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Posts tagged "Windows"

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Windows 11 running slow? Microsoft’s ongoing SSD problems could be to blame
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Windows 11 continues to suffer from a problem where some NVMe SSDs are running more than 50% slower, and Microsoft still hasn’t fixed it. The issue has been plaguing some Windows 11 users since the operating system was in beta earlier this year, so the fact that several months later the problem persists has led many people to wonder when Microsoft will release a fix.

As MSPoweruser reports, a user ran CrystalDiskMark benchmark tests for the Samsung 980 Pro SSD and found that random write speeds are drastically cut.

So, if your Windows 11 PC appears to be running slowly and you are using an NVMe SSD, this could be the culprit.

Analysis: Where’s the fix?

When this issue was first identified in the Windows 11 beta, Microsoft acknowledged the problem. However, no fix has been released, and it’s not entirely clear what’s causing the problem, though some people suggest it’s the virtualization-based security of Windows 11 that’s to blame.

Whatever the cause, this is one of the more serious Windows 11 problem we’ve seen, and the fact that there has yet to be a fix around three months after it was discovered is concerning. It could mean that a fix is harder to implement. This won’t be welcome news for anyone affected by this problem.

It’s not a good look for Windows 11, either. Microsoft wants more people to upgrade to the new operating system, but ongoing problems like this are just going to put people off. Microsoft will need to come up with a fix, and fast.

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Microsoft wants to revolutionise copy and paste in Edge and Chrome for Windows 11
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It looks like Microsoft is planning a radical overhaul of how you copy and paste in its Edge web browser in Windows 11 – and those changes could also come to Google’s rival Chrome browser as well.

As Windows Latest reports, Microsoft is working with Google on a feature called “Pickling Clipboard” which could drastically improve the clipboard abilities of Edge and Chrome, allowing you to copy and paste a wider variety of file formats. This could prove to be incredibly useful for people who use web apps – which are interactive websites that work a lot like apps you install on your PC – to upload and share files.

By either using your mouse or keyboard shortcuts, you will be able to copy a wide array of files to websites and web apps from within the browser, making the way we interact with websites a lot easier.

According to an update on the Chrome Platform Status website, the new feature could come to Chrome 98 and Edge 98.

Microsoft is also promising that the data you copy and paste will be compatible with security standards, and the company has worked to ensure that no corruption or data loss occurs either.

Analysis: Microsoft’s embrace of Chromium continues to pay off

You may not realise it, but copying and pasting is one of the most common things you can do when working on your PC, as it allows you to quickly and easily add text, photos, files and more from one source to another.

So, the fact that Microsoft is looking to improve this when you use a browser is very welcome. It’ll be particularly handy for using web apps such as online photo editors and word processors, as it’ll be easier for users to quickly add items from their PCs to the internet. Of course, it’s no coincidence that Microsoft has a suite of web apps that would benefit greatly from these improvements.

What’s particularly pleasing about this, however, is that Microsoft’s work on improving copying and pasting isn’t just going to come to its Edge web browser. It looks set to appear in Google’s rival Chrome browser as well.

This is thanks to the fact that both Edge and Chrome now run on the same web engine – Chromium – which is the core part of a web browser that displays websites. Since Microsoft moved Edge to Chromium, we’ve seen an increasing number of features designed by Microsoft come to both browsers, along with increased cooperation between Microsoft and Google.

This is great for consumers, as it gives them more choice over what browser to use, as they won’t miss out on features and improvements if they’d rather stick with Chrome. Google’s offering remains by far the most popular web browser in the world, so it doesn’t hurt Microsoft to come up with features like improved copy and paste to improve the performance of its web apps for Chrome users as well.

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Microsoft to stop forcing Edge on Windows 11 users
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Microsoft has changed the way Windows 11 handles switching default web browsers, thankfully, reversing an unpopular decision it made when the OS was still in pre-release testing (back in August).

A fresh preview (testing) version of Windows 11 (build 22509) now lets you switch the operating system’s default browser with a simple single click; which is just as it should be (and the scheme of things in Windows 10).

So, what currently happens in Windows 11? Well, Microsoft concocted a rather convoluted method in the guise of offering users more fine-tuned control over what browser opens what files, which was, as we observed at the time of its inception, basically a nightmare (and it remains so).

You get one chance to change your default browser away from Edge when you first install and fire up an alternative browser, like say Chrome or Firefox – and when you pick that alternative, you must remember to tick the ‘Always use this app’ box. If you don’t check the box, you won’t see this prompt again, and instead you’ll have to go into Settings yourself and manually change the default browser.

The problem is that currently with Windows 11, this involves having to stipulate Chrome (or whatever alternative you wish to use instead of the built-in Edge browser) for multiple file types: HTML, HTM, PDF, SHTML, WEBP, HTTP, HTTPS, and more. As we already noted, the theory pushed by Microsoft is that this allows for more granular control.

But what it really represents for the overwhelming majority is a lot of clicking and changing, but fortunately, as Rafael Rivera tweeted (via The Verge) to point out, in a new test build, Windows 11 now has a simple ‘Set default’ button for browsers, bringing things back in line with how Windows 10 works.

