities missing from their public balance sheets.

That figure exceeds the $1.35 trillion these firms officially disclosed last quarter, with Meta alone holding roughly $420 billion off-balance-sheet.

Echoes of Enron

Analysts have begun drawing direct parallels to Enron, the energy trading company whose 2001 collapse remains a cautionary tale in corporate finance.

Like Enron once did, these tech giants rely on special purpose vehicles, essentially legally separate subsidiaries, to keep debt off their books.

Such arrangements can make a company's financial reporting appear far healthier than the underlying reality actually supports at any given moment.

This accounting structure remains legal when applied correctly, although critics argue it can complicate efforts by investors to measure overall financial exposure accurately.

“The accounting treatment itself is in fashion,” technical accounting consultant Tom Selling told Bloomberg.

“But what if one of these companies was a house of cards and was propping itself up with this accounting treatment? To me, that’s the risk.”

The warning has encouraged renewed scrutiny of corporate reporting practices across the technology sector, particularly among the companies named in the investigation.

This scrutiny comes as firms continue spending heavily to expand the computing capacity required for increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence systems.

Mounting financial pressure

To remain competitive in the AI race, these companies are committing enormous sums toward massive, long-term data center construction projects.

The scale of planned data center spending across the entire industry has reached levels rarely seen in corporate history.

Whether these massive infrastructure bets eventually pay off financially remains genuinely uncertain, given how quickly the technology and market keep shifting.

Nikkei Asia notes many of these firms are also issuing new shares to raise additional funds - but issuing new equity in this manner risks diluting existing shareholders and could gradually erode investor confidence over the coming months.

Such dilution could also leave these companies even more exposed should the broader AI bubble eventually deflate or burst suddenly.

Investor unease could deepen further if the industry fails to generate enough real demand to justify this data center spending spree.

Notably, four of the five companies named in the investigation are scheduled to report second quarter earnings within the coming weeks.

Given how much rides on these coming disclosures, markets and analysts alike will be watching each earnings report closely.

Whether these tech giants ultimately resemble Enron or simply pursue an aggressive yet financially sound growth strategy remains genuinely unclear for now.

For a long period during the early 21st century, Apple was the envy of the technology industry – pumping out a series of excellent products and seemingly unable to put a foot wrong. When the iPad came along, it had many detractors, chief among them the former CEO of its industry rival, Microsoft.

Pegged back

Bill Gates was a huge advocate for the tablet computer and had long attempted to thrust this form factor into the mainstream.

However, in comments to the now-defunct web magazine BNET, the Microsoft co-founder played down the impact he felt that Apple's first edition of the iPad would have. One month after its launch, he suggested it wouldn't catch on because many users would long for physical elements in such a device.

The iPad, however, proved a stellar success in the months and years that followed, so much so that Microsoft followed this trend in 2012 with the first edition of its now popular Surface device, called Surface with Windows RT.

A man ahead of his time

Although Microsoft's attempt to compete with Apple in the tablet market felt reactive at the time, the company, under Gates' leadership, played a big role in first introducing this strange form factor to the world.

The origins of the tablet are disputed, with Steve Jobs even envisioning such a device in 1983 – and even earlier examples in papers, proposals and blueprints. The first tablet with pen input and handwriting recognition, however, was the 1987 Linus Technologies Write-Top. But this type of device didn't catch on.

More than 10 years later, Microsoft attempted to reinvigorate interest in the tablet with its Microsoft Tablet PC, with the first device launching in 2003. Again, the devices were a commercial failure. Although Apple was the first to bring this concept back from the dead, today's Microsoft Surface Pro devices are outstanding in their own right and have earned a place in a very competitive market.

For quite a long time now, I've been concerned about how Microsoft is going to monetize Windows going forward. While the world's dominant desktop operating system remains available for a one-off fee (assuming you aren't an upgrader who can get it for free), there's a good chance this could change in the future.

Why do I think that? To me, it feels somewhat inevitable that eventually, Microsoft is going to look for a way to shift Windows from an upfront payment to a subscription model for consumers. That regular monthly income stream piling up in the coffers is the end game for most big tech companies and their products these days for good reasons in terms of the profits to be made.

Of course, rumors about Microsoft looking to charge a subscription fee for using Windows to consumers (as opposed to businesses, where there's already a subscription option) have been floating around for years. True, they've all been dubious and sketchy in nature, or indeed proven outright incorrect, but this idea keeps bubbling up, and I believe we're witnessing a development with AI right now that indicates how Microsoft might have an ideal opportunity to make this pivot at some point down the road.

Last week, Windows Central spotted that the Copilot feature Deep Research is getting the axe, to be replaced with a new feature: Researcher. The idea behind both pieces of functionality is roughly the same (researching and creating detailed reports complete with citations), but the difference is Deep Research was free, whereas Researcher requires a subscription to Microsoft 365 Premium.

This follows Microsoft Whiteboard (where AI assists you in brainstorming ideas) getting changed so personal accounts can no longer use it — the app now requires being signed up for a Microsoft Business account. On top of that, Outlook's Meeting Insight functionality was just shifted behind a paywall, being transformed into an admittedly beefier AI feature, but one that needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

So, there's a trend towards turning previously free AI features into paid ones, presumably as Microsoft rejigs its Copilot offerings and figures out what works well — and what's being used — and whether any of that can be charged for.

AI pivot

Now, we all know AI agents are going to be the 'next big thing' (TM) in Windows 11, certainly if Microsoft has its way, and the idea is for these AI entities to be doing more and more within the OS.

We won't just have an agent for changing Windows settings — and I mean a proper incarnation of this already existing idea, which really can adjust a host of options based on a simple request to "make my laptop battery last longer" or similar — but we will have a small crowd of them. Maybe a troubleshooting agent, for example, which can take a problem that you're battling in Windows and use some genuine AI smarts to help solve it. Or perhaps a creativity agent which can tackle a host of image or video-related tasks, or more broadly help with organizing your projects and photos.

I think the catch will be that eventually, as we've seen with some aspects of AI and Copilot, Microsoft will start shuffling some of these agents behind a paywall — especially considering that more powerful capabilities like these in-depth AI tricks will cost Microsoft a fair bit to drive in terms of cloud resources. It's certainly conceivable that Microsoft could end up charging a small monthly fee to use these premium agents, maybe as separate add-ons in the hope that you'll bolt more of them onto Windows for a cumulatively greater benefit to its coffers.

We could ultimately be looking at a kind of modular, AI-focused OS, and to me, this seems like the easiest way for Microsoft to transform Windows into a subscription model, because it'll happen slowly. You don't need a troubleshooting AI agent to run Windows at all, but it'll be a nice thing to have — certainly for less tech-savvy types — in case problems do arise in the OS.

As more bits and pieces that might start off free drift behind a paywall — as these AI features are built up and become more compelling — people may eventually be tempted to buy a bundle of them. And before you know it, you've signed up for a Windows subscription of sorts (although the free version of the OS will, of course, still be available).

In the end, there may be a couple of bundles — tiered subscriptions, in other words — and let's not forget Microsoft's potential ambitions for a cloud PC model for consumers, either.

This has been a possibility raised in past rumors and leaks (and again, this is something which has already happened in the enterprise world), and if you put all this together, you're looking at a kind of Netflix model, if you will: a streamed OS with several paid subscription tiers. Albeit with a free basic tier for Windows – although who's to say that may not become ad-supported, or indeed more ad-supported, as Windows 11 already does a fair old line in adverts and promos. (Although admittedly Microsoft is cutting back on that front in its crowd-pleasing efforts to fix Windows 11).

Not a foregone conclusion — but a likely enough prospect

This is just my opinion, naturally, and yes, maybe I got rather carried away with the extrapolation at the end there. It's also true that some big question marks remain hanging over the wider notion I've put forward.

As I just mentioned, Microsoft is very much bending over backwards to please Windows 11 users right now, so any possible timeline for this shift may be pushed way back in view of that. Bringing in some form of subscription is hardly going to be a well-received move, even if implemented in small, delicate increments as I'm guessing it would be.

The other obvious sticking point is that Microsoft needs to make its AI agents in Windows worth having. They need to be objects of desire and come packing genuinely useful AI abilities, otherwise clearly, people won't pay for the privilege of having them on their Windows desktop. They also need to be secure and trustworthy so they don't end up throwing spanners in the works of your Windows installation.

That could be the biggest hurdle for Microsoft to overcome, because as it stands, when the idea of AI features being paywalled in Windows 11 has been raised (in rumors and the like), it's been actively welcomed by the more skeptical out there. The cynics are more than happy to have everything AI-related locked away from them, and as non-paying users, this would give them an AI-free Windows 11 desktop.

Again, this plays into any potential move along these lines having to happen further into the future, but I think Microsoft does have this as an eventual goal. If you ask yourself the question: if Microsoft could charge a subscription for Windows 11, would it? The answer is clearly yes, a thousand times over. But the actual, real question here is whether Microsoft thinks it could successfully get away with such a plan without sparking a large-scale defection from its desktop OS.

