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Re: From TechRadar
Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 8:31 am
by janus
Windows 11 is so broken that even Microsoft can’t fix it
By Matt Hanson published about 21 hours ago
Microsoft admits there are Windows 11 problems it just can’t fix
Microsoft has just made a pretty remarkable admission, essentially conceding that it doesn’t have a solution for some Windows 11 problems.
As Neowin reports, some people using Windows 11 and Windows 10 have found a bug which prevents the Start menu, Windows search bar and some Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps from starting or working correctly.
It appears that the bugs coincide with damaged registry keys and data related to Microsoft Office apps, and apps that are integrated with Office software, as well as Windows and Outlook.
The bugs don’t affect everyone, but those who are encountering them first noticed something wasn’t right back in January of this year. If you were hoping that during that time Microsoft had figured out how to fix the problem, then I have some bad news for you.
On Microsoft’s ‘Health’ webpage regarding the issue, Microsoft notes that the “Windows search, and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps might not work as expected or might have issues opening,” and in a recent update it has provided a workaround for the problem.
Not only is the lack of a definitive fix disappointing, but the workaround isn’t great, with Microsoft stating that to “mitigate this issue, you can uninstall apps which integrate with Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar.”
Essentially, it seems like Microsoft is admitting that it’s as baffled as us by the problem, and that the only way to avoid the issue is to start uninstalling apps. That’s pretty poor, especially as Microsoft doesn’t list the apps that are causing the issue, just that they integrate with “Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Calendar,” which doesn’t narrow it down at all.
It’s also not a great solution for people who depend on any of the apps causing the issue, as uninstalling them may not be a viable option.
Microsoft claims that it is working on a resolution, and I hope it's able to roll one out that fixes the issue without making users uninstall certain apps. It's concerning, though, that there seem to be areas where Windows 11 (and Windows 10, which is also suffering from this problem) is so broken that Microsoft simply can’t fix it.
Operating systems like Windows 11 are complicated pieces of software that have to work with myriad combinations of hardware and software, but this still doesn’t make it any less embarrassing for Microsoft. It also doesn’t give me a huge amount of confidence about Windows 12, which the company is rumored to be working on – I’d rather Microsoft concentrated on fixing the current versions of Windows first.
Re: From TechRadar
Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 8:09 am
by janus
:o
Windows 11 gets a nifty tweak to kill frozen apps, catching up with macOS
By Darren Allan published about 15 hours ago
A small, but very useful – and long overdue – change
Windows 11 is getting the ability to kill an unresponsive app, known as ‘force closing’ (or force quitting) right from the taskbar in what’ll be a very useful tweak for the OS.
This functionality was previously spotted hidden in test builds of Windows 11, and caused a fair bit of excitement at the time, so it’s good to see Microsoft confirm it is indeed inbound.
The move represents a far more convenient and easy way to deal with a misfiring app than the current scheme of things in Windows 11, where you have to head into the Task Manager and hunt around a bit to accomplish the same feat.
The Verge reports that Microsoft let us know that the ability is coming to Windows 11 at its Build conference for developers.
Quite a bit of stuff has been announced at Build, in fact, and a bunch of minor but important changes along similar lines – like native support for dealing with RAR or 7-Zip files in Windows 11 (instead of having to download and install a third-party utility).
And of course there’s a huge change that has been announced, one we’re viewing with a little trepidation – namely the introduction of AI into Windows 11 in the form of Microsoft’s Copilot.
So, what’s the big deal here? When apps go rogue and freeze up, they can simply hang around, slowing down your system’s performance (perhaps) and generally being annoying.
To force close such an unresponsive app right now in Windows 11, you have to open Task Manager, which is a bit of a faff in itself, unless you know the keyboard shortcut (press Control+Shift+Escape together). Then you must scroll through the list of running processes to find the rogue app, select it, and click the ‘End Task’ button.
With the new option, all you have to do is right-click on the app in the taskbar, and select ‘End Task’ from the context menu – a far easier and quicker way of taming the application that’s gone awry.
As Mac users will realize, this exact ability is something present in macOS, so Windows 11 is catching up to Apple’s desktop operating system in that respect – and it’s about time, to be honest.
Re: From TechRadar
Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 8:10 am
by janus
Microsoft is finally introducing the feature that’ll make me upgrade to Windows 11
By Darren Allan published about 14 hours ago
And no, it’s not Copilot
Windows 11 is finally getting a feature I’ve been keenly awaiting since the OS was released – yes, a ‘never combine’ option is coming to the taskbar. Oh, a joyous and rapturous day indeed (ahem).
This is one of many changes brought forth with a new preview build (23466) in the Dev channel, and it has been previously speculated about in a number of leaks.
Turning on 'never combine' mode for the taskbar means that apps are always kept as individual entries on the bar, even when multiple copies of the same application are open at the same time.
With multiple instances of apps, by default Windows 11 stacks them up – combines them, so to speak – into one entry on the taskbar. Never combined, as the name suggests, means this doesn’t happen, and they all stay separate – and you can see the labels on those individual instances (telling you which web page is currently active, for example, in a browser window).
Not all testers will see this straightaway, Microsoft informs us, as it’s a gradual rollout. So even if you’re a Windows Insider hanging out in the Dev channel, it may still be some time before you receive the option.