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Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, VP of Windows marketing, told The Verge: “In the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22509 released to the Dev Channel on Wednesday, we streamlined the ability for a Windows Insider to set the ‘default browser’ to apps that register for HTTP:, HTTPS:, .HTM, and .HTML.”

Analysis: This should never have happened in the first place

Remember, this new scheme is only in testing now, but with any luck, the change should come to the full version of Windows 11 eventually. As we touched on above, Microsoft’s argument about giving more fine-tuned control for default settings based on user feedback doesn’t wash, at all. Clearly, this was – well, still is for the time being – a way of making sure Edge keeps getting pushed to the forefront.

Along with all the various ads for Edge, which as we saw earlier this week, have reached new lows in terms of anti-Chrome pop-ups (including ‘that browser is so 2008!’).

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Microsoft, you aren’t going to nag people into using your browser (or anything else), it’ll just annoy them and likely have the opposite effect, if anything. Nobody would be too bothered about the occasional pop-up, perhaps, but the amount of promotional activity, combined with software changes like this whole debacle around defaults, is dangerous territory to be treading.

At least this Windows 11 default browser decision has now been reversed, and we hope that the change comes through sooner rather than later.

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Microsoft Edge resurrects this classic Windows game when your internet dies
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Microsoft Edge’s mini-game which can be played as a diversion when the browser can’t get online has been given a snowy twist for winter, with the traditional ‘surf game’ being changed into a skiing challenge that’s a blast of nostalgia (we’ll come back to its origins later).

If you aren’t familiar with the surf game, it’s basically Edge’s equivalent of the dinosaur game in Chrome – a mini-game for the browser which you can play when your internet is offline (or when you’re bored at any time, for that matter).

Normally, the Edge game allows you to use the keyboard (or mouse, touchscreen, or controller) to guide a surfer down the screen, avoiding obstacles, hitting jumps, and sometimes being pursued by a deadly monster – the kraken.

In the new skiing version for Edge 96, spotted by German tech site Deskmodder, the ocean is replaced by a snowy slope, and the kraken becomes a yeti (aka the abominable snowman).

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Otherwise, it remains essentially the same, offering a few different modes of play (endless, time trial, and zigzag which is a slalom) and being more fleshed out than Chrome Dino (which is a pure side-scroller with the only control being space to jump).

If you want to play, simply open Edge and type in the following in the address bar:

edge://surf

Analysis: SkiFree returns after 30 years

The surf game for Edge came out in May 2020 (with build 83) and is based on Microsoft’s aged classic SkiFree game that was released way back in 1991. So in actual fact, this new winter-inspired version is a return to the original format of a skiing game.

It’s a fun distraction, for sure, and a more interesting game than Chrome Dino – plus also it’s less prone to giving us slight motion sickness, which the dinosaur game seems to do when it starts to speed up with ridiculously fast scrolling.

Those keen to find more of these kinds of efforts to play should check out our roundup of the best free browser games.

Via MS Power User

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Windows 11’s new emoji – including Clippy – won’t be coming to Windows 10
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Windows 11 has just got some nifty looking new emoji, as you may recall, which are Fluent-style and modern-looking affairs – but these won’t be coming to Windows 10.

They landed earlier this week as part of a preview update for Windows 11, so are officially still only in testing even on that OS, although Microsoft will send them fully live for Windows 11 in December (on Patch Tuesday, which will be December 14).

The emoji – which include the paperclip being replaced by Clippy, the iconic assistant who pestered, er, we mean helped us in Word back in the day – will not arrive in Windows 10, or at least that appears to be Microsoft’s plan as reported by Windows Latest.

The tech site claims that Microsoft has no intention of drafting the modern emoji over to Windows 10, and that they will remain exclusive to Windows 11, at least for the time being anyway. Windows Latest does further observe that Microsoft might change its mind in the future, though.

Analysis: Emoji aren’t high on most folks’ Windows 10 wish-lists

Of course, many Windows 10 users will say that they won’t especially be losing much sleep over the lack of refreshed emoji, and that’s a fair point. They aren’t a huge deal, and not a reason anyone would be upgrading to Windows 11, that’s for sure.

That said, they are nice to have, and it wouldn’t be much of an effort to pipe them over to Windows 10. Maybe Microsoft feels that they’d stick out a bit as odd, as the old operating system hasn’t had the benefit of the Fluent Design-style makeover that Windows 11 arrived with.

Whatever the reasoning right now, we could see them ported over eventually, as the report observes. In the meantime, Windows 10 users will just have to stick with their tired old vanilla emoji.

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Microsoft accused of using Windows to push OneDrive and Teams over rivals
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A coalition of software and cloud companies has filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC) against Microsoft's anti-competitive behavior of bundling its OneDrive cloud storage, Teams, and other services with Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The Coalition for a Level Playing Field includes several European Union (EU)-based companies led by open source hosted cloud storage vendor Nextcloud.

