Tag: windows 11

Windows 11 lock screen widgets

Windows 11: Lock Screen widgets in development

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released the Windows 11 update KB5035942 earlier this week. The update for the Windows 11 Release Preview channel includes several new features. One of them is that widgets may now be displayed on the lock screen.

Wait a minute, was not this just introduced already? Yes and no. The Windows 10 update KB5035941 for the operating system’s Release Preview channel introduced the change as well. It was released prior to the Windows 11 update, making it one of the rare occasions that Windows 10 got a feature earlier than Windows 11. Prior in this case means a few days earlier, but it is still remarkable enough to mention it.

Here is what Microsoft says about the addition of widgets on Windows 11’s lock screen:

New! This update adds more content to your lock screen. In addition to weather, sports, traffic, and finance content will appear. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.

The lock screen cards display at the bottom of the display. They offer weather, finance, traffic, and sports information when enabled. The information appears to be similar to the content that Windows 11’s Widgets Board provides.

Windows Lock Screen Widgets

It appears, from Microsoft’s description at least, that users need to turn on the cards actively before they become available. This is done under Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen. Could change in the future.

Like the Windows 10 version, it is an all or nothing setting. Either you enable the feature and get all four cards on the lock screen, or you keep it disabled and get none. There is no option to select just some of the cards for display on the lock screen.

Since Microsoft pushed the new feature to Release Preview machines, it is only a matter of time before the change lands in stable versions as well.

It could be as early as on the April 2024 Patch Day for Windows 11, which is going to be on April 9, 2024.

Closing Words

It is up to each individual user of the operating system to decide whether lock screen cards are a useful feature. If you ask me, I have no use for it, but I do not really use the lock screen for anything other than to sign in.

Now You: what about you?

Inplace Upgrade Helper

Inplace Upgrade Helper: Windows tool to switch between Windows editions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Inplace Upgrade Helper is an open source tool designed to help Windows users move between different Windows 10 and 11 editions.

The Windows edition, e.g., Home or Pro, determines whether certain features are available or not. A common example is that Home editions lack access to the Group Policy Editor.

Windows includes options to switch editions. In best case, all you need to do is open Settings > System > Activation, click on the “change” button next to Change product key, and type or paste the new key.

This process works well when you upgrade from a less expensive version. Upgrades from Home to Pro should work this way. You may still run into issues sometimes. While this happens often when you downgrade Windows to another edition, e.g., from Pro to Home, it is not uncommon that you run into issues when you try to upgrade the edition.

Inplace Upgrade Helper

Inplace Upgrade Helper supports all major versions of Windows and many special editions. Besides Home and Pro, it also supports Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, Windows 11 SE CloudEdition, or Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021.

The open source tool includes four different methods to change editions in Windows 10 and 11. These are:

  • Using slmgr.
  • Running an in-place upgrade using setup.exe.
  • Running an in-place upgrade of any edition of Windows. This method blocks any “firmware-embedded keys” of the current edition.
  • Running a forced in-place upgrade to keep all apps and settings.

While that may sound complicated, it is not really. All you need to do download Windows installation media and extract it on the local system. You may use WinRAR for that or most file archivers.

Download the latest version of the Inplace Upgrade Helper tool and place it in the same directory as setup.exe.

Right-click on Inplace_Upgrade_Helper.bat and select “run as administrator” to start it.

From there it is just a matter of selecting the desired edition, e.g., 2 for Pro, and then the upgrade method, e.g., f for forcing the upgrade or k for trying to install the update using slmgr.

As always, it is recommended to create a backup of the system drive before you make any changes to the operating system.

Note that the tool does not activate Windows. It merely switches the edition.

Closing words

Trying Windows’ built-in option to change the key and edition is the best option if you upgrade from Home to Pro. The open source tool may be useful if you run into issues when you try to switch editions.

Now You: which edition of Windows do you run, if any? (via Deskmodder)

Copilot key

Microsoft continues to add Copilot to anything that moves: File Explorer next

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Barely a week goes by with Microsoft making yet another announcement about Copilot AI or launching a new development build of Windows 11 with Copilot added to something. This time, Microsoft added Copilot functionality to the default file manager of Windows, File Explorer.

This particular implementation does not add Copilot directly to File Explorer though. Microsoft added right-click context menu options to File Explorer that interact with the AI when selected.

