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Google Drive is getting some big changes – with a bonus for iPhone users
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Google has announced that big changes are coming to Google Drive, its cloud-based file storage platform. This latest series of tweaks to the popular cloud storage service come mainly in the form of a shiny new landing page, but there’s an extra treat in sort for iOS users.

The new homepage (aptly named the ‘Home’ view) will become the default landing page for every Drive user when it rolls out over the next couple of months – though you’ll be able to swap back to the old view if you prefer. In a blog post explaining the changes, Google says that Home will be “streamlined” compared to the standard My Drive landing page, designed to make it “easier and faster for you to find files that matter most”.

To that end, the Home screen will include personalized suggestions that use AI to learn which files and folders you access regularly (or documents that are tied to upcoming events in your Google calendar). It’ll also include new ‘search chips’ that make filtering your files easier, and will employ Google’s Material Design 3 guidelines for a (hopefully) more modern and user-friendly look.

That’s not all, folks

Google isn’t stopping there, either. A long-awaited Drive feature is finally coming to iPhone and iPad: the document scanner, which uses your device camera to take high-quality scans of physical documents which are then converted to PDFs, with the ability to scan multiple pictures in succession for producing multi-page documents.

The feature has been available for Drive users on Android for a while now, so it’s good to see that Google isn’t planning on leaving iPhone owners out in the cold. The document scanner (which was recently upgraded for Android Users) will also use machine learning to suggest names for your scanned documents, such as recognizing a receipt from a store and giving it an appropriate filename.

The scanner feature is rolling out to iOS and iPadOS users now, so if you’ve got an Apple device you can expect to have it soon if you don’t already. The updated Google Drive homepage will be arriving at a slower pace, with early access starting now and a wide release for personal users from January 15 next year.

I’m personally a little dubious about an AI-powered homepage for Drive – ‘suggested content’ in the software I use has rarely been useful in my experience, AI-assisted or not. But thankfully Google has already confirmed that users will get an instant pop-up asking if they’d like to swap their default view back to the old My Drive page, so it’s not like this change is being forced on us.

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Microsoft’s closing of free upgrade loophole appears to be breaking some Windows 11 and 10 PCs
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Microsoft recently closed a loophole that allowed people to continue to access the free upgrade to Windows 10 (and then Windows 11), from Windows 7 or 8, but it appears there’s been an unwelcome side-effect here.

Namely that those who have previously taken the free upgrade offer in years past have reportedly found that their license key is suddenly deactivated.

Let’s outline a quick example to make the situation clearer. Say you owned a PC with Windows 7 way back when, then took the free upgrade to Windows 10 when it emerged. And down the road, you further upgraded to Windows 11.

So, you’ve been happily carrying on with your Windows 11 PC, but last week – since the mentioned loophole was closed – you decided to upgrade your graphics card.

After that upgrade, you found that Windows 11 is telling you that your license key isn’t valid – so you have to buy a new one.

That’s what has happened to The Verge, and some of its readers, and other folks who have been complaining about the situation on Reddit and other online platforms.

Okay, so it’s not clear how many Windows 11 and 10 users this is happening to, but it’s certainly occurring in some circumstances. It may arise without a hardware component upgrade, The Verge suggests, and the deactivation of the license could even take place due to a simple BIOS update.

Reader Daniel Mittelman tells a story of having his activation blocked after upgrading some hardware in his PC, and he contacted Microsoft customer support about the problem.

Mittelman observes: “They told me because my Windows 10 license had been upgraded from Windows 7, and that they had discontinued support for Windows 7 product keys, that they could not continue my license for Windows 10 Pro after the hardware change.

“They also acknowledged that changing the hardware is not a violation of the Windows license so there is no reason my Windows 10 license should be revoked or altered in any way.”

Analysis: Microsoft is investigating, thankfully

That’s the key point here, of course. While you can’t get an entirely new PC and use a Windows license from your existing computer – it’s tied to one machine – upgrading components should not mess with your license (it’s still the same PC, just with a bit of it swapped out, or maybe several bits).

So, this shouldn’t be happening, and as theorized it may be something to do with Microsoft squashing the upgrade path from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10/11. That free offer officially expired a year after the launch of Windows 10, but remained an unofficial route until just recently when Microsoft finally did away with it.

Microsoft is looking into this issue, you’ll be glad to hear.

Principal product manager of Windows at Microsoft, Bill Babonas, told The Verge: “Microsoft is aware of these customers reports and is investigating. Customers who are experiencing technical difficulties should contact customer support.”

