• Windows 11's latest update has arrived
• The September update brings in the ability to move the taskbar
• There are also new options for resizing the Start menu, and a really useful tweak for Windows 11's search function

Windows 11's latest update has arrived, and it packs some important new features for the interface of the desktop OS.

Bleeping Computer flagged all the additions in the September 2026 update for Windows 11, and there are three major highlights, which I'll pick out here, before providing a general roundup of some of the other tweaks that Microsoft has brought in this month.

As ever, some of these features are being rolled out in a phased manner, so even if you do install the September update today, you may still have to wait a while for certain pieces of functionality to make their way over to your PC.

1. A movable taskbar

Thanks to the September update you'll finally be able to move Windows 11's taskbar away from the bottom of the screen, to the top instead, or the sides if you prefer (an option that people with an ultra-wide monitor often want to use, as it suits that aspect ratio much better).

This is an ability which has always been in Windows 10, but was dropped for Windows 11 because porting it over was a thornier issue than you might think (or so Microsoft told us).

Finally, however, Microsoft has got its act together and the taskbar can now be repositioned in Windows 11 – although I've a feeling this will be one of the features on a slower rollout. Hopefully I'll be wrong on that score and you'll get this ability promptly if you've been keenly awaiting it for the last five years.

It's also worth noting that there's another option introduced here which can make the taskbar smaller, so it takes up less screen real-estate on devices with small displays.

2. The Start menu can now be resized

Want a more compact Start menu? Your wish is Microsoft's command, as this choice has now been introduced to the Settings app for the Start menu. You can elect to have a standard (large) menu, or a small one, rather than leaving it at the default 'automatic' setting whereby Windows 11 chooses the size itself based on your device. The problem with leaving the OS to decide is that sometimes you get the bigger menu on a laptop screen, where it pretty much eats the whole desktop – and so in these scenarios you can now manually choose the more compact Start menu.

With options to remove sections of the Start menu coming on top of this, you can now trim this part of the interface down so it's truly minimal. This choice will be more important than the movable taskbar for many folks – myself included – and it's great to see it now being rolled out.

3. Windows 11 search improvements

Another notable boon with the September update is that there are a few changes for Windows 11's core search functionality, and the most important is a new option that lets you turn off web results in search.

When you're searching for a file on your local drive, those web results often get in the way, so it'll be a relief for many to be able to switch them off. As well as web results (which open in Edge, with searches in Bing, of course), you can also turn off Microsoft Store suggestions. Essentially this is a general decluttering of Windows 11 search which is long overdue, frankly.

Other features in Windows 11's September Update

There's a performance boost for File Explorer in that the Home page now loads faster, and switching between virtual desktops in Windows 11 is now snappier, too.

Microsoft has made some reliability tweaks as well, including ensuring that the app history information in Task Manager is correct, and also that interacting with the Display panel within Settings is now more stable.

Furthermore, Microsoft informs us that there are some design tweaks here: "This update introduces updated progress indicators across Windows, providing a more consistent and modern experience during startup, sign-in, restart, shutdown, and update installation."

It's also worth noting that the weird mouse bug that affected the preview version of this September update (the optional update released at the end of August) has been resolved.

There's a fair bit happening here, and as one Redditor put it: "What's left for the 26H2 [update] then?"

Well, not a great deal in truth, and if you've been following along with Microsoft's annual updates, you may recall that 26H2 is going to be a very minor upgrade that doesn't do a lot. Indeed, some folks are wondering why Microsoft didn't save these juicy new interface features for 26H2, given that it's out next month.

The reason is likely to be because Microsoft wants to ensure that 26H2 runs as smoothly as possible (with no bigger changes involved). Although to be fair, as noted, due to the rollout process, a lot of folks won't be getting the new Start menu options and taskbar repositioning until October (or possibly later) anyway.

• The Bing Wallpaper app is serving an ad in Windows 11
• The advert is for a Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movie collection
• There's a rebellion against this blatant advertising, with a significant number of users saying they've immediately removed Microsoft's wallpaper app

Some Windows 11 users who've installed the Bing Wallpaper app have been treated to an unpleasantly in-your-face advert for Harry Potter.

To be precise, it's an ad for a collection of 11 Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies, and, as Windows Latest reports, this appears as a full-page promotional image that becomes your desktop background.

This isn't happening for every Bing Wallpaper user, and it appears to be a regional rollout; but based on the plentiful Reddit feedback of the negative variety, it's being piped to quite a number of PCs.

For the uninitiated, Bing Wallpaper is an app that serves up daily wallpapers to those who've installed the software — and note that it isn't installed by default; this is something you have to elect to have on your Windows 11 PC.

Nevertheless, it's an over-the-top move by Microsoft to shovel something like this onto the desktops of those who've chosen Bing to pick their backgrounds.

As one annoyed Redditor says, filing the Harry Potter wallpaper under the 'unskippable ad' category in the 'Mildly Infuriating' subreddit: "I had it [Bing Wallpaper] installed since up until this point it was a fairly harmless program that gave a variety of animals, environments or pattern backgrounds that rotate daily. Wtf?"

Replying, another Redditor observes: "Free software from a trillion dollar company means you are the product." Some folks responded to that to say that Windows 11 isn't free, but this Redditor isn't talking about the OS itself, but rather the Bing Wallpaper app, which is a free add-on for Windows, of course.

Analysis: Bing begone

Windows Latest notes that the terms and conditions of the Bing Wallpaper app allow for "promotional offers" from Microsoft, but what's happening here goes well beyond that. Frankly, this isn't acceptable in any way — and Microsoft really should know better than to serve a blatant advert in this manner.

I'd say I was shocked, but ads have always been a problem in Windows 11. On top of that, about a year ago Bing Wallpaper was used to perform another underhand trick with desktops that made me cringe. In that case, an accidental click on the Windows 11 background fired up a Bing search (yes, really), and I called this "a new low" for Microsoft at the time.

This, however, represents Microsoft plumbing fresh depths. A notable number of those complaining on Reddit have said that they've immediately uninstalled Bing Wallpaper due to this incident (generally with a sprinkling of added curse words).

One of the politer comments notes: "Honestly if they cut out text and just left the base [image] with the option to right click to get more info and it took the user there it would be passable. But current state just time to remove Bing Wallpaper."

This is very much representative of Microsoft's different departments not talking to each other. On the one hand, there's a big drive to fix Windows 11 and try to please users with all sorts of nifty changes and long-awaited features. On the other, the Bing Wallpaper team thinks it's fine to deploy what might be the worst example of advertising I've ever seen in the Windows ecosystem — and there's quite some competition for that accolade, sadly.

At any rate, I assume this won't be happening again, Microsoft, given the reaction here… right?

• Microsoft is working to speed up boot times
• Over at IFA 2026 a Microsoft executive said that 'we've made significant gains' with startup speeds and more
• The exec also underlined Microsoft's commitment to get Windows 11 running more smoothly on 8GB PCs

Microsoft is readying a major boost to the performance of Windows 11 that should speed up boot times.

Windows Latest reports that at IFA 2026 last week a Microsoft exec confirmed improvements to boot speeds are inbound.

This was Mark Linton, who is VP of Windows & Devices at Microsoft, who told the tech site: "We've made significant gains on things like boot time, Windows Hello responsiveness."

Windows Hello is the secure login that's offered with Windows 11 – often facilitated via an infrared-supporting webcam and facial recognition – and that happening more swiftly, alongside a faster boot time, should mean you arrive at the desktop in a far more timely manner.

This work isn't in testing just yet, we're told, but Microsoft is still tinkering with ramping up boot performance in internal builds.

Analysis: performance promises are underlined

The use of the word 'significant' is promising, and Windows Latest talks about getting to the lock screen 'almost immediately'. In fairness, Windows 11 already boots nippily (on my PC certainly), so we could be looking at effectively booting in the blink of an eye – fingers crossed.

As noted, this isn't even in preview builds of Windows 11 yet, but it should be here before too long. It's part of a larger effort and Microsoft's broad promise to make Windows 11 faster in general, ensuring that menus perform more responsively, and that apps load more swiftly (the latter is already rolling out in the form of a CPU boosting feature known as 'Low Latency Profile').

This performance boosting work is all the more important considering that 8GB laptops are making a resurgence – thanks to the RAM crisis pushing up notebook prices – and so Microsoft is also working to ensure that Windows 11 is more performant with that lesser memory configuration. Speaking of which, Windows Latest said that Microsoft also underlined its commitment to make sure that the desktop OS will run better on 8GB over at IFA 2026.

Linton said of Windows 11 that: "We're continuing to improve on the fundamentals," adding that: "We're optimizing so that 8 gig of RAM runs great on machines as well."

However, the exec didn't provide any estimates of what kind of performance jump might be expected – although that's hardly surprising at this early stage of the game.

• Microsoft is rolling out a new security feature for Windows 11
• Memory integrity provides stronger defenses for a crucial part of the operating system, and it's being automatically enabled
• Some gamers say the feature hampers gaming frame rates considerably, and they're not happy

Windows 11 is getting its security bolstered with a feature that's being automatically enabled, but which comes at a cost that some PC gamers don't want to pay — and this is proving quite the controversy on social media.

The Verge reports that Microsoft has announced that it's rolling out the enablement of memory integrity protection across eligible Windows 11 PCs, and that this is because "security works best when protection is built in, not bolted on".

Microsoft explains: "More devices will soon receive stronger protection by default, with no additional setup required. Windows quality updates will begin enabling memory integrity protection on eligible devices.

"If not already enabled, these updates will also enable VBS [Virtualization Based Security], helping make additional security capabilities available and reflecting our commitment to making Windows secure by design and secure by default."

The idea is to tighten security for Windows 11's kernel-mode drivers, a core aspect of the OS with direct access to the system's hardware, and there can be no argument that this additional protection gives host PCs tougher defenses and makes them more difficult to exploit. So why the controversy? Let's dive into the pros and cons of what's going on here.

Analysis: a divisive move — but we can't ignore that the threat landscape is changing

In Microsoft's view, this is a no-brainer: stronger security is being rolled out to Windows 11 devices, or at least those which are eligible (older PCs may not be). However, PCs configured via group policy not to use memory integrity, or machines where it's been disabled before, won't have the feature forced on them.

Other supported PCs will get memory integrity (and VBS, because it's required for memory integrity) turned on automatically by Windows 11, and this is where some gamers are up in arms. VBS has a long history of being a thorn in the side for gamers, with the feature being linked to frame rate losses.

How much of a headwind does this cause for PC games? Well, therein lies a big part of the issue, because it's difficult to pin that down exactly, and as ever, it's bound to vary depending on your PC's exact hardware and system configuration.

Some gamers observe frame rate hits of approaching 10%, while others say the impact isn't noticeable at all. There's a lot of back-and-forth on Reddit arguing about the extent of any slowdown, and here's a typical exchange:

One Redditor notes: "HVCI [memory integrity] is a great security feature, and the performance impact on newer platforms (to which this automatic switch will apply) is negligible."

Another replies: "It ain't negligible. 9800x3d, 5080, ddr5 6000 cl28 and my 1% lows get wrecked with this feature on. Way smoother disabled."

This isn't just about frames per second performance for some gamers, then, as there are also accusations of it affecting the lowest troughs (bottom 1%) that the frame rate hits (meaning the game suffers more stuttering at times and generally feels jerkier).

As the first comment points out, though, the likelihood should be that a more modern PC won't feel much of a hit (if anything). The gaming rigs that might see more of a spanner in the frame rate works are those which are older, but still modern enough to get the auto-enablement of memory integrity. In other words, a collection of PCs which are on the outer fringes of that compatibility limit (older machines, but not too old to avoid the feature rollout).

Of course, even those PC owners can always turn off memory integrity. The major beef for some is that they remember that Microsoft got into trouble for automatically switching on VBS in the past in a quiet, under-the-radar manner — and the question now will be whether gamers realize that this feature has been enabled alongside memory integrity.

In all honesty, when I saw what Microsoft was doing here and fired up Reddit to test the temperature of the reactions, I was expecting nothing short of a flamethrower being turned on the software giant. However, the feedback is split quite evenly between the haters — or those who disapprove at least — and users who are applauding Microsoft for this deployment.

Here are a couple of further examples from either side of the fence: "Apparently a controversial opinion, but systems that are for everyone should be failsafe, and that includes the most secure option being the default. There should be an option to disable security to get higher performance, but most secure should be the default."

Juxtaposed with this: "Already have memory integrity turned off as this 'feature' already hits gaming, I've used Windows without memory integrity for decades I think I'll be ok."

I must admit I'm inclined to agree with Microsoft's decision here — providing that when it happens, Windows 11 is clear on informing the user, so they can reverse the change if they aren't happy with it.

I think part of what Microsoft is doing here is keeping one eye on the future in terms of the difference AI might make to the security of Windows 11 PCs.

I keep hearing about how AI is already driving new threats and exploits, and so the kernel defenses that are being brought into play here may not have been quite as necessary in the past — as the last Reddit post I highlighted indicates — but they may be very much needed before too long. AI is accelerating the development of new threats considerably, and making it easier for anyone to becoming a peddler of malware, so Microsoft likely feels the pressure to act.

• Acer has revealed two interesting new laptops at IFA 2026
• The Swift Blade 14 is a super-light notebook at just 799g, and it's the lightest mainstream laptop yet
• The Vero 16 is designed to be easily repaired, with a replaceable SSD, battery, USB ports — even the CPU can be upgraded

Acer has revealed a couple of smart new laptops over at IFA 2026, one of which is notable for its repair-friendly credentials and upgrade possibilities, while the other is remarkable because it's the lightest laptop we've seen to date.

