Monthly Archives: September 2020

Microsoft Edge Getting Lots of Additional features, Including PDF Improvements

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Microsoft used the Ignite 2020 digital event to announce a number of improvements for Microsoft Edge browser, some of them being specifically aimed at IT pros and enterprises.

First of all, Microsoft is introducing notes for PDFs, which obviously comes in handy especially when collaborating on a single document. This selection will go live in October in a new update.

And talking about PDFs, Microsoft is also adding choices to view and validate PDF digital signatures.

“Opening PDFs within the browser is almost standard at this point, now we’re announcing new capabilities to make this experience even more robust in Microsoft Edge. Digital signatures play a huge role in verifying the authenticity of digital documents, particularly for anything legally or financially binding. Coming soon is the capability to view and validate PDF digital signatures in Microsoft Edge which will help to make sure that the file is legitimate and hasn’t been tampered with,” the organization explains.

Kiosk mode coming to Edge

The browser may also be updated having a kiosk mode, and the software giant explains that this was actually one of the best features bundled using the legacy form of the app.

And given the priority is bringing the initial Edge experience to the Chromium sibling, introducing a kiosk way of users is thus thing about this plan.

“This would be a loved capability in Microsoft Edge Legacy and, coming soon, organizations will be able to operate a preview of kiosk mode in the new Microsoft Edge. Along with assigned access, it makes a locked down and tailored browsing experience on Windows 10 for kiosks and digital signage,” the company explains.

Needless to say, these additional features goes reside in Microsoft Edge in the coming months with new updates. They’ll be on all supported platforms, including Windows and macOS.

Microsoft Says Important Windows 10 Fix for Linux Users Is originating

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Microsoft has confirmed that it’s focusing on fixing a Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL, and the rollout should begin with the next update shipped to insiders.

Specifically, the Redmond-based software giant says the problem happens on devices running beta and release preview channel builds, with users unable to launch the WSL whatsoever.

“Windows Insiders on Build 19042.508 within the Beta and Release Preview Channels who use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) will be impacted by “Element not found” error once they attempt to start WSL. With the help of Insiders, we’ve identified the root cause of the issue and have created a fix which should be contained in the next 20H2 servicing release shortly. Insiders who would like to be unblocked immediately can uninstall this build (KB4571756) that is a non-security update,” the company says.

The easiest way to fix the whole thing right now would be to just uninstall this cumulative update, albeit I expect Microsoft to generate a new update in a matter of days.

Windows 10 October 2020 Update

Worth knowing is the fact that Microsoft has already finalized Windows 10 version 20H2, or October 2020 Update, which release has recently been pushed to users in the Release Preview channel.

If everything goes based on the plan, the public rollout should kick off within weeks.

Insiders within the Release Preview channel can download the ultimate Windows 10 October 2020 Update build by simply checking for updates manually in Windows Update.

“We are also starting to roll out the October 2020 Update automatically for Insiders who’re in the Beta Channel. For Insiders who hadn’t previously chosen to install the October 2020 Update previously – they’ll be automatically offered it via Windows Update,” Microsoft said.

Windows Users Now Provided with Flash Player End of Support Notifications

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The most recent optional cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909 introduces a new warning in Internet Explorer that indicates the Flash Player support is due a finish.

In other words, once you install this cumulative update, you need to visit a warning in Ie that Flash Player is being retired.

“Important Reminder: Flash Player’s end of life is December 31, 2020. Please visit this Flash Player EOL Information page for more details,” the warning reads.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that both Microsoft Edge, including here the legacy form of the browser and the Chromium-powered sibling, in addition to Ie, would no more support Flash Player following the end of 2020.

“After December 2020, providing receive “Security Update for Flash Player” from Microsoft that pertains to Microsoft Edge Legacy and Ie 11. Beginning in January 2021, Flash Player is going to be disabled automatically and all sorts of versions older than KB4561600 released in June 2020 is going to be blocked. Downloadable resources associated with Flash Player that are hosted on Microsoft websites will no longer be accessible,” Microsoft explained.

Internet Explorer 11 no more a recommended browser

Adobe announced the end of support for Flash Player back in 2017, at which point the organization asserted late 2020 will be the moment when its software should really go dark.

Now browser makers are aligning their cycles with Adobe’s, so Flash Player would soon be pulled from the most of browsers out there.

In terms of Ie 11, Microsoft recommends against using it like a daily browser in the first place, instead telling users to try out Microsoft Edge. The Chromium browser comes with a feature lineup that’s much like Google Chrome’s and it is available not only on Windows but additionally on macOS.

Microsoft Announces Shy UI Improvements for Microsoft Edge

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Microsoft Edge Dev continues to be one of the best choices when it comes to trying out new features of the browser before they land within the production channel.

