An especially inquisitive Reddit user has worked out a trick that lets you use Windows 10’s File Explorer in Windows 11 without having to mess with your Windows Registry.
Windows 10’s File Explorer and overall user interface (UI) are some of the biggest reasons that many folks prefer the older operating system, so this will be regarded as quite the breakthrough in some respects. Mainly because other workarounds to be able to achieve the same end require that you tinker with your Windows Registry, requiring a degree of understanding and care (or a third-party tool, most of which are not free).
To fire up Windows 10’s File Explorer within Windows 11, follow these steps:
1. Type ‘Control Panel’ into the search box in the Windows 11 taskbar and open the panel.
2. Click on ‘System and Security.’
(Image credit: Microsoft)
3. Click on ‘Windows Tools.’
(Image credit: Microsoft)
This should open the ‘Windows Tools’ folder, but here’s the trick: it opens in the classic Windows 10 File Explorer UI. From here, you can go on to navigate to different file locations or system drives, and those who have tried, including us, have observed that the interface won’t change while that window stays open.
In other words, you’ll have the Windows 10 File Explorer the whole time you’re working with this window, until you close it.
An easy workaround with seemingly no downside
This workaround seemingly doesn’t cause any issues with your OS and it also doesn’t replace the current Windows 11 UI. You can use the rest of Windows 11 as usual, and you can even use both File Explorers side by side at the same time (if you open any folder in Windows 11 as normal).
Using Windows 10’s UI here also means you get access to a feature that was cut in Windows 11 – though admittedly it’s coming back in testing – namely ‘drag and drop’ in File Explorer’s address bar. This allows you to select a file or folder that’s currently open in a location in File Explorer, then drag it to another location listed in the address bar to move it there.
A commenter in the thread regarding The_Blank_Spot’s discovery, RockFox, pointed out that once you’re in ‘System and Security’ within ‘Control Panel,’ you can right-click ‘Windows Tools’ and use ‘Create shortcut.’ Then, you can right-click this shortcut and select ‘Pin to Start’ or ‘Pin to Taskbar’ to place it in a convenient place in those parts of the Windows 11 interface, and rename it to whatever you want.
Many people might be delighted to find out about this, and I will probably take these steps on my own device, too. However, since this does appear to be a bug that Microsoft hasn’t caught yet, it’s likely the company might close this loophole when the next huge Windows 11 update, 24H2, is released later in 2024.
Microsoft recently pushed out an update for the Photos app in Windows 11, one that brings some major changes under the hood, and it could also produce a noticeable change in terms of how the app runs on your PC.
The crux of the matter is that the Photos app has been migrated from Microsoft's UWP (Universal Windows Platform) to Windows App SDK, meaning that the app has been redeveloped using a different framework making it better suited for newer versions of Windows.
The revamped version of Photos is currently available to testers in the Windows Insider Program, and, as Windows Latest reports, it has already begun rolling out to individual customers running the finished version of Windows 11, too.
The new Photos app shifting to Windows App SDK allows for the incorporation of WebView2, and this web tech allows for various improvements to the software. Microsoft notes that these benefits include better image rendering quality for starters, and AI-related boosts.
There are many other tangible improvements ushered in with the new Photos app, such as it being able to run at a medium integrity level by default, the security status assigned to most activities and processes on a Windows PC. Furthermore, you can save a newly edited photo in the same location as the original photo without having to choose a file destination manually.
Another useful change is the previous multiple processes the Photos app consisted of being combined into a single process clearly labeled as ‘Photos,’ making it easier to hunt out and force-close the Photos app in Task Manager.
However, there’s apparently a downside here, namely that as Windows Latest claims, the big switchover to a new way of working for the Photos app means it takes longer to load than before.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Balancing new features with longer load times
Seemingly we’re looking at a trade-off between better quality-of-life and new features, versus a longer loading time. Windows Latest observes that this is a characteristic of many Windows App SDK apps, and that you may be staring at a ‘Getting things ready’ loading splash screen for some time while Photos fires itself up (perhaps for 20 seconds or so).