That lightweight champ — which is Acer's Swift Blade 14 — requires a caveat, though, as technically there's a lighter notebook model which already exists. However, the Fujitsu LifeBook laptops out there are niche products targeted at the Japanese market (or other parts of Asia in some cases), so in terms of the global consumer market, the new Blade 14 takes the crown, weighing just 799 grams or 1.76lb (which isn't much more than the mentioned LifeBooks).

The Blade 14 has a chassis that's fashioned from a combination of carbon fiber and a magnesium-aluminum alloy, which Acer says means it's durable as well as incredibly light.

The premium trappings continue with a 14-inch OLED screen that has a 3K resolution (and a 16:10 aspect ratio).

The Swift Blade 14 is built around an Intel Core Series 3 CPU — Wildcat Lake models which are power-efficient and easier to keep cool in a super-trim laptop — backed with 12GB of RAM. So, the spec here is slightly pulled back, with that notable compromise of not going for 16GB of system memory to keep the price down.

As for that price, we don't have it yet, and we don't have a launch date either. However, even with a more affordable CPU and 12GB of RAM, I expect this super-slim machine will extract quite a toll on the wallet.

From lightweight hero to Vero

Also at IFA, Acer took the wraps off the new Vero 16, a notebook that majors in repairability and is backed by some substantial eco-friendly credentials.

As Acer makes clear, this is a 16-inch notebook that benefits from a "more serviceable design [that] makes key components easier to access, repair, and replace", with the aim of extending the usable life of the device. In short, avoiding obsolescence (rather than planning for it, as the accusations often run with some notebooks).

To that end, you're given tool-free access to the innards of the Vero 16, and the SSD is replaceable along with the battery. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so that can't be upgraded — the one fly in the ointment here — but the ports aren't, so they're removable. That means if a USB connector is broken, you can switch it out, and the hinge between the body and screen is designed so it can be replaced as well.

On top of that, the Vero 16 allows for the processor to be upgraded, as Notebookcheck.net points out, although it isn't clear how this works yet (likely via a motherboard swap, which would also allow for a RAM upgrade at the same time). This is very unusual for a laptop, and we're told upgrades will be good for at least two generations of CPU silicon.

Speaking of the CPU, the Vero 16 is built around Panther Lake, offering up to an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H chip with Arc B390 integrated graphics. When it comes to the display, there's the choice of a 3K OLED or a 2K OLED touchscreen.

In terms of its green-friendly nature, Acer says the Vero's aluminum chassis is made from a "blend of 50% post-industrial recycled aluminum and 50% low-carbon aluminum". The packaging is 100% recyclable, too.

We don't yet have a price for this laptop either, but hopefully we'll get more info on pricing, and the release dates, for both of these notebooks before long. I'm keen to see both models arrive later this year, and to learn the details of how upgrading the Vero's CPU will work.

At IFA 2026, Acer announced its upcoming Small Form Factor (SFF) PC, built on Nvidia’s new RTX Spark chip, and from what Acer (and Nvidia) has shown, I should be buzzing with excitement.

After all, it ticks a lot of boxes for me; it’s compact, beautifully designed, and thanks to the RTX Spark, it should also be very, very powerful. And yet, much like the recent announcement of the latest Mac mini with Apple’s new M6 chip, I just don’t feel excited at all.

Despite sharing the same ‘RTX’ branding as Nvidia’s gaming GPUs, it’s clear that early devices using the RTX Spark will be of little interest to consumers like you and me, and are instead aimed at people who need to run heavy-duty local AI tasks.

Even though Acer states that RTX Spark devices are “designed for creators, AI developers and gamers,” the brief information provided focuses solely on the AI capabilities, with Acer saying that its RTX Spark device “is built to deliver up to 1 petaflop of AI performance and up to 128 GB of high-speed unified memory, delivering a combination of compute and data privacy.”

Terms like “1 petaflop of AI performance” are a sure-fire way to make any interest I might have in a device evaporate faster than PC gamer’s tears on a red-hot AI data center. It certainly doesn’t make me feel like the product is aimed at me, despite the RTX branding, brief mention of gamers, and stylish design.

I’ve written a lot in the past about my love of small form factor PCs, mainly when it comes to gaming, as these compact computers can be great alternatives to games consoles, as they can sit in your lounge and plug into your TV without looking out of place. RTX Spark devices, such as Acer’s, could potentially combine Nvidia’s gaming technology with compact designs, something I’ve always wanted. So why am I just not excited?

AI above everything else

There's a simple reason: AI. Now, this isn’t about my general distaste of generative AI, or the fact that things like Google’s AI Overviews are taking written content from websites, such as this one, and featuring them elsewhere without compensation — it’s because from what I’ve seen of RTX Spark hardware so far seems to be lazer-focused on local AI capabilities, which is something that simply doesn’t appeal to mainstream users.

If these were products solely aimed at AI developers, I wouldn’t mind, but it feels like RTX Spark has been teased by Nvidia to be something that consumers, especially gamers, would also be interested in. Hopefully as we get closer to the release of the first batch of RTX Spark devices, we’ll be given some non-AI reasons to be excited.

At the moment, though, I feel the same way about RTX Spark PCs as I do with Apple’s new-announced M6 Mac mini.

Mini heartbreak

Recent Mac minis have been some of my absolute favorite products, and up until a few weeks ago, if anyone was looking for an affordable desktop PC, I would almost always just tell them to buy a Mac mini. They were powerful, well-built, had an impressively small form factor which allowed you to install them almost anywhere, and launching at $599 / £599 / AU$999, you’d be hard pushed to find a better value small form factor PC.

In fact, I awarded a very rare five stars in my Mac mini (M4, 2024) review. So, I should be over the moon with the new model, especially as it’ll be the first device to pack Apple’s M6 chip — quite an achievement for the little PC that could.

And yet, I feel a bit deflated. The latest Mac mini will come with a higher price tag, something that feels all to familiar at the moment, and now starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,449, a considerable jump up from what the previous model launched at, and instantly makes the Mac mini less of an easy recommendation.

One of the reasons why it’s been hard to get hold of a Mac mini recently is because a lot of people are bulk buying the tiny PCs to run OpenClaw and other local AI tools on them. Apple appears to be leaning into this popularity (I can’t blame them for that, to be honest), with a big focus of the Mac mini, and the M6 chip, being improvements to AI performance (Apple claims four times the AI performance of the previous model).

That’s all well and good, I guess, but that AI focus, along with the price increase, means one of my favorite bits of hardware doesn’t feel like it’s aimed at me any more. I’ll be less likely to recommend it to people as even if it turns out that it’s a great bit of gear, the new price means it won’t be for everyone. And I personally don’t know anyone who is looking for a Mac mini to do heavy AI tasks with it.

It's the same with RTX Spark devices. We’ve not had price announcements, but Acer’s RTX Spark PC not only features cutting-edge Nvidia hardware, but “up to 128 GB of high-speed unified memory.” There’s little doubt that it’ll be very expensive.

So, it leaves me wondering who the RTX Spark PCs and new Mac mini are really for. The Mac mini had a real chance to become a mainstream hit, but its higher price will put a stop to that (the cheaper MacBook Neo now has a better chance), and I can’t imagine anyone except developers who need to run local AI models being interested in RTX Spark, despite the stylish designs.

Bascially, I’d like the likes of Nvidia and Apple to remember us consumers who don’t have a huge amount of cash, have little interest in AI, and are feeling increasingly left behind.

• Dell has unveiled a new 14-inch laptop at IFA 2026
• The Dell 14S is aimed at students and comes in vibrant colors like the MacBook Neo
• Dell has yet to reveal the price tag, which is a crucial missing piece of info with a wallet-friendly laptop like this

Dell has revealed a new 14-inch laptop over at IFA 2026 — and it's clear that this is a Windows 11 take on Apple's MacBook Neo formula.

The Dell 14S is a smart-looking, compact laptop which is aimed at students, and it comes in a selection of vibrant colors. That includes a rather striking green (velvet green as it's dubbed), as well as a light pink (dusty rose), beige (linen) and light blue (washed denim).

It'll be no great surprise to learn that the 14S is powered by Intel's Core Series 3 (Wildcat Lake) CPUs, which are performant but affordable chips that do a good job on the power-efficiency front.

RAM and storage start at 8GB and 256GB, but a higher-tier model offers 16GB and a 512GB or 1TB SSD.

The pitch is essentially a lesser version of Dell's XPS 13 for 2026, so you don't get quite the same thinness or lightweight nature (though the 14S is still 13.5mm thin and 1.15kg, so pretty trim).

The screen on the Dell 14S isn't touch-enabled either — it's a more basic 1920 x 1200 resolution display with a 60Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness (with the XPS 13 you get 120Hz VRR and 500 nits). There is a fancier screen, mind, on the upper-tier model of the Dell 14S, which sharpens the resolution to 2880 x 1800 and gives you 120Hz.

How much is the Dell 14S? Well, that's really the crucial question when it comes to a MacBook Neo rival like this, and the answer is: we don't know because Dell isn't saying yet.

Analysis: a growing no-price-at-launch trend

It makes me a bit nervous that no official price is forthcoming with this IFA unveiling, but we have got a hint behind the scenes of how much the Dell 14S might cost. According to The Verge, Dell reps are saying that this laptop will be "close" to the starting price of the XPS 13 – which is $700 in the US – but "slightly more accessible", which makes sense given the student target market, of course.

Indeed, based on the spec downgrades, I would hope it's cheaper, but the use of the word 'slightly' suggests that there's not going to be much difference. Although to be fair to Dell, the XPS 13 is level with the MacBook Neo's price tag (since Apple hiked the price from the launch MSRP) over in the US. That said, in other regions, the XPS 13 can be a good bit pricier than the Neo – in the UK currently it's 10% more, and it has been a heftier premium than that in the past. We'll likely see a similar scenario with the Dell 14S.

What compounds this concern is the RAM crisis, which is really kicking up a gear, and is expected to make hardware more expensive as 2026 continues (and matters are likely to worsen in 2027). Is Dell keeping quiet on the MSRP of the 14S right now because it's expecting further price pressures to exert themselves by the time it comes to this laptop's launch? I don't think we can rule that out.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, granted, and I like the look of the Dell 14S and the general pitch of this notebook. It just makes me a touch suspicious when we have a product that's built around being wallet-friendly, yet we don't get an MSRP, which, for this category of laptop, is an absolutely key consideration.

Hopefully my fears will prove unfounded, and it's worth noting that Dell isn't alone at being shy about revealing prices, with manufacturers avoiding pinning a recommended price on their offerings at launch being something of a trend of late (one that was noticeable at Computex). This is a symptom of the RAM crisis, of course, and component inflation on various fronts, all of which is predicted to get more severe as this year rolls into next.

• Windows 11's antivirus is bugged as of the latest updates
• Microsoft Defender is telling users that it's turned off, when in fact it isn't — it's working just fine
• The warning keeps popping up, though, and that's proving to be frustrating, although Microsoft is now working on a fix

If you use Windows 11's built-in antivirus and you keep getting worrying messages warning that it's turned off and you're no longer protected, the good news is that this is a bug, and you've got nothing to be concerned about.

That said, this is still an annoying glitch, as it's one that's happening repeatedly to those using Microsoft Defender following its most recent updates. Windows Latest noticed the problem, which has been acknowledged by Microsoft on the Windows release health dashboard.

Microsoft tells us: "After installing the latest updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus, notifications might appear stating that 'Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off,' even though the antivirus is functioning correctly and all settings show it as active."

The software giant says you may see these warnings when Windows 11 first boots and "intermittently afterward", noting that they'll appear even if notification settings are switched off. This is also a problem for Windows 10 users.

Microsoft explains that it's working on a fix that will be provided in an update for Defender Antivirus, but we aren't given an ETA for its arrival.

Analysis: a persistent bug that's been hanging around

The bugged pop-up asks you to click to turn virus protection back on, but you obviously don't have to, as it hasn't actually been turned off. Confused users have likely been clicking to re-enable Microsoft Defender, though, and then wondering why they're repeatedly being asked to do this — possibly coming to the conclusion that the antivirus is broken.

Rest assured, it isn't, but this has proved to be a frustrating bug for some, as it sounds like it's appearing quite regularly. As one Redditor complains: "Turns out, yep, it's a bug with their latest update. Fortunately it's harmless but annoying."

Based on reports on Reddit, the issue has been around for over a week at least, and Windows Latest believes it goes back further than that, to early August — although Microsoft only recognized and flagged the problem on its health dashboard a few days ago. Given that the bug has been in play for a while now, hopefully it'll be resolved this week.

I'm surprised that Microsoft hasn't already issued an update to cure this glitch, frankly, but maybe it's a spanner that's pretty deep in the works of Defender Antivirus, so it's taking some time to extract.

It's worth noting that the first time you see this error, you may want to double check whether it's the bug, or a genuine problem elsewhere with Microsoft Defender. You can always ensure that the antivirus is still running by going to Windows Security (type that in the taskbar search box) and looking under 'Virus & threat protection' which will give you the current (correct) status of Defender, flagging any problems if they're present.

• Microsoft has made a welcome change to OneDrive in Windows 11
• Prompts to use the backup service can now be permanently dismissed
• The change has been positively received by most users online

There have been complaints about this going back years, but Microsoft has finally caved in and decided to stop nagging users to back up their files to OneDrive: these alerts can now be permanently dismissed with an Opt out of backup button.

As spotted by Windows Latest, the move is going to please users who have no intention of using OneDrive to store their files, and would rather not have occasional reminders from their operating system that this is an option.

