Since its launch, Windows 11 has been plagued by compatibility issues due to its high-spec demands that excluded plenty of PCs. But now even more will be left in the cold thanks to a new update.
The upcoming version 24H2 update, which has been rumored to launch in September 2024, will no longer boot on computers that use very old processors; specifically, the kind that doesn’t support the POPCNT (population count) instruction, according to Twitter/X user Bob Pony.
Many of the system files will require the POPCNT CPU instruction from the Windows 11 kernel to the USB XHCI drivers, the tweet states, meaning that any processors without it cannot run the operating system.
POPCNT was made standard in CPUs in the mid-2000s starting from AMD's Barcelona architecture, followed by Intel's first-gen Core i-series processors. This means that PCs manufactured in the past 15 years shouldn’t be affected by this new Windows 11 requirement. It also shouldn’t affect modern PCs unsupported by the OS, so those who've managed to find a workaround would still be able to run Windows post-update.
Windows 11 support could be the better option
As user-unfriendly as this new update will be for those running PCs with old processors, it makes sense from Microsoft’s viewpoint to force users to run Windows 11 on newer machines. The 24H2 update will be ushering in some massive changes that will heavily focus on next-gen AI experiences, as well as various performance and security updates and new features.
In order to ensure that all these new features actually work as planned with the OS, the tech giant needs to make sure that spec requirements are up to snuff to run them – especially as it expands Microsoft Copilot support, since that’s supposed to enhance the Windows interface and boost productivity in terms of apps, search, and more.
And as off-putting as the growing emphasis on Copilot and other AI features and tools can be, at least Microsoft is only focusing on updating Windows 11 and doesn’t seem to be switching to a whole new OS, Windows 12. While tempting, such a move could fracture an already heavily divided user base that overwhelmingly still supports Windows 10.
WhatsApp is working on expanding its Chat Lock feature allowing it to synchronize across all linked devices. So if you lock a conversation on the mobile app, it’ll remain locked on WhatsApp for web and Windows. It doesn’t work that way currently as the other platforms are treated as separate entities.
This future update was discovered by WABetaInfo after diving into the latest Android beta. They discovered a window with a line of texting stating WhatsApp took the opportunity to also close up the chat room on a linked device. And to open it up again, you’ll need to “use your secret code”. This “secret code” they’re referring to is a recently released security feature that was added to the platform this past November. The publication goes on to say all locked chats will be collected into a list and to access that list, you’ll need to enter your code.
Added convenience and security
Chat Lock’s expansion accomplishes two things that we’re huge fans of. One: it makes WhatsApp more convenient to use since you don’t have to relock the same conversation on Windows. It simplifies the process. And two: it offers the promise of consistent protection across your devices. This upgrade, as WABetaInfo points out, will unify privacy management across the platform’s different forms.
The feature is still under development. It doesn't work in any capacity. Although judging by the posted image, the enhanced Chat Lock may be rolling out to beta testers soon. No word on whether the same tool will be released to WhatsApp on iOS. WABetaInfo doesn’t say whether or not it will, however, it could just be a matter of time until we see it crop up on iPhones.
Instant block
Alongside the leak, Meta made a small update to WhatsApp giving users a way to block others right from the lock screen or chat list without ever having to open the text. Notifications will now have a Block option on them next to Reply. We don’t blame you if you have no idea about this. The company didn’t announce anything on its social media platforms or main avenues. Meta instead made the reveal via text coming from the official WhatsApp channel. So unless you're subscribed to the channel, you wouldn't know anything.
This patch is currently rolling out to the Android app. It’s unknown if iOS users will receive the same tool. Meta hasn’t said anything nor could we find anybody talking about getting the feature on their iPhone. So we reached out to Meta asking for information on if there are plans to expand the lock screen block tool to iOS. This story will be updated at a later time.
Android devices and ChromeOS may become best friends in the near future as Google is reportedly working on better integrating the two platforms.
Hints of this move were discovered by industry expert AssembleDebug on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) who recently dove into the files of Google Play Services version 24.06.12. After activating several internal flags, he discovered two new features are currently in development plus certain sections will be renamed to better fit the changes. As 9To5Google points out, Device Connections will be renamed to Devices & Sharing, and there is a new option called Cross-Device Services.