You can use Windows without activating the OS, it should be noted, but there are a sizeable number of limitations including not being able to customize the operating system, and indeed not getting updates (except critical security patches). There are other annoyances such as a watermark and pop-ups nagging to activate Windows, too. In short, it’s far from ideal to be limping along in this manner…

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Want to get rid of Bing, Edge and ads in Windows 11? Some users will be able to – but not everyone
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Microsoft is giving users more control over what’s installed with Windows 11, and how its own services are embedded in the OS – but the catch is this is just happening in Europe (specifically the European Economic Area or EEA).

Windows Central stumbled across a blog post from Microsoft describing the changes being made, and noting that many of these are to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the EEA.

The new approach means Windows 11 users in the EEA can uninstall more default apps including Microsoft’s Edge browser.

Furthermore, it’s possible to banish Bing results from the Windows search box in the taskbar. These are the web search results that pop up, whatever you’re looking for, and then fire up Bing in Edge if clicked.

On top of that, with the Widgets panel, Microsoft is allowing for the news and adverts feed to be switched off, so the board will purely play host to widgets (imagine that – and you’ll have to imagine it, sadly, outside of the EEA).

European users will also be asked if they want to sync up their Microsoft account with Windows 11 (rather than it just happening by default).

And finally, in the EEA if you click a browser link, it will open in your default browser – meaning that Microsoft’s own software will no longer insist on firing up Edge regardless of your preference (which makes sense, as if you’ve uninstalled Edge, that could get tricky).

When will all this happen? The changes are rolling out in preview now for Windows 11, and will follow for Windows 10 too, with the aim being to achieve compliance with the European regulations and deploy to consumers by March 6, 2024.

Windows 11 Update showing on laptop in an office

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Analysis: Choices for everyone? Not likely

Clearly these are customization options which many Windows 11 users would love to benefit from. Especially the ability to have the widgets board with no distractions, just pure widgets, as well as having links open in your default browser always, without fail, and unhooking Bing from the taskbar search box.

Let’s face it, in the latter case, when you’re quickly searching for a Windows setting, you don’t want to be spammed with meaningless web search suggestions that try to get you to open up Edge (and Bing.com).

Will these choices – and other perks like the ability to remove the Edge browser – come to other regions outside of the EEA? Well, that seems very unlikely, seeing as Microsoft is having its hand forced here, and it’s about complying with regulations (that aren’t in place elsewhere) rather than genuinely catering to the wants and needs of users. So, a wider expansion of these options seems a forlorn hope, sadly.

Remember that Copilot is not available in the EEA yet, and this is due to regulatory issues – so these moves could well be tied up in Microsoft’s overall scheme of things for deploying the AI to Windows 11 users in this region.

As Microsoft puts it: “We look forward to continuing to work with the European Commission to finalize our compliance obligations.” And we take that to mean Copilot shouldn’t be too far off for the EEA, with any luck for those who live there.

The one positive for the rest of the world is that at least the streamlining of the default app roster in Windows 11 is happening for everyone. This is something Microsoft has been working on for some time, giving users the ability to remove the likes of the Photos and Camera apps, and the Tips app plus Steps Recorder are to be axed, plus the Maps and Movies & TV clients have been dropped. Thankfully those streamlining efforts count for everyone, and should be an ongoing drive, we reckon.

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Want a pair of AR glasses? Now’s the best time to finally buy some
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If you've been looking to pick up a pair of AR glasses but have been put off by the price then this year's best Black Friday deals might be able to lend a hand. There are some big savings to be had on a wide range of deals.

The popular Xreal Air glasses are currently $ 271 at Amazon – down from $ 379 – and the recently released  RayNeo Air 2 glasses are $ 30, now down to $ 349 at Amazon. Best of all every deal below is the lowest ever price these AR glasses have ever been. So no matter which pair or bundle you pick up you'll be getting a bargain this Black Friday.

If you're after something a bit more immersive, you might instead prefer this year's Oculus Quest 2 Black Friday deals. Otherwise, scroll down to see some AR glasses discounts.

Today's best Black Friday AR glasses deals

Xreal Air glasses: was $ 379 now $ 271 at Amazon
The Xreal Air AR glasses are currently over $ 100 off for Black Friday which is a really solid deal. Connect these AR specs to a compatible smartphone, tablet, or laptop and you’ll be able to see the screen on a massive virtual display. There’s a really fun gadget and normally quite pricey, so this is a deal you don’t want to ignore.View Deal

Xreal Air glasses + Xreal Beam: was $ 449 now $ 379 at Xreal
To make the Xreal glasses better you can pick up this bundle that includes the Beam. It’s a portable power source that phones can wirelessly cast to, meaning you won’t drain your phone’s battery as quickly and it allows you to connect the specs to a wider range of gadgets. Just remember to use the $ 70 voucher for a full discount.