While the Canary build is the one which receives improvements first, the Dev version provides much more refined experience, which is the main reason a lot of people have previously installed it.

According to Microsoft’s update policy, here’s the way the Microsoft Edge channels are now being updated:

Microsoft Edge Canary: Daily updates
Microsoft Edge Dev: Weekly updates
Microsoft Edge Beta: Updates every 6 weeks
Microsoft Edge stable: Every 6 weeks, after beta testing

The most recent Dev version is 87.0.637.0, and it comes with only a simple improvement, and it concerns the Shy UI that’s integrated into the browser.

More specifically, the Shy UI may be the interface implementation that’s available within the full-screen mode. When the browser runs in full screen, the UI is totally hidden, and also to access the top bar, you need to simply exit this mode. In touch mode, such as when Microsoft Edge is running on tablets, accessing the Shy UI is much more difficult, but today’s new Dev build increases the experience.

Beginning with this update, the Shy UI could be acted simply by swiping downward on touchscreens, so it’s much easier to use it.

As it’s the situation of each and every update, there’s also other fixes, and you may browse the full changelog within the box after the jump. Worth highlighting, however, is really a translation improvement that’s bundled with this particular Microsoft Edge Dev build.

“Fixed a problem where translating content on the page with multiple languages sometimes gives an error that the language it’s being translated to is equivalent to the present language, despite the fact that there’s some text on the page that may be successfully translated,” Microsoft explains.

As far as the known issues are worried, there are many of them, and something of the most basic is also targeted at touchscreens. Based on Microsoft, if you use touch input to scroll, you may see a wobbling impact on the page, and also the company states that in some cases, it might worsen on some devices.

“Some users are seeing “wobbling” behavior when scrolling using trackpad gestures or touchscreens, where scrolling in a single dimension also causes the page to subtly scroll back and forth in the other. Note this only affects certain websites and seems to be worse on certain devices. This is probably related to our ongoing try to bring scrolling to parity with Edge Legacy’s behavior, so if this behavior is undesirable, you can temporarily turn it off by disabling the advantage://flags/#edge-experimental-scrolling flag,” the organization adds.

Today’s new Dev update can be obtained on all platforms that are based on Microsoft Edge. The migration to Chromium allowed Microsoft to create the browser to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and macOS. A Linux version is also in the works, but for the time being, no ETA can be obtained. It’s believed, however, that the company could unveil an earlier build in preview for Linux devices by the end of the entire year.

Users who install the new Microsoft Edge build should keep in mind this really is still area of the Dev channel, so certain bugs could be encountered, in addition to the ones that the company has already acknowledged and which you’ll take a look at within the changelog embedded below. If you don’t wish to wreck havoc on bugs, just stick with the stable channel of Microsoft Edge.

Download All Awesome Surface Duo Wallpapers for Windows 10

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Now you can upload the brand new Surface Duo wallpapers for Windows 10. Here’s the direct download link for all Duo wallpapers.

Recently, Microsoft released its new duel screen Android phone called Surface Duo. As per the regular tradition for almost all hardware manufacturers, the brand new Surface Duo has probably the most gorgeous wallpapers. As of now, you will find 5 wallpapers. The good thing is, these wallpapers are pretty high-quality and resolution.

Since the Surface Duo wallpapers are of high quality, you can easily set them as wallpapers fitted 10 laptop or computer. That will help you with, I’ve collected those wallpapers so that you can download them for your own personel use.

Download Surface Duo Wallpapers

You can download the wallpapers either individually or in bulk. To download a single wallpaper, simply click around the image and it will be downloaded for your system. After downloading, open the image using the Photos app, right-click and select “Set as → Set as background”.

Note: Please keep in mind that the individual wallpapers might be compressed. For uncompressed wallpapers, I suggest you download the ZIP file containing all wallpapers while using download link at the bottom of the post.

Note: The images are pretty big in file size so it might take a couple of seconds to load completely.

1. Surface Blue Sky

2. Surface Light Sky

3. Surface Night Sky

4. Surface Red Hills

5. Surface Gray Hills

How to Create Full Windows 10 System Image Backup

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System image backup enables you to restore the whole Windows 10 OS when you’re not able to boot. Here’re the steps to produce a Windows 10 system image backup.

Windows 10 has multiple built-in backup systems that will help you support the whole system or individual files. For instance, to backup files inside a specific drive, you should use the File History feature. Alternatively, you are able to backup the OS itself with Windows 10 system image. When something goes wrong and you’re simply not able to boot into the OS or maybe it’s acting out of order, you can simply restore the machine image to revert it to a known good state.