Tapping the section for the first time allows users to choose the Android phones and Chromebooks they want on their cross-device network. There doesn’t appear to be a limit to how many gadgets you can have connected at the same time. It also looks like you can send out invitations en masse to nearby hardware during this time. Once setting up is done, you’re given access to the aforementioned features. Keep in mind it’s unknown exactly how these tools work although there are short descriptions under each one offering a bit of insight.
Cross Device Services in Google Play Services✓ Call Cast ✓ Wifi Sharing✓ Hotspot SharingMight be enabled in upcoming beta version of Play Services. Screenrecord is from version 24.06.12, enabled with a lot of flags.#Google #Android pic.twitter.com/bvUbnYbB9dFebruary 9, 2024
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Call Cast lets you presumably hop between devices during calls, however it “only works with certain apps”. Internet Sharing, on the other hand, is more nebulous. Judging from the onscreen text, it’ll give users a way to share their hotspot connection as well as their Wi-Fi password to member devices in a group. It saves you the trouble of having to re-enter your password every time you want to add another phone.
Imminent roll out
That’s pretty much all we can gather from this latest info dump. Given the fact AssembleDebug was able to trigger the update and the near-finished state of the interface, we think it’s safe to say the patch is rolling out fairly soon. It’s unknown exactly when it’ll come out, but Android Police in their coverage predicts it’ll release next month for Google’s March Feature Drop alongside other updates. These include the eSIM transfer tool plus Bluetooth Quick Settings.
As with every leak, take all the details here with a grain of salt. Things could change at any time. That said, if it's released as is, it would be a great upgrade to the current mobile environment. Chromebooks already offer cross-device connectivity to Androids, but it’s limited to primarily app streaming. Improving usability like this could allow Google to finally establish a hardware ecosystem similar to Apple’s own.
The Sticky Notes app for Windows is about to get possibly its most significant update yet. The default Windows app functions similarly to how most people use post-its in real life – you can quickly jot down notes and make them visible on your desktop. It’s been four years since we’ve seen any major updates to Sticky Notes, and Microsoft is promising that it’s got big things in mind for the handy app.
The update was announced by the official Microsoft Sticky Notes account on X (formerly Twitter), the first post from the account since April 2020. The post generated buzz from users who quickly got to speculating about what Microsoft might be cooking, with many users being quick to express concern that the new Sticky Notes will be a web-based app.
🎉New year! New updates! Stay tuned for some of our biggest announcements yet! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/OhgpkBxFfoJanuary 24, 2024
Since everyone is asking…Our big news is not a web app… for now😉January 24, 2024
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It then followed with a number of playful posts teasing users about the upcoming upgrade, including one that looks like a screen grab of the app that reads:
“Lots of rumors swirling about our update. Can you guess what it is?
Wrong answers only.
We’ll go first…
Sticky Notes AI upgrade.”
Since everyone is asking 😆 pic.twitter.com/wKpSuvLMCZJanuary 29, 2024
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Right now, Sticky Notes seems to enjoy a good reputation among users and Windows fans – even if it does have a relatively basic feature set. Neowin says the app has “reliability and simplicity,” and Microsoft would do well to prioritize and preserve these aspects of the app.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Microsoft's recent track record
Microsoft recently launched the new web-based Outlook app, replacing existing desktop apps like Mail, with a less-than-enthusiastic reception. Users have expressed their disappointment with the new Outlook app's feature-related shortcomings and its functioning as a powerful data harvester for Microsoft, as reported by Proton AG (a company offering online services with an emphasis on privacy). This recent Outlook-related news has users skeptical about future developments that come from Microsoft.
Fans and watchers of the Sticky Notes app are evidently open to seeing what Microsoft has in store, while not hiding their strong potential concerns, and Microsoft might just pull something truly impressive out of the bag. Some users have raised the question of whether Sticky Notes actually needs new and fancy features, but perhaps it’ll be easy enough to just not use whatever they don’t need.
Personally, I agree that an app like Sticky Notes might be best fit for purpose when kept simpler, and even if Microsoft adds features, there’s probably plenty of scope for development without needing to invoke AI. We’ll have to see just how exciting this upgrade is when it actually arrives, but till then, we’ll just have to wait and hope Microsoft hears the very much available user feedback.