Additionally, the new Photos app could use more of your PC’s resources, especially when using the new web-based functions of the client. For example, when you’re editing a pic, the Photos app is rendering web-based image editing (WebView2) within the app’s native interface.
If you’re not interested in having this newer version of the Photos app, and the new AI features recently added to the software, you can download the Legacy Photos app from the Microsoft Store, and stick with that (for now anyway).
So, if you’re fine with these changes, your Windows 11 PC should automatically install the updated Photos app in the coming weeks, but if you find that you’re not happy with the app’s performance, you can switch back to the legacy version of Photos instead.
Microsoft has recently released an optional update, KB5037849, for Windows 10 that brings in a useful feature that we’ve only seen in Windows 11 thus far, one that improves integration with Android devices.
This development is a little unexpected as Microsoft has been pushing Windows 10 users to transition to Windows 11, and reminding them that its end-of-support date is approaching – so you’d expect that adding new features to the older OS would be shoved down the priority list by now, but apparently that’s not the case.
After installing KB5037849, Windows Latest noticed that the 'Mobile Devices' feature page, previously seen only in Windows 11, had been introduced to Windows 10. This feature enables you to access photos taken and stored on your phone instantly on your PC. It appears as a ‘Mobile Devices’ page found in the Settings app, and when you toggle ‘Allow this PC to access your mobile devices’ on, it will prompt you to ‘Download and install Cross Device Experience Host’ from the Microsoft Store.
Apparently, it does require that you’re logged into a Microsoft account, but it doesn’t need setting up via the Phone Link app (which allows users to fully sync their Android or iPhone with their Windows PC towards all kinds of ends).
Once you do this, you can head to the ‘Manage Devices’ page (via the ‘Mobile Devices’ panel) and turn on ‘Get new photo notifications.’ You will then receive notifications on your PC when you take new photos on the Android phone that you’ve linked, allowing you to view the photos and edit them with the Snipping Tool in Windows 11. Or indeed you can also open the photos with Paint, or share them with others via Windows Share.
(Image credit: Worawee Meepian / Shutterstock)
How to get this new photo-sharing with Android feature
For now, Windows 10 users will have to install the optional May 2024 update to gain these capabilities, but all Windows 10 users are set to get this feature as part of the mandatory June 2024 Patch Tuesday update.
Remember that any optional update is still in testing, and could have unpredictable results, so you may want to wait for the full release of the patch (which happens a week today, in fact, so it’s not far off).
If you can’t wait and want to install the optional update KB5037849 now, go to the following location: Settings > Updates & Security > Windows Update. Then click on ‘Download and install’ where the optional update is flagged up (check for updates if it isn’t).
This update also delivers several bug fixes, as well as other changes, that you can check out in more detail on Microsoft’s official support page for the patch.
I’m glad Windows 10 is still receiving new features, even if they’re not the biggest updates, and it’s good to see Microsoft hasn’t completely given up on the OS, despite the scheduled end-of-support date being just over a year away.
Hopefully, Microsoft will continue to add features to improve Windows 10, although I’d imagine the company will halt this practice in the near future, as resources are likely to be redirected elsewhere, which will no doubt disappoint Windows 10 fans even further.
It seems Microsoft really doesn’t want you to be using Windows 11 with a local account – meaning one that doesn’t require signing in to your Microsoft account – as the company just closed another well-known loophole that enabled users to bypass that sign-in process.
The loophole in question could have previously been used when Microsoft prompted you to sign in to the account during Windows 11 setup. It worked by using a blocked email, such as ex*****@*****le.com, *@*.com, or **@******ou.com. If you used such an email address, and typed in any random password with it, you’d get past the sign-in page and end up with Windows 11 having a local installation (with no Microsoft account attached to it).
Unfortunately, according to a post shared on X by Zac Bowden of Windows Central, Windows 11 now redirects you back to the sign-in page if you try to enter an invalid email address when asked to sign in to a Microsoft account.
It looks like Microsoft has blocked the bypass that allowed you to create a local account during Windows 11 setup by typing in a blocked email address. Now it just loops you back to typing in a different account 🙁 pic.twitter.com/mKnHToLLQVJune 3, 2024
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Apparently, if you try this now, you’ll be met with an ‘Oops, something went wrong’ message and be made to restart the sign-in process again. In short, the fake email isn’t accepted any longer, and you’re forced to enter a genuine one for your Microsoft account.
