Windows 10: Windows 11 Development: overview of the November 2023 changes

Microsoft announced and introduced several important changes in November 2023. The company released several development builds to testers, which included minor and major changes.

Highlights include the promise to make Microsoft Edge, Bing Search and other features removable in many European countries, a new Energy Saver tool, new capabilities in the Windows Photos app, or several Windows Copilot changes.

More control for Windows 11 users from the EEA (European Economic Area)




Microsoft plans to introduce changes in the coming months that allow users from the EEA to make fundamental changes to their Windows 11 systems. Besides the ability to uninstall Microsoft Edge and Bing Search entirely, users also get more Widgets controls and more.

While limited to countries in Europe, clever folks discovered ways to enable the changes on non-EEA devices. There is also a single file in Windows that controls the entire functionality that Microsoft plans to limit to EEA devices.

Energy Saver




Energy Saver is a new Windows tool that "extends and enhances battery saver" according to Microsoft. It is found as a toggle in System > Power and Quick Settings. Microsoft is vague when it comes to Energy Saver's functionality. Energy Saver "s an easy way to extend battery life and reduce energy use by trading off some system performance" according to Microsoft.

This feature is also available for PCs that are plugged in.

Windows Photos app improvements




Windows Photos is the second app for Windows that received background removal functionality. Microsoft Paint was the first. Both are powered by AI according to Microsoft and require just a few clicks to process images.

New backgrounds may also be added to images, for instance by selecting a solid color from the palette.

Another new feature is called Filmstrip. It is turned off by default, but you can enable it by pressing the F-key on the keyboard. It displays thumbnails of other images that reside in the same folder as the active image.

Timeline Scrollbar sorts images by date. The scrollbar displays dates as well, making it easier to jump to a specific point in time.

Other changes

• Microsoft plans to move the Windows Copilot icon from its current position, on the right side of the Search field on the taskbar, to the very right of it. The "show desktop" functionality has been turned off as a consequence, but users may restore it under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar according to Microsoft.
• Microsoft Entra ID users may now share content "directly to specific Microsoft Teams Channels and groups chats as well directly within the Windows share window". They were limited to Microsoft Teams contacts previously.
• Also sharing related is the ability to use nearby sharing to discover and share files between Android devices and Windows. Nearby Share transfer speed has also been improved significantly for users on the same network according to Microsoft. Last but not least, when you turn on Nearby Share in Settings, Windows will turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi automatically.
• Inking is expanded to more edit boxes in Windows for a selection of locales.
• Account-related notifications display on the Settings homepage now.
• Xbox Game Bar has been renamed to Game Bar.
• System components are found under Settings > System > System Components.
• Wi-Fi in Quick Settings is getting a new icon to refresh the list of wireless networks.
• A preview of Natural Voices is rolling out in Narrator. These voices are available for the following languages: Chinese, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), Japanese, English (UK), French, Portuguese, English (India), German and Korean. This allows users to listen to the voices before downloading voice models. Here is how you use the new functionality:
  • Use Windows-Ctrl-N to open Narrator Settings.
  • Select the add button under Narrator's voice.
  • Select a voice that you want to install. A preview begins to play automatically.
  • Select download and install to add the voice to Windows.
  • Now select this new voice under Narrator's voice > Choose a voice.
• Another new Narrator feature improves image consumption. The new keyboard shortcuts G and Shift-G allow users to navigate forward and backwards between images in Scan mode.
• SMB Firewall rule changes: "Windows automatically configures the new “File and Printer Sharing (Restrictive)” group, which no longer contains inbound NetBIOS ports 137-139." Related are SMB NTLM blocking exception list, SMB over QUIC client access control certificate changesand SMB alternative client and server ports, all listed here.
• Snap Layouts may now show suggestions to fill other areas with apps.
• The option to install a Wi-Fi driver is now displayed during setup if there is no Wi-Fi driver installed.
• Windows Maps and Movies and TV apps won't be installed during clean installs anymore.
• PNG files now support viewing and editing metadata.
• Microsoft Store now supports customizing the install location for games.

Now You: anything that you are looking forward to?

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Windows 11 Development: overview of the November 2023 changes appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

read more...

 

Deprecated features in Windows 11 and Windows 10 for November 2023

[table][tr][td]Feature[/td] [td]Details and mitigation[/td] [td]Deprecation announced[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Steps Recorder (psr.exe)[/td] [td]Steps Recorder is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. For screen recording, we recommend the Snipping Tool, Xbox Game Bar, or Microsoft Clipchamp.[/td] [td]November 2023[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Tips[/td] [td]The Tips app is deprecated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. Content in the app will continue to be updated with information about new Windows features until the app is removed.[/td] [td]November 2023[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Computer Browser[/td] [td]The Computer Browser driver and service are deprecated. The browser (browser protocol and service) is a dated and insecure device location protocol. This protocol, service, and driver were first disabled by default in Windows 10 with the removal of the SMB1 service. For more information on Computer Browser, see MS-BRWS Common Internet File System.[/td] [td]November 2023[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Webclient (WebDAV) Service[/td] [td]The Webclient (WebDAV) service is deprecated. The Webclient service isn't started by default in Windows. For more information on WebDAV, see WebDAV - Win32 apps.[/td] [td]November 2023[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Remote Mailslots[/td] [td]Remote Mailslots are deprecated. The Remote Mailslot protocol is a dated, simple, unreliable, insecure IPC method first introduced in MS DOS. This protocol was first disabled by default in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build . For more information on Remote Mailslots, see About Mailslots and [MS-MAIL]: Remote Mailslot Protocol.[/td] [td]November 2023[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...cated-features

 

Cumulative updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11 - November 2023

The following release notes coincide with Cumulative updates for all the supported versions of Windows, released on November 14th, 2023.

Windows 11

Windows 11, version 23H2
November 14, 2023—KB5032190 (OS Builds 22621.2715 and 22631.2715) - Microsoft Support

Windows 10

November 14, 2023—KB5032189 (OS Builds 19044.3693 and 19045.3693) - Microsoft Support

NEW 11/14/23
IMPORTANT After February 27, 2024, there will no longer be optional, non-security preview releases for Windows 11, version 22H2. Only cumulative monthly security updates will continue for the supported editions of Windows 11, version 22H2.

 

Overclocking / Undervolting guide for Vega 56 or 64?

Here's a quick laundry list:

List of software to use for overclocking and testing
Examples:
Wattman (and how to find and use it, like an overview, including profiles)
Unigine Valley or Heaven (use this for quick testing while changing settings in Wattman and checking for stability / artifacts) ...just suggesting this
How to monitor cores / mem speeds and temps during testing (I've seen screen overlays, and others using GPUz)

Step-by step overclocking in Wattman
Fan speeds
Power limit
Temp limit
Voltages
Core speeds
Memory speeds