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All the more reason to use a "offline" version when possible (obviously for people who want multiplayer then this generally won't be a option though) so we don't have to deal with the online connection/account BS for those of us who just want to play a single player game. but being the direction games have been headed for a while now (micro-transactions/forced online etc), makes me all the more reason I am glad I like less of them as pretty much everything I do play it's always the "offline" version, as short of lack of potential multiplayer, it's the best way to play as a general rule. but at least for me VERY few games would even be worth playing in regards to multiplayer over the internet. hell, the last legitimate game I played online would have been Counter-Strike/Counter-Strike Source back in the 2000's. but that stuff aside... 'George P' made a great point above. because if it was clear from the start that this game had a account requirement, at least it was clear to people from the start and they can either agree to it or not buy the game. but to act like it's a normal game for a while, people buy it thinking it's more standard, and then out of no where force people into creating a account or lose access to the game is total BS. they should offer a option for a refund for people who don't want it with the new forced account BS, which I doubt they will do. p.s. for the record... I never even heard of this game. even if I got it for free I doubt I would care from a quick impression of it on Steam page (and with additional account BS, all the more reason I would care even less). but my point above is more of a general comment with games in general.

Wow people really dont understand. It's not that people prefer Windows 10 over Windows 11, it's not that people dislike the "ads" in Windows 11... ...it's that the people just don't freaking care about the OS on their computer. They just want to look at web sites, play games, send email and maybe write the occasional doc in MS Office.. For probably 75% of Windows users that's enough...if that is working, dont risk breaking it with "some update to 11". If Microsoft just forced Windows 11 upgrade most people wouldnt care (many would not even notice), but they cannot do that, cause click-bait "tech sites" would tear them to shreds in public opinion.

Yeah - how would your signal be anything but the highest. That is the network you connect to right. But they called it 4-8, never in my life heard it called that.. But your issue is prob not wifi interference - its that you have large amount of packet loss to the internet.

Absolutely agree. Windows 7 was the last consumer friendly version, everything that came after only catered to the hardware business or Enterprise business users. Because Windows 11 isn't getting the adoption Microsoft expected, now they are porting all the privacy invading features back into Windows 10 as well.

Check out the Software section, we reimplemented the Green color style that we used to have https://www.neowin.net/software/ In an article you'll see some other elements were changed to green, like links and tags. https://www.neowin.net/software/fastcopy-579/

There was no reason to allow formatting of other websites to be pasted into posts here. As a result lines of white on white text appear for people using the Darkside theme, while it might look okay in the default light theme. It seems people don't care to use the editor option "Remove formatting" so we've now had to force it. It won't affect anything else, media will still parse etc

NextDNS ftw. Adguard should do it too, with the right lists.