The change seems to be tied to the latest stable Windows 11 25H2 build. Previously, if you didn't want to go ahead with the OneDrive sync, you could only pick Remind me later or Remind me in 3 days — and the message would eventually loom back into view.

It's something we see across the majority of software now, and it's what Windows Latest rightly calls "dark patterns": interface choices that are designed to nudge users towards a certain option even if they're not sure about it.

Heading in the right direction

The reaction on Reddit has been mostly positive, with the general sentiment of the comments suggesting that this change was long awaited. "I fully opted out of Windows instead," remarks one commenter in the thread.

Several contributors to the Reddit discussion say they've already bailed on Windows 11 and switched to Linux or macOS — not just over the OneDrive issue, but also for other problems like memory management and privacy concerns.

For many years now, Microsoft has been trying to foist OneDrive and its other Windows-adjacent apps on to users of its desktop operating system, but it appears that it's finally figured out that this may be doing more harm than good.

To give Microsoft some credit, it has largely been making good on its promise to address the biggest complaints users have had about Windows 11 in recent months, even if a lot of the improvements should've been made a long time ago.

You can spend hours choosing the best laptop, comparing processor options with the display and wondering how long the battery will last.

Then you switch it on and discover another part of the experience that rarely enters the buying decision: the manufacturer’s preinstalled software, often billed as tools to help optimize your device.

Sometimes, they earn their right to come pre-installed. The pre-installed software might be where you change performance mode or cap the battery charge, alongside model-specific settings Windows 11 simply doesn’t offer.

The strange part? How much bigger the role of pre-installed software (sometimes called 'bloatware') has become. A simple utility can now feel like another software layer sitting on top of Windows 11, with launchers and user accounts jostling with the settings you actually want.

And because some of those controls are legitimately important, uninstalling the whole thing isn’t always an option.

Windows 11 can’t actually control everything on your Windows laptop

For all the settings tucked inside Windows 11, there are still plenty of things it can’t manage on its own.

And this isn’t just a gaming laptop quirk. On supported Asus models, MyASUS handles things such as Battery Care Mode and model-specific fan profiles that Windows 11 doesn’t offer.

Gaming laptops simply take the idea much further.

Take the Alienware 16X Aurora. Alienware Command Center offers several performance settings, and in our testing, its 'Overdrive' mode pushed the fans harder while making use of the laptop’s Cryo-Chamber cooling system.

None of that feels especially unreasonable.

Laptop makers know how their own hardware is designed to behave, and a dedicated utility gives them somewhere to offer controls that would otherwise be buried in the BIOS or unavailable altogether.

The problem starts when that useful little control panel begins acquiring ambitions of its own.

A settings menu somehow became an entire platform

Many of these apps now go well beyond looking after the laptop itself.

Armoury Crate still gives Asus ROG owners useful controls over performance and cooling, but it also has a user account system and optional content services alongside its device settings.

Lenovo’s Legion Space pushes the idea further, putting thermal controls alongside a game store and its AI-powered Gaming Zone. On supported machines, HP’s Omen Gaming Hub mixes fan and graphics controls with a game library and GeForce Now.

Taken one by one, most of this is easy to defend. Put it all in the same app, though, and the hardware settings start to feel like one part of a much larger product.

If I open software to quieten the fans, for example, I’m probably not also looking for a new game or a giveaway.

The worst part is that you actually need it

With ordinary pre-installed software, there’s an obvious solution if you don’t want it: uninstall it. Laptop software made by the manufacturers themselves is harder to shake because some settings can make a real difference in how the machine behaves.

Our MSI Raider 16 Max HX review shows why this gets awkward. The laptop comes with a fair amount of bundled software, yet MSI Center itself gives you useful access to performance presets and RGB controls.

Wiping out every manufacturer utility for a cleaner Windows 11 install can take useful features with it. However, some laptops do have alternatives.

G-Helper is an open-source option for Asus machines, offering access to performance and GPU modes, battery charge limits, and other hardware controls in a lightweight app. Its built-in performance modes use the same firmware presets as Armoury Crate.

You don’t have to be comfortable swapping official software for a community-made utility to see the appeal. G-Helper’s existence shows that granular laptop controls can live in a focused tool rather than a whole, often bloated, ecosystem.

Microsoft bears some responsibility too

Some of this starts with gaps in Windows 11 itself. Smart Charging exists on compatible devices, for example, but there’s no universal control for choosing a fixed charge limit – Microsoft says each manufacturer implements the feature differently.

Microsoft has already shown what a more standardised approach can look like.

Dynamic Lighting is a good example: compatible RGB hardware can now be controlled directly through Windows 11, rather than relying entirely on separate manufacturer utilities.

Fan tuning and firmware are much more specific to each machine, so manufacturer software isn’t going away.

But every common control Windows 11 can standardize is one less reason a laptop needs its own parallel settings software - and that would mean less bloat preinstalled on our devices.

Laptop software needs to become boring again

Maybe the real problem is that these apps have become something you even need to think about. A good pre-installed app should make the laptop easier to live with, then stay out of the way until you need it again.

MSI Center at least gets some things right: it’s modular, so you can install only the features you want rather than loading everything by default.

Switch brands, though, and even familiar jobs can move somewhere completely different. A 'quiet' fan mode that takes seconds to find on one laptop might be buried under different terminology on the next.

Software like this probably deserves more consideration in laptop reviews, too. It won’t rescue poor battery life or a bad keyboard, but if you rely on it to change how the laptop behaves, it's part of the product you bought.

I don’t want laptop makers to stop building these tools. I just want them to remember what they’re for: helping me use the laptop I already bought.

• Windows 11 has a new preview update for August
• It offers some nifty new features, including the ability to move the taskbar
• There are some frustrating bugs in the update, though, which include an oversized retro mouse pointer you can't switch away from

Windows 11 just got a new update — albeit still in preview — and while it delivers some smart goodies for the interface (including a taskbar option many users have been waiting for), there's a problem with bugginess here.

As a result, the preview update for August is an 'install at your own risk' affair, and although it's not going to put you in danger of being trapped in a boot loop or something equally terrible, the bugs are annoying.

Windows Latest noticed the initial reports of problems with this update, which include the mouse pointer being changed to a "big white cursor" and the wallpaper becoming a blank black background.

There are plenty of reports of this happening in the official Reddit thread (posted by Microsoft's Jen Gentleman) pertaining to this Windows 11 update. Apparently the old-style cursor which is appearing in some cases can't be changed, and if you try to revert the cursor back to what you had before, it'll just switch to the legacy pointer again, going by the reports on Reddit. You can, apparently, get rid of the plain black wallpaper.

While this update is optional, as are all preview releases, there's been quite a rush to grab it, because, as mentioned, it comes with some long-awaited interface changes: the ability to move the taskbar away from the bottom of the screen, and to resize the Start menu. There's also functionality that allows you to turn off Bing in Windows 11 search, which is great to see.

Analysis: QA and gradual rollout frustrations

While the bugs are purely cosmetic issues, you do end up with a stark and basic-looking operating system if they happen to your system. The really annoying bit is that you can't escape from the clutches of the oversized white retro mouse pointer (the only solution is to remove the update by all accounts).

One unimpressed Redditor complains: "Wow a buggy mess of an update for everyone."

It's easy enough to draw this conclusion scanning through the official Reddit thread, where there are quite a lot of reports of this issue. However, we've got to remember that those who are affected are more likely to be vocal and drop a complaint (or a straightforward bug report) on social media. So, that skews things and makes matters look worse than they actually are – and notably some folks are chiming in saying they've installed the August optional update just fine with no problems. Windows Latest didn't encounter any pointer-related shenanigans, either.

That said, there are enough reports of this to be a worry, and it's a weird glitch to have made it through to the final stage of Windows 11 testing — where preview updates are actually pushed to customer (non-Insider) devices (if they elect to install the optional release, of course). This again points to issues around QA (quality assurance) and testing for Microsoft, something that I keep banging on about.

At any rate, hopefully it'll be a quick fix from Microsoft here. This preview release will become the September update next month, and so this bug will certainly need to be squashed before then.

It's also worth noting that there are people who've not encountered the mouse cursor bug, but are still expressing their disappointment that they haven't got the mentioned interface changes for the taskbar and Start menu. This is because those features are on a gradual rollout, so they will only come to a selection of PCs to begin with, which will broaden over time.

As another Redditor observes: "So I got black screen, my cursor is stuck to Windows 98 and can't be changed for some reason. I got the movable taskbar but don't have the big or small Start menu. With all due respect, this OS is a 'joke' (more than that actually just wanted to stay super polite)."

It's frustrating to take a chance on an optional update because you want the features therein, only to find you don't get some — or indeed any — of them, but such is the nature of functionality deployment in Windows 11. You just have to be patient, although Microsoft has had some of its bigger changes on a very slow-paced rollout in recent times, and this is proving to be an increasing annoyance for some folks. Better to be 'right' than 'rushed' though…

• Nvidia GPUs are about to run out of road in Windows 10
• Game Ready Driver support finishes in just two months
• With the last such driver coming in October, you need to bear in mind issues around game performance optimization and fixes – but you'll still get security updates

Gamers running Windows 10 need to be aware that if they have an Nvidia GPU, they're only two months away from that graphics card running out of road for support with drivers.

VideoCardz reminded us that Nvidia's deadline for ditching Windows 10 support is now nearly upon us, with the final Game Ready Driver that supports the older operating system arriving in October 2026.

Does that mean you need to be thinking about upgrading to Windows 11 if you have an Nvidia graphics card?

No, it doesn't – well, not necessarily, although there is a major downside to remaining on Windows 10 after October of this year. In case you're at all unsure, let's dive into the exact ins-and-outs of what's happening here – as well as touching on the subject of whether Nvidia might just have a change of heart here.

You'll still be secure with an Nvidia GPU

The key point to remember is that while the Game Ready Driver that comes out in November 2026 won't support Windows 10, Nvidia will still provide security updates for your graphics card. As Team Green explained in a short FAQ: "Windows 10 driver support will transition to a quarterly security update for a period of three years where critical bug fixes will be delivered to end users through October 2029."

That means Windows 10 users will get an update every three months to fix any critical bugs or security flaws with the Nvidia drivers. This will continue for another three years, so effectively to the end of the decade.

At that point, when 2030 is about to roll around, you will then potentially be risking exposure to a vulnerability as any driver security holes will no longer be patched. But that's still a good long way off.

So what does the end of Game Ready Driver support really mean?

After October, Windows 10 PCs will only get the benefit of these quarterly security updates, and they won't be covered by Nvidia's regular Game Ready Driver packages. That means as new games come out, Windows 10 users won't get the performance optimizations that these driver releases contain – or bug fixes for these titles.

As time goes on, then, more and more PC games will be left out in the cold in terms of that tweaking and optimization. That's bad news, of course, although it doesn't mean those games will be somehow unplayable. In fact, in many cases they might be just fine – but there are no guarantees, and you may get subpar frame rates (indeed, that's quite likely to be the case to some extent).

Of course, existing games will continue to run just as they always have, and you shouldn't run into any issues on that score.

Could there yet be a reprieve from Nvidia?

If you're not happy about the idea of not getting the latest patches, tweaks, and optimizations for new PC games, then you'll have to seriously start to think about planning your upgrade to Windows 11.

Assuming you have an upgrade path, that is, because your PC may not meet the hardware requirements of the newer OS. (Although bear in mind that a simple BIOS tweak may be all that's needed to ensure compatibility with the TPM requirement). If you're looking at a major PC upgrade, or an entirely new rig, that's a painful prospect given the RAM crisis and all the price hikes around that.

As one Redditor puts it: "'This is terrible news considering PC prices."

However, as another gamer on that Reddit thread observes, there may yet be a glimmer of hope of a reprieve from Nvidia. If you recall, just a couple of months ago, Microsoft quietly extended consumer support for Windows 10 for a further year, through to October 2027.

Now, when Nvidia announced the end of driver support for October 2026, which happened last year, as far as Team Green was concerned, it was aligning the curtailment of Game Ready Driver releases for Windows 10 with Microsoft's original consumer support extension. But now Microsoft has pushed out extended support for another additional year to October 2027 – could Nvidia mirror this move?

It doesn't seem likely, in all honesty, and I'd think Nvidia would have announced this already if it was the intention. Concrete driver plans are likely already in place that can't be changed. That said, you never know – and we can't fully rule out the notion of a last-minute reprieve. Watch this space.

• There's a new version of PowerToys out
• The suite of tools has a new utility called Window Hopper
• This allows you to easily cycle through open instances of the same app, and it's a nifty trick for multi-tasking in certain situations

Microsoft has released a new version of PowerToys, its suite of tools for Windows 11 (and 10), and it packs a smart new addition.

This is PowerToys v0.101.2362.0, and as flagged by XDA Developers, the release notes on GitHub introduce us to Window Hopper.

As the name suggests, this utility lets you easily hop between windows in Microsoft's OS with a shortcut that defaults to Alt + backtick (the ` symbol top-left of your keyboard, usually under the Escape key, or on the left of the number 1 key).

At this point you may be thinking: can't you switch between the windows of running apps by using Alt + Tab? Yes, you can, but there's a key difference between that shortcut and this new ability.

With Window Hopper, you are switching between the open instances of the same app, in the case that you're running multiple windows of said app. For example, like me, you might commonly have three or four browser sessions running in different windows, and pressing Alt + backtick will cycle between just those.

That's handy because it means all the other apps you may have open won't get in the way if you specifically just want to 'hop' between multiple instances of Chrome, say, or a clutch of Word documents you're working with (or folders in File Explorer).

If you don't like the default key combination to invoke Window Hopper, that can be changed.