We can keep our fingers crossed that a monthly charge for Windows isn't coming, but frankly, I think it's likely. Or even just a matter of time — perhaps a lot of time, granted — whether that subscription pertains to AI add-ons, or a cloud PC offering, or Microsoft finds another way to spin this.

Microsoft has been battling to truly establish itself in the device market for years now, with its Surface suite covering everything from foldable smartphones to 2-in-1s up to more traditional laptops and desktops - all the way up to the enormous Surface Hub (RIP).

But the company has seemingly always fallen short - whether it's battery life, falling short on power, or the unavoidable lock-in with the Microsoft 365 experience.

However its latest collection of Surface for Business releases, framed squarely at work and enterprise users, looked to address all of that, and having been using one for the last few weeks now, I can safely say, Microsoft may finally have cracked the formula for a great working laptop at last.

Going hands-on

Microsoft has positioned the Surface Laptop for Business squarely at enterprise customers rather than consumers, and it's a substantial refresh over the previous generation, with the biggest improvements around AI, security, manageability, battery life and repairability.

The device is light and portable, weighing in at just over 1.35kg, and its slim build (just 0.69in in width) means it slipped easily into a rucksack or carry-on bag.

It's a stylish device to look at as well - the polished black anodized aluminium build is far more striking than other identikit dull business laptops around today, with a well-designed keyboard and touchpad that offer more than enough space.

But where Microsoft is looking to take a real step forward with the Surface Laptop for Business is in hardware, where the company has equipped the device with Intel Core Ultra (Series 3) processor, up to 64 GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1 TB removable Gen4 SSD.

Crucially though, as with many modern devices, it also features AI-specific hardware, with an Intel AI Boost NPU delivering 50 TOPS of AI performance.

Along with offering local AI processing on the device, the NPU looks to perform a number of other tasks, from improved battery life to greater Windows performance. This is a decent level of performance, but if you're looking for tasks such as CAD, 3D rendering or AI model training, you may want something a bit more powerful, with a dedicated Nvidia GPU.

This looks to boost productivity and efficiency across the board - and I can say this was definitely true when I was working on the go.

Sadly I wasn't doing particularly AI-heavy work to really test it out, but I was able to take the device with me on a week-long overseas work trip, using it in conference keynotes, remote interviews, and site visits, and it absolutely ticked all my boxes when it came to responsiveness, usefulness and battery life.

At home however, it wasn't quite the same story.

It should also have meant the device was well-placed to be the centerpiece of my home office set-up, but unfortunately I frequently found issues when trying to connect a range of devices, from monitors to Bluetooth keyboards - this may have been a driver-led issue, but it was frustrating for quite some time.

The lack of ports may be an issue for some users - as there is just one USB-A connection, and two USB-C ports, which might be an issue for some creators. I use a docking station for my set-up, so for my usage I was largely OK - however as mentioned, even this wasn't always responsive - and it's a shame Microsoft has ditched the USB-A port on the charger block cable as well, as this has definitely saved me in the past with previous Surface devices.

Microsoft has also introduced a more advanced haptic touchpad for the Surface Laptop for Business, promising a more consistent click feel and improved gesture support, as well as customizable feedback. Although slightly smaller than my usual work device (a HP EliteBook) I found the touchpad incredibly responsive and interactive, making navigation between different apps and windows a breeze.

My device was equipped with the new integrated privacy display - a feature which gained a lot of attention when it was included in the latest Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphone earlier this year.

Toggled on via the alternate F1 button function, the privacy display instantly makes the screen difficult to read from side angles - no need for an external magnetic privacy filter any more.

This is obviously pretty useful for those workers accessing private or proprietary information, stopping snoopers or spies from catching a glimpse, but it also offers an anti-glare coating which should be a hit with everyone.

I loved it - but will you?

Will it be the ideal device for everyone? Probably not, as being a Surface device means it is closely tied-in with the Microsoft ecosystem - so if you use Microsoft 365 at work (which I don't) you'll have a much smoother set-up and overall experience.

The price will also be a sticking point for some shoppers, as my model starts from £1,599 - with the top spec hitting £2,499 - probably out of reach for most start-ups and SMBs.

But overall, I was incredibly impressed by the Surface Laptop for Business, easily the best Microsoft device I've used for work by a mile - and one I hope to get to use again sometime in the future.

While OpenAI continues to sit pat on whatever device it is planning to build with Jony Ive, it is embarking on a journey that Google began years ago with the launch of the Android and Chrome OS operating systems followed by its own Pixel devices.

Long before anyone had heard of ChatGPT, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made clear that AI was a primary driver behind Google’s device push. Now, the company’s journey is about to take a turn with the launch of Googlebooks.

While Googlebooks and Chromebooks will coexist for a number of years, it’s clear that the former will eventually replace the latter. But are Googlebooks actually new “books” or really just new “chapters” that represent an evolution of the Chromebook. That depends on where the comparison lies.

Chromebooks have done an excellent job of retaining attributes such as ease of management, security, and affordability. On the other hand, the AI-first mission of the Googlebook represents a dramatic contrast from the cloud-first mission of the Chromebook, and the two platforms carry significant enough differences to justify the new naming.

Foremost, the Googlebooks’ new technical foundation of Android should greatly improve the performance and integration of Android apps versus today’s Chromebooks.

A crash landing from the cloud

Indeed, that serves as a reminder that the original philosophy of the Chromebook as a minimalist web app appliance disappeared a long time ago. And while it is still tough to beat the Chromebook when it comes to computing on a tight budget (Microsoft’s most recent attempt, the education-focused Surface Laptop SE, had the company’s quickest market retreat since Windows RT), Google and its partners have sought to climb the pricing ladder with Chromebook Pluses.

These devices, which have embraced higher quality materials and earlier access to Google’s AI innovations (albeit mostly cloud-based ones), have sold well enough to signal to Google that the market is ready for Windows alternatives that shift away from competing so heavily on price.

While it’s not a perfect parallel for what Apple was able to do in bringing kids who grew up with the Apple II to the Mac, Google has an opportunity to provide a more capable alternative to a generation of kids who grew up with Chromebooks, particularly at a time when AI stands to transform the PC experience from being a tool to being an agent.

And so the more important question becomes not how Googlebooks will diverge from Chromebooks, but how their new functionality will stack up to Windows, which will also of course continue to evolve.

In this sense, Google’s timing is excellent because it does not need to rely on Android versions of apps catching up to Windows versions; the company has never had much luck getting developers to optimize for Android platforms beyond the phone. Rather, it can compete on a new breed of AI-focused functionality.

But despite Microsoft pulling back from cramming CoPilot into every corner of its desktop operating system, it is still in the early days of integrating AI into that platform as well.

At Build, for example, Microsoft showed not only how it is bringing OpenClaw-pioneered workflows into Windows, but how it is expanding the supporting processor family to include the bold and powerful RTX Spark architecture from MediaTek and Nvidia.

That should put some distance between Windows and Android-based PCs at the top of the market, but the real test will come down to how well Microsoft can scale such AI down versus how well Google scales its desktop AI up.

• Several AI companies in the US have published an open letter
• The letter is campaigning for unrestricted open-weight AI
• Meanwhile the US government accuses Moonshot AI of IP theft

Any hopes AI tech reporters may have had about easing quietly into the weekend have been dashed by some of the biggest names in the business sharing an open letter in support of open-weight AI models — while the White House has accused China of 'large scale' theft from US companies in building its open-weight AI.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang got the ball rolling with his first-ever tweet, linking to a statement championing open-weight AI models, those models that can be downloaded, viewed, and edited by anyone. Models like this are essential for making AI "more accessible, adaptable, and widely available" the open letter says.

It's co-signed by a slew of well-known tech and AI companies, including Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, and IBM. While ChatGPT developer OpenAI — which has had more of a closed-model focus, to date — didn't appear on the original post from Huang, it has now also backed the sentiments.

Essentially, these companies are campaigning for openness in AI to drive innovation and access, while also arguing against 'premature restrictions' by governments. It's no coincidence that the US government led by President Trump has recently tried to take a more prominent role in evaluating AI models and deciding when they should be released.

It's also notable that Anthropic and Google are missing from the list of backers to this open letter. We don't have any official comment yet from these companies, so it's hard to judge the reasoning — Google regularly releases open AI models, after all — but it could be something to do with recent accusations aimed at Moonshot AI in China.

Open and closed

Part of the background to this open letter is that Chinese company Moonshot AI stands accused of distilling Claude's (closed) Fable 5 model in order to build its own (open) Kimi K3. In simple terms, distilling works by asking millions of questions of an AI model, and using the responses as training data.

It's something Moonshot AI has denied, while hyping up the potential of the open-weighted, freely downloadable Kimi K3 AI model, which is being released on Monday — another factor in this open letter coming out now. The US government is calling it IP theft, and has issued some heavy-handed responses.

