The end-of-support date for Skype for Business 2015 and 2019 is set on October 14, 2025. But today, Microsoft surprising announced an optional Extended Security Update (ESU) program to support a smooth transition to Skype for Business SE (Subscription Edition). Microsoft is aware that some organizations have not yet completed their migration.
Author: Sergey Tkachenko
Xbox Insiders can now stream their console games on the Xbox PC app
Microsoft has announced a major enhancement to the Xbox experience on both PCs and consoles. Starting today, members of the PC Gaming Preview who hold an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription can now stream console games they own. While the list of supported games is limited, it already includes titles that aren't part of the Game Pass catalog. The new feature comes to 28 regions where Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) is supported.
Windows 10 Update KB5062554 Breaks Emoji Panel Search
A recent cumulative update for Windows 10 has introduced a bug that the emoji panel's search feature non-working. It was introduced in the release of update KB5062554 on July 8, 2025. This update addresses security flaws and system stability issues, but unexpectedly damaged the emoji search function.
Microsoft Reintroduces Mica Visual Effects in Edge Browser
In a recent update to Microsoft Edge Canary, the company from Redmond has reintroduced the Mica visual effects for Windows 11 users. This decision follows widespread user feedback expressing dissatisfaction with the removal of these design elements in the stable release. The updated Edge Canary again allows full activation of Mica through a feature flag and a settings. When enabled, the UI looks more integrated and aesthetically consistent experience across the operating system.
Windows 11 Build 26120.4733 (Beta) released with new features
Microsoft has released Windows 11, Build 26120.4733 (KB5062651), to Insiders in the Beta channel running OS version 24H2. Similarly to the Dev channel update, it comes with a new Describe Image action in Click to Do, removes the administrator account by introducing the new Admin Guard feature, and also adds several fixes to Explorer and Windows shell.
Windows 11 Build 26200.5702 (Dev) adds new Describe Image action
Microsoft has released Windows 11, Build 26200.5702 (KB5062653), to Insiders in the Dev channel. It features a new Describe Image action in Click to Do, removes the administrator account by introducing the new Admin Guard feature, and also adds several fixes to Explorer and Windows shell.
Phi-4-mini-flash-reasoning is a new Small Language Model from Microsoft
Microsoft has released a new small language model called Phi-4-mini-flash-reasoning, the main benefit of which is to enhance logical reasoning capabilities on devices with limited resources, be they smartphones, peripherals or embedded systems.
AI Tools Don’t Help You Coding Faster, They Make You Slower
A study reveals that AI Code assistants may slow down experienced developers. The METR (Model Evaluation & Threat Research) group has released their findings on the subject. The result challenges the popular belief regarding benefits of AI code assistants.
Browser Add-ons Widely Used as Distributed Scraping Network for AI Model Training
Security researchers from Secure Annex have identified a growing trend in browser add-on monetization. Developers are embedding a JavaScript library named mellowtel.js into extensions to form a distributed network of user systems for web content scraping. These systems act as proxies and bots that download website content upon receiving instructions from external servers.
Windows 11 Build 27898 (Canary) adds the adaptive taskbar buttons
Microsoft has released Windows 11 Build 27898 to Insiders in the Canary channel, introducing several new features and improvements. The company is testing taskbar icon scaling to allow more apps to be visible without overflow, with customizable options for when icons should shrink.
