Windows 11 is set to give you the option to remove more of its default apps if you wish to streamline the operating system a bit.
The ability to uninstall more of these so-called ‘inbox apps’ (or core applications) is present in the latest preview build (25931) which has been released in the Canary channel (Microsoft’s earliest test builds).
As of that build, you can now uninstall the default Photos app, People app, and Remote Desktop (MSTSC) client, as well as the Camera app (which you could already remove since preview builds in March, as The Verge, which spotted this, observes).
Furthermore, Cortana can now be dropped from Windows 11 following the official deprecation of the digital assistant, as we recently reported.
It’s useful to have the ability to trim away these default apps. Even though they aren’t huge in size, if you never use them, you can save a bit of storage space, and streamline your system in general. Also, you won’t have to look at pointless programs when scrolling through your lists of apps in Windows 11 menus.
It’s likely Microsoft will give users the choice to uninstall more of these core apps going forward, and you can already remove a fair few. Anything that isn’t system-critical should be fair game to be given the elbow in our book.
Build 25931 doesn’t do a huge amount elsewhere – it’s mainly about porting over features from the Dev channel – but there are some interesting tweaks, such as a change to Dynamic Lighting to allow you to match your Windows accent color with the RGB lights on the devices attached to your PC. Nifty.
Following up on recent teases, Microsoft is expanding browser support for Bing AI, giving Google Chrome and Safari access to the chatbot – with some limitations. The third-party experience won’t be the same as Bing Chat on Microsoft Edge.
In a recent report, Windows Latest states the character count for the AI prompts have been cut in half, from 4,000 on Edge to now 2,000 on Chrome. Conversations with the chatbot will be considerably shorter as the third-party version will only allow you to engage in five messages with the AI before resetting everything. The normal amount is 30. Also, Bing will push you to download Edge if you haven’t done so already on your Chromebook. If you already have the browser, choosing the download option simply launches it.
In addition to the roll out, Microsoft is adding a new dark mode option for the chatbot. The theme will match your system preferences by default, but you can manually change them yourself in the Settings menu.
Future updates
It’s unknown if Bing Chat on Safari will be exactly the same. Microsoft has yet to make an official announcement regarding the patch outside of a small notice, so we can’t say for sure if any tweaks are being made. We reached out to the tech giant for clarification as well if it has plans to expand Bing AI access to other browsers, namely Firefox. This story will be updated if we hear back.
As for the future of the AI, it looks like Microsoft is putting everything in the hands of people. Another Windows Latest report claims the company has been sending out feedback forms to various users on mobile asking what features they would like to see. Apparently, one of the new changes will see Bing recommend certain AI apps or tools for people to try out.
Another potential upgrade could see the AI mimic the personalities of famous people like billionaire Elon Musk. Microsoft reportedly claims mimicking people will result in a “more engaging experience”.
We’ll let you know if Bing undergoes any personality changes. So far, it’s the same artificial intelligence we all know. Until then, check out TechRadar’s list of the best AI content generators for 2023.
Google isn't averse to killing off its products, with the now-shuttered Stadia and the slow demise of Fitbit being the latest candidates for cremation – and now we can sadly add its AR translation glasses to the list, according to a new report.
According to Insider, Google has shelved its plans – codenamed Project Iris – to make augmented-reality glasses. If that's the case, we can wave goodbye to the live-translation spectacles that we first saw at Google IO 2022.
While the latter will likely be more of an Apple Vision Pro rival, with a ski-goggle design, this newly-canned AR project was apparently “a series of devices more closely resembling eyeglasses”. Like those exciting, prototype Google Translate glasses that we saw in the video below last year.
It now seems that Google has backtracked on making AR hardware itself, instead focus on making software and operating systems. The Insider source claims that Google is making an Android XR platform for Samsung's forthcoming headset, which leaks suggest will be a standalone device that works independently of a computer or phone.
According to an employee that Insider interviewed, Google now instead wants to be an “Android for AR” rather than a hardware player like it is in phones with the Pixel series. The search giant said at Google IO 2023 that it would “share more later this year” about its AR partnership with Samsung. But it looks like we'll sadly hear no more about its plans to make glasses specifically for Translate or Maps.
