An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: A new script allows you to install Windows 11 on devices with incompatible hardware, such as missing TPM 2.0, incompatible CPUs, or the lack of Secure Boot. Even better, the script also works on virtual machines, allowing you to upgrade to the latest Windows Insider build. This new script was released as part of the extremely useful Universal MediaCreationTool wrapper, a batch file that allows you to create an ISO for any version of Windows 10, with Windows 11 support added last week. While the main script of this open-source project is the 'MediaCreationTool.bat' used to create Windows ISOs, it also includes a script named 'Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd,' which configures the device to bypass compatible hardware checks. When Windows 11 was first announced, Microsoft released the operating system's new system requirements, which included a TPM 2.0 security processor, Secure Boot, newer CPUs, and at least 64 GB of hard drive space. As Microsoft realized that many people, especially those in the enterprise, would be testing Windows 11 preview builds on virtual machines, they exempted them from the system requirements (PDF). However, Microsoft is now requiring compatible hardware even on virtual machines and taking a firm stance on its system requirement, going as far as to say that people who install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware may not get security updates.

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Thomas Claburn writes via The Register: Microsoft Exchange clients like Outlook have been supplying unprotected user credentials if you ask in a particular way since at least 2016. Though aware of this, Microsoft's advice continues to be that customers should communicate only with servers they trust. On August 10, 2016, Marco van Beek, managing director at UK-based IT consultancy Supporting Role, emailed the Microsoft Security Response Center to disclose an Autodiscover exploit that worked with multiple email clients, including Microsoft Outlook. "Basically, I have discovered that it is extremely easy to get access to Exchange (and therefore Active Directory) user passwords in plain text," he wrote. "It doesn't necessarily require any breach of corporate security, and at its most secure, is only as secure as file level access to the corporate website." His proof-of-concept exploit code, which affected Outlook (both Mac and PC), default email apps for Android and iOS, Apple Mail for Mac OS X, and others, consisted of 11 lines of PHP, though he insisted the exploit probably could have been reduced to three lines. Microsoft acknowledged on August 11, 2016, that it had reproduced the issue in van Beek's report. Then on August 30, 2016, the Windows titan responded to van Beek by saying the report doesn't describe a genuine vulnerability: "Our security engineers and product team have reviewed this report and determined that it is not a security issue to be serviced as part of our monthly Patch Tuesday process. 'Never accept an SSL certificate without a matching host name' is already recommended for clients in the doc cited by your report: [link]. Before you send a request to a candidate, make sure it is trustworthy. Remember that you're sending the user's credentials, so it's important to make sure that you're only sharing them with a server you can trust. At a minimum, you should verify: That the endpoint is an HTTPS endpoint. Client applications should not authenticate or send data to a non-SSL endpoint. That the SSL certificate presented by the server is valid and from a trusted authority." "This response casually forgets to consider that a hacked web server still retains a perfectly valid certificate -- it just happens to use that trusted tunnel to serve up problems," said van Beek. "Also, I have only found one Exchange client so far which actually checks the hostname against the certificate, which is Microsoft's own test tool." Van Beek said he thought it was incredible that Microsoft confirmed the behavior he reported within hours but does not consider it to be a problem. He suggested three mitigations: changing the order of operations so that DNS gets checked first; never accepting an SSL certificate without a matching host name; and reviewing why and when clients respond to authentication requests. When asked if the company plans to take any steps to address credential exposure and whether it believes its guidance adequately addresses the problem, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "We are continuing to investigate the specific scenario shared by the researcher."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Verge has spotted an apparently new warning message in the Windows 11 Setup app that explicitly warns users of the dangers of installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware -- you may run into "compatibility issues," your PC "won't be entitled to receive updates," and that "damages to your PC due to lack of compatibility aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty." This is all stuff that we've heard from Microsoft before, but it's the first time that this policy has appeared during the Windows 11 setup process rather than in media reports. Once you click through this foreboding warning message, the Windows 11 installation is apparently allowed to proceed. I've tried and failed to recreate this screen on multiple unsupported Windows 10 systems of different vintages, both with builds downloaded through the Insider program and installs directly from a manually downloaded Windows 11 ISO file. I also haven't seen any firsthand reports of it outside of the Verge report. This doesn't mean it isn't happening -- Microsoft is always rolling out different updates to different groups of people at different times -- just that I can only speculate as to when you will actually see this message and what it means. My guess is that it is eventually intended to replace another screen currently shown when you attempt a manual install of Windows on an unsupported system, one that totally blocks the upgrade if you don't meet Windows 11's processor, TPM, or Secure Boot requirements. The only way to get around that screen and proceed with installation for current builds of Windows 11 is to implement some registry edits that disable the system checks. This new screen would keep the checks in place while allowing people to perform the kind of manual, officially unsupported installs that the company has begrudgingly decided to allow.

