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Vision Pro spatial Personas are like Apple’s version of the metaverse without the Meta
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While the initial hype over Apple Vision Pro may have died down, Apple is still busy developing and rolling out fresh updates, including a new one that lets multiple Personas work and play together.

Apple briefly demonstrated this capability when it introduced the Vision Pro and gave me my first test-drive last year but now spatial Personas is live on Vision Pro mixed-reality headsets.

To understand “spatial Personas” you need to start with the Personas part. You capture these somewhat uncanny valley 3D representations of yourself using Vision Pro's spatial (or 3D) cameras. The headset uses that data to skin a 3D representation of you that can mimic your face, head, upper torso, and hand movements and be used in FaceTime and other video calls (if supported).

Spatial Personas does two key things: it gives you the ability to put two (or more) avatars in one space and lets them interact with either different screens or the same one and does so in a spatially aware space. This is all still happening within the confines of a FaceTime call where Vision Pro users will see a new “spatial Persona” button.

To enable this feature, you'll need the visionOS 1.1 update and may need to reboot the mixed reality headset. After that you can at any time during a FaceTime Persona call tap on the spatial icon to enable the featue.

Almost together

Apple Vision Pro spatial Personas

(Image credit: Apple)

Spatial Personas support collaborative work and communal viewing experiences by combining the feature with Apple's SharePlay. 

This will let you “sit side-by-side” (Personas don't have butts, legs or feet, so “sitting” is an assumed experience) to watch the same movie or TV show. In an Environment (you spin the Vision Pro's digital crown until your real world disappears in favor of a selected environment like Yosemite”) you can also play multi-player games. Most Vision Pro owners might choose “Game Room”, which positions the spatial avatars around a game table. A spatial Persona call can become a real group activity with up with five spatial Personas participating at once.

Vision Pro also supports spatial audio which means the audio for the Persona on the right will sound like it's coming from the right. Working in this fashion could end up feeling like everyone is in the room with you, even though they're obviously not.

Currently, any app that supports SharePlay can work with spatial Personas but not every app will allow for single-screen collaboration. If you use window share or share the app, other personas will be able to see but not interact with your app window.

Being there

Apple Vision Pro spatial Personas

Freeform lets multiple Vision Pro spatial Personas work on the same app. (Image credit: Apple)

While your spatial Personas will appear in other people's spaces during the FaceTime call, you'll remain in control of your viewing experience and can still move your windows and Persona to suit your needs, while not messing up what people see in the shared experience.

In a video Apple shared, it shows two spatial Personas positioned on either side of a Freeform app window, which is, in and of itself somewhat remarkable. But things take a surprising turn when each of them can reach out with their Persona hands to control the app with gestures. That feels like a game-changer to me.

In some ways, this seems like a much more limited form of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse ideal, where we live work and play together in virtual reality. In this case, we collaborate and play in mixed reality while using still somewhat uncanny valley avatars. To be fair, Apple has already vastly improved the look of these things. They're still a bit jarring but less so than when I first set mine up in February.

I haven't had a chance to try the new feature, but seeing those two floating Personas reaching out and controlling an app floating a single Vision Pro space is impressive. It's also a reminder that it's still early days for Vision Pro and Apple's vision of our spatial computing future. When it comes to utility, the pricey hardware clearly has quite a bit of road ahead of it.

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New Rabbit R1 demo promises a world without apps – and a lot more talking to your tech
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We’ve already talked about the Rabbit R1 before here on TechRadar: an ambitious little pocket-friendly device that contains an AI-powered personal assistant, capable of doing everything from curating a music playlist to booking you a last-minute flight to Rome. Now, the pint-sized companion tool has been shown demonstrating its note-taking capabilities.

The latest demo comes from Jesse Lyu on X, founder and CEO of Rabbit Inc., and shows how the R1 can be used for note-taking and transcription via some simple voice controls. The video (see the tweet below) shows that note-taking can be started with a short voice command, and ended with a single button press.

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It’s a relatively early tech demo – Lyu notes that it “still need bit of touch” [sic] – but it’s a solid demonstration of Rabbit Inc.’s objectives when it comes to user simplicity. The R1 has very little in terms of a physical interface, and doubles down by having as basic a software interface as possible: there’s no Android-style app grid in sight here, just an AI capable of connecting to web apps to carry out tasks.

Once you’ve recorded your notes, you can either view a full transcription, see an AI-generated summary, or replay the audio recording (the latter of which requires you to access a web portal). The Rabbit R1 is primarily driven by cloud computing, meaning that you’ll need a constant internet connection to get the full experience.

