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Windows 10’s new Photos app brings cool new features while dropping old favorites
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Despite Microsoft’s efforts, many users are stubbornly clinging on to Windows 10, rather than upgrading to Windows 11, and the upshot of that is that the company is still adding new features to the older operating system – with Windows 10 getting a new version of the Photos app. 

This was was an anticipated change after being spotted in a Windows preview by an X (formerly Twitter) user.

The new version of the Photos app for Windows 10 is basically the same as the one found in Windows 11, and offers new editing capabilities and a filmstrip view that lets you view all your photos and videos in a single window. 

You can also view your photos and videos in a mode called ‘multi-view’, a favorite feature of existing users of the app. Multi-view is another novel way to go through your photos and videos, allowing you to open them all within one window and easily compare them side-by-side, as detailed by Windows Latest. 

The new Photos app in Windows 11

(Image credit: Microsoft)

What have users been saying?

However, despite all of these flashy new features, some users have complained that they prefer the old version of the Photos app for Windows 10. According to posts from both Microsoft’s Feedback Hub and the Microsoft Answers Forum, some users voiced that they’d like to see the “Clarity” and “Spot Fix” features returned to the newer Photos app. 

If you’d like to add your opinion on this issue, you can go to the Feedback Hub which is designed for users to submit their feedback directly to Microsoft. You can also speak to other users about the issue on the Microsoft Answers Forum, which is Microsoft’s dedicated community support forum.

A major complaint is that this new Photos app no longer has the “clarity” options that the older version had. The “clarity” capability in the older app was similar to that of Photoshop, and one user wrote that they aren’t interested in other effects, they just want their photos to appear more clearly. 

This particular feature was greatly praised because it could be used for more than just visual edits – it could also be used to clarify blurry photos to make features sharper, and if it included alphanumeric characters, easier to read. 

Young woman using a laptop inside at night

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The lasting popularity of older Windows features

Microsoft has been very keen to make Windows (and its features) more modern, but to be fair, there’s plenty it’s already gotten right. After all, there are reasons why Windows is still the most popular desktop OS around, so it shouldn’t be overly keen to jettison its older apps, especially if they remain popular. 

Microsoft often makes a point of saying it’s open to feedback and encourages users to submit it, and hopefully it pays attention, because there is clear demand for some of the older Photo app’s features. 

I understand why Microsoft keeps trying to push users to Windows 11 and its apps – I imagine it would like to focus its efforts on one primary OS, especially when it comes to security. That said, a lot of users really prefer Windows 10, and Microsoft needs to acknowledge why the older version remains so popular. Turning Windows 10 into Windows 11-lite won’t go down well for fans of the older OS.

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Windows 11 could bring your desktop to life with AI-enhanced ‘moving wallpapers’
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Windows 11 is set to receive a whole new look and feel with an upcoming update, thanks to an AI-powered feature that will revamp the desktop experience. 

Internal documents spotted by Windows Latest suggest we may get something akin to a ‘live wallpaper’ for users' desktops. This would make the wallpaper look like it's 'popping out’ of your screen when you move your cursor across the display, with its appearance changing based on the cursor's movement. 

In addition to this, Windows Latest hints at the potential of adding a ‘parallax effect’ to the desktop background, making the wallpaper move more slowly in the background than the windows and apps that are on top, giving the illusion of depth to make your background look more immersive. 

Microsoft has been pushing hard on AI integration, putting a lot of time and effort into implementing artificial intelligence into its products since the success of the new and improved Bing, and it seems that every facet of Microsoft’s products may be graced by AI at some point. 

Cool wallpapers incoming  

We’re probably only going to see AI-powered wallpapers on devices that can support the movement detection required to create the desired effect, so we might first see the feature on newer, more powerful machines. 

It’s exciting to see Microsoft using AI to improved the aesthetics of your device, even if it is just a nifty wallpaper at this stage. From what we can tell, these depth and movement effects should work with most images you might use as a desktop background, and should save you from having to search for (and install) live wallpaper applications.