The introduction of the never combined option for the taskbar is a big one for me, as the lack of this feature is pretty much the biggest reason why I’ve not upgraded to Windows 11 yet. (There are other niggles, too, but let’s not stray off-topic).
That probably sounds a bit overblown, but seriously, stacking up apps on the taskbar is a deal-breaker as far as I’m concerned. I hate this way of working – it truly bugs me – so I was pretty mystified when Windows 11 turned up without never combine (as it’s known in Windows 10 – I’m not sure why it’s now ‘combined’ in Windows 11, but it doesn’t really matter).
It’s never a good idea to remove choice as far as I’m concerned, but Microsoft didn’t do this out of some arbitrary desire, we were told. The chatter from the usual insider sources suggested that adding what seems like a simple bit of functionality on the face of it was actually a pretty complex issue around how the interface of the latest OS was built from the ground up.
I’m not sure how far I buy into that, but I can accept the basic premise. I just can’t understand why it has taken so very long for Microsoft to introduce this for Windows 11 – clearly, it was pretty far down whatever interface priority lists were drawn up internally.
But hey, it’s here now, if only in testing. Hopefully, Microsoft will manage to push this change through in the big update at the end of the year (23H2). After all, the groundwork should’ve been the hard bit here, so honing the feature shouldn’t be that much of a task. I hope.
Then I can fire up that Windows 11 upgrade, finally, and get with the OS times. This feels a bit more like a pressing need following the announcement that Windows 10 won’t get any more features at all (save minor tweaks – there’ll be no 23H2 update for the older operating system, as you may recall).
Re: From TechRadar
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 7:03 am
by janus
Windows 11 Moment 3 update is packed with cool features – here are 5
By Muskaan Saxena published 2 days ago
Now in pink!
Microsoft’s latest feature update for Windows 11 is now rolling out and is full of big changes. Dubbed “Moment 3”, the release brings long-requested features and quality-of-life improvements that make it an update worth installing straight away.
Seeing as Moment 2 was released late in February, it’s quite a pleasant surprise to see how quickly the next release has arrived. These Moment updates are part of Microsoft’s approach to improving Windows 11 - instead of dropping a huge update every year, the company has shifted to putting out new features as part of more frequent cumulative updates. So, without further ado, here’s our pick of the five coolest features coming our way with Moment 3.
1. Taskbar and Notification Improvements
Windows veterans will be happy to find a few improvements to the taskbar, like a network icon that will indicate an active VPN connection with a small lock icon - helpful if you’re one of those people who often forget whether or not you’ve got your VPN turned on. Keep in mind, though, that the icon will only appear when you use ‘native’ VPN connections set up in the settings app, and won’t pop up if you’re using third-party VPN applications. So that’s a bit of a bummer.
Most people might find the updated taskbar clock to be the best change in the Moment 3 update, as the clock can now display seconds! It’s about time (pun intended).
The most helpful change to notifications is the ability to copy two-factor authentication codes from desktop push notifications with one click. This feature is already present on Android and iOS, so it’s good to see Microsoft finally bringing it to the desktop operating system - so no more opening emails just to copy a few numbers!
2. An improved widget board
The updates to Windows Widgets in Moment 3 are a little sparse, but what we do is get a redesigned widget picker so you can preview a widget before pinning it to the board. This is a bonus for those of us who are a little particular about how our widget boards look, so at least now you can properly plan the layout of your board instead of finding out after the widget is in place that it messes up your widget feng shui.
Again, it’s not a huge update, but it does give you a little more creative freedom when laying out your space, and could possibly leave room for bigger changes to Windows Widgets in the future as more updates roll out.
3. This new Task Manager feature
Task manager will now support live kernel memory dump, a feature for gathering data to troubleshoot issues in the background while the operating system keeps running. This may not mean a lot to the average user, but if you’re a developer that needs to investigate unresponsive applications or weed out the source of other issues, it’s a pretty useful addition.
Once you have the update installed, you can create a live kernel memory dump by heading to the Task Manager and right-clicking the System Process, where you’ll find the ‘create live kernel memory dump file’ option.
4. A better Settings menu
There are quite a few changes and improvements to Windows Settings with Moment 3, but we’ll just go into the more interesting ones for now.
Tab hoarders and multitaskers rejoice, Snap Assist has now been bulked up to help with your numerous open tabs! Normally you can press Alt + Tab or trigger Snap Assist by dragging your window to the top of the screen, and you can split the screen into a maximum of four tabs. But with Moment 3, you can now head over to a new section of the Settings menu and choose between three, five, and 20 tabs. You have been heard, and your many tabs are valid.
The Settings app also has a dedicated new section for all of your OneDrive subscriptions and a better breakdown of the stored content on each one. This will no doubt come in handy for cloud storage users when keeping tabs on your files, helping you get a proper breakdown of what exactly is eating up your cloud capacity.
5. Bonus Wallpapers!
Of course, we can’t talk about the Moment 3 update without mentioning the snazzy new wallpapers! The iconic Windows 11, uh… swirly pattern now comes in wonderful shades of pink, magenta, and purple, which stand out even more in the darker versions of the new wallpaper.
Hopefully, these new wallpapers signify a fresh new era for Windows 11 that’ll be packed with more aesthetic positives. The cheerful wallpaper tones really are the cherry on top of a solid, well-thought-out feature update.