Category: Windows

When Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella argued that the discussion surrounding AI should move beyond “slop vs sophistication”, he probably did not have developers in mind that could take this literally.

Fun fact: The dictionary Merriam-Webster coined Slop the word of the year 2025.

Serial developer Belim, known for open source tools such as FlyBy11 or CrapFixer, created WinSlop as a direct response to Nadella’s plea.

What is it? WinSlop is a free open source program for Windows that removes “unnecessary, low-value system components” from the operating system that “consume resources, and reduce user control without providing meaningful benefit” according to the developer’s own description.

If you have used the developers other tools, you know what to expect. WinSlop is a lightweight tweaker for Windows that can turn off unwanted features among other things.

The tiny program launches directly when you execute it. It separates tweaks into three main tabs. The first displays components of Windows that you may disable by checking and unchecking boxes.

While AI components are a focus, it does not stop there. You can also use it to disable ads in certain places, tame Microsoft Edge, or remove unwanted features from the user interface.

The list is long and you may use the built-in search to find specific options faster.

One interesting option here is the ability to run a system check. This checks all 50 tweaks currently integrated to see whether they have been applied already. To enable a tweak, check the box in front of it. If you do not want a tweak to be applied, make sure its box is unchecked before you hit the “apply selected changes” button or press F9.

Most tweak titles are self-explanatory, but some may require a bit of research. The program lacks tooltips and does not provide additional information on the tweaks.

While it is clear what “Disable Bing Search” does, not all users may know what “Disable Hibernation” or “Optimize System Responsiveness” do. Detailed information would improve the app significantly in this regard. Experienced users may also want to know the exact tweaks that go into the system optimization.

Switching to the apps tab, you are prompted to run a system inspection. WinSlop checks for installed apps and lists apps that it considers bloatware. You may check apps individually to remove them from the system with a click on apply.

The Extensions tab, last but not least, can be used to load the Chris Titus app Windows Toolbox. It offers even more options, such as installing popular apps, tweaking Windows or enabling features such as the Subsystem for Linux. It is a separate app, which I guess is handy to have, but does not really add to the program itself.

Closing words

WinSlop is a handy tweaker for Windows that may get some publicity because its developer references the slop-quote of Microsoft’s CEO directly. However, it does not really add much to the world of tweaking programs that has not been there before.

Yes, it is easy to use and the system checker is nice, but that is about it. Still, if you have not used a tweaker on Windows yet, it is a good program to get started.

While companies such as Microsoft or Google are adding AI capabilities to more and more of their products and services, it seems that not all customers do share the excitement that these companies try to convey.

Do customers want these AI features or care about them? It is certainly too early to conclude how this will all play out. Do companies spend billions on AI research, infrastructure and products that they will never recoup because the audience is not big enough?

Dell admitted something interesting in an interview with PC Games recently during CES 2026. The company revealed that it moved away from putting AI PCs front and center in marketing stating that the message that it tried to deliver with its products instead was “not AI first”.

Dell realized that consumers were, by large, not really interested in AI PCs. They were interested in PCs, but whether these were equipped with NPUs and capable of running AI operations locally or not, was apparently not something that the majority of Dell customers prioritized.

We’re very focused on delivering upon the AI capabilities of a device—in fact everything that we’re announcing has an NPU in it—but what we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they’re not buying based on AI,” Terwilliger says bluntly. “In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.

While all recent Dell devices come with NPUs and AI PC capabilities, the company is not focusing its marketing efforts on that.

It seems likely that other PC manufacturers are experiencing the same. While none has come forward that openly yet, there seems to be a clear divider between the interests of companies that push AI and the people that buy PC products with AI capabilities.

Most AI features that Microsoft introduced in Windows 11 do not appear overly useful to the majority of Windows users. Many mimic features that every AI chat on the Internet supports. This could change the moment Microsoft introduces something truly useful, like an AI that reacts to support requests by fixing the issues automatically. Whether something like this is coming this year remains to be seen.