This could also be the first step in creating a truly immersive and interesting background with the help of AI, as we may soon see new features pop up once Microsoft makes the feature available. Hopefully, the company will build on that, and introduce more fun and engaging ways to make your device your own.

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A new Windows 11 bug can be tweaked to turbocharge your File Explorer
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A newly-discovered Windows bug can be activated to turbo boost your File Explorer in Windows 11. X (formerly Twitter) user @VivyVCCS made the discovery and shared it. 

Multiple users have been complaining that their Windows 11 is sometimes slow to load and that it takes a while to get search results in File explorer. According to Neowin, tests have shown that in some respects, Windows 10 is actually faster than Windows 11 – which is pretty embarrassing for Microsoft.

However, the new bug has been found that affects the navigation bar, but which also causes much faster loading times for folders and files. You can see a demo of this in @VivyVCCS’s post: 

See more

The effect of the trick

Neowin also reports that this trick can speedsup the search function within File Explorer. MSPoweruser also claims that this F11 full-screen trick can improve the loading performance of your directory and slash down the “Working on it…” time in Windows 11 devices that don’t make use of an XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) navigation bar.

This increases File Explorer’s responsiveness. Triggering the bug prompts the contents of a folder and thumbnail previews for files to load immediately, and Neowin quotes a Reddit user that compared this altered loading time to that of File Explorer in Windows 7, which was widely praised for its speediness.

This isn’t the only nifty trick that isn’t widely known. You can force Task Manager process updates to pause by holding down Ctrl for some time while the process updates window in Task Manager is open. Doing this can help you end tasks more easily instead of trying to pin them down as they jump around in the Processes window. 

Trying it for yourself

In order to try this out for yourself, you’ll first need to have Task Manager open. You can open it by pressing Ctrl + Windows key + Delete or search for it in the search box in the taskbar.

You can then  trigger this bug by the following procedure: 

1. Open or switch to File Explorer in full-screen mode. You can do this by pressing F11. 

2. Exit full-screen mode. Press F11 once more. 

Undetermined source of the bug

According to Neowin, this bug (and possibly also the workaround) affects all versions of Windows 11, stretching from the original release all the way up to the most cutting-edge Canary update channel Insider builds. 

It’s not yet established exactly why this trick works, or whether this has any adverse effect on other parts of Windows 11. 

This is a handy tip to make use of, but you’d hope this sort of thing would be incorporated into Windows 11 by default. Windows 11 is supposed to be Microsoft putting out its best modern operating system, so it's not a great look if there are bugs that actually improve its performance. 

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Microsoft kills off Windows 11’s troubleshooters – so where can you turn for help?
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Microsoft has begun the process of phasing out its helpful built-in Windows Troubleshooters. These troubleshooting tools had come built-in to Windows systems since their debut in 2009 with Windows 7, and were created to run diagnostic processes and automatically identify common Windows problems, and then resolve them.  

In a recent support document, Microsoft outlined its plan to retire various Troubleshooters, starting with the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT), which will be pulled as part of the next Windows 11 update. The exact date of when this will happen hasn’t been announced yet. 

Microsoft also lays out a deprecation timeline that it looks to put in place over the next three years:

  • 2023 – Begin redirecting some of the troubleshooters to the new Get Help troubleshooting platform
  • 2024 – Complete the troubleshooter redirection and remove the rest of the troubleshooters
  • 2025 – Remove the MSDT platform

Microsoft goes on to explain what this will mean a significant departure from the MSDT platform for Windows users, as many of the troubleshooters we’re familiar with are based on it. 

A number of these will be rerouted to another newer user help platform, Get Help. Any troubleshooters that don’t fall into this category will be axed, but until then, it seems that they will continue to work.

Windows 11 leak

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Where the troubleshooters can be found

To access the suite of troubleshooting tools in Get Help, you have to go to Windows Settings. 

To find this, I suggest you do the following: 

Go to Start  >  Settings. 

Then type in Troubleshoot into the search box that says Find a setting in greyed out text.

Finally, go to Other Troubleshooters / Additional Troubleshooters (depending on what your system displays) in the Troubleshoot window

I recommend this because my troubleshooting settings are in a slightly different location to the one Microsoft outlines in its post. 