“This is quite similar to what Microsoft did when it killed competition in the [web] browser market, stopping nearly all browser innovation for over a decade. Copy an innovators' product, bundle it with your own dominant product and kill their business, then stop innovating,” says Frank Karlitschek, CEO and founder of Nextcloud.

Big Tech 

Arguing that Microsoft’s behavior is bad for the consumers, the coalition has asked the EC to enforce a level playing field for all the players, and ensure that Microsoft doesn’t leverage its dominant market position in the operating system sector to drive out competition in other segments.

Besides Nextcloud, the coalition includes several prominent open source, and non-profit organizations, such as European DIGITAL SME Alliance, the Document Foundation, and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE).

On their homepage, the coalition suggests that the anti-competitive behaviour of Big Tech is not only killing competition, but in doing so is harming the consumers and business. 

“Microsoft is integrating [Microsoft] 365 deeper and deeper in their service and software portfolio, including Windows. OneDrive is pushed wherever users deal with file storage and Teams is a default part of Windows 11. This makes it nearly impossible to compete with their SaaS [Software-as-a-Service] services,” reasons the coalition.

To further drive home the point, it argues that while Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have grown their market share to 66% in the EU, the share of local providers has contracted from 26% to 16%. 

If you looking to make you business data omnipresent, these are the best business cloud storage services

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Zoom is finally adding this essential feature on Windows and macOS
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The days of having to update your video conferencing software before joining a call are over as Zoom has announced that its bringing automatic updates to its Windows and macOS clients.

Not only do updates provide new features and functionality but they are also used to patch software bugs and other vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers to launch cyberattacks and infect your devices with malware.

Just like with other software companies, Zoom routinely releases updates for its desktop clients and mobile apps. However, not all of these updates are installed by end users which can put their devices and data at risk.

For this reason, Zoom is now rolling out a new automatic update feature for its Windows and macOS clients to ensure that everyone is running the latest version of its software before starting a call.

Enabling automatic updates

According to a new blog post from Zoom, in order to turn on automatic updates in its Windows or macOS clients, you'll first need to open the software's Settings menu, head to the General tab and select the “Automatically keep my Zoom up to date” option.

From here, you'll be prompted to enter admin credentials to allow the company's automatic update feature permission to run but this will only be required when enabling this setting for the first time.

Going forward, when a new version of Zoom is available and you're not already in a video call, you will be prompted to install the update. If you ignore this prompt, don't worry as the update will be installed automatically the next time you restart your Zoom client.

If you're not keen on receiving frequent updates, the “Slow” option is selected by default which focuses on maximum stability instead of giving you access to the latest features. Power users though can enable the “Fast” option which will let you download and install the latest features and updates as soon as they become available. It's also worth noting that critical security updates are pushed out by Zoom to everyone regardless of which option they've selected.

While some end users will need to enable automatic updates by themselves, if you're part of an organization that uses Zoom while working from home, your IT admin will need to enable this feature for you.

We've also rounded up the best video conferencing software and best online collaboration tools

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Once you upgrade to Windows 11, you only have 10 days to revert to Windows 10
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Windows 11 only offers you a 10-day timeframe to change your mind about the upgrade and revert to Windows 10.

This isn’t a new revelation, of course, but with more folks now moving to Windows 11 – given that Microsoft opened the upgrade floodgates a fortnight ago – we figured it was worth a reminder that you’re on a pretty tight deadline for making a decision about whether you want to stick with Windows 11.

The situation differs notably and substantially from Windows 10, whereby those upgrading from Windows 7 or 8.1 got 30 days grace to play around with the operating system, and move back to the old version if they decided it wasn’t for them.

In other words, Microsoft has reduced the rollback grace period from 30 days with Windows 10, to just 10 days with Windows 11.

After that time has expired, when you head over to the ‘Recovery’ options screen (search for it under Settings), the option to ‘Go Back’ – meaning to revert to the previous OS, Windows 10 – is greyed out. The only way to get back to Windows 10 at that point is to fully reinstall the OS on the PC, which is obviously quite a task compared to just clicking a button.

Analysis: Grabbing a disk image is worthwhile for this

The obvious problem here is that by narrowing down the reversion period, people who upgrade to Windows 11 and don’t hit any immediate hitches, but subsequently discover a nasty issue after a few weeks, no longer have the option to make a no-fuss switch back to Windows 10. They’re stuck.

And this is particularly galling seeing as the opportunity to revert remained open for a full month when folks were upgrading to Windows 10.

So, if you’re nervous about migrating to Windows 11 and that stingy trial time frame, as it were, then one thing you can do is make a backup image of your Windows 10 installation before you upgrade.

This can be achieved using software like Acronis True Image or Macrium Reflect (or another of the best disk cloning tools around), and with an image in place, if at any time you want to revert to that snapshot of your old OS, you can do so.

The key is to be prepared as this is something that must be done ahead of upgrading to Windows 11, obviously enough. In our book, it’s a worthwhile precaution for sure, particularly now Microsoft has whittled down the rollback period to an absolute minimum for reasons best known to the software giant.

Via ZDNet

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