For now, expect to be continued to be bombarded with AI announcements and integrations in products and services. Whether this are truly useful, annoying or even obnoxious is up for every user to decide.

Microsoft confirmed that Windows 11 SE is on its way out. The operating system will reach end of support in October 2026 and won’t receive updates anymore after that month’s Patch Day. It is one of several Microsoft products that reach end of support or life in 2026.

What is Windows 11 SE? Windows 11 SE is a limited version of Windows 11 that is cloud-first and specifically designed for the education market, which requires cheap, secure, and easy to manage devices.

Microsoft created the operating system as a way to compete directly with Google’s Chromebook, regain lost grounds and increase the reach of its Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Windows 11 SE offered a simplified interface, better offline capabilities than Chrome, and manageability via Microsoft Intune for Education. Critics found Windows 11 SE to be considerably heavier than Chrome OS. Additionally, availability was limited and users could not install apps on their devices.

Windows 11 SE: the countdown to end of support

Microsoft confirms that Windows 11 SE will no longer be supported after October 2026. This does not come as a total surprise, as Microsoft announced last year already that it would not release another feature update for Windows 11 SE.

The last feature update is Windows 11, version 24H2. From October 2026, Microsoft won’t release software updates or security fixes, and won’t offer technical assistance either.

Devices will continue to work, according to Microsoft. However, Windows 11 SE devices were low-spec devices. Microsoft’s own reference device came with an Intel Celeron N4020 or N4120 processor, 4 or 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, and either 64 GB or 128 GB of eMMC storage.

Third-party manufacturers, including Dell, Lenovo and HP, created custom devices, but they all had in common that components were not designed for speed of performance.

While it may be possible to install a different operating system on the devices, it would be ironic if Chrome OS would be installed on those devices. A clean install of windows 11 may also be an option, at least on some devices. However, this will likely lead to performance issues due to the low-power processor and bare minimum storage for running Windows 11.

It seems unlikely that Microsoft is working on Windows 12 SE. Microsoft recommends that customers migrate to devices that run Windows 11, but does not seem to offer any discounts to affected customers at this point.

2025 was a tough year for many users of Microsoft products. It was the year that support for Windows 10 ended officially, albeit with the option to extend support by a year for consumers and by up to three years for businesses.

Windows 11, version 22H2 support ended just a few months ago for business customers and version 23H2 support ended for consumers as well. Additionally, Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 reached end of support.

Looking forward, 2026 will be another interesting year. Consumers who run Windows 10 PCs with ESU will no longer get updates from Microsoft after the one-year extension has run its course.

But that is not the only change. Windows 11, version 24H2 reaches end of support as well. Business customers have to upgrade Windows 11, version 23H2 to ensure that their devices remain supported with updates.

Here is the list of products that reach end of support or life in 2026. Note that this may not be complete, as Microsoft does not provide an easily accessible list for all of its products.

Inspiration was taken from the list over at Deskmodder, but I have fine-tuned it somewhat.

Microsoft Windows

• Windows 10 2016 LTSB / IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016 reach end of ESU on October 13th, 2026
• Windows 11, version 23H2 Enterprise/Education/IoT Enterprise editions reach end of support on November 10th, 2026.
• Windows 11, version 24H2 Home/Pro editions reach end of support on October 13th, 2026.
• Windows 11 SE, reaches end of support in October 2026.
• Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 reaches end of ESU on October 13th, 2026.
• Windows Server 2022 reaches end of mainstream support on October 14th, 2026. ESU available.

Microsoft Office

• Microsoft Office 2021 reaches end of support on October 13th, 2026.
• Office LTSC 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 for Mac reach end of mainstream support on October 13th, 2026.