Microsoft might be planning to release a new color management panel that’ll make picking the perfect color profile for your PC much easier. The perfect color settings make games pop out of the display more vividly, and if you’re a digital artist or photographer, the right color profile could make or break your next masterpiece.
According to VideoCardz, the change was spotted in the Windows Insider program's latest Insider Preview Build 26052. This is a community of Windows enthusiasts and developers that get early access to potential new features and upgrades, and give feedback before the features are available to regular Windows 11 users.
The new color management panel showcased in the build has been updated to the modern Windows 11 aesthetic and relocated to the main Settings menu, with easy-to-navigate options and a simpler layout. The old color management menu, which had to be accessed via the Windows Control Panel, has been effectively removed in Build 26052.
With today’s Windows Insiders build for Canary and Dev (Build 26052), users will be able to see the new Color Management settings page located under Settings > System > Display > Color management. This new page allows users to add/remove color profiles, set defaults, and more! pic.twitter.com/T05KvasqfOFebruary 8, 2024
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Better control,hopefully …
Most people who just use their PC for office work or school projects might never venture to this section of the Settings menu, but this could be great news for photographers, digital artists, video editors, and gamers who rely on getting the most out of their monitors.
From the side-by-side screenshot comparison in the above tweet (sorry, 'X post'), you can see some new features too: the option to color-calibrate your monitor for specific profiles and enable automatic color balancing for compatible Windows apps. If you don’t want to manually color calibrate, you can either select the best option from the available profiles or create your own so you get the most accurate hues.
While we're excited about this change, we do have to keep in mind that some features that are put into the Dev channel don’t always make it out to the public, so there is a chance we might never see it reach the public build. We do however hope to see it come to Windows 11 soon because it’ll be a convenient way of managing your color preferences and profiles within the menu layout you’re already familiar with.
If you want to give it a go, you’ll have to sign up to join the Windows Insider program first. Once you’ve done that you’ll be able to go straight to the ‘display’ section of your general settings and see the ‘Color Management’ option, where you can play around with different profiles and settings.
Windows 11’s big update for this year could come with an operating system-wide upscaling feature for PC games in the same vein as Nvidia DLSS or AMD FSR (or Intel XeSS).
The idea would be to get smoother frame rates by upscaling the game’s resolution. In other words, running at a lower resolution, and artificially ramping it up to a higher level of detail, but with a greater level of fluidity than running natively, all of which would be driven by AI.
The ‘Automatic Super Resolution’ option is currently hidden in test builds of Windows 11 (version 26052 to be precise). Leaker PhantomOfEarth enabled the feature and shared some screenshots of what it looks like in the Graphics panel in the Settings app.
Version 24H2 will have an AI “Super Resolution” feature, as previous reports mentioned. Here are some settings for it in Graphics settings – a default toggle and per-app options. (26052) pic.twitter.com/fI9t4ksTWHFebruary 10, 2024
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There’s a system-wide toggle for Microsoft’s own take on AI upscaling, and per-app settings if you wish to be a bit more judicious about how the tech is applied.
In theory, this will be ushered in with Windows 11 24H2 – which is now confirmed by Microsoft as the major update for its desktop OS this year. (There’ll be no Windows 12 in 2024, as older rumors had suggested was a possibility).
We don’t know that Automatic Super Resolution will be in 24H2 for sure, though, as it could be intended for a later release, or indeed it might be a concept that’s scrapped during the testing process.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Analysis: Microsoft’s angle
This is still in its very early stages, of course – and not even officially in testing yet – so there are a lot of questions about how it will work.
In theory, it should be a widely applicable upscaling feature for games that leverages the power of AI, either via a Neural Processing Unit – the NPUs now included in Intel’s new Meteor Lake CPUs, or AMD’s Ryzen 8000 silicon – or the GPU itself (employing Nvidia’s Tensor cores, for example, which are used to drive its own DLSS).
As noted, though, we can’t be sure exactly how this will be applied, though it’s certainly a game-targeted feature – the text accompanying it tells us that much – likely to be used for older PC games, or those not supported by Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, or Intel XeSS for that matter.
