Microsoft has updated the Edge browser by adding two AI features, named AI Notebook and Designer Image editor. Both are currently experimental features and need to be enabled manually.
Microsoft will keep the classic PDF viewer in Edge until at least 2025
Microsoft has decided to use the classic PDF reader as the default PDF viewer in the Edge browser until mid-Summer 2024. By that time, the company will roll-out Adobe PDF engine integration, but the classic viewer will remain available until 2025. So the new timeline greatly postpones the earlier announced dates of the removal.
Google Chrome 123 removes Theora support, adds zstd compression for HTTPS
Google Chrome 123 is available in the stable branch, and comes with several changes, new features and improvements. As mentioned in the title, it completely removes the Theora codec. The new tab page now allows opening tabs from other devices with one click. The browser now supports the Zstandard (zstd) compression algorithm, in addition to t gzip, brotli and deflate algorithms for content download. For a small percentage of US users it brings up a few AI-powered features like automatic tab organizer. And much more.
Windows 11 Build 26085 (Dev/Canary) fixes plenty of known issues
Microsoft today released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26085 to the Canary and Dev Channels. The Dev and Canary channels are temporarily receiving the same builds. During this period, Insiders can switch from the Canary channel to the Dev channel. This option will no longer be available in the future as higher numbered builds will be released on the Canary channel.
Bing, Edge, Copilot and even Windows may jump into Microsoft’s new AI division
Microsoft has declared a new company-wide reorganization, with the establishment of a fresh unit called "Microsoft AI" under the direction of Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection. This new division will oversee products like Bing, Edge, Copilot, and possibly Windows.
Firefox 124 released with PDF and Firefox View improvements
Mozilla Firefox 124 is now available in the stable branch, featuring several improvements to various browser features. You can now sort the contents of the Firefox View page, and it no longer exposes your bookmarks by default. The inbox PDF viewer allows selecting the text using keyboard only. And much more. There is also an update to its ESR counterpart to version 115.9.0, along with Firefox 125 in the Beta channel (will be released on April 16).
Microsoft Excel for the web can now export spreadsheets in CSV format
Microsoft Excel web app now supports exporting sheets in CSV format. To export a file, you need to create a new spreadsheet or open an existing one, click the File menu, click the Export button, and then click Download this sheet as CSV.
Microsoft will move its cloud services to a single cloud.microsoft domain
Less than a year ago, Microsoft announced its intention to consolidate domains, and it has now reiterated to developers that a unified domain for Cloud.microsoft cloud services will be launched in June 2024.
YouTube now requires marking AI-generated deepfake videos
Beginning on March 18, YouTube content creators must add tags to their videos that are generated using artificial intelligence. This rule specifically pertains to realistic content that has the potential to be misleading.
Epic Games Store drops support for Windows 7/8 starting in June 2024
Starting June of the current year, Epic Games will cease support for the Windows 7 and 8 operating systems within the Epic Games Store client. A similar move applies to the 32-bit version of Windows 10. As a result, the Epic Games Store will only be compatible with 64-bit Windows 10, Windows 11, and macOS 10.13 or later.
