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Posts tagged "Death"

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Windows 11 gets new features for Settings app as Microsoft continues with its ‘death by a thousand cuts’ for Control Panel
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Microsoft is slowly shifting the functionality of the old Control Panel that’s still kicking about in Windows 11 to the Settings app, and some more features have just made this transition – at least in test builds of the OS.

Windows Latest spotted this fresh activity in terms of shuffling features across, work that should benefit Windows 11 users when the 24H2 update is released later this year.

One move here is with the Power & Battery panel in the Settings app, which now presents laptop users with the ability to change ‘Lid, power, and sleep button controls’ (options currently in the Control Panel, as noted). This allows you to decide what happens when you close the notebook lid or hit the power button (have the device sleep, hibernate, shut down – or do nothing).

For desktop PC users, there are power options, but obviously, they are slightly different – there’s no lid to shut in this case, and also the hibernate option isn’t present.

Microsoft is also working on the Display section of Settings, having introduced Color Management options to allow you to change your Color Profiles (again, shifting that from the Control Panel).

Another small move was noticed by Windows Latest in the Storage Pool panel where there is a new option to ‘Delete this Storage pool’ which was previously only accessible via the legacy Control Panel.

Analysis: Control Panel’s slow slide into oblivion

All of these are relatively minor moves – well, the power-related changes are more important, to be fair – but it’s all additional momentum in terms of the Settings app finally taking over all the duties of the old Control Panel. It’s just that Microsoft is being very slow in drip-feeding these kinds of changes to Windows 11 (and indeed Windows 10) users.

The problem is that the amount of options under the hood of Microsoft’s desktop operating system is vast, frankly (and some of those functions are niche and rarely seen by the majority of everyday users – like storage pools). So, it’s taking some time for Microsoft to get its house in order in terms of migrating all of this functionality to the Settings app, which was introduced with Windows 8, but took center stage in Windows 10.

Work began in earnest on dismantling the Control Panel with Windows 10 back in 2020, and the eventual aim is to ditch the panel from Windows 11 (or a future version of the OS, most likely) completely.

However, there are still legacy areas of the Control Panel around as we’ve seen, and when these old, rusty pieces of interface pop up, it can be pretty jarring. Particularly in Windows 11 where Microsoft has gone further to achieve a sleeker and more modern look with its desktop and menus.

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The end of ‘Hackintosh’ – how Apple is sounding the death knell for a once-thriving online community
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The beloved ‘Hackintosh’ may be on its last legs, as Apple’s macOS 14 Sonoma kills off a selection of older Wi-Fi drivers in its signature operating system allowing users to run it properly on purpose-built hardware.

For the uninitiated, a Hackintosh was the term given to a non-Apple computer or other device running macOS. The benefits of this are pretty obvious: for starters, Apple’s best MacBooks and Macs can cost a pretty penny, and are usually the only way to access macOS.

On top of that, Apple’s hardware can be limited for some users – if you want a super-powered scientific modeling PC with a ludicrous amount of RAM, for example, you’d normally be limited to purpose-built Windows and Linux machines. Then there's also the silly (but fun) edge cases, like running macOS on a Nintendo DS.

The latest version of macOS, Sonoma, has removed driver support for a selection of old Broadcom Wi-Fi cards found in some Mac models from 2012/13. That might not sound like a big problem in itself (after all, that hardware is more than a decade old now). But Hackintosh fan and app developer Aleksandar Vacić has pointed out that those cards were integral to fully-functioning Hackintosh builds, and a driver shift from .kext to .dext formats has similarly hamstrung other workarounds.

A sad day for macOS lovers… who don’t like Macs

Hackintosh fans formed a small but lively online community around their custom macOS rigs, and some users are already bemoaning the impending death of their favorite homebrew hardware.

As one commenter on OSNews put it Hackintoshes were “a great way to have a machine that Apple doesn’t offer anymore – unsightly big box full of hardware.” Many have noted that Apple dropping Intel and shifting to ARM-based chips for its Macs, starting the release of the very impressive M1 chip seen in the 2020 MacBook Air, was the first sign that the Hackintosh glory days might be coming to an end, and that prophecy seems to be ringing true.