"We support open-source AI and the innovation it unlocks," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X. "But open source is not open season on American IP. When PRC firms conduct covert, industrial-scale distillation attacks that cross the line into IP theft, sanctions and Entity List designations will be on the table."

What Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and the other open letter co-signers seem to be doing is trying to get ahead of any potential clampdown by the US government on open-weighted models. While everyone agrees that these AI models are beneficial, it's not clear what the next regulatory steps might be.

However, the open letter is vague and general enough that you can read between the lines in a variety of different ways. It may be intended to allude to the Moonshot AI case, or it may not. What's clear is that we're coming to a crunch point for AI regulation and innovation across the globe, and everyone has a perspective.

• A new option for the Copilot key has been spotted in testing
• Windows 11 users are getting the ability to remap it to 'Do nothing'
• This comes on top of work already underway to redefine the key to Right Ctrl or the context menu

Microsoft's latest revolutionary idea for Windows 11 is to have a key on your keyboard which can be remapped to do absolutely nothing.

Windows Latest noticed the latest twist in the tale of the Copilot key, as highlighted by regular leaker PhantomOfEarth on X, who spotted the development hidden in a recent Windows 11 preview build.

In the choices to customize the Copilot key – which, by default, summons Windows 11's Copilot AI (of course) – there's a new option to simply 'Do nothing'.

Yes, that's correct – you can change the key to simply be a pointless piece of plastic that does precisely zip. (Or at least you'll be able to in testing, when this ability comes into play, that is, although some Windows 11 testers have reportedly seen it live in preview already).

As you may have seen earlier this year, Microsoft is working on bringing fresh options to the Copilot key that include customizing it to invoke the context (right-click) menu, and to turn it back into Right Ctrl (which was the key that the Copilot button replaced on Copilot+ laptops and some keyboards).

Analysis: do nothing, be happy

What's the point of a key that does nothing? Good question. Maybe it's the keyboard equivalent of a stress ball – you can hammer on that key as much as you want when you're really annoyed, and it won't splurge a load of characters into the document you're working on as you exorcise your frustrated demons.

Okay, so maybe not, but perhaps the idea is that this is aimed at people who really hate the Copilot key, but haven't decided what they might want to remap it to. So, they can go ahead and elect for the key to do nothing if it's accidentally hit, while they figure out what they might want to redefine in its place. That's stretching things, admittedly, but it's the best guess I have.

At any rate, it's a harmless enough option, although it feels inescapably odd to have a 'blank' key on your keyboard. How far we've fallen since the Copilot key was first revealed and trumpeted by Microsoft as the biggest thing to happen to keyboards in 30 years since the Windows key was introduced. And indeed more recently, Microsoft promoted the Copilot key as the "button you can press to fix everything", so there's some irony that it could soon (optionally) become the button you can press to fix 'nothing' in a very literal sense.

Don't forget that you don't have to wait for Microsoft's Copilot key remapping functions to arrive in the release version of Windows 11. You can use the Keyboard Manager in PowerToys to do this instead, although it'll be far neater to have these options in Windows 11's settings, of course.

• Microsoft has contacted LG regarding a McAfee pop-up served via the monitor maker's app (which in turn is installed by Windows Update)
• As an 'immediate next step' LG has disabled this pop-up
• However, there are still issues to address around the automatic installation of the LG monitor app, and the way Windows Update itself operates with third-party software

Microsoft has fixed a controversial situation whereby Windows 11 users with LG monitors were being hit by a pop-up for McAfee antivirus, and that advert has now been banished from the OS — but there's still more that Microsoft needs to do here.

Windows Latest noticed that Pavan Davuluri, who is head of Windows at Microsoft, flagged up what's happened on X.

In response to a nudge from Epic's Tim Sweeney on the matter, Davuluri said: "We've connected with the team at LG and as an immediate next step, they have agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up from their app. We appreciate LG working with us toward a shared goal of a better experience for our mutual customers. We will keep improving here with our ecosystem partners."

In case you missed this story from earlier in the week, Windows 11 users with an LG display are reportedly getting an LG monitor app (from the Microsoft Store) automatically installed on their PCs via Windows Update simply after hooking up the monitor.

The real kicker was that following this, the mentioned McAfee pop-up (pushing a trial for the antivirus) was repeatedly bothering those users, with the ad delivered via the LG monitor app. So, what Microsoft is telling us here is that as an immediate first step, that McAfee pop-up is no longer part of LG's Windows app, and won't be darkening the desktops of any LG monitor owners any longer.

The (pop-up-less) monitor app is presumably still being piped through by Windows Update, though, and hopefully the next step for Microsoft will be to address this.

Analysis: software giants in glass houses?

Windows Update really shouldn't be installing any third-party software without the user's permission, that much is clear (or first-party for that matter). It's fine to flag available updates, wherever they come from or whatever hardware they may be for, but highlighting them is one thing, and going ahead with an auto-installation is another.

Okay, so LG has agreed to disable this pop-up, and it's good that this has happened swiftly, as it was, of course, a huge annoyance. Indeed, it's very worrying that this could happen at all, really (and in case you missed it, LG's TVs have also come under fire this week).

LG had already addressed this controversy with a rather lengthy statement that read: "LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user's explicit consent. The LG Monitor App Installer is distributed through Microsoft's official Windows distribution process, which included McAfee as an option.

"McAfee will be installed only if a user actively chooses to proceed with the installation and provides consent. Under no circumstances is McAfee installed automatically or without user authorization. The LG Monitor App Installer does not access, collect, or transmit any customer personal data."

What this appears to be saying is that McAfee's actual antivirus app isn't installed without consent. It's not denying that the McAfee pop-up appeared without consent, or that the LG Monitor app is installed in the background in Windows without the user's knowledge. It only notes that the LG Monitor app is "distributed through Microsoft's official Windows distribution process", as if that makes everything okay, or somehow not LG's fault.

It is, of course, Microsoft's fault as well – both parties need to take responsibility, and fix not just the McAfee pop-up appearing, but the LG Monitor app being automatically installed simply when a monitor is connected to a Windows 11 PC. (Which is reportedly the case, I should add – I haven't experienced this myself, as I don't have an LG display, but a whole heap of feedback is present suggesting it's exactly what happens).

In short, the immediate disabling of the McAfee trial pop-up is a start, but we need a swift follow-up addressing the LG app itself and how that's dealt with in Windows 11. And more broadly, how third-party apps in general interact with Windows Update, because as already noted, this situation should never have been allowed to happen in the first place (no matter what LG, or any other hardware partner, is doing with their apps).

Furthermore, there's no shortage of people on Reddit noting that Microsoft has been keen enough to act here, but not so keen on curbing its own advertising-related excesses in Windows 11.

As one Redditor says of Microsoft: "Now all they need to do is crack down on their own bloatware…"

Although to be fair to Microsoft, it is acting to rein in some of the upselling and promotional noise that Windows 11 has come to be associated with. More work needs to be done on this front, though, for sure.

• Beginning September 1, 2026, passkeys will become the default for Entra ID
• Microsoft is retiring SMS/phone call authentication from February 1, 2027
• Victims are more likely to open AI-assisted phishing emails

Microsoft has confirmed plans to make passkeys the default or preferred authentication method for Entra ID beginning September 1, 2026, announcing further changes to account authentication in a bid to combat sophisticated attacks.

A few months later from February 1, 2027, the company will also stop providing its own SMS and voice call authentication codes for Entra ID in the hope that business users fully adopt passwordless sign-in.

While passkeys don't promise to totally stop attacks, they make phishing attempts far less effective because attackers would need access to victims' hardware to gain access.

Microsoft continues its drive for passkeys

While the company may be ending support for its own SMS and phone call authentication methods, passkeys won't be the only sign-in method after the change. Windows Hello for Business (biometrics) and FIDO2 security keys will still be available, for example.

"The AI era demands stronger, phishing-resistant authentication," a company notice seen by Windows Latest reads. "We are making passkeys the default authentication experience in Microsoft Entra to help customers securely adopt AI at scale."

Though AI hasn't exactly made attacks better at breaking through traditional authentication methods, it has made attacks more convincing. According to the company's own information, the click-through rate for phishing emails stands at 54% for AI-assisted campaigns, compared with just 12% for conventional ones.

With more people opening up malicious links, the effects are compounded, hence the push to improve general security.

Looking ahead, Microsoft's suggested plan for impacted organizations includes identifying users who still use SMS/voice authentication, planning a company-wide passkey rollout and keeping workers up-to-date.

"SMS and voice have served their purpose well, bringing multifactor authentication to billions of users who otherwise would have had none," Microsoft concluded, declaring that "the threat environment has evolved beyond their capabilities."

Update: We reached out to LG for a statement, and it has denied claims of auto McAfee installations, stating: "LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user’s explicit consent. The LG Monitor App Installer is distributed through Microsoft’s official Windows distribution process, which included McAfee as an option.

"McAfee will be installed only if a user actively chooses to proceed with the installation and provides consent. Under no circumstances is McAfee installed automatically or without user authorization. The LG Monitor App Installer does not access, collect, or transmit any customer personal data."