Right-click on a file in File Explorer or on the desktop, and you find the new Copilot > Send to Copilot option there. This works similarly to Copilot’s integrated file upload feature. In other words, it allows you to ask Copilot questions about the uploaded file.

For example, if it is an Excel document, you could ask Copilot to look up and return data. Word or PDF documents can be summarized. Speaking of summaries, the second context menu options asks the AI to summarize the selected document.

Weakness in tests

This did not work too well in tests some weeks ago. I asked Copilot to return data from an Excel spreadsheet. While it did return some data, it was not complete. Even when reminded that it missed data that matched the query, Copilot would not return the full set of expected data.

I concluded that this feature could become something useful in the future, but only if Microsoft and OpenAI get it right. And with right I mean that the AI’s output needs to be reliable all the time. Even without hallucinations, which refers to incorrect data being returned that is not found in the source, it the AI ignores some of the data.

For now, it is always necessary to verify the output of any AI on the market to make sure its output does not contain errors.

Microsoft has a few months of development time left before it releases the long-hailed first AI-focused version of Windows. It will be interesting to see if that version will be more reliable than the current versions available for testing.

Now You: have you tried Copilot or another AI?

WingetUI 3.0 Stable is now available

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

A new version of WingetUI, a universal UI for package managers, is now available. WingetUI 3.0 features a fully redesigned interface that the developers promise is more responsive and visually pleasing.

Packages should load faster under in the new version, and the application’s package importing and exporting functionality has also been improved.

You can check out my review of WingetUI to find out more about the software. Only this much: the app gives you access to several popular package managers, including winget, but also others such as Chocolatey. You may use these to install new programs on Windows machines, upgrade installed programs, and also uninstall applications.

These operations work in batch mode or for individual apps.

Note: the application will be renamed to UnigetUI in the future. This is done to reflect that it supports multiple package managers and not just winget.

WingetUI 3.0

WingetUI 3.0

The latest version of the open source tool requires .NET 8. Missing components will get installed on Windows machines during installation.

The new interface looks different when compared to the old. The main access points were moved from the top to the sidebar. There you find the options to discover packages, view installed packages and package bundles, check software updates, and more.

Some sections displays filters when opened. When you launch discovery, which you use to find new apps, you get a list of filters to customize the output. These allow you to change the search mode and filter by package manager.

It still takes just a couple of clicks to install one or multiple applications. The assortment of optional actions does not appear to have changed and is still displayed at the top. You may use them to install apps as an administrator or skip integrity checks. These may still look confusing to new users, as only a few have text labels. You may hover over them to get a tooltip though.

One of the best features of winget, and thus also WingetUI, is the ability to upgrade all supported applications at once. WingetUI checks for updates on launch and displays all of them in the update section.

Closing Words

The new version of WingetUI worked well during tests. It had a slight display problem on a laptop that used the recommended 200% scaling. If you check the screenshot, you will notice that the sidebar’s scrollbar overlaps it slightly.

Other than that, it worked well during tests. You may still use winget for all the operations, but this requires running commands from Terminal. Also, you do not get extra access to other package managers and tools.

In closing, WingetUI 3.0 improves the application further without taking anything away from it. You can download the latest version from the project’s GitHub repository.

Copilot key

Windows 11’s AI Explorer could be a useful tool and a privacy nightmare

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

We do not know much about Windows AI PCs, AI Explorer, or other plans of Microsoft to bake more AI into its operating system.

The only thing we do know is that the upcoming feature update for Windows 11 will focus strongly on AI. At least some of these AI features may require special hardware, a neural processing unit to be precise.

The latest feature that may be introduced in Windows 11 2024 Update, also known as Windows 11 version 24H2, is AI Explorer.

Windows Central posted about AI Explorer citing unnamed sources at Microsoft. According to the site, AI Explorer is an “advanced Copilot” feature that separates AI PCs from non-AI PCs.

The feature tracks what a user does on the PC, everywhere, including in third-party apps, and makes all of this searchable using natural language.

One example: you could ask the AI to find all restaurants that a specific person liked. It will then go ahead and try to retrieve the information using the data that it collected in the past.

You could also ask the AI to return everything about dinosaurs, and it will return text, images, websites and pretty much anything else that matches the query.

That is the theory at least.

Privacy nightmare in the making?

This feature is unconfirmed. Windows Central is usually well informed, but things may change before an official release.

Microsoft declined to comment, which also means that we know little about the feature. How is the data collected? Do users get options to block data collecting in apps? Where it is stored? Does it require an active Internet connection? Is data submitted to Microsoft?

