Windows 11’s August update may cause gaming problems

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft confirmed that the latest update for its Windows 11 operating system may cause “certain games to become unresponsive”. The update released on August 11, 2026 — KB KB5121003 — for Windows 11 version 25H2 and 24H2 may cause several issues when playing games, writes Microsoft in the bug report.

According to the description, players may experience the following issues among others:

  • the game application becomes unresponsive
  • the game application closes without notice
  • the error “EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” is displayed
  • the device restarting without warning

Affected games include ARC Raiders, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and The Finals. Other gamers may be affected as well, but Microsoft says the issue has been reported for a “limited number of games” only.

Microsoft has not published a workaround at the time, which leaves gamers with just two options:

  • Roll-back the update to pre-August 11th-levels.
  • Skip problematic games until the issue is fixed.

While the first option allows affected gamers to play the games once again without the reported problems, uninstalling the August update removes security patches and leaves the system open for potential attacks that exploit them.

The issue is currently under investigation. Microsoft says that it will update the bug listing once it has found a solution for the issue.

Chrome may use an extra 20 gigabytes of storage on your devices

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Back in May 2026, some users of Google’s Chrome web browser discovered a jump in used storage space on their devices. The culprit at the time was an AI model that the browser downloaded automatically to user devices for on-device artificial intelligence processing.

The main idea here is to allow some AI tasks to run locally only, meaning that no interaction with a Google server is needed to make use of the functionality. The whole download felt forced to some users, who had no say in the matter whatsoever.

Now, Google and also Microsoft have increased the local storage requirements for AI significantly. Instead of 4 gigabytes of free disk space, Google requires a whooping 20 gigabytes as the bare minimum.

Google says that the model is only downloaded if Chrome runs on a device with supported hardware capabilities, but fails to specify what that means.

The best way to check whether your device is eligible is to load chrome://settings/system in the browser’s address bar and check the “On-device AI” setting there.

If it is turned on, the device has the requirements apparently and there is a good chance that a gigabyte-sized AI model has been downloaded to the system.

The model is downloaded to this folder: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\OptGuideOnDeviceModel

The AI file is not downloaded in all cases, even with the On-device AI feature enabled. I checked on a test system that had the toggle set to on but no such file on the local hard drive.

You can turn off the functionality, which has three consequences according to Google:

  • Any AI model downloaded automatically to the local system is removed.
  • Chrome won’t download AI models.
  • Features that rely on the functionality won’t work.

The main features that are not available when you turn off local AI are:

  • Help with writing or rephrasing text
  • Warn you about scams
  • Summarize web pages
  • Organize your tabs

While local AI processing is without a doubt beneficial to privacy, companies like Google should consider giving their customers a clear choice before they start downloading gigabyte-sized files to their devices.

Patch

Firefox 154.0 is out with improved protections, local backups and translations

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla released a new version of its open source Firefox web browser a moment ago. Firefox 154.0 is the latest stable version. Also released are Firefox 153.1 ESR, Firefox 140.14 ESR (reaching end of support in September) and Firefox 115.39.0 ESR (for old operating systems).

The new stable version comes with several new features and improvements to existing features. The usual bug fixes and security updates are also included.

As far as new features are concerned, there are several important ones. First, the open source browser’s local network access protection includes WebSocket connections now. Means, when a remote website asks for permission to use WebSocket, Firefox will display a permission prompt first. The user needs to allow this explicitly so that the website can open a WebSocket.

There is also a change to how Firefox handles sites and cookies for some sites. The release gives users more control, as it is now possible to exempt sites from the browser’s cookie and site data cleaner without exempting it from tracking protection and other cookie restrictions at the same time.

The local translations feature got two new options. It supports translations in iframes now and Firefox’s full-page translations feature now runs on all page loads, which Mozilla says improves the experience for offering translations.