One workaround to get you in without a Microsoft account
That’s the bad news, then, but not all hope is lost if you’re installing Windows 11 and want to start using it without logging into a Microsoft account.
Tom’s Hardware reports that there is another existing workaround, albeit it’s a more complicated affair. Should you wish to try, it goes like this:
1. During Windows 11 setup, at the ‘Choose a country’ screen, press the Shift + F10 keys together.
2. At the command prompt that appears, type in OOBE/BYPASSNRO and press Enter.
3. The PC will reboot and you’ll return to the same screen, then you need to again press the Shift + F10 keys together.
4. This time at the command prompt that appears, you must type in ipconfig /release and press Enter. This disables your internet to allow for creating a local account.
5. Close the command prompt and continue Windows 11 setup as normal. When you reach the ‘Let’s connect you to a network’ panel, click on ‘I don’t have Internet.’
6. At the next screen click ‘Continue with limited setup.’
7. In the next panel, when prompted for a name, enter one you’d like for your local account, then enter a password (or leave it blank and press Enter if you don’t want any password for when Windows 11 starts up, but that isn’t recommended for obvious security reasons).
Then you can proceed with the rest of the Windows 11 installation as normal, but you’ll end up with a local account.
However, you’ve got to wonder how long Microsoft will leave this particular loophole working – although it is quite convoluted, and most users probably don’t know about it, so it could remain an option that’s present going forward.
A good many Windows 11 users have expressed their frustration that they are forced to sign into a Microsoft account to use the OS. This strategy is one of several that Microsoft has been pushing that has seemingly rubbed users the wrong way, and yet that doesn’t seem to have discouraged the company from continuing in this direction.
Microsoft has already been dragged over the coals regarding its Recall functionality inbound for Windows 11 by security researchers and privacy watchdogs alike – and it’ll need a flame-retardant suit for the latest fiery outpouring against the AI-powered feature.
This comes from security expert Kevin Beaumont, as highlighted by The Verge. The site notes that Beaumont worked for Microsoft briefly a few years ago.
To recap – in case you missed it somehow – Recall is an AI feature for Copilot+ PCs, which launches later this month and acts as a photographic timeline – essentially a history of everything you’ve done on your PC, recorded via screenshots that are taken regularly in the background of Windows 11.
He’s come to the conclusion that Microsoft has made a giant mistake here, at least going by the feature as currently implemented – and it’s about to ship, of course. Indeed, Beaumont asserts that Microsoft is “probably going to set fire to the entire Copilot brand due to how poorly this has been implemented and rolled out,” no less.
So, what’s the big problem? Well, principally, it’s the lack of thought around security and how there’s a major discrepancy between Microsoft’s description of the way Recall is apparently kept watertight and what Beaumont has found.
Microsoft told media outlets a hacker cannot exfiltrate Copilot+ Recall activity remotely.Reality: how do you think hackers will exfiltrate this plain text database of everything the user has ever viewed on their PC? Very easily, I have it automated.HT detective pic.twitter.com/Njv2C9myxQMay 30, 2024
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As you can see in the above post on X (formerly Twitter), one of the security expert’s main beef with Microsoft is that it informed media outlets that a hacker can’t possibly nab Copilot+ Recall data remotely. In other words, an attacker would need to access the device physically, in-person – and this isn’t true.
In a long blog post on this topic, Beaumont explains: “This is wrong. Data can be accessed remotely.” Note that Recall does work entirely locally, as Microsoft said – it’s just that it isn’t impossible to tap into the data remotely, as suggested (if you can access the PC, of course).
As Beaumont elaborates, the other big problem here is the Recall database itself, which contains all the data from those screenshots and the history of your PC usage – as all of this is stored in plain text (in an SQLite database).
This makes it very easy to snaffle all the Recall-related info of exactly how you’ve been using your Windows 11 PC – assuming an attacker can get access to the device (either remotely, or in-person).