Opinion: A nifty gadget that might not hold up to criticism

As someone who personally spent a lot of time interviewing people and frantically scribbling down notes in my early journo days, I can definitely see the value of a tool like the Rabbit R1. I’m also a sucker for purpose-built hardware, so despite my frequent reservations about AI, I truly like the concept of the R1 as a ‘one-stop shop’ for your AI chatbot needs.

My main issue is that this latest tech demo doesn’t actually do anything I can’t do with my phone. I’ve got a Google Pixel 8, and nowadays I use the Otter.ai app for interview transcriptions and voice notes. It’s not a perfect tool, but it does the job as well as the R1 can right now.

Rabbit r1

The Rabbit R1’s simplicity is part of its appeal – though it does still have a touchscreen. (Image credit: Rabbit)

As much as I love the Rabbit R1’s charming analog design, it’s still going to cost $ 199 (£159 / around AU$ 300) – and I just don’t see the point in spending that money when the phone I’ve already paid for can do all the same tasks. An AI-powered pocket companion sounds like an excellent idea on paper, but when you take a look at the current widespread proliferation of AI tools like Windows Copilot and Google Gemini in our existing tech products, it feels a tad redundant.

The big players such as Google and Microsoft aren’t about to stop cramming AI features into our everyday hardware anytime soon, so dedicated AI gadgets like Rabbit Inc.’s dinky pocket helper will need to work hard to prove themselves. The voice control interface that does away with apps completely is a good starting point, but again, that’s something my Pixel 8 could feasibly do in the future. And yet, as our Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff puts it, I might still end up loving the R1…

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Microsoft Store now lets you instantly try games without downloading them – and it might mean I finally use it
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The Microsoft Store in Windows 11 is about to get a handy new feature that lets you try games without having to download and install them – but will this innovative feature make the unloved app store more popular?

The Microsoft Store has a pretty large library of games on offer, both for sale and to download for free. However, it’s been lacking the ability to preview a game before downloading and installing it. 

That’s about to change for some games as Microsoft is now giving users the chance to play certain titles instantly right in the Microsoft Store app in Windows 11 – no installation needed. These “Instant Games” are short, easy-to-play games that can be played casually and don’t require a ton of effort to master. They will be located in the ‘Collection’ section in the Microsoft Store, which can be found by clicking on the Gaming tab in the Microsoft Store (this is what it opens to when you open the app), and scrolling to the very bottom. Once you click Collections, you’ll be greeted with the Microsoft Store’s collections of games. 

There’s no explicit Instant Games yet, but they should start appearing under a collection named “Play free games with no downloads”. According to Windows Latest, Instant Games will be indicated with an orange lightning logo. This isn’t how the games show up for me, but this could change soon. It seems like the Instant Games feature is still possibly a work in progress as Microsoft Store version 22312.1401.4.0 has an icon in the left-hand vertical menu that should take you straight to the Instant Games collection, but in Microsoft Store version 22312.1401.5.0 (a later build) the icon has been removed.

Person working on laptop in kitchen

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Looking ahead and how you can play Instant Games

Windows Latest states that Microsoft partnered with a number of game developers to make Instant Games a reality, and that there are currently 69 games that users will be able to play instantly within the Microsoft Store app. Also, it looks like Microsoft is planning to expand the Instant Games selection and work with more game developers. It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft will partner with game makers to create playable Instant Game demos of their games, as this could be a great addition to the Microsoft store that’ll help users make more informed decisions about what games they purchase and download.

Here’s how you can get Instant Games in your Microsoft Store for yourself (if they don’t show up already): 

1. Update your Microsoft Store app to the latest version. You can do this by going to your Library in the Microsoft Store in the left-hand menu, toward the bottom. If your apps don’t update automatically, here you can navigate and choose which apps to update. Also, make sure you are connected to the Internet.

2. Once updated, go to Gaming in your Microsoft Store left-hand menu (towards to top). 

3. Scroll all the way down to Collections and click on Collections (the word) to open this section.

4. Choose a game, hover over it and click the game artwork. This will take you to the game’s page and you can choose to either Play Now, or Get to download and install the game. If you click Play Now, this will launch a new window that will allow you to play the game.