On top of this new PowerToy, the existing Command Palette tool now has a compact mode, so it opens as a tiny window (and then expands with results when you start typing). This offering has also been tweaked to be more responsive and stable in general.

The new version of PowerToys also features some general interface polishing and tweaks to some other tools, including PowerDisplay, which is now capable of controlling the brightness of multiple monitors simultaneously. The Mouse Highlighter feature, which draws attention to the cursor when you left or right click (with a color to differentiate between both clicks), now has a smart new ripple effect.

Analysis: more power, fewer problems

I'm a big fan of PowerToys, and I think there are some highly useful tools here. Granted, some of these bits of software are for power-users only, but some are very handy for everyday users – and the good thing with this suite is that you can install it and only turn on a small handful of utilities that you really want, leaving the rest aside.

However, PowerToys is still not all that well known, and many average Windows users are missing out on nifty bits of functionality because they simply don't know about them. This is why I've argued in the past that certain PowerToys features should just be ported over to Windows 11 directly, where Microsoft could have them as options in the Settings app, removing the hurdle of having to find and install this suite of utilities (which, in overall terms, still remains somewhat obscure).

I think the Window Hopper is a prime example of something that could be easily ported over to Windows 11, where it would be useful for some folks to have as a native ability. Power Display, which just got a smart tweak with this new release of PowerToys, is another utility that I've said in the past would be great to have in the full version of Windows 11.

Would these tools be adding to system bloat, arguably? Well, some people may feel that way, but remember, they would be disabled by default and therefore wouldn't be eating any system resources (save for a small bit of drive space) unless you turned them on. Microsoft could also focus on very lightweight additions, too, as a starting point (simple tricks like Window Hopper, or partial ports of pieces of the beefier utilities).

For some people, PowerToys could even reduce bloat, as it might mean they can uninstall other third-party software that they've set up to achieve certain ends.

Hopefully Microsoft will at least be considering picking some choice pieces of functionality from PowerToys for inclusion in its desktop OS – and I note that there is a modernized mouse-finding ability inbound for Windows 11 (as Windows Latest spotted), which is good to see.

Remember that big leak about Microsoft having begun developing a version of Windows that was built around AI, before eventually abandoning the project? Well, it's surfaced again, this time with some interesting new information on just how focused Microsoft was on Copilot, which I think is quite telling — or indeed worrying for those who believe Microsoft might be backtracking on AI somehow.

Windows Latest has gone back over the leak (which was first reported by our sister site Windows Central last month) with a fine-tooth comb, and the tech site flagged up some fresh details that flew under the radar at the time.

To recap briefly, the concept of the OS shown, codenamed 'Project Aion' — with the leaked material dating back to 2024 — was a lightweight web-based version of a Windows operating system that streamed apps to the desktop (as opposed to running them natively on the PC) and put Copilot at the heart of the experience.

This was a horror show of an idea for many, of course, and what Windows Latest starkly highlights here is the extent to which Microsoft was building Aion around AI. In a SharePoint site in the leak, it's described as a "Copilot OS" and a cross-platform system that can span all devices and is generically known as an "Agent OS".

The broader idea, is said to be of an operating system fashioned around "an agent that marshals and organizes all the capabilities of our computers and our clouds on our behalf", and that this is known as an "agent of agents" or the "outside agent".

"The version that Microsoft will build should be known as Copilot OS or the Outside Copilot," the top-level description on the SharePoint site observes. Another term mentioned is a "self-driving OS", which hints at the desire to build an autonomous platform powered by AI here.

Copilot is envisioned as being the "primary way people express, entertain, and educate themselves, and complete tasks across all aspects of their lives".

But Aion is dead, right? Yes… but hold up a minute

So, what's the big deal here? Windows Latest breathes a sigh of relief that the "odds are already in favor" of this abandoned Aion concept staying dead and buried, arguing that Microsoft is clearly backtracking on AI features these days. And that's very true — there's no denying that Microsoft has reversed course on pushing AI quite so hard as it did in 2025.

But I don't think we can declare that 'Aion is dead' quite so readily. Yes, that exact concept may be buried, but there are nuances here. For me, what Windows Latest has surfaced shows just how serious Microsoft was about exploring the idea of a fully AI-driven desktop. More to the point, an operating system that was effectively an 'agent of agents', or an overseeing AI pulling the strings of a collection of smaller dedicated agents working within the framework of that system.

Here's the thing: Microsoft's efforts to rein in AI within Windows 11 certainly exist (although I wonder about how much of this is for show, frankly). The software giant is currently delivering its best effort to please the disgruntled masses, and a big part of that is fixing Windows 11 — but another hefty piece of the puzzle is to place less emphasis on AI and shoveling more Copilot features into the desktop OS.

But don't be mistaken here: Microsoft still very much sees AI as the future. The company just realizes that it can't be vocal about that right now, especially given that the RAM crisis has forced 8GB laptops back onto the scene, as notebook makers, including Microsoft itself, try to cope with hefty spikes in the cost of manufacturing these devices.

It's a bit embarrassing to be talking about Copilot+ PCs needing 16GB of RAM for AI features when Surface models have had to be reintroduced packing 8GB to get their price down to a vaguely palatable level. Indeed, talk of Copilot+ devices seems to have evaporated this year, as if Microsoft feels this is best brushed under the carpet for now. While a recent leak from Lenovo talked about 'Non-Copilot' laptops with less than 16GB of memory (as flagged by Windows Latest), this kind of spec talk isn't something you'll hear from Microsoft.

Downplaying AI is the tactic for now, but not forever

For me, it's clear enough that Microsoft is downplaying AI in a strategic manner for the time being, and likely through to next year. The next big thing, however, remains AI agents in Windows, even if Windows 11 isn't going to be transformed into next-gen Windows Copilot (or whatever a more AI-centric desktop platform might be called).

Microsoft is still very busy working on those agents. These entities will begin the shift towards an operating system that's built around AI, with smaller-scale agents executing dedicated tasks on the local PC (with the user's permission, of course, to access stuff). This will be a gradual ramping up of AI usage within Windows 11 (and while folks who hate AI and everything it stands for won't have to go anywhere near these agents, doubtless the idea is that minds will be changed eventually).

I think it's also telling that in Microsoft's recent roundup of the progress it's made in fixing Windows 11, the company talked about future improvements for the OS later this year, and a central aim was to streamline resource usage so the operating system runs better with 8GB of RAM. Interestingly, a few other goals were listed alongside that, and one of them was to make "voice more natural and fluid to interact across the apps you use every day". If you recall, part of the initial sales pitch for AI in Windows 11 was Copilot Voice (and Vision), so I think the importance placed on voice functionality here reflects a broader AI goal that's still in the background.

Ultimately, I think Microsoft is still pushing towards an operating system that's built around AI; it's just that the timeline to reach this end-game objective has been pushed further out. While Project Aion as leaked before was too big a concept, it clearly shows how Microsoft ranks the importance of AI for the future — and I think it's a mistake to think this idea is somehow 'dead' or derailed.

As far as I'm concerned, this remains the destination where Microsoft is heading with next-gen Windows: a lightweight (possibly modular) OS focused on AI, and one that leverages the cloud and streamed apps, too. I think the leaked Project Aion shows us the future as Microsoft wants to realize it, but what it doesn't mention at all is what I think will be another key driver for the software giant: subscription charges.

The golden ticket for Microsoft is to get consumers subscribing to the Windows platform (as businesses do – well, enterprises anyway). AI agents as Windows add-ons with a small monthly (or yearly) fee attached seems a likely way to bring this monetization method into play while making minimal waves (and I recently discussed how there are signs that this is already happening).

That will eventually turn into a grander scheme, and Windows could, over time, end up getting a lot closer to the Aion or Copilot OS concept than some might imagine — although admittedly, that could still be a long way off.

• Microsoft has concocted another scheme to pay people to use Edge
• It's a referral link that gives you reward points for every friend invited
• A strange Bing app has also been spotted that switches some browsers to have Microsoft's search engine by default, and it's proving controversial

Microsoft is once again pushing Edge — and also Bing — in promotional efforts that may elicit more than a few groans from Windows 11 users.

We're used to this kind of thing in Windows 11, mind, and I'll come back to Bing later, as this is an apparent plan that hasn't kicked into action yet. However, the latest Edge scheme is active, and as Windows Latest reports, it's offering financial incentives to get people to use Microsoft's web browser.

This is happening on the mobile version of Edge where users are being offered a referral scheme. If you can get a friend to switch to Edge via a referral link, you'll receive 500 Microsoft Rewards points (with the ability to accumulate up to 7,500 points per month if you're feeling ambitious).

The person you invite can't be an existing Edge user (they must never have installed the mobile browser), and they will also earn 500 points for signing up. However, your invited friend must sign into Edge and use the browser for at least two days (web searching on Bing, too) within the first two weeks of being referred.

Windows Latest observes that there's no way to access this referral scheme should you be interested — you'll just have to keep using Edge mobile and wait until it's presented to you.

As well as the promotion of Bing in that offer (in terms of the requirement to use the search engine for a couple of days), there's a more brazen initiative to push Bing usage that Windows Latest also spotted.

This was highlighted in a post on X by leaker Xeno who discovered a small app called 'Microsoft Recommended Search' which has one sole and simple purpose: to change your default search engine to Bing.

When run, it offers up a simple slider to set Bing as the default engine, and if you allow this, the app switches to Microsoft's search engine across some of your installed browsers. That means Chrome and Firefox, and also apparently Brave and possibly others, via extensions which are added to these browsers. Apparently the experience is rounded off by sending the user to the Microsoft Rewards page.

Where is this app exactly? Thankfully it isn't something that's being deployed to Windows 11, and Windows Latest notes that it's just a standalone application hosted on Microsoft's official download servers (download.microsoft.com) — for the time being, anyway.

Analysis: an ominous sign?

Does this mean that the Bing switching application is something Microsoft intends to pipe out to Windows 11 at some point? That's the obvious worry, because you've got to wonder why Microsoft built this mini app in the first place. I'm guessing that this is something for use in testing, though, and not active deployment — although it could come to Windows 11 in theory (or something similar could).

I really hope not, and given that Microsoft is doing its level best to get everyone to appreciate its desktop OS this year, it's obvious that anything along these lines would be highly counterproductive to that goal.

However, there's plenty of suspicion on Reddit about Microsoft's intentions here, and chatter from those who've already switched to Linux, pointing out that this kind of thing is exactly why they migrated. As one Redditor put it: "Every day is a Microslop news day, I'm so glad I quit Windows a while ago." There are quite a few others in that thread who see this as another reason to defect to Linux, despite the fact that nothing has happened with this Bing app yet.

As for the referral scheme to promote Edge, this isn't the first time Microsoft has effectively offered lowkey bribes to get people to switch to the browser. Indeed, the likes of million-dollar prizes have been thrown around recently (and the same has been true of Bing in the past). Not that there's anything wrong with this idea in principle, except it does show that Microsoft's getting rather desperate in its efforts to recruit folks to use Edge and Bing.

The most baffling part of all with Edge is that it's a good web browser which stands on its own merits, and I think it would benefit from not being promoted so much (as that activity only makes people suspicious, or determined not to use Edge as a reaction to being constantly cajoled about it).

• Windows 11 can remove a discrete GPU driver as part of its clean-up routines, as shown on Reddit
• This can happen if the laptop has been in Eco mode for an extended period
• Because the GPU is effectively gated off from the system, the driver is marked as unused and therefore deleted by the OS during clean-up – but you can stop this from happening

Apparently, Windows 11 can end up stripping away the discrete GPU driver from your laptop in certain scenarios if the OS is left to run in Eco mode for a long time – and that's a distinct annoyance if you own a gaming laptop, as per a report on Reddit.

Wccftech spotted a Redditor who posted about their Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop with a discrete Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, and how Windows turned off that GPU.

At this point, some of you may immediately be thinking: who runs their gaming laptop in Eco mode? And that's a fair point, and one raised in the Reddit thread – I'll come back to that.

First, let's look at the mechanics of how this works, based on the Redditor's investigation of what went on (they noted that it "took me months to work this out"). When the laptop is put into Eco mode, power is completely cut to the discrete GPU, effectively leaving it offline (just as if it were an unplugged USB stick, as the Redditor describes).

That's not a problem – obviously it's a power-saving measure – but the issue is that Windows 11 runs a driver clean-up process from time to time as part of routine system maintenance. By default, this happens every 30 days, though the Redditor notes their laptop was set to 15 days, and this can be modified.

What happens is that if the laptop has been in Eco mode for a long time, with the GPU effectively walled off and not present as far as the system is concerned, and the clean-up happens, it judges the driver to now be superfluous, and it's removed.

When Eco mode is subsequently switched off, the driver doesn't return – it remains ditched, and the GPU shows as a 'Microsoft Basic Display Adapter' instead of an Nvidia GPU in Windows 11's Device Manager.

The Nvidia graphics driver must then be reinstalled to get the GeForce graphics card functional again – and the same is reportedly true of AMD discrete GPUs.

Analysis: a niche problem, but an annoying one – here's how to avoid it

Let's return to that question: who runs a gaming laptop in Eco mode? No gamer really does this, at least not when they're regularly playing some of the top PC games on their notebook. However, someone might be a student cramming for finals and using the laptop for work, having given up gaming distractions for a few months. In this case, with Eco mode enabled to keep battery life up while studying, Windows 11 could disable the GPU.

Okay, so it's something of a niche situation – and the Windows 11 clean-up routines are useful for keeping the system streamlined. But it's not an unthinkable scenario, and Microsoft's OS should be tuned to be more careful around GPU drivers – and it'd be useful if the system could give a warning of such a clean-up happening (so it could be avoided).