Original story follows below...

• LG monitors are reportedly installing bloatware on Windows 11 PCs
• The LG Monitor App Installer carries a McAfee pop-up and is automatically installed when connecting an LG monitor to a PC
• There's a fix for this, but it's a rather fiddly affair

It's no secret that Windows 11 users have voiced frustrations regarding bloat on the operating system for years, and unfortunately, LG's monitors are reportedly making the situation worse.

As reported by Windows Latest, LG monitors are installing McAfee bloatware on Windows 11 PCs without consent, and there's evidence of this in the changelog of LG's monitor app on the Microsoft Store.

Even if you don't install the app yourself, Windows Update will do so, and then treat you to a McAfee pop-up. All you have to do is plug in the LG monitor to your PC, and the automatic installation of McAfee is also shown by checking the Windows Reliability Monitor, which documents a 'successful Windows update' for the LG Monitor App Installer package.

We've reached out to LG for a comment, but haven't received a response yet. In the meantime, though, there appears to be a fix that requires users to do the following: press the Windows key and R, and type 'gpedit.msc', then hit Enter.

From that point, navigate your way to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > "Prevent automatic download of applications associated with device metadata", then select the 'Enabled' box and apply.

In theory, this should stop any unwanted applications from being installed, specifically with devices like LG monitors that do so via device metadata.

And if you already installed the LG monitor app manually, you should remove it, because as noted, the description on the Microsoft Store suggests McAfee is a fundamental part of the monitor application.

Bloatware can be problematic for Windows 11 users because it hogs system resources, and LG is adding to that system drain, not to mention the annoyance of continually seeing that pop-up.

Alongside LG, Microsoft hasn't provided a statement on the matter yet. I'd expect Windows 11 users will want an answer of some kind, especially because of the rather fiddly steps involved to prevent these automatic installations — and frankly, this shouldn't require extra effort from anyone.

• Xbox users face account recovery issues ahead of the all-digital console future
• Xbox support offered help to more users after one had their account deleted after being hacked
• Some gamers are now hesitant to buy any of Microsoft's digital games or software

Sony's disc-less future for PlayStation consoles commences in 2028, and unsurprisingly it's left gamers unsettled, with Microsoft reportedly following in a similar direction. Unfortunately, it comes at a time when a digital future looks unsafe and insecure.

As reported by GamesRadar, Xbox has recently offered support to gamers who have lost access to their accounts due to hackers, in order to recover access to game libraries. This is directly involved with the case where one user had their 25-year-old Microsoft account hacked, and subsequently deleted, losing access to tons of personal OneDrive data and games.

In a response to the user, Joshua Khane, and the initial account deletion post, the Xbox support account issued an apology, stating it is actively working to 'restore access' to Khane's purchases, despite the account deletion email stating that it was 'irreversible'. Notably, it also highlighted that its 'DMs are open' for other users facing account recovery issues.

However, that's not done enough to satisfy users, as most suggest that Xbox support's DMs are simply full of bots, while others suggest that buying games on any of Microsoft's gaming ecosystems might be a risky move.

One user stated: "I was not affected by this, but watching the developments makes me feel very unsafe as an Xbox customer. Not sure if I should keep buying games and software from Microsoft if this is the way I'll be treated if my account ever gets hacked."

Most importantly, the drama arrives ahead of a disc-less console future, not just for Sony PlayStation users. Microsoft's Project Helix is reportedly set to feature a disc-to-digital function, known as 'Positron', allowing gamers to turn discs into permanent digital copies.

Xbox issues with account deletion after being hacked, and over 500 movies instantly removed from user libraries on PlayStation, aren't doing much to instil faith in users on both ecosystems to trust in an all-digital future.

It's now evidently clear that once physical game copies are out of the picture, users' access to games will be at the disposal of Microsoft and Sony, and that explains why gamers are continuously voicing their frustrations — but it's hard to say if those complaints will change anything.

• Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball confirms Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution "are just the first" exclusive Xbox titles
• Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty says, "There has to be a reason for people to buy an Xbox"
• Ball says this plan doesn't mean every Xbox single-player game will be console exclusive

Xbox has confirmed that the Microsoft-owned company is looking to expand its console-exclusive portfolio, and Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution won't be the only two exclusives coming to Xbox consoles and PC.

During the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 last month, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced that The Coalition's next Gears of War game will be an Xbox console exclusive, meaning the game won't be coming to PlayStation 5.

Later, Clockwork Revolution, inXile Entertainment's steampunk role-playing game (RPG), will also drop PS5 and launch exclusively on Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

Xbox began exploring multi-platform a few years ago, but amidst Microsoft's major Xbox restructuring, which included mass layoffs of 3,200 people, and what Sharma is calling a "reset" of the business, it seems things are reverting to the way things used to be with an emphasis on console exclusivity.

According to Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty, who discussed the matter with GamesRadar, "There has to be a reason for people to buy an Xbox," and console exclusives can act as "a reward" for players.

Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball also confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution won't be timed exclusives, unlike games like Starfield, but "permanent ones," and the company is looking to embrace exclusivity more.

"I can assure you, Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not the only titles we're planning," Ball said. "To grow a platform like ours, you have to have exclusive games and services. These are not going to be the only two titles."

Ball added that "large live-service titles" will be multiplatform moving forward, but suggested that this won't mean every Xbox single-player game will be console exclusive.

For instance, Fable will launch on PS5, Xbox and PC on the same day, along with Halo: Campaign Evolved, which is the first Halo game to ever release on PlayStation.

"I wouldn't overly fixate on single-player," he said. "I think that's a good rule of thumb, but it certainly isn't something that's carved in stone."

The executive explained that Microsoft has a "framework" for deciding which games will be exclusive and which ones will be multiplatform and recognizes "this approach is not obvious to all of our players, and we are committed to making this clearer."

• Microsoft's XML formatting is making some files 'inconvenient' and others unreadable, LibreOffice claims
• It says users need formats like ODF which are open and not managed by one single vendor
• Sovereignty is about choice, not about blocking certain companies

The Document Foundation, which is responsible for the LibreOffice software suite, has claimed Microsoft's Office file formats are creating unnecessary vendor lock-in by making it harder for users and workers to switch between vendors.

The organization's blog post specifically slates XML-based formats, like DOCX and XLSX, which were introduced in 2007 as successors to the more open DOC and XLS formats.

Post author Italo Vignoli argued these formats act as more or less proprietary formats in practical terms because files opened by other programs, like LibreOffice, don't behave the same and can have formatting issues.

Microsoft slates over its XML document formatting

The Document Foundation asserts that, while Microsoft has circumnavigated potential lock-in accusations by allowing other software to fully access XML documents, their functionality can be drastically reduced. Fonts, bullets, headings, tables and other formatting could be prone to change, depending on the tools used, leading to inaccessible and inconsistent documents.

Vignoli described the issue as "a silent and persistent friction that makes any work outside the Microsoft ecosystem seem slightly off, slightly unreliable, slightly unprofessional," rather than any type of technical barrier.

He noted that, while for consumers the result could be a mere "inconvenience", it could create major problems for legal firms and hospitals who want to step away from Microsoft.

The post also warns that evolving document formats could lead to problems later on down the line. With only a handful of companies properly implementing certain formats, and those formats retiring, some documents could be unreadable in a decade or two – a major compliance and regulatory issue.

As digital sovereignty demands play out globally, with many European enterprises and agencies looking to adopt more local or open-source alternatives, Vignoli highlighted the role that open standard like the Open Document Format (ODF) can play.

ODF's "specifications are published, freely implementable and managed by a body independent of any single vendor."

Vignoli's conclusion is that digital sovereignty isn't about being anti-Microsoft or pro-LibreOffice. It's about giving companies and consumers the choice and free will to use the software they prefer without unnecessary hurdles and barriers holding them back.

• Windows 11's July update was blocked from certain Dell laptops due to nasty issues with unexpected shutdowns and poor performance
• Microsoft just issued an emergency patch to fix those problems, so the PCs in question can install the latest update
• However, that patch might end up installed on non-Dell PCs if the user has enabled the option to get the latest updates as soon as possible

Windows 11's latest (July) update was blocked from Dell PCs as it was buggy on those systems, but the good news is that it's now fixed — but there's an additional wrinkle to be aware of here for those of you who don't own a Dell machine.

Windows Latest reports that Microsoft just deployed an emergency update (KB5121767) which fixes the problems with certain Dell laptops with Intel CPUs, which include unexpected shutdowns and generally poor performance (including running sluggishly and overheating, as well as increased battery drain).

Those with an affected Dell laptop — and that apparently includes some XPS models, as well as Dell Pro and Precision (business) notebooks, and possibly others — should install the emergency patch. As Microsoft makes clear, you'll find it under optional updates, which is reached via 'Advanced options' in the Windows Update panel.

However, the wrinkle that I mentioned is that Windows Latest observes that it's possible some Windows 11 PCs that aren't Dell laptops may automatically grab and install this update — if they have the 'Get the latest updates as soon as they're available' toggle on.