Without proper Wi-Fi driver support, the only way to run Sonoma on non-Apple hardware now seems to be doing so without Wi-Fi at all, which has the knock-on effect of borking many apps in macOS, including FaceTime, AirDrop, and Continuity. With one of the aforementioned Wi-Fi cards and an older version of macOS, all of those tools worked just fine.

At the end of the day, the humble Hackintosh represented a path forward for users who loved the OS, but hated (or simply couldn’t afford) the hardware. It’s no surprise that some fans are upset by its slow death, but the writing was on the wall; the Hackintosh community has undeniably been shrinking ever since the tech giant abandoned Intel’s x86 processors.

Google’s time to shine?

Personally, as TechRadar’s resident macOS hater, I won’t really shed a tear about this. There was one comment on OSNews that resonated with me, though: user ‘cpcf’, who said “we discard so much hardware long, long before its natural use-by-date simply because some software somewhere says ‘No!’”

It’s an excellent point, although I’m not dragging Apple directly here; ending support for decade-plus-old kit isn’t ridiculous. But killing users’ ability to keep their old home-made Macs running is a shame, especially considering that Apple hasn’t historically hated the ‘Hackintosh’ trend too much. Another user speculates about macOS being given the open API license treatment, suggesting Apple takes a stance of “Here’s our driver API so 3rd parties can make drivers, here’s the OS. If you want to run it on an x86 PC, pay us $ 200.”

It’s not a bad idea, and could be a way for Apple to make a bit of side cash off its older macOS versions, but I doubt it’ll ever happen. Apple prides itself on its tightly insulated software ecosystem, and Google beat macOS to the punch anyway. ChromeOS Flex already offers a cheap and easy alternative OS for almost any machine, an admirable way to beat the current e-waste crisis. Good job, Google; sorry you missed the boat, Apple.

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Say goodbye to the recent Blue Screen of Death drama in your life with these new fixes from Intel
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If you’ve recently been confronted by the fearsome Blue Screen of Death (also known as BSOD… yes, it’s got its own acronym) when using Windows 11, Intel might have pinpointed the cause and is offering a fix. According to Intel, the recent BSOD is likely caused by a faulty Wi-Fi driver, for which it’s released an update that should resolve this. It’s also released an update for Bluetooth, version 23.30, that should bring additional stability. 

Intel WLAN driver version 23.30 is Intel’s February 2024 Wi-Fi update that should stop Windows 11 from crashing and showing the BSOD. This update addresses more than just the crashing issue in Windows 11, as detailed in Intel’s full release notes for the update. Other improvements include an improved Quality of Service (QoS) which will help devices prioritize internet traffic better, and Windows Latest explains that this could improve the overall internet performance of a device connected to a router used by multiple devices. Intel has also made changes that should improve network latency, which is good news for those who like to play games online.

Since installing the initial driver update, users have been reporting issues like Windows System Event ID 5002 errors have been a common occurrence. Other issues included problems with finding Wi-Fi networks and connecting to monitors using the wireless Miracast function. 

Windows 11 Update showing on laptop in an office

(Image credit: TechRadar)

How and when you can expect these updates

If you have a suitable Windows 11 device with Intel Wi-Fi and Bluetooth components, you can expect these updates to land in your device’s Windows Update app. If for whatever reason you do not see these or you want to speed up the process (given they’ve not been installed already), you can use the Intel Driver and Support Assistant (iDSA) to download and install them. You can do this by going to Intel’s website and downloading the installation file for the iDSA, and opening up the app once installed. Get the app to check for updates, and if they’re available for your device, they should show up. If you have issues with the updates once they’re installed, you should be able to revert to older versions using the Device Manager app.

If you’re having other issues with your Windows 11 device, Intel-based or not, you can download and install the Windows 11 February 2024 optional update. This version comes with a host of updates and fixes and should also deliver a boost in performance. These are set to be installed automatically with Microsoft’s Windows 11 Moment 5 updates but are available to try in this optional update. Fixes for connectivity and Wi-Fi issues are always good news, so this is a welcome development from Intel, and I would always recommend installing updates that are available both for improved functionality and the most up-to-date security improvements.