That said, this may not happen in all situations. Another Redditor notes that they have had their Zephyrus G16 in Eco mode for two months, and the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti is still present and correct.

Whatever the case, if you run into this problem yourself, at least you know why it's happening. The fix is to simply reinstall the Nvidia driver, although the same thing could happen again if you're one of those people who regularly uses Eco mode on your gaming laptop.

You can apply a Registry fix to permanently stop the clean-up process, but I wouldn't recommend messing with those settings unless you're confident (see the Reddit post for instructions). Also note that you'll miss out on other clean-up duties, not just GPU-related activity.

A better solution is to simply remember to take your laptop out of Eco mode now and then (every couple of weeks), which will bring the discrete GPU back into play, and save the driver from being earmarked for removal.

The Redditor notes: "Or just keep the GPU visible now and then. Optimized mode in G-Helper turns the dGPU [discrete GPU] on whenever you plug in. Flipping to Standard [mode] every couple of weeks does the same thing. Resets the counter, no Registry editing."

• Windows 11's August update has broken some PC games
• Microsoft is investigating reports of crashes, but right now it's unclear what the root cause is
• Theories point to security measures in the update potentially causing issues with certain drivers and conflicts with anti-cheat tools

Windows 11 has run into trouble with gamers (again) after the latest monthly update for the OS, and Microsoft is investigating what's gone wrong.

The Register noticed that Microsoft has posted on the Windows release health dashboard about "reports of certain games becoming unresponsive" following its latest patch.

In some cases, games are either freezing and becoming unresponsive, as mentioned, or simply closing (crashing to the desktop), with an error ('Exception Access Violation') being displayed in some cases. There are also some reports of spontaneous reboots occurring after a game crashes.

Not all PC games are affected by any means, with Microsoft noting that reports are coming in from players of Arc Raiders, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals.

Microsoft is currently trying to work out what's going on, saying: "Ongoing investigation indicates that this issue is related to peripherals or internal device components which have RGB lighting features. Such devices may install drivers or code components with file names similar to inpoutx64. In systems where these drivers are found, the issue is then triggered by launching certain games."

Microsoft adds that it's currently trying to "understand the relationship between these RGB components and the games which trigger this issue", and says it will update gamers when more information becomes available.

Analysis: theories and workarounds

Microsoft is suggesting that this may be a driver-related issue of some kind, rather than a problem with Windows 11 itself. Of course, changes to Windows 11 could be the root cause, and the company admits that, and says it's still trying to "determine if this is an issue caused by Microsoft" on the release health dashboard.

As The Register points out, some on Reddit are theorizing that this bug is to do with "tightened kernel handle validation" which was introduced with the latest patch for Windows 11. Essentially meaning that Microsoft has tightened aspects of security with the August update, and that this is causing driver glitches, ones that were previously ignored, to be picked up (and subsequently crashing games).

The mentioned driver (inpoutx64) isn't just used in software controlling RGB lighting, but also in some system utilities needing low-level system access (for hardware monitoring, for example, and one such tool is mentioned in the above Reddit post: ZenTimings). It seems that if this driver is present on the host PC, the game's anti-cheat probing it now throws up a problem (post-patch), and that leads to the crash.

If this bug is causing you grief — and there are a lot of Arc Raiders players out there in that particular boat — there are workarounds that can make the game playable again.

The first is the most obvious and easiest fix: remove the August update for Windows 11 (or roll back the OS to before it was installed). You can remove an update in Windows Update, in the Update History panel — just find the patch (KB5121003 in this case) and uninstall it. However, bear in mind that you will be without a bunch of security fixes (and other features, including faster app launching) if you don't have this update on your PC.

The other alternative is to remove the problematic driver file, which seemingly won't harm your system (that said, if you do so, it's at your own risk — I haven't tested this). Going by the advice in the above Reddit thread — and also from the developer of Arc Raiders (Embark) — what you need to do is open the Command Prompt in Windows 11 by typing cmd in the search box, then right-click on Command Prompt and select 'Run as administrator'.

Once the prompt appears, type the following and press enter:

sc stop inpoutx64

Then type this second line and press enter:

sc delete inpoutx64

Now close the Command Prompt, open File Explorer, and find the following folder: C:\Windows\System32\drivers.

In that folder you should see the inpoutx64 file, it may be a SYS or DLL file (or both). Delete any of those files which are present.

That's the driver removed, and you should now be good to go, and you can still have the August update installed. But as I already noted, proceed at your own risk if you take this route.

The best bet for now may be to sit tight and wait for the results of Microsoft's investigation, and hopefully we'll hear something soon. However, this could be a somewhat thorny problem to untangle, and it rather sounds like a case of Microsoft dealing with a security issue — one which should be fixed — and that cure causing collateral damage due to driver wonkiness.

Whatever the case, on social media, a good many PC gamers are blaming Microsoft for this latest gaming-related issue in Windows 11.

One Redditor delivers the following barb: "They can't even keep the one thing they had over Linux. If you have to worry about whether or not your games work anyway, why still use Windows?"

Another observes: "Since 2025 December update till today — EVERY single month the update breaks something! There was no single month without issues."

There's no shortage of shots fired at Microsoft for monthly update woes, accusations of this being the fault of vibe coding (AI), and threats to leave for greener Linux desktop pastures. Business as usual, then.

• Windows 11 is getting per-app permissions for all desktop software
• Previously this was limited to just apps from the Microsoft Store
• Microsoft has also decided to drop an incoming interface addition called the drag tray, which had drawn complaints from some testers

Windows 11 is finally giving you a full range of options to maintain your privacy from potentially snooping apps, and the OS is being further improved as Microsoft is scrapping an unpopular addition for the interface which was in testing.

First up, let's look at the privacy move, which as Windows Latest reports is the expansion of individual privacy controls for apps in Windows 11. This was first highlighted by Jakub on X, who noted: "Huge changes are coming to Windows 11 privacy & security. In the latest Experimental Insider Build (26340.9212) you can now revoke access to the camera & microphone for specific Win32 apps!"

What this means is that in Settings you can allow or deny access to the camera and mic (as well as location access) for desktop apps on an individual basis. Couldn't you do that before, I hear you ask. Only for Microsoft Store apps, with other (Win32) applications having just one 'master switch' to either toggle all these permissions on or off (on a blanket basis).

Thankfully, in a new experimental test build of Windows 11, Microsoft has changed things so you have granular privacy controls over all apps, not just Microsoft Store software.

On top of that, testers are seeing smartphone-style app permission prompts for allowing access to the camera and mic, which is a feature Microsoft has said it's bringing in before.

Windows Latest also noticed that Microsoft has officially canned the drag tray, which was a new part of the interface in testing with Windows 11.

The idea here is that when you grabbed and dragged a file on the desktop, this tray would appear at the top of the screen, and if you moused the file over it, you'd get some quick sharing options (so you could simply drop the file to share via WhatsApp, or Outlook, or a bunch of other icons).

Tthe drag tray could be handy for users with a touchscreen, for example, as an easier method than going by the right-click menu sharing options. So, what was wrong with this feature?

The problem was for those users with busier desktops, perhaps crowded with folders, because in these situations — or when using a maximized folder window filling the display — if a file was dragged towards the top of the screen, the tray might appear and get in the way of the target folder (effectively blocking it).

These frustrations led to some complaints, and Microsoft has ultimately decided to drop the tray.

In the notes for the most recent Windows 11 preview build in the Experimental channel, Microsoft told us: "Thank you to Insiders who have provided feedback about the Drag Tray experience. Based on feedback, we're removing the experience in this build. We're continuing to explore improvements in this area and look forward to sharing more about a future replacement experience in a later update."

Analysis: a real drag

The drag tray had to go, then, at least in its current implementation, but as Microsoft noted, this isn't necessarily the end of the road for this concept. It may be brought back to testing in a different incarnation, and indeed that sounds like the plan here, so I'll be keeping an eye out for the feature's reemergence at some point.

As for the privacy options, this is a very welcome move, as it's pretty important to be able to pick and choose which apps have what permissions. The only real question here is: why wasn't this the case in the first place? Granted, there are technical reasons why it's a good deal trickier to implement a per-app system like this for Win32 software compared to applications from the Microsoft Store. However, it isn't like this was something Microsoft couldn't solve – clearly, as it's being done now.

There might be quite a lot of work involved, but really, that isn't an excuse, and this is another one of those long overdue changes for Windows 11. A bit like the streamlining and new customization options for the right-click (context) menu in the OS, although admittedly that was a good deal more urgent. At any rate, at least both these changes are happening now, although this per-app privacy system is still in testing, and could end up looking somewhat different by the time it reaches release.

All of this is part of Microsoft's drive to fix Windows 11 while introducing a host of crowd-pleasing features that have long been requested, such as that context menu change. Note that the drag tray never actually arrived in the full release version of Windows 11, just to make that clear – it was only ever in testing, showing that not everything in preview makes the cut by any means.

• Windows 11's right-click menu has some big changes in testing
• This context menu is being streamlined and is now more responsive
• You can also customize the entries in the menu, or even switch it to be like Windows 10's version

Microsoft is finally streamlining Windows 11's context menu — the one which pops up when you right click something on the desktop — as well as bringing in more customization choices.

In a blog post for a new preview build in the Experimental channel, Microsoft announced that it's rolling out a redesigned context menu for File Explorer (meaning the files and folders on your desktop).

It's "designed to feel faster, cleaner, and easier to tailor to the way you work", and Microsoft has made two major improvements here.

Firstly, the right-click menu is a lot less cluttered, with far fewer options now appearing in the list by default (building on some previous work along these lines). On top of that, there's new functionality in Windows 11's settings, enabling you to customize what appears in the context menu.

Windows Central reports that it has tried this revamped right-click menu, and that it's not just trimmed down, but also faster to load (no doubt reducing the bloat has helped to improve performance).

You can also choose to have a Windows 10-style context menu, where the elements at the top in the horizontal panel (cut, copy, rename and so forth) are integrated into the vertical menu list (removing the top panel, essentially).

It's possible to ditch any entry you don't want from the menu, too, so gone are the days when you installed a third-party app and it annoyed you by placing itself in the context menu when you didn't want that to happen. You can now simply banish the offender.

Analysis: it's about time

In my opinion, you should have been able to tailor the right-click menu to your own preferences right from the very off in Windows 11. Or at least you should have been able to remove the likes of third-party additions to the menu, even if Microsoft kept the core defaults set in stone.

Still, Microsoft has improved the context menu immeasurably here, and the more responsive performance is great to hear about. Windows 11 users have long complained that it's ridiculous that right-clicking on something could mean a delay of a few seconds before the menu actually appears. This is a basic piece of interface functionality, and not one that should be running slowly on an average PC.

Bear in mind that this is just in testing for now, so this new layout and options may take some time to arrive in the full version of Windows 11. That'll likely happen later this year, although you can't be sure whether Microsoft will keep everything as it is now (some choices could be scrapped, changed, or more might be added, even).

For now, a good many Windows 11 users are impressed by this work, but there are some who, like me, are still a bit sore about it taking so long to happen. One Redditor said: "They had 5 years to do that. Better late than never I guess."

There are others who have already left Windows 11 behind and can't resist making it clear that they won't be coming back, no matter how far Microsoft takes its drive to fix Windows 11. This Redditor observed: "Too little too late, I will refuse to ever go back to MS," adding that: "They've lost me and everyone who listens to me for IT advice."

Others point out that the performance work to fix Windows 11's sluggishness is a decision driven by necessity and the RAM crisis. Someone else on Reddit pointed out: "Probably has a lot more to do with having to figure out how to get Windows 11 working on 8GB of memory since they can't control the price of memory."

And another Redditor replying to that agreed, saying, "This is exactly why this is happening. All the 'fixes' started after they announced 8GB Surfaces."

It's easy to be overly negative on Windows 11, yes, but responses like these are ultimately Microsoft's fault, and a result of the attitude it has shown with the development of the operating system through the years.

With that said, it does very much feel like a fresh leaf has been turned over, and I'm very happy that this is the case. Hopefully Microsoft can apply changes to Windows 11 that'll continue to surprise us, and make this desktop OS a more enticing prospect — although it's unlikely those more disgruntled Linux defectors out there will ever be tempted back.

• Chinese government moves ahead with Windows 10 replacement
• Heavily customized Windows edition will be replaced by domestic alternative
• Windows 10 official end of life was October 14, 2024

The Chinese government has revealed plans to finally remove Windows 10 from its systems as it looks to move towards home-made alternatives.

A report from Bloomberg claims the Chinese Ministry of State Security has told some state-linked entities to start uninstalling the software as part of a multi-year plan to remove dependence on Western technology.

The version of Windows 10 is developed by C&M Information Technologies Co (CMIT) which was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Microsoft and the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corp in a bid to make sure Windows 10 was compliant with the government's security requirements.

A welcome change?

There's no official confirmation as to why the decision has been made now, with CMIT reportedly planning to retire the software in February 2027, in line with a government campaign to curb the use of foreign technology.

Bloomberg notes the move comes just weeks before US President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, where security concerns will no doubt be high.

“Microsoft is not aware of a security incident affecting this product, which continues to receive regular security updates,” a spokesperson for the US company told Bloomberg. “We have nothing further to share.”

Windows 10 famously saw its end of life in October 2024, as Microsoft retired the software in order to focus on newer editions.

However some users were initially able to get extra support until 2026, a deadline which was surprisingly extended even further recently, with Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) scheme now indicating support will run through to October 2027.