This should lead you to a whole host of different specific troubleshooters.

Detailed breakdown of the changes

If you’re running Windows 11 version 22H2 or an older Windows version, including Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 or any other earlier version, you won’t be affected by this. You will be able to use the legacy troubleshooters as normal.

Lower down in its support document, Microsoft also details explicitly what each current troubleshooting tool will be converted to in its new Get Help iteration. Under this list, there’s a detailed list of Troubleshooters that will be getting the chop. 

Microsoft notes that this will begin with the next release of Windows 11, hinting that some troubleshooter tools may get removed ahead of others (but not elaborating beyond that). 

When you run the new version of Windows 11 that has this change, Microsoft explains that you should see a system message that explains the new troubleshooting process. Hopefully, this should mean that if you do encounter a problem in Windows 11, you’ll be able to find a solution within the Get Help app.

Finally, if you have feedback about this specific change, you can relay it to Microsoft in the Troubleshoot window by scrolling to the very bottom and clicking Give feedback. 

programming

(Image credit: Pixabay)

Possible reasons for this major move

BleepingComputer speculates that a possible explanation for this strategy is that this is a correction of previously updated features that were targeted in zero-day exploits. 

A zero-day exploit is a vulnerability in software that is already being exploited by cybercriminals and hackers on the day it becomes publicly known or the developers of the software discover it (hence meaning they have zero days to comfortably work on it). The MSDT had known vulnerabilities that attackers could have capitalized on and then run all kinds of harmful processes remotely on a user’s system.

This is a pretty major move for Microsoft, coming alongside its much discussed removal of WordPad from future updates. Windows is still the most widely-used operating system for PCs, which makes it a big target for hackers. 

With attackers now being able to pump out malicious code using AI tools, it’s good to see that Microsoft hasn’t lost sight of the fact that it’s still one of the biggest targets for hackers, and that it has its work cut out to combat them.

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Microsoft reminds Windows 11 users on original version that they’ll soon be forced to upgrade
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Are you still running Windows 11 21H2? The original version of Windows 11 is about to run out of road for support, and Microsoft has reminded us that users are going to have to upgrade to a newer version imminently.

Neowin spotted that Microsoft has updated its release health dashboard to make things clear for those on Windows 11 21H2 (Home and Pro, plus Pro variants).

The company reminds us that support ends on October 10, 2023, and that the cumulative security update for October, to be released on that day, will be the last ever update that Windows 11 21H2 receives.

Microsoft further clarifies: “The September 2023 non-security preview update will be the last optional release and the October 2023 security update will be the last security release for Windows 11, version 21H2. Windows 11, version 22H2 will continue to receive security and optional releases.”

Analysis: Only one road ahead

Users on 21H2 will therefore be pushed to upgrade to 22H2 and Windows 11 will automatically fire up the update to do so when this end date rolls around – or up to a couple of months before that. So, if you are still on Windows 11 21H2, you might experience this forced upgrade very soon.

It is, of course, of paramount importance that your copy of Windows 11 remains in date and keeps up with the flow of security fixes, otherwise your PC could be open to being exploited by hackers and opportunists out there.

If Windows 11 23H2 emerges very soon, it’s possible you could get pushed to move to that instead of 22H2. However, we don’t think that’s too likely – although it could arrive later this month, as we’ve previously observed, but most rumors have it penciled in for Q4, which of course means October at the soonest, and quite possibly not early in the month. We shall see.

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Windows 11 gets a bunch of small but useful changes – including something nifty for Notepad
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Microsoft has pushed out a new preview build for Windows 11, and made some useful changes in the earliest development channel – plus the company has applied some nifty tweaks for default apps in testing, too.

Let’s start with the freshly deployed preview build 25941 in the Canary channel, which introduces a toggle to turn on dynamic refresh rate (in Advanced Display settings). This allows Windows 11 to adjust the refresh rate of the screen on-the-fly, so when you don’t need to be running at the display’s maximum refresh, it can be toned down, thus saving a bit of power with your high refresh rate display.

