Latest news with #WindowsInsider
Ammon
5 days ago
- Ammon
Microsoft accidentally swapped Windows 11's startup sound
Ammon News - If you've been having flashbacks to 2007 while using your PC over the past few days, you're not alone. Microsoft has mistakenly replaced Windows 11's boot sound — in test versions of the OS — with the startup chime from Windows Vista. Windows testers started noticing the issue shortly after Microsoft released its latest Dev Channel build of Windows 11 on Friday afternoon. The .WAV file for the bootup sound, which is stored inside had been randomly replaced with the Windows Vista startup sound in preview build 26200.5651. Microsoft quickly acknowledged the mistake, and added a line to its release notes for the latest Dev Channel build. 'This week's flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound,' says the Windows Insider team. 'We're working on a fix.' It's not clear how such a mistake even happened, but Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Insider team joked on X that he 'went in and had some fun with the sound files in Windows and thought folks needed a blast from the past,' before confirming that it was actually just a bug. Perhaps one of Microsoft's Windows engineers was reminiscing too much about Windows Vista, in a week when Microsoft made it clear it thinks Apple's new Liquid Glass design bears some resemblance to its Aero Glass look in Windows Vista. The Verge
The Verge
5 days ago
- The Verge
Microsoft accidentally swapped Windows 11's startup sound with Vista's
If you've been having flashbacks to 2007 while using your PC over the past few days, you're not alone. Microsoft has mistakenly replaced Windows 11's boot sound — in test versions of the OS — with the startup chime from Windows Vista. Windows testers started noticing the issue shortly after Microsoft released its latest Dev Channel build of Windows 11 on Friday afternoon. The .WAV file for the bootup sound, which is stored inside had been randomly replaced with the Windows Vista startup sound in preview build 26200.5651. Microsoft quickly acknowledged the mistake, and added a line to its release notes for the latest Dev Channel build. 'This week's flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound,' says the Windows Insider team. 'We're working on a fix.' It's not clear how such a mistake even happened, but Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Insider team joked on X that he 'went in and had some fun with the sound files in Windows and thought folks needed a blast from the past,' before confirming that it was actually just a bug. Perhaps one of Microsoft's Windows engineers was reminiscing too much about Windows Vista, in a week when Microsoft made it clear it thinks Apple's new Liquid Glass design bears some resemblance to its glass look in Windows Media Center, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
The Verge
09-06-2025
- The Verge
You can now try Microsoft's new Start menu for Windows 11
Microsoft is now allowing Windows 11 testers to try out a new, larger Start menu that includes a scrollable interface, new views, and more customizability. An early version of the new Start menu first started showing up in Windows 11 builds in April, followed by Microsoft's official announcement in May. Today's Dev Channel release lets you try it out officially for the first time. 'We're making it easier for you to launch your apps with our updated, scrollable Start menu,' explains the Windows Insider team. This scrollable Start menu means that all apps is now at the top level, so you don't have to navigate to a second page to find your apps. You'll also be able to disable the recommended section so you can see more of your apps, and choose two new views: category and grid. The default category view groups apps by category, and the grid view is ordered alphabetically more like a traditional list view. Microsoft has also made the Start menu larger based on the screen size of your device or monitor. 'On larger devices, users can expect to see 8 columns of pinned apps, 6 recommendations, and 4 columns of categories in the Start menu,' says the Windows Insider team. 'On smaller devices, you'll see 6 columns of pinned apps, 4 recommendations, and 3 columns of categories.' There's also a new mobile device button on the Start menu that lets you expand or collapse the Phone Link interface that appears alongside the Start menu. Microsoft is also allowing Windows 11 users to choose what lock screen widgets appear, allowing you to add or remove widgets and rearrange them for the lock screen.
The Verge
20-05-2025
- The Verge
Microsoft is putting AI actions into the Windows File Explorer
Microsoft is starting to integrate AI shortcuts, or what it calls AI actions, into the File Explorer in Windows 11. These shortcuts let you right-click on a file and quickly get to Windows AI features like blurring the background of a photo, erasing objects, or even summarizing content from Office files. Four image actions are currently being tested in the latest Dev Channel builds of Windows 11, including Bing visual search to find similar images on the web, the blur background and erase objects features found in the Photos app, and the remove background option in Paint. Image: Microsoft Microsoft is also planning to test similar AI actions for Office files soon, enabling you to summarize documents stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, or quickly create AI-generated lists from files. These Office AI actions will be limited to Microsoft 365 commercial subscribers with a Copilot license, and consumer support is 'coming later.' It's not clear if these AI actions can be disabled in the context menu, but they also join an 'Ask Copilot' option that Microsoft added to the right-click menu of the File Explorer recently. Alongside the AI-powered shortcuts in File Explorer, Microsoft is also testing some visual changes to the widgets feature in Windows 11, 'with a more organized, personalized, and engaging feed,' according to the Windows Insider team. 'In addition, we are introducing Copilot-curated stories into the feed.' This latest Dev Channel build also includes a new 'User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management' feature, which Microsoft describes as an OS-level change to reduce power consumption on laptops and tablets. 'After a period of inactivity on your PC, Windows now conserves power by automatically applying efficient power management policies,' says the Windows Insider team. 'This happens seamlessly to save energy while you're inactive, with full performance instantly restored the moment you get back to it.'
The Star
13-05-2025
- The Star
An AI assistant will soon be on hand to help with Windows settings
AI is set to integrate most native Windows applications, including Photos and Notepad. — Microsoft Microsoft has announced a host of new features for PCs, including the arrival of an AI assistant specially dedicated to managing Windows settings. With Windows 11, Microsoft is aiming to simplify access to the operating system's (many) settings. And in the age of artificial intelligence, the Redmond firm is taking things to a new level, as it will soon be offering a special AI assistant tasked with responding to users' natural-language queries. The idea is to be able to report a problem ("the text on the screen is too small') or launch a command ("control my PC by voice') directly via the search field dedicated to settings. Novices can simply describe what they want to do, and the agent will suggest one or more solutions. This avoids the need to spend time searching through Windows settings, looking for the right option in the right menu. The experience should be much less frustrating, as the AI assistant is designed to provide all the relevant answers. With the user's consent, it can even perform or automate certain tasks. This new feature will soon be available to members of the Windows Insider program, who can test new features of the operating system in advance – so long as they have recent hardware, ie, a Copilot+ PC equipped with a Snapdragon processor. Other users will have to be a little more patient, as no official rollout to the general public has yet been announced. Generally speaking, AI is set to integrate most native Windows applications, including Photos and Notepad. This is already the case in Paint with the "Cocreator' function, which generates images from text descriptions. Finally, Microsoft has confirmed the forthcoming rollout of Recall, its controversial optimized search functionality based on screen captures at regular intervals, raising questions about privacy. It will nevertheless be possible to deactivate this function at any time. – AFP Relaxnews