Second, the browser’s backup feature for profiles is now also available on macOS, meaning that all three desktop operating systems are covered. IT is a built-in feature to create a backup of a Firefox profile to make restores easier. Should not bother long-time Firefox users who back up the profiles manually using external means, but may help users who never bothered or knew about this option in the first place.

Lastly, there is a change to hard reloading a website using Shift and clicking on the refresh button. This will now also clear and update favicons, the little icons you see in front of the site address on the main Firefox toolbar.

Firefox users who watch videos in the browser benefit from seeking improvements. Mozilla claims that this is much faster now. I don’t use Firefox for that, but if you do, feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

You may also notice that Firefox View is no longer visible by default. Mozilla is hiding it by default for new profiles and for profiles where it has not been used in a while. It is still accessible via List all tabs > View all tabs, and can also be added back using the customize menu on the new tab page.

As far as security fixes are concerned, there are quite a few. The aggregate rating is high and Mozilla makes no mentions of exploits in the wild. Still, good idea to update asap.

Windows 11 is removing an option to bypass Microsoft account and internet during setup

Windows 11: September release preview brings back old features and more

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft published a new release preview build for its Windows 11 operating system on August 14, 2026. The changes in these builds will find their way into the previews for the September 2026 update for the operating system. Most users will receive them on September 8 or later, as rollouts to stable systems begin on that date.

The big new feature, or should I say old feature, of the release brings back some of the taskbar customizations that Microsoft removed when it released Windows 11 about five years ago.

Windows 11 users who install the update on their device will regain the option to snap the taskbar to any screen edge. Up until now, Windows 11 limited this to the bottom position on the screen. Third-party workarounds and hacks offered options to bypass this restriction, but sometimes at the expense of stability.

The second taskbar related change introduces the option to make the entire taskbar slimmer to free up a few pixels for other content on the screen.

To manage these, do the following once the feature becomes available:

  • Taskbar position: Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Taskbar position.
  • Taskbar size: Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Taskbar size.

The update includes several other changes that are noteworthy:

  • Start menu: pick between a large and small Start menu under Settings > Personalization > Start > Start menu size.
  • Start menu Recommended: is renamed to Recent.
  • Hide the name and profile picture in Start under Settings > Personalization > Start > Hide your name and profile picture on Start.
  • Hide or show Pinned, Recent and All individually.
  • Windows Search offers better hints about the type of result, e.g., app, setting, files, or web results.
  • Option to disable Web and Microsoft Store suggestions in Windows Search under Settings > Privacy & security > Search.
  • Windows indexes the most used folders automatically, which you can stop under Settings > Privacy & security > Search > Automatically find additional relevant locations.
  • File Explorer Home should launch faster and is more responsive.
  • Update progress indicators are shown throughout Windows for a “more consistent and modern experience”.
  • Administrator Protection is introduced to “protect free-floating admin rights for administrators”.
  • Switching between virtual desktops is now “smoother and more responsive”.
  • Reliability improvements.

You can check out the full list here.

Microsoft Edge may unsubscribe you from certain notifications automatically now

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Ah, notifications. The idea behind browser notifications is sound. It allows websites and services to notify you even if you don’t have them open at the time. However, notifications were turned into an abonimation quickly.

Seemingly every site wants you to turn on notifications for them, which is unpleasant enough. The main problem is spam and also malicious abuse of the system.

Whenever I check the browsers of my parents or other users who are not tech-savvy, I notice loads of notifications. It is easy enough to accept notifications, but not nearly as easy to turn them off again.

While you can disable all notifications, which I do on all of my systems, some may prefer to keep some notifications enabled.

Microsoft tests a new protective feature against abusive notifications in its Edge browser. The main idea behind the feature is to automatically unsubscribe Edge users if a notification was used to push scam, phishing, or malware pages.

When that happens, Edge will unsubscribe the user from receiving notifications to stop additional spam or malicious notifications from being received.