Analysis: Recall the Recall feature, or regret it
There are lots of further concerns here, too. As Microsoft pointed out when it revealed Recall, there are no limits to what can be captured in the AI-powered history of the activity on your PC (save for some slight exceptions, like Microsoft Edge’s private browsing mode – but not Chrome Incognito, tellingly).
Sensitive financial info, for example, won’t be excluded, and Beaumont further points out that auto-deleting messages in messaging apps will be screenshotted, too, so they could be accessed via a stolen Recall database. Indeed, any message you delete from the likes of WhatsApp, Signal, or whatever could be read via a Recall compromise.
But wait a minute, you might be thinking – if your PC is remotely accessed by a hacker, aren’t you in deep trouble anyway? Well, yes, that’s true – it’s not like these Recall details can be accessed unless your PC is actively exploited (though part of Beaumont’s problem is Microsoft’s apparently errant statement that any kind of remote access to Recall data wasn’t possible at all, as mentioned above).
(Image credit: Milan_Jovic)
The real kicker here is that if someone does access your PC, Recall seemingly makes it very easy for that attacker to grab all these potentially hugely sensitive details about your usage history.
While info stealer Trojans already exist and scrape victims at a large scale on an ongoing basis, Recall could enable this kind of personal data hoovering to be done ridiculously quickly and easily.
This is the crux of the criticism, as Beaumont explains it: “Recall enables threat actors to automate scraping everything you’ve ever looked at within seconds. During testing this with an off the shelf infostealer, I used Microsoft Defender for Endpoint – which detected the off the shelve infostealer – but by the time the automated remediation kicked in (which took over ten minutes) my Recall data was already long gone.”
This is a major part of the reason why Beaumont calls Recall “one of the most ridiculous security failings I’ve ever seen.”
If Microsoft doesn’t take action before it ships, mind – as there’s still time, in theory anyway, although the release of Copilot+ PCs is very close now. (However, Recall could still be kicked temporarily to touch while it’s further worked on – perhaps).
If Recall does ship as it’s currently implemented, Beaumont advises turning it off: “Also to be super clear you can disable this in Settings when it ships, and I highly recommend you do unless they rework the feature and experience.”
Herein lies another thorny issue: the AI-powered functionality is on by default. Recall is highlighted during the Copilot+ PC setup experience, and you can switch it off, but the way this is implemented means you have to tick a box to enter settings post-setup, and then turn off Recall there – otherwise, it will simply be left on. And some Windows 11 users will likely fall into the trap of not understanding what the tick box option means during setup and just end up with Recall on by default.
This is not the way a feature like this should operate – particularly given the privacy concerns highlighted here – and we’ve made our feelings on this quite clear before. Anything with wide-ranging abilities like Recall should be off by default, surely – or users should have a very clear choice presented to them during setup. Not some kind of weird ‘tick this box, jump through this hoop later’ kind of shenanigans.
Microsoft has taken a new tack with its continued campaign of full-screen banner ads designed to push Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, and this time, users of suitable and unsuitable PCs – those that don’t meet the hardware requirements for the newest OS – are seeing different adverts.
Windows 11’s market share has remained relatively static in recent months, and Microsoft is clearly eager to change that, with Windows 10 holding the vast majority of market share with around 70% (according to StatCounter).
As for Microsoft's latest tactic to drive upgrades, Windows Latest noticed two separate initiatives as mentioned. The first was witnessed on a Windows 10 PC that wasn’t eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade, and it showed a screen warning that the device will stop receiving updates come October 2025, reminding users that their PC can’t run Windows 11. The full-screen notification was titled “A new journey with Windows” and appeared after monthly mandatory security updates were installed, possibly implying that this could be a repeating occurrence.
The notification screen also offers users the ability to be reminded at a later date, and to learn more about the end of support for Windows 10. It links to a support document that encourages you to consider a Windows 11 upgrade, partly by including a comparison of the two operating systems.
This differed from a PC running Windows 10 and eligible for a straightforward Windows 11 upgrade. On this system, Windows Latest received a notification encouraging them to go ahead and schedule their update or just upgrade right away, alerting them of the upcoming end-of-support date and reminding them to make sure that their device stays supported past that date. This notification has been seen before, of course (a number of times).
