Windows 11 users are finally getting a Paint app with dark mode, as first promised way back by Microsoft – albeit this feature is still progressing through testing for the moment.
Microsoft let us know that an updated Paint app – version 11.2304.26.0 – is now rolling out to testers in the Beta channel, as The Verge spotted. It carries the dark mode among other features.
The Beta channel is the step just before the Release Preview channel in Windows 11 testing, meaning that the dark mode is now coming close to release.
As well as the dark mode – which will automatically be employed if you’ve turned on dark mode in Settings for Windows 11 – the new version of Paint will have an improved zoom feature. The latter allows for finer zoom adjustments, and custom zoom values (alongside the existing preset levels of zoom). Furthermore, there’s a capability that fits the image to the size of the screen (and its resolution) with a click. Nifty.
Analysis: Some swift progress (finally)
The pretty swift progression of the dark mode for Paint in testing, going from the Canary channel at the start of June – which represents the very earliest test builds of Windows 11 – through the Dev channel, and to Beta now, gives us hope that the app will get this feature soon enough.
It’s been a long wait, though – a very long one – because Microsoft actually promised this feature before Windows 11 even arrived on the scene. Since then, there has been lots of clamor to get dark mode added for Paint, but it really has taken some time. At least it looks like Microsoft is sprinting as it nears the finish line.
This isn’t the only instance of a feature taking forever to arrive in Windows 11, of course. Just this week, 3D-style emoji arrived in testing (Canary channel), another feature that was promised for the launch of Windows 11. So, these are both capabilities we’ve had to wait the best part of two years for.
Windows 11 requires the TPM 2.0 security feature (at least officially), but what if you’re having trouble with that particular chip (which remains a controversial system requirement)?
Well, help could soon be at hand, at least going by a new feature spotted in testing – by ever-present leaker PhantomOfEarth on Twitter – with Windows 11’s latest build (25905) in the Canary channel.
New in build 25905: a TPM troubleshooter is now available in Windows Security. Enabled by default like the ‘unexpected usage’ privacy features and repair installs through Windows Update. pic.twitter.com/Ys08YDUwYcJuly 12, 2023
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As you can see, the Windows Security app now carries a ‘TPM troubleshooter’ option. As the text for the feature lets us know, this is useful for finding and fixing problems with your TPM 2.0 module.
For the uninitiated, TPM (which stands for Trusted Platform Module) can be a separate hardware chip, or firmware TPM (fTPM) that uses your CPU, and it’s a system that provides tighter security for your PC. (There’s a lot more to it than that, mind, but that’s the gist).
Why is TPM 2.0 so controversial, then? Because a lot of older PCs don’t have it – or even not-all-that-old machines – and people feel that being forced to upgrade (either their motherboard and CPU, or adding a TPM security chip) is an unfair stipulation to get Windows 11. (Windows 10 does not have this requirement, of course).
Microsoft, however, has made it quite clear that beefing up security requires TPM 2.0, and argues that this is something implemented for the good of users, and protecting them against being exploited by hackers.
Analysis: A handy extra to help with TPM woes (we hope)
What might this troubleshooter actually do, then? Well, as Neowin, which spotted the tweet revealing the presence of this feature in testing, points out, it’s possible to encounter odd errors with TPM. For example: “Can’t get TPM information. Contact your device manufacturer.”
That’s not a very helpful error message, and with the new feature, what you’ll be able to do is fire up a Windows troubleshooter to look further into the issue. Hopefully, that might give you further clues as to what’s gone awry (and maybe even solve the problem, with any luck – though Microsoft’s troubleshooters are not always that reliable).
Whatever the case, having some help on-hand is certainly better than nothing (plus there’s another option here to reset your TPM back to default settings, too). Provided, of course, this feature makes the cut for the release version of Windows 11, if it proves useful and well-received in testing. Currently, we’re told that this capability is a limited rollout, so not every Canary channel tester is seeing the TPM troubleshooter.