The move was slow to catch on, as a study in July 2026 found one in six PCs still ran the older software as opposed to 78.8% for Windows 11 - with healthcare and pharmaceuticals (23%), consumer and retails (23%) and manufacturing (18%) among the industries most likely to still be running Windows 10, with SMBs (21.4%) more likely to be running the outgoing OS compared with enterprises (16.6%).

This is especially concerning as the average Windows 10 device has around three times as many active CVEs (1,903) as a Windows 11 devices (652).

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 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 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.

• 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 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.

Valve's SteamOS has often presented the perfect excuse to be whisked away from Microsoft's troublesome Windows 11. The Linux operating system's better gaming performance has often been proven, utilizing RAM well without the bloatware often found with Windows 11.

SteamOS provides a console-like user interface (UI), making navigation and game launches far easier than Windows 11, despite the recent Xbox mode. With those benefits in mind, I've been contemplating a full switch to SteamOS, ditching Windows for good, and the best way to do that would be via Bazzite.

Bazzite (not affiliated with Valve) is effectively a SteamOS clone, specifically designed for "Linux newcomers and enthusiasts alike", but most importantly, comes with out-of-the-box compatibility with Nvidia and Intel GPUs, and a smooth experience for handhelds.

Using my second streaming PC, I put Bazzite to the test over a few months. Without a doubt, it's easily the best option for any gamer looking for a console-like couch gaming setup.

With tools like Decky Loader, customization is easy, with plugins to change SteamOS game mode themes, navigation sound effects, or even the startup and shutdown videos. However, despite all of the benefits of using the operating system, I still can't step away from Windows 11 on my main system, and there are multiple reasons why.

Multitasking drawbacks

As a frequent multitasker using applications like Discord to stream games to friends, Bazzite (more specifically SteamOS) isn't an ideal option. Using Discord to stream games on the same rig works just fine in desktop mode; however, it's not the same story for its game mode, which is arguably the entire purpose of using Bazzite.

Streaming on Discord in game mode severely drops frame rates in games, with constant stutters in many I tested, and there are a few instances where attempting to stream an application will result in a black screen. I tried to use the NZXT Signal 4K30 capture card and stream my second PC's Bazzite activity on Discord via my main PC, but it's not that simple.

Sure, HDMI passthrough on the capture card is possible, but I didn't want to be limited to 4K 60 frames per second on either my TV (which is capable of 144Hz) or my gaming monitor (capable of 240Hz). Frankly, capture cards with higher passthrough capabilities don't come cheap.

Duplicating or projecting the display, as you would on Windows 11, would be the easy solution. However, Gamescope, the compositor responsible for displaying games on screen with Bazzite, cannot duplicate outputs.

Still trying to avoid the NZXT capture card's 4K 60Hz passthrough limitation, I opted for an HDMI splitter with one input and two output ports. Unfortunately, the moment the capture card is connected, the output on either my TV or monitor has the refresh rate slashed to 60Hz and VRR disabled.

That occurs to ensure that the Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) of both is matched, according to what the capture card is capable of in passthrough.

None of these issues are present on Windows, as you can use OBS to project the main display onto the capture card without ever having to rely on an HDMI splitter or a better capture card.

This isn't an attack on SteamOS or Bazzite in particular; after all, game mode is quite literally designed for gaming, so multitasking isn't a priority for Valve or specifically Bazzite developers in this case.

However, it's worth noting that streaming on the gaming OS is more trouble than it's worth, and that's without even mentioning the potential audio bugs or OS glitches. That's only one part of why it's worth sticking with Windows, though.

Compatibility issues

I wish these issues stopped there, but not quite. Firstly, a large majority of popular multiplayer games such as Battlefield 6, Call of Duty (most of the modern entries), Destiny 2, and EA Sports FC 26 will not work on Linux due to their anti-cheat systems.

This is an issue that lies directly with publishers and developers for those games that refuse to adapt their anti-cheat systems to work on SteamOS. It also doesn't seem as though this will change any time soon; the Steam Machine was arguably one way to effectively force the hand of publishers to consider anti-cheat compatibility on Linux, but it's not exactly a popular PC due to its high price.

It's also worth noting that Game Pass is inaccessible natively on Bazzite, and requires either cloud gaming or third-party launchers, and you'll be lucky if you can get the latter to function.

The solution to accessing those anti-cheat games is a dual-boot with Windows 11 and Bazzite. However, that isn't completely ditching Windows 11 as I've planned to, and a dual-boot can end up messy thanks to Windows' forced updates.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is that Nvidia GPUs don't play nice with game mode on Bazzite, often resulting in glitchy functionality, or just completely black screens. I tested this by swapping out the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB GPU in my second PC with my spare Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and found that game mode was just frustrating to use.

So if I wanted to use Bazzite on my main rig equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super, its DX12 (a graphics API) gaming performance would be worse than Windows. Overall, the entire purpose of switching over to Linux was for better gaming performance and easy console-like UI navigation would be non-existent.

I'm sure all of these pain points will be addressed at some point, whether via Bazzite or Valve's official SteamOS builds. For now, though, I'll stick with Windows 11 on my main rig — even though I desperately want to be done with it.

Loath as I am to say it, the future of gaming platforms isn’t looking so rosy right now. Windows is increasingly becoming more recalcitrant, constantly throwing hurdles in the faces of PC gamers in the form of performance-ruining updates and unsolicited AI implementations. And in the console world, Sony has irked everyone by ditching physical games from January 2028, while the recent bout of mass layoffs at Xbox belies its ‘back on track’ messaging.

Meanwhile, Valve appears to be going in the opposite direction. It already has a big advantage in the form of Steam, near enough the default storefront and launcher for PC gamers everywhere. Why, it’s generated an estimated $11.1bn in gross revenue in the first half of this year already. With pockets as deep as these, and without having to divert its earnings to shareholders (given it’s still, for now, a private company), that’s cash it can invest in expansion.

So is now the perfect time for Valve to break out, capitalize on its competitors’ floundering and shoot its shot at making SteamOS the next big platform?

SteamOS vs Windows

There’s no question that SteamOS has been quite the success already. This is almost entirely thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, Valve’s hugely popular device that launched in 2022 and kickstarted a mini revolution in handheld gaming. It runs SteamOS 3, which is based on the Arch Linux distribution and far superior to its initial Debian iterations. These were used on the original Steam Machines of 2015, and are no doubt part of the reason for the discontinuation of the units in 2018.

The big advantage of SteamOS 3 is its support for Proton, the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux devices. Although it predates the Steam Deck, Proton found its calling on the handheld, proving a lot of doubters wrong by running a large library of modern games well on a small, portable device. Even AAA titles such as 007 First Light and Cyberpunk 2077 are perfectly playable, along with plenty of others.

But Valve is no longer confining its operating system to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It’s recently expanded support to ARM, AMD and Intel devices, which means it can run on more devices such as the Lenovo Legion Go S and the Asus ROG Ally. Chris Hewish, a former Executive Producer at Activision and current President of gaming MoR Xsolla, explains the advantages of running SteamOS on such devices over Windows 11.

“With the SteamOS 3.8 release in June, Valve officially took the OS beyond the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally line, and Lenovo's Legion Go family, and early Intel support is starting to pull devices like the MSI Claw into the fold," he tells me. "On the same hardware, reviewers keep finding it ahead of Windows 11 where handheld players actually feel it: battery life, sleep and resume, and an interface built for a controller instead of a desktop squeezed onto a seven-inch screen.”

So, does the continued success of SteamOS rely on expanding to more hardware? Greg Weller, Head of Gaming Partnerships at Generation Media, and someone with over 20 years of industry experience — which includes stints at Rockstar Games and Bethesda Softworks — thinks so.

“The opportunity is significantly bigger if SteamOS continues to be device agnostic," he says. "The Steam Deck proved Valve could build a fantastic hardware experience, but the bigger strategic opportunity is allowing consumers to carry their Steam ecosystem across multiple devices rather than tying it to one piece of hardware.”

He continues: “We're seeing the same evolution across other entertainment sectors, like music, film and television, which have largely moved beyond device-specific experiences. People increasingly expect their content to follow them rather than the other way around. So, Valve hardware can absolutely remain the benchmark experience, but if SteamOS becomes the connective layer between a player's library, identity and multiple devices, that's a much bigger opportunity.”

However, not everyone in the industry shares this view. “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself,” says André Pimenta Ribeiro, CEO and co-founder of Anybrain, whose behavioral AI tools are used in popular online games such as Arc Raiders and The Finals.

He adds: “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself. I think Valve’s best case here is to grow to a broader, more casual audience through its own hardware and by offering its massive library to the mainstream player base, rather than exporting SteamOS to more devices in general. Once Valve hardware or SteamOS reach more mainstream adoption, then opening up the ecosystem makes sense. For now it feels mostly like a development play.”

Sticking points

If SteamOS wants a larger slice of the gaming pie, though, there are certain obstacles it needs to overcome. Hewish points to one of the system’s major sticking points: its incompatibility with games requiring anti-cheat tools.

“Kernel-level anti-cheat either does not run on Linux or has not been enabled there," he says. "Until the biggest competitive games work reliably through Proton, SteamOS is not a no-compromise choice. It is an 'as long as you don't play those games' choice, and those games are some of the most played in the world.”

Another problem is what Hewish calls “hardware breadth,” explaining that: “Windows still has the deepest compatibility layer for the long tail: niche peripherals, capture cards, VR headsets, external GPUs. If the reports about official GeForce support come to pass, that closes a meaningful piece of the gap, since SteamOS has effectively been an AMD platform until now.”

Of course, the other advantage of Windows is that once you’re done gaming, you can switch to using it as an everyday computer. “SteamOS is deliberately narrow, a console-like shell, and that focus is a strength on a handheld,” says Hewish. “But if it wants to take on Windows more broadly, the path into desktop mode for a browser, schoolwork, or a spreadsheet has to get smoother.”

SteamOS vs consoles

But what about SteamOS as a console competitor? The revitalized Steam Machine launched in June this year was hotly anticipated, and looked like a serious contender to the PlayStation-Xbox-Nintendo triumvirate. Russell Kay, a former Grand Theft Auto developer and Head of popular 2D engine GameMaker, believes it was a success in bringing SteamOS to a wider audience.

“In the living room, SteamOS is now a proper alternative to a console,” he says. "The library is already there, and so is the audience. Millions of people have a huge digital collection sitting on Steam, and SteamOS finally gives them a way to put that under the TV instead of on a console. That's a real advantage no other platform has.”

However, he says: “The real problem is the price — Steam Machines cost more than a console. A gap that’s unlikely to close anytime soon thanks to the rising cost of RAM and hardware.”

And there are other issues for SteamOS in the console space. Hewish explains: “The Steam Machine needs reasons to exist beyond ‘runs your existing library’. Consoles win on curation and exclusives as much as hardware. That fight is about habit and content, not benchmarks. Close the anti-cheat gap and keep the hardware momentum, and ‘the default handheld OS’ is realistic within a couple of years. [But] the living room is a longer climb no matter what the software does.”

Ribeiro, meanwhile, thinks: "[Valve] can make a splash against this weaker console market, but right now it's still a niche system for a specific subset of people — growing beyond that depends on where they take it. Valve is known for doing its own thing, and that’s not always conducive to serving the broader global ecosystem of casual players. I think it makes sense from the perspective that they want to grow beyond a distribution platform, but the extent of impact and its longevity is still to be seen.”

He concludes: “I already see Steam devices akin to consoles, such as the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. I wouldn’t replace my Windows PC or mobile device with it, but vs the existing console ecosystem, that’s more a toss-up.”

The future of SteamOS

It seems fairly clear-cut, then, that SteamOS is clearly leading the way when it comes to handheld gaming. But a push beyond that realm to usurp Windows or seriously challenge consoles is less certain.

Ultimately, Hewish sees it this way: “Windows still wins in two places: games with kernel-level anti-cheat, and anything you want to do that is not gaming. And in the living room it is early days. The new Steam Machine only started shipping at the end of June. So I would put it this way: [SteamOS is] a genuine competitor on handhelds today, and a credible but very young challenger in the living room.”

Of course, the high price of the Steam Machine certainly dampened its appeal. The consensus seems to be that while it was a capable device, it was too expensive to present a viable challenge to the living room market. Of course, the seemingly interminable RAM crisis threw a spanner in the works, even crashing the Steam Deck’s party thanks to a price hike that put a serious dent in its sales. But the fact remains the PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S all undercut the Steam Machine considerably.

But perhaps there’s hope yet for the Gabecube and other SteamOS implementations besides handhelds. After all, Hewish makes the point that having one platform dominate isn’t especially useful for game developers.

He says: “If you make games for a living, you do not actually want any single platform to win outright, even one you like. Concentration is where leverage goes to die. When one storefront or operating system controls the path to players, it eventually controls the terms, the fees, and the relationship. The healthiest ending to this story is not SteamOS replacing Windows. It is real competition at the platform layer, because that is what forces every gatekeeper to treat developers and players better. SteamOS taking a real share does exactly that.”

He further adds: “My bet is SteamOS becomes the preferred choice for people buying a device specifically to game, and Windows holds wherever one device has to do it all.”

Weller sees another benefit to the gradual permeation of SteamOS.

He says: “SteamOS has already established itself as a credible competitor, but not in the way people traditionally define competition. Rather than trying to replace Windows or persuade console players to switch overnight, SteamOS is reducing friction between players and the game libraries they've already invested in, allowing people to take their Steam ecosystem into more places and devices.”

“This reflects a much bigger shift happening across entertainment. Historically, consumers bought hardware first and then built a content library around it. Now, they're increasingly buying into ecosystems. Players care less about the operating system they're using and more about whether their games, saves, achievements, friends and purchases move seamlessly between devices.”