We don’t expect Microsoft will try and butt heads with Nvidia in terms of attempting to outdo Team Green’s own upscaling, but rather supply a more broadly supported alternative, one which won’t be as good. The trade-off is that wider level of support, much as already seen with AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), which is, in all likelihood, what this Windows 11 feature will resemble the most.
Outside of gaming, Automatic Super Resolution may also be applicable to videos, and perhaps other apps – video chatting, maybe, at a guess – to provide some AI supercharging for the provided footage.
Again, there are already features from Nvidia and AMD (the latter is still incoming) that do video upscaling, but again Microsoft would offer broader coverage (as the name suggests, Nvidia’s RTX Video Super Resolution is only supported by RTX graphics cards, so other GPUs are left out in the cold).
We expect Automatic Super Resolution is something Microsoft will certainly be looking to implement, more likely than not, to complement other OS-wide technologies for PC gamers. That includes Auto HDR, which brings HDR (or an approximation of it) to SDR games. (And funnily enough, it looks like Nvidia is working on its own take on that ability, building on RTX Video HDR which is already here for video playback).
As you may have noticed at this point, there are a lot of this kind of performance-enhancing technologies around these days, which is telling in itself. Perhaps part of Microsoft’s angle is a simple system-level switch that confused users can just turn on for upscaling trickery across the board, and ‘it just works’ to quote another famous tech giant.
Last week, Google rebranded its Bard AI bot as Gemini (matching the name of the model it runs on), and pushed out an Android app in the US; and while the new app has brought a few frustrations with it, Google is now busy trying to fix the major ones.
You can, if you want, use Google Gemini as a replacement for Google Assistant on your Android phone – and Google has made this possible even though Gemini lacks a lot of the basic digital assistant features that users have come to rely on.
One problem has now been fixed: originally, when chatting to Gemini using your voice, you had to manually tap on the 'send' arrow to submit your command or question – when you're trying to keep up a conversation with your phone, that really slows everything down.
As per 9to5Google, that's no longer the case, and Google Gemini will now realize that you've stopped talking (and respond accordingly) in the same way that Google Assistant always has. It makes the app a lot more intuitive to use.
Updates on the way
Ok – Gemini day 2 recap: things people like, things we gotta fix. Keep your feedback coming. We’re reading it all.THINGS PEOPLE LIKE (♥️♥️♥️)- Writing style- Creativity for helping you find the right words/ideas- Speed of responses- Not hitting usage caps- Online…February 10, 2024
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What's more, Google Gemini team member Jack Krawczyk has posted a list of features that engineers are currently working on – including some pretty basic functionality, including the ability to interact with your Google Calendar and reminders.
A coding interpreter is apparently also on the roadmap, which means Gemini would not just be able to produce programming code, but also to emulate how it would run – all within the same app. Additionally, the Google Gemini team is working to remove some of the “preachy guardrails” that the AI bot currently has.
The “top priority” is apparently refusals, which means Gemini declines to complete a task or answer a question. We've seen Reddit posts that suggest the AI bot will sometimes apologetically report that it can't help with a particular prompt – something that's clearly on Google's radar in terms of rolling fixes out.
Krawczyk says the Android app is coming to more countries in the coming days and weeks, and will be available in Europe “ASAP” – and he's also encouraging users to keep the feedback to the Google team coming.
Google has been busy revamping its AI offerings, renaming Bard to Gemini, pushing out a dedicated Android app, and lots more besides. There's also now a paid tier for Google's generative AI engine for the first time, which means another digital subscription for you to weigh up.
You can read our Google Gemini explained explainer for a broad overview of Google's AI tools. But here we'll be breaking down the Google Gemini Advanced features that come as part of the new Google One AI Premium tier.
We'll be exploring how much this new cloud tier costs, plus all the AI features and benefits it brings, so you can decide whether or not you'd like to sign up. It's been added as one of the Google One plans, so you get some digital storage in the cloud included, too. Here's how Google One AI Premium is shaping up so far…
Google One AI Premium: price and availability
The Google One AI Premium plan is available to buy now and will cost you $ 19.99 / £18.99 / AU$ 32.99 a month. Unlike some other Google One plans, you can't pay annually to get a discount on the overall price, but you can cancel whenever you like.