That’s not unusual, as with many features, Microsoft deploys them to only a small subset of testers to begin with, just to check if there are any major problems, and to monitor early feedback.
Given the controversy around TPM 2.0 – and the fact that it’ll definitely be a requirement for Windows 12 too – we can guess that this troubleshooter is likely to be something that’ll appear in the finished version of Windows 11. Because anything that makes running TPM a smoother experience has to be useful.
This functionality could even pitch up in the 23H2 update, which we’ve just heard some news on – something that makes us think that the Copilot AI, which is rumored for inclusion in 23H2, won’t actually be part of that upgrade due later this year.
Microsoft has quietly added a handy new feature to an early version of Windows 11 that could make fixing problems with your PC much easier.
If you’ve been using PCs for a while, you’ll probably have found that if your computer starts acting weirdly and you can’t figure out why, reinstalling Windows can often fix things. However, this is usually a last resort, as the process can be time-consuming – and you have to make sure you have everything backed up, so you don’t lose important files.
As Neowin reports, Windows 11 build 25905 has rolled out to people who have signed up to the Windows Insider program to help test out early versions of upcoming Windows updates, and it comes with a new feature in the Recovery settings.
This new feature allows you to fix problems with your PC using Windows Update. It seems that if you select this option, Windows 11 will download the latest available update and do a ‘fresh’ install of that, while keeping your apps, files, and settings.
A great idea, but with some drawbacks
This new feature is probably one of the better ideas Microsoft has had, and if it works, it really could make fixing some Windows 11 problems a lot easier.
In the past, doing a clean install of Windows could be a right pain, as it essentially meant wiping your hard drive and starting again. In the bad old days, this also meant digging out your installation disks and activation code. If you lost those, then you were in trouble.
Even in later versions of Windows, such as Windows 11, which added an option to reset Windows, which was similar to doing a full reinstall but without much of the inconvenience, such as having to use installation media, it was still a lengthy process, as you had to reinstall many of the applications you use.
If this feature works as promised, the process should be even more streamlined, with all your apps and documents remaining untouched, and could mean the process of fixing any annoying problems is pretty fast and painless.
There are some drawbacks, however, as it appears to enable the feature you’ll need to boot into Windows 11 first – which isn’t much help if your PC is refusing to boot. It’s not clear if you can access this feature via safe mode either.
If the problem has been caused by the latest Windows 11 update, then reinstalling that update might not fix the problem, either.
Still, I’m always happy to see Microsoft introduce new ways to help fix problems, and while the company seems to have kept this new feature quiet, it could end up being one of the most useful additions in recent years. Hopefully, it’ll roll out to all users in the coming months.
Windows 11’s feature update coming later this year may not be all that extensive in terms of what it introduces to the OS, as we’ve just been told that it’ll be an enablement package.
We’ll come back to what that means in a moment, but this discovery was made in an update Microsoft issued about the Windows client roadmap (for businesses, but this still applies to 23H2 for everyone, of course – it’s the same update wherever it’s applied).
As Thurrott.com spotted, Microsoft said: “The upcoming Windows 11, version 23H2 shares the same servicing branch and code base as Windows 11, version 22H2. What does it mean for you? If you’re running Windows 11, version 22H2, it will be a simple update to version 23H2 via a small enablement package.”
To explain this more fully, Microsoft has used these enablement packages with Windows 10 for the past few feature updates. What this means is that an upgrade is preloaded to the PC before it goes live, and then when that time comes, all Windows has to do is download a small enablement package. That, as the name suggests, is effectively a switch that enables all the features which are already preloaded on the PC (making for a swift and painless installation).
So, the Windows 11 23H2 update being delivered by an enablement package means that it runs on the same code base as 22H2, as Microsoft points out in the above statement. Meaning there likely won’t be any big (fundamental) changes coming with 23H2.
That’s typically the case with these enablement packages – they are relatively minor updates, and sharing the same code base, can be preloaded in this way. This is certainly what we’ve seen with Windows 10 upgrades delivered via the enablement route.