If you already have the glasses, the Beam on its own is $ 10 off. It was $ 119 but is now $ 109 at Xreal.View Deal

Xreal Air glasses + Xreal Adapter: was $ 369 now $ 309 at Amazon
This bundle includes the Xreal Airs and an adapter that makes it easier to connect the Xreal glasses to iPhones (if you have an HDMI to Lightning converter), and game consoles like a PS5 and Xbox Series X.

If you already have the glasses, the Adapter on its own is $ 10 off. It was $ 49 but is now $ 39 at Xreal.View Deal

Rokid Max glasses: was $ 379 now $ 299 at Amazon
Instead of the Xreal Air glasses, you could opt for the Rokid Max specs. These glasses do offer several benefits including better field-of-view and are slightly lighter, though we found they can get uncomfortably hot during use which can be distracting.View Deal

RayNeo Air 2 glasses: was $ 379 now $ 349 at Amazon
We’ve yet to try these specs out, but $ 30 on a pair of AR glasses that launched this year isn’t bad. We have tried the related Nxtwear S AR glasses and thought they were fine, though they weren’t faultless so we’d recommend checking out some reviews before picking up this RayNeo gadget.View Deal

I've had the chance to test a large range of AR glasses like the ones above, and I think they are really fun gadgets – I love using them, and my friends and family who have tried them think they're awesome too.

On a commute, or just when you and your partner want to use the TV at the same time you can slip on a pair of these and have a large full HD display floating in front of you. Unfortunately, they're normally too expensive for what you get. Spending around $ 400 on a wearable display is a lot, especially when you need to pay extra for add-ons that are optional in the loosest sense of the word (to get the most out of these specs you need an adapter or two).

These Black Friday deals bring the prices down to more reasonable levels; they're literally the cheapest these glasses have ever been. If you want to find out more about these AR glasses then check out our full Xreal Air review, Rokid Max review, and TCL Nxtwear S review.

If you are thinking of getting a pair of AR glasses, I'd also suggest checking out our Black Friday headphones deals page. The audio from these glasses is pretty weak, and it leaks too. For a better and more private experience, a pair of good Bluetooth headphones is a must.

Follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings, and hot Black Friday deals!

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Final Cut Pro gets some big time-saving boosts for iPads and Macs
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Final Cut Pro is one of the best video-editing apps you can get for both Mac and iPad, and now Apple says that a range of improvements are coming to both platforms later in November. These include new features that will streamline editing, tune up the timeline, add new in-app content, and more.

Starting with the Mac, Apple says its update focuses on “simplifying complex edits and turbocharged export speeds.” For instance, Final Cut Pro for Mac now automatically scrolls the timeline to keep up with the current playhead position while a video is playing. You can also zoom the timeline in or out during playback to suit your needs.

Clips can be assigned colors and roles to help differentiate them at a glance, which should mean less time wasted hunting for the specific clip you need. These clips can be highlighted by role with the timeline index, too.

Apple is also bringing out improved organization tools. You'll be able to quickly clean up your timeline and combine groups of connected clips into a more coherent single storyline.

The Mac tweaks are rounded off by faster exporting made possible by the media engines inside the latest Mac chips. And thanks to those Apple silicon chips, Final Cut Pro will be able to offer better object tracking for things like faces found in your clips.

What's new for the iPad?

An iPad and a MacBook, both running Final Cut Pro, against a white background.

(Image credit: Apple)

The iPad version of Final Cut Pro is also in line for a few upgrades, with one of the more notable relating to voiceover work. Soon, you will be able to record audio directly onto the timeline as it is playing, or select the moment you want recording to begin and use a countdown to perfectly time your voiceover.

Elsewhere, camera stabilization can be manually enabled or disabled according to your needs, and Apple has added several new color-grading presets, titles and generators to quickly change the look of your footage.

Like on the Mac, iPad users will benefit from the introduction of connected clips and a slate of organizational tools. And you can export your work to Final Cut Pro for Mac in order to use a few more advanced features.

Apple hasn’t said exactly when this update is coming, other than to note it will be available later this month. The update will be free if you’ve already paid for Final Cut Pro.

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The latest Windows 11 update won’t install for some users, and tanks gaming performance even if it does
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Windows 11 users are experiencing issues with the update KB5031455, with some systems not installing the update, others encountering installation problems and some seeing error messages as well as gaming issues if the update does install successfully. 

