Windows 10: Updating Windows 11 to new versions may soon be quicker on new devices

Microsoft published a preview update for Windows 11 on July 21 that includes new functionality to improve the update process on new Windows 11 devices.

The updating functionality that KB5015882 contains, will find its way into the August cumulative update for the Windows 11 operating system. Preview updates may be downloaded and installed early for testing purposes or to address serious issues. Generally speaking, preview updates should not be installed on most Windows 11 devices.

Improved Windows 11 updating




Microsoft lists the changes on its support website. Both descriptions lack clarity, but more about that later.

New! Gives you the option to update to a newer Windows 11 version at the very first startup of Windows if your device is eligible.

New! Provides the option for eligible devices to update to a newer Windows 11 version during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) when you first sign in. If you choose to update to a newer version, the update process will begin shortly after the update is installed on the device.
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Judging from Microsoft's description, the update improvement kicks in only during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) on the very first startup of the operating system. Devices need to meet the Windows 11 system requirements.

The OOBE runs on the very first start of the operating system. Most users associate it with the initial setup experience that includes the privacy configuration of the operating system, setting up language, region and keyboard layouts, and other features, but it is more than that.

Here is where it gets unclear: Microsoft reveals that this is an option, but does not reveal when the option is displayed during the OOBE. It is unclear if the new feature is limited to certain types of updates. Will it suggest to install minor updates, cumulative updates or only feature updates?

Cumulative updates seem to be the most logical choice for this new updating behavior, but this has not been confirmed by Microsoft yet.

Closing Words

Windows runs automatic checks for updates and informs users about these. The new experience is designed to make sure that users get an option to run a newer version of the Windows 11 operating system on their devices on first run. It speeds up the installation of critical security updates as well on those systems, provided that the user accepts the downloading and installation of updates during the out-of-box experience.

Now You: do you update new devices immediately?

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New Microsoft To Do app version released for Windows 10 - January 31

The Microsoft To Do app has been updated to version 2.10.2001.28002 on Windows 10 devices.

Got something on your mind? Get Microsoft To Do. Whether you want to increase your productivity, decrease your stress levels, or just free up some mental space, Microsoft To Do makes it easy to plan your day and manage your life.

With Microsoft To Do, you can:

• Stay focused with My Day, a personalized daily planner with suggested tasks
• Get your lists anywhere, on any device
• Share lists and assign tasks with your friends, family, colleagues, and classmates
• Personalize your lists with bold and colorful backgrounds
• Set one-time or recurring due dates and reminders
• Break your tasks into manageable steps
• Add notes to any task
• Attach files up to 25 MB to any task
• Sync your tasks between Outlook and To Do
• Group your lists together by topic or project

Whether it's for work, school, or home, To Do helps you organize and simplify your plans. To Do is free and available on all your devices.

What's new in this version

In this update we worked on a few small fixes such as fixing an issue with printing when your list was off screen and making sure you can add tasks to your new list as soon as you create it.

We also made lots of accessibility fixes:

• We added announcements for actions such as list deletion, list group creation and list emoji change.
• We fixed some dark mode contrast issues.
• We improved the announcements of search results.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/mi...s/9nblggh5r558

 

New Version of Spybot Released

Safer Networking has released a new version of Spybot – Search & Destroy (commonly abbreviated simply to Spybot) taking it to version 1.5. The major changes from version 1.4 include improved support for Vista, restored Windows 95 compatibility, improved browser support for Firefox and Opera and improved malware detection and removal, along with many other minor updates and additions. Download here.