Analysis: Copilot not cleared for take-off in 2023?
But, you might be thinking, isn’t there a lot of stuff coming with Windows 11 23H2? Well, maybe not so much, if this latest move is any indication. True, we are expecting a big File Explorer revamp, and there’s something else rumored in the way of a major move: the introduction of Microsoft’s Copilot AI.
This certainly makes us think that maybe Copilot won’t be turning up ready to assist you on the desktop in 23H2. The rumor mill has indicated the AI is supposedly inbound with 23H2, but we’ve always been skeptical about that. Especially looking at the early working version of Copilot currently in testing, which is very basic indeed (and hardly does anything with the Windows environment – it’s more or less just a glorified integrated Bing chatbot in a side-panel on the desktop, at this point).
This enablement news, for us, is a strong indication Copilot won’t be coming with Windows 11 23H2. And really, it makes sense for Microsoft to take more time over the AI assistant – to ensure that Copilot is done right.
After all, first impressions very much count, and if Copilot gets branded as ‘another Cortana’ (or worse yet, Clippy), getting off on the wrong foot in this way could be very difficult for Microsoft to recover from.
Really, we believe it would be foolish for Microsoft to rush out Copilot in 23H2, and indeed, it makes perfect sense to keep it as a ’game-changing’ new feature for Windows 12 (or whatever next-gen Windows ends up being called in 2024).
Windows 11 just received a new cumulative update (Moment 3) a couple of days back, and don’t look now – well, actually do look, or you’ll struggle to read this article – but there are complaints filtering through about a number of issues.
The main bones of contention with patch KB5028185 for Windows 11 22H2 are instances of performance slowdown – with severe cases going by some reports – and problems with flaky internet connections.
Let’s tackle the performance bugbears first, and it might be worth noting to kick off that the sluggish SSD issue still isn’t resolved with this update, as we recently predicted (that’s been an ongoing barrel of woes).
Aside from that, on the Reddit thread announcing the update we see multiple complaints of PCs running more slowly, and/or booting more sluggishly.
For example, one Redditor notes: “KB5028185 is trash. Thanks to this update, my restart and startup times are both far longer, sitting at the Welcome Screen for 17 seconds where it used to be about 4½ seconds. The shutdown time is longer too but I didn’t time it.”
That problem went away after uninstalling the update.
Another user observes: “Why after [updating], all my games and apps became very laggy?”
And another person replies to that: “Same happened to me. Can’t believe how abysmal the performance is. I uninstalled the update and it’s back to normal. I hate how Microsoft forces such broken updates all the time in Windows 10/11. Never had this problem with Windows 7/8.”
A further complaint reads: “Has anyone else been dealing with your PC chugging super hard after the update? Worked perfectly fine last night, got the updates this morning, took 4 hours for the updates to download/install, another 45 minutes to properly install after 2 restarts, and now, 4 hours later after the restarts completed, everything is STILL super slow.”
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Roman Samborskyi)
Okay, onto the second major issue that’s being reported, namely the internet connection going down the proverbial tubes. There are reports of both Wi-Fi and Ethernet (wired) connections being hit.
Again, here are some posts from affected Redditors. One person writes: “My pc won’t get on the internet now. No wifi or ethernet. And my firewall won’t start. Was fine before this ‘update.’”
Here’s another: “My Ethernet does not work as well since yesterday’s update… Edit: After removing updates KB5028851, KB5028185 via settings menu, my Internet connection is working again! Took 10 minutes.”
And another: “KB5028185 broke my internet also, no connection via Ethernet or WiFi/hotspot, they both said ‘connected, but no internet available.’ The troubleshooters were useless in resolving the issue so I decided to uninstall the update and everything works fine.”
Elsewhere we see complaints about Wi-Fi network stability in general.
A third annoyance here is the Windows Security icon in the system tray (far right of the taskbar) is broken in some cases, meaning nothing happens when you click on it (but virus scans are still working okay). Again, there are multiple confirmations of this glitch.