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Yesterday after releasing new Windows 11 builds in the Dev and Beta channels, Insiders reported that their Start Menu and taskbar were crashing. As it turned out, it was caused by Windows 11 delivering ads, as was reported by Daniel Aleksandersen, who dug into the issue. XDA Developers reports: First of all, Microsoft did publish a fix. [If your PC is in an unusable state and you're reading this in an effort to get out of it, the article includes a step-by-step guide to fix the problem.] The ad itself is for Microsoft Teams, and how it's integrated into Windows 11. As with most of the ads that are injected into Windows, this should still pop up as a notification even if you have all notifications turned off. While we know the cause, the bigger question that Aleksandersen dives into is how the Windows 11 shell can be so fragile that ads can crash it. Windows in 2021 has a ton of components in it that have to grab content from the cloud at any given time, from the Bing lockscreen wallpaper to Windows Update to advertisements that come from Microsoft. It's pretty wild that when one of them isn't functioning correctly, this could happen. There are clearly two issues here. One is that a cloud service can break Windows 11. The other is that Microsoft is injecting ads into the OS in the first place, a sure pain point for many. One thing is for sure; Microsoft isn't going to scale back on its advertisements in Windows any time soon. Instead, it's just going to fix the glitch, and if that makes you draw a parallel to Office Space, that's fine too.

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On Twitter, Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay shared a teaser video for "the beautifully redesigned Paint app," with the promise that Windows Insider Program members would be able to start testing the app for themselves in the near future. PCMag reports: The video is light on details -- which isn't all that surprising given that eight seconds of its 18-second runtime are devoted to the intro and outro -- but it does show off a new user interface with dark mode support that matches other Windows 11 apps. Windows Central also noticed something missing from Paint's new interface: An option to edit the current file in Paint 3D. Could this mean that Paint has emerged victorious from the 4-year-long battle that's raged between the competing apps? The conflict began when Microsoft released Paint 3D alongside the Windows 10 Creators Update in 2017, then announced just a few months later that it was planning to deprecate the original Paint with the Fall Creators Update. Many feared that would be the end of Paint, but Microsoft later clarified that it was simply moving the app to the Windows Store instead of bundling it with Windows 10. It then decided to continue shipping it with the operating system anyway. It seemed like Paint and Paint 3D would coexist indefinitely. That changed again in March when Microsoft stopped bundling Paint 3D with Windows 10 and moved it to the Microsoft Store instead. The tables had finally turned.

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Apple has released a new version of iCloud for Windows, numbered 12.5. The update adds the ability to access and manage passwords saved in iCloud from a Windows machine, a feature that users have long requested. From a report: Apple has been gradually adding more support for iCloud passwords on non-Apple platforms with mixed results. The company released a Chrome extension that synced iCloud passwords with Chrome. But like this new iCloud Passwords app, it did the bare minimum and not much else. Still, this addition is welcome for users who primarily live in the Apple ecosystem (and thus use Apple's iCloud password locker) but who sometimes have to use Windows. For example, some folks use an iPhone or a Mac most of the time but have a Windows PC that is only used to play games that can't be played on the Mac.

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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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