A screenshot of an Instant Game, Boing FRVR, in the Microsoft Store

(Image credit: Future)

First impressions of Instant Games

When I tried it, it ran very smoothly, which makes sense as the games consume very little system resources. Perhaps inevitably, all of the games contain ads. Windows Latest suggests that you might encounter a 30-second ad when, for instance, you try to reattempt a level, but you can bypass this by simply going back to the main menu. If you close a game, your progress will be saved and you can pick up where you left up when you reopen the Microsoft Store. Microsoft’s Edge browser offers a similar instant gaming feature in its Sidebar.

They’re a good way to pass a few minutes, but the games I tried became very repetitive and they’re not optimized for full screen play. They open up in portrait mode and don’t have the most sophisticated graphics. It’s maybe a more symbolic offering on Microsoft’s part, as many similar games can easily be found for mobile on multiple platforms anyway. We’ll have to see if anyone actually plays these games and if this will foster any good will among users. If it’s user goodwill that Microsoft wants, there are other user requests they can fulfill like scaling back its constant prodding of users to install the Edge browser.

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Watch out Windows 11 users: Microsoft may be sharing your Outlook emails without you knowing – here’s how to stop it
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It looks like Microsoft’s penchant for collecting its users’ data may get it in more trouble, with a worrying new report suggesting that it's sharing more information from emails sent by the new Outlook for Windows app than people may know.

This is particularly concerning as most people check their emails daily, to keep up with friends and family, or send important documents and information at work, and with the Outlook for Windows app now being the default program for emails in Windows 11, this discovery could impact a lot of people

MSPoweruser reports that the team behind ProtonMail, an end-to-end encrypted email service and competitor to Microsoft Outlook, has discovered the worrying scale of user data being collected by Outlook for Windows, which reportedly includes your emails, contacts, browsing history, and possibly even location data. 

ProtonMail’s blog post goes so far as to call Outlook for Windows  “a surveillance tool for targeted advertising”, a harsh comment, certainly, but people who downloaded the new Outlook for Windows app have encountered a disclaimer that explains how Microsoft and hundreds of third parties will be helping themselves to your data. 

It seems like the majority of the data is being used primarily for advertising purposes, with users having to opt out of sharing their data for each of the 772 companies manually. This means that by default you may be sharing a heck of a lot of information, and if you wish to opt out, the process is time-consuming and annoying. 

Here we go again … 

Microsoft has a rather dubious past of being quite greedy with user data. This time last year you might remember our report detailing serious privacy concerns users had with Windows 11, with the PC Security Channel uploading a YouTube video that demonstrated that before you even connect to the internet or open an app, Windows 11 was collecting and sending data to Microsoft – and possibly third-party servers.  

That being said, we should remember that ProtonMail is a direct competitor of Microsoft’s email apps and services, and the team behind it would be very keen to direct criticism at Outlook for Windows. ProtonMail is a service dedicated to user privacy and keeping users' email (as well as calendar, file storage, and VPN) encrypted, so we do have to keep in mind the team’s motives for highlighting this, as the company would want to make its privacy and security look much better than Outlook. 

We also have to consider the fact that Outlook for Windows is a free app, so you could argue that Microsoft can support the app and continue adding features by providing user data to paying third parties.  Regardless, while you can technically opt out of the data sharing, it’s still cheeky of Microsoft to have the opt-out option be a per-advertiser toggle click rather than a simple ‘reject all’ button. But, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. 

Opt out as fast as you can!

If all of this has you concerned and itching to opt out entirely, we’ve got you covered. Head over to the General section of your Outlook for Windows settings and you should see an option called ‘Advertising Preferences’. When you click that you’ll see a large list of company names and toggles near their name set to ‘enable’. 

Unless you create a brand new Outlook email, from what we can tell there’s no single button that will deselect all of them, so you may have to set some time aside to sit down and deselect them all. Each advertiser has an option for you to read more about their privacy policies, and once you open that you’ll see another option to opt out. 

Microsoft Outlook

(Image credit: Future)

I created a new Outlook email account just to test it out, and the option to reject all did pop up when Outlook for Windows first opened, and I also have the option to deselect all the advertising preferences at once in the Settings page as well, though that might not appear for people who have already set up the app with an existing Outlook account. 

If sharing our data by default is the price we have to pay for free apps like Outlook for Windows, at least Microsoft seems to have made turning off that sharing easier than ProtonMail’s team have made out. Still, this shows that it’s well worth paying attention to user agreements and disclaimers for free apps, especially from Microsoft, so you know exactly how much of your data you’re sharing – and who has access to it.