Analysis: What to do? Well, there are workarounds, but with catches
It seems that KB5028185 is problematic on a number of fronts, sadly. If you’ve installed the July cumulative update and have run into one of these problems – or random crashes, which we’ve also seen reported – then a temporary workaround is to uninstall KB5028185.
The downside is that you’ll be left without all the latest security fixes on your Windows 11 PC, which isn’t great. And also, the update will automatically install itself eventually (you can only put it off for so long with Windows 11 Home edition).
Meantime, all we can do is hope that Microsoft is investigating the aforementioned bugs, and will be producing some cures for the PCs hit by these problems.
The only other suggestion floated on Reddit is turning off Core Isolation (Memory Integrity), as some folks have claimed that this is causing most of the problems around system lag and crashes. Turning it off – just search for ‘Core Isolation’, go to the panel, and click the slider to disable Memory Integrity (then reboot) – may remedy your performance issues (or indeed internet dropouts), we’re told.
However, there’s a big caveat here, namely that this is a security feature you really should have running to defend yourself against potential exploits.
So, you’re taking a chance either way – running without the update, or without an important security feature – but if the problems with KB5028185 are bugging you that much, it may be a chance you want to take (at your own risk, as ever).
Windows 11 has a new preview build and it introduces 3D emoji, plus it takes an important first step for change on the security front.
You may recall that 3D emoji were promised by Microsoft in the past – the distant past, in fact, since this was something that was supposed to launch with Windows 11 – but they’re finally here. Putting paid to what was quite the controversy almost two years ago (we’ll come back to ‘emojigate’ shortly).
Build 25905 for the Canary channel gives us some smart-looking emoji that are nicely fleshed out with a 3D-like appearance.
As Microsoft notes: “These emoji use gradients to bring the design style that our customers have been asking for.”
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Elsewhere in this preview build, security has been tightened thanks to the introduction of Rust in the Windows Kernel. Not rust as in metal-gone-bad, but Rust as in the coding language which offers advantages over C++ (the currently used programming language), notably in terms of memory safety (and defending against exploits that take this route).
At the moment, the initial steps with Rust are just a “small trial” as Microsoft describes it, but expect the Windows 11 kernel to get rustier as time goes on.
It’s also worth noting that the Microsoft Store now has an AI Hub, and not just for the Canary channel, but all testers who are running version 22306.1401.x.x or better of the store.
We discussed this in detail yesterday, but the idea is for Microsoft to highlight some top apps that make good use of AI (and more besides, eventually).
Check out the full details of everything going on in this new preview build by reading through Microsoft’s blog post on the release.
Analysis: Fiery feelings over emoji
What’s all this about ‘emojigate’ then? Well, as mentioned, Microsoft did tease 3D-like emoji before the release of Windows 11, promising that they’d arrive with the OS. However, when Windows 11 launched in October 2021, the redesigned emoji looked nothing like the promised 3D-style affairs, and were simply flat icons.
That caused quite an outpouring of rage on social media. While emoji may seem like a relatively unimportant facet of an operating system to some folks, to others, they’re a key part of the experience and communicating with friends. More to the point, people don’t like feeling duped, and indeed at the time, some threw accusations at Microsoft of ‘scamming’ them.
Over the top, yes, but that’s how folks can react when they feel they’ve been lied to in some way. Microsoft explained that the wrong graphics had been used for teasing the feature, and there had been some kind of a mix-up, but that didn’t sit well with some Windows 11 users back at the time, either.
At any rate, Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program manager at Microsoft, told the disgruntled users that the 3D emoji could arrive in Windows 11 at a later date – and they finally have. At least in testing, anyway, and they should be in the release version of Windows 11 later this year.
Some Windows 11 users are getting a new AI Hub in the Microsoft Store, a section that picks out apps that, as you might guess, are powered by AI in some way.
Windows Latest spotted that the AI Hub feature is now rolling out to the Microsoft Store in the US, so will only be available for a limited number of users to begin with, no doubt.