Other Microsoft products

• Microsoft .NET 8 (LTS) reaches end of support on November 10th, 2026.
• Microsoft .NET 9 reaches end of support on November 10th, 2026
• PowerShell 7.4 (LTS) reaches end of support on November 10th, 2026.
• SQL Server 2016 reaches end of extended support on July 14th, 2026.

Generally speaking, Microsoft is supporting Windows 11 Home and Pro editions for two years, while business and Enterprise editions get three years of support.

Now You: Do you use a product or service that is reaching end of support this year? What are your plans dealing with this? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Microsoft released the 2025 feature update for Windows 11 in late September 2025. It was a smaller update that installs like a regular update instead of a bigger feature update. That is probably the main reason why Microsoft enabled broad distribution of the update shortly after its release.

The update should install automatically on most Windows 11 devices, provided that version 24H2 — last year’s feature update — is installed.

However, I noticed on one of my machines that Microsoft was not offering the new feature update via Windows Update.

First thing you may want to do in that case is to check if Microsoft has so-called Safeguard Holds in place.

Good to known: A Safeguard Hold blocks updates from machines, if certain issues are known that affect them. Microsoft uses the system to prevent larger issues on PCs that may be caused by updates.

Windows 11, version 25H2 has just three known issues listed on the official Windows 11 health dashboard. Two of these are listed as resolved, one as mitigated.

You may notice that your system is not affected by any of them. This was the case for the machine in question that I tried to upgrade.

Here are a few extra verification steps:

• Make sure you have all updates installed that are offered via Windows Update. Go to Settings > Windows Update and activate the “check for updates” button.
• Check the “get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” box.
• Make sure the main drive has enough free storage space for the update. If it is low, say less than 20 gigabytes, you may want to consider freeing up space.

How to upgrade to Windows 11, version 25H2

Windows administrators who are in the same position have a few options. The easiest is to install a small enablement package, which upgrades the system to the latest feature update release.

There is a problem: Microsoft is not hosting the update file on its Microsoft Update Catalog website. This means that the download has to come from a third-party website, which needs to be trusted.

My recommendation is to download the package from Deskmodder, a German website with an impeccable record.

1. Download Windows11.0-KB5054156-x64.msu from the website (or another, if you prefer that).
2. Double-click on the update file to run the upgrade.

If things go well, Windows 11 should be upgraded to version 25H2.

Microsoft has accumulated a wealth of downloads over the last four decades or so. From tools and drivers to Windows versions and standalone applications. While some may not be useful anymore at this day and age, other than for a nostalgic look back at how things were back in the good old days, others are still useful.

However, Microsoft is pruning its archives regularly. Means, downloads may be removed and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find them. While third-party sites may offer them, some may add a pinch of malware on top of the downloads, which is a problem especially for inexperienced users or users in a hurry.

Enter the Microsoft Download Center Archive. It is a free site that offers legacy downloads for Microsoft products. You find downloads between the years 2012 and 2025 in the archive, which Microsoft deleted from its own archives.

Here is a glimpse of what you can expect:

• PowerToys and Fun Packs for Windows XP.
• Office Viewers like Word Viewer 2003 or Visio Viewer 2016.
• Old .NET Framework versions.
• Microsoft Visual C++ and Visual Basic Redistributables.
• Windows Help.
• Microsoft Report Viewer.
• And much more.

While the focus is on downloads for older versions of Windows, at least some of the downloads are also compatible with Windows 10 or Windows 11. Furthermore, since Windows 10 is near the end of its support, it is possible that Microsoft is going to remove downloads for Windows 10 in the near future.

These will also be added to the archive then, making it a great resource for users who plan to stick to Windows 10.

The site offers a search and a list of common downloads. You can type the name of an operating system to get all downloads for it, or search for the name of a software or tool instead.

Downloads are hosted at the Internet Archive. They start instantly and do not require an account.

Closing Words

The unofficial Microsoft Download Center Archive is a useful website for Windows users who want to download software that Microsoft removed from its official websites.