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Check your Windows 11 Start menu for an HP app that’s mysteriously installing itself without permission
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Windows 11 and Windows 10 users are reportedly experiencing a puzzling situation whereby an unwanted HP app is being installed on their systems without their knowledge.

Windows Latest flagged up this rather peculiar problem that affected the writer’s PC, as well as others according to reports.

The application in question is HP Smart, and we’re told it’s being errantly installed from the Microsoft Store. It’s an app which allows for controlling HP printers or MFDs (multifunction devices that also scan), and it’s being installed on non-HP PCs and also  those not connected to an HP printer, which is pretty mystifying.

It isn’t clear why this installation is happening, but there are reports of it occurring on Windows 11 23H2, 22H2, and Windows 10 (on Reddit and elsewhere, as well as from Windows Latest).

Windows Latest has been in touch with Microsoft about the problem, and the software giant said it was aware of these reports, and will be in touch soon to share further details on the matter.

Analysis: Not so smart move

This is an odd one, for sure, but it seems Microsoft has an investigation underway and we’ll get the results of that soon enough. Stay tuned.

If you’re curious about whether you’ve been affected, you can just jump into the Start menu and scroll down to the ‘H’ section of the app list to see if HP Smart is present. If so, the cure is simple enough – just right click on the entry for the app, and select uninstall. (The app may also be present under the ‘recently added’ section at the top of the menu).

Whether the app could end up being installed again after you remove it isn’t made clear. At any rate, we’d imagine Microsoft will have the solution to this one before long.

It should be noted that in the past there’ve been complaints of the HP Smart app being installed on PCs when people have, for example, taken their computer to a friend’s house and gone on a network that has an HP printer. In other words, Windows detects the presence of the HP printer and then automatically grabs the app. So perhaps what’s going on here is a false detection of HP hardware triggering the installation, but we’re just guessing here.

Really, there should never be a case where software is installed without the user’s knowledge, and there should always be a prompt to show what’s about to happen, and to check that it’s okay to go ahead with the installation.

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Tiny11 is now even smaller, giving you Windows 11 23H2 but without the clutter
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There’s a new version of Tiny11, the super-streamlined take on Windows 11 which is now even more compact, and it’s based on the latest release of Microsoft’s desktop OS – and yes, you can add Copilot into the mix if you wish (we’ll come back to that).

The new Tiny11 2311 is based on Windows 11 23H2, the recently released upgrade for the operating system, coming with major improvements including being 20% smaller than the previous Tiny11 23H2 installation.

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The developer, NTDEV, tells us that the new version “fixes most, if not all of the nagging issues with previous releases of Tiny11.”

One of the most important fixes is that the OS now works properly with Windows Update. Previously, there were problems with implementing the monthly cumulative updates for Windows 11, but that’s no longer the case, and you can keep your Tiny11 fully up to speed with all the latest introductions from Microsoft.

As mentioned at the outset, while Copilot isn’t in the new Tiny11 by default – this project is all about streamlining, of course – if you want the AI assistant in your Tiny11 installation, you can have it.

As the dev notes: “You just have to install Edge using Winget and voila, you have Copilot on Tiny11! It’s all about choice!”

Analysis: Important advances

This is very impressive: a reduction in the footprint of an already small Windows 11 installation by 20% is no mean feat. For those interested in super-compact sizes for Microsoft’s OS, this is obviously going to be a major boon.

The ability to get Windows updates fixed is even more important, though. Cumulative updates are very necessary in terms of keeping your OS secure, of course, as without them you won’t get the latest patches for vulnerabilities, and your PC won’t be as secure as it should be.

The choice to get Copilot on board is welcome, too, for those who may want a decluttered Windows 11, but still fancy having the AI assistant on tap. While the desktop-based Copilot isn’t very fleshed out yet – at all – and not many folks will take up this option, more choice is always good (and naturally the AI will be improved considerably going forward).

Note that there’s a version of this bloat-banishing OS for Windows 10, which as you might imagine is called Tiny10 (which can run on very low-spec old hardware, it should be noted).

Via Windows Central

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Next-gen Windows is coming in 2024, Intel exec confirms (without mentioning Windows 12)
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We appear to have got our clearest indication yet that a whole new version of Windows will be coming next year.

Windows Latest reports that at a recent technology conference, Intel’s chief financial officer, David Zinsner, confirmed that the next iteration of Windows is indeed due to land in 2024.