32-inch Samsung Odyssey G55C Curved Gaming Monitor is selling at its lowest price on Amazon by Fiza Ali Today is the last day of Amazon Gaming Week so, you might want to benefit from the deals that Amazon US is currently offering before they come to an end. Particularly, if you are a gaming enthusiast and have been looking to upgrade your gaming monitor at a budget, you can check out the 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G5 Curved Gaming Monitor at its lowest price. 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G55C Series QHD 1000R Curved Gaming Monitor (1ms(MPRT), HDR10, 165Hz, AMD Radeon FreeSync, Eye Care, LS32CG550ENXZA, 2024): $279.99 (Amazon US) This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. Featuring QHD 2560x1440px resolution, the Odyssey G5 reportedly delivers 1.7 times the pixel density of Full HD, ensuring sharp and detailed images. With its 165Hz refresh rate, you get to experience potentially seamless gameplay without any lag. The rapid 1ms response time minimizes blur, ensuring precise gameplay interactions. Furthermore, AMD Radeon FreeSync technology promises seamless synchronization between your monitor and graphics card, eliminating image tearing. In addition, HDR10 technology enhances graphics with a rich spectrum of colours, offering deep blacks and bright whites. Moreover, the Odyssey G55C incorporates Eye Saver Mode to minimise blue light emissions, reducing eye strain. With the added benefit of Amazon Prime membership, you'll get fast and free delivery on the above deal. Don't have Amazon Prime? Get Prime free for the first 30 days, and more: Get the first 30 days of Amazon Prime for free Get Prime Access at 50% off (SNAP, Medicaid, government assistance) for $6.99/month Get 50% off Amazon Prime for Students Audible Plus free for 30 days - Plus Catalog, Podcasts, Audiobooks & more then $7.99/month Gift Audible to someone (choose between 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or a year) Kindle Unlimited $0.00 for 30 days or $4.99 for 2 months You can also check out other Smart Monitor deals here. If this is not what you want, you can browse through Amazon US, Amazon UK, or Newegg US, or visit our Deals section to see if you find some other great deals. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Huh? Stop trying to be objectionable. It's not necessary. Most of their printers broke or lost functionality All but one of their scanners stopped working and about 6 of them lost OCR driver support from the OEM requiring expensive third party software to restore. VBS being enabled broke a couple of custom LOB apps. Home folder protection broke another one as well as preventing the network scanner daemon from being able to save scans to profiles. Several machines got stuck in a autopilot fault loop with half configuration applied and had to be taken off users after they'd settled in. They had to do a rather panicked move from file maker server to file maker cloud because that kept crashing. One users Bluetooth won't work any more and they can't listen to Spotify any more (lol) There are constant complaints about it running slowly and freezing The previous lot should never have deployed it as they never did any compatibility testing. Never told the client about changes, never offered training, never set expectations and never checked that any budget was available for changes, snagging or contingency. They just broke the business and walked out once the money ran out. The CTO hates it, most of the staff aren't enamoured with it, with most saying it was better and more stable before. Then there is constantly having to deal with the removal of consumer features and chat gpt features that they expressly don't want as per their policy. How many times do you need to say no to something before no means no? Of course it is all made more complicated by the fact that Entera MDM is intentionally designed to obfuscate and in some cases out right prevent the ability to disable some of this stuff, which just adds more cost to them to have to find other ways to cull all this fluff by policy. Which would be easy if they had on-prem AD, but the previous lot convinced the CTO to remove all on prem hardware. But anyway, you like windows 11 and I'm pleased for you. If other people form different opinions however, how about respecting it instead of getting defensive? It's not a personal attack if I or others don't like the trajectory of Microsoft or Windows.

I'm not sure I understand. Reporting on new apps seems like something a tech site would do. The fact that more and more of the apps are to do with tweaking Windows 11 to get rid of rubbish just shows how much people are annoyed with the state of Windows 11. As for "Windows 11 is bad, Linux is good," it is just the opinion of the application developer, and was a passing comment about why she created this app. She created it because she still has to use Windows - unfortunately there are some applications that cannot yet be migrated over to Linux. One could argue that it isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for Linux...