The feature is in beta currently and rolled out over time. It may take a while before it lands in stable Edge versions and even then, it may be on a slower rollout.

Microsoft says that users can check edge://settings/privacy/sitePermissions/allPermissions/notifications to see if sites have been blocked automatically by the security of the browser.

My suggestion? Turn them off entirely there right away and be done with them. You can still add some sites to the exceptions there, to allow them to send notifications while all other sites are blocked from even asking.

uBlock Origin gives up on playing whac-a-mole with Facebook ads

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you are a regular on Facebook or visit the site at times, you may have noticed the odd-ad slipping past your content blocker’s defenses. Even with the most powerful tools out there, uBlock Origin for Firefox comes to mind, it happens that you may see advertisement on Facebook.

This is not a one-time slip-off, but the result of a battle between a small team of developers and Meta’s billions. The cat and mouse game has come to an end according to a new post by the uBlock Origin team on Reddit.

According to the post, the content blocker won’t support Facebook going forward. The reason given is that Facebook is countering any bypasses the uBlock Origin team finds for blocking ads and trackers on the site.

For example, Facebook was changing ad labels and markers frequently on its site to cause content blockers to miss them entirely. While content blockers managed to find ways to block ads anew, Facebook then developed new bypasses to show ads once again on its site.

In the end, the team notes that it is too small and lacks the resources to go against a billion Dollar behemoth like Meta. While ads may be blocked for the time being, it sounds as if the next bypass won’t be countered by the team anymore.

This means that Facebook users with uBlock Origin installed will see ads on the site in the long run. It is probably fair to say that most other content blockers, regardless of whether they are native or installed as extensions, faces the same issue.

There is not much that you can do about it. Maybe other content blockers continue their fight against Meta and work most of the time, but that would mean some testing to see which do and which don’t. It is the first time, to my knowledge, that a major content blocker has lowered the flag.

Firefox will continue to support uBlock Origin, says Mozilla

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

While companies like Google and Microsoft have dropped support for classic MV2 extensions already or are about to end support, some developers announced plans to continue supporting some or even all classic extensions.

Of all the major browsers, it is only Firefox that continues to support MV2 extensions. Mozilla has just reiterated that this is the case stating “Firefox support for uBlock Origin is not going anywhere.” on X.

As far as Chromium-based browsers are concerned, Brave plans to continue support for some extensions only, including uBlock Origin. Opera Software also claims to continue supporting MV2 extensions.

There are a few lesser known browsers, Thorium and Supermium, which pledged to continue their support for all MV2 extensions.

The background story

Google announced plans to switch Chromium, the open source part of Google Chrome and most browsers, to a new rules system. Called Manifest V3, or MV3, it was designed to replace the classic extensions system.

Google would not be Google if it would not have tried to pull a stunt on the browsing community by removing capabilities and replacing them half-heartedly. The outcry was big enough for Google to make some concessions, but the result was still a new system that lacked some of the capabilities of the old.

One of the types of extensions hit hardest by the changes were content blockers; exactly the extensions that threatened Google’s main source of revenue.

Google tests removing the Search button for, you guessed that one right, more AI

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google continues to make changes to Google Search. After introducing AI mode and some other AI features recently, it is now reportedly testing removing the trusted Search-button for another round of AI infusions.

The report comes from Search Engine Watch noting that some users are now seeing the new AI first search page now instead. While the search field remains for now, Google has removed the search button for three AI-powered features: Create images, ask about files and brainstorm. The “I am feeling lucky” button remains for now though.

While that is not a big problem for users who know that you can simply press the Enter-key to start a search, it may confuse some Google users nevertheless. They may activate the AI mode button, which opens an interface to interact with Google’s AI Gemini.

Pressing the three other buttons starts other activities, but not the classic search. According to Search Engine Watch, two of the three AI features work without a Google account, at least for now. Those are “ask about files” and brainstorm. Only create image remains locked for Google account customers.