Zinsner commented: “We actually think 2024 is going to be a pretty good year for client, in particular, because of the Windows refresh.”

Clearly, then, Intel has been informed that there’s going to be a new version of Windows next year.

Although there’s no mention of the name Windows 12, or any other name for that matter – ‘Windows refresh’ is obviously not the title Microsoft will plump for when it comes to the successor to Windows 11.

Analysis: Playing the name game

Of course, there are already plenty of rumors around Microsoft bringing out a next-gen Windows in 2024. And there’s plenty of speculation that it will be called Windows 12, too, but the reality is that at this point, Microsoft may be deep into working on this next version, but probably doesn’t know what it’ll be called itself yet.

Windows 12 just seems the most likely default option, naturally. About the only other possibility that occurs to us is that Microsoft may want to jam Copilot into the name, or maybe ‘AI’ or something along those lines, given that this is the latest big thing (TM). And Copilot will certainly be considerably developed in a year’s time.

You may recall that Intel was previously the source of a leak about next-gen Windows, one that actually used the name Windows 12 when talking about support regarding upcoming processors. This info was quickly retracted when reported on, though, and we wouldn’t read anything into the use of the name, as we just mentioned.

Next-gen Windows, whether it’s Windows 12, Windows AI – or insert your own guess here – is expected to arrive later in the second half of 2024 (work theoretically began on the new OS at the start of 2022).

We’re expecting it to be built around big advances with Copilot which will doubtless be used to push it as a compelling upgrade. Microsoft will be looking for a sizeable carrot to dangle in front of would-be upgraders, especially considering that Windows 11 has failed pretty miserably to gain all that much traction in its two years of existence thus far.

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Secret trick installs Windows 11 without the bloatware – but Microsoft is looking to fix it
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One of Windows 11’s most frustrating habits is filling your PC with apps and games you don’t want or use – but a new trick has been discovered that lets you install Windows 11 without all that junk.

As Windows Latest found, the trick is pretty easy to pull off – all you need to do is set your region to English (World) during the setup process.

Choosing this (or European English) in the ‘Time and currency format’ drop-down list during setup causes an issue where Windows 11’s setup services cannot communicate with Microsoft’s services, due to them using the en-001 and en-150 language codes.

This causes an “OOBEREGION” error message to appear. While that might seem a little scary (it even puts the error name in red, just for emphasis), you can select ‘Skip’ which will continue with the installation.

Even better, it means you’ll end up with a fresh Windows 11 installation with no annoying bloatware – just the basic, essential, apps.

Bloatware begone!

“Bloatware” is the less-than charitable name for apps and games that come pre-installed on your devices. If you’ve ever bought a PC or laptop from a major manufacturer, you’ll likely find that the first time you boot up Windows 11, there are a load of additional applications already installed, such as trials for anti-virus software.

While some pre-installed apps may be useful, for most people, these applications are never used, and simply take up space on your hard drive, slow down Windows when it boots, and can even throw up annoying pop-up notifications asking you to subscribe.

Sadly, in recent years, Microsoft has been getting in on the act as well, which means even if you build your own PC, or perform a clean install of Windows 11, there will still be unwanted apps included.

So, this rather useful trick is certainly welcome, as it’ll mean you’ll get a much cleaner experience, and your Start menu will only be filled with essential Windows apps, as well as any apps you install yourself.

This doesn’t stop third-party apps from your laptop manufacturer appearing, but if you want to perform a clean install from Microsoft’s own installation software (rather than from the software your PC/laptop manufacturer provides), then you’ll get a fresh bloatware-free version of Windows 11.

You’ll need to put your region back to your current location when done, to make sure everything works as normal.

Unfortunately, this workaround may not last forever, as Windows Latest reports that a Microsoft spokesperson told the website that the company was aware of it, and is looking into it.

That means Microsoft is likely to patch this out in an upcoming Windows 11 update. This is a shame, but not entirely surprising. Like manufacturers of the best laptops, Microsoft likely gets money from the makers of the apps and games it preinstalls, so it’ll want to make sure they get installed.

This workaround also exploits an issue with how Microsoft’s services struggle to handle some language codes, and the company will also be keen to fix that, especially if it could lead to other, less useful, side effects.

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WhatsApp launches on WearOS helping you stay connected without a smartphone
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WhatsApp on WearOS is exiting its beta stage as the messaging platform launches its first-ever smartwatch app.

