Microsoft promises improved Windows Search Box and the removal of ads

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The lackluster Windows Search has been a hot topic ever since its introduction. One of the main points of criticism is the inclusion of web-based search results, which Microsoft started to introduced with the release of Windows 8.1.

Today, Windows Search continues to return local and web-based search results. What makes matters worse, at least to some users, is the inclusion of advertisement.

Microsoft published a blog post on the official Windows Insider blog today promising to improve the Windows Search box in the near future.

Here is what Microsoft plans to change:

  • Less visual clutter. Search will only display recent searches, not other content, such as “top apps”, image of the day, trending searches, or games for you.
  • Clearer results. Search results will make it clearer where a result comes from.
  • Removal of promotional content from web results.
  • New control to turn off web and Microsoft Store suggestions in Search.
  • Local results have priority when they are the stronger match.
  • Better app search to handle typos, dropped and extra letters, and partial words better.
  • Settings results are improving. More relevant settings should appear higher in the results.
  • Finding local files is improving and support for two-character file searches.
  • Improved search reliability.

The improvements are integrated in the latest Windows Insider builds of the experimental channel. Microsoft has yet to announce when the changes will land in stable builds of the operating system. One potential option is the coming feature update for Windows 11, which is expected in the coming months.

Mozilla moves Firefox to a 2-week release cycle in September

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced plans some time ago to move Chromium to a 2-week release cycle to bring features quicker to users. While that does not mean that there will be more Chrome releases, it means that the main version of the browser increases twice as fast.

Mozilla announced on the official Dev Platform group that it will move Firefox development to a 2-week release cycle as well. However, Mozilla notes that this will be an experimental shift, one that it plans to monitor closely to find out if it is beneficial.

Starting with Firefox 155, which Mozilla plans to release on September 1, 2026 and not on September 15, 2026 anymore, Firefox will see a version bump every two weeks.

We are planning to move Firefox Desktop and Android from a 4-week release cadence to a 2-week release cadence starting in September 2026.

This will be an experiment. The goal is to give work that is ready to ship more frequent opportunities to reach users, while making the release process more predictable and reducing pressure on uplifts.

This does not mean that all work needs to ship twice as fast. Work that is not ready should not be rushed, and features can still take the time they need to bake.

Mozilla says that features shouldn’t and won’t get rushed when the change hits. If a feature is not ready, it should not be included in a release just like before.

For users, the main change is that Mozilla may bring some features earlier to Firefox users and that the version of the browser increases twice as fast. Firefox ESR users won’t see a change, as that version is not affected by the change.

Browser extension filters pseudo-brands on Amazon

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you shop at Amazon, you may have noticed a rising number of sellers that sound like a very bad draw at Scrabble. Try searching for common items such as powerbanks, USB cables, or dog beds.

You find the usual assortment of known brands and also plenty of offers from sellers that you may have a hard time pronouncing.

Enter the Knockoff extension: it is designed to filter these sellers on Amazon. The developer of the open source extension explains its purpose in the following way:

Amazon is flooded with trademark-squat “brands” (SZHLUX, HORUSDY, LATTOOK, DOZAWA…): random strings registered at the USPTO purely to unlock Amazon Brand Registry, selling commodity goods with no company, no warranty, and no reputation behind them. Knockoff detects those listings and hides, dims, or labels them, right in the search results.

The extension runs locally in the browser. It comes with a seed list of “notorious pseudo-brands” and two other lists — “established Chinese-owned brands” and “established brands”, that you can enable or disable based on your preferences. It uses name heuristics on top of that and can also identify brand-less offers. You may also add companies to your own allowlist or blocklist.