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Windows 11 hack keeps your PC alive (sort of) after a Blue Screen of Death crash
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A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows 11 is when the PC locks up entirely, with no possible recourse – except to reboot there and then – unless you’ve hacked the operating system, that is.

Tom’s Hardware reports that NTDEV, the maker of Tiny11 (a lightweight version of Windows 11) flagged up on X (formerly Twitter) that NSG650 has a project on GitHub which is a driver that modifies the normal BSOD behavior, firing up a Linux emulator when a crash occurs.

In other words, instead of just having the option to reboot, you get a RISC-V Linux emulator popping up post-crash. How is this done? It leverages the bugcheck callback feature in Windows – which is part of the BSOD process, and allows for code to run after a crash – and in this case, the code inserted brings up the emulator.

Now, all the Linux emulator consists of is a basic command line (like the old days of DOS, just a text interface), and you can’t really do anything with it – it’s just showing what can be done (see the video clip below), rather than actually implementing anything useful.

Analysis: An opportunity for Microsoft?

With this methodology discovered, this raises the question that with some work, could something more advanced be concocted along these lines? Something that does allow you to do useful things after a BSOD, like plug in a USB drive and back up files, for example, if you’re worried they might be corrupted. Or maybe to run some kind of lightweight recovery utility.

Having seen this in action, though, it’s entirely possible Microsoft will patch this out, as it could be seen as a security risk in Windows 11 (and Windows 10 for that matter).

However, we can but hope that it might inspire Microsoft to look at doing something more useful, as mentioned, with the BSOD, and allowing at least some post-crash options, if indeed it’s possible to work anything meaningful in that way – which we don’t know, we should add.

For the moment, this little trick remains an interesting novelty, with a tantalizing possibility that it could become more than that in the future. Whatever the case, even if nothing happens along those lines, we think Microsoft could definitely improve BSODs in other ways – though if you happen to encounter one, at least we have a Blue Screen of Death survival guide.

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These fake Blue Screen of Death mock-ups highlight a serious problem with Windows 11
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Windows 11 getting a redesigned BSOD – the dreaded Blue Screen of Death that pops up when a PC crashes – might be a joke on X (formerly Twitter) right now, but it highlights a serious issue.

OK, 'joke' might be a strong word, but the BSOD mock-ups presented by Lucia Scarlet on X are certainly tongue-in-cheek, featuring colorful emojis which are rather cutesy – not what you really want to see when your PC has just crashed and burned.

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That said, the overall theme of the design, giving the BSOD a more modern look, isn’t unwelcome, even if the emojis aren’t appropriate in our book.

That said, there are comments in the threads of those tweets that highlight how some folks are disappointed that these aren’t real incoming redesigns for Windows 11. In some cases, there are people who appreciate a more friendly emoji appearing, as opposed to the frowny face (a text-based one, mind) which has been present on BSODs.

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Analysis: The blue screen blues

That disappointment is likely, at least in part, to be a more general indicator of the level of dissatisfaction with the BSOD – particularly in regards to the lack of information the screen provides, and shortfalls with the help that is supplied.

When a BSOD appears, it’s usually highly generic, and tells the Windows 11 (or Windows 10) user very little – you’ll read something like “a problem happened” with no elaboration on exactly what went wrong.

Meaningless error messages (known as stop codes that can pop up elsewhere in Windows 11, too) which are a jumble of hexadecimal letters and numbers might be cited, or a techie reference to a DLL perhaps, none of which are likely to be a jot of help in discerning what actually misfired in your system.

Never mind visual redesigns, Microsoft improving the info and help provided with BSODs would be the biggest step forward that could be taken with these screens. We've witnessed one innovation in the form of the QR codes provided – as seen in the mock-ups above – but these were introduced way back in 2016, and haven’t progressed much in the best part of a decade, often linking through to not fully relevant or up-to-date information.

We feel there’s definitely more Microsoft could do to improve BSODs, and in fairness, a more modern touch for the visuals wouldn’t hurt – though there’s another thought that occurs. Should we still be getting full system lock-ups at this point in the evolution of desktop operating systems?

Ideally not, of course, but to be fair to Microsoft, BSODs are definitely a whole lot less common these days than in the past. For those who do encounter them, though, we have a handy Blue Screen of Death survival guide.

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