Featured content

Microsoft’s February optional non‑security preview for Windows 11, packaged as KB5077241, is that rare kind of update that delivers actual day‑to‑day improvements instead of another round of headline-chasing features — a tightly focused rollup of quality‑of‑life fixes, modest UX enhancements, and a few platform additions that matter to both home users and IT pros. Background Microsoft ships monthly optional, non‑security preview updates to give users and administrators an early look at...

Paul Thurrott’s meditation on “alternative computing lifestyles” is less a manifesto than a practical inventory: Windows 11 can be tamed today, but the alternatives you might switch to—Linux, Chrome OS Flex, Apple’s iPad/macOS ecosystem, or Google’s coming Android‑for‑PC efforts—each carry their own tradeoffs that are often more consequential than the annoyances people want to escape. view Paul’s core point is straightforward: most technically capable users can “de‑enshittify” Windows 11...

Microsoft has quietly started rolling the February preview servicing wave for Windows 11 — KB5077241 — and while it’s small in engineering surface, the update is notable for three practical changes: a taskbar‑accessible internet speed test, in‑box Sysmon (System Monitor) as an optional feature, and the long‑awaited Emoji 16 icons appearing in the emoji panel. Microsoft’s official KB notice confirms the builds (OS Builds 26200.7922 for 25H2 and 26100.7922 for 24H2) and lists these items among...

Microsoft has begun rolling out a notable wave of quality‑of‑life and accessibility updates to Windows 11 — targeting both the supported 24H2 baseline and the enablement‑style 25H2 package — that bring Emoji 16.0, a smarter Taskbar with a one‑click network speed test and an emoji button, camera pan/tilt controls in Settings, and a suite of accessibility and Copilot refinements that are being staged through Insider channels before hitting general machines. (blogs.windows.com)...

Windows 10’s end-of-support forced a lot of organizations into a race to Windows 11, but the biggest operational risk isn’t licensing or hardware checks — it’s the application layer: the mix of legacy programs, locally stored data and undocumented tweaks that quietly run essential workflows and can be disrupted by an OS migration. For IT teams the migration question reduces to a practical triage: what is on each machine, what must be preserved, and which migration path will preserve it...

A sudden and unsettling development in the handheld‑PC world has put owners of several premium Windows 11 devices on alert: multiple reports and OEM replies indicate AMD may have stopped issuing new graphics and system drivers for the Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, potentially leaving machines such as the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go without vendor‑validated updates going forward. (tomshardware.com) (windowscentral.com) Background / Overview The Ryzen Z1 family was AMD’s explicit move into...

ESW’s expansion of ExcelHelp.com signals a deliberate push to turn widespread Microsoft 365 and Copilot adoption into measurable workplace capability through instructor-led Excel, Copilot, and AI training paired with hands-on automation services. (ESW Expands ExcelHelp.com to Deliver Microsoft Excel, Copilot, and AI Training Nationwide)) Overview ESW (eSoftware Associates) announced on February 24, 2026 that ExcelHelp.com — the company’s training and automation brand — is being scaled...

Microsoft’s new Security Dashboard for AI arrives as a pragmatic — and urgently needed — response to a problem CISOs have been warning about for months: enterprise AI is proliferating faster than governance, and visibility is the first line of defense when human oversight can’t scale. Announced into public preview in mid-February 2026, the dashboard consolidates posture and real‑time risk signals from Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Entra, and Microsoft Purview into a single pane of glass...

Microsoft’s Copilot is entering a new phase of availability and positioning: Microsoft is actively steering users toward trial and migration paths for Copilot while simultaneously reframing how the assistant is messaged to customers and IT decision‑makers — moves that matter for everyday Windows users, Microsoft 365 admins, and enterprise buyers alike. Background / Overview Microsoft’s Copilot initiative has moved quickly from experiment to platform. What began as a conversational assistant...

Oracle’s placement as a Leader in Forrester’s latest Data Fabric Platforms evaluation marks a notable moment in the evolving debate over how enterprises connect, manage, and operationalize data across hybrid and multicloud estates. The recognition calls attention to a suite of capabilities Oracle has been assembling—Autonomous AI Database, GoldenGate replication, and OCI-native services—that together aim to deliver real-time integration, governance, and AI-driven automation for complex...

