Steam has published its survey results for April 2022. According to the new data, Windows 11 is growing among the users, now having 18.94% of the user base. The adoption of the latest OS grows slowly, as many users don't welcome some of the UI changes and increased hardware requirements.
Windows 11 Build 22616 enforces Microsoft Account requirement in Pro edition
Microsoft today released Windows 11 Build 22616 to the Dev and Beta Channels. It now requires you to enter your Microsoft Account details when installing the OS for personal use. This change has been first introduced in build 22557, and now the requirement is enforced.
Microsoft opened sources for the classic 3D Movie Maker app from 1995
Microsoft has open-sourced 3D Movie Maker, a program that allows kids to create movies. The app allows placing 3D characters and props in pre-configured environments, as well as adding sound effects, music and dialogue. The company released app's C++ sources under the MIT license.
The built-in screenshot tool in Chrome now has a full-fledged editor
Since January 2022, Google is testing an experimental screenshot tool in its Chrome browser. The tool allows capturing a user-defined area of the open website in the current tab. Now, Chrome allows editing and annotating the capture.
Xbox May firmware update ads QoS for traffic and Stories on mobile
Microsoft has announced the release of the Xbox May Firmware Update. It is available for both the Xbox Series X and S and the entire Xbox One family. This update adds support for Quality of Service (QoS) traffic priorities. It will keep the network running efficiently under the load.
PowerToys 0.58 is here with ARM64 and core improvements
Microsoft just released a new stable version of PowerToys 0.58. It is focused on improving ARM64 compatibility, where it now runs natively. The legacy WebBrowser component is now ditched for the modern WebView 2. PowerToys is now built exclusively with .NET framework 6, and its Settings are now using WinUI 3.
Mozilla Firefox 100 is out, here is what is new
Firefox 100 is now available for everyone. The first three digit version of the browser comes with several video improvements, including hardware accelerated AV1 video decoding on Windows. There is also the ability to use multiple spell checking dictionaries and auto-hiding scrollbars.
Microsoft Edge holds the second place in market share, ahead of Safari and Firefox
Since April 2022, Microsoft Edge remains the second popular browser in the world. The latest StatCounter update shows its market share value slightly above 10%. The browser from Redmond leaves behind both Safari and Firefox.
Microsoft is about to put Windows 11 22H2 on RTM rails by the end of May
Microsoft is finishing development of the first major feature update for Windows 11. You may know it as code name "Sun Valley 2" and "version 22H2". We all expected the public release of this OS to take place as early as August 2022. But Microsoft will obviously finish the development phase before that event.
Microsoft has fixed screen flickering in Windows 11 Safe Mode
KB5012643, an optional preview update for Windows 11 released in April 2022, includes an annoying bug that prevents entering Safe Mode without networking support. It makes the screen flicker because of explorer.exe crashes in a loop. Microsoft resolved this issue on April 29.
