Category: Software

Google has launched a closed beta testing of the Google Play Games for Windows application. The app will allow running Android games on PC. The plan to bring Google Play Games to Windows was recently announced during The Game Awards show.

Without a fanfare, Microsoft has updated PowerToys to version 0.53.3. This minor release is intended to resolve a few regressions and bugs in the included tools.

CCleaner is a popular tool that needs no introduction. Many users —especially less tech-proficient—find CCleaner helpful in maintaining a computer in a working state. If you are a CCleaner user, there is good news for you: CCleaner is now available in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft today released a new version of the Windows Package Manager (WinGet). Being available on Windows 10 version 1809 and later, it now supports x64 on ARM64, and includes mutiple fixes.

Microsoft today released a new version of PowerToys. While PowerToys 0.53.1 mostly comes with quality improvements, it also includes a couple of novelties. The major addition is the ability to make any window always on top. Besides, there is G-code support for thumbnails and preview pane, and a bunch of fixes.

A fancy new user interface and lots of modern touches are one of the reasons people upgrade from Windows 10 to 11. Still, the latest operating system from Microsoft is good old Windows with tons of inconsistencies and questionable UI bits. While Microsoft is working on the first feature update for Windows 11 to address primary concerns, third-party developers and enthusiasts offer their modern versions of old and outdated parts of Windows. Last year, someone made a UWP version of Winver—a legacy UI that shows you the current Windows version and its build number.

Microsoft today updated the  Windows Terminal app, both stable and preview. The Preview channel has got version 1.12.3472.0, while the stable one is now on version 1.11.3471.0. Both releases include a new version of the Cascadia Code font, Cascadia Code 2111.01, and come with a huge list of fixes.

As you may remember, Windows Terminal allows you to set it as your default console host. This means that any console app, e.g. diskpart, will open inside a Windows Terminal tab rather than in a new Command Prompt instance. Microsoft today announced that Windows 11 will soon use new defaults, having Windows Terminal the default console app out-of-the-box.

During The Game Awards show, Google made a truly surprising announcement: Google Play Games are officially coming soon to Windows 11 and Windows 10. The ad giant wants to bring Android games to Windows computers somewhere in 2022.

Microsoft has announced a video encoding API designed to efficiently encode video in H264 and HEVC codecs using a GPU in accordance with DirectX 12 standards. The API is built into Windows 11 and is already available to developers in the DirectX 12 Agility SDK (1.700.10 preview or newer).