group policy

Microsoft Copilot is built into Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, but it’s straightforward to hide, disable, or block the feature when you want a distraction‑free workspace or need to enforce an enterprise policy. Background Microsoft introduced Copilot as a system‑level assistant that blends local...

Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on many Windows devices this fall, but the rollout is neither universal nor unstoppable — administrators and privacy-conscious users have documented methods to block installation and disable the feature, and Microsoft...

Microsoft is quietly testing a one‑click internet speed checker directly in the Windows 11 taskbar that launches Bing’s speed‑test widget from the network menu in Insider preview builds, putting a quick diagnostic just a click away for everyday users and technicians alike. Background Windows...

Microsoft is quietly testing a built‑in internet speed checker in Windows 11 that surfaces a one‑click “Perform speed test” control from the taskbar’s network menu — a shortcut that currently opens Bing’s speed‑test widget in the default browser rather than running a local diagnostic inside the...

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...

When you unbox a new Windows 11 laptop the out‑of‑the‑box experience is deliberately full‑featured — but many of the conveniences Microsoft enables by default trade away privacy, clarity, and system headroom. A short, safe checklist of five settings you should disable right after setup can...

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 preview builds have repurposed the post‑setup SCOOBE flow into a large, full‑screen subscription reminder that will tell Microsoft 365 users their account “needs attention” — and it does so in a way that many will read as a direct, blocking prompt to renew...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 Insider builds are shipping a new, full-screen renewal prompt aimed at lapsed Microsoft 365 subscriptions — an eye-catching SCOOBE (Second‑Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience) screen that insiders and early reports describe as a full‑screen nag to renew rather than a...

Microsoft has quietly expanded the Second Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience (SCOOBE) in Windows 11 Insider builds so it can surface a full‑screen reminder when a Microsoft 365 subscription “needs attention” — for example, when a renewal payment fails — and that reminder can appear before the desktop...

Winaero Tweaker can turn Windows 11 from a one-size-fits-most OS into a personalized desktop with one-click rollbacks of Microsoft’s design choices — and the six changes described in the XDA piece are a solid starter pack for reclaiming control. Background Winaero Tweaker is a well-established...

Microsoft’s Windows 11 Insider builds are now experimenting with a full‑screen “Second Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience” (SCOOBE) page that can surface a Microsoft 365 billing alert — a blocking renewal prompt shown when a subscription “needs attention” such as when a renewal payment failed — and...

Windows 11’s ongoing preview updates are delivering modest but meaningful changes this month: Microsoft has quietly applied reliability fixes to the taskbar’s auto‑hide behavior and is experimenting with surfacing Copilot suggestions inside the Start menu’s Recommended area. These two items —...

Windows 11’s next wave of preview builds quietly delivers two of the most requested quality-of-life fixes for everyday users — smoother, more reliable taskbar auto-hide behavior and a pair of bug fixes that restore clickable space above the taskbar — while also ramping up Copilot’s visibility by...

Microsoft’s latest Insider builds repurpose the SCOOBE (Second‑Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience) screen into a full‑screen, blocking renewal prompt that reminds users a Microsoft 365 subscription “needs attention” — a test that has reignited debates about whether Windows should be used as a sales...

Windows 11’s sleek redesign promised speed and simplicity — what many users didn’t bargain for was a steady stream of promotional content running inside the shell, quietly consuming cycles, network bandwidth, and attention. Recent reporting and large-scale user tests show Microsoft’s...

Windows 11’s latest Insider preview flight doubles down on Copilot: a new, inline prompt box appears inside the Click to Do context menu, Start shows example Copilot prompts, and Microsoft continues to weave on‑device AI into everyday workflows — all while shipping accessibility fixes, Emoji...

Microsoft’s latest Release Preview channel updates make a small but meaningful usability change: you can now choose where on-screen hardware indicators — the volume, brightness, airplane mode and virtual desktop flyouts — appear on your display, and that’s just the tip of what landed in the...

Microsoft’s latest Canary‑channel experiment pushes intelligence deeper into the Windows shell: a new AI actions submenu in File Explorer lets you right‑click images to run Bing Visual Search, blur or remove backgrounds, and erase objects — all without opening a full editor. This context‑aware...

If the new “Ask Copilot” entry in Windows 11’s right‑click menu has landed on your system and you’d rather not see it, you can remove it quickly — either by blocking the File Explorer shell extension that adds the menu item or by uninstalling/disabling Copilot entirely. The tweak is...

Microsoft has quietly completed the last public validation step for Windows 11 version 25H2 by publishing official ISO installation media to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel, a move that puts clean-install and imaging workflows back into IT teams’ hands ahead of a likely October...