We’re told it’s present in version 22306.1401.1.0 of the Microsoft Store or newer (for US users).
Windows Latest has been playing with the feature, which highlights apps offering top-notch AI experiences (in Microsoft’s opinion), including the likes of Luminar Neo, Descript, and naturally enough, Edge with Bing Chat.
Microsoft introduced the idea of doing more with AI in its Windows 11 store in a blog post in late May, so this represents the first move in letting people actually use this AI Hub.
Analysis: The broader danger for Microsoft
The AI Hub is not the end of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-fueled ambitions in the store. In fact, the next move – one that’s due imminently – is AI-generated review summaries.
User reviews can be a useful barometer of whether any given app is good or not, taken with an appropriate pinch of salt or two, but especially when there are lots of reviews, it can be quite a task to wade through them.
That’s where these AI summaries will step in, combing through a potential mountain of reviews and picking out matching sentiments to form an overarching opinion of the app in question.
Back in May, Microsoft told us that: “AI-Generated review summaries will soon be available in the Microsoft Store.”
So we’re hoping that now the AI Hub has gone live, at least in the US, those review summaries are very close to being implemented as well. They should be quite useful (fingers crossed).
And with all this going on, looking at a broader level, there remains a question of whether Microsoft is doing too much, too soon, with AI.
For example, the initial incarnation of Copilot is very limited and basically boils down to integration for the Bing chatbot along with a few basic bits of Windows 11 settings functionality (not much). It’s unlikely to impress anyone (yet), and with AI now being pushed to the store as well, the danger for Microsoft is some people starting to get fed up with seeing AI shoved into every corner of the OS. Complete with, as we observed above, the obligatory plugs for the Edge browser and Bing chatbot.
While the temptation may be to rush headlong into a big feature grab, Microsoft must balance that with the need to take a measured and steady approach to AI. Not just to make sure it gets things right when rolling out new AI capabilities to Windows 11 (and other services for that matter), but to give users time to breathe between one artificial intelligence feature drop and the next.
Get any of this finely balanced equation wrong and a combination of fatigue and/or disillusionment with AI could be visited upon its user base.
How is this possible? By removing pretty much everything the dev could, and using an “extensive trial and error” process to see which services and drivers Windows 11 required to boot (then getting rid of everything else).
Tiny11 has previously been run in as little as 196MB of RAM, the catch with that being that the OS was incredibly slow. You could do things, just about, but at glacial speeds.
With NTDEV’s successful attempt at firing up Windows 11 in just 176MB, the system runs relatively responsively, and for example Task Manager is brought up in just a few seconds. (No, that isn’t snappy, but compare it to the 15-minute wait for Task Manager to appear with the 196MB demonstration).
It’s an eye-opening difference, for sure, but there’s a big catch here, which we’ll discuss next.
Analysis: An impressive feat with a twist of a cheat
The cheat NTDEV has used to do this is that they’ve trimmed Tiny11 down even further and removed a major element – File Explorer – allowing Windows 11 to run faster because it doesn’t have to bring up the desktop.
That’s right, as you can see in the video clip above, there is no desktop, with the system booting to a command line. You then have to type manual commands (in text) to run different apps and functions, which is hardly ideal. Indeed, it’s a very clunky way of operating, but it does allow for the OS to be much faster.
To put this achievement in perspective, normally Window 11 requires 4GB of RAM to run, which is 4096MB. That’s 23x the amount the OS is seen running in here.
What’s the point of this? Well, it’s a fun exercise and nothing more, as nobody sane would want to operate Windows 11 in this manner. Much like huge overclocks on GPUs and CPUs that are completely impractical – and happen for seconds, only thanks to exotic cooling with say, liquid nitrogen – these are feats undertaken just to prove it can be done. Although in this case, the goal isn’t big numbers, but small ones – as tiny as possible.
Is 176MB a world-record low for running Windows 11 (functionally)? We think it could be, but then, technically, are you running Windows if there’s no desktop? There are still windows, of course – brought up via the command line – but without a desktop and icons, the core graphical interface, this isn’t really Windows, is it?
