insider preview

Microsoft’s move to let users toggle Smart App Control from inside Windows Security without forcing a clean reinstall marks a pragmatic — and strategically important — shift in how Windows 11 delivers one of its headline security features, easing adoption for home users, power users and IT...

Microsoft has quietly given Windows 11 users a genuine off‑switch for the intrusive “AI Actions” entry in File Explorer’s right‑click menu: with Insider Preview Build 26220.7344 Microsoft changed the shell’s logic so that if there are no available or enabled AI Actions, the entire AI Actions...

Microsoft’s latest push to make app updates “less painful” for Windows 11 users is already visible in Insider builds: a new Update Orchestration Platform (UOP) is rolling out as a preview that allows apps — including some third‑party and non‑Store apps — to register with Windows so the OS can...

Microsoft’s latest Insider preview does something deceptively simple: it finally lets you make the “AI Actions” entry in Windows 11’s File Explorer context menu go away — for real. After months of user complaints that the AI Actions header remained visible even when its sub-actions were...

Microsoft is quietly reworking one of Windows’ oldest power‑user primitives: the Run dialog (Win+R) is being rebuilt as a modern, Fluent‑styled overlay in recent Windows 11 preview artifacts, surfacing a Most‑Recently‑Used history, inline icons, and a roomier input area — and the change is...

I ditched Adobe Illustrator and rebuilt my vector workflow around a free, open‑source tool — and the results were more capable, less expensive, and in several everyday ways more pleasant than I expected. The switch comes with trade‑offs — most notably around print color management and some...

For the first time since Windows 95, the small-but-essential Run dialog is getting a visible overhaul: Microsoft is testing a new Modern Run experience in recent Windows 11 preview builds that replaces the decades‑old compact Win+R box with a larger, Fluent‑style overlay, adds a recent‑commands...

Microsoft has quietly removed one of the most annoying adoption barriers for Smart App Control (SAC) on Windows 11: starting with Insider Preview build 26220.7070 (packaged as KB5070300), SAC can now be switched on or off from the Windows Security app without forcing a clean reinstall of the OS...

Microsoft has quietly removed the long-standing requirement that Smart App Control (SAC) only be enabled after a clean Windows 11 installation, making the Windows 11–exclusive protection toggleable from the Windows Security app for Insiders in the Dev and Beta channels and lowering a major...

Microsoft has quietly removed the long-standing clean install requirement for Smart App Control (SAC), making the Windows 11–exclusive security feature toggleable from the Windows Security app without reinstalling the operating system — a change now rolling out to Windows Insiders and being...

Microsoft has quietly folded a console‑style front door into Windows 11: the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) — a controller‑first, full‑screen shell that began life on Xbox‑designed handhelds — is now available to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta channels and is rolling out to supported...

Microsoft has quietly restored control to users: in the latest matched Insider preview build for Windows 11 — 26220.7344 — the new AI Actions section that earlier cluttered File Explorer's right‑click menu will no longer appear when there are no enabled or available AI Actions, effectively...

Closing a frozen app on Windows 11 can be a two‑second fix or a data‑loss disaster — knowing the right tool for the job, when to use it, and the risks involved is the difference between a smooth recovery and hours of troubleshooting. Background Windows 11 provides multiple built‑in ways to close...

Microsoft's newest Insider preview build sharpens recovery, updates, and on-device AI plumbing while pushing key developer and musician tooling into broader preview—delivered as Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7344 (KB5070316) to both the Dev and Beta channels and announced by the Windows...

Microsoft has pushed a matched Windows 11 Insider preview build — 26220.7344 — to Dev and Beta channels that marks the operating system’s first public preview of native support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and ships two built-in agent connectors (File Explorer and Windows Settings)...

Microsoft has started previewing a major change to how apps are updated on Windows 11: a system-level Update Orchestrator Platform (UOP) that centralizes update scheduling and visibility while still letting apps deliver their own payloads. Background Microsoft announced the Update Orchestrator...

Microsoft has published Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7344 (KB5070316) to both the Dev and Beta channels — a matched 25H2 preview that bundles new agent and update orchestration plumbing, a production push of Windows MIDI Services to Insiders, expanded Quick Machine Recovery behavior on...

After more than three decades of near‑identical presentation, the Run dialog in Windows has finally been given a visual and functional refresh in recent preview builds of Windows 11, introducing a modern, Fluent‑aligned overlay while leaving the classic Win32 Run box available for those who need...

Microsoft has quietly begun testing a modernized Run dialog for Windows 11, the first substantial visual overhaul of the venerable Win+R prompt since the Windows 95 era, turning the tiny, utilitarian box into a roomier, Fluent-style overlay that behaves more like a lightweight launcher while...

Microsoft has quietly given the Run dialog — the tiny Win+R prompt that’s been part of Windows for three decades — its first substantial visual overhaul, replacing the stark Win32 modal with a roomier, Fluent‑style overlay in recent Windows 11 preview builds. Background For many power users and...