Microsoft is improving some of the built-in apps available in Windows 11. From a report: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel can now test new updates to the Snipping Tool, Calculator, Mail, and Calendar apps. Some of the updates are minor, but all are designed to match the new visual style in Windows 11. Microsoft is replacing the classic Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch apps in Windows 11 with a new Snipping Tool app that combines the best features of both apps. The Win + Shift + S keyboard shortcut will be the main way to take a screenshot in Windows 11, and it will activate the snipping menu with various options for selecting what content to screenshot.

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Stardock has a new app for Windows 11 that brings back the classic appearance of the Windows Start menu. The Verge reports: "This first beta is designed to regain some of the lost functionality in the current Windows 11 Start menu," says Brad Wardell, Stardock CEO. "We have a lot of exciting new features planned to make the Start menu not just more accessible but also more useful to companies and power users." Start11 includes a configuration UI that will support future Start menu designs, according to Stardock. While the previous Start10 app aimed to bring back the classic Windows 7 Start menu to Windows 10, Start11 will go further in future to add extra features to the Windows 11 Start menu. The Start11 beta is available today, priced at $4.99, and offers the choice between a Windows 7-style Start menu or a more modern one that brings back some of the classic style and features of the Start menu.

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Valve is aiming to make its Steam Deck handheld gaming PC ready for Windows 11. From a report: While we've known for weeks that the Steam Deck can run Windows, it wasn't clear how well this would be supported by Valve, or whether an option for a Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) would be enabled to get Windows 11 on the Steam Deck. Now, Valve has confirmed it has been heavily focused on Windows support. "There's work looking at TPM just now," says Greg Coomer, a Valve Steam Deck designer, in an interview with PC Gamer. "We've focused so much on Windows 10, so far, that we haven't really gotten that far into it. Our expectation is that we can meet that." Valve is working with AMD to make sure that TPM is supported at a BIOS level, and that the Steam Deck is ready for Windows 11. "So there's nothing to indicate to us yet that there'll be any issues with Windows 11," explains Coomer.

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When Microsoft unveiled its Windows 365 Cloud PC desktop-as-a-service product last month, officials said they'd release pricing on the day the service became generally available, August 2. As promised, the company has published pricing, and it ranges from $20 per user per month for the lowest end SKU, to $162 per user per month for the most expensive one. From a report: Windows 365 is available in two editions: Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise. The Windows 365 Business SKUs are capped at 300 users per organization. The $20 per user per month Business price is for a single virtual core, 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage -- and requires the Windows Hybrid Benefit. (Hybrid Benefits are Microsoft's Bring-Your-Own license model, which allows customers to apply existing (or new) licenses toward the cost of a product.) Without the Hybrid Benefit discount, that same SKU is $24 per user per month. At the high end, the Business SKU with eight virtual cores, 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage costs $162 per user per month --- or $158 per user per month with the Windows Hybrid Benefit. The Enterprise SKUs for Windows 365 are priced similarly. A single virtual core, 2 GB of RAM and 64 GV of storage will go for $20 per user per month. At the high end, the 8 virtual core, 32 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage SKU will go for $158 per user per month.

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Microsoft took the wraps off Windows 11 recently, and we expect the new OS to arrive later this year. Upgrading to a new version of Windows is often a painful process, and in the past, you were stuck even if the new software ruined your workflow. It's different this time: Microsoft says you'll be able to go back to Windows 10 if you don't like Windows 11. You'll only have 10 days to decide, though. From a report: How will you know if Windows 11 is worth using? There's a preview program for Windows 11, but the preview builds are still missing some elements of the final release. You don't have to mess with the Insiders builds at all -- you can install the final version when it's available, and take it for a spin. This news comes by way of a PDF that Microsoft has provided to PC manufacturers. It's an FAQ format, and among the various redundant queries is this gem: "Can I go back to Windows 10 after I upgrade if I don't like Windows 11?" The answer is a resounding yes... for 10 days. You'll have that long to decide to roll back to Windows 10. Wait any longer, and you're locked into Windows 11 unless you reformat your system.