At the time of writing, Google is offering free two-month trials of Google One AI Premium, so you won't have to pay anything for the first two months. You can sign up and compare plans on the Google One site.
Google One AI Premium: features and benefits
First of all, you get 2TB of storage to use across your Google services: Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. If you've been hitting the limits of the free storage plan – a measly 15GB – then that's another reason to upgrade.
You'll notice a variety of other Google One plans are available, offering storage from 2TB to 30TB, but it's only the Google One AI Premium plan that comes with all of the Gemini Advanced features.
Besides the actual storage space, all Google One plans include priority support, 10% back in the Google Store, extra Google Photos editing features (including Magic Eraser), a dark web monitoring service that'll look for any leaks of your personal information, and use of the Google One VPN.
Google Gemini Advanced on the web (Image credit: Google)
It's the AI features that you're here for though, and the key part of Google One AI Premium is that you get access to Gemini Advanced: that means the “most capable” version of Google's Gemini model, known as Ultra 1.0. You can think of it a bit like paying for ChatGPT Plus compared to sticking on the free ChatGPT plan.
Google describes Gemini Ultra 1.0 as offering “state-of-the-art performance” that's capable of handling “highly complex tasks” – tasks that can involve text, images, and code. Longer conversations are possible with Gemini Advanced, and it understands context better too. If you want the most powerful AI that Google has to offer, this is it.
A premium subscription will supercharge the Gemini app (Image credit: Google)
“The largest model Ultra 1.0 is the first to outperform human experts on MMLU (massive multitask language understanding), which uses a combination of 57 subjects — including math, physics, history, law, medicine and ethics — to test knowledge and problem-solving abilities,” writes Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
The dedicated Google Gemini app for Android, and the Gemini features built into the Google app for iOS, are available to everyone, whether they pay for a subscription or not – and it's the same with the web interface. However, if you're on the premium plan, you'll get the superior Ultra 1.0 model in all these places.
By the way, a standard 2TB Google One plan – with everything from the photo editing tricks to the VPN, but without the AI – will cost you $ 9.99 / £7.99 / AU$ 19.99 a month, so you're effectively paying $ 10 / £11 / AU$ 13 for Gemini Advanced.
An example of Google Gemini in Gmail (Image credit: Google)
Gemini integration with Google's productivity apps – including Gmail, Google Docs, Google Meet, and Google Slides – is going to be “available soon”, Google says, and when it does become available, you'll get it as part of a Google One AI Premium plan. It'll give you help in composing your emails, designing your slideshows, and so on.
This is a rebranding of the Duet AI features that Google has previously rolled out for users of its apps, and it's now known as Gemini for Workspace. Whether you're an individual or a business user though, you'll be able to get these integrated AI tools if you sign up for the Google One AI Premium plan.
So there you have it: beyond the standard 2TB Google One plan, the main takeaway is that you get access to the latest and greatest Gemini AI features from Google, and the company is promising that there will be plenty more on the way in the future, too.
Google One AI Premium early verdict
On one hand, Google's free two-month trial of the One AI Premium Plan (which contains Gemini Advanced) feels like a no-brainer for those who want to tinker with some of the most powerful AI tools available right now. As long as you're fairly disciplined about canceling unwanted free trials, of course.
But it's also still very early days for Gemini Advanced. We haven't yet been able to put it through its paces or compare it to the likes of ChatGPT Plus. Its integration with Google's productivity apps is also only “available soon”, so it's not yet clear when that will happen.
(Image credit: Google)
If you want to deep dive into the performance of Google's latest AI models – including Gemini Advanced – you can read the company's Gemini benchmarking report. Some lucky testers like AI professor Ethan Mollick have also been tinkering with Gemini Advanced for some time after getting advanced access.
The early impressions seem to be that Gemini Advanced is shaping up to be a GPT-4 class AI contender that's capable of competing with ChatGPT Plus for demanding tasks like coding and advanced problem-solving. It also promises to integrate nicely with Google's apps. How well it does that in reality is something we'll have to wait a little while to find out, but that free trial is there for early adopters who want to dive straight in.
