privacy telemetry

Windows 10’s official support end is a hard deadline — but for organizations wrestling with legacy, mission‑critical applications, the moment is not a verdict of doom; it’s a call to action with practical, fast, and defensible options to keep apps running securely while you plan longer‑term...

Windows ships with a surprising number of background services enabled by default, and several of them can quietly consume CPU, RAM, disk I/O, or network bandwidth without delivering any benefit for most users; turning the right ones off can noticeably improve Windows performance and free...

Microsoft’s deadline is now unavoidable: Windows 10 will stop receiving regular security updates on October 14, 2025, and the immediate fallout in India—where millions of machines still run Windows 10—has forced consumers, small businesses, and large organisations into a compressed set of...

Microsoft has begun quietly recruiting Windows 11 users into a new, opt‑in pilot called Windows AI Labs, an in‑OS sandbox for testing experimental AI features that first appeared as a sign‑up prompt inside Microsoft Paint and which Microsoft describes as “a pilot acceleration program for...

Google has quietly planted a new flag on the Windows desktop: an experimental, Spotlight‑style Google app that appears as a summonable floating search capsule (default hotkey Alt + Space) and stitches together local file search, installed apps, Google Drive, Google Lens visual lookup, standard...

Microsoft’s Xbox PC app has quietly shed the role of a one‑trick Game Pass storefront and evolved into a genuine, controller‑friendly hub that now aggregates your installed Windows games across multiple launchers — Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, Battle.net and Microsoft’s own libraries — and...

Microsoft has quietly reworked the Xbox app on Windows 11 into a genuine one‑stop hub for PC gaming, and the implications reach well beyond a refreshed launcher: the app now aggregates installed titles from multiple storefronts, lets you launch non‑Microsoft games without opening third‑party...

Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows devices that already have Microsoft 365 desktop client apps, rolling the background install out beginning in Fall 2025 — with a practical deployment window that industry reporting ties to early October through...

Microsoft will begin installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot app automatically on Windows devices that already have the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, a background rollout that starts this fall and is expected to reach completion by mid‑November — but it won’t happen for devices in the European...

Microsoft is quietly folding a one‑click internet speed check into Windows 11’s network UI — but the shortcut doesn’t run a native measurement engine; it launches Bing’s web speed test, meaning the “built‑in” convenience is really a fast path to an online tool rather than a local diagnostic...

Microsoft will begin pushing the standalone Microsoft 365 Copilot app onto many Windows devices this fall, installing it quietly in the background on systems that already have Microsoft 365 desktop clients — with an explicit carve‑out for devices in the European Economic Area and several...

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 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 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 quietly rolled a small but potentially meaningful convenience into recent Windows 11 Insider builds: a “Perform speed test” entry in the network menu and Wi‑Fi quick settings that launches an internet speed check directly from the taskbar, but crucially it opens Bing’s web‑based speed...

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’ built‑in antivirus has quietly become the practical choice for millions of users, and the recent pushback against paid suites is no accident — the free Windows security stack now combines deep OS integration, modern cloud and AI detections, and targeted anti‑ransomware controls that...

Microsoft pushed a new Windows 11 preview update (KB5065782) into Insider rings on September 12, 2025, delivering a focused set of Copilot-era UX refinements—most notably a redesigned Click to Do prompt box with on‑device suggestion support, updated gesture animations, Emoji 16.0, and several...

Samsung and Microsoft have agreed to bring Microsoft Copilot — the conversational AI that lives inside Windows and Microsoft’s cloud services — onto a selection of Samsung’s 2025 smart TVs and Smart Monitors, turning the living room screen into an interactive, voice-first companion that can...

Microsoft Edge's experimental Scareware Blocker is graduating from a single-user popup interrupter to a broader, system-strengthening feature that can block scam sites and — in the Canary channel — optionally share detected scam links and classifications with Microsoft’s Defender SmartScreen...