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Microsoft has suspended its SQL Server on Windows Container beta "with immediate effect." The Register reports: The statement yesterday (early on a US public holiday) by Microsoft senior program manager Amit Khandelwal said: "Due to the existing ecosystem challenges and usage patterns we have decided to suspend the SQL Server on Windows Containers beta program for foreseeable future. Should the circumstances change, we will revisit the decision at appropriate time." Ecosystem challenges? Microsoft introduced Windows Server Containers in Windows Server 2016, enlisting the support of Docker so that developers could easily deploy containerised Windows applications in a similar manner to Linux. Windows containers are important to the company, used in its Application Guard security feature, which opens untrusted websites and Office documents in an isolated Hyper-V container. Containers were a key component of the abandoned Windows 10X. [...] The beta program for SQL Server on Windows containers began in 2017, said [Microsoft senior program manager Amit Khandelwal], which is a while back, and the fact that it has not hit general availability probably comes as no surprise to its relatively few users. That said, Microsoft has also decided to delete the Windows SQL Server images in the Docker Hub repository immediately, which did not go down well. "Could you please not delete those repos and images? That is going to break stuff. Folks have builds that depend on these images. At least give some warning rather than 'immediate effect,'" pleaded developer David Gardiner. Khandelwal replied saying that these container images were now three years old and "we do want any new users and customers downloading it." Since it was a beta, not supported in production, customers used it at their own risk. In July 2019, Microsoft introduced an Early Adopters Program for SQL Server 2019 on Windows containers, the link for which leads appropriately to "Error 403 -- this web app is stopped." SQL Server running directly on Windows or in a Windows VM remains, of course, in rude health. Microsoft also recently introduced a preview of SQL Server for Azure Arc, supporting both Windows and Linux instances.

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Microsoft is changing its famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to black in Windows 11. The Verge reports: The software giant started testing its new design changes in a Windows 11 preview earlier this week, but the Black Screen of Death isn't fully enabled yet. The Verge understands Microsoft will be switching to a Black Screen of Death for Windows 11, matching the new black logon and shutdown screens. It's the first major change to the BSOD since Microsoft added a sad face to the screen in Windows 8 in 2012, and QR codes in 2016. Microsoft first introduced the BSOD in Windows 3.0, offering a way for IT professionals and support personnel to diagnose hardware and memory faults. A BSOD is Windows' own kernel error or bug check, and it usually includes a dump of data that can help system administrators analyze what system fault caused the blue screen. While Microsoft is switching to a Black Screen of Death in Windows 11, the screen is identical to the one found in Windows 10 otherwise. The sad face remains, as does the stop code and crash dump. The current preview of Windows 11 includes a green BSOD, a color that Microsoft has been using for Windows Insider builds since 2016.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet, written by David Gewirtz: Windows 11 won't run on many current Windows machines. We do know (we think) that only certain processors will be supported, only 64-bit machines will be supported, and only machines with a TPM chip will run Windows 11. What does that mean for you and me? It means that many machines will be left behind. They will become the walking dead, unable to upgrade, but still shambling along. My biggest concern, of course, is security. For those who pay, Windows 7 security updates will be available through January 2023. It's not easy for smaller businesses and individuals to get that support, but it's there. Mainstream support for Windows 8 and 8.1 is over, but extended support is available through January 2023. WIndows 10 support, especially for those abandoned by Windows 11's restrictive update policy, will end in October 2025, but Ed tells me he thinks that will be extended. That's good news because there are roughly 1.3 billion Windows 10 devices out there. How many won't be able to upgrade? That's not a question we know the answer to now, but [ZDNet's guru of all things Windows, Ed Bott] tells me he's working on constructing an estimate, so keep checking back into his column. Some machines will be left behind despite owners' preferences. Many others will remain behind because their owners either don't know how, don't care, or refuse to upgrade. Others can't upgrade, because they're reliant on legacy software that only runs on older machines. No matter the reason, expect millions of Windows 10 machines to be in the wild for a decade or more -- each an ever-increasing magnet for malware, each an ever-increasing danger to other machines they might encounter and infect. All that brings me back to my machines and yours. Even if you and I are stuck on Windows 10, we still have a good four years of support. That gives us four years to come up with a replacement plan, which is more than enough time. For those of you who will choose "hell no, I won't go," it gives you time to ascertain security risks of running unprotected, and find ways to protect those legacy machines.