Analysis: The AR path is clear for Apple and Meta
TCL RayNeo X2s (above) are another example of AR translation glasses. (Image credit: TCL)
What we particularly liked about the live-translation glasses concept was their unobtrusive design and singular focus – neither of which apply to Apple's larger Vision Pro, which is apparently uncomfortable to use for long periods.
But otherwise the path is now clear for Apple, Meta and potentially Samsung to own the AR space. The Vision Pro isn't technically 'augmented reality', but Apple is rumored to be already working on two successors that might ultimately lead to some Apple Glasses.
But it's Meta that could ultimately fill the hole left by Google for some babel fish-style translation glasses. In February 2022, it announced its ambitious plans to make a 'Universal Speech Translator'. And at the time Mark Zuckerberg said that “with improved efficiency and a simpler architecture, direct speech-to-speech could unlock near human-quality real-time translation for future devices, like AR glasses”.
With more news on Samsung's XR headset expected later this year, there's certainly no shortage of hardware players who are trying to put transparent computers on our faces – but given the suitably of services like Google Translate and Google Maps for some AR glasses, it's a shame that the search giant is no longer in that mix.
Windows 11 has a new preview build, this time in the Release Preview channel, which introduces a whole bunch of changes – both good and bad.
Most of this stuff has already been seen in earlier test builds (Canary, Dev, or Beta channels), and Windows 11 build 22621.1926 (KB5027303) represents all these features progressing towards release.
Now that they’re in Release Preview, this is the final step before these various features turn up in the full version of Windows 11 at some point in the near(ish) future.
So, let’s get the bad news out of the way first, namely that Microsoft has announced in the blog post for this preview build that adverts (which the company calls ‘badging’ – we’ll come back to that) on the Start menu are moving towards a broader rollout.
Microsoft explains: “This update expands the roll out of notification badging for Microsoft accounts on the Start menu. A Microsoft account is what connects Windows to your Microsoft apps. The account backs up all your data and helps you to manage your subscriptions.”
The company adds: “This feature gives you quick access to important account-related notifications.”
With that out of the way, the better news that caught our eye for gamers is that improved mouse performance is on the way.
Microsoft tells us that when using a mouse with a high polling rate – so any of the contenders for best gaming mouse in other words, designed for accurate and precise mousing – you’ll now get better performance. This is thanks to any stuttering being reduced for these kinds of mice, so that’s a big thumbs-up there.
Another interesting point to note with this preview build is a broad assertion that: “This update affects the reliability of Windows. It improves after you update the OS.”
Anything that ushers in better stability must be a good thing too, naturally.
Analysis: an ominous sign
It’s great to see the improvement for high polling rate gaming mice, which will help not just for shooters – where you might typically think accuracy is crucial, and of course, it is – but also for, say, real-time strategy games.
The ability to smoothly mouse around and quickly and precisely select units, for example, can’t be underestimated. Whatever game you play, smoother and more accurate mouse movement is a major plus point.
What’s bugging us here is the continued push with badging in the Start menu. Badging is a term Microsoft employs which basically translates to light-touch advertising. Yes, the company might argue these are simply nudges to help you sort out various elements of your computing life related to Windows, but really, they’re thinly veiled ads to use Microsoft products and services.
In this case, the cajoling is to push you towards signing up for a Microsoft Account, with Windows 11 telling you about the security (and other) benefits of doing so in these notifications which appear in the Start menu.
The expanded rollout of this badging previously happened in the Dev channel, but the fact that it has carried forward to the final preview stage before the release version of Windows 11 is rather ominous.
This further progression of the rollout in testing suggests that this is something Microsoft is determined to forge ahead with. If that does indeed play out, we can only hope that Microsoft gives users an option to disable this kind of ‘help’ feature (but we aren’t holding our breath on that score).
Valve has announced a major update to its Steam application that brings a “fresh” new look, better notifications, a new in-game overlay and new Notes feature.
Announced on Twitter (see below), and with a blog post, this is one of the biggest updates to Steam we’ve seen for a long time – and due to the popularity of Valve’s Steam platform, these changes will likely impact almost all PC gamers.
Hello! We’ve just shipped a big update to the Steam Desktop client. New features include a completely redesigned in-game overlay, new notes functionality, pinnable in-game windows, improvements to notifications and more.Learn more about the update here: https://t.co/6OWnUQOBqs pic.twitter.com/A9OI8WMaqbJune 14, 2023
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The most noticeable change is the major redesign of the Steam interface, which Valve describes as “targeted visual and usability improvements across Steam.” While the app remains recognizable, the new look feels more modern, with Settings and Screenshot Manager getting particular attention.
