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Meta is cutting off support for the original Quest headset at the end of April
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Support for the original Oculus Quest headset will soon end as Meta has sent out emails to developers informing them of the company’s future plans for the device. Forbes managed to get their hands on the details, and according to their report, the tech giant is going to be strict. They really do not want the headset to stick around.

Developers have until April 30 to roll out any “app updates for the Quest 1 to the Meta Quest store.” Past that date, nothing will be allowed to be released even if dev teams want to continue catering to users of the older model. Meta will outright block the patch. 

If an app is available on other Quest devices, the update can roll out to those headsets, but the Quest 1 support will be denied. New apps that come out after April 30 are not going to appear on the online store nor will owners even be allowed to buy them. They’ll be stuck in limbo.

The email continues by saying Meta will maintain the Quest 1 by releasing “critical bug fixes and security patches” until August of this year. Once the summer is over, the company will be wiping its hands clean, marking the official end of its first mainline headset. Users who want to continue on the platform will need to upgrade to either a Quest 2 or Quest 3. 

Depreciation

The depreciation of the Quest 1, as sudden as it may seem, has been a long time coming. Meta originally announced the end of the headset back in January 2023. Soon after, it began to periodically pull the plug on certain features. Upgrades eventually grinded to a halt, people lost the ability to create parties, and lost access to the social aspects of Horizon Home.

Meta is turning the Quest 1 into a plastic brick as it cuts off support without any wiggle room. However, it's possible that the headset could see new life among niche online communities or platforms like SideQuest. No one is stopping independent developers from sideloading apps. If you plan on joining these groups, keep in mind the software you download from unofficial spaces could come with malware. Meta isn’t going to come in and save you. You’re on your own.

Analysis: is the Quest 2 next?

Despite knowing all this would happen ahead of time, the Quest 1 cutoff is harsh to say the least especially when you compare it to gaming consoles. The headset didn’t even reach its fifth birthday before getting the ax. Consoles, on the other hand, often see many more years of support, sometimes a full decade’s worth. Seeing the shutdown makes us wonder what’s going to happen to the Quest 2.

The second-gen model was released about a year-and-a-half after the original headset. Although it brought many improvements at launch, the performance of the Quest 2 has been eclipsed by other headsets. It could potentially see a similar end, although we think it’s unlikely. The Quest 2 has proven itself to be much more popular than the original, so a sudden cutoff likely won’t happen any time soon. It should exist as the brand's mid-range option moving forward.

If you're affected by the shutoff and want a new device, check out TechRadar's list of the best VR headsets for 2024.

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Still running Windows 7 or 8? Prepare for an Epic fail – Epic Games Store follows Steam and drops support for older operating systems
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The Epic Games Store has followed in the footsteps of Steam in dropping support for Microsoft’s desktop operating systems which are older than Windows 10 – although this hasn’t happened quite yet.

Epic gave notice in an announcement that support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 (or 8.1) will cease from June 2024, so just over two months’ time. Note that Windows 10 32-bit will also be dropped, but not the 64-bit version of the OS that the vast majority of folks run. There's no 32-bit version of Windows 11, of course.

So, support from June will be limited to Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 – and for macOS, version 10.13 or newer of Apple’s OS.

As mentioned, Epic is a bit later than Valve in closing down support for these older operating systems, because Steam enacted this measure at the start of 2024. As you might expect, there weren’t many PC gamers that were affected, going by Valve’s stats – fewer than 1% of Steam users had Windows 7/8 installed at the time. And the same is likely true for the Epic Games Store.

Analysis: Time to upgrade?

For the small niche of gamers who will be hit by this move, this will obviously be somewhat disappointing. Mind you, when June rolls around, this doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use the Epic Games Store at all. It’ll still work, it just won’t get any updates going forward, or be supported in any way. This means that after a while, bits of functionality might fail and the launcher will eventually probably start to misfire or stop working entirely.

Naturally, without updates, you’ll also be open to any vulnerabilities in Epic’s client, but then if you’re still running Windows 7 or 8, that’ll be the least of your worries – the exploits open to leverage in those systems will be far more worrying in nature, of course.

And that’s exactly why you shouldn’t be running Windows 7 or 8 any longer, anyway. It’s time to upgrade, one way or another – by which we mean make the move to Windows 10 (or Windows 11, if your PC spec is up to it), or take the obvious alternate route, a Linux distro (there are some solid Windows-like choices out there, after all).