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Neowin: Microsoft today released the first-ever Windows 11 build to Insiders in the Dev channel, bringing build 22000.51. While most of the announced features made it to the build, there are a few missing ones such as support for Android apps. The firm also posted a few known issues for the release. In addition to the build, the company has also posted clarification about the confusion surrounding the minimum system requirements. The firm starts off by acknowledging that there has been confusion caused by the PC Health Check tool, something that was updated late last week after negative feedback from users about the lack of clarity on Windows 11 compatibility. It says that the tool was "not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn't meet upgrade requirements," which is why the company is taking down the tool to address the feedback, adding that the tool will be "back online" later in the fall, closer to the general availability of Windows 11. In a blog post, the company adds: [...] Using the principles above, we are confident that devices running on Intel 8th generation processors and AMD Zen 2 as well as Qualcomm 7 and 8 Series will meet our principles around security and reliability and minimum system requirements for Windows 11. As we release to Windows Insiders and partner with our OEMs, we will test to identify devices running on Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 that may meet our principles.

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Slashdot reader thegarbz writes: While a lot of focus has been on the TPM requirements for Windows 11, Microsoft has since updated its documentation to provide a complete list of supported processors. At present the list includes only Intel 8th Generation Core processors or newer, and AMD Ryzen Zen+ processors or newer, effectively limiting Windows 11 to PC less than 4-5 years old. Notably absent from the list is the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, the processor used in Microsoft's current flagship $3500+ Surface Studio 2. This has prompted many threads on Reddit from users angry that their (in some cases very new) Surface PC is failing the Windows 11 upgrade check. The Verge confirms: Windows 11 will only support 8th Gen and newer Intel Core processors, alongside [Intel's 2016-era] Apollo Lake and newer Pentium and Celeron processors. That immediately rules out millions of existing Windows 10 devices from upgrading to Windows 11... Windows 11 will also only support AMD Ryzen 2000 and newer processors, and 2nd Gen or newer [AMD] EPYC chips. You can find the full list of supported processors on Microsoft's site... Originally, Microsoft noted that CPU generation requirements are a "soft floor" limit for the Windows 11 installer, which should have allowed some older CPUs to be able to install Windows 11 with a warning, but hours after we published this story, the company updated that page to explicitly require the list of chips above. Many Windows 10 users have been downloading Microsoft's PC Health App (available here) to see whether Windows 11 works on their systems, only to find it fails the check... This is the first significant shift in Windows hardware requirements since the release of Windows 8 back in 2012, and the CPU changes are understandably catching people by surprise. Microsoft is also requiring a front-facing camera for all Windows 11 devices except desktop PCs from January 2023 onwards. "In order to run Windows 11, devices must meet the hardware specifications," explains Microsoft's official compatibility page for Windows 11. "Devices that do not meet the hardware requirements cannot be upgraded to Windows 11."

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Microsoft is shoving Skype out of sight in favor of Microsoft Teams, which gets a highlight spot in the new center-aligned taskbar and deep integration into Windows. The Verge reports: Today's Windows 11 news is all about where Microsoft sees computing going over the next few years, but it's just as much the story of how Skype has flourished and ebbed since its $8.5 billion acquisition a decade ago. Five years ago, Skype was the big name in internet calling and video, and Microsoft made it an "inbox app" for Windows 10 that was included at installation and launched at startup by default. Now, after a pandemic year that has had more people using their PCs for voice and video than ever before, Skype was nowhere to be seen in the Windows 11 presentation or materials. The future vision that Microsoft had for Skype everywhere has turned into a reality -- but that reality made competitors Zoom and FaceTime into household names instead. Back in June, when Microsoft made Teams available for personal accounts, the company still paid lip service to Skype, saying, "For folks that just want a very purpose-built app, Skype is a great solution, and we support it and encourage it." But now, if you want to use Skype, you're going to have to go find it in the Microsoft Store like any other app. A company spokesperson tells The Verge: "Skype is no longer an inbox app for new devices that run Windows 11. The Skype app is available to download through the Microsoft Store for free."; Skype joins OneNote, Paint 3D, and 3D Viewer as the apps that will no longer come with the OS.

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The specs required to run Microsoft's new Windows 11 OS are only slightly higher than Windows 10's current requirements. All you'll need is a 64-bit CPU (or SoC), 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. The Verge reports: This marks the end of Windows support for older 32-bit hardware platforms, even though it will continue to run 32-bit software. The fastest way to find out if your system can handle Windows 11 is to download Microsoft's PC Health App, which will automatically tell you if your specs and settings are ready for the new OS. The system requirements listed by Microsoft are [available here].