Microsoft Weekly: Windows bugs, new browsers, Copilot everywhere, and more by Taras Buria In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at a lot of confirmed bugs and issues in Windows 10, 11, and Server, some odd Windows 11 stats, new Windows 11 preview builds with File Explorer improvements, new browsers for Windows, lots of Copilot news, and more. Table of contents: Windows 10 and 11 news Windows Insider Program Updates are available Gaming news Reviews are in Random fact about Microsoft Windows 11 and 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 but still supported (and even unsupported) versions. Let us start with some stats since there are some interesting ones. Microsoft Edge is slowly increasing its market share and getting close to the 13% mark. Windows 11, on the other hand, is going down. For the second month in a row, Statcounter reports a significant decrease in Windows 11's market share. What makes the situation extra odd is Windows 11 is the first version to lose market share mid-cycle. Windows 7, meanwhile, is back above 70%, as unhappy Windows 11 users return to the classic. While Windows 11 is reportedly not doing great in the global market, things look pretty good on the gaming side. According to Valve, Windows 11 is now just 6 points away from Windows 10. In April 2024, Windows 11 crossed the 45% mark. Following the initial release of the reworked Tiny11 Builder script, its maker, NTDEV, released a new version with one important change: the ability to turn off telemetry (shortly after another update brought ESD support). If you think Windows 11 wants to know too much about you, the latest Tiny11 Builder is just for you. Plenty of updates happened in the list of known bugs and issues in Windows 10, 11, Server, and more. For starters, Microsoft confirmed that KB5036893 and KB5036892 broke VPN connections on Windows 10 and 11 (some important network-related changes are coming soon). Windows Server editions are also experiencing high NTLM traffic and LSASS crashes after KB5036909. If you cannot update your profile picture after installing Windows 11 April 2024 Cumulative Updates, rest assured that Microsoft is aware of the problem and is working on fixing the 0x80070502 Account Picture error. You can also bypass the bug and change your local profile picture without the Settings app. Also, Microsoft confirmed it cannot fix "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" on Windows 10, which means users have to apply the necessary fixes manually. As for more positive updates, Microsoft finally fixed the BitLocker error 6500 on Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft plans to unveil its new ARM-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop at a special event on May 20. It turns out ASUS also has plans for that day. At 11 AM PT, the company will host an event that will feature "a collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and ASUS" to "celebrate the fist of the new-era ASUS AI PCs." Windows Insider Program Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program: Windows 11 Windows 10 Canary Channel - Not Applicable Dev Channel 26120.461 Not Applicable Beta Channel 22635.3570 Not Applicable Release Preview Channel - - Windows Insiders recently noticed a mysterious "Global.WindowsMigration" app in the Start menu, which, according to Microsoft, is just a bug. That is a component of the Windows Backup app, and it should be gone from the Start menu in future updates. To finish the Windows section, here is Windows 8 updating straight to Windows 11 without losing data and apps. Yes, it turns out that is possible, assuming your Windows 8 PC is Windows 11-compatible. 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. More Surface devices received new firmware updates this week. Microsoft released network, audio, and other improvements for the Surface Go 2 and the Surface Studio 2 Plus. Also, the Intel-based Surface Pro 9 got fixes for the choppy cursor and stuttery Windows animations. Microsoft 365 Insiders can try out the new ink-to-text feature in Excel. It allows typing in handwritten text with a stylus and converting it into regular text on the fly. Microsoft also released a bunch of new features for OneDrive on the web. Customers with school and work accounts can now work in offline mode and more. Also, the company confirmed that Copilot for OneDrive was delayed from April 2024 to summer 2024. This week was full of other Copilot news. Outlook on iOS and Android received Copilot support, Copilot features are generally available in Viva Engage, Copilot for Microsoft 365 now supports more languages, and Copilot for Planner in Teams is now rolling out. However, all those AI news also have a dark side. Microsoft engineers (and from other companies) anonymously report big burnouts because of forced deadlines. For Teams users, Microsoft published a lengthy support document to outline all the changes made from the class Microsoft Teams to the new one. They include Windows notifications, Settings, general appearance, search box commands, and others. Speaking of Teams, check out a recap of all the features Microsoft added to the service in April 2024. If you use MSN Weather to plan your day according to the weather outside, you will be glad to know that Microsoft developed some AI models that could help the company provide more accurate 30-day weather forecasts. On the third-party side, Mozilla released another update for its browser. This time, version 125.0.3 brought fixes for the blank 0.0.0.1 page appearing out of nowhere, corrupt fonts on Linux, and other bugs. The browser war on Windows is heating up as a new player emerged this week. After several months of closed beta testing, The Browser Company finally released the Arc browser for all users on Windows 11. Built on Chromium, it offers uncompromised compatibility and several interesting productivity features while focusing