security

  1. Google Labs Windows App: Floating Spotlight Search with Lens & AI

    Google’s experimental Windows app aims to remove the friction of switching windows to look something up — a floating, Spotlight‑like search bar you summon with Alt + Space that can search local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web, and that folds in Google Lens and the company’s AI...
  2. Windhawk: Modular Windows 11 Taskbar Tweaks for Power Users

    The Windows 11 taskbar looked like a fresh start—sleeker, centered, more modern—but for many users it felt more like a locked box than a customization canvas. A tiny, unofficial tool called Windhawk changes that: it’s a modular tweaking platform that restores missing functionality, unlocks...
  3. September Cloud AI Previews: Production‑Ready Enterprise AI with Governance

    September’s quiet preview windows at the major cloud providers are shaping up to be one of the clearest signals yet that enterprise AI is moving from model-first experimentation into regulated, operational production—and the changes being previewed are less about raw model accuracy and more...
  4. Windows Deprecations and Replacements: From IE to Copilot

    Windows has always been a moving target: features appear, gain fans, stagnate, and sometimes quietly disappear — often replaced by something that reflects Microsoft’s current priorities around security, cloud services, and AI. The past decade alone shows a clear pattern: legacy, underused, or...
  5. Enterprise Cloud AI in Sept Preview: Security, Auditability, Production-Ready Platforms

    Cloud providers’ September previews from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Google offer a powerful — and practical — glimpse of how enterprise expectations are reshaping cloud AI: companies are no longer buying raw model performance alone, they are demanding network isolation, auditability...
  6. Firefox 143 lands: Windows web apps, Copilot, privacy tweaks and more

    Mozilla’s Firefox 143 landed as a significant, pragmatic update: it finally brings a long‑promised form of desktop web‑app support to Windows, folds Microsoft Copilot into the browser’s AI sidebar, tightens several privacy and accessibility gaps, and introduces a clutch of media and UX...
  7. IRIS Foundry in Teams and Copilot via MCP: Industrial AI in the Flow of Work

    SymphonyAI’s IRIS Foundry now appears directly inside Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, promising to move industrial AI from dashboards and backrooms into the daily workflows of plant operators and frontline teams—using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to connect OT data, AI reasoning...
  8. Tmux Tutorial: Persist Terminal Sessions for Linux DevOps

    Tmux turns a single terminal into a full multitasking workspace, letting you run, manage, and persist multiple shells from one connection so long-running jobs don’t force you to keep a window open or interrupt your workflow. Background If you’ve ever started a long rsync, a build, or a migration...
  9. Office 2016/2019 End of Support Oct 14, 2025: Plan Migration to Microsoft 365 or LTSC 2024

    Microsoft has set a hard deadline: support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 — including the familiar Word, Excel, PowerPoint suites and some server counterparts — will end on October 14, 2025, and there will be no extension and no Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for those perpetual desktop...
  10. Microsoft 365 Copilot Auto-Install on Windows Starts Fall 2025 (EEA Opt-Out)

    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...
  11. Windows 10 End of Support 2025: ESU, App Updates, and Migration Plans

    Microsoft has set a firm end-of-support date for Windows 10—October 14, 2025—and the flurry of "30 days" headlines that followed this announcement compresses a complex, staged retirement into a single-sentence alarm that obscures exactly what will and won't change for users and IT teams...
  12. Firefox 143 Brings Windows Taskbar Web Apps and Copilot Sidebar Enhancements

    Firefox’s latest release delivers the kind of practical Windows-focused refinements power users have been asking for — and a high-profile AI tie‑in that will keep privacy wonks and enterprise admins debating for weeks. Background / Overview Mozilla’s rapid-release cadence means the browser you...
  13. Enterprise AI Goes Production-Ready: September Cloud Previews Focus on Security and Governance

    Cloud providers’ September previews are not incremental checkbox updates; they are a clear signal that enterprises expect AI clouds to be more than high‑performance models — they must be secure, auditable, and operationally mature enough to run production workloads at scale. Background...
  14. WMIC Removal in Windows 11 25H2: Migrate to PowerShell CIM/WMI

    Microsoft has begun removing the long‑standing Windows Management Instrumentation Command‑line (WMIC) tool from Windows images — WMIC will be absent by default on new installs and removed for systems upgraded to Windows 11, version 25H2 — and administrators must treat this as a scheduled change...
  15. Microsoft Retires Mobile Plans: Web-Based eSIM Checkout with Windows Provisioning

    Microsoft is retiring the built-in Mobile Plans app and moving eSIM purchase and provisioning to a web-first model where carrier websites handle checkout while Windows Settings manages secure device provisioning and identifier consent. Background / Overview The Mobile Plans app — a small...
  16. How to Disable Microsoft Copilot in Windows 11 and Microsoft 365

    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...
  17. Nano11: Extreme Windows 11 Slimdown to 2.29GB for VMs

    NTDEV’s latest builder shrinks a full Windows 11 ISO down to a reported 2.29 GB by surgically removing nearly everything most users expect from a modern desktop OS — from Xbox and Solitaire to Windows Update and Windows Defender — producing an extremely compact, intentionally unserviceable image...
  18. Windows 11 Start Menu Phone Link: Seamless Desktop Phone Access

    Microsoft’s quiet expansion of Phone Link into the Windows 11 Start menu has quietly reshaped how many of us treat our phones while working on a PC, folding basic phone functions—notifications, calls, messages, photos, and device status—into a single, one-click experience on the desktop...
  19. Windows 11 Explained: Design Refresh, Security Upgrades, Free Upgrade

    Microsoft’s next major Windows refresh was no surprise by the time of its official unveiling: after weeks of leaks and rumor traffic, the company revealed a redesigned operating system on June 24 that would become Windows 11 — a visual and strategic reset of Windows intended to modernize the...
  20. WYFRS Copilot Case Study: AI for Admin & Accessibility

    West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS) has quietly pushed one of the clearest practical tests of enterprise AI into the public sector: by embedding Microsoft Copilot across day‑to‑day workflows the service says it has accelerated routine admin, improved accessibility for neurodiverse...