Gaming ecosystems have become important for another reason. “Our research found 72% of players discover games through social media, 67% through YouTube and 53% through platform stores such as Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox Store," Weller explains. "Platform ecosystems have become both the storefront and the discovery engine. So SteamOS isn't simply an operating system but another touchpoint within a much broader ecosystem.”

“Valve's long-term competitive advantage has never been selling games, but focusing on the surrounding ecosystem: community features, recommendations, cloud saves, and overall experience of staying connected to your library. Those are the areas where Valve can continue to differentiate, rather than relying on exclusivity.”

The point about community features is an important one. The community around Steam has played a major role in the platform cultivating its loyal fanbase and the general good will of gamers. Its openness to mods and add-ons via its Workshop is a large part of this. And, as Kay points out, although games purchased on its storefront do contain DRM, “[it has] been one of the better stories when it comes to DRM". So if SteamOS wants to expand its horizons beyond handhelds, it needs to retain the element that sets it apart from other, closed-off gaming platforms.

Do you think SteamOS is going to be the next big platform in gaming? Vote in the poll below, and if you want to say more, why not leave a comment as well?

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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.

• Migration is slowing down as the more difficult cases remain on the legacy OS
• Windows 10 devices are said to have 3x as many active CVEs
• Technical limitations and physical upgrades aren't a major issue

According to new Lansweeper data, as many as 16.9% of Windows client devices, which equates roughly to a total of one in six overall, still runs Windows 10.

While Windows 11 now accounts for 78.8% of installs and Windows 10's market share has fallen from about 50% in mid-2025, Lansweeper warns the migration is starting to slow down, implying the remaining Windows 10 market share could show no signs of going anywhere.

And that's a worrying state of affairs, because the average Windows 10 device has around 3x as many active CVEs (1,903) as a Windows 11 devices (652).

Windows 10 market share could be a security nightmare

Additionally, around two-thirds of the active CVEs on Windows 10 are rated high or critical, and the rate of vulnerabilities known to be exploitable is around 1.7x higher than on Windows 11.

The report notes that Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program buys some breathing room, protecting consumers until October 2027 and paying commercial customers until October 2028.

Healthcare and pharmaceuticals (23%), consumer and retails (23%) and manufacturing (18%) are among the industries most likely to still be running Windows 10, with SMBs (21.4%) more likely to be running the outgoing OS compared with enterprises (16.6%).

Lansweeper also revealed that technical limitations aren't necessarily to blame, with only 2.8% of the Windows 10 devices it analyzed failing Windows 11's hardware requirements.

More broadly, the report warns that nearly one-fifth (18.7%) of the entire Windows landscape it monitors runs end-of-life operating systems like Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows XP.

The report concludes that, while many users have now upgraded to the latest OS, the remaining estate is smaller but disproportionately more difficult, expensive or risky to update. But with ESU programs soon running to an end, deeper considerations into leaving Windows 10 should be made.

• 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?

• Researcher “Chaotic Eclipse” releases new Windows 11 zero‑day dubbed LegacyHive, a local privilege escalation bug targeting user registry hives
• Exploit could let attackers elevate low‑privileged accounts, but requires prior device access; no CVE or full PoC was published
• Experts caution that skilled actors could weaponize it quickly, urging intelligence teams to prepare mitigations despite lower perceived impact than earlier releases

Chaotic Eclipse, the infamous security researcher with a Microsoft grudge, did as they previously promised and released yet another zero-day vulnerability for fully patched Windows 11 devices.

However, other researchers don’t see it as dangerous as some of their previous releases.

Chaotic Eclipse disclosed a zero-day called LegacyHive, which is a local privilege escalation (LPE) bug targeting Windows’ user hives.

Escalating privileges

A few months ago, a hacker/researcher with the alias Chaotic Eclipse started publishing functioning exploits for fully patched Windows 11 systems, all with PoCs, claiming that Microsoft acted against them in ill faith and argued that the company does not treat researchers with the respect they deserve.

They released a total of seven exploits, some more damning than others, and promised to release a “bone-shattering” one on July 14 2026. In the meantime, Microsoft first criticized the researcher for not “responsibly” disclosing the flaws, and at one point even threatening possible legal action. However, it did not sue the researcher and later backed away from the threat entirely, partly as a result of strong public backlash.

In Windows, user hives are registry files that store configuration settings specific to an individual user account. These include desktop preferences, user-specific application settings, network drive mappings, user-specific security and privacy settings, and more.

With LegacyHive, threat actors could, in theory, gain privileged read-write access targeting other users’ hives. Or, in other words, they could turn low-privileged accounts into high-privileged ones. However, they would first need to have any access to the device, which is one of the reasons why some security researchers don’t see it as disastrous as Chaotic Eclipse’s previous work.

What also makes LegacyHive different from some other releases is that this one was not released with a CVE identifier or a fully functioning Proof of Concept (PoC).

Still, security experts are urging intelligence teams to work fast, because skilled threat actors can fill the gaps with relative ease, and turn LegacyHive into a potent weapon.

Via The Register

• 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.

• 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).

• Windows 11's Copilot app has a new feature in testing
• 'PC insights' provides an easy way to receive clear answers to hardware-based questions about your device and its specs
• While there are some fears over privacy (and bloat), Microsoft has made it clear that Copilot needs to be granted permission to access your system and files

Copilot is getting a new ability to answer questions about your PC's hardware, allowing the AI to tap into the relevant hardware details to do so – and while Microsoft is treading carefully with privacy here, that's unlikely to stop some level of paranoia.

Windows Latest flagged the introduction of 'PC insights' for the Copilot app on Windows 11, which as Microsoft explains, "enables customers to conversationally ask Copilot questions about their Windows PC and receive clear responses based on their device's state without having to dig through system settings."

This is currently an experimental feature, so still in testing, and an optional ability that you must turn on for it to be in play. Windows Latest notes that it's gradually rolling out, but only in the US for now.

You can ask Copilot how much RAM you have, or storage space left, or what your GPU is, and the current level of usage for your processor, and a whole bunch of similar component-related queries. You can ask about elements as diverse as whether you have an antivirus running, or what your laptop's battery health is, diving into mild troubleshooting territory should you wish.

To get its answers, the Copilot app hooks up to Windows APIs to analyze your system, and the AI asks for permission to do this. You can allow it access to your PC's hardware details on a one-time basis for that session only, or you can elect to 'always allow' if you're happy to give Copilot this access on a more permanent basis.

Analysis: fears over hallucinations and bloat

As ever, this is AI, and as Microsoft notes, Copilot "may not always provide complete or accurate information", especially during this testing phase. So, if you do get a chance to try out PC insights, maintain a healthy sense of skepticism with the responses you get.

As Windows Latest makes clear, there's also a certain irony about a Windows 11 user checking up on resource usage, perhaps due to system sluggishness, employing the Copilot AI to run diagnostics when the app itself uses the best part of 1GB of RAM when running in the background and doing nothing.

That doesn't stop this new PC insights feature from being situationally useful, of course. Some of the reaction has come from a place of disdain, though, as you might guess, with comments such as the one from this Redditor: "Oh hey it's like Task Manager except instead of lightweight and authoritative, it's bloated and might be lying to me."

Of course, this is a feature aimed at less well-informed PC owners, not those who can easily understand what's happening in Task Manager at a glance. Criticism around the bloat of the Copilot app is fair enough, mind, and this is because in its most recent incarnation, Microsoft changed things so the app is essentially a standalone spin-off of the Edge browser.

Another worry is that of privacy, and having Copilot 'snoop around' on your machine, but as noted, there are clear requests for permissions, and the new feature is strictly opt-in. You don't ever have to go near PC insights if you don't want to. It's also worth noting that giving the Copilot app access permissions doesn't mean it can read the actual contents of files, but only their sizes (for weighing up questions about storage and the like).

At the moment, this is a purely informative or troubleshooting feature, and in the case of attempted diagnostics, it may point to issues with your PC, but won't resolve them for you. However, it's not difficult to envision where Microsoft might head with this, in terms of getting Copilot to implement fixes for certain issues that the AI flags up. I'm talking simple Settings changes rather than anything in-depth, and this has always been the idea of Copilot (even though it hasn't yet been realized to much of an extent).

When we get AI agents in Windows 11 – and they are coming, make no mistake – this kind of functionality may turn into a full-on troubleshooting agent. The trouble (pun not intended) with that being that the mistakes and hallucinations that AI can make could be considerably more aggravating in this kind of scenario.

• Cloud Rebuild installs a fresh version of Windows straight from... the cloud
• It'll even work on PCs where Windows is damaged or files are missing
• Now available in preview, it's being tested ahead of general availability

Microsoft has introduced a new Windows 11 recovery feature that installs a full version of Windows directly from cloud servers, without users having to rely on separate installation media.

The new tool is designed to work even when PCs have become corrupted, giving users a completely fresh install.

Although existing PC resetting tools can already download Windows from the cloud, recovery can fail if local Windows files are damaged or missing, making this a much more comprehensive tool.

Cloud Rebuild

With Cloud Rebuild designed to work even when Windows won't boot at all, it includes everything from the latest compatible Windows image to device-specific drivers, meaning users can skip the faff of downloading drivers from PC manufacturers.

As for the user experience, it eliminates the need for users to configure bootable USB installers and handle complex ISO files.

The upgrade is currently available as a Windows 11 Insider preview, but Microsoft has plans to extend its reach after testing. "Remote initiation from an enterprise endpoint management solution, such as Microsoft Intune, will be available in a later release," the company added in a support page.

Being a preview product, Microsoft also noted that some features, UX and command-line options may change before it hits general availability.

While the two OSs operate differently, with Apple controlling hardware and software and creating a different driver landscape altogether, Microsoft's Cloud Rebuild does bring Windows closer to a recovery model and user experience that macOS users have enjoyed since the company launched Internet Recovery in 2011.

Microsoft hasn't provided any further timeline information for Cloud Rebuild's full release as yet.

• Microsoft's new Windows 11 recovery method is available for Windows Insiders
• Cloud Rebuild allows users to reinstall Windows 11 and necessary drivers via the cloud, without a USB drive
• The feature should begin rolling out to users on stable Windows 11 builds

Microsoft is continually making adjustments to its Windows 11 operating system through patches that address user pain points, and, fortunately, its latest move is certainly welcome.

As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft has implemented a new recovery method for Windows 11, known as Cloud Rebuild, which is available to Windows Insider users. Cloud Rebuild allows users to reinstall the operating system and drivers from the cloud without the need for a USB drive.

It's a major step in the right direction for users who need to reset their PCs, whether due to data corruption, malware, or simply wanting to start anew, especially since not all users have immediate access to another device to download a Windows image or a USB drive to install it on.

Unlike the Windows Recovery Environment's 'Reset this PC' option, Cloud Rebuild doesn't allow you to keep personal files, but Microsoft says Cloud Rebuild reinstalls Windows with the appropriate drivers and "without depending on the integrity of the installed operating system".

Notably, Cloud Rebuild can still work when users can't boot into Windows 11, making life easier in a dire situation where the operating system is dysfunctional.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of Cloud Rebuild is for the acquisition of drivers, saving users plenty of time from manual downloads. This comes in handy for Windows 11 handheld gaming PCs, where reinstalling drivers can be slightly complicated, especially without the necessary peripherals being on hand for quick and easy navigation.

Cloud Rebuild isn't available to all Windows users yet, but the gradual rollout phase shouldn't be too far off. Fortunately, it's not a feature that most users urgently require (at least, I hope), so the wait for its arrival in stable Windows 11 updates shouldn't be frustrating.

Windows 11 is being fixed, you heard it here first.

Of course, we're all very much aware that Microsoft is busy addressing a plethora of issues with Windows 11, and has been for some time now. In fact, the campaign to right the wrongs of the OS began late in March 2026, and so Microsoft has now had three full months to get its act together with the initial work towards making Windows 11 better.

So, what's been done to that laudable end throughout April, May and June? And how has Microsoft fared in general during this first quarter of the effort to mend the operating system? This will be my first quarterly report on how fixing Windows 11 is going, and hopefully, I'll have plenty of good things to say about the initiative as it rolls onwards throughout 2026.

I'll pick out my highlights of the top changes made to Windows 11 so far – those moves that are really going to make an impact – and then provide my evaluation of how Microsoft is progressing overall. Then finally, I'll talk about what else the company might do, and what's notably missing thus far.

Key changes and features to fix Windows 11

There's been a lot of work done in this first quarter of Microsoft's campaign, with some huge moves for the Windows 11 interface that spring immediately to mind.

For starters, Microsoft has delivered what many Windows 11 users have been asking for since the OS first arrived – the ability to move the taskbar to the top or side of the screen (just as you can in Windows 10). As well as taskbar repositioning, we'll also get the ability to make it more compact, too.

Microsoft is revamping the Start menu to allow for a much greater level of customization – which is a theme with the interface changes in this fixing campaign – and that includes turning it into a compact, streamlined box with not a 'recommendation' (read: advert) in sight, if you want. This is one of the absolute highlights for me, and it comes alongside a lot of smoothing over of interface wrinkles, including modernizing legacy parts of the UI that look jarringly old.

The widgets board is also being made a calmer place, with no MSN feed (which comes with ads) by default, and Windows 11 search results are being tuned so you no longer have to suffer websites being surfaced in them, removing that clutter and unnecessary promotion (those results were opened in Bing, of course).

Windows updates have been heavily worked on, including something I must admit that I never thought I'd see Windows 11 Home users get the choice to do – namely to delay an update indefinitely. More updates are going to be bundled together, too, meaning you won't have to reboot to install them quite so often. On top of that, Microsoft is putting mechanisms in place to ensure that installation failures don't happen so often with updates.

