bing

Microsoft has quietly begun dangling tangible rewards in front of Windows 11 users as part of a new push to keep people inside its browser and search ecosystem: a promotional Bing card promising up to 1,300 Microsoft Rewards points for trying Microsoft Edge, redeemable for gift cards...

Microsoft’s search engine briefly dressed up as its rival and added a charitable carrot — a move that reveals as much about modern product marketing as it does about the ethics of nudging users inside an operating system. Background In early January 2025, Bing began serving a special results...

Microsoft has quietly added a one‑click Internet speed test launcher to Windows 11’s taskbar and quick settings, and it’s arriving alongside continued enhancements to the Snipping Tool (a.k.a. “Scissors”) that push the app from a basic screenshot utility toward a compact image and video capture...

Windows 11’s taskbar just gained a one‑click “Perform speed test” control — but instead of spinning up a native diagnostic engine, the button opens your default browser and lands on Bing’s internet speed test (the same Speedtest technology Ookla powers in Bing). Background Microsoft has been...

Windows 11 now puts a quick internet speed check one click away in the Taskbar — but it’s a launcher to Bing’s web tool, not a native measurement engine, and that choice has real implications for accuracy, privacy, and enterprise control. Background Microsoft quietly began testing a new...

Windows 11 now surfaces a one‑click path to a network speed test directly from the taskbar — but for now it’s a shortcut to Bing’s web tool (which itself delegates to Speedtest by Ookla), and it’s only available to Windows Insiders in preview channels. Background Microsoft has quietly started...

A subtle change hidden inside a recent Windows 11 preview build surfaces a new, one‑click path to measure internet speed directly from the taskbar: a “Perform speed test” option now appears in the network icon’s context menu and in the Wi‑Fi quick settings, and selecting it launches the default...

Microsoft’s push to fold AI into search and browsing — most visibly through Copilot, Bing Chat, and AI features in Microsoft Edge — can be disorienting for users who want a classic, no‑frills search and browser experience; the good news is you can significantly reduce or hide these AI elements...

Microsoft has quietly placed a one‑click network speed test where many users already go to check connectivity — the Windows 11 system tray — but for now it behaves as a browser‑launched shortcut to Bing’s speed‑test widget rather than a native, in‑OS measurement engine. Background / Overview...

Microsoft Edge is quietly experimenting with a new Visual Search shortcut inside its floating desktop search box on Windows 11, letting users drop images onto a small camera-enabled UI and get Bing-powered image results — all without opening a full browser window first. Background Microsoft’s...

Microsoft has quietly begun serving a new, highly visual Bing ad that places a full “scoreboard” comparison between Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome above Chrome’s official download links on Windows 11 — a move that reframes a user’s intent at the precise moment they look to switch browsers and...

Microsoft is quietly surfacing a one‑click internet speed test right in the Windows 11 taskbar — a tiny but notable convenience that opens Bing’s speed‑test widget from the network icon’s context menu and Wi‑Fi quick settings in current Insider preview builds. This change, first observed in...

Microsoft has quietly added a one‑click internet speed‑test launcher to Windows 11 Insider preview builds — a small, highly discoverable convenience that opens Bing’s web‑based speed‑test widget from the Taskbar’s network menu rather than running a native diagnostic inside the OS. Background...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 Insider preview builds quietly add a one‑click internet speed‑test shortcut to the taskbar network flyout — but the shortcut simply opens Bing’s web‑based speed test rather than running a native, offline measurement — and the same builds also include a subtle but...

Microsoft is quietly adding a one‑click internet speed test to Windows 11’s network flyout — but for now the shortcut simply opens Bing’s web-based speed test in your default browser rather than running a fully local diagnostic. Background Microsoft published Insider Preview builds 26220.6682...

Microsoft is adding a one‑click internet speed checker directly to the Windows 11 taskbar, visible in recent Insider preview builds and implemented as a shortcut that launches Bing’s speed‑test web widget from the network icon’s context menu and Wi‑Fi quick settings. Background Microsoft has...

Microsoft is quietly testing a small but notable convenience feature in Windows 11: a one‑click internet speed test shortcut embedded directly in the network flyout and taskbar context menu — a shortcut that, for now, simply launches Bing’s online speed‑test widget rather than running a native...

Windows is adding a one‑click “Perform speed test” option to the network menu — but it does the job by opening your browser and pointing to Bing’s online speed test rather than running a native, offline diagnostic inside the OS. Background / Overview Microsoft has been steadily remaking Windows...

I still set up every new Windows PC to behave the way I want it to, not the way a vendor thinks I should — and when Windows 11 insists on funneling taskbar search, widgets, and system links into Microsoft Edge and Bing, I install a small, targeted tool that restores control: MSEdgeRedirect. This...

Microsoft’s internal AI strategy has entered a new phase: after years of leaning on OpenAI for frontier models and privileged cloud access, the company is investing to build its own large-scale compute — including a dedicated AI chip cluster and first-party foundation models — as part of a...