According to Windows Latest, several users have complained to the site about the Windows 11 update, stating the installation would “run and fail, then reboot, run and fail again.”

Another user commented on problems with gaming performance after the update, saying that the build “broke a few games.” According to the user, some games available from Epic Games Store, such as Fortnite and Horizon Zero Dawn, crashed and refused to start. More comments like these have been left on the Windows Latest site. 

This is not the first time a string of issues has been presented due to preview updates.  KB5030310, a preview update for those using Windows 11 22H2, caused issues with File Explorer that led to buggy behaviour and slower run times.

If you’ve yet to install the KB5031455  update, we recommend you hold off a bit longer until these issues are addressed by Microsoft. But, if you’re feeling brave and want to go ahead anyway, you’ll need to go to Settings, then to Windows Update, and select ‘Check for Updates’. Once your device finds the new optional update, click the ‘Download and install’ button.

It’s worth bearing in mind that Windows Latest has tested the update on its own machines and noted the same problems listed above, so once again, we recommend you proceed with caution if you plan to install the update.

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Moment 4 update is reportedly slowing down Windows 11 and playing havoc with some AMD GPUs
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Some Windows 11 users are reporting problems with the update that provided the Copilot AI when it arrived last week (among a good deal of other features).

That’s the KB5030310 update, which we should note is a preview update for those using Windows 11 22H2. (Folks can get the upgrade, and Copilot plus other goodies, by ensuring that they have chosen the option to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ in Windows Update).

As Windows Latest reports, some users who have installed KB5030310 (with the mentioned option to get the latest features activated) have run into some fairly nasty gremlins.

That includes reports of File Explorer – the central part of the Windows 11 interface that lets you work with folders and files on the desktop – becoming more prone to buggy behavior, and running noticeably slower in general. (Including sluggishness rendering the actual interface which sounds jarring indeed, as mentioned on Reddit).

Other folks are complaining about weirdness with the search box in the taskbar, with it failing to work, or the magnifying glass icon not rendering properly (in fact it’s shown as a letter ‘C’, oddly).

More worryingly, Windows Latest brings our attention to system crashes post-update, and black screens (the latter aren’t complete lock-ups, at least in some reported cases, and can be escaped from by bringing up the Task Manager).

Another bigger glitch here affects those who are using AMD graphics cards, and running the latest driver – apparently, KB5030310 doesn’t play nice with the Adrenalin driver 23.9.3. Every time the PC is restarted, those AMD GPU owners are telling us that their settings are being reset, which is going to get pretty old, pretty fast.

Analysis: The perils of previews

That’s a fair old raft of problems, then, some of which are going to be unpleasant to be visited on your PC. However, this is a preview update, and Microsoft is still working on the functionality therein – so it’s hardly unexpected to see flaws popping up. In fact, it’s very much expected, and of course, we get glitches on finished updates for Windows 11, not just those still officially in testing.

Unfortunately, if you want to get the latest features like Copilot straight away – as per the aforementioned toggle – via a preview release, then you have to be aware that you’re running some level of additional risk for encountering bugs.

What’s a bit more baffling is despite the reports coming in via Reddit and Microsoft’s Feedback Hub that Windows Latest has highlighted here, Microsoft still doesn’t see anything wrong.

In the support document for KB5030310, the company states: “Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.”

There may, however, be investigations underway regarding the reports of the various glitches covered above, so we might hear soon enough from Microsoft as to what’s going on with these apparent issues (and how widespread they might be, perhaps).

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Some users will find Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot is suddenly a lot more helpful
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Microsoft has made a big change to its Bing AI for one of the modes of the chatbot’s operation, namely the ‘Precise’ mode.

As users of the AI will be aware, there are three modes that can be selected for the Bing AI: the mentioned Precise setting, as well as Balanced, and Creative.

Precise mode is for those who want shorter and more factual answers in their dealings with the AI, whereas Creative lets the chatbot more off the leash in terms of replies (and Balanced strikes a compromise between these two ends of the freedom spectrum, as it were).

According to Mikhail Parakhin, head of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft, the company has finished rolling out a “pretty big update” for the Precise mode.

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As Parakhin explained on X (formerly Twitter), this doesn’t entail introducing new features for Precise mode, just ensuring that the chatbot gives better answers with this setting.

