open source

Google appears to be closing a small but persistent UX gap in Chrome on Windows by adding support for dragging and downloading multiple files from web apps directly into File Explorer — a change spotted in a recent Chromium code update that would let one drag action represent a group download...

ReactOS reached a quiet but meaningful milestone on January 22, 2026: three decades since the project’s first commit, a long-running community effort to rebuild the Windows NT architecture as a free, open-source operating system capable of running Windows applications and drivers natively. That...

If you like a clean desktop and want your wallpaper to shine without the taskbar getting in the way, TranslucentTB is a small, free utility that does exactly what PCWorld described: it makes the Windows taskbar transparent, or blurry, acrylic, or opaque — and it does so with just a click from...

Five open-source, browser-first apps that let me leave installs on the shelf and still get real work done are ONLYOFFICE (DocSpace), Squoosh, OpenCut, StirlingPDF, and Excalidraw — the exact collection I noted when I decided to keep my Windows desktop lean and my workflow portable. shift from...

Microsoft’s AI push has turned Windows 11 into a battleground between corporate vision and user control — and Winslop, a compact open‑source “de‑slop” utility, has emerged as the user-facing counterpunch that promises to strip back the very AI surfaces Microsoft is baking into the OS. Background...

Zorin OS’s surge to two million downloads in under three months has turned a calendar event into a tangible migration story for desktop computing: the timing — coinciding with Microsoft’s decision to end mainstream support for Windows 10 — coupled with Zorin’s Windows‑friendly design, has driven...

Microsoft’s PowerToys v0.45.0 is the release that finally gave the long-running utility suite a visual identity that matches Windows 11 — but the update is more than a skin-deep tweak. The v0.45.0 cycle focused on stability, accessibility, and installer improvements while introducing a...

Microsoft’s PowerToys have returned as an open‑source productivity toolkit for modern Windows — a community‑driven reboot that started as a nostalgic nod to the Windows 95 era and has since become Microsoft’s public laboratory for small, high‑value enhancements to Windows 10 and Windows 11...

This week’s BetaNews roundup of new and updated Windows apps underscores two parallel trends: small, sharply focused utilities that squeeze everyday productivity gains out of narrow features, and established open-source tools adding quality-of-life improvements for power users — a pattern that...

Mageia 9 arrives as a serious, polished desktop Linux that’s worth a hard look from anyone tired of Windows 11’s friction — and it arrives with modern kernels, refreshed tooling, and an installation/upgrade story that aims to remove the usual pain points for newcomers and upgraders alike...

RyTuneX’s latest release, version 1.3.2, is a focused, practical update that quietly strengthens two of the most common complaints Windows users raise: a cluttered Start Menu and the persistence of Microsoft Edge. The update adds a one‑click toggle to disable the Recommended section of the Start...

A software developer who says he "finally deleted Windows 11 completely" after repeated crashes and what he calls intrusive telemetry has become part of a widening migration narrative: developers and power users are increasingly moving their daily machines to Linux — from beginner-friendly Mint...

BrowserOS’s incremental update cycle continues to shape the emerging category of “agentic” browsers — the project’s recent 0.36.x milestones (Neowin’s short listing for 0.36.2 prompted this look) are another signal that BrowserOS is maturing quickly as a privacy‑first Chromium fork that runs AI...

Someone actually rebuilt Windows 8.1’s tiled Start menu as a standalone launcher for Linux — a small, earnest piece of open‑source nostalgia that has briefly lit up a corner of Reddit and the Linux customisation scene. Background Windows 8’s Start screen and 8.1’s tiled Start menu remain design...

Windows search finally behaves the way many of us expected it to: queries now open in your chosen browser and search engine instead of being funneled to Microsoft Edge and Bing — but this fix didn’t come from Microsoft. It arrived as a compact, open‑source utility called MSEdgeRedirect, a...

Microsoft has quietly restored a simple, native terminal text editor to Windows: Microsoft Edit — a compact, open‑source TUI (text user interface) editor you can run directly from Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal without switching to a GUI. The tool is designed for quick edits —...

Microsoft’s decision to replace the long-standing, native Mail & Calendar apps with a WebView2-wrapped Outlook has left many Windows users dissatisfied — and a crowd-sourced, open-source alternative called Wino Mail has emerged to fill the gap, delivering a fast, native, minimal email experience...

The Open Rights Group’s intervention ahead of the Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill’s second reading frames a blunt question for Westminster: can the UK afford to let its critical digital infrastructure remain overwhelmingly dependent on US hyperscalers and proprietary vendors, or does that...

FlyOOBE’s newest public build has once again put a bright, practical tool—and an uncomfortable policy debate—back into the spotlight: a refreshed 2.x release that packages hardware‑check bypasses, day‑one OOBE customizations, ViVeTool feature toggles, and a scriptable extensions engine into a...

AFFiNE arrives as a quietly ambitious open‑source alternative to the usual productivity stack — a local‑first, block‑based workspace that merges documents, whiteboards, databases and an AI copilot into a single edgeless canvas, with self‑hosting and cross‑platform clients that make it a...