Category: Software

The PowerToys app suite is getting a new tool called Workspaces. It will allow users to customize the layout of applications on the screen and save layouts as shortcuts to launch them later with one click.

Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue support for the Paint 3D app. The company will stop releasing updates for the app and will permanently remove it from the Microsoft Store on November 4, 2024. Users who currently have the app installed should still be able to use it after this date.

Microsoft has released an update to the Microsoft Store app (version 22407.xxxx.x and higher) for Windows 11 that brings a redesigned Library, a new Updates & Downloads page, and a few other changes. The new version of the app is gradually coming to Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels.

As discovered recently, a change in Windows 11 24H2 makes impossible to install it on a computer without the POPCNT instruction. It is part of the SSE4.2, which is missing in AMD Turion II and Intel Core 2 Duo and older. Now NVIDIA follows the suit. The company announced that it will stop supporting processors that do not have the POPCNT instruction in GPU drivers. Starting with version 555, computers that do not meet this requirement will experience blue screens of death (BSODs) after installing this version of the NVIDIA drivers.

Microsoft has unveiled a major update to its Bing search engine that dramatically changes the search results page. The page will now display a detailed answer generated by artificial intelligence based on millions of sources. Next, it will list the sources that the AI ​​used to generate the answer so you can verify the information or learn more.

Winget version 1.8 is now available with a great improvement. The app is now able to download app 'distros' from the Store so you can install them offline on demand.

Microsoft  has announced big changes to its Xbox Game Pass service. In addition to the expected price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the company is completely revising the no-cost subscription plan for consoles. In the coming months, it will be replaced by Xbox Game Pass Standard, which will not provide access to new games on release day.

The unofficial Amperage project from the famous Windows enthusiast and developer @thebookisclosed allows launching the Recall feature of Windows 11 on older -officially not supported - devices. The trick works starting in Windows 11 24H2 Build 26100.712, and currently requires PCs with chips based on ARM64 architecture (Qualcomm Snapdragon, Microsoft SQ or Ampere). The project's source code is written in C# and published on GitHub.

Windows Insiders in all channels are getting a new version of the Phone Link app. Starting with build 1.24051.98 and higher, it will offer the user a new feature - Suggested Replies. The app will provide AI-generated answers that you can easily pick without typing.

Microsoft has announced the creation of a graphical configurator for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), a layer for running Linux applications on Windows. The app is called WSL Settings GUI, and it will simplify the configuration of WSL to your needs. Specially, it allow you to manage and view various WSL parameters without the need to manually edit the ".wslconfig" file.