AI Explorer could be an interesting feature if everything is processed and stored locally. It could also be a privacy nightmare, if data is processed and/or stored remotely.

Would you trust a company with access to everything that you do on your computer?

The NPU requirement could mean that everything is handled locally on the system. If true, it could fizzle out the privacy fears of many users. Who knows, Microsoft might even turn Windows Copilot into a useful tool by enabling local processing of Windows-specific tasks and commands.

Not so fast

These AI features will be introduced in development builds before the final release. The integration will provide answers to some of the questions.

Microsoft is extremely tight lipped about its vision for AI PCs. First Surface devices that are AI PCs will become available later this month. These won’t include the functionality yet, as this will come later this year in the 2024 update for Windows 11.

In other words, you get an AI PC that works similarly to non-AI PCs for the time being.

Now You: what is your take on AI Explorer?

Amazon Appstore Windows 11

Microsoft announces retirement of Windows Subsystem for Android

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft announced the retirement of the Windows Subsystem for Android today. The subsystem was heralded as one of Windows 11’s upcoming features prior to the launch of the operating system more than 3 years ago.

The store allowed developers and users to run certain Android applications directly on Windows 11 machines. Microsoft partnered with Amazon to bring the Amazon Appstore to Windows 11. This limited availability of apps on Windows 11, as Google Play was not supported.

The announcement on the official Windows Subsystem for Android website offers the following information on the retirement.

Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android™️ (WSA). As a result, the Amazon Appstore on Windows and all applications and games dependent on WSA will no longer be supported beginning March 5, 2025.

Microsoft ends support for the Amazon Appstore and all apps and games that depend on the Windows Subsystem for Android on March 5, 2025. Windows 11 users who installed Android apps or games on their devices will have continued access to these through March 5, 2025.

Installations of the Amazon Appstore are still available at the time of writing. Microsoft Store will prevent installations starting March 6, 2024.

Microsoft offers no reason for the deprecation of the feature. Windows Subsystem for Android was available in a few dozen countries only including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan. The feature had specific system requirements on top of that: a 64-bit processor, virtualization support, 16 GB of RAM and a Solid State Drive. The last two requirements were recommended but not enforced.

The deprecation of the entire Windows Subsystem for Android puts an end to any Microsoft Store application that used it to install Android apps on the Windows device.

The last update of the Windows Subsystem for Android was released less than a year ago. It introduced file sharing capabilities between the subsystem and the Windows 11 host machine.

Alternatives to the Amazon AppStore

One alternative that continues to work for developers and users is BlueStack. It is a third-party solution that focuses on bringing Android games to PC. BlueStack claims that it offers more than 2 million Android games to PC players.

Google launched Google Play Games recently to bring a selection of Android games to PC. The software is still in beta at the time of writing and limits games to a fraction of what is available on Google Play.

Slow

Does it work? Trick promises to speed up folder opening in Windows’ File Explorer

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

We have probably all been there. The gigantic folder full of — insert a data type here — is taking ages to display all files that it contains. It does not matter if we are talking about pictures, videos, audio files, documents, or a mix of files.

Sometimes, File Explorer seems to take ages to open large folders on Windows devices. While this is caused by hardware limitations at times, a slow CPU, a tiny amount of RAM, or a slow hard drive may be blamed, it is sometimes Windows that is causing the delay.

Microsoft introduced folder types in earlier versions of Windows. The main idea behind the feature is to display data in specific ways. A folder full of images shows thumbnails of these images, which many users like.

To get there, File Explorer needs to analyze the files. If it finds a dominating type, it may set the folder to that type. Problem is, this analysis is automated and it takes time.

A solution (via Deskmodder) that promises to fix the issue has been making the rounds lately. It blocks this auto discovery from happening basically.

The solution

This solution is not new and it may come as a surprise to some that it is making the rounds again. Then again, these tricks rarely get old, but new generations may not know them at all.

About 14 years ago, I published several articles on the matter. Fix slow folders in Windows 7 recommended changing the folder type to “general items” to avoid any loading issues.

I mentioned the trick that is now making the rounds in the same year. Back in August 2010 I explained how you could enable a single view mode for all folders in Windows Explorer to speed up the loading of files and folders. Windows Explorer is the previous name of File Explorer in case you are wondering.