For instance, I always do a picture backup after fully establishing the machine. This way, even if I or the Windows update messes something, I just restore the image backup. Compared to reinstalling Windows and setting up everything, the backup and restore process is painless and user friendly.

With no delay, allow me to reveal to you the entire steps to produce a system image backup in Windows 10.

A fast tip: Before creating the system image backup, I suggest you setup Windows how you want. i.e, install all of the software you utilize and configure all the settings. This way, after restoring the machine it will be all set to go without any extra configuration.

Things you need:

An external hard disk or USB drive that is a minimum of as big as your C drive.
The drive ought to be in NTFS format.
(Optional) A USB drive with a minimum of 4GB to create a system rescue disk.

Steps to Create Windows 10 System Image Backup

Stick to the steps below to correctly produce the system image backup in Windows 10.

Open the Windows 10 Settings with the “Win + I” key shortcut.
After opening the Settings, go to “Update & Security”.
Select “Backup” around the left panel.
Click the “Go to backup and restore” link around the right panel.
Now, click the “Create system image backup” link. You can find it around the left pane from the user interface.
Select the “On a hard disk” radio option.
Select hard drive or USB drive from the dropdown menu.
Click “Next” to continue further.
In the confirm window, click on the “Start” button.

As soon as you click on the start button, Windows will begin the machine image creation process. Depending on your Windows installation size, the entire process may take a while to complete. So, relax and wait until the backup is complete.

When the backup continues to be completed, you will notice a prompt suggesting that you produce a system repair disc. The system repair disc will enable you to revive the machine image when Windows is unbootable. If you don’t have a system repair disc, insert a clear USB drive that’s a minimum of 4GB and then click the “Yes” button. Stick to the wizard to accomplish the repair disc.

That is all. It is that easy to create a system repair disc in Windows 10.

Restore Windows System Image

To restore the machine, insert both external drive and system repair disc. Boot into the repair disk, go to the advanced options page and choose “System image recovery” and stick to the wizard.

The Windows 10 Search Feature Goes Crazy Again, Shows Random Web Results

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We’ve noted for a while that integrating the net search within the default Windows 10 search experience isn’t necessarily the easiest method to go, but here’s more evidence in this regard should you still needed it.

Quite a few users are now seeing random web leads to the search box every time they search for a specific keyword. Through the looks of products, the displayed Bing results have nothing to do with the keyword which was provided in the search box.

Several Windows 10 users have confirmed within this reddit thread that the bug happens on their devices too, plus some say that an easy reboot from the computer fixes the whole thing.

In one case, simply trying to find “S” within the Windows 10 search UI indeed provides a link to the Settings app, however the web search returns results which have nothing to with your a phrase. Among the results is really a Wikipedia link for the “W” keyword.

Just disable Bing results

At this time, it’s not exactly clear what’s happening, but if a method reboot doesn’t bring items to normal, you can easily disable Bing is a result of the Windows 10 search experience completely.

To get this done, just launch the Registry Editor and look for the following path:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

Just produce a new DWORD (if it’s not there already) that is called DisableSearchBoxSuggestions after which set its value to 1. Reboot your pc and also the web search results should no longer be offered within the Windows 10 search experience.

The aforementioned bug seems to be happening on all Windows 10 versions, including the May 2020 Update whose rollout is still arrived. There’s an opportunity the bug is the result of a server problem, because the recent cumulative updates are unlikely to become those the reason for the whole thing.

Windows 7 2020 Edition Is a Cool Mixture of New and old Features

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Windows 7 no more receives security updates, therefore the 2009 operating-system is fully unsupported now. Users are thus recommended to help make the switch to Windows 10 and therefore continue getting patches that will help keep the data protected.

But while Windows 7 is really a dead platform now, it’s a well known fact that many people just don’t want to give up on it, and it’s all simply because they don’t agree with the modern direction that Windows 10 has embraced.

For a lot of, Windows 7 is the last Windows based pc that’s optimized for that desktop, and also the addition of features like a Microsoft Store, Cortana, and modern apps make the classic Windows experience too cluttered.

An idea that was published this week envisions a mix of old and new, imagining exactly what a Windows 7 version would look like with new-generation features.

So essentially, what we have here looks more like a modern Windows 7 that borrows several ideas for Windows 10 but additionally comes with a bunch of features of its very own.

Gadgets on the desktop

The Aero styling is still available, and thus may be the Start menu that everybody still seems to love, but simultaneously, this idea also envisions an evolution of File Explorer that features tabs. At one point, Microsoft wanted to add tabs to Windows 10 with a feature called Sets, however the whole experience was built on the legacy version of Edge, therefore the plan has since been abandoned.

