With the advent of a new year, Microsoft is hard at work again with new features for Windows. Named Windows 11 24H2, this update for Windows 11 will have a host of new AI features. One such feature that might be coming to PCs is Voice Clarity.

According to Microsoft, Voice Clarity relies on “state-of-the-art AI technology” to enhance the audio experience on Windows. The feature will “cancel echo, suppress background noise, and reduce reverberation in real-time.” The best part is that it won’t require any new hardware.

Microsoft says all Arm64 and x64 CPUs are supported, which means that any PC running Windows 11 will be able to leverage the new feature.

While this might sound good, we can’t help but worry if Microsoft soft blocks the feature on unsupported PCs running Windows 11.

Be as it may, Voice Clarity promises to enhance your audio experience on PCs. It would improve the audio quality on Teams, WhatsApp, Phone Link, and other supported apps that utilise Communications Signal Processing Mode.

Multiplayer PC games will also benefit from the feature, with online voice chats getting better audio clarity. The impetus will be on the developers to enable it by default or add a toggle for the feature.

Voice Clarity probably roll out for all users with the Windows 11 24H2 update later this year.

Other changes introduced with Windows 11 Build 26040

Along with Voice Clarity, Microsoft has introduced several new features for Windows 11 in Build 26040:

• Windows will instantly notify users when a new photo or screenshot is taken on their Android device. Users can then edit or view the image.
• The Windows OS Media setup UI gets a much-needed refresh to match it with the current design language. However, we noticed that Microsoft previously tested the design in early builds of Windows 10, but never shipped it in the production.

• Microsoft is adding support for the latest USB4 standard, increasing performance to 80GBps from 40Gbps. However, supported hardware will be needed for this.
• Accessibility gets easier with enhanced image consumption features in Narrator. This will make it easier for users to navigate images, and Windows will recognize text images better.
• Screen Casting gets an update with better discoverability and Settings.
• The Windows Local Administrator Password Solution(LAPS) is getting a hefty update. LAPS is used primarily by IT admins to manage local accounts, so general users will not notice the improvements.
• Other noticeable changes include CoPilot moving to the right of the Taskbar, a new compression wizard in File Explorer, an updated Windows Share experience and a new Task Manager icon.

As is expected with Canary builds, they can include device-breaking bugs. Also, some improvements may ship outside of Windows 11 version 24H2.

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Fans of Windows Phone have done it all when trying to revive the OS and the phones. People have tried everything from trying to install the OS on Android Devices to repurposing old Lumias to Windows PCs. It’s been 6 years since the death of the OS, but Windows Phone refuses to die completely.

While the OS has been booted on Android and Windows devices in the past, we think we have found something epic this time. Someone has managed to boot up Windows Phone on a MacBook. Yes, you read that right, a MacBook, built by Apple.

Apple hardware is notoriously infamous for being extremely difficult to tinker with, but YouTuber Nobel Tech has seemingly done it. He has managed to load Windows 10 Mobile on an old MacBook and has even uploaded a video showing it in action.

Windows Phone seems to work fine. The most interesting aspect of this experiment is that the MacBook’s battery was not just recognized by Windows Phone, but its level was accurately displayed.

This is particularly surprising considering that one wouldn’t normally expect Microsoft to include all default Windows drivers in the Windows Phone system.

Another impressive aspect noted is how well Windows 10 Mobile apps adapt to the larger screen size of the MacBook.

Apps such as Calculator, Settings, Word, Alarms, Clock, Calendar, and even the UWP File Explorer, have been observed to scale effectively, taking full advantage of the larger display. Microsoft had done a great job with UWP apps; it’s a real shame that it didn’t take off.

MacBooks don’t have touch, so you have to do with the mouse and keyboard.

Leaving the lamenting aside, the YouTuber has also put up a guide for adventurous souls to try it out. All you need is a spare SATA HDD and an Intel-powered MacBook.

Interestingly, Microsoft disabled the traditional Windows blue screen on Windows Phone. To see the BSOD error code, modify the BCD and the Windows Phone OS’s registry. Finally, access the BCD file in the EFIESP partition (boot folder) and run several bcdedit commands as an Administrator to enable mobile graphics and disable boot progress and text.

So there you have it, folks, Windows Phone running on a MacBook. Will you give it a try? If yes, we are interested in hearing the results in the comments!

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Microsoft believes the future is in the new Voice access feature of Windows 11, which supports multiple languages and is powered by AI.

With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft added many new features to the OS—a new Start menu, widgets, redesigned File Explorer and many more. While many feature additions were welcomed, users were also notified about feature deprecations. The latest addition to the deprecation list is Windows Speech Recognition.

We have now spotted that the feature is getting deprecated in Windows 11. The news comes straight from Microsoft from their Deprecated features list. Notably, WordPad and Cortana were two of the most prominent features to get axed. Other features going away include Mail & Calendar, Tips app, and Steps Recorder.