Registry Editor: set folder type to unspecified
File Explorer Slow Folders tweak

This tweak still works in Windows 11. Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Start Menu, type regedit.exe, and press the Enter-key on the keyboard.
  2. Confirm the prompt by selecting Yes.
  3. Paste the following path into the address field in the Registry Editor window, or go there manually: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell
  4. Check if FolderType exists. If it does not, right-click on Shell and select New > String value. Name it FolderType.
  5. Double-click on FolderType and set its value to NotSpecified.
  6. Close the Registry Editor.
  7. Restart the Windows PC.

The effect

The change sets the default folder type for all folders to general. In other words, File Explorer does not need to parse the files in the folder anymore to determine its type. This should speed up the opening of folders.

You may still customize certain folders by changing their folder type.

To answer the question: yes it does work in many cases. While it cannot do anything about hardware-related slowdowns, it will speed up the loading of large folders on Windows.

Several programs are available that help you do that. You may use Nirsoft’s ShellBagsView or the free software WinSetView for that. The latter comes with options to reset the views to their defaults as well.

Closing Words

If you experience issues opening folders on Windows regularly, then you may want to give this tweak a try. It may resolve the issue on your end and there is little drawback to the method.

Now You: did you know about this tweak?

Windows Copilot upload files

Windows Copilot: file uploads enabled. Painful, but a glimpse of the future

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows Copilot supports file uploads now. The functionality extends the AI’s capabilities. Users could only upload images previously.

The new file upload capabilities limit file types that you may upload. Included are many plain text formats and also Microsoft Office document formats.

Uploading works by clicking on the attachment icon in the Copilot interface on Windows. A file browser opens with a filtered list. Only supported file types are listed here.

Select a file and it gets uploaded to Copilot. Note that there is no information on privacy or how the file is used by the AI or Microsoft. Better be careful what you upload.

You may then ask Copilot about the file. It may provide a summary or extract data or information from the file.

First Test: Security Spreadsheet listing February 2024 Microsoft security updates

Windows Copilot upload files

I uploaded an Excel spreadsheet that listed the February 2024 security updates that Microsoft released.

The task I gave Copilot was simple: return all vulnerabilities with a maximum severity of critical.

The AI did return three vulnerabilities rated critical but missed the other 68 vulnerabilities rated critical. A reminder to check the max severity column resulted in the listing of 8 critical security issues. Better, but it still missed 63 others.

I decided to try another approach. This time I submitted the following command:

Check the max severity column of the Excel spreadsheet. Return product and Details information of each that has the value critical. There are 71 in total. Return all.

This time, Copilot returned 8 again, but stated that there were “many more”. Still not very helpful. I asked it again to return all 71 entries and not just the 8 it returned.

Copilot apologized for the oversight and returned 8 again only.

Second Test: Shipping label PDF document

For the second test, I decided to feed Copilot a PDF document with shipping information.

Any question I asked Copilot was met with a “cannot do, sorry” response. I uploaded a different document to see if it could provide information in that case.

This time, Copilot was able to return the correct information. It also managed to return other information, such as the ID of the shipment, correctly.

Thoughts on the current state regarding file uploads

My experience with Copilot’s file upload feature was mixed. It did well in one of three cases. While that is not enough to judge it based on that performance, it highlights on the one hand how useful AI tools can be, and on the other how far away from “trusting” an AI’s output we are.

This is not even taking into account any privacy reservations that you may have about AI.

Still, file analysis could become a huge tool for computer users and organizations. From returning vital information from spreadsheets to all sorts of post-processing and data linking features.

It is not there yet, though.

Speak

Windows 11 may soon use your voice for speech output

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is working on a new accessibility feature in Windows 11 that it calls Speak for Me. Here is what it does: the main idea behind the accessibility tool is to have text that you type spoken aloud using either integrated voices or your own.

Twitter user Phantom spotted the integrated feature in Windows 11 build 26063. It is not enabled by default in the build, but interested users may enable it using ViVeTool.

Here are the required steps to unlock it:

  1. Download the latest ViVeTool release from GitHub.
  2. Extract the archive to the local system.
  3. Open an elevated command prompt, e.g., by opening Start, typing CMD and selecting “run as administrator”.
  4. Navigate to the ViVeTool directory.
  5. Run the command vivetool /enable /id:44950080,47123936,47405131,47976395,48002155,48339425,48624087,48812316,48900033
  6. Restart the system.

Speak for Me should now be accessible via Settings > Speak for Me.