One particular feature that appears great is support for gadgets on the desktop, plus some previously suggested that Microsoft could achieve similar functionality by allowing us to pin live tiles to the desktop.

Overall, this is a great concept for individuals who still want Windows 7 inside a modern world, but at this time, it’s pretty clear that Microsoft is about Windows 10 at this time.

Microsoft to produce a Smaller Surface Laptop

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Microsoft is working on expanding its Surface device lineup, and after launching the Duo Android dual-screen model, the organization now really wants to bring a less expensive Surface Laptop to the market.

The plan is as simple as it may be: the software giant is attempting to create its device portfolio readily available for more customers, and also to do this, it simply needs to offer Surface PCs in additional configurations, with various sizes, and at discounted implies that.

Quite simply, the long-term goal here is to bring the price of the Surface PC lineup lower, and the only way to do this purpose would be to launch new models that wouldn’t necessarily feature high-end specs but retain the premium build that sets the Surface brand apart.

So what Microsoft is likely to do is develop a mid-range Surface model that would feature a conventional clamshell form factor, and according to a report from Windows Central, this product is codenamed Sparti.

The target right now appears to be the classroom, as Microsoft wants this particular Surface laptop to become specifically targeted at students. So most of its specs and features are specifically built to respond to the typical needs of a student.

More like a Surface Laptop Go, this product will run Windows 10 in S Mode, so it will be limited to apps published in the Microsoft Store. Probably, users is going to be permitted to upgrade it to full Windows 10, and it is hardware specifications could be individually tailored to be able to offer the best experience to customers who give up on Windows 10 in S Mode too.

First and foremost, this new Surface Laptop includes a 12.5-inch screen, so it’ll be smaller than the present types of the same device. This really is designed to make it more portable, a thing that for a student is quite critical when buying a brand new device.

Power will come from an Intel Core i5 processor that’s combined with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, but there’s an opportunity upgraded specs for more RAM and storage could be offered as well.

The price tag will undoubtedly be a vital part of the new device, as Microsoft really wants to keep it affordable although not too affordable.

Needless to say, the unit will be less expensive than the present Surface models, and it’s believed the pricing would start sooner or later between $500 and $600. This would make the new 12.5-inch Surface Laptop the most cost effective Surface PC after the Surface Go, another model also targeted at students but coming with even lower specs.

Initially, Microsoft isn’t only opting for students with a more affordable Surface but additionally after Google’s Chromebook offensive that’s gaining more ground in the education sector. Microsoft must try to remain relevant within this market, especially as rivals are bringing less expensive devices that obviously be preferable for teachers and students.

However, Microsoft is betting big on its Surface brand, and right now, it appears as though this new Surface Laptop doesn’t compromise the typical Surface experience in in whatever way.

Based on the existing rumors, it appears as though the prospective date when the new model could go away may be the holiday season of this year, albeit this very well could change depending on how the expansion advances. The brand new model might be announced in October in a dedicated hardware event, which given the current health situation, might take place online exclusively, The pre-order program could start soon after the show, with shipments to start later in the year.

Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Microcode Updates KB4497165 and KB4558130

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Microsoft has released new updates for Windows 10 devices, but this time the main focus is on resolving vulnerabilities in Intel chips.

There are two updates that are now available for download, as it follows:

KB4497165 for Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909
KB4558130 for Windows 10 version 2004

Only certain processors are getting the patches, and they obtainable and installed automatically via Windows Update or manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

To check the full listing of processors which are targeted by these microcode updates, you can consult their email list available on the KB pages linked above.

What’s new in these updates?

Based on Microsoft, the new microcode patches include security fixes for any total of four different vulnerabilities in Intel processors. They are documented on the next CVE pages:

CVE-2019-11091 – Microarchitectural Data Sampling Uncacheable Memory (MDSUM)
CVE-2018-12126 – Microarchitectural Store Buffer Data Sampling (MSBDS)
CVE-2018-12127 – Microarchitectural Load Port Data Sampling (MLPDS)
CVE-2018-12130 – Microarchitectural Fill Buffer Data Sampling (MFBDS)

Intel explains that these security flaws could allow information disclosure, even though CVE-2019-11091 is rated with a low severity rating, the rest of the vulnerabilities have obtained moderate ratings.

“Microarchitectural Store Buffer Data Sampling (MSBDS): Store buffers on some microprocessors utilizing speculative execution may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via a side channel with local access,” Intel says in the description of CVE-2018-12126.

Obviously, downloading and installing these patches is extremely suitable for all devices in which the vulnerable processors are found, as the probability of potential exploits has become higher.

The next round of security updates for Windows 10 with additional patches will happen on the September 2020 Patch Tuesday, which this month will require place when in a few days. Cumulative updates is going to be shipped for all Windows 10 versions.