Originally announced during Google I/O 2023, this version allows you to do a lot of the same things as WhatsApp on smartphones. Users can send texts, send voice messages, emojis, and quick replies through a wearable, all without having to connect their phone. It’s a proper, standalone app. You don't have to connect your mobile device to respond to messages although the option does exist. Of course, the end-to-end encryption the platform is known for is present here. Be aware WhatsApp on WearOS is not on par with the other versions. It lacks access to large-scale features like Communities. It can’t even make VoIP (voice over internet protocol) calls, only receive them.

You can install WhatsApp on your smartwatch right now through the Google Play Store. However, there is one catch: the wearable must be fairly recent as it has to be running on WearOS 3. This includes devices like the Pixel Watch or anything from the Galaxy Watch 5 series. People with older watches are out of luck.

It’s unknown if the Apple Watch will ever get its own rendition of WhatsApp. Meta has yet to say anything on the matter. It looks like iOS users will have to go the old-fashioned way of opening WhatsApp on their iPhones if they want to respond to a message. 

Future update

There is more on the way for WearOS. Back in I/O 2023, Google revealed three new Spotify tiles will be “coming soon”. These tiles will allow users to directly “play new episodes of your favorite podcasts,” see what’s in your music rotation, and offer access to a playlist curated by the service’s AI DJ.

The launch of WhatsApp on WearOS comes at a very interesting time because, on July 26, Samsung is holding its second Galaxy Unpacked event. There is a lot of hype surrounding the event because we could see the reveal of the tech giant’s newest foldable phones. Until today, we couldn't say for sure whether or not the Galaxy Watch 6 would be among the announcements. However, the timing of WhatsApp coming to WearOS feels too coincidental.

You see, WhatsApp was originally meant to release on the operating system in the weeks following Google I/O 2023. But it got pushed back a couple of months to the week before Galaxy Unpacked. Considering the fact WhatsApp has billions of users around the world, we can’t help but feel the rollout was delayed in an effort to drive up interest in smartwatches. More specifically, the aforementioned Galaxy Watch 6.

We could be wrong, of course, but, we do hope Samsung’s new flagship wearable does make its debut next week.

In the meantime, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best WearOS devices for 2023. 

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Windows 11 reportedly installs optional update without asking – and it’s causing trouble
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Windows 11’s latest optional update – which is a preview of Moment 3 (KB5026446) – is causing trouble for some users, coming with some bugs, and worse still, in some reported cases the upgrade is installing itself automatically.

Windows Latest reports that it experienced the installation of KB5026446 going ahead automatically when updates were checked for on the PC. Note that as an optional update, one that might contain gremlins in the works (which it apparently does), the user should have to manually trigger the update.

In other words, you should have to choose to install this preview update, it should not be installing automatically.

Windows Latest observes that it has received reports from readers that this unexpected installation of KB5026446 has occurred, and indeed, elsewhere online we’ve seen other reports of this happening (even, in some cases, if people hadn’t checked for updates).

As for the problems the Moment 3 preview update is causing, there are various reports of diverse issues, as you might expect with a patch still in testing. One of those is that it breaks the Microsoft Store, or messes with the Game Pass on PC (making games unplayable, we’re told).

There are other reports of worrying system freezes, some apps failing to open, and the keyboards and mice of some users failing to work post-update.

There were installation failures too, with the usual meaningless error messages (strings of hexadecimal), but that’s pretty much par for the course these days it seems with Windows 11.

Analysis: The clue is in the name – ‘optional’

The good news, well, such as it is, is that in all these cases, simply uninstalling the update (via Windows Update, under Update History) cured the PCs of the various ailments mentioned. The galling bit here is for the folks who didn’t want to install the optional update in the first place, of course.

How widespread is this issue with the KB5026446 preview update installing itself? It’s difficult to say, but it is certainly happening for a number of folks. Windows Latest does observe that if you do check for updates, and notice it installing, if you hit ‘Pause Updates’ that’ll cancel the installation. So that’s worth bearing in mind.

One theory is that this sneaky installation may be tied in to those who have selected the new option in Windows 11 to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ (and using that is necessary to enable Moment 3’s new features in KB5026446, as Bleeping Computer previously made clear).

However, even if you have selected this choice, you should not be getting an optional update piped through with no warning at all (especially when you haven’t even checked for updates, as seems to be happening in some cases). Optional updates should always be exactly that – an option, not an automatic installation (and certainly not one occuring stealthily behind the scenes, as it were).

Hopefully we’ll hear from Microsoft soon enough to clarify what’s going on here.

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