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At the end of a surprisingly eventful, exciting presentation of Windows 11, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella came on the video feed to deliver some closing remarks. He laid out his vision for Windows 11 as a "platform for platform creators," and in doing so, he issued a subtle but nonetheless stinging critique of Apple. From a report: Nadella's speech was almost entirely about building a case that Windows would be a better platform for creators than either macOS or (especially) iOS. He argued that "there is no personal computing without personal agency," insisting that users should be more in control of their computers. Nadella called out the changes Microsoft is making to its app store rules, allowing more types of apps, Android apps, and -- most importantly -- allowing apps to use their own payment systems if they so choose. He said, "A platform can only serve society if its rules allow for this foundational innovation and category creation." That rhetoric sounds vaguely nice and inspiring out of context, but in the specific context of the current debates, lawsuits, and legislation over app store rules, it's a sharp and direct critique.

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Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 will support Android apps via the Amazon App Store. From a report: These apps will be locally installed, meaning they will show up in the Taskbar and Start menu and not require your smartphone to function. Microsoft didn't go into much detail, but it's likely that Android apps on Windows 11 are powered by Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux 2. These apps will be discoverable in the Microsoft Store.

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After weeks of leaks and hype, Microsoft today officially announced Windows 11, the next version of its desktop operating system. From a report: While the company may have once said that Windows 10 was the last version of Windows, forgoing major point launches for a regular cadence of bi-annual upgrades, but it clearly believes that the changes -- and especially the redesigned user interface -- in this update warrant a new version number. Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 to the general public by the holidays, so we can probably expect it sometime around late November. Before that, we'll likely see a slew of public betas. If you followed along with the development and eventual demise of Windows 10X, Microsoft's operating system with a simplified user interface for dual- and (eventually) single-screen laptops, a lot of what you're seeing here will feel familiar, down to the redesigned Start menu. Indeed, if somebody showed you screenshots of Windows 11 and early previews of Windows 10X, you'd have a hard time telling them apart. As Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay noted in today's announcement, the overall idea behind the design is to make you feel "an incredible sense of calm," but at the same time, the Windows team has also worked to make it a lot faster. Windows Updates, for example, are supposed to be 40 percent faster, but Panay also noted that starting up your machine and even browsing should feel much faster.

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CNET News : We'll let Razer have its 5 minutes of E3 glory for the "world's fastest 14-inch gaming laptop," the Razer Blade 14. Razer's simply the first to announce one this size with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX -- also Razer's first AMD CPU in the Blade line -- and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 crammed inside. But a svelte, small, no-compromise (well, minimal compromise) gaming laptop from Razer is always welcome. Along with the laptop, the company launched a new wall charger, based on Gallium Nitride rather than silicon, its USB-C 130W GaN Charger. No weird names for that one. The last 14-inch Razer Blade debuted in 2017, and it makes sense that Razer would revive it for the 14-inch laptop renaissance that began around 2020. The 2021 Blade 14, as you'd expect, looks like a somewhat shrunken version of the 15-inch, though it's roughly the same thickness as the 15-inch at 16.8mm. There will be three models of the Blade 14 at launch. All use the Ryzen 9 5900HX, with the same 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM and 720p webcam, as well as Razer's THX Spatial Audio, HDMI 2.1 and other ports and so on. The entry-level $1,800 model incorporates a 144Hz 1080p screen and an RTX 3060 GPU; for $2,200 you upgrade to an RTX 3070 with a 165Hz 1440p display, and $2,800 bumps that to an RTX 3080. The SSD is upgradable but the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, which is kind of a bummer. The screens support FreeSync Premium adaptive refresh through G-Sync compability mode. Razer rates the battery life at up to 12 hours, though it's likely in the ballpark of 10 hours based on what we've seen elsewhere. As you'd expect, the RTX 3080 isn't being pushed to the max in this system; the GPU power draw can range anywhere from 80 to 150 watts, and Razer takes the middle road at 100 watts. In comparison, the hefty 15-inch Asus ROG Strix Scar we're testing pulls down 130 watts.

