Microsoft has released a new preview Windows 11 version 23H2, build 22635.4800 (KB5050085) to Windows Insiders in the Beta channel. It sports hardware info tiles in Settings, Widgets that support "existing web contents", Support for third-party search engines in Search for the European Economic Area (EEA), and some fixes.
Microsoft: Windows 11 Free Upgrade from Windows 10 will not be limited in time
Microsoft has announced that upgrading to Windows 11 for Windows 10 PCs will be free for users not for a limited time, but forever.
Windows 11 Build 27774 (Canary) secures the Administrator account for everyone
Microsoft has released Windows 11 Build 27774 to Windows Insider program participants using the Canary channel. The update brings with it a secured Administrator account, an additional confirmation for drive formatting in the setup program, and some fixes.
Chrome 132 is out with Lens and Sync improvements
Google has released Chrome 132 to the stable channel. Here are the key changes.
Rumor: Microsoft Could Shut Down Xbox in 2021
In 2021, Microsoft reportedly considered shutting down its Xbox division. At the time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella "faced a choice" between acquiring game studios to fuel Xbox's growth or exiting the gaming business.
Microsoft 365 apps will stop working on Windows 10 after October 2025
Users who prefer Windows 10 over Windows 11 will lose access to Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft will terminate support for them in less than a year. This follows the support scenario for Windows 10, which also reached the end-of-support date in October 2025.
What’s new in Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11/10, January 14, 2025
As part of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft today released cumulative updates for all supported Windows 11 and Windows 10 versions. Those include KB5050009 and KB5050021 for Windows 11, and a set of patches for Windows 10 22H2, and 21H2/1809/1607/1507 for customer releases of the OS.
VLC Reaches 6 Billion Downloads, Introduces Automatic Subtitle Generation
The VideoLAN project has announced that its VLC media player has reached a milestone of six billion downloads. Data collected by the statistics system since February 2005 shows that approximately 4.8 billion downloads are for the Windows version, 380 million for macOS, and 6.8 million for the source code archive.
Google launches a fund to support Chromium-based projects
Google, in partnership with the Linux Foundation, has launched an initiative to “fund open source development and improvement projects” in the Chromium ecosystem. The foundation, called Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers, is positioned as a “neutral” space for Chromium projects to support.
Windows 11 Build 27768 enters the Canary channel with a few fixes and improvements
Microsoft today released Windows 11 Build 27768 to Insiders in the Canary channel. It includes some quality-of-life improvements, allows creating new folders from Navigation Pane, and changing time zone settings for standard user accounts.