So, is this a problem? Probably for some users who used the button all the time to start their searches and do not know about pressing the Enter-key.

The test shows that Google continues to focus on pushing AI options to Google Search and some of its other products, such as Google Maps or Gmail. I’m not a huge fan of this. Not because I have something against AI, but because it is causing problems for the remaining independent site owners and blog writers out there.

Ever since Google’s Panda update, things have been going downhill for many. Now with Google keeping more and more visitors to its search engine on its own site, thanks to AI delivering the answer right on site, even larger publishers have faced declines in traffic.

The official Windows Weather App is using too much RAM

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you use the official Weather app for Windows, you may have noticed that it is quite hungry when it comes to memory. The app uses between 500 and 600 megabytes right when you open it.

This goes down a bit when it is in the background and up again when you use it actively. Some features, like the weather radar, may shot up RAM usage to 1 gigabyte or more.

Still, even at idle, using hundreds of megabytes of RAM suggests that the app is anything but optimized.

Windows users who want a weather app but prefer one that does not use as much RAM, may want to look at third-party solutions that offer just that and often much more.

Here are a few suggestions:

  • Fluent Weather: uses less than 60 megabytes, is open source, has no ads or tracking, lacks some of the advanced features, such as the weather radar or adding locations to the favorites.
  • Skyline Weather: open source Windows store app, supports multiple locations, uses about 50 megabytes.
  • TrayWeather: open source app, displays weather information in the system tray, less than 30 megabytes of RAM usage.
  • WeatherWidget: another standalone open source app that displays weather information for up to five locations. Less than 30 megabytes of RAM usage.

While all lack some of the advanced features of the native Windows app, all use a fraction of the RAM of the official app.

Microsoft is ending MV2 extensions support in Edge

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you are using Microsoft Edge as a browser on your systems and classic MV2 extensions, then you should be aware that Microsoft announced end of support for this type of extensions.

The company revealed that the top 95 percent of the top Edge extensions are already migrated to MV3 and that there are only 58 MV2-based extensions with “meaningful usage” in the Edge Add-on Store.

As a consequence, Microsoft aims to transition all non-Enterprise installations of Edge to supporting MV3 only by the end of 2026. Enterprise customers will get an extension to early 2027.

Edge users may start to see notices on the “Manage Extensions” page of the browser (edge://extensions) and on detail pages that support is ending. MV2 extensions will be turned off by default over the next few months and customers may get MV3 extensions recommended, if an alternative is available.

The changes will roll out to experimental versions of the browser first before they hit the stable population.

With Microsoft dropping support, the situation looks rather grim when it comes to Chromium-based browsers. Firefox remains a strong supporter for MV2 extensions and should be first pick in most cases.

However, here is an overview of Chromium-based browsers and their MV2 support:

BrowserMV2 Support StatusApproachCatch
BraveCuratedCustom Chromium engine patchesOnly supports four specific extensions (uBlock Origin, AdGuard, NoScript, uMatrix)
OperaLegacy onlyMaintaining backend workaroundsOnly works for previously installed extensions; the Opera store is now MV3-only
ThoriumFullHard-forking and restoring MV2 codeEnthusiast project; updates rely on a small team
SupermiumFullHard-forking and restoring MV2 codeNiche browser primarily designed for older Windows systems

Notes:

  • Brave force-enabled MV2 support by modifying their underlying Chromium engine, but they are not supporting the entire MV2 ecosystem.
  • Opera committed to keeping existing MV2 extensions functioning for as long as it remains “technically reasonable”. However, they have stopped accepting new MV2 extensions and transitioned their official extension store entirely to MV3.
  • Thorium: A performance-focused Chromium fork where the lead developer has explicitly committed to maintaining the MV2 loading code indefinitely.
  • Supermium: A privacy-focused browser (originally designed to bring modern web rendering to legacy Windows systems) that guarantees permanent MV2 support.