Introduced with Windows Vista, Windows Speech Recognition is an important functionality built into the OS. It allows you to interact with Windows using voice commands. It also served as an important tool for those with accessibility issues.

The feature can be set by launching the Set up Speech Recognition wizard and pressing the Windows + Ctrl + S keys on your keyboard together. Users should enable their Microphone by heading to Settings -> Time & language -> Microphone and clicking Get Started.

According to Microsoft, the feature will be replaced by Voice Access.

In Windows 11, you can launch Voice Access by searching for it from the Search Bar or Settings.

After turning on the Voice Access toggle, you will need download the Language packs if they are not installed. Voice Access is only available in English in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Voice Access supports most of the features available in Windows Speech Recognition, which is currently being developed. More supported regions are to be added in future Windows updates.

Microsoft mentions that Speech Recognition will be discontinued starting December 2023 and will no longer receive updates.

While still present, we wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft completely removes Speech Recognition in a future Windows update. If you use the feature, we recommend switching to Voice Access.

It is also worth noting that Voice access is available only for Windows 11, version 22H2, or later versions.

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Introduced with Windows 11, the Mica effects are a set of visual changes for Windows and stock Microsoft apps which make it look better. While Edge previously did have a Mica effect built-in, it was removed.

There were a lot of complaints when it was removed, and we reported that Microsoft was planning to bring it back. After two months, we can finally report that the Mica effect is back on Edge again.

With version 120.0.2210.61, Edge finally gets the Mica effect back. The update is rolling out in the Stable channel and brings many new features, but first, let’s discuss Mica. While the update does bring the Mica effect back, it isn’t enabled by default. Fortunately, a few clicks is all one needs to enable the effects.

Make sure you are running the latest stable build of Microsoft Edge. If not, just head to Help and Feedback in the Edge menu and click on “About Microsoft Edge”.

Once the update is installed and the browser has restarted, follow these steps to enable Mica in Microsoft Edge:

1. Open edge://flags/#edge-visual-rejuv-mica.
   
2. Enable the “Show Windows 11 visual effects in title bar and toolbar” toggle and restart the browser.
3. Head to Settings and click on Appearance. Then enable the “Show Windows 11 visual effects in title bar and toolbar” toggle.
   
4. Restart the browser, and the Mica effects should be up and running.

Microsoft Edge Verison 120 changelog

Along with Mica, the newest stable version of Edge also brings in some pretty substantial changes:

• RenderAppContainer brings the Windows native app container enabled by default on Edge. This will bring more enhanced security for the administrators.
• There is an updated version of the SmartActionsBlockList policy now. This again improves the security of the Browser.
• There are also a couple more policy updates which improve the security and management of the browser.

According to the Microsoft Edge Release Notes page, this new Edge release also adds a couple of additional policies, such as AutoDiscardSleepingTabsEnabled to configure auto discard sleeping tabs, AutomaticProfileSwitchingSiteList to set up automatic profile switching site list, and more.

Microsoft has fixed three key security issues – CVE-2023-38174, CVE-2023-35618 and
CVE-2023-36880. As a result, this update is installed automatically unless you manually disable it.

The update is live for all users; one should head to Settings > About to download it with the new features and improvements.

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With the release of Windows 11 Moment 4, Microsoft brought many new additions to the OS in the form of app updates and latest feature additions. Many of the stock apps were updated, and new ones were added. One of these new additions was Dev Home, which is now getting a new “Advanced Settings” panel.

As we spotted on GitHub, Microsoft plans to add an “Advanced Settings” option in the Dev Home app. The new Settings page will be available to all users on Windows 11, and it will allow you to manage features like “Show file extensions”, “Show hidden and system files”, or “Show full path in title”.

It’s already possible to turn these features on or off via File Explorer’s folder views or Registry, but you can soon manage every advanced setting of Windows 11 in one place in the Dev Home app.

If you were unaware, Dev Home is a specialized sandboxed experience within Windows 11 that is targeted towards developers. Developers can use it to enhance and customise their development projects using extensions.

The feature is mostly targeted towards developers and power users, so we don’t get to hear about it often. While Dev Home has, for the most part, remained a lot technical, it seems things are going to change now.

According to Microsoft, the new Settings page will “Give developers more control over their system settings and advanced behaviours“. It will give users more granular controls and a more uniform UI experience. The Settings page can also easily be scripted and re-applied to new and/or existing machines.

The GitHub thread has a lively discussion ongoing where developers have chimed in with their thoughts and comments. Many praise the change, and some have also added their thoughts on some changes, with one developer suggesting that the new “Additional File Explorer” features should be exposed at the OS level for all users.

The move has caught the attention of the developers, and we think it’s the right direction. More feature additions on Windows 11 are always welcome, and Dev Home is one of the best new features, albeit a bit niche.