Analysis: a notable side effect

This feature is one that people turn on in the hope that they'll get Windows 11 updates, and more to the point, new feature rollouts, more quickly (there can be quite a wait for certain features to arrive, such as the Start menu revamp from last year, which some folks still haven't received even now).

So, bear in mind that if you've enabled this option, you may get certain updates automatically — like this emergency patch — when you don't actually need them on your PC. It doesn't help that this particular update is confusingly named, being called '2026-07 Update (KB5121767) (26200.8894)', which could leave you wondering what on earth it is exactly (until you look up the codename KB5121767).

At any rate, if you're not happy with this situation, to turn off 'Get the latest updates as soon as they're available' you need to head to Windows Update (in Settings) and adjust the relevant slider (at the top of the 'More options' panel).

Why is this option configured in this way? It seems especially odd in this case seeing as Microsoft tells us: "This OOB [emergency] update is only recommended for devices affected by this issue." That said, seemingly it doesn't do any harm to a non-affected PC (whether a Dell model, or not) if it does end up with this emergency patch installed.

At any rate, if you do enable the option to get the latest updates, just don't forget that this can have side effects, such as installing optional updates that you don't actually want. It would be a better idea if, in these cases, Microsoft simply flagged these updates as available, rather than having them install automatically.

It's also worth noting that this isn't the first time Dell laptops have run into trouble with Windows 11 recently, as last month an update to the firm's SupportAssist app left some notebooks crashing every half an hour or so.

Every week here at TechRadar we publish a whole host of technology stories — it would be a seriously impressive feat if you managed to keep up with all of them, what with everything else happening going on (was there a World Cup?).

The aim of this ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) round-up is to help you quickly catch up on the biggest stories and the most important headlines in tech. These are the articles that mattered most over the past seven days.

We've got news on Apple, OpenAI, OnePlus, Volkswagen, and Microsoft, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at Samsung and an important GoPro review. But before we dive in, see how much of last week's ICYMI news round-up you remember first by taking the quiz below.

7. Volkswagen revealed the world's techiest e-bike

Volkswagen has a brand new electric bicycle to show off: the new Smart eBike range has been developed in partnership with n+, and goes big on the tech and the safety features. You'll find radar-assisted traffic monitoring here, as well as a high-definition rear view camera, so while you're pedaling (or not) you'll have a better idea of what's around you.

There's an expanded safety ecosystem too, with an optional smart helmet for syncing turn signals and making them more visible, and a pair of smart glasses that are perhaps the most cutting edge part of the whole package. You can use the smart specs to get journey information and navigation instructions put in front of your eyes when they're needed.

• Read the full story: Volkswagen unveils its innovative eBike with the world's first integrated rear-view camera and smart glasses

6. We reviewed GoPro’s premium action cam

GoPro is being a little bit more ambitious with its new Mission 1 Pro, a flagship action camera that builds on the classic form factor while adding some premium extras. Our Senior Staff Writer Hamish Hector has been giving the camera a thorough TechRadar test, and came away impressed with just about everything the Mission 1 Pro has to offer.

Special praise was given to the high-resolution video recording, the choice of recording modes, and the tweaked design choices that make the Mission 1 Pro different to its predecessors. Click through to see what the premium camera is capable of in terms of photo and video performance, and to find out whether it's the right upgrade for you.

• Read the full story: The Mission 1 Pro isn’t just GoPro's flagship action cam, it’s a fantastic all-round vacation camera with the point-and-shoot grip — I just wish it was cheaper

5. We went inside Samsung Display’s secret labs

Samsung phones and tablets are known for the quality of their screens, so of course we jumped at the chance when we were invited to take a behind-the-scenes tour of a Samsung Display factory. This is where current displays are made and tested, and where next-gen models are tested (though sadly we didn't get to see the Galaxy Z Fold 8).

From advanced stress tests to upcoming displays with optical illusions built in, there was a lot to look at on the tour, reading through our write-up is the next best thing to actually getting access yourself. Of course, we also had to ask Samsung Display representatives about the rumored iPhone Fold, but they didn't seem too worried by the competition...

• Read the full story: Inside Samsung Display's secret labs, where it builds and stress-tests next-gen displays — and says it's ready for Apple to launch a foldable: 'We mean it, we love other companies to join this market'

4. The iOS 27 public beta landed with the new Siri

The upcoming iOS 27 software update gives iPhone owners a lot to look forward to, not least the new and improved Siri AI app (or Siri 2.0, effectively). This week the public beta dropped, which means that anyone who wants to can try out the new features early — assuming they don't mind putting up with a few bugs or random crashes along the way.

Whether you're a veteran at running betas or thinking about dipping your toe in for the first time, our guide will explain how to download and install iOS 27 on your phone. We've also highlighted three of the new features you should test out first, including the improved photo editing tools that use a bit of AI magic to make your pictures look better than ever.

• Read the full story: How to download the iOS 27 public beta — and 3 new things to try first

3. Windows 11 got a major update

There have been some missteps along the way, but generally speaking Microsoft is on something of a roll when it comes to improving Windows 11 this year. The latest July update continues that trend, and if you're a user of the desktop operating system then you should be happy: there are some smart new features, and some important bug fixes.

One of the stand-out upgrades this time is a feature we've been waiting a while for: a proper pause function for Windows 11 updates, so if you don't want to install the latest patches right away, you don't feel like you're being pestered to get them applied as soon as possible. We've got details on how the feature works, plus what else is new this time.

• Read the full story: New Windows 11 update is a big one — these are my top 4 features, including the ability to pause updates indefinitely

2. A bombshell Apple vs OpenAI lawsuit landed

It's fair to say Apple and OpenAI aren't on as good terms as they used to be, what with staff being poached and confidential information being stolen... allegedly. Apple has now filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the ChatGPT developer has pinched trade secrets through ex-Apple employees — and the case could have serious long-term repercussions.

Depending on what the courts and judges decide, this could impact OpenAI's nascent plans to launch hardware devices, as well as having an influence on how Apple develops its software — remember that ChatGPT is still embedded in Siri, at the time of writing. We're likely to hear much more about this astonishing case in the months to come.

• Read the full story: Apple vs OpenAI lawsuit — 8 bombshell accusations and how the legal war might change your next iPhone

1. OnePlus officially quit the US and Europe

OnePlus has finally run out of road — in the US and Europe at least. Parent company Oppo has decided the brand will withdraw from those markets, which means a large part of the world will be missing out on some great handsets. In recent years, some of our favorite phones have come from OnePlus, but availability will be much more limited from now on.

If you already own a OnePlus device in the US or Europe, then you'll continue to get support and software updates, but there won't be any new phone launches. "It wasn't a decision made in a rush," explained Oppo's Shuang Chen in a briefing. "Being a responsible brand means knowing when to go all in and when to make a choice."

• Read the full story: 'It wasn't a decision made in a rush': OnePlus explains why it’s just quit the US and Europe — and answers our 5 biggest questions about what it means

• A report commissioned by Mozilla accuses Microsoft of using 'harmful design' to undermine browser choice in Windows 11
• That allegedly includes trick wording, nagging, preselection, and generally dubious tactics to push Edge over other browsers
• The report does observe the situation is better in the European Economic Area, due to regulations there, and notes that "regulatory action works", urging authorities elsewhere to take a similar stand

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has published another report that claims Microsoft isn't maintaining a suitably level playing field for web browsers on Windows, and is unfairly pushing users towards Edge.

As Mozilla makes clear, it published the first 'Over the Edge' report – about 'How Microsoft's design tactics compromise free browser choice' – two years back, and the follow-up has just arrived (as spotted by Eteknix).

It's not actually written by Mozilla, I should note, but two independent researchers commissioned by the Firefox maker (Harry Brignull and Cennydd Bowles, the same pair who wrote the first article). It takes in user opinions from the US, UK, India and Germany regarding "key browser-choice journeys" on Windows 11 and 10.

In a nutshell, they conclude that: "Microsoft continues to deploy harmful design to undermine people's browser choice."

That specifically involves, according to the report: "Trick wording, obstruction, visual interference, preselection, nagging, and forced action — at almost every step of the user journey."

Some of the worst excesses highlighted are the pop-up banner that Edge users see when they go to the Chrome download page (trying to get them to stick with the Microsoft browser, which, it says, has the same tech as Chrome but with the "added trust of Microsoft"), and nagging within Windows around using Edge as the default browser in one way or another.

The report also notes how Edge is pre-pinned to the Windows taskbar, and how a migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11 resets Edge as the default browser, overriding any previous choice. There are a lot of accusations around trick wording, too, as well as an observation that Microsoft is using Copilot (AI) to open links in Edge rather than your default browser.

On the topic of AI, the report notes: "The researchers suggest that a sequence of seemingly minor consent requests across Windows and Edge may combine into a 'pipeline' funneling browsing data — potentially including data originating in rival browsers — into Microsoft's advertising and personalization systems."