What about Windows 10 32-bit users? Well, Microsoft does still support them, but there are very few of these folks out there now (certainly in the gaming world – Steam’s hardware survey doesn’t even list Windows 10 32-bit anymore, and hasn’t for a long time).

Via Neowin

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Microsoft is axing support for Android apps, leaving users to search for other solutions
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Another week, another Microsoft feature bites the dust – support for Android apps and games in Windows is getting the chop. Starting next year, users will need a third-party alternative solution to run Android apps in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

This is because the official Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) app, an official Microsoft app that enables Windows 11 to run Android applications natively, will no longer be supported and Windows users won’t be able to access the Amazon Appstore directly on Windows. Support for WSA is slated to end this time next year on March 5, 2025. 

This news appeared in a notice added to the technical documentation for Windows Subsystem for Android. In this notice, Microsoft states that users can expect to access any Android apps they have installed this way (and from the Amazon Appstore) up until the date support is fully deprecated.

According to Android Authority, after March 5, 2025, users will not be able to access any Android apps that rely on WSA. It also seems reasonable to assume that after this date, users won’t be able to install the WSA app, or install any new Android apps from the Amazon store. 

Man using download manager on laptop

(Image credit: Unsplash)

The impending reality for Android app fans

If you want to use an app that’s not on track to be deprecated or are looking for a replacement when March 5, 2025 rolls around, you can turn to unofficial third-party apps that will enable you to run Android apps on Windows.

If it’s just games for Android that you’re interested in, there is an official solution on offer from Google, Google Play Games, which makes hundreds of Android games able to be played on PCs running Windows 10 and Windows 11. Google Play Games is still in beta, but you can download it from the official website.

The death of WSA is very disappointing news from Microsoft and takes away options for how users can use their PCs, possibly a move made in the name of capping the visibility of competitors within Microsoft’s flagship operating system. This is purely in Microsoft’s interest and comes at the detriment of users’ choice, and will force users who want to run Android apps to find workarounds. One of the main appeals of Windows against competitors like ChromeOS and macOS is the flexibility and customizability of the operating system, and moves like this only serve to kneecap that selling point.

I assume Microsoft hopes this might drive these users to the Microsoft Store and consider getting Microsoft-issued apps instead, but the offerings of the Microsoft Store are something lacking. I hope that Microsoft has substantial plans to improve the Microsoft Store if it’s going to take away what was largely seen as a stable (and more or less straightforward) platform that expanded the apps available to users by a sizeable amount. 

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You might be waiting a while yet for Wi-Fi 7 support in Windows 11 – but Microsoft is on the case
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Windows 11 is now adding support for Wi-Fi 7, those who want to use the much-improved wireless standard will doubtless be pleased to learn – but it’s only in testing currently.

That’s despite the fact that there are already Wi-Fi 7 routers out there, and the standard has been officially finalized by the Wi-Fi Alliance (the Wi-Fi Certified 7 program was announced at the start of January 2024, in fact).

As you might guess, it’ll be some time before official Wi-Fi 7 support comes through to the release version of Windows 11, as it’ll need to progress through testing channels first.

Right now, it’s only in the Canary (earliest) test channel with build 26063, a preview release that flew under our radar somewhat, but an important one in this respect. However, it’s also been added for Dev channel testers, Microsoft informed us in the usual blog post on build 26063 (as flagged up by XDA Developers).

WiFi 7 in Windows 11

(Image credit: Microsoft)

As the software giant also pointed out, Wi-Fi 7 (aka 802.11be) is in the order of 4x faster than Wi-Fi 6 and more like 6x quicker than Wi-Fi 5.

If you want to know more about how this new wireless standard takes some big strides forward – and it isn’t just about raw speed, though that is, of course, very important – check out our guide to the ins-and-outs of Wi-Fi 7.

Analysis: Wireless party

In fairness to Microsoft, while it appears to be pretty late to the wireless party, and Wi-Fi 7 may have officially kicked off (at least in some countries, the US, Australia, and UK included), it's still early days for the standard.

The standard may be effectively set in stone now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be tweaks going forward. There will inevitably be firmware updates for existing Wi-Fi 7 routers to fix or modify things going forward as needed, although all the big cogs in terms of features are now in place.