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft's ambitions vs Windows 10 fans' devotion
Windows 10 continues to be the dominant flavor of Windows and users aren’t happy about being forced to move on or face losing support. Windows 11 was released the best part of three years ago, but it’s still struggling to get near Windows 10’s popularity, as mentioned. Part of the problem here is those hardware requirements, of course, which are a stumbling block for some folks with older PCs.
Users who want to stick with Windows 10 do have a few choices and we’ve recently discussed this in-depth. One option will be to continue getting security updates past Windows 10’s end-of-life date with Microsoft’s Extended Security Update (ESU) program. Currently, this is only available for commercial customers, but Windows Latest asserts that a version for individual consumers will arrive later in 2024. Currently, an ESU license for a single device is $ 61 a year for businesses, but the price doubles every year (for up to three years).
Windows 10 users are faced with three primary options in the longer term: upgrade to Windows 11, continue to use Windows 10 without crucial security updates (not a good idea at all), or opt into a pricey extended security update plan. I understand Windows 10 users’ frustrations as many are not sold on Windows 11 as being an improvement in quality. Additionally, many users aren’t keen on Microsoft’s insistence on integrating AI into many apps and parts of the operating system, and Windows 10 still looks and feels like a modern, up-to-date OS. Furthermore, there are those hardware requirements to consider, as already noted.
I don’t know how well Microsoft will weather this transition, but the company needs to walk a fine line between reminding users about the reality of Windows 10 running out of support, and getting too pushy with all these notifications. Right now, it feels like Microsoft is erring (again) towards the latter, but I don’t see the company backing down.
Microsoft has rolled out an optional update for Windows 11, KB5037853, that will let you try an array of new features which includes support for drag-and-drop functionality in File Explorer’s address bar. The arrival of the latter ability has been long-awaited by some folks, so there’ll be some pleased Windows 11 users out there today.
If you’re one of those keen to try this – or any of the other features packed into KB5037853 – you can now download and install this preview update. As it’s an optional update, it won’t be downloaded automatically, and you’ll have to click ‘Download & Install’ in Windows Update (in the Settings app) to kick off the installation process.
Apparently this optional patch is a pretty sizeable update, and along with the revamped File Explorer, it also introduces an ‘Account Manager’ for the Start menu. When you’re in Windows 11 signed into your Microsoft account, the latter will appear to highlight account benefits and make it easier to manage settings, Microsoft explains – though some may regard this as unnecessary clutter.
It sounds suspiciously like treading that thin line between ‘help’ and ‘advertising’ that Microsoft has been prone to err on the wrong side of lately.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
File this one under 'finally'…
The drag-and-drop feature for File Explorer has been introduced before and pulled back due to buggy performance, and then introduced for gradual rollout and testing again, so it’s great to see it finally about to arrive (barring any last-minute disaster).
The feature lets users drag a file into File Explorer’s address bar (at the top) to move it to a new location. It’s a simple feature and convenient shortcut that a fair few people are looking forward to seeing, and indeed they are likely wondering why this basic functionality wasn’t present in Windows 11 in the first place.
In this update, Microsoft has also addressed a problem with File Explorer where it could take as long as two minutes to open if you pinned a specific folder to Quick Access that happened to be shared on a network.
At any rate, we can hope the drag-and-drop feature is here to stay in File Explorer, and Microsoft is considering making more changes like this that make users happy. Adding more AI features that don’t necessarily improve the core functionality of Windows 11, and pushing ads in as many parts of the operating system as possible, are moves that are turning some people off Windows 11 – so it’s good to see Microsoft focus on improving the core Windows user experience here (that more dubious Start menu addition aside).
If you don’t want to download an optional update – as it may have problems, because it’s still in testing, after all – then you can simply wait for the June 2024 Patch Tuesday update, which should contain all these changes, but with any wrinkles ironed out (in theory anyway).
We’re expecting the next major upgrade for Windows 11, the 24H2 update, to roll out widely in September or October of this year, and it’s possible that it could include Microsoft’s system optimizing app for Windows 11 (and Windows 10) called ‘PC Manager.’