Death Stranding 2’s PC requirements and feature list landed this week, and they paint a clear — if occasionally surprising — picture: Nixxes and Kojima Productions are gearing the PC port toward wide accessibility while shipping a modern upscaling/frame‑generation stack and a hefty 150 GB SSD install. The official publisher breakdown targets four presets (Minimum, Medium, High/Recommended, and Very High) aimed at 1080p, 1080p/60, 1440p/60 and 4K/60 respectively, and includes cross‑vendor...

Sony and Kojima Productions have finally given PC players the map: Death Stranding 2: On The Beach will arrive on Windows on March 19, and the team has published a full set of PC system requirements plus a detailed list of platform-specific features designed to make this Kojima spectacle run and look its best on a wide range of hardware. Background / Overview Death Stranding 2: On The Beach launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive and quickly became one of the most discussed single‑player...

Microsoft’s optional February preview for Windows 11 arrives as a tightly focused, pragmatic package: a one‑click network speed test in the taskbar, native Sysmon (System Monitor) surfaced as an optional in‑box feature, new pan/tilt camera controls in Settings, RSAT support expanded to Arm64, Quick Machine Recovery behavior changes for certain Pro devices, support for .webp wallpaper files, and Emoji 16.0 glyphs — all delivered under KB5077241 for versions 24H2 and 25H2, with companion...

Microsoft’s messy relationship with power, settings, and defaults has pushed a surprising number of technically capable people into thinking seriously about alternatives, and the practical reality is complicated: you can get a useable, modern computing life off of Windows 11 today, but doing so almost always trades one set of problems for another. rview The discussion that follows grows from a practical, hands‑on meditation on alternatives to Windows 11: Linux distributions, Chrome OS (and...

Microsoft has quietly shipped a practical, low‑risk preview for Windows 11 that is small in surface area but large in operational importance: the February 24, 2026 preview update KB5077241 advances 24H2 and 25H2 machines to OS Builds 26100.7922 and 26200.7922, respectively, and packages a handful of visible conveniences (a taskbar speed‑test launcher, .webp wallpaper support, Emoji 16 glyphs), enterprise‑focused additions (in‑box Sysmon, Entra SID translation, RSAT on Arm64), and a broad set...

Microsoft has quietly released KB5079266, an incremental Phi Silica AI component update that installs Phi Silica version 1.2601.1273.0 on Intel‑powered Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11, version 26H1, and the package is delivered automatically through Windows Update to qualifying devices. (support.microsoft.com) Background Phi Silica is Microsoft’s on‑device, Transformer‑based local language model family engineered specifically to run efficiently on computers equipped with dedicated Neural...

Microsoft released KB5078674 on February 24, 2026 — a small but consequential Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE) update for Windows 11, versions 24H2 and 25H2 that patches and refreshes the setup-time UI and localized resources used during first-run device setup. The package is narrowly scoped to the OOBE flow: it installs only when a device is completing OOBE and has network access, requires a restart to complete, and contains a revised CloudExperienceHost binary plus a broad set of localized...

Microsoft’s February Safe OS bulletin — framed in the short public entry you supplied as KB5079270 and dated February 24, 2026 — is not just another quiet WinRE refresh: it is a targeted reminder and operational trigger for a platform-wide task that every Windows administrator and many power users must treat as urgent. The update reiterates that Microsoft’s original Secure Boot certificates (the 2011-era KEK/DB certificates) begin to expire in June 2026, explains the potential consequences...

Microsoft has quietly pushed another incremental but important update to the on-device AI stack on Copilot+ PCs: KB5079251, which updates the Image Processing AI component to version 1.2602.1451.0 for Intel‑powered systems running Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows 11, version 25H2. The bulletin follows Microsoft’s modular approach to shipping AI component fixes and improvements outside of full OS feature updates, and it will be delivered automatically via Windows Update to eligible...

Microsoft has quietly shipped an Image Processing AI component refresh for AMD‑powered Copilot+ PCs — a targeted, behind‑the‑scenes update that advances the on‑device imaging stack to version 1.2602.1451.0 and is described by Microsoft as “includes improvements” to image scaling and foreground/background extraction. ttps://www.elevenforum.com/t/kb5077241-windows-11-cumulative-update-preview-build-26100-7922-24h2-and-26200-7922-25h2-feb-24.44824/) Background / Overview Windows 11’s Copilot+...