Performance in Windows 11 has been another major focus for Microsoft in these early days, and that includes boosting the responsiveness of File Explorer with various optimizations and 'foundational' tuning to speed up this critical part of the Windows 11 interface (which drives the folders on your desktop). This includes a faster overall launch speed for File Explorer, as you might hope.

Away from File Explorer, another key performance enhancement is a 'Low Latency Profile' trick to give the CPU a brief boost when launching apps or Windows 11's menus, to make sure they run in a much snappier manner. Additionally, Microsoft is honing the contemporary framework employed by Windows 11's interface (WinUI 3) to be more performant, and the sum total of all this fine-tuning is that it should make a big difference to the overall feel of how Windows 11 runs in general, eliminating the sluggishness experienced in certain scenarios.

Other notable introductions include a 'turbo mode' for a much quicker installation of Windows 11, and a new 'Driver Quality Initiative' to usher in improvements with OS drivers (including ensuring that they don't excessively drain laptop battery life). A new point-in-time restore feature also gives you an extra recovery option to roll back your PC to a previous state when things go wrong, and that could be very useful should disaster strike.

Microsoft's progress with fixing Windows 11

As you can see, there's been a lot going on in terms of revamping, honing, and new features. Granted, a good deal of this is still happening only in testing, but of course it takes time to bring through this work, and it's best not to rush vital changes to the innards of Windows 11.

What's also good to see is that Microsoft is engaging with the broader Windows community online, taking on feedback, and acting on it too (in some cases). The company really does appear to be listening, and sessions where it actively solicits the opinions of testers on certain aspects of the desktop OS are a commendable move.

Beyond this, Microsoft has set up a system of panels whereby certain testers are brought in to contribute to studies designed to improve various facets of Windows 11.

Overall, I'm pleased with the scope of the work Microsoft has taken on here, and I'm impressed with the changes, as well as the new attitude towards feedback. All in all, what Microsoft has done in this first quarter of fixing Windows 11 is to resolve a lot of the most pressing issues with Windows 11 (or at least kicked off those resolutions).

Not all of them, mind, and I'll come onto that next.

What else should Microsoft be doing?

On the subject of what I think is missing from the drive to fix Windows 11, my biggest issue here is that there's not been much talk of how Microsoft is tackling bugs.

Yes, we've heard about working towards a more reliable Windows 11, an OS with better stability – the mentioned driver quality program is part of that, of course – but what about the actual core quality assurance processes?

The fact is that there are still too many bugs creeping through with each monthly update for Windows 11, and while some may be niche in their impact, they're happening too regularly, and some glitches are very odd in nature.

Just in the last couple of weeks we've seen the Recycle Bin weirding out, leading to accusations of 'well Microsoft, this is what happens when you get AI to code', and a strange bug with a Windows component eating up storage space in a mystifying manner (the fix is coming in the July update, and is in preview now, in case you were curious).

These kinds of oddities shouldn't be happening in the first place, though, and what I want to see from Microsoft is some concrete information on how it's revamping QA and bug fixing to be a more organized, thorough, and successful set of processes. This is absolutely key to fixing Windows 11 in my book, so get to it, Microsoft.

As far as crowd-pleasing features that are not yet on the boil, I'd like to see more ditching of 'recommendations' (those pesky ads that pop up here and there), the option to install Windows 11 with a local account should you wish, and the ability to switch off all telemetry with the Home version of the OS (well, save for the barest of details that need to be sent back to Microsoft's servers for security reasons).

And while you're at it, Microsoft, have a word with the marketing team responsible for Windows, and get them to tread a bit more carefully around AI. Overall, though, I can't complain, and as I recently discussed, I'm a lot more optimistic about the future of Windows 11 given what's happened so far in 2026.

Keep it up, Microsoft – but let's not forget about the bugs and QA stuff.

• Microsoft posted an ad promoting Copilot on social media
• It said that Copilot is the "button you can press to fix everything"
• This has elicited quite the outpouring of rage from some folks, and it's not a wise promo given the prevailing climate around AI and Windows 11

Microsoft is catching some flak once again over the topic of AI in Windows 11, following what might be regarded as an overzealous piece of marketing.

Windows Latest noticed that Microsoft's marketing department posted an image across its social media (Facebook, Instagram, and X) which promoted the dedicated Copilot button and the AI assistant it summons.

The text featured in the pic was: "Them: There's no button you can press to fix everything," followed by a reply as if in a conversation that read: "Me: Wanna bet?"

Predictably this has stirred up some controversy, with responses to Microsoft's little ad that range from accusing Copilot of being "AI slop" (or "Microslop") through to comments along the lines of "no one wants this" and similar negativity.

Undermining the fix Windows 11 effort

This is a particularly poorly timed piece of PR, given that, as Windows Latest observes, Microsoft is finally bringing in the ability to change the Copilot key back to function as Right Control. This is the key that the Copilot button replaced on 'AI PCs' (laptops), but as some people have said, Right Control is crucial to their workflow (and has accessibility ramifications for one-handed keyboard use).

With that change coming to Windows 11 later this year — an effective softening of Microsoft's initial stance that you should have the Copilot key and like it — this marketing snippet feels even more badly judged.

What's worse here for me is the exaggeration of the usefulness of the Copilot key. The AI can "fix everything" can it? It's a frankly ridiculous statement to make, and yes, I know that's not exactly uncommon in advertising, but you've got to bear in mind your target audience here and the context.

AI in Windows 11 has triggered a lot of bad feeling in the user base since last year, and indeed Microsoft's blinkered focus on pushing AI was one of the reasons that people were up in arms about fixing the OS rather than adding Copilot trimmings. Or in other words, the big fix Windows 11 campaign — which is the focus of this entire year for Microsoft — was partly the result of all the anti-AI feeling.

So, erm, let's market around the Copilot key being this amazing solve-all feature, shall we? Sounds like a great plan, everyone. Full steam ahead! Let's talk about how great it would be to add more AI into Notepad while we're at it, yeah? (Apologies, I remapped my Copilot key to be a 'Sarcasm' key and it appears to be jammed down right now).

Microsoft also says the Copilot key is a button with "main character energy" in this advert, the problem being that if AI in Windows 11 was a movie, it's been a box office turkey for the software giant so far. Microsoft's hope is that AI agents in Windows 11 will turn things around, but it remains to be seen how that'll pan out.

Meantime, while Microsoft is trying to generate positivity and good vibes around Windows 11 with all its (very commendable) work to fix the OS, it'd be better for the software engineers and designers in the thick of it not to have those efforts undermined by the marketing crew wheeling out unintentional ragebait like this Copilot button nonsense.

Now, I'm not saying that Microsoft's PR team can never mention AI, of course, but this particular snippet on social media is a perfect example of how not to do it in the current Windows 11 climate.

• Some Windows 11 users have found their drive space has been mysteriously dwindling
• In some reported cases, this is down to a database file for a Windows component that grows massively due to an apparent bug
• The optional update for June fixes this, albeit that patch is still in testing

If you use Windows 11 and have been wondering why your drive space seems to have been mysteriously dwindling of late, the culprit could be a background process called Capability Access Manager.

Capability Access Manager (CAM) is a rather obscure Windows component which, as the name suggests, manages the apps on your PC in terms of permissions to access the camera, mic and so forth.

CAM keeps a database that logs app requests and this is stored as a file called CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal – and it's that file which is growing hugely on the drives of some unlucky Windows 11 users.

Neowin reports that Microsoft just implemented the fix for this aggravating issue in the latest update for Windows 11. This is patch KB5095093 which is the optional update for June (so it's still in preview, or testing, at this point).

In the changelog for this release, Microsoft tells us: "This update improves disk space usage for the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file."

So, with any luck, this will be an end to the gremlin, and those who install the June preview will find this database file has been changed so it doesn't spiral out of control and eat their storage like some kind of log-based black hole.

Analysis: a baffling case of bloat

This is a nasty little problem, especially for those who've got a modest main drive for Windows 11, such as a 256GB SSD (or maybe even smaller). With reports of the database file expanding to a size of 60GB to 100GB, or even larger (200GB according to this Redditor), you can see how problematic this could be when you're already short on space with your SSD.

Microsoft doesn't explicitly say that this is a bug, but surely it must have been? Albeit a situational one that only occurred on certain systems by all accounts (Dell PCs are mentioned in a few reports, I should note). It's clear, however, that there are a lot of reports of CAM woes on Reddit and Microsoft's own help site, with some folks left scratching their heads as to what on earth was going on – and why their drive space was disappearing into some apparent void.

Unfortunately, these problems have been around for some time, with those reports going back to March 2026, and some dating from almost a year ago. As one Redditor explained in a post some 10 months ago: "Turns out it's the 'CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal' file which ate up 25GB. Looked through some forums and seems like it's a notorious culprit for system bloat. That file is supposed to slowly build up then be emptied each month, but mine bugged and never emptied itself."

There are workarounds to delete the CAM database file and effectively empty it out, but they're somewhat fiddly, and the log will rebuild itself if buggy conditions still abound on your PC. As one Redditor observed: "I spent hours trying to delete that file. Like in a horror movie, it just wouldn't die, even when I thought I had killed it. Your procedure [workaround] worked perfectly. Thanks!"

So, the whole thing has been a bit of a headache really, and while it's good to see an apparent cure now, it's taken Microsoft long enough. And frankly, I'm not impressed with the communication on this issue from the software giant.

To be clear, the fix right now is to download and install the June optional update for Windows 11, but bear in mind that as noted, it's a preview, so there's no guarantee it'll work as it should. The resolution will be provided with the full July update, mind, in tested form, and that's just around the corner – so you might just want to wait for that. Assuming your drive isn't chock-full and causing you a whole load of grief, anyway.

• Windows Subsystem for Linux gets new container feature after being teased last month
• CLI and API form the basis of the latest update, Intune management also added
• Other changes being made available to alternative container CLI tools

Microsoft has released Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) containers in public preview following its earlier announcement at Build 2026, as a way to create, run and manage Linux containers directly on Windows.

When the feature update was first revealed, Microsoft described it as "a built-in way to create, run and interact with Linux containers using familiar CLI & API."

The new container feature is now available in the latest pre-release version, which can be downloaded from GitHub, and includes two new core features.

WSL containers now available in public preview

As part of the update, Microsoft has added a built-in container CLI and an API to let Windows applications run Linux containers.

The company noted that the API is particularly useful for reusing existing Linux specific code, like running cloud applications locally, while the CLI tool uses a familiar format so users can "use [their] existing muscle memory when running Linux containers."

Microsoft also added new management settings to let admins control whether people can use WSL distros and containers via Intune.

Besides the headlining container update, Principal Product Manager Craig Loewen also highlighted a series of other changes the company has made to WSL, including a new 'virtiofs' file system that makes Windows file access 2x faster and a new 'consomme' default networking mode to improve compatibility.

Loewen noted that the lower level platform changes are also being made available across "other fantastic Linux container CLI tools" like Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop and Rancher Desktop.

Microsoft has also published a support page covering how to install the API, which includes support for C, C++ and C#.

The company hasn't yet provided a timeline for general availability.

• An ex-Microsoft software engineer has created a lightweight alternative to Notepad
• TinyRetroPad turns back the clock to avoid the bloat Microsoft has introduced to the text editor
• The engineer observes that the app has no bloat or telemetry, and that it's "just pure old school Windows done right"

Ever long for the days when Notepad was a lean, mean, text editing machine? If so, a software engineer who used to work at Microsoft has just released something you may well be interested in.

The Register noticed that Dave Plummer — who was likely one of admittedly many catalysts that sparked Microsoft's fix Windows 11 campaign — has created TinyRetroPad. (It's a fork of Dave's Tiny Editor or DTE by Matt Power, which, in turn, was built on the foundation of Plummer's HelloAssembly — the world's "smallest possible complete Windows application" no less).

TinyRetroPad is a fully functional text editor in the style of the original Notepad, completely streamlined and with all the bloat removed, so it's, well, tiny as the name suggests, weighing in at 2.5KB.

Plummer explains that he isn't keen on Notepad as it is, and so he "rebuilt it from scratch", with: "No bloat. No telemetry. No nonsense. Just pure old school Windows done right."

Analysis: note to Microsoft – debloat Notepad

In case you weren't aware, Notepad has been accused of being a bloated application for quite some time now, as Microsoft has expanded its features to cover all kinds of bases beyond what you'd expect from what's supposed to be a basic text editor.

Of course, the problem is that WordPad — which used to be the app that covered the middle-ground between Notepad and Microsoft's fully-fledged Word — was ditched back in 2024. Since then, Microsoft has drafted more and more features into Notepad in what's essentially covering for the removal of WordPad.

The trouble is that this is very much at odds with Notepad's core philosophy of being a lightweight text editor, and Windows 11 users now fear it's being bloated and will eventually end up less and less responsive, and therefore less useful as a quick-and-easy editor that puts a premium on convenience.

What all this means is that some people have abandoned Notepad and searched out third-party alternatives for Windows 11. Of course, TinyRetroPad represents another of these offerings, albeit about as pure and compact an alternative as you'll find.

How is this app so very small? Essentially, the program can be extremely compact because it taps components already installed in Windows.

As Plummer explains: "TinyRetroPad is basically a wrapper around the RICHEDIT50W control from the WinAPI."

So, Plummer notes, if you want Notepad to be "exactly like you might remember" from the Windows XP era, this is what TinyRetroPad does. I think the ex-Microsoft engineer may have a few takers on his hands.