It's notable that Germany — included as a representative country within the European Economic Area (EEA), which has different regulatory requirements Microsoft must adhere to — escapes quite a few of these excesses (the Chrome download nonsense included).

Despite that, the researchers argue that their broad conclusion that "Microsoft does not allow people to download and install an alternative browser, to set it as their default, or to continue using it as their default, without harmful interference" is, they claim, true "across every region tested".

Analysis: a call to regulate

Yes, this is a report commissioned by a browser rival, but these findings aren't at all surprising in the main, and it's long been known that Microsoft overzealously promotes Edge in Windows 11, trying various dubious shenanigans to get the browser in play as the report observes. Of course, on the flipside Google pulls similar stunts with Chrome.

Still, that's not an excuse, and no browser should be actively attempting to dissuade people from downloading another rival browser. What Mozilla is also pointing out, of course, is that Microsoft is in a particular position of power here, given that it owns the world's primary desktop OS, and it's leveraging that platform in various ways to push adoption of Edge.

Whether that's worked for Microsoft, or not — spoiler alert, it hasn't — is irrelevant, as this behavior obviously isn't ethical or fair, and while it may not have dented Chrome's reign as the top browser, it may have damaged smaller rivals like Firefox.

While the EEA may have a considerably better balance of browser equality within Windows, the report notes that this is, of course, because regulations have forced Microsoft's hand. Arguably, this is another negative in that it shows Microsoft only respects user choice in terms of browsers when it's forced to do so.

Mozilla finishes with the following paragraph that sums everything up nicely: "We again urge Microsoft to abandon these harmful patterns worldwide. And we urge regulators in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, and beyond to consider this report as evidence that regulatory action works — there is much still to do."

So, if Microsoft really wants to talk about "added trust", how about some action on some of these sticking points? Or is this just a case of having to be more trustworthy than Google?

• Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says developers need to lead with innovation to justify the increasing cost of consoles
• He says studios are "limiting our reach just because of the games we’re building now"
• While Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a hit, Layden says "there are a lot of people in the world who really don’t care" about it

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden thinks studios need to start investing in unique games that entice a wider audience to justify the increasing cost of consoles.

The price of hardware has been rising over the past few years. We can blame the rising cost of manufacturing, the shortages driven by AI data centers eating up all the components, or inflation. For whatever reason, the current landscape is a mess, and the next generation is bound to be expensive.

As Sony and Microsoft hike the price of current-gen systems, despite the PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S being six years old, analysts suggest that the PS6 and next Xbox could cost as much as $1000. It doesn't sound out of the realm of possibility when you consider Valve has just launched the Steam Machine, a console-PC hybrid, for the same cost.

From what little we know about the PS6, we can expect technical improvements over the PS5, which could mean better ray-tracing and higher frame rates. With PlayStation's plan to end physical disc production in 2028, analysts predict that it could also be an all-digital console, sadly.

But would this justify a $1000 price tag? According to Layden, who spoke about the changing industry in an interview with Kotaku, it doesn't, and Sony will need to lead with software innovation to draw in gamers instead.

“I mean really, how much more ray tracing can you put in there?” he said. “And will my eyes actually see 120 frames per second?”

Layden can't say what the PS6 will look like compared to the PS5 since he hasn't worked at Sony since 2019, but if there's a chance the technical gap between the two consoles is too narrow, software is where things need to change.

"I think we’re already kind of limiting our reach just because of the games we’re building now. I mean, variety and range seem to be narrowing," Layden said. "Most games are falling into a standard set of buckets."

He pointed to the genres of games we've been seeing over the years, including zombie apocalypse and space-marine games, action titles with "guys with really long swords and not much armor and dragons."

Layden then brought up GTA 6, and while he acknowledged that the game is going to be a massive hit, some gamers don't care about it.

"So, you see those categories and coming around that, of course, Grand Theft Auto is going to be like an asteroid piercing the atmosphere and hitting the gaming universe with great force and power," he said. "But there are a lot of people in the world who really don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, the non-gaming community."

He continued, explaining, "We talk about how big we are, $220 billion, $250 billion industry, but our social impact is the reverse. Everybody has a favorite song. That’s probably the least revenue-generating entertainment category, music, compared to gaming and film and television. But yet it has the widest impact. And so gaming, it’s huge on the revenue side of things, but it’s a very select group that are doing it.

"We’re getting more money from the same people all the time and not necessarily bringing in new people into the experience. And if these people who aren’t in the gaming experience have already said ‘we don’t care about Call of Duty, we don’t care about Grand Theft Auto, we don’t care about Gran Turismo,’ doing more of those same games is obviously not going to appeal to those people either."

While Layden thinks discoverability is one facet of the issue, the main problem is creativity, and if developers "close ranks" and continue making shooters by appealing to what the "base user" wants, things will be fine, "but we won’t get any bigger. We won’t bring any more people into the tent. And that’s probably bad."

He added, "We need to bring out more games for more people, which means actually you have to have more people making games and in different places and different experiences. I want to find out what games from Uruguay look like and what kind of game designers we have in Bulgaria."

• Microsoft sees itself as cheaper and more effective at bundling the full stack
• The company is clearly pushing its own internal models
• Claude also slated for being slower and less accurate

Microsoft is reportedly teaching sales workers how to compare the company's AI offerings to rival companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Per Bloomberg reporting, the company's sales staff are being told to emphasize benefits like efficiency and cost advantages when using Microsoft's offerings, which offer a much fuller picture than just the models and tools, extending to compute and other workflow tools.

"Everyone else is selling parts – we’re selling the full end-to-end system," EVP Jay Parikh reportedly told workers. "That’s the story that we all need to get out there and tell in FY27."

Microsoft sales teams up the ante against OpenAI, Anthropic

Clearly, the company wants customers to see the combination of its own models and third-party models, cloud infrastructure, applications and security as better value compared with having to piece these elements together separately.

Copilot EVP Jacob Andreou also reportedly compared Copilot to Claude, accusing Claude of being slower, less accurate and missing certain security integrations.

The sales push comes at a time of change for the company, which has started to push more of its own internal models across different apps and workflows to replace OpenAI and Anthropic models. It's also a marked shift from the company's earlier AI strategy, which leaned heavily on its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI.

Company CEO Satya Nadella also pointed at a major customer, Unilever, which recently switched form an unnamed frontier model to one of Microsoft's own cheaper models to make significant savings.

In April, the company announced that its AI business is now worth around $37 billion annually, marking a 123% year-over-year increase.

• Microsoft’s July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixed a record 622 vulnerabilities, including 58 critical, two exploited in the wild, and one publicly disclosed, plus 428 Chromium bugs
• Actively abused flaws include CVE‑2026‑56155 (AD FS privilege escalation) and CVE‑2026‑56164 (SharePoint privilege escalation), alongside notable issues in BitLocker and Copilot
• Surge in fixes is linked to Microsoft’s use of Anthropic’s Mythos AI, with patch volumes rising sharply since its adoption

Microsoft has released its July 2026 Patch Tuesday download, marking another record-breaking update, addressing hundreds of flaws across the ecosystem.

The release, which is currently rolling out to Microsoft users, fixes a staggering 622 vulnerabilities, including 58 critical-severity ones, two that were observed as being abused in the wild, and one which has already been publicly disclosed.

On top of that, Microsoft shipped fixes for another 428 Chromium bugs, as well.

A jump in numbers

There are simply too many vulnerabilities to mention all of them, however two that are being exploited in the wild are CVE-2026-56155 and CVE-2026-56164. The former is described as an “Insufficient granularity of access control in Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)” bug, which allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. It carries a severity score of 7.8/10 (high).

The latter is a “Missing authentication for critical function in Microsoft Office SharePoint” bug that allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network. Microsoft assigned it a medium severity score (5.3/10), but the National Vulnerability Database gave it a 9.8/10 (critical).

Other notable mentions include CVE-2026-50661, a protection mechanism failure in Windows BitLocker that allows unauthorized attackers to bypass a security feature with a physical attack, and CVE-2026-48561, an improper neutralization of special elements used in a command in Microsoft Copilot, that allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

If you think fixing 622 vulnerabilities in a month is a lot, you’re absolutely right. It’s well above what Microsoft is used to do, and this is most likely due to the company now using the fabled Mythos - Anthropic’s cybersecurity-oriented AI.

In June 2026, roughly a month and a half after the release of Mythos, Microsoft fixed 206 flaws, which raised eyebrows because it was significantly above the company’s usual amount of bugs fixed.

In May it fixed 120 flaws, in April 167, and in March - 79.

• Microsoft deleted a user’s OneDrive account after it was compromised
• This resulted in the loss of 25 years’ worth of photos and games
• The incident is a reminder to use multiple backup solutions

How much do you have stored in your Microsoft account? Consider all the photos and documents backed up to OneDrive, the games and apps linked to your username, and all the rest. Many of us have a lot stored there, but as one Microsoft user recently found out, it can all be taken away in an instant — with Microsoft itself doing the deleting.