The app was originally made for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users in China but has since spread to some other regions. Where it’s available, users can download PC Manager from the Microsoft Store if they want, but now it appears that Microsoft is going one step further by including the app in the 24H2 update.
At least Microsoft has introduced PC Manager in the latest Windows 11 preview build in the Beta channel, but only in China right now. This is quite a large step forward because it means the app is now one of the default inclusions in Windows 11 for Chinese users, as Neowin reports.
Logically, in the future, Microsoft may make PC Manager a default app in other regions, perhaps including the US. Indeed, the official page for the app in the US now allows Windows 11 and 10 users to download it – though of course, that’s a far cry from it becoming one of the stock apps in Microsoft’s operating systems.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Managing expectations
PC system optimizers have been around for a long time in the form of third-party apps, and it’s very interesting to see Microsoft offer up an official take on this kind of utility, built right into Windows, that many people think is pretty good.
The app promises to improve your system’s performance with typical actions like suggesting ways to free up memory and disk space, checking for potential threats to your PC like viruses or other issues, and reducing ads and pop-ups. The last aim is a little ironic seeing as a recent version of PC Manager was shown to suggest that users ‘fix’ their system by changing their default search engine to Bing. This hardly seems like a repair or a quality-of-life improvement, but just another shoehorned attempt at prompting users to switch to Microsoft products dressed up as a ‘suggestion.’
Neowin also tells us that in the past, PC Manager has been shown to inject affiliate links to products promoted by Microsoft, and recommend questionable actions in terms of optimizing your system. So, take that as something of a caution.
Conceptually, PC Manager sounds helpful or even necessary, offering assistance like quick system clean-up solutions, and protecting your default settings from unauthorized changes. In practice, it looks like Microsoft is experimenting with making some not-so-helpful (or even potentially harmful) additions.
I hope that Microsoft reconsiders this and puts the effort in to make it a great app, as that’s what’s best for Windows users and what will foster goodwill. It may also be the case that the changes made for China – including PC Manager becoming a default app in Windows 11 – may never be applied to the US market (or other regions).
Windows 11 enthusiasts are already playing with the new – and controversial – Recall feature the OS now has in preview (for 24H2), and have got it running on current Arm-based CPUs by fudging things.
While Recall is present in the recently released preview of the Windows 11 24H2 update, Microsoft makes it clear that the feature won’t work on current PCs, as it requires a Copilot+ PC (the new name for the ‘AI PC’).
In other words, Recall needs a device with a powerful enough NPU to run it (and other new AI features in 24H2), which is currently only the new Snapdragon X chips (and AMD plus Intel CPUs further down the line).
Even those Snapdragon laptops aren’t available just yet (they will be next month), but leaker Albacore has still managed to tinker under the hood of Windows 11 24H2 and get Recall working on a current Arm processor.
Making great progress enabling Recall on current Arm64 hardware, no fancy X Elite in sight! ✨Should theoretically work on Intel/AMD too, OEMs only received Arm64 specific ML model bundles so there’s not much I can do yet.Here’s a small demo video showing off screenray 🪄 pic.twitter.com/w57fF1LxiNMay 23, 2024
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You can see a video of Recall being summoned on a standard (non-Copilot+) Windows 11 PC in the above post on X (formerly Twitter). As Albacore says, it shows ‘screenray’ in action which refers to the context-sensitive mode entered when you find something using Recall and select it.
As you can see, if the search result you want is a text file, screenray presents options pertaining to what you’ll need to do – copy and paste text. Or if it’s an image, you’ll get choices to copy the picture or open it for editing in an app.
Analysis: Working as not intended
It’s pretty cool to see this feature working on a processor without the necessary strength in terms of a powerful NPU (like the new Snapdragon X silicon sports), but at the same time, it illustrates why that NPU is needed. As you probably noticed, the interaction with Recall and screenray therein looks a bit laggy here – what the NPU does is provide specific AI acceleration to ensure this process runs more smoothly.
Furthermore, the feature is still in testing within a preview build here, and that won’t help either.
Albacore even sounds hopeful about getting Recall working not just on current ARM chips, but also on existing AMD and Intel (x86) CPUs, which also can’t officially run the feature. (Again, even current-gen processors from Teams Red and Blue lack an NPU with enough raw grunt).