Speak for Me

image source Phantom

Toggle the Speak for Me preference to On to enable the feature. The keyboard shortcut Windows-Ctrl-T turns the assistive speech feature on and off then.

Windows 11 gives you two voice options: pick a natural voice that is provided by the operating system or use your own voice. Using your own voice requires giving Microsoft permission to record the voice.

Note all Windows 11 users may like the idea. Those who do not, may want to pick natural voice instead. Once you have given Microsoft permission, you need to read phases and sentences aloud. This takes some time, but progress is saved.

Microsoft uses your voice data then to create a personal voice. This takes about 2 hours according to Microsoft. The company promises that it will inform users once the voice is ready for use.

Use the keyboard shortcut to display the interface. It opens a text field. Anything you enter there may be read aloud using the selected voice.

Closing Words

The option to create a personal voice is interesting. Microsoft has not revealed plans to extend the feature, but it is just a small step to integrating a user’s recorded voice as one of the available voices on Windows.

This would allow Windows 11 users to use the voice in Narrator and other areas of the operating system.

Speak for Me is an interesting feature, but it is limited at this point. Microsoft has not said anything about the target release for the feature. Windows 11 version 24H2, or Windows 11 2024 Update, is the most likely target at this point

PC Gaming

NVIDIA App: new unified app for NVIDIA graphics cards

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

NVIDIA unveiled the NVIDIA App yesterday. The new application is available as a beta release at the time of writing. It promises to unify functionality that NVIDIA’s current generation of programs offer.

The company plans to replace these programs, notably GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Control Panel, and RTX Experience, with this one in the future.

The public beta of the NVIDA app is available already. It does not include all features yet. NVIDIA notes in the announcement that it does include “many of the top features” from the existing apps already.

NVIDIA App system requirements

The beta application is compatible with Windows 10 and 11 operating systems only at the time. It requires 600 MB of disk space, 2 GB of RAM, and the GeForce 551.52 or later driver.

The app has the following CPU and GPU requirements:

GPU:

  • GeForce RTX 20, 30, and 40 Series GPUs
  • GeForce GTX 800, 900, 1000, 1600 Series GPUs
  • GeForce MX100, MX200, MX300, 800M, and 900M GPUs

CPU:

  • Intel Pentium G Series, Core i3, i5, i7, or higher
  • AMD FX, Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9, Threadripper or higher

The NVIDIA App: functionality

NVIDIA App graphics settings

One of the core features of the app is the discovery and installation of drivers and related NVIDIA software. It allows users to install the latest graphics card driver on their devices and also other NVIDIA software, including GeForce NOW or NVIDIA Broadcast.

Driver releases provide summaries of new features and fixed issues. These help users find out more about a release without having to read the full documentation.

All driver related articles are accessible from a single entry point in the NVIDIA app.

NVIDIA App Drivers

The NVIDIA App introduces a new game overlay, which provides access to “gameplay recording tools, performance monitoring overlays, and game enhancing filters”. Filters include new filters powered by AI, but these are limited to GeForce RTX users and about 1200 games at the time.

Filters like RTX Dynamic Vibrance or RTX HDR promise to improve the visual quality of games using AI.

Microsoft is also working on integrating AI into Windows to improve graphics. Called Super Resolution, it promises to improve performance and visuals of games on Windows devices.

Gamers get a new performance overlay, which they may customize. They may add or hide certain performance metrics in the new software.

There is also the new GPU Control Center. This allows users to tune games and driver settings from a single location. Customizations support making global changes and also specific changes to specific applications or games.

Other options include signing-in to redeem bundles and rewards. NVIDIA says that this is optional.

The future

NVIDIA is working on integrating features of the NVIDIA Control Panel that are not yet available in the NVIDIA App. The new app will also get features from GeForce Experience and RTX Experience. These include GPU overclocking and driver rollback options.

The classic NVIDIA programs remain available throughout the beta period. NVDIA appears to have plans to drop support for these apps eventually, but has not yet announced an end of support date.

Some features won’t make the cut. NVIDIA lists Broadcast to Twitch and YouTube, Share Images and Video to Facebook and YouTube, and Photo Mode 360 & Stereo captures specifically.

Closing Words

The new application promises to unify NVIDIA’s offerings for Windows. It is too early to say how good it really is at this point. It should be clear that it will include Telemetry as well. NVIDIA will likely continue to release standalone drivers for its graphics cards.