Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Microsoft has released Windows Terminal Preview 1.21 and, despite the small version number increase, it is home to a large number of changes.

Possibly the most interesting -- and useful -- addition is Buffer Restore which will load the windows from the previous session if you want. There are new font options, rendering changes, new settings, and new support for Custom Action by JSON Fragment Extensions.

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Microsoft has made a lot of controversial decisions when it comes to the Start menu in Windows 11, not least of which is the plan to introduce ads. In the latest beta build of Windows 11. However, there are some interesting changes afoot -- notably Start Menu Companions.

While not yet fully operational, Companions are essentially plugins or extensions for the Start menu. The display information -- such as weather or stock prices in a floating panel to the side of the Start menu, will blend the ideas of Live Tiles and Widgets into something new.

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Windows 11 is far from perfect, and any complaints are usually met with disdain from the Linux community. The advice proffered by Linux users is to switch from Windows 11 to one of the nearly endless number of Linux distros that are available.

This is unhelpful advice because, in the most part, Windows users simply don’t want to use Linux. They chose Windows for specific reasons, and the fact it is not completely ideal is not really a good enough reason to simply abandon it. So it is lovely to see that one Linux fan has put their software development skills to good use and produced OFGB (Oh Frick Go Back), a utility that removes ads from Windows 11.

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The world has gone crazy for AI, and Microsoft has jumped feet-first into the technology. Copilot is just one of the company’s tools in this field, but not everyone is completely in love with this digital assistant.

For anyone who is of the opinion that things are moving too fast when it comes to Copilot, there is some good news. With the release of the latest beta build of Windows 11, Microsoft says that it is slowing down the rollout of new Copilot experiences.

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Updates released for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server back in January proved problematic for many users. There have been widespread reports of 0x80070643 errors, and Microsoft acknowledged the issue some time ago.

But for anyone holding out for a fix, there's some disappointing news. The company says that it will not be releasing a fix for the problem, but is instead expecting users to follow instructions to sort things out for themselves.

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In what will come as something of a disappointment to Microsoft, the latest figures from Statcounter shows that Windows 11 is becoming less popular.

While Windows 11’s market share is in decline, there is an almost mirrored increase in Windows 10’s market share. It appears that there remains a preference for the significantly older version of Windows.

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If your VPN has stopped working in Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can take some comfort in the fact that you're not alone. The April update for the operating system, or the preview version, is causing VPN connection failures.

It is not clear quite how widespread the problem is, nor just how many VPN tools are affected. However, Microsoft is aware of the issue but is offering little in the way of help at the moment.

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Having already taken steps to decrease the size of updates for Windows 11, Microsoft is doing the same for Windows 10.

The company describes this by suggesting that "Windows 10 is becoming more like Windows 11", although this is something of a stretch. What it means in practice is that Microsoft has used various techniques, including removing reverse differentials from the cumulative update package, to shrink update sizes quite considerably.

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In response to user feedback, Microsoft has launched Microsoft Store installers for web with refined workflow and faster app downloads.

The changes only apply to Store apps installed directly from apps.microsoft.com, but for anyone using this approach rather than the Microsoft Store app, there are great improvements to the UX. Fewer clicks are now needed to locate and install an app, individual installations are faster, and parallel installation of multiple apps are possible.

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In a letter to shareholders, Netflix says that it is to stop reporting quarterly membership numbers. The company will, mostly, keep details about subscriber numbers to itself from Q1 2025, it announced.

Although Netflix will instead start to report the amount of time users spend on its platform as well as information about revenue growth, the company says that it will still share "major subscriber milestones as we cross them". In its shareholder letter, Netflix also boasts that it is generating very substantial profit and free cash flow.

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Having just issued a reminder to users of the non-subscription Office 2016 and 2019 about the impending end of support, Microsoft has now released the first preview of Office LTSC 2024.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using the long-term serving channel edition of Office, not least of which is that it is available for a one-time payment. While users miss out on some of the features of Microsoft 365 and the suite receives far fewer updates, this version remains a great option for businesses and organizations who want to avoid the disruption of unwanted changes from more frequent updates. Here's how to get hold of the Microsoft Office 2024 preview right now.

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A serious security vulnerability exists in Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) which can be used by an attacker to elevate privileges to root.

The company has issued a warning about the vulnerability and acknowledged the availability of proof-of-concept exploit code for it. The high severity warning is accompanied by the release of patches, as well as a note that there is no workaround other than a software update.

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For only the fourth time, there is a Bitcoin Halving on the horizon. Occurring -- roughly -- every fours years, the first took place in November of 2012, the second in July of 2016, and the third in May of 2020. The next is due on April 19 or 20.

The exact date and time is not known as a halving takes place every 210,000 blocks, and it is a mechanism designed to make Bitcoins rare. But just what does it mean in practice for both miners and investors? While it is hard to predict precisely what will happen, market volatility is likely to be the order of the day.

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Microsoft caused concern when it released an update to its Edge browser. Despite having decided not to add its AI-powered assistant Copilot to Windows Server 2025 because of complaints from admins, users were upset to find that Copilot suddenly appeared in the list of installed apps for Windows Server 2022.

What's going on? Nothing sinister, insists Microsoft. The company has scrabbled to calm the fears of administrators saying that while a package called "Microsoft chat provider for Copilot in Windows" may well show up, Copilot has not actually been installed and it is not collecting any data.

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It has been an extraordinarily long time coming, but Google has finally decided to flip the switch on dark mode for Drive on the web.

Much like AI is at the moment, the spread of a dark mode option for apps and websites was something of a cultural and technological phenomenon a few years ago. Quite why it has taken Google such a long time to jump back on this particular bandwagon is anybody's guess, but dark mode will be welcomed by Google Drive users none the less. Here's what you need to know.

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