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.
Author: Sergey Tkachenko
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.
Microsoft just made Hotpatching available for 64-bit Arm architecture
Microsoft has officially announced the general availability of hotpatching for 64-bit Arm (Arm64) architecture on Windows 11, version 24H2. This enables security patches to be applied without system restarts, significantly reducing downtime and making devices more secure.
Windows 10 Build 19045.6156 is out to the Release Preview channel
Windows 10, Build 19045.6156 (KB5062649) is now available to the Release Preview Channel for Insiders running Windows 10, version 22H2. It comes with a few minor fixes and small improvements.
Windows 11 Build 22631.5696 is now available in the Release Preview channel
Windows 11, version 23H2, Build 22631.5696 is out via (KB5062663) to Insider program participants in the Release Preview channel. It comes with fixes only, which are as follows.