Still, hats off to NTDEV for what remains an impressive achievement.
Windows 11 just got a whole bunch of new features which are now available to all-comers.
As you may, or may not, realize, the Moment 3 update turned up in the Windows-verse quite some time back, but not everyone running Windows 11 was able to install the new functionality.
When Moment 3 was first made available, it wasn’t to all PCs – just those with the ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ option turned on. And on top of that, the update remained a staggered rollout even among those selected users, with only some folks receiving it.
Fall into that category? Then all you have to do is head to Windows Update and check for the latest updates, and you’ll get Microsoft’s freshly released patch (KB5028185) which enables Moment 3 features.
Analysis: Some cool functionality is here – and something unwanted too
Is Moment 3 worth having? We think so, as it brings some nifty additions to the mix for Windows 11. For starters, there’s a good deal of work on the accessibility front, with the help system for Voice Access commands being revamped to give users a much better understanding of how everything works, plus there are new commands too (for selecting and editing text). On top of that, Microsoft now supports more dialects for Voice Access and more languages for live captions.
Elsewhere, some important bits of the Windows 11 interface have also been improved, such as the Settings app, Task Manager, and widget board. We discuss these changes in more depth here.
Unfortunately, there’s a sting in the tail here with what Microsoft calls the expanded rollout of “notification badging for Microsoft accounts” on the Start menu. What does that mean? More folks – but still not everyone – will be receiving nag prompts on the Start menu to sign up for a Microsoft account (or to finish configuring their account).
We’ve been voicing our opposition to this move since Microsoft kicked off this badging scheme (which would be better named badgering, as we’ve noted in the past), but it seems the software giant is determined to push ahead with it for now. These are thinly disguised adverts by any other name, even if they are designed to ‘help’ the user as Microsoft argues.
Whatever the case, the odds of seeing these badges are increasing with the delivery of Moment 3, and the update is not something you can avoid, of course. (Windows 11 Home users can only postpone a cumulative update for a short time, as they are mandatory and will be automatically installed eventually).
Windows 11 21H2 is about to run out of road for support, so if you’re still on this version of the operating system, then you need to upgrade very soon.
Bleeping Computer highlighted an end-of-servicing announcement Microsoft issued pertaining to Windows 11 Home, version 21H2 (and Pro versions, too, including Windows 11 Pro Education).
Microsoft reminded us: “These editions will no longer receive security updates after October 10, 2023.”
What does that mean? Feature updates are one thing – upgrades that add new capabilities and refine the interface of Windows 11 in one way or another – but security updates are the really important bit.
They patch up vulnerabilities that have been discovered in Windows 11, and if not fixed, could be exploited by attackers to compromise your system in some way (usually with dire results).
If you’re still running Windows 11 21H2 – which is the version of the OS from 2021, as the name suggests – then you need to upgrade to 22H2, and do so before October arrives.
Analysis: Get going on that upgrade
Upgrading to Windows 11 22H2 is an easy process. Just head to Windows Update (in Settings), and click the ‘Check for updates’ button, whereupon the upgrade should show up with the option to install it.
Not sure what version of Windows 11 you have? You can find out simply by typing ‘winver’ into the search box on the taskbar and clicking on ‘Run command’. Winver stands for Windows Version and will pop up a panel telling you if you are currently running Windows 11 21H2 or 22H2 (or whatever flavor of Microsoft’s OS you’ve got for that matter, if it’s another).
Windows 10 users have already seen their 21H2 version pushed out of support, which happened last month – the June cumulative update contained the final round of security patches for that incarnation of the OS. That means Windows 10 users should already have upgraded to 22H2, and indeed Microsoft is forcing the upgrade on folks (to ensure they stay protected).
Microsoft has also been forcing upgrades to Windows 11 22H2 for the same reason over the course of 2023, and as the final October deadline for 21H2 support approaches, more users are going to get an automatic upgrade coming into play, again to ensure their PC continues to receive security fixes.
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