Microsoft has clarified that the new Advanced Settings in Windows 11 is not meant to replace existing settings in the Settings app.

What do you think about the new Advanced Settings panel? Let us know in the comments below.

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Windows 11 23H2 started to roll out last month, and more users jumped on the bandwagon after it started rolling out via the Media Creation Tool. This update brings a host of new features for users. There’s a new AI-powered assistant called Copilot, File Explorer gets revamped and much more.

However, it looks like not everything is going right with the update. We first reported that the update was failing to install for some users. Now it looks like more issues are cropping up. According to Microsoft’s Known Issues page for Windows 11, users might experience unexpected behaviour.

PCs with multi-monitor setups are experiencing an issue where icons move between monitors when using Copilot.

The issue seems to be affecting icon alignment on desktops too. This happens only when attempting to use Copilot. Fortunately, Microsoft seems to have put the 23H2 rollout on hold for the affected devices. Users are also advised not to update to Windows 11 23H2 manually.

The issue seems to be present on Windows 10 22H2 too, and it occurs because of Copilot usage. This suggests that the issue might not be due to Windows but rather because of Copilot.

It is unsurprising since users have complained that Microsoft’s latest assistant has been buggy since the launch.

Speaking of Copilot, Microsoft has made some changes starting with Windows 11 Preview Build 23595. Insiders installing the build may notice that Copilot has moved to the right of the Taskbar.

This change turns off the “show the desktop” option on the taskbar, but fortunately, it can be enabled again in Settings.

Narrator may be broken on Windows 11 23H2

Another issue, again posted on Microsoft’s Known Issues page for Windows 11, warns users about Narrator being broken. The issue is again specific to the 23H2 update and only happens on devices where it is installed via ISO or Media Creation Tool.

Microsoft has requested users to update to the latest version of their OS via Windows Update only and hold on before forcing the installation via Media.

There seems to be no resolution for this issue as of now. We’ll update this article when Microsoft issues a fix.

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Found under Group Policy, you can now enable getting the latest optional updates on Windows 10 too. This feature was already present on Windows 11, and now the older OS is getting it too. Whether this feature will impact users or not, only time will tell.

As Microsoft confirmed earlier this month, you can try the new optional after installing the November 2023 optional update or December Patch Tuesday.  The IT admins can enable or disable this change as a Group Policy Object or a Configuration Service Provider policy for users.

For those unaware, optional updates often contain important fixes and improvements; we don’t recommend our users install them. There are some times when they become necessary. Suppose you are facing a rare device-breaking bug; there’s a good chance the optional update fixes it.

It’s best to read the changelog before installing the update and look at our articles to see if others have any issues.

If you still want to enable automatic optional updates, open Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise and look for “Enable optional updates”.

In the “Enable optional updates” policy pop-up, you can toggle between the following options:

• Automatically receive optional updates (including CFRs). This lets you get all the new features and improvements. For example, if you use this policy, Copilot will automatically get enabled on Windows 10.
• Automatically receive optional updates. This option for devices lets you try next month’s Patch Tuesday update in advance.

Copilot is now available on Windows 10

As reported by us, Microsoft added its AI-powered assistant Copilot to Windows 10 last week. The assistant is available to users on the Release Preview Insider ring, and we expect it to roll out to everyone in the coming weeks.

Copilot will only be available to Home and Pro versions on Windows 10, with Education and Enterprise users getting them later. Users wanting to try Copilot should enable the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle in Settings and check for updates.

As per Microsoft’s Tech Community Blog, many features of Copilot will remain exclusive to Windows 11.

This further cements our belief that Windows 10 support won’t be extended beyond 2025. Users must update to Windows 11 to use Copilot in all its glory.

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Since the introduction of Windows 10, Bing has been a staple on Windows Search. Like Google and other companies, Microsoft has also forced their search engine on users, whether they like it or not. Thankfully, this is going to change from now.

With the EU breaking up organizations from monopolizing their software, it has now set its sights on Microsoft. According to a recent update on their Learn documentation page, Microsoft will allow users to use different search providers on Windows 11.

As per the documentation, changing search providers in Windows 11 will require some technical prowess on the users’ behalf, but most of the changes have to be done by developers and Microsoft. Devs need to create an MSIX package with a package manifest to store the preferred search provider, and users can install it via the Microsoft Store.

For example, you can install an app from the Microsoft Store that will set the preferred search engine to Google. Similarly, Duck Duck Go can create and publish its own MSIX package to the Microsoft Store, and you can install that app to modify the search engine.

An important point to be noted is that changing search providers will only be limited to users in the European Economic Area (EEA) region. You can use Google, DuckDuckGo or any other search provider of your choice. If you live out of the EEA, you are out of options and will have to stick with Bing.