Another related tweak is that when choosing a refresh rate, Windows 11 will now mark rates (with an asterisk) that can’t currently be selected due to the resolution you’re running at (but could be used at a different resolution).

Build 25941 also has a raft of bug fixes as detailed in Microsoft’s blog post introducing this new preview version.

Elsewhere in testing, Microsoft has rolled out updates for the Snipping Tool and Notepad apps in Windows 11 (for Canary and also Dev channel testers).

With the Snipping Tool, users now get the benefit of a ‘combined capture bar,’ a panel that easily allows you to switch between capturing screenshots and video clips. And with those videos, screen recording has been bolstered so you can record the PC audio and a voiceover using a microphone should you wish.

As for Notepad, this is getting an auto-save feature. Anything you write will be saved, and sessions will be saved when you close Notepad, coming back up when you next start the app.

Analysis: Small tweaks with bigger results

Dynamic refresh rate is a neat feature to see arrive in Canary (it was previously in Dev channel, too), and hopefully this will be inbound for beta builds before too long, and shuffling its way through to the release version of Windows 11.

It’s going to be of considerable benefit to laptop owners, as the energy savings to be made by lowering the refresh rate (where possible – such as when you have a screenful of text you’re reading, which really doesn’t require any smoothness) will add up to longer battery life when out and about.

As for the beefed-up Snipping Tool, that’s a more streamlined experience, and the support for voiceovers will doubtless be welcomed by those knocking up, say, a quick help video on how to do something on the Windows 11 desktop.

It’s certainly useful to give Notepad auto-save – it’s a favorite app for some folks – for obvious reasons (and there’s the ability to switch it off, if you don’t want it). What’s also cool about this is that you don’t have to engage with any dialog boxes (such as confirming ‘Do you want to save?’). Notepad just keeps the content saved without prompting you when you close the app, bringing the text back when it’s reopened.

Via Neowin

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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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Microsoft blames PC makers for broken Windows 11 update – but I think that’s a copout
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A recent Windows 11 update (which also came to Windows 10) has been causing some serious problems for some users – and it seems Microsoft is trying to pass the buck.

As Bleeping Computer reports, some people who installed the optional August 2023 updates for Windows 11 or Windows 10 were getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, where their PC stops responding, with the error being labelled as an ‘UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR’ issue.

In a statement posted on its ‘Release Health’ website, that tracks known issues, Microsoft states that the “’UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR’ error was not caused by issues in KB5029351 and is limited to a specific subset of processors.”

Microsoft claims it is “collaborating with device manufacturers (OEMs)” by pausing the update being offered to Windows devices that may be affected.

If the KB5029351 is already installed and causing an issue, it will automatically uninstall, which should fix the issue.

Whose fault is it anyway?

Microsoft is usually pretty good at being transparent about Windows 11 problems, so it’s interesting that with this one, it’s saying that the error isn’t being caused “by issues in KB5029351” and that you should “contact your device’s processor manufacturer” if the problem persists.

That seems to be washing its hands of the problem a bit. After all, this issue only affects the KB5029351 update – and presumably these unsupported processors work fine with other Windows 10 and Windows 11 updates.

You’d also think it would be easier for Microsoft to release an update that was supported by these processors, rather than have the processor makers build their chips to be compatible with all future Windows updates.

It all seems a bit odd, but there must be some reasoning behind Microsoft’s blame game. The good news, at least, is that this only affects an optional update, which means it’s not going to be forced on you, and the fix seems relatively easy to apply.

Whether or not device manufacturers will be happy with Microsoft pointing the finger at them over this latest Windows 11 problem, however, is another story.

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Windows Copilot leak suggests deeper assimilation with Windows 11 features
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Key Windows 11 features may soon be customizable as Microsoft further integrates its Windows Copilot AI assistant into the operating system.

This tidbit comes from tech news site Windows Latest, which claims to have discovered new .json (JavaScript Object Notation) files within recent preview builds of Windows 11. These files apparently hint at future upgrades for the desktop AI assistant. For example, a “TaskManagerService-ai-plugin.json” was found which is supposedly a “plugin for Task Manager integration”. If this ever comes out, it could give users the ability to “monitor or close running apps using” Copilot.