(Image credit: Valve)
Better notifications
If you use Steam – and if you play many of the best PC games it’s likely that you do, then you’ll probably have noticed notifications popping up in the corner of your screen while playing. While these can sometimes be useful, more often than not they're useless alerts about someone adding you to their ‘Friends list’, potentially distracting you at a key moment in the game.
So the fact that Valve has improved notifications to be “more useful to you” is certainly welcome – as is Valve’s acknowledgement that Steam notifications haven’t been great. With the new update, the 'bell' icon at the top of the screen will only light up green when there’s “truly something new for you,” and the notification pop-out window will be limited to new notifications (older ones can be viewed by clicking the 'View all' option).
(Image credit: Valve)
Steam now also provides new notification settings that let you fine-tune which notifications pop up, and where they'll appear. Hopefully this will put a stop to immersion-breaking pop-ups showing up while you're playing games.
New and improved in-game overlay
The in-game overlay, which appears when you press Shift+Tab while playing a game, has got a new look as well, with a new toolbar along the bottom that contains buttons for things such as chat, achievements, guides and a web browser, so they can all be quickly accessed. It’s similar to the Game Bar in Windows 11 (which you can open by pressing the Windows key +G on your keyboard.
You can also customize which elements appear in the in-game overlay, and these settings will carry over regardless of which game you play.
You can now pin windows from the overlay to appear on-screen while you’re playing. This could be really handy for putting up guides to help you through a tricky part of a game, or – as Valve suggests – you could use it to multitask, such as playing a video or podcast while you game.
The in-game overlay also comes with two brand-new features. The first is the Game Overview panel, which gives you a load of easily-glanceable information about the game you're playing, including achievements, progress, news and more.
(Image credit: Valve)
Valve has also added a new Notes feature, which allows you to type out quick notes and thoughts, or paste images, while playing. This could prove really helpful for keeping track of puzzles within a game, or for creating a ‘to-do’ list to ensure you get the most out of the game.
These notes are synced, so you can see them on any PC you use Steam on – and that includes the Steam Deck, which is a nice touch.
Steam Deck improvements
While the main focus of this update is on improving the PC experience of Steam, Valve has also done some background work on improving the user experience on its handheld console, the Steam Deck.
Code is now more commonly shared between the Steam desktop client, Big Picture mode and the Steam Deck, and Valve promises that this will mean that any changes and updates made to the desktop client will now appear on the Steam Deck more quickly.
It should work the other way around as well, and Valve has noted that the controller configurator feature of the Steam Deck, which is one of the best tools included with the handheld, can now also be used by the desktop version of Steam (via the in-game overlay), making it easier to configure gamepads connected to your PC.
Background work introducing hardware acceleration to Mac and Linux versions of Steam has also been included, so gamers on those platforms should get an experience that’s more in-line with the Windows version, which again is welcome.
So far the changes appear to have been warmly received by Steam users, and the update should be rolling out right now. For more info, check out Valve’s video highlighting the changes below:
Back in 2011, Apple added its Siri voice assistant to any iPhone running iOS 5 and above, and since then, Siri has made its way onto the whole range of Apple’s products.
Technically speaking, Siri’s original developers should get the credit here – many people still don’t know that it was actually a third-party iOS app for just a few months before Apple acquired it, stopping any plans to bring the software to competitor operating systems like Android and Blackberry.
In response, we saw a veritable uprising from the world’s biggest tech companies to try and compete. Microsoft introduced Cortana in 2013, Amazon Alexa joined the fray in 2014, Google with Google Assistant in 2016, and even more recently we’ve seen newcomers like Bixby and Baidu pop up.
As these applications have battled it out, however, a new player has entered the field with an entirely different skill set that could disrupt the voice assistant space completely; ChatGPT.
Spot the difference
Original comic sourced from @pedro_bilohh on Twitter, edited masterfully by yours truly. (Image credit: Future / Twitter @pedro_bilohh)
So let’s get the differences out of the way first. ChatGPT is an incredibly powerful chatbot with a human-like vocabulary bolstered by near-unfettered access to information. Siri and other voice assistants, alternatively, are programmed to be more binary, with set requests and responses that they can understand.