The FaceTime video reactions Apple introduced in iOS 17 are kind of cool – fireworks when you show two thumbs up, and so on – but you don't necessarily want them going off on every call. Now it looks as though Apple is about to make the feature less prominent.
As per MacRumors, with the introduction of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, third-party video calling apps will be able to turn the reactions off by default. In other words, you won't suddenly find balloons filling the screen on a serious call with your boss.
That “by default” is the crucial bit – at the moment, whenever you fire up FaceTime or another video app for the first time, these reactions will be enabled. You can turn them off (and they will then stay off for that app), but you need to remember to do it.
The move also means third-party developers get more control over the effects that are applied at a system level. As The Verge reports, one telehealth provider has already taken the step of informing users that it has no control over these reactions.
Coming soon
A thumbs down is another reaction you can use (Image credit: Apple)
This extra flexibility is made possible through what's called an API or Application Programming Interface – a way for apps to interact with operating systems. It would mean the iOS or iPadOS setting no longer dictates the setting for every other video app.
The changes have been spotted in the latest beta versions of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, though there's no guarantee that they'll stay there when the final version of the software rolls out. As yet it's not clear if the same update will be applied to macOS.
iOS 17.3 was pushed out on January 22, so we shouldn't have too much longer to wait to see its successor. Among the iOS 17.4 features in the pipeline, based on the beta version, we've got game streaming apps and automatic transcripts for your podcasts.
Apple will be hoping that a new version helps to encourage more people to actually install iOS 17 too. Uptake has been slower than it was with iOS 16, with users citing bugs and a lack of new features as reasons not to apply the update.
It looks like Apple's enclosed ecosystem is slowly opening up—in the EU, at least. On January 25th, 2024, the Big Tech giant revealed changes to its App Store and business model given new requirements under the Digital Market Act (DMA) due to come into force in March.
Apple's announcement was met with controversies, though. Many commentators, including Meta's founder Mark Zuckerberg and music app behemoth Spotify, deemed it as a farce. According to VPN service provider Proton VPN, “Apple is trying to profit off the DMA.” Echoing such concerns, web browser Mozilla sees this as “another example of Apple creating barriers to prevent true browser competition on iOS.”
Developers at Opera are more optimistic about Apple's new iOS browser rules and decided to celebrate launching an AI-powered alternative to Safari. I talked with Jona Bolin, Product Manager at Opera browser for iOS, to understand what all of this means for users in and out of Europe.
An opportunity to get more control
“I think it's great that they are changing the regulations,” Bolin told me. “For us, it's an opportunity to have high control.”
He went on to explain that while distribution is a major factor for other developers, the fact that Opera browser is a free service means that it won't be affected as much by new fees and payment requirements.
“Even though, we would have to develop two different apps,” Bolin told me, adding that the challenge will be encouraging users to migrate from one app to another instead.
That's because as Apple opens up to third-party web browser engines for the first time—until now only Safari's WebKit engine was allowed for iOS—the provider has only done so for EU apps. This ultimately means twice as much work for browsers' developers.
Despite this burden, Bolin expects Apple's changes to make it easier for the team to implement the same level of features across Opera's range of apps. “Out of the box, we would get high security and a better process from where we can build on top of,” he added.
NEW BROWSER FOR iOS INCOMING!Our new AI-centric Opera One browser will be built on its own engine, celebrating the opening of iOS to alternative browser engines. pic.twitter.com/GQdohWmp5WJanuary 26, 2024
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The Norwegian browser already announced plans to bring its AI-centric browser, Opera One, to iOS to give users a better AI-powered alternative to Safari. This is expected to be released in the next few months.
Outside the EU, both the UK and the US are voting on legislation that echoes the DMA's effort to ensure fair competition within the tech market and protect people's digital rights.
Bolin hopes that new DMA requirements in the EU could then be only the first step “to put pressure” on the big tech giant to open up its ecosystem for all.
He said: “I think more countries need to move forward and then maybe Apple will also change. We also believe that [the DMA] can be a good test run, so maybe Apple would realize that it's also working on their side. We hope that in the future they will bring it to other markets—we believe that it will happen, eventually.”
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