Posting on X, Joshua Khane related how a recent hack of their account led to Microsoft taking the nuclear option and removing 25 years’ worth of data, including photos of their infant son and “thousands of Euros spent on games.”

Khane shared an email from Microsoft explaining that, since “unauthorized access occurred” on their account — meaning a likely compromise by hackers — “we have permanently suspended the account.” Microsoft confirmed that “this action is irreversible … Additionally, if you had files stored in OneDrive, those files are no longer accessible. Due to encryption and privacy safeguards, even our engineers cannot retrieve them.”

The move left Khane incensed, with the disbelieving user condemning Microsoft’s decision not to restore their account: “One of the biggest companies ever couldn’t do that so they just deleted that sh*t like it was nothing??”

“Even though the security could be tighter from my side (lessons are learned),” they added, “it bothers me the most that Microsoft says that they cannot recover my account and suspended it … Thousands of Euros are gone down the drain as I’ve lost all my games also! Couldn’t back those up and I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe, even if I got compromised!”

How to keep your data safe

After the saga was posted on Reddit, other users chimed in with similar stories of their own. “Happened to me also,” said one user. “I had payment proof and everything going back 20 years. They said sorry, best we can do is lock your account for good.”

Another had a piece of advice for Khane: “When this happened to me, I created the new account and sent an email to them (on the same thread) with the new account info. They basically cloned the old account into the new one and I got everything back.” Elsewhere, many users recommended Khane take legal action against Microsoft.

If you want to avoid a similar fate, it’s important that you don’t just back up your important documents to one source — be that cloud storage like OneDrive or an external storage drive. If something goes wrong, your only copy has vanished into the ether.

Instead, build redundancy into your backups. Use a cloud backup service like Backblaze and a local NAS or offline archive drive. If possible, ensure your backups are in different physical locations, including one off the premises.

As Redditor Linesey rightly suggested, “Get a NAS, get an off-site location like a safe deposit box for cold storage, and then use the cloud if you really want to, as another layer.” That way, you’ve got at least one fallback option if a firm like Microsoft decides to delete your data without warning.

It’s also worth setting up passkeys and multi-factor authentication on your accounts and using one of the best password managers to strengthen and store all your logins. That way, you make it harder for bad actors to gain access to your account — and less tempting for Microsoft to hit the big red button, with irreversible consequences.

• Windows 11's July update has arrived
• It packs some smart features, including pausing updates at length and a new recovery option
• This patch also cures a nasty bug that slowly eats more and more drive space, but there's an issue to be aware of for Dell laptop owners

Microsoft has released its monthly patch for Windows 11 and the July update is a biggie, packing a feature that I've been awaiting for quite some time.

That would be the ability to pause updates on Windows 11 Home – beyond just a short period of time, which has been the only choice to date – and there are some other impressive additions from Microsoft here.

I'm going to pick out my top four features introduced by the July update, as well as rounding up some of the other more notable changes here. I'll also highlight an important bug fix that has been deployed for a nasty flaw that eats your drive space – along with a warning for some of those with a Dell laptop (who may not get this update for a good reason, as you'll see).

As ever, these changes were seen in the last optional update (June preview), and most of these features are being rolled out gradually, so you may not see them right away after installing this update (indeed, you may have to wait a while based on how the update winds blow regarding your exact PC configuration).

1. Pausing updates

Sometimes you want to hold off installing an update because of a bug that you're nervous about potentially affecting your system, and up until now, Windows 11 users have only been able to avoid any given update for five weeks.

Okay, so that's a fairly long time, but what if the bug is one of those persistent and niggly affairs that Microsoft takes an age to fix? You may want to delay the update beyond five weeks, and now you can. The catch is that you'll need to continually renew the delay for every 35-day period, but nonetheless, you can now keep an update at bay for as long as you want. (Well – until you're forced to update to a new version of Windows 11, that is, when support runs out for your current version).

2. Point-in-time restore

Another neat addition is point-in-time restore, a new recovery option that you can employ when something bad happens to your PC and you can no longer reach the desktop. Point-in-time restore lets you roll back a non-functioning system to a previous working state. It reverts to the "full system state" meaning that all your apps, files, and settings are recovered as captured at that previous time.

Hopefully this is a feature that you'll never need, but if you do, you'll be very glad of it. Note that the system backups obviously take up drive space, with older backups automatically deleted after 72 hours by default. Also, if you have a system drive that's smaller than 200GB, you'll have to enable this feature yourself (as it won't be turned on automatically due to potential space issues – note that you can specify a maximum amount of storage space used).

3. Fewer annoyances with widgets

The July update is making the widgets panel 'quieter' by which Microsoft means that it has cut out a lot of clutter. The main change is that by default the panel just displays your widgets and Microsoft has got rid of the promotional nonsense in terms of ads and the MSN feed. Notifications and taskbar badges are also minimized by default, and widgets no longer open when you hover over them.

There are some other streamlining moves here, and even if you don't use widgets, I think this is a noteworthy change as it shows the direction Microsoft is now heading in with Windows 11 – chilling out on the upselling as was previously promised (if not entirely banishing it).

4. Screen tint

Windows 11 has been graced with a number of accessibility improvements in the July update, first of which is a new screen tint ability. This does what it says on the tin, allowing you to tint the screen with a choice of colors to help reduce eye strain, or to make text more easily readable. You can adjust the tint intensity, and this is a very useful addition that'll save people from downloading a third-party app to get these kinds of color overlays.

Other features in the July update

There's quite a lot going on here aside from the above major moves, and that includes Microsoft boosting the speed at which File Explorer launches (helping Windows 11 to feel more performant overall).

There's a whole lot of work on the Bluetooth front, too, as Microsoft notes: "This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices." That includes better driver stability, improved audio routing for calls via Phone Link, and more.

File Explorer has also been honed to be more reliable, and Microsoft has implemented a performance tweak to the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) that means PCs will shut down more promptly. If you've ever sat staring at your computer while it takes 20 seconds to shut down, wondering what on earth it's doing, that kind of behavior will hopefully be a rarer occurrence going forward.

A major bug fix – and Dell laptop problems

There's some good news for those of you who have been suffering at the hands of a mysterious bug that eats storage space (due to an out-of-control database file). This is fixed with the July update (the cure was in the June preview before it), so you can grab this to resolve the issue (hopefully).

There's some bad news on the bug front, though, namely that you won't get this update on some Dell devices with Intel CPUs, as Microsoft has blocked it due to the July patch causing all sorts of weird issues. I say it's bad news, but at least Microsoft caught the problem and has prevented the update from being piped to those machines.

Microsoft informs us: "This update might not be available for a limited number of Dell devices with Intel processors due to an incompatibility reported by Dell that can potentially cause unexpected shutdowns, poor performance, increased heat, and battery drain. We are working together with Dell to prevent the affected models from experiencing the issue and plan to release a resolution for affected devices in the coming days."

So, if you were wondering why you couldn't get this patch on your Dell laptop, now you know. You'll just have to sit tight for now until Microsoft and Dell get this ironed out.

• ShinyHunters abused OAuth trust in Salesforce by tricking users and later compromising SaaS integrations, stealing tokens to access hundreds of customer environments
• Reports suggested up to 700 victims; attackers exfiltrated data via legitimate APIs, making activity appear normal and persistent
• Microsoft responded with Defender for Cloud Apps upgrades, adding richer telemetry, near‑real‑time detection, and stronger governance over OAuth‑connected applications

The ShinyHunters cybercrime group were so creative in breaking into corporate Salesforce environments that they forced Microsoft’s hand, making the company introduce new security upgrades just to address the attacks.

Microsoft has revealed it is focusing on improving visibility into OAuth-connected applications and strengthening governance over third-party integrations in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. The changes fall into two main categories: Improved detection and investigation, and new posture and governance capabilities.

It makes sense, given that some reports claimed as many as 700 victims of the year-long campaign.

Changes and improvements

But first, a little context: In August 2025, it was reported that ShinyHunters operatives were calling their targets on the phone, claiming to be IT support, and convincing them to authorize a seemingly legitimate Salesforce Data Loader application. This app was, in fact, controlled by the attackers and requested OAuth permissions which allowed them to access Salesforce data through official APIs.

Since everything happened through legitimate authentication and API calls, the activity looked like normal user behavior.

In the following months, the campaign evolved. Instead of tricking individual employees, ShinyHunters compromised third-party SaaS providers that integrated with Salesforce, including Salesloft's Drift integration, Gainsight, and later Klue.

By stealing OAuth tokens or integration secrets from these vendors, they accessed hundreds of downstream customer Salesforce environments without interacting with each customer individually.

At one point, Google told reporters it was aware of more than 700 potentially impacted organizations.

“Microsoft consulted with Salesforce to improve granularity in telemetry for Defender for Cloud Apps with near-real-time detection, offering connected application attribution and expanded application permission insights,” the company said in a new report. “This activity was not the result of a vulnerability inherent to Salesforce. Rather, the threat actors abused trusted OAuth relationships for unauthorized access, data exfiltration, and persistence.”