If you were to ask ChatGPT for assistance in writing or problem-solving, or even some more unique use cases, you’re likely to be surprised and delighted by its capabilities. Powered by the same technology, Bing can also comprehend more challenging questions, even if you ask it about love.
ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, a company which – as its name suggests – allows its technology to be implemented by other organizations, rather than the closed-source proprietary tech that's found in Siri. This means app developers can easily add ChatGPT to all kinds of interesting and exciting apps.
Siri, however, wouldn’t be able to do the same. It’s great for task assistance, especially when boosted by shortcuts, and for quickly navigating tasks hands-free on your phone.
However, it’s frustratingly limited in scope beyond this and struggles to deal with more complex requests even in comparison to Alexa, despite Apple's efforts to enhance it over the years. Plus, I still have a bone to pick with how rubbish its voice recognition can be.
Get with the program, Apple
Microsoft is now stealing the lead in the innovation race with Bing, despite some early teething issues, but Google is hot on its tail. Now, while these are both progressions in the search engine space, it’s only a matter of time before eyes turn to voice assistants.
Siri is used for search, after all – but despite having many years to iterate, search remains one of its most frustrating, clunky features.
Already, keen users are creating ways to embed ChatGPT’s more advanced conversational processing into Siri. It’s far from perfect, and there are some natural, very warranted security and privacy concerns on ChatGPT’s part here, but this eagerness to bolster Siri’s capabilities shows the potential here for Apple to capitalize on.
So, why is Apple dragging its feet?
I wonder if Apple’s fall detection encompasses lagging behind in the innovation race? (Image credit: Apple)
Playing the long game
For me, there’s only one reason a giant like Apple wouldn’t move with pace to recapture the voice assistant market. Like the great tactician Cruella de Vil, Apple may just be biding its time before striking to recapture the voice assistant market.
“You come to realize, you’ve seen her kind of eyes watching you from underneath a rock”
Disney’s 101 Dalmatians
Apple made a slew of AI acquisitions in recent years that we haven’t seen amount to much, and despite a few small rumors indicating something might be coming, the tech giant has been characteristically reserved since the big Bing and Bard blowup.
My take is that Apple was always planning to release something, but I find it hard to believe ChatGPT and Bing didn’t somewhat blindside it. After all, even Google seemed a little pressed to get Bard up and running quickly in response. As a result, Apple was faced with two choices; rush to join the race, or wait and see how the chips fall. Seemingly, it chose the latter.
Now, while Apple wouldn’t stand to lose much by biding its time, it could win big if it comes out with a Siri far more capable than anything else on the market – and if we look at the wider Apple ecosystem and progress elsewhere in the tech space, it seems likely that the company is hoping to kick off with a bang.
Take the smart home space, for example. This year will see Matter, the software standard driving smart home interoperability, begin to really make an impact in people’s homes. If Siri can get the jump on Alexa and Google Assistant, a more conversive and customizable Siri could rocket Apple Home into the lead. Think Disney’s Smart House, but without the murderous vibes.
We’re just a few months out from WWDC, Apple's developer conference in California, which is an event where the company usually showcases its latest software updates (and launches the odd piece of hardware as well). By the time it rolls around, the dust will have settled somewhat on Google and Microsoft’s forays into AI. So long as Amazon doesn’t step in with its own major Alexa overhaul, this could be the perfect opportunity for Apple to sweep in and steal the limelight – potentially, even, with a much more thoroughly thought-out AI.
Time will tell – but one thing is certain: slow and steady may win the race, but not if you never leave the starting line.
This report explains that phishing and social engineering attacks remain the biggest threats to organizations and how to overcome it with good email security.
If you've been wishing to edit those tweets with spelling mistakes without having to delete them, Twitter has announced that it's working on an edit feature.
This feature request has become a meme in itself, with many users asking for this for years. If you use Twitter, you've most likely been in a situation where you've posted a tweet from the previous evening, and you notice that there's a missing letter or a missing comma that skews what you were trying to convey.
Twitter has confirmed that the feature will first arrive as a test for Twitter Blue users, which is its subscription service that brings benefits such as undoing a sent tweet after a short amount of time.
But while this sounds like good news for many, it may be an example of being careful what you wish for.
Analysis: This may hinder rather than help users
Other social platforms have had this feature for years. If you posted something on Facebook for example and it's missing a word, you can quickly edit the post and add the word back in.