Here is the full updates list:

System Support

• Restored Win95 compatibility
• Improved Wine compatibility
• Fixed HyperThreading issues
• Improved 64 bit immunization
• Create Portable.ini in main folder to use app folder as data folder as well
• New warnings about missing admin rights on Windows Vista
• Support for multi-line bookmarks (IE 7 / Vista)
• New Immunization for Firefox & Mozilla
• Improved Immunization for Opera

Reports

• Added version info to bug report
• Include Errors.log now includes timestamps
• Improved Windows version display

Misc

• "Single excludes" now include filenames to be more unique
• Improved settings retrieval from registry (mixed installations)
• Fixed .reg import bugs
• Added support for automated removal of F/Ps from host lists
• Changed update UserAgent and Referrer
• Improved (Vista-compatible) support for fast user switching
• Updater now in separate executable file
• Vista manifests for assigning required rights to each application
• Deactivated list of active ports per process for Vista (incompatible)
• Fixed support for handle list on 64 bit systems
• Improved disabling/enabling BHOs
• New special error reporting for beta versions
• Support for Windows Error Reporting for public versions
• Fixed update-related crashes on Vista
• Fixed memory leaks (replaced Indy with Synapse)
• Vista-compatible MSI installer for those who like/need that
• Support for alpha tests on services and domains lists
• Added hundreds of new automated tests of internal functionality for prerelease QA
• Added TeaTimer hide icon (disabled) registry value in installer

Detection and removal of threats

• Improved PE detection all over the place
• New 64 bit detection all over the place
• Improved file removal methods
• Added optional custom RecoveryDir setting in Default.ini
• Automatic guessing of "Download Dir" folders
• Added support for renaming services before stopping/killing/deleting them
• Improved plugin support (example: current TCP/IP Plugin)
• Support for regular expressions nearly all over the SBI interface
• Much improved logic connections between files, registry and API detections (others would invent a new TLA for that *g*)
• Speed-ups through improved caches
• File version checking
• Authenticode checking
• Improved archives checking
• Faster fulltext checking
• Improved Sys Internals file location algo
• Improved hosts file location algo
• Added some more Opera 9 detection schemes

User interface changes

• Fixed "show more information" panels
• Implemented workarounds for misarranged buttons (including TeaTimer)
• Improved support for /allhives in tools section (inactive installation support)
• Fixed flag shown on shortcut bar after changes
• Fixed IE proxy import in wizard
• Changed "use proxy" button to checkbox
• Improved localization on simple dialogs
• Added option to add a proxy inside app if running on Win PE
• Improved localization of list of updates
• Added Firefox icon on Cookie exclude page
• Fixed bad keyboard handling on some exclude lists
• Fixed cookie removal selection problems
• New confirmation dialog for system restore points
• Changed default font to Tahoma
• Red cross (trademarked) replaced with green cross
• Made "Check" option unavailable during fix
• Process list now is a bit less eager on tooltips
• Improved "delay start" dialogs
• Now displays checksum for each result for better trackback of results
• Fixed "Ignore Products" column width problems on Vista
• Improved localization of product descriptions
• Adjusted wizard for new situation (external updater etc.)
• Fixed Tools snapshot comparison highlighting
• Made display of registry changes in results list less confusing
• Improved SDHelper dialogs and block/allow choices
• Update date format on info page now localized
• Displayed app version is now four digits (e.g. 1.5.1.12)
• (De+)Select all in list of old reports
• Improved Warning/Confirmation dialog IE plugin
• Configuration & Information dialog in IE plugin

Source: Safer Networking

 

Futuremark 3DMark 11 Updated to v1.0.3

Futuremark today released an update for its 3DMark 11 benchmark suite that's built to put today's and tomorrow's DirectX 11 GPUs through their paces. Although this is a relatively minor update, Futuremark recommended that all existing users update to this version for reliability. It packs the following changes:

• Bullet physics library updated to version 2.79 to improve compatibility with future CPUs and GPUs.
• For most systems containing multiple GPUs, for example integrated graphics and an additional discrete graphics card, the user can now select the GPU to be tested using a new option on the Help tab.
• Improved error handling and user messages for the most common compatibility issues.
• SystemInfo component updated to version 4.5 for improved compatibility with current and future hardware.
• New "More" tab with information about other Futuremark products and services.

DOWNLOAD: 3DMark 11 v1.0.3 Update | Full Installer