In our tests, we noticed that the update that brings this change isn’t live yet. We expect Microsoft to first test it with the Insiders and roll it out to everyone in a few months. With Windows 11 23H2 rolled out, we expect this to shift with a near update.

You can change the Feed Providers in Widgets too

Along with the Search Provider, Microsoft will allow users in the EEA to change the feed provider in the Widgets Board too.

Spotted on their documentation page, Microsoft will allow users to change the feed provider to others instead of just Bing. This will be a huge improvement since users have long complained about having useless and irrelevant articles showing up on their Widget Boards.

To make matters difficult, there is no easy way to disable the feeds on the Widget Board on Windows 11 for now. You have to either disable the Widget Board as a whole or trust Microsoft to improve their recommendations.

The feature is currently being tested with Insiders, and we expect it to roll out for general users soon.

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In case you are wondering what Windows 11 Moment 4 is, it is basically the set of features introduced with Windows 11 version 23H2. While the 23H2 update was rolled out to most users before, the Patch Tuesday update should enable new features for everyone running version 22H2 as well.

As mentioned, one of the flagship features of Windows 11 Moment is Bing Chat-powered AI integration. Teased and beta-tested for months, Microsoft Copilot should now be available for most users on Windows 11. Copilot is the new AI-powered assistant that replaces Cortana and can do various things on Windows and Edge.

In addition to the new AI assistant, the much-debated Start Menu is getting some improvements with richer previews in the Recommended section and some sharing improvements.

Other improvements in Moment 4 update for Windows 11

1. Taskbar

After multiple feedback requests and shouting in Reddit, “Never Combined” mode is finally coming to the Taskbar. The Volume Mixer gets a pleasant update to customize audio settings for each app separately. Tasks can be ended directly from the Taskbar, and the notifications are handled better.

2. File Explorer

Moment 4 also updates the File Explorer on Windows 11. It is now powered by WinUI which promises to be faster and much more appealing to the eye. It also gets some visual changes and introduces a Gallery mode for better photo viewing. And yes, File Explorer supports a wide range of archive file formats so you can say goodbye to WinRAR if you like.

3. Windows Share

The Windows Share UI gets a redesign and allows users to search for contacts to share items on Outlook.

Here’s a list of all minor changes in the update:

• Backup– There is a new Windows backup app, and as the name says, it makes Backing up your Windows Settings and files easier for transitioning to another PC.
• Windows 11 also gets new emojis based on Unicode Emoji 15 and a better Spotlight experience.
• The Settings Page gets a bit of an overhaul with a new home page, dynamic lighting, adaptive dimming and Dev Drive.
• Finally, there are some improvements for Security, Accessibility and performance that should benefit all users.

The update is now live for everyone. To grab the Moment 4 update, head to Settings, Windows Update, download, and install the November 2023 update.

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The app, as the name suggests, was used primarily to showcase new features of Windows and tips and tricks on how to get the best out of the OS. The app was introduced with Windows 10 and got a major UI overhaul with the launch of Windows 11, but it’s now going away. According to a support document, Microsoft is planning to kill more stock apps,

We had previously reported that Movies & TV and the Maps apps were getting shunted off from the OOB experience. Along with the Tips app, WordPad and Cortana are on the chopping block. While the WordPad and Tips app still exist and function, Cortana seems to have been killed for good.

With the release of Build 23585 in the Dev Channel, Microsoft has also allowed users to uninstall more inbox apps.

As we spotted on the build release notes, the Camera, Cortana, People, and Photos app can now be uninstalled. While users had to resort to Powershell to uninstall the apps, they can now be uninstalled with just a few clicks.

These apps were once considered to be the core experiences of Windows, and now most of them remain just an afterthought and are seldom updated.

We can’t help but wonder about the logic behind making these apps optional. The stock apps in Windows 11 always served a purpose, especially Camera, Photos, WordPad and Tips. One can argue about the usability of Cortana after the last few updates, but the other apps were somewhat helpful. At least WordPad and Photos were.

The logic, as suspected by many pundits, seems to be making Windows more choice-friendly. Microsoft has always been on a mission to make Windows faster and more efficient, making it possible to remove the core apps only points to that.

More stock apps can be uninstalled in Windows 11 Build 25992

These changes are shipping with Windows 11 Build 25992 in the Canary channel. As with most Canary builds, the release notes don’t include many details.

One of the most critical changes in the build is the Server Message Block(SMB) protocol changes and improvements:

• SMB firewall rule changes give a higher degree of Firewall protection.
• SMB NTLM blocking exception lists are coming in Windows 11.
• The SMB client now supports connecting to SMB servers over TPC, QUIC and RDMA ports along with the previous ports.
• SMB over QUIC client access control certificate changes are now supported.

Along with the above changes, File Explorer performance has been improved, and 7-zip and TAR archive creation have been added. Snap layouts now also show suggestions.

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