Category: Software

With version 22H2, Microsoft has made the Microsoft Account requirement mandatory for all editions of the OS. The change wasn't welcomed by the community, so enthusiast quickly found ways to bypass it. Now those who use Rufus to create a bootable media, can now use the tool to install Windows 11 without creating a Microsoft Account and made the setup program less annoying.

Microsoft has released a new cross-platform Microsoft Defender app for consumers. On Windows, it acts as an additional dashboard for the built-in anti-virus, while on other platforms it includes the Defender engine.

Microsoft has released a new PowerToys 0.59.1. It is a minor maintenance release than doesn't bring anything new to functionality of the tools. Instead it improves stability and reliability of the app suite.

Earlier at Build 2022, Microsoft announced the upcoming native version of VS 2022 for ARM64 along with a Snapdragon's Project Volterra ARM64 devkit. Today, the software has become available for download.

Microsoft is about to update the Phone Link app (formerly Your Phone) with a number of new features. At a glance, most improvements are made to messaging and notifications.

Microsoft has revealed several major changes coming to the Xbox platform in 2022 and later. Project Moorcroft will allow games to access game demo versions. Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to more countries. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to stream some games from they library. Finally, in coming days we will able to try a new Microsoft Xbox TV app.

Microsoft has released a new stable version of its PowerToys app suite. PowerToys 0.59 is notable for using WinUI 3 in Power Rename, that makes it look modern and stylish. Among other changes, Keyboard Manager now supports up to 4 modifier keys for shortcuts.

Microsoft has started testing a new version of OneNote of the Windows 11 design style. This appearance was first introduced last year along with intention to merge OneNote and OneNote for Windows 10 (from the Microsoft Store) into a single OneNote app.

Microsoft today released the stable version of Windows Terminal 1.13. It includes all the changes from the appropriate preliminary release. At the same time, the Redmond firm issued a new version of Windows Terminal Preview 1.14. The latter has got new actions, and also allows setting one background image to your entire Terminal window, instead of each split panel has its own background.

Microsoft must be working on a new app for Windows 11. Currently it is known as "Designer". There are some images available that reveal how it currently looks.