Category: Software

Microsoft recently started enforcing Windows 11 hardware compatibility rules for virtual machines, requiring SecureBoot, UEFI, and a TPM module to get the latest builds. As a result, many users noticed that their VMs could no longer download and install fresh updates. If you use Hyper-V or commercial virtualization software (VMWare Workstation, for example), you can add TPM modules to your virtual machines. The problem is that TPM modules are not available in free virtualization apps, such as VMWare Player or VirtualBox. Fortunately, developers of the latter work on fixing the situation.

Microsoft PowerToys, a set of advanced tools to expand features in Windows, is now available to download from the Microsoft Store on Windows 11. Up until now, users could download the app from its official repository on GitHub, which is not the simplest or the most convenient option for many. With the arrival of PowerToys to the Microsoft Store, more users can access the app with a single click.

In 2007, Microsoft introduced Silverlight - a framework for developing rich web applications, similar to how Adobe Flash operates. Apart from offering Silverlight for media streaming services (Netflix used Silverlight before ditching it in favor of HTML5 in 2013), Microsoft used it as one of the development platforms for now-deceased Windows Phone. Just like the latter bit the dust in 2015, Microsoft is now ending support for Silverlight. The company announced its plans to pull the plug on Silverlight on October 12, 2021.

Microsoft today released a new experimental version of PowerToys, numbered 0.46. This update comes with the Video conference mute feature and includes everything that is available in the current stable version 0.45.

To say at least, not everyone is happy with how Microsoft has changed the taskbar and Start menu in Windows 11. Besides quite a radical redesign, Microsoft removed lots of popular features for no apparent reason. Users can no longer move the taskbar, and the left-click menu is gone, icons are always grouped with no option to turn on labels, and the Start menu itself requires more clicks to get to the needed apps. Where Microsoft fails, third-party app developers thrive. Although Windows 11 is one month from the public release, you can already get a dozen of apps to fix Windows 11's annoyances. "StartIsBack" is one such app to make the Start menu and taskbar in Windows 11 more convenient.

Microsoft has announced the a new service, Microsoft Start, which aims to bring news and content from trusted publishers together in one place. It is based on what was used for MSN and Microsoft News, but has improved machine learning algorithms and a dedicated team of moderators that will handle content curation.

The latest release of PowerToys, Microsoft has fixed a lot of bugs and improved stability of the tools. The company is about to include the updated utilities, specially Video Conference Mute, in next week's experimental version.

At Gamescom 2021, Microsoft announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming, formerly known as Project xCloud, will be available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X & S consoles later this year. The company said that it will continue to be part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Also, some members of the Xbox Insider program will be able to evaluate the service before its official launch on consoles.

A major visual update is on the way to PowerToys users. Its settings dialog will soon have colorful icons in settings for option categories, updated controls and boxes. Its appearance replicates the Settings app of Windows 11.