Windows 11 is one of the final pieces of the puzzle to be added for Wi-Fi 7 support, then, for laptops which sport Wi-Fi 7. And of course as mentioned, you’ll need a Wi-Fi 7 router to benefit from faster wireless speeds. (Those devices are expensive right now, too, it should be noted – though that’s generally true of any cutting-edge tech).

With Wi-Fi 7 we’re getting performance which makes wireless online gaming a reality in terms of it being close to wired (Ethernet) performance, and certainly much better than other fudges for PCs that aren’t plugged directly into the router (such as powerline adapters, which can be notoriously flaky in some scenarios).

What about Windows 10 support for Wi-Fi 7? We’re still not sure on that score, although the last we heard was that it is inbound – but there’s no sign of that yet.

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Watch out: soon some older PCs will lose Windows 11 support
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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.

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Good news Windows fans, the Ayaneo Next Lite gaming handheld will support your favorite OS
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The latest in a long line of Ayaneo PC gaming handhelds, dubbed the Ayaneo Next Lite, will not only be an incredibly affordable portable option but will also be changing course on its OS.

According to a statement posted on the official Ayaneo Twitter/X account, the handheld will come with Windows 11 64-bit Home Edition pre-installed instead of Linux. A great option for those who are more familiar with Windows OS versus a Linux-based one. However, for those who prefer the latter, users will still have the option of the open-source HoloISO project version of Linux, which is based on SteamOS.

All this and the Next Lite is still launching at the very budget price of $ 299 up to and during crowdfunding, which is far less expensive than other options on the market. It’s a switch-up from the Next and Next Pro, which seems to be sticking with the Linux-based OS. And that makes more sense as they’re both meant to compete with the Steam Deck.

Ayaneko could differentiate itself from the market 

While in general, I’m quite agreeable with the idea of using Windows OS for the Ayaneo Next Lite, since it’s the most widely used operating system by a longshot, there needs to be a reckoning for PC gaming handhelds that use it in general.

What makes SteamOS so excellent is that it’s tailor-made for the Steam Deck, so it feels smooth and intuitive. However, other PC gaming handhelds that use Windows OS like the Asus ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, make the mistake of not tailoring said OS to the system which results in a much clunkier user interface.

Though we don’t know what Ayaneo is planning with the Windows 11 OS it’s using for the Next Lite, crafting a unique user interface would be a great way to differentiate it from other handhelds that otherwise have gotten more attention due to its brands being more well known.

Then again, Ayaneko has also made some unusual decisions, like choosing HoloISO which hasn’t been updated in months (at the time of this writing) instead of ChimeraOS for the Linux-based OS. So there’s no telling what the manufacturer is planning other than targeting a much larger market. We'll have to wait and see how things shake out when the handheld finally launches.

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Apple confirms Dolby Vision HDR on Vision Pro, plus which streamers it will support – and 2 big ones are missing
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Apple has revealed more information about what watching movie and TV shows will be like on the Apple Vision Pro, including confirmation of which of the best streaming services will have full native support when it launches.

We already knew Disney Plus would be there – that was announced at the start – and obviously Apple TV Plus was always going to have great support, but now we know that Max and Prime Video will be available, too. 

On top of those, you'll also have ESPN, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, Discovery Plus, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, Crunchyroll, Red Bull TV, IMAX, and TikTok (which obviously is a little different to the others, but hey, it's all video).

There are two huge omissions from that list: Netflix and YouTube. We actually wouldn't have been concerned about that fact that YouTube's missing from the list because it's not like the other curated streaming services there… but then Apple mentioned TikTok, and suddenly the lack of YouTube leaps out, since it's the world's best portal for VR/immersive video.

Outside of that, Apple also confirmed for the first time that the headset will support Dolby Vision HDR in addition to Dolby Atmos for audio (through the built-in speakers, or via the AirPods Pro 2 version with USB-C). Dolby Vision will help to make sure that the micro-OLED screens really reach their full potential in movies (it's on most of the best OLED TVs), while Dolby Atmos is the most sensible way to make it sound like you're sitting in a real cinema with speakers around you, thanks to its 3D soundscape tech.

One nice extra touch that Apple confirmed about its virtual cinema room that you can watch in, is that you can choose whether to sit at the front, middle or back. People have strong opinions about this!