If that happens, we can expect a similar experience to what we see here – but it’s not possible yet anyway, as Microsoft has only provided the machine learning model bundles for Arm to laptop makers. These don’t exist for AMD or Intel CPUs yet (as there’s no need for them – Lunar Lake and Strix Point, which will drive Copilot+ PCs, are still some way off launching, but they are fully expected to debut before 2024 is out).
Ultimately, this is an interesting fudge for now, but it’s likely a bad idea to be trying to get Recall up and running on a PC it’s not intended for. Simply because there may well be scenarios where it truly bogs down – such as when you have a larger, sprawling library of snapshots piled up – and there are doubtless good reasons why Microsoft has the mentioned NPU requirement in place.
Mind you, not everyone wants Recall, anyhow: certainly not those more privacy-conscious Windows 11 users out there who have already made their feelings clear. Indeed, a privacy watchdog in the UK is already investigating Recall before Microsoft even has the functionality officially live. The result of that enquiry will certainly be interesting, and Microsoft may be worried about another scenario where a big Windows 11 feature is blocked in Europe due to more stringent data regulations.
We now know a lot more about how Microsoft’s Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature for speeding up gaming frame rates in Windows 11 will work, and what games it will initially support.
VideoCardz noticed a new entry in Microsoft’s support database on the topic of Auto SR, which underlines the requirements, as well as detailing what games will come as fully verified for the tech.
For those who missed it, Auto SR is an upscaling feature, meaning it runs a game at a lower resolution, upscaling to a higher one, so that you get a close-to-native-resolution image quality with a faster frame rate – using AI to pull off this trickery.
The notable catches are that you need a Copilot+ PC and indeed a Snapdragon X processor, one of the ARM-based chips that’ll power laptops launching next month. (You’ll also need Windows 11 24H2, which launches with those AI PCs).
As for the games which are verified and tested by Microsoft for Auto SR, the initial collection is as follows:
7 Days to Die
BeamNG Drive
Borderlands 3
Control
Dark Souls III
God of War
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Analysis: Useful clarifications – and caveats
It’s interesting to see the fully verified games, and even if it’s only a small selection of a dozen right now, there are some big-name titles. However, the really interesting bit is the clarification that Automatic Super Resolution is a sweeping upscaling feature that can be applied to any game (DX11 or DX12).
We always assumed it would be a system-wide feature – after all, that was the whole point, compared to more targeted upscaling solutions that require support from the game dev such as Nvidia DLSS – and indeed this is the case. It’s just Microsoft worried us with its mention of Auto SR just applying to a “curated set of games” last week when it launched the feature, but these are just the verified games guaranteed to work well.
The majority of games should be fine with Auto SR in theory, but some may be wonky, or some may not work at all, and to that end, Microsoft is collaborating with the Worksonwoa.com website that lists games that can use the feature successfully – and also those that can’t use Auto SR for whatever reason. (This is the same website that also tells you whether your favorite PC game will run on Windows on ARM).
There are some nuances to note here, and the first is that verified games are set to work ‘out of the box’ with Auto SR, meaning the feature will be on by default. That could cause some confusion or conflict if a gamer is using another type of upscaling potentially – though you are told that by Windows that Auto SR is being enabled when the game is launched.
We guess Microsoft feels that less tech-savvy folks will benefit from having the feature automatically applied where it makes sense, in games that are fully tested to work well with Auto SR.
The Snapdragon X requirement is the other important point to note here, although we assume this will be widened to include future AMD and Intel laptop CPUs – those with a powerful enough NPU to qualify as the engine of a Copilot+ PC (as Auto SR will be for these PCs only).
However, we also noticed that Microsoft says Auto SR is only supported for games running on ARM64 natively or emulated x64 games (with the latter using Prism, the translation layer for running Windows games on ARM chips). Presumably that’s a reflection that currently (well, as of next month) only the new Snapdragon X can drive a Copilot+ PC, and that when AMD Strix Point or Intel Lunar Lake CPUs arrive for these AI-powered laptops, there’ll surely be fine with Auto SR.
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