Microsoft Weekly: Funny bugs in Windows 11, leaked Forza Horizon 6 release, and more

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This week"s news recap is here, with the latest stories from the world of Microsoft, including the latest Patch Tuesday updates with some odd bugs, new Windows 11 preview builds, a bunch of browser updates, leaked Forza Horizon 6 dates, and more.

Quick links:

  1. Windows 10 and 11
  2. Windows Insider Program
  3. Updates are available
  4. Reviews are in
  5. Gaming news
  6. Great deals to check

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft"s latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions.

The January 2026 Patch Tuesday updates are now available. Windows 11 received KB5074109, while Windows 10, for those in the Extended Security Update program, got KB5073724. As usual, shortly after that, Microsoft started issuing details about new known bugs. Interestingly, the latest Patch Tuesday updates finally put Windows Vista to bed, as the last SKUs of the infamous operating system received the final update after nearly 7000 days of service.

For one, Microsoft released a fix that patches broken parts of Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. Next, Microsoft confirmed that Remote Desktop connections are broken for some users after KB5074109. There is also another bug, which is rather hilarious: the January 2026 Patch Tuesday update broke the shutdown and hibernation features on certain systems. Fortunately, these two bugs were quickly fixed with an out-of-band update.

Finally, Microsoft explained why Windows 11 25H2 got twice as heavy due to a key security update.

With all the drama that is happening in the world of Windows, with all of its stupid bugs, it is no wonder that people continuously grow more and more frustrated about the operating system. GoG"s new owner recently ranted about the current state of affairs, claiming that Windows 11 is an unbelievably poor-quality product.

Moving from bugs, we have some useful stuff to improve the stock Windows 11 experience. A new Windhawk mod makes adjusting per-app volume so much easier. Just hover the cursor over the app on the taskbar and use your scroll wheel. Genius!

Microsoft also updated the Media Creation Tool, which now downloads a more recent build of Windows 11, allowing you to make a clean Windows installation with fewer updates. To finish this week"s Windows section, here is our deep dive into why Microsoft no longer includes any easter eggs in its software.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Builds
Canary Channel

Build 28020.1371

The first Canary build of 2026 brought a few bug fixes and patches without new features or major changes.
Dev Channel

No Dev builds this week
Beta Channel

Build 26220.7653

A rare Beta-only build introduced more redesigned dialogs in the Settings app and a bunch of fixes across the operating system.
Release Preview Channel

No Release Preview builds this week

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

We continue our overview of PowerToys utilities, and this time, here is a quick look at Screen Ruler, a rather niche utility that an average user might not care about. However, if you work with precise stuff, Screen Ruler could become a great help. Check out our article here.

On the browser side, we have a few major updates for Edge, Firefox, and more. Mozilla released version 147, which brought the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts, WebGPU support on Apple Silicon devices, improved picture-in-picture, and more. Shortly after that, Firefox 147.0.1 was released with three additional fixes.

In addition to releasing a major update for Edge, Microsoft seemingly decided to retire the Collection feature. The successor to the Reading List app from the Windows 8 era is now on its way out, and if you do not back up your collection, all the data will be lost.

Opera One has been updated to R3 with a few improvements for Tab Islands, its built-in AI engine, tab tiling, themes, and the beta program.

For Office users, Microsoft announced a new feature that makes importing data from CSV to Excel much easier, all without using Power Query.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

This week, Steven Parker reviewed the GEEKOM A7 Max, a mini PC with a decent price tag, plenty of ports, good fit and finish, and proper display output. Just look out for some quirks, bad RAM configuration, and more.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more.

Next week, Microsoft is hosting its Developer Direct gaming event, where it is expected to unveil details about Forza Horizon 6, the next installment in the Forza franchise. While the details about the game remain mysterious, Microsoft itself leaked the release date using an in-game banner in Forza Horizon 5.

NVIDIA announced new games for the GeForce NOW cloud streaming service. The latest additions include Quarantine Zone: The Last Check (New release on Steam, Jan. 12, GeForce RTX 5080-ready), Star Wars Outlaws (Ubisoft Connect, now available on Xbox Game Pass), The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon (New release on Steam, Jan. 15), Styx: Shards of Darkness, and more.

Here is this week"s Weekend PC Game Deals article, where you can find plenty of discounts on PC games, including the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store.

Other gaming news includes the following:

Great deals to check

Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need.

This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.

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