It's not unusual

It's not a massive surprise that Netflix is missing. The company's always had a hit-and-miss relationship with Apple; the two obviously have a deep connection, but Netflix has had issues with Apple's App Store revenue sharing scheme for a long time, and the Netflix Apple TV app often doesn't get new features until long after they come to other versions of the app.

But as someone who genuinely can't wait to experience the 'Cinema Environments' mode of Vision Pro as a way to watch huge-screen movies at home, it'll be a huge shame not to be able to do that with Maestro (a movie made for IMAX but trapped in the confines on Netflix), Society of the Snow (and its beautiful, terrifying vistas) or the many classics you can find among the best Netflix movies.

Google and Apple also have a complicated relationship. The two make a ton of money off each other, but we're in a very different place to the launch of the iPhone when there was a YouTube app as part of the default apps. Clearly, Google doesn't see Vision Pro as a priority, just as Netflix doesn't – and perhaps they're right. After all, it's not like the first run of 150,000 Vision Pro headsets will depend on streaming services to sell out or not.

Whenever a more affordable non-Pro 'Apple Vision' headset arrives, that's when Apple will need the two biggest video streamers in the world on board. Until then, those lucky enough to get a Vision Pro can probably find enough to watch from the entire Apple movies store and the streaming services already confirmed.

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Windows 11 could get next-gen USB4 Version 2.0 support with speeds of up to 80Gbps
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Windows 11 could soon benefit from super-fast USB devices, as Microsoft is currently testing support of a new 80Gbps USB standard.

This will be the successor to USB4, capable of delivering data transfer speeds of up to 80 Gbps (doubling USB4’s speed) and is known as USB4 Version 2.0. The preview was released through Microsoft’s Dev Channel in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s own community for professionals and Windows enthusiasts to try out new features and versions of Windows OSs and provide feedback.

The testing will be constrained to a very, very limited number of users for now because to facilitate this USB speed standard, your PC will have to have one of Intel’s most cutting-edge processors, the Intel Core 14th Gen HX-series mobile processors. 

This line up of processors was only just announced at CES 2024 on January 8, so very few users will have access to them in the present. 

As Microsoft details in its Windows Insider Blog, this is the first substantial update to the USB4 standard, doubling USB transfer speeds from 40Gbps to 80Gbps. Here’s what Microsoft had to say, expanding on what this development will mean for future devices: 

This is the first major version update of the USB4 standard and increases performance to 80Gbps from 40Gbps. It enables the next generation of high-performance displays, storage, and connectivity. It is fully backwards compatible with peripherals built for older generations of USB and Thunderbolt and works alongside all other USB Type-C features.

Microsoft Teams copilot

(Image credit: Microsoft Teams)

What else Microsoft is testing out right now?

The Windows 11 Preview Build 23615 offers testers a crop of new features including USB4 Version 2.0. One other introduction besides the USB speed upgrade that Microsoft is looking into is launching Copilot automatically when Windows 11 starts up, specifically for widescreen devices (no specifying exactly what qualifies as wide enough for this). Windows observers don't seem so hot on this prospect, and it seems like Microsoft knew this was likely and provided instructions on how to disable it: Settings > Personalization > Copilot. 

In this build, Microsoft also added apps that you can share URLs directly to via the Windows share window, namely WhatsApp, Gmail, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. If you’d like to try this in Microsoft Edge, for instance, you do have to first enable the Share button as it’s disabled by default. You can do this by going to the three dot icon in the top right of Edge, going to Settings, scrolling down to “Select which buttons to show on the toolbar:” and toggling on for the Share button to be displayed.

Then, you’ll need to highlight or copy the link you want to share, and then click the Share button to the right of the address bar (which will be grayed out at first but then darken when you’ve selected a link).

While the above build is still being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, these new features will also be made available through a gradual rollout in Beta build 22635.3061 via the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program.  Users who install this build will need to turn the toggle on to enable the new features if they’d like to try them. Thurott.com has detailed this and more features and preview build versions that have just been released that Windows Insiders can try out now. 

It’ll be a little while before we start seeing the effects of the USB4 Version 2.0 standard and you’ll have to get one of the newest Windows PCs available to see it for yourself. It sounds very promising and will likely improve users’ experiences when USB4 Version 2.0 devices and accessories start to roll out.

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PC gamers will finally lose support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 thanks to Valve dropping them
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PC gamers, it’s time to bring in the new year by finally retiring that old Windows OS. Valve announced in an official blog post that Steam would no longer support Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 after January 1, 2024.

