compatibility

Valve is ending support for 32‑bit Windows on the Steam desktop client, setting a firm cutoff that marks the final mainstream exit of 32‑bit Windows from one of the largest PC gaming platforms and giving the small remaining cohort of users a clear migration deadline. Background Modern PC...

Steam will stop supporting 32‑bit versions of Windows on January 1, 2026 — a narrowly targeted but important platform change that affects a vanishing fraction of Steam users and formalises the final phase of Valve’s shift to a 64‑bit‑only Steam client. Background The news that Steam will drop...

Valve will stop supporting 32‑bit Windows for the Steam client on January 1, 2026, closing a long tail of legacy compatibility while leaving 32‑bit game binaries runnable on modern systems. Background / Overview The move is narrowly scoped: Steam’s announced cutover targets 32‑bit editions of...

With Microsoft continuing to push AI into the heart of Windows while simultaneously shipping iterative Windows 11 updates, the question most users and IT managers are asking is simple but pressing: will Windows 12 arrive in late 2025 or early 2026 — and if so, what will it actually change? The...

Steam will stop supporting Windows 32‑bit installations on January 1, 2026, a move that, if confirmed and implemented as reported, will leave the vanishingly small number of users still running Windows 10 in its 32‑bit form without client updates, security fixes, or official Steam Support help —...

Microsoft’s handheld push has taken a new turn: the Xbox-style, full‑screen “Xbox Mode” that will ship as the default experience on the ROG Xbox Ally family is already appearing on other Windows 11 handhelds — in community builds and hacks — ahead of the Ally’s retail launch, forcing a rapid...

Two of the world's largest tech brands skipped the obvious ordinal, jumped a number, and left millions asking the same question: why was there no Windows 9 and why was there no iPhone 9? What looks like a quirky coincidence on the surface actually sits at the intersection of legacy technical...

Windows engineers quietly keep a short, secretive compatibility table inside the Bluetooth stack to fix one particularly stubborn relic: the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 — a 2006-era device that shipped its Bluetooth name using the wrong character encoding and forced Windows...

Microsoft has set a hard deadline: Windows 10 will stop receiving free security updates on October 14, 2025, and every day that passes between now and that date increases the urgency for millions of households and businesses to act — whether by upgrading, enrolling in extended protection, or...

Microsoft’s October deadline for Windows 10 support has arrived like a ringing bell for an industry that—by several measures—wasn’t ready: large numbers of consumer and corporate endpoints still run Windows 10, many organisations face compatibility and budget constraints, and the safety net...

Microsoft has quietly moved a set of EdgeHTML-era web components onto Windows’ official deprecation list, marking the next step in a long shift away from platform-specific web integration toward Chromium-based runtimes and standards-based Progressive Web Apps. This change — which names Legacy...

I dragged my Windows 11 desktop back into the late 2000s, and — to my surprise — the result isn’t just nostalgia porn: it’s a practical, usable environment that keeps modern security and features while restoring the things many people still prefer about Windows 7. The MakeUseOf walkthrough that...

Microsoft’s September Patch Tuesday delivers a targeted corrective for two of the most disruptive regressions reported by end users and IT teams over the last month: the unexpected UAC prompts and MSI repair failures that blocked non‑admin workflows, and severe stuttering in NDI-based streaming...

Microsoft’s quiet pruning of long‑standing Windows apps has accelerated into a visible strategy: the company is retiring or removing familiar built‑ins — from the browser that once ruled the web to niche creative tools and the lightweight Mail client — and asking users and organizations to...

Microsoft has confirmed a new compatibility problem that emerged after the August 12, 2025 cumulative security updates: a Windows Installer hardening intended to close a privilege‑escalation hole (tracked as CVE‑2025‑50173) is now triggering unexpected User Account Control (UAC) prompts for...

Microsoft’s latest Insider flights quietly pushed two practical — and in some ways overdue — AI features into Windows 11: Fluid Dictation inside Voice Access and expanded Windows Studio Effects for alternative cameras on Copilot+ PCs, alongside small but useful File Explorer hover actions that...

Microsoft has quietly closed another chapter of Windows history by retiring a clutch of familiar apps — Internet Explorer, Paint 3D, Movies & TV (storefront), Groove Music’s streaming service, and the legacy Mail app — each disappearance reflecting a larger strategy to consolidate services, cut...

ExplorerPatcher’s latest release finally restores several long-broken customizations for Windows 11 24H2 and includes a practical — if controversial — workaround that lets the utility avoid the upgrade safeguard that Microsoft introduced for 24H2 builds. The update, published as release...

Microsoft has acknowledged a compatibility regression introduced by the August 12, 2025 cumulative Windows updates that can cause unexpected User Account Control (UAC) elevation prompts and MSI Error 1730 failures for non‑administrator users when applications trigger Windows Installer (MSI)...

If you’ve ever poked around Windows’ innards, you probably stumbled on the Windows Registry — the sprawling hierarchical database that quietly governs countless system behaviors. What many users don’t realize is that the Registry is part museum piece, part power tool: it’s older than most of the...