Analysis: Pushing forward for a better Bing bot

Delivering better answers is, of course, one of the most effective ways Microsoft can improve its Bing AI. As Parakhin observes in the above tweet, the polishing of Precise mode has been noted by some users, even if they’ve framed it as ‘Creative is worse, and Precise is better than it now’, rather than it being a positive step forward for Precise. Which it definitely is, we shouldn’t need to add.

There’s another way that Microsoft is working on making Bing AI’s responses better, and that’s a ‘no search’ parameter. This is something that’s been mentioned in the past which will allow users to cut off the chatbot from the web (search functions) when formulating an answer.

In other words, you’ll be getting a direct answer from the AI (as opposed to one informed by search content derived from the web), and that could be useful in certain situations (like queries about coding, for example). It’ll also mean that responses should be swifter, too, without having to scrape the web for extra bits of data.

So what’s happening with the ‘no search’ function? Apparently, it’s going to be implemented as a plug-in, rather than directly into Bing AI, and is still inbound according to Parakhin (and will happen as part of the general plug-in rollout). Hat tip to Neowin for spotting that one.

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Microsoft finally caves and will let some users actually use their preferred browser in Windows 11
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When you’re browsing on Windows 11 and click on a link in another part of your computer, say a different app or a news reader, regardless of your selected default browser your link will be opened in Microsoft Edge. That can be incredibly annoying when you’re trying to navigate your computer and have to keep manually copying and pasting links into your preferred browser, but that may be about to change. 

This this is good news for people tired of Microsoft’s pushy habit of trying to force users to use Edge over other preferred web browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox. 

If you set your default browser to anything aside from Microsoft Edge you should be able to discard Edge and move on, with your choices being respected. 

Bye bye Edge

There are some tools like EdgeDeflector and MSEdgeRedirect that allow users to bypass this and use their chosen browsers. The clear intention was to push Microsoft Edge despite users wanting to use a more popular web browser, but it seems like Microsoft has admitted defeat and has released a new build that will curb this.

According to Ghacks, Build 23531 was released to the Dev Channel recently and will change the forced opening of Microsoft Edge on Windows 11 when you click on website links within the Start menu or Search bar.  Ghacks notes that Microsoft added, “In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links”.

Users not in the EEA will have to wait it out to see if Microsoft will extend this ‘courtesy’ to them as well. At the moment, however, it seems like Microsoft is only dropping its pushy behavior because of pressure from lawmakers, not because it's the right thing to do. 

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Windows 11 update crashes and burns on some PCs due to ‘unsupported CPU’ error
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Windows 11 has a new spanner in the works with the latest update for the operating system, a worrying one that crashes the PC with an ‘unsupported processor’ error.

The Verge reports that they – and other folks on Reddit – have experienced this error, and that it happened after installing the KB5029351 update for Windows 11 22H2. Note that this is a preview update, so it’s optional and doesn’t have to be installed (it won’t be downloaded unless you manually check for updates and choose to do so).

In affected cases, after installing the update, a Blue Screen of Death appears with the mentioned error message about the CPU not being supported by Windows 11, and the PC then reboots.

The good news is that the system apparently recovers and rolls back the patch, according to reports (and The Verge says this is what happened to them).

Microsoft has acknowledged the problem, and advises: “KB5029351 might automatically uninstall to allow Windows to start up as expected.”

The common factor among those who have encountered this bug is that they have an MSI motherboard (with an Intel CPU) that has been updated to the most recent BIOS release.

Microsoft informs us: “We are presently investigating to determine if this is an issue caused by Microsoft. We will provide an update when more information is available.”

Analysis: Prevention measures in place – but there’s still scope for concern

While we’re all likely aware that Windows 11 brought in some much stricter requirements for supported CPUs compared to Windows 10, being told that their processor was unsupported probably caused a few folks to almost fall out of their chairs.

As reported, the error should allow the PC to reboot and uninstall the update to go back to normal, but Microsoft’s use of the term ‘might’ automatically uninstall in its advisory does leave some room for concern. What if it doesn’t? That could be a nasty problem indeed.

The good news is that Microsoft has now instigated measures to prevent the Windows 11 update in question from being delivered to PCs that will be affected (those with Intel chipset-toting MSI motherboards on that most recent BIOS). So, at this point, you don’t have to worry – if you do fall into this group of PC owners, the patch will be pulled, and you won’t be offered it under Windows Update.

The remaining concern, then, is that this optional preview patch becomes the full (mandatory) update for Windows 11 22H2 in September. So Microsoft will have to make very sure this bug is fully squashed by that time – or that MSI addresses it with a new BIOS update that happens in a swift manner, if it isn’t a glitch in the Windows matrix.

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