Instagram and Tiktok also have similar features, but for Twitter, it's not as simple as adding an edit button.
Many users have wanted an easy method to edit a tweet without deleting it, especially if it's about a topic that's long since finished for example. But Twitter has a slippery slope with this, as many use the platform as a news feed and as a way of conversing with followers on certain subjects. Editing these tweets could make your input worse.
now that everyone is asking… yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year!no, we didn’t get the idea from a poll 😉we’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.April 5, 2022
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But there are other dangers to this feature if it's not implemented right. Twitter's Head of Consumer Product, Jay Sullivan, rightly said during the announcement, that editing a tweet could alter a topic of conversation that could be sensitive to many, and could construe different meanings.
Editing tweets is not something that I've wanted Twitter to focus on – it's rather a bigger focus on curtailing abuse and spam accounts that have been more prevalent since the pandemic began in 2020.
But this feature could stay as a test, or as an exclusive feature of Twitter Blue. However, the announcement has excited many, so it now depends on whether the feature measures up to the wishes of its users, or if it's used to alter conversations for the worse.
Regardless of what happens, Twitter clearly has another challenge on its hands now that editing tweets are finally official.
If you've been wishing to edit those tweets with spelling mistakes without having to delete them, Twitter has announced that it's working on an edit feature.
This feature request has become a meme in itself, with many users asking for this for years. If you use Twitter, you've most likely been in a situation where you've posted a tweet from the previous evening, and you notice that there's a missing letter or a missing comma that skews what you were trying to convey.
Twitter has confirmed that the feature will first arrive as a test for Twitter Blue users, which is its subscription service that brings benefits such as undoing a sent tweet after a short amount of time.
But while this sounds like good news for many, it may be an example of being careful what you wish for.
Analysis: This may hinder rather than help users
Other social platforms have had this feature for years. If you posted something on Facebook for example and it's missing a word, you can quickly edit the post and add the word back in.
Instagram and Tiktok also have similar features, but for Twitter, it's not as simple as adding an edit button.
Many users have wanted an easy method to edit a tweet without deleting it, especially if it's about a topic that's long since finished for example. But Twitter has a slippery slope with this, as many use the platform as a news feed and as a way of conversing with followers on certain subjects. Editing these tweets could make your input worse.
now that everyone is asking… yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year!no, we didn’t get the idea from a poll 😉we’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.April 5, 2022
See more
But there are other dangers to this feature if it's not implemented right. Twitter's Head of Consumer Product, Jay Sullivan, rightly said during the announcement, that editing a tweet could alter a topic of conversation that could be sensitive to many, and could construe different meanings.
Editing tweets is not something that I've wanted Twitter to focus on – it's rather a bigger focus on curtailing abuse and spam accounts that have been more prevalent since the pandemic began in 2020.
But this feature could stay as a test, or as an exclusive feature of Twitter Blue. However, the announcement has excited many, so it now depends on whether the feature measures up to the wishes of its users, or if it's used to alter conversations for the worse.
Regardless of what happens, Twitter clearly has another challenge on its hands now that editing tweets are finally official.
Windows 11 has an Easter egg where you can spin the Settings cog in certain parts of the interface.
The nifty spinning animation was highlighted by The Verge, who reported on the ability to do this in the Notepad app after a denizen of Reddit posted about it. Further additions to that Reddit thread include the observation that the ability is also present in the new Task Manager, at least in the dev and beta builds for Windows 11 testers.
Again, this is the same deal – bottom-left, there’s a cog icon that you can spin, and it’s a surprisingly addictive little extra.
Presumably we can expect more cogs to be fully spinnable elsewhere in the interface of Windows 11 in the future, too.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Analysis: Some Windows extras are pretty obvious, others not so much…
Hidden extras in Windows are nothing new, of course, and indeed they can go quite some time undiscovered. Very recently an enterprising user managed to find an Easter egg in the very first version of Windows, somehow, which comprised of a secret list of developers who worked on Windows 1.0 (one of them being a certain Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve).
So that particular nugget lay undiscovered for nearly 37 years before it was stumbled across. Makes you wonder if there are some incredibly well-hidden secrets in Windows 10 or 11 (or indeed other recent versions of Microsoft’s desktop operating system). We’re betting there are, somewhere…
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