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Screenshots of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11 operating system have appeared online today. Originally published at Chinese site Baidu, the screenshots show off the new Windows 11 user interface and Start menu. The UI changes look very similar to what was originally found in Windows 10X before Microsoft canceled that project in favor of Windows 11. From a report: App icons are now centered on the taskbar, with a new Start button and menu. The Start menu is a simplified version of what currently exists in Windows 10, without Live Tiles. It includes pinned apps and the ability to quickly shut down or restart Windows 11 devices. The operating system is identified as Windows 11 Pro in screenshots, and we can confirm they are genuine. Microsoft has been dropping hints that it's ready to launch Windows 11. The software giant is holding a special Windows event to reveal its next OS on June 24th. The event starts at 11AM ET, and the event invite includes a window that creates a shadow with an outline that looks like the number 11. An ISO of Windows 11 has also leaked, according to multiple reports.

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Apple is finally adding support for Windows Precision Touchpad drivers in its latest Boot Camp update. The new 6.1.15 update includes support for Windows Precision Touchpad, including single tap to click, lower-right corner to right-click, down motion to scroll up, and three or four finger gestures. From a report: Various Reddit users noticed the surprise update went live yesterday, and it apparently works better than third-party solutions like Trackpad++ and mac-precision-touchpad that people have had to use for years. "Works way better than both of them with better palm and thumb detection too," says one Reddit user. Microsoft first started introducing Windows Precision Touchpad with Intel in 2013, in an effort to fix what were notorious PC trackpad issues at the time. It has taken Apple a long time to enable Windows Precision Touchpad in Boot Camp, but not every MacBook is supported. An Apple support document notes that only Mac computers with a T2 chip will be able to access Windows Precision Touchpad, which is most MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models from 2018 onward.

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The New York Times' "On Tech" newsletter observes that Microsoft releasing a new version of Windows is now "basically a nonevent." "This shows technology has evolved from a succession of Big Bang moments to something so meshed into our lives that we often don't notice it." The last version of Windows as we knew it was arguably released in 2012. I was a reporter at The Wall Street Journal at the time, and my professional life that year was dominated by the unveiling of Windows 8 — including the anticipation, the strategy around it, and its eventual reception. But that was basically the end of an era. New releases of Windows since then have become progressively less major. A significant reason is that personal computers are no longer the center of our digital lives. A new iPhone model gets a lot of attention — although it shouldn't get so much — but a refresher to Windows doesn't. Still, the supremacy of smartphones is an insufficient explanation. Windows beginning around 2015 began to get regularly tweaked under the hood — just like Netflix, Facebook, and every app on your smartphone as well as the software that runs the phone itself. In other words, Windows just changes in dribs and drabs all of the time without most people noticing. Instead of waiting years to get a fresh computer, we're effectively getting a new PC with every tweak. The new edition of Windows will remodel the look of the software and improve features like reordering apps. But because Microsoft incrementally revises Windows, new versions of the software matter less to most people. This shift for Windows was part of a remarkable transformation at Microsoft. The company's obsession with Windows threatened to relegate Microsoft to tech irrelevancy. Then Microsoft hired a new chief executive in 2014, and suddenly Windows wasn't the beating heart of the company anymore. That shows just how much institutions can change. But more than that, a Windows launch morphing from a big thing to something a professional tech writer didn't see coming reflects what technology has become. It's no longer strictly the shiny new object that comes out of a box every once in a while. Technology is all around us all the time, and it's perfectly normal.

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After teasing Windows 10's next UI refresh last week, Microsoft confirmed Wednesday that "the next generation of Windows" will be announced on June 24. CNBC reports: Windows, the dominant operating system for personal computers, is the source of 14% of total revenue for Microsoft, one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company has pushed two updates each year to its Windows 10 operating system since it first became available in 2015. Nadella made the Windows remarks last week shortly after the company announced that it won't ship Windows 10X. That operating system was initially designed for dual-screen devices such as the Surface Neo, which has been delayed. The company is working on an update to Windows with the code name Sun Valley, that includes a more modern look, with rounded corners coming to components such as the Start menu. Microsoft could ship a revamp of its Windows app store, which would allow developers to use third-party commerce systems, alongside the Sun Valley update. The event will be held online at 11 a.m. ET, according to an invitation the company sent to reporters. Nadella will be there, along with Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer, who has been the face of the company's Surface devices, the invitation said.

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