In total, six are currently tested and they affect various aspects of Windows 11.

Next, there is an “AccessbilityTools-ai-plugin.json” that gives Copilot a way to “control accessibility [tools]. This would make it “easier for those with [a] disability to navigate through the system.” Third is “ai-plugin-WindowsSettings.json” for controlling important Windows 11 settings. Which ones exactly are not stated within the report. 

Fourth is “ClockService-ai-plugin.json” to help people manage their computer’s alarm settings. Rounding out the pack are “LaunchApplication-ai-plugin.json and SmartFileActions-ai-plugin.json” for opening apps through AI commands.

Modular control hub

Windows Copilot was in limited release when it first came out back in late June 2023, and it was pretty barebones. Since then, Microsoft has been repeatedly upgrading the AI function to be more comprehensive. Earlier reports state Copilot may be able search for specific files as well as offer “store suggestions”, presumably for apps to download at the Microsoft Store.

You may read all this and think that the AI assistant may become a bloated mess, but on the contrary, it might not. Due to the fact all the .json files mentioned are plugins, Windows Copilot will most likely be a modular tool, meaning you can pick and choose particular Windows 11 features it can control. This effectively turns the AI into your personal control hub for the OS.

Upgraded AI assistants

Of course, that’s assuming the final version will release exactly as we just described. Nothing in the news story has been officially confirmed by Microsoft. Be aware there’s a chance, if small, that the company could terminate certain plugins at any time. 

So far, the updates have been first-party only. Windows Latest claims the tech giant could begin offering third-party plugin support within the coming weeks. Partnered third-party companies or developers remain unknown at the time of this writing. 

Generative AI models have opened a lot of possibilities for personal assistants. Gone are the days of asking simple questions to Siri or Cortana. Technological improvements have made it possible for AIs to help in our day-to-day tasks. Google, for example, is working on an AI writing tool for upcoming Chromebooks.

To learn more, we recommend checking out TechRadar’s list of the best AI chatbots for 2023 to see what the technology is capable of. 

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Microsoft is finally changing this annoying Windows 11 behavior – but there’s a catch
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Windows 11 has a change in testing which will please anyone who is fed up with Edge popping up when opening certain links in the OS, despite it not being the default browser – but there’s a catch, sadly.

You’re surely familiar with the scenario where you open a link via a Windows system component – meaning in a Windows 11 menu somewhere, maybe a help link for example – and it fires up Edge, rather than your chosen favorite web browser.

There’s no way to modify that preference either, but in preview build 23531 which was released at the end of last week in the Dev testing channel, Microsoft has changed it so these system components use your default browser, as they should.

As the blog post for build 23531 makes clear: “In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links.”

And in that sentence, you can spot the catch: for now this is just in European countries (specifically the EEA), so it’s not happening in the US or elsewhere.

Analysis: Come on Microsoft, push this out globally

Hopefully this feature will witness a wider regional rollout in time – it’s a small tweak to make, and one that’ll definitely lower the annoyance factor when using Windows 11.

Okay, so it isn’t that often that you click one of these system links, but when Edge pops up unannounced, it can be quite annoying. Especially as it inevitably also throws some kind of banner into the mix upon being opened for the first time in a while (“hey, don’t forget about me, make me your default browser, go on, you know you want to,” and so forth).

Is there a reason Microsoft may have been forced to do this in Europe, pertaining to regulations or compliance issues? We’re not sure, but the chatter on the rumor mill seems convinced enough this is something Microsoft is only doing to head off the danger of being penalized by the EU in some way. It does seem strange that the change is Europe-only, after all.

That said, if the feedback is positive enough, maybe the software giant will listen, and roll out this change more widely anyway, even if this somehow a forced move in Europe.

Elsewhere in build 23531, Microsoft has reinstated the search flyout when you mouse over the search box in the taskbar – not something everyone will appreciate. The good news is that you can turn off this function if you find it irritating.

As ever with test builds of Windows 11, there’s no guarantee that the features being tried out in earlier previews will make the cut for the final version of the OS.

Via Windows Central

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