In other words, Microsoft enabled greater visibility into OAuth-connected applications and their activity, allowed for better detection of suspicious API and OAuth behavior through richer telemetry and correlation, and now provides stronger governance of connected apps through permission analysis, risk scoring, and lifecycle management.

• Microsoft is improving Windows 11 search in multiple ways
• That includes a calmer search panel, the ability to turn off web results, a better way of prioritizing returned results, and a more stable search overall
• This is in testing for now, and the main worry is how long it might take for Microsoft to usher all this through to release

If you're fed up with the way Windows 11's search functionality works – and you wouldn't be alone – some incoming changes are set to greatly improve this experience.

Microsoft revealed the tweaks to the search box in a blog post, explaining that they're being delivered via a gradual rollout to testers in the Experimental channel for Windows 11 preview builds.

The first major change is simply to make search a calmer place, so when the panel appears, it only contains a list of your recent searches (allowing you to easily fire up one of those again if you wish). The current clutter to the right of that list, including recommendations – some of which are outright adverts – along with trending searches has all been banished.

And the second important piece of work here is that Microsoft is finally giving Windows 11 users the ability to get rid of web results in search. Currently, when searching for a file in the operating system you get not just local results (for files on your drives), but also some web results which can get in the way.

In this new scheme of things, you'll be able to switch off all web results in Settings, and also ditch Microsoft Store suggestions too.

If you keep these results on, Microsoft notes that they won't be prioritized, although this is something the company had already started to address (it used to be the case that web content could appear at the top of the returned results in a truly baffling fashion). Web results have also been stripped of any 'promotional content' so you'll only get the most relevant answers if these results are enabled.

Microsoft has also bolstered the handling of results for Windows 11 settings so that more relevant options are flagged up higher in the pecking order, and Microsoft says further fine-tuning is planned on this front.

The search box will also be able to handle typos, with an improved ability to guess what you really meant ('Chrome' rather than 'Chome' for example), and it'll start to surface possible results after typing just two characters (another enhancement we've already heard about).

While this is mostly all about streamlining, Microsoft is going the other way in one notable respect — adding a bit more detail in for the files returned in the results. Search will now provide more info about files (such as when they were last opened) and a more in-depth preview in the right-hand panel, so you can more readily tell what you'll be opening if you click on that result.

Finally, Microsoft is making search more reliable, which involves "reducing [the] likelihood of crashing and loading issues" which is obviously a welcome move.

Analysis: the rollout fly in the soothing search ointment

Windows 11 search has always been a somewhat painful affair for me, thanks mainly to the clutter of the thinly veiled (or not even veiled at all) ads, and the irrelevant results which were surfaced with a baffling level of priority, as noted. Windows 10 isn't a lot better, frankly, but at any rate, I'm very happy to see the fresh direction Microsoft has taken here.

The calmer search results are a major boon, with Microsoft following in the same vein as the streamlining it recently announced for the widgets panel, which was made a quieter place. (All this follows a broader early promise to rein in the upselling with Windows 11 and generally make the interface a more chilled place).

I was hoping that the option to turn off web results would be brought in, and this is the most important addition for me personally. I'm not alone, and the reaction to these various changes has been very positive, with the only real sticking point being impatience around when these new features will be rolled out. That's both in terms of testers wanting to try the revamped search box now, and the general computing public wondering when they will eventually get their hands on all this.

As this tester posts on Reddit: "We love this... except gradual rollouts. We don't like when things are inconsistent from PC to PC despite running identical [test] builds [of Windows 11]. It's really obnoxious and breaks muscle memory. But the changes seem great and I look forward to trying them."

As Microsoft points out in its blog post, it's worth remembering that there are now feature flags that can be enabled if you're really keen to try out something in a preview build, and it's not on your PC yet.

However, as for those asking: 'For those of us on release, when might this arrive?'

Well, that's a very different kettle of fish, as it could take quite some time for this work to progress through testing. Mainly because there are a lot of changes involved, and it's not something Microsoft will want to rush (especially given the drive to make search more reliable and stable).

And when these search improvements are eventually released outside of testing, it'll be on a controlled rollout that you won't be able to jump the queue with. However, there's a reason for that – Microsoft will need to observe the changes going live in a gradual manner to ensure no unexpected gremlins are crawling around in the works.

So, you will have to be patient, and there's some frustration around the length of time it can take for controlled rollouts to proceed these days (the Start menu overhaul from last year being a key example here – some folks still don't have it even now). But the good news is that these changes are coming, and they promise to revamp search in Windows 11 to a considerable extent. I can't wait (but I'll have to).

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has warned AI companies are training their models on the business secrets of their customers
• These secrets are then used to train new, more powerful models, that are sold to their customer's competitors
• But, Nadella says there is a way to remain competitive without being locked in to one AI vendor

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has warned the big players in the AI industry are using their proprietary models to learn the business secrets of their customers, which they can then use to train and deploy more advanced AI models.

The crux of the issue, Nadella said in a blog post, is that, “You essentially pay for intelligence twice, once with money, and again with something even more valuable: the proprietary knowledge you must reveal to make that intelligence useful. The better you want the model to perform, the more of that knowledge you have to feed it!”

What Nadella is saying in essence, is that AI companies are harvesting sensitive business data from their customers, using it to make training their models cheaper, and then launching these models for use by their own customer’s competition.

“The kind of knowledge a competitor could never buy”

“Models learn from ‘exhaust,’ the prompts people write, the tools agents use, and especially the corrections people make when the model is wrong. Every correction is distilled into institutional know-how,” Nadella explained.

Nadella also criticized how AI companies are increasingly complaining about how their models are being distilled by their own competition. For example, Anthropic accused retailer and e-commerce company Alibaba for using thousands of Claude prompts to distill their own models. By figuring out how a proprietary model works, you don’t have to spend the enormous amount of capital needed to source training data and create your own AI model.

This, for Nadella, is a major contradiction in how AI companies work. “While the great innovation that comes from model providers having fair use rights to train models on public data is needed, I find it ironic that the status quo is to then turn around and impose restrictive terms on distillation,” he said.

It is also therefore hypocritical for AI companies to accuse other companies of distilling their own product, and then include within their AI usage contracts clauses that allow AI companies to “reserve the right to learn from customer usage and interaction data.”

“In consuming intelligence, you are creating intelligence. And what you create should belong to you,” Nadella added.

On-prem is back in fashion

Nadella’s fix for this growing problem? It’s time to move back to on-prem. Nadella encourages businesses to “retain ownership” of the data they feed AI models by switching to the use of “proprietary learning environments” built on the cloud.

The added benefit of moving to these environments is that they allow businesses to switch between different AI models provided by different companies using “orchestration layers” and AI gateways.

There is also a growing trend of businesses switching to using open source technologies, which goes hand in hand with businesses operating in the cloud. Businesses can train open source AI models using their data that is already available in cloud environments to do much of what the proprietary models do, for far cheaper — and without handing over that same sensitive data to be used by AI companies to train their own models.

The on-prem solution also has additional benefits. AI models operated on-site within manufacturing plants, stores, and other premises are far cheaper and require less specialized hardware. Businesses that operate using a centralized cloud are increasingly encountering issues with data egress fees, storage bloat, and idle specialized hardware.

Google Cloud recently released a report about these very issues, and also encouraged businesses to move towards using AI gateways and on-prem models to reduce latency, improve resilience, and cut per-token costs by switching to local, highly optimized models.

Via TechCrunch

Many consider two of the most valuable companies in the world, Microsoft and Apple, to be at different ends of a spectrum. While different in their broad target market, they compete intensely in similar markets like operating systems, consumer hardware and enterprise software. It's little surprise, then, that their respective leaders have looked at each other with disdain throughout history.

Big Macs and chips

Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs compared Microsoft to the fast food chain McDonald's in an interview for the 1995 PBS documentary series 'Triumph of the Nerds'.

In a set of scathing comments, he said the company that Bill Gates founded was only able to enjoy its reach and success due to a "Saturn-5 booster called IBM". Gates used the opportunity granted by IBM outsourcing the operating system for the first IBM PC to Microsoft, called MS-DOS, with Gates retaining the rights to license the software and "create more opportunity", as Jobs phrased it.

Although he praised this aspect of the business – reiterating that Microsoft deserves its success – Jobs was adamant the firm doesn't add any originality into the broader ecosystem and isn't interested in the user experience. They have no "spirit" he said, and described their products as "very pedestrian".

From enemies to friends

Despite the decades-long sparring that Gates and Jobs engaged in, they eventually underwent a multi-stage reconciliation process that eventually led to a very different kind of relationship before Jobs' death in 2013.

In today's technology landscape, the two companies enjoy less of a heated rivalry that peaked during the operating system wars in the 1990s – with each enjoying a moat (Microsoft in the enterprise space and Apple in the consumer space).

Instead, they now compete in domains like AI and cloud computing alongside plenty of other Silicon Valley rivals. However, that doesn't mean there isn't the occasional jab – like outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook dunking on the Surface Pro.