The extension goes through all lists, starting with the allowlist and blocklist, to resolve each product listing on Amazon. Furthermore, you can set filter levels from relaxed to strict, which determine what is getting filtered:

LevelFilters
RelaxedKnown pseudo-brands + your blocklist
Standard (default)+ suspect-looking names + unbranded listings
Strict+ anything not on a known-brands list (allowlist-only)

The extension runs automatically on Amazon after it is installed in the browser. When you search for a product or browse Amazon, you will notice that certain results are dimmed by default. You can change that to hiding them entirely in the options. This won’t display more results on the page, but it will hide every product that matches the filters so that you can better focus on the remaining products on the page.

Tip: I recommend keeping the dimmed option enabled for a while, as you may notice brands being filtered out that you might not call “knockoff” or unknown. This gives you the time to add these brands to the allowlist.

You may also hide sponsored listings on Amazon as a bonus, but need to enable the feature manually in the preferences.

The extension should work on all regional Amazon sites. I tested it on the US and German sites and it worked as advertised.

The Tables Have Turned: Why Sony’s All-Digital Future Could Be Microsoft’s Perfect Revenge

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

In 2013, Sony buried Xbox under an avalanche of public mockery with a simple, devastating 21-second video showing how to hand a physical game disc to a friend.

The video was a direct response to Microsoft’s announcement of its full-digital strategy for its Xbox console.

This year, the PlayStation-maker announced plans that sound like a direct copy of what Microsoft tried to pull in 2013: get rid of discs entirely and go fully digital.

With Xbox going through tumultuous times, this single decision by Sony could set the stage for one of the greatest corporate reversals in tech history.

For over a decade, Microsoft has carried the scar of that E3 PR disaster, but Sony’s potential abandonment of physical media hands Xbox a golden, ironic opportunity to flip the script.

All Microsoft has to do is to abandon its all-digital plans and ship the next Xbox with a disc drive and confirm that discs remain an integral part of the Xbox experience. It could even copy Sony’s 2013 mockery by creating its own “used game instructional video”, showing how Xbox gamers can continue to lend games to friends.

What could happen?

  • Xbox could position itself as the defender of consumer choice, game preservation, and ownership rights. It would go from the company that tried to kill used games to the only place left where you can actually buy, sell and trade your games.
  • Brick and mortar stores would, likely, heavily promote Xbox software and still offer it to customers. While Sony plans to place empty boxes in stores that contain just a download code, its main focus will be on its own store.
  • If Sony completely cuts out physical discs, major retail chains lose a revenue stream (not just from game sales, but from the foot traffic of people trading in used games and buying gift cards)
  • Microsoft risks lower profit margins, as it still has to manufacture, ship, and license physical discs and disc drives.
  • Gamers that prefer physical might switch over to Xbox.

Ultimately, a world where Xbox guards the physical gate while PlayStation embraces a total digital lockdown would redefine the console wars. Sony would secure maximum control over its storefront and increase digital profit margins, but it would do so at the cost of consumer goodwill, collector loyalty, and retail partnerships.

For Microsoft, keeping the disc drive alive isn’t just about preserving plastic; it is a calculated masterstroke to win back the hearts of gamers who feel abandoned by the industry. In a poetic twist of fate, the company that once tried to eliminate physical media could become its final savior—turning Sony’s ultimate digital future into a victory.

Encryption

DiskCryptor 2.0 released: disk encryption software makes a comeback

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Remember when the developers of TrueCrypt suddenly stopped the project back in 2014 and recommended that users started looking for alternatives? One of these alternatives was VeryCrypt, a fork of the TrueCrypt. Another Disk Cryptor, which I did use for some years.

Disk Cryptor development stopped about ten years ago and it looked as if the project was dead. However, in 2019, David Xanatos took over and started to released new versions of the software. You may know the developer from some of his other projects, such as Sandboxie Plus. DiskCryptor was first released as beta builds but then also as final builds.

The initial builds of the application were focused on improving compatibility and integrating support for new technologies. As a consequence, DiskCryptor should work fine under the latest versions of Windows 10 and 11.