According to the official Steam blog post, after that date current Steam Client installations on those named operating systems will no longer be receiving any updates, including security updates. Steam will also no longer offer technical support or be able to guarantee Steam functionality after that date.

According to the latest Steam hardware survey, only about 0.89% of Steam users still have Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 installed, which is around the same amount as those with Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics cards. Not an insignificant amount considering that there are 31 million online Steam users, but it’s still a rather small population so the dropped support makes sense on that front.

Valve recommended users update their OS as “core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome” and that “future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.” The post also cites general security risks involved in keeping these operating systems installed without proper security updates to address them. This is sound advice considering that Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 in 2020 and Windows 8.1 in 2023.

Microsoft ending OS support could spell disaster

Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 aren’t the only ones that have gotten the boot from Microsoft, as the tech giant is planning on ending support for Windows 10 in 2025.

Not only is this putting a significant amount of users out of an unsupported OS but, as analyst firm Canalys puts it, could cause an environmental disaster. This is due to the current laptops running Windows 10 that don’t fit the hardware requirements for Windows 11, which means that those laptops would most likely not be recycled. That’s an estimated 240 million PCs becoming e-waste.

Users will have the option to pay for prolonged support, like with Windows 7 before it, but that only extended the lifespan by three years and each year saw rising costs for paying users.

It remains to be seen how Microsoft will handle this potential catastrophe, especially since in recent years the corporation has seemed to become more proactive in terms of sustainable and easily repaired hardware, as well as other environmental issues.

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Windows 10 support ending could be an environmental disaster that puts 240 million PCs on the scrapheap
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Windows 10 running out of road for support is going to be something of an environmental disaster in terms of old PCs going into landfills, an analyst firm has warned.

Canalys wrote an article on the state of the PC market and Windows 10’s end-of-support date, which rolls around in October 2025 – still some way off, of course, but getting closer all the time.

The core issue here is not just support coming to an end for Windows 10 in just under two years, but that the hardware requirements for Windows 11 – ruling out PCs with older CPUs, and machines that lack Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 security functionality – mean that those computers likely won’t be recycled either.

As Canalys puts it: “Despite the channel’s growing capabilities to support circularity, partners will not be able to refurbish and resell PCs unsupported by Windows 11.”

The end result will be an estimated 240 million PCs becoming e-waste, which is around a fifth of all Windows 10 devices. Canalys underlines this by saying: “If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600km taller than the moon.”

It’s a stark, bleak image, though Canalys also observes that Microsoft does offer ways to extend support for Windows 10 – at a cost, naturally. You’ll be able to pay for updates to continue to be piped through, as was the case with Windows 7 when its support expired. In fact, you’ll be able to keep on going for another three years this way.

The trouble is that with Windows 7, Microsoft cranked up the costs of this scheme considerably with every additional year. Given that, Canalys argues that it likely won’t be a cost-effective way for most businesses and individual users to proceed – and upgrading to a Windows 11 system will be the sensible path to take from a cost perspective.

This will be good news for PC manufacturers, but not so great news for the environment. Indeed, Canalys expects the PC market to grow again next year – by 8% in 2024, in fact – in contrast to this year, during which a sales slump hit vendors hard (Apple in particular struggled with Mac sales).

Analysis: Growing pressure on Microsoft

This isn’t the first warning of this nature about how Windows 11’s system requirements are bad news.

In October, PIRG, the Public Interest Research Group in the US, made an even gloomier forecast of 400 million Windows 10 PCs ending up on the scrapheap, and that the end of support for the old OS could usher in the biggest rise ever seen with junked computers.

Of course, you could argue that Windows 10 has been around since 2015, and in 2025, that’ll be a full decade of its existence – and you can’t expect an operating system to last forever. We’d agree with that, but the catch is, as mentioned, that Windows 11’s requirements (in particular the need for TPM 2.0) are a concrete wall blocking upgrades for many users or businesses – something that has not been the case before.

After several high-profile calls for action on this front, how will Microsoft respond? Maybe we can hope that the pricing for extended support for Windows 10 is reined in, compared to what was charged for Windows 7 (with an escalating scale as time went on, going up a lot in the final year).

We shall see, but a lot of noise is now being made about dire e-waste concerns here, and this is a topic Microsoft has been keen to be proactive with of late (in terms of more sustainable and easily repaired hardware, for example).

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