The developer has released DiskCryptor 2.0 this week (and bug fix release 2.0.1), marking a major milestone in the development of the program.

He writes:

This release introduces substantial improvements across virtually every part of the software, including modern cryptography, hardware-backed security, storage management, performance, reliability, and usability.

A major addition is support for the Argon2id key derivation function, providing a modern, memory-hard alternative to the traditional KDFs for significantly improved resistance against password cracking attacks.

DiskCryptor now also supports optional TPM integration in the DCS bootloader, enabling hardware-backed protection and unattended system unlock configurations. Combined with optional Secure Boot support, this allows systems to take advantage of modern platform security features while maintaining DiskCryptor’s flexible boot architecture.

Since this is a major change, the new version is released as a pre-release at the time to gather feedback and react to any issues that might occur.

Is it ready for broader use again? I’m pretty happy with VeraCrypt at the moment and have no desire to switch to another encryption program at the moment, as it would be time consuming. However, if you still use an earlier version of DiskCryptor or want to start encrypting your drives for better protection, it may be worth a try.

I suggest you wait a bit though until the developer gives the okay that the pre-release phase is over. (via Günter Born)

Brave Browser reveals how (some) Manifest V2 extensions continue to work

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

With Google terminating support for Manifest V2 extensions in Chromium and thus most Chromium-based browsers, only some companies have announced solutions to keep support for select extensions.

The latest version of Brave Browser addresses one of the main problems with the migration from MV2 to MV3: the removal of MV2 extensions from the Chrome Store.

What happens when you need to install a classic extension on a new PC or new browser profile? Unless you happen to have a local copy or know how to download it from GitHub or other repositories — if it is provided there — you may be out of options.

Brave Software implemented an option in the browser to replace “known Web Store MV2 extensions with Brave-hosted equivalents”. Up until that point, users had to walk through the process manually. This also meant that settings were not carried over.

With the new process, at least for “known extensions”, Brave is automating things for the user. A benefit of this is that Settings are carried over, which means that you do not have to reconfigure the entire extensions.

There does not seem to be a list of extensions that get the treatment, but a screenshot highlights uBlock Origin, NoScript, uMatrix and AdGuard.

Windows 11 is getting a fully cloud-based reinstallation option

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When things go wrong, Windows administrators have a few options at their disposal to fix problems. From built-in repair tools and restore options to backups and setting up the PC anew.

Nothing beats system backups in my opinion, but some problems can also be dealt with using built-in tools, such as the option to reset the PC.

Cloud rebuild is a new feature that Microsoft announced in the most recent test build of the Windows operating system this week. It can be run from the Windows Recovery Environment and will download everything it needs from the cloud. That is a big difference to the “Reset this PC” option, as it will also download drivers and such from the cloud.

However, it is not the only difference. Another main difference is that Cloud rebuild erases pretty much everything on the main drive. You can’t keep apps, settings or personal files, which makes this more of a last resort kind of option or something that you would run if you have proper backups of apps and files. The only data that is not touched is data on other drives or cloud-based files, which do get synced to the PC again after Windows 11 starts booting again to the desktop.

Windows 11 boots directly into the out-of-box experience. For unmanaged PCs, this means going through the whole setup process as if this were a new PC. The operation requires a working network connection to function at all.

This leaves one main use case: users who need to start anew who have few or none apps installed or personal files on the main drive. Experienced users may want to stick to USB images that may include customizations, including OOBE bypasses and such.

Opera Browser gets new security feature to protect the Clipboard

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Opera Software announced a new feature for its Chromium-based Opera browser: Paste Protect is designed to block suspicious content from accessing the Clipboard of the operating system.

Introduced in Opera One as an experimental feature, Paste Protect is designed to protect against two specific attack types, notes Opera Software in an official blog post:

  1. It actively prevents the malicious code from being copied onto your clipboard.
  2. It lets you know that there was an attempt to copy something onto your clipboard that’s potentially harmful.

The main idea is to protect users from copying malicious code to the Clipboard. In the past, attackers have used this to get Internet users to execute malicious code or instructions on their computer systems.

The developers at Opera describe a common form of attack that exploits this on the blog as well:

  1. The website displays a Captcha and ticking a box to confirm that the user is human.
  2. A second verification prompt is displayed after the check. It copies data to the Clipboard of the system in the background.
  3. Instructions are displayed that ask the user to open the run box (Windows+R) and use the Ctrl-V shortcut to paste the content of the Clipboard. All that is required then is for the user to hit ok to run the instructions on the system.

Opera says that the new Paste Protect feature blocks this type of attack. The company explains how its security feature handles potential threats:

When there is something copied to your clipboard, the Opera browser checks the content for potential threats and harmful commands. If a potential threat is detected, Opera will automatically block the capability for the browser to copy something onto your clipboard from the malicious website and provide you with the option to close the site safely.

The browser displays a red warning icon to indicate that it has blocked a threat. It will recommend to close the tab the attack originated from.

Paste Protect is enabled by default, but only available in Opera One. It follows Hijack Protection, which Opera Software introduced in 2021 in the browser. The feature protected the clipboard from so-called hijacking attempts, such as replacing URLs in the clipboard or replacing a bank account number.

You can now sign in to Microsoft Edge with a Google account

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Should you sign in to your browser of choice or use it without linked account? Signing in offers some advantages, notable the syncing of some data, such as passwords or the browsing history, between devices.

However, depending on the browser that you use, it may also provide the company in charge of it with additional information.

Many browsers limits the feature to the account of the organization that produces it. If you use Google Chrome, you can only sign in with a Google account. Firefox users may sign in with a Mozilla account, and Microsoft Edge users, at least until very recently, needed a Microsoft account.

This is changing with the release of Microsoft Edge 150. Microsoft notes the following in the release notes:

Sign in to Edge with a Google account. Users can now sign in to Microsoft Edge using a Google account in addition to a Microsoft account from the profile menu and Edge sign-in screen. Available for Windows and macOS devices. Admins can control availability of this feature using the NonMicrosoftAccountSignInEnabled policy. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don’t see this feature, check back as we continue our rollout.

So, instead of signing in with a Microsoft account, you can now sign in with a Google account. This comes with advantages, such as access to Google-stored passwords and such.

Whether that move will convince more users to give Edge a try on Windows or Mac remains to be seen. I have my doubts, but it does give Edge users more options when it comes to the company that they trust their data with.

Edge 150 is also the last version to support macOS 12, according to the release notes. Starting with Edge 151, macOS 13 is the minimum required version.

Brave 1.92 launches with support for Containers

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Brave Software announced that the latest version of Brave Browser supports the Containers feature now. The main idea behind it is to isolate website data. When you load a website in one container, its data and any third-party data is only accessible in that container. Think of a sandbox for sites.

Containers is not a new feature, as it was originally developed and launched by Mozilla in Firefox. The Brave integration is built-in. I had to enable the feature under chrome://flags/#containers first, but it should be available without that in the coming days.

Visit brave://settings/braveContent then to toggle “Enable Containers” there. This turns the feature on so that it is ready for use in the browser.

Like Firefox, Brave includes a set of default containers — personal, work, social and school — but you can add new containers, remove the defaults or rename them.

Once done, right-click on any link or tab and select “Open in Container”. You get the option to pick one of the existing containers and Brave highlights this with a new container icon in front of the tab and also in the address bar.

You may also right-click on the new tab icon to create a new container directly and without opening another website first.

Last but not least, you may also create temporary containers. Regular containers offer the same functionality as open tabs. Means, unless you close the sites or the container, they persist over sessions and you can restore tabs in them using restore functionality.

The main difference to temporary tabs is that they can’t be restored. When you close them, they are gone for good and tab or session restore options do not work for them.