on minimalism. If you are also annoyed by the new "Rewrite with Copilot" popup in the latest Edge updates, check out this article to learn how to disable that. Spoiler alert: a few clicks is all it takes. By the way, a minor update for Edge 124 introduced a built-in internet speed tester and security fixes. Microsoft Edge 125 arrived in the Beta Channel with improvements to sleeping tabs, a new memory limiter, and other changes. And as for Dev users, they received the first Edge 126 update with new media controls and fixes. Finally, Microsoft announced the deprecation of legacy properties for high-contrast themes in the Edge browser. Other notable updates include the following: Microsoft added passkey support to all consumer accounts. Microsoft is promising to make security its top priority from now on. Microsoft added Mistral Small LLM for Azure AI services. Microsoft plans to invest $1.7 billion in AI and cloud development in Indonesia. Bill Gates is reportedly still very involved at Microsoft. Microsoft released a new version of the Cascadia Code with new symbols, quadrants, and more. Wintoys received several fixes and service-related improvements. Microsoft is investing $2.2 billion in a major cloud and AI expansion in Malaysia. Finally, here is this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly with the latest additions, such as Copilot in Forms, Copilot in Loop, Teams improvements, and more. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more. The Xbox and PC Game Pass catalog has new games. The latest additions include Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and more. Some titles are leaving the program this month, so check out all the details here. Sea of Thieves is now available on PlayStation 5. In addition to that, Rare launched Season 12 with new weapons, ziplines, and other content for the game released six years ago. Starfield, another Microsoft-owned game, is getting a new expansion. The Shattered Space expansion should land this fall. While there are currently no details about it, you can expect to hear some news about it at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase, which is scheduled for June 9. And by the way, you can win a trip to that Showcase. Speaking of showcases, check out our recap of the recent ID@XBox Digital Showcase. We may soon publish another showcase recap as The THQ Nordic 2024 Showcase was recently announced. However, you will need to wait a little longer for that one since it is coming on August 2, 2024. Ninja Theory is getting ready to launch the much-anticipated sequel to Hellblade. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is coming May 21, and if you plan to play on your PC, better make sure it is compatible. You can do it now, as the studio released full PC hardware requirements. Some interesting stuff is happening with Helldivers, a popular third-person sci-fi shooter, which was launched to critical acclaim a couple of months ago. Sony is forcing all PC players to get a PSN account to continue playing, and those PC players are having absolutely none of that. Nvidia added a batch of new games to its cloud streaming service. GeForce NOW now supports Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Stromgate Closed Beta, Gray Zone Warfare, MotoGP24, FOUNDRY, INDIKA, and Orcs Must Die! 3. Some Xbox Insiders can try dashboard background improvements. Members of the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings can set game art backgrounds for selected games on Home with any background, not just the default one. Another thing that is currently available for Xbox Insiders is the ability to remember up to ten Wi-Fi networks on their consoles. For reference, current Xbox consoles cannot remember Wi-Fi networks at all. Deals and Freebies This week's edition of Weekend PC Game Deals covers Star Wars Day specials, farming festival titles, Total War, and other games across different stores, such as Steam, Epic Games, GoG, Humble Store, and more. Reviews are in Here are the hardware and/or software reviews published this week on Neowin Steven Parker continues his journey through the world of mini PCs, and this week, the GEEKOM XT12 Pro went through his testing labs. This tiny Windows 11 PC is a well-built metal brick with great connectivity, fast SSD, and support for up to four displays, but it also has some downsides, such as the lack of an SD card reader or Type-C on the front panel. After hearing some reports about mini PCs shipping with malware, Steven also conducted a bunch of AV tests on small form-factor computers from AceMagic, Beelink, and Geekom. Check out the results here. Random fact about Microsoft And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things. We all know and love the Start menu button, which was first released many years ago as part of a major UI overhaul in Windows 95. Did you know that the iconic "Start" inscription may not have appeared at all? This week's random fact about Microsoft, courtesy of Windows on Windows on X, shows an early taskbar UI with just the Windows logo on the Start button. Looks familiar, right? Windows Vista dropped the word “Start” from the Start button. But, it may never have been there at all. @DerekHoiem, who worked on usability testing for Start, explained: “One thing that became controversial was whether or not to put the word “Start” next to the Windows logo.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/2ANz0POtCf — Windows On Windows (@wowstartsnow) April 28, 2024 In 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista, which ditched the "Start" word in favor of just a simple Windows logo. This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by subscribing to our newsletter to receive regular news recaps directly in your email.

Rubbish time to be a Windows user. Ive used everything since Win 95 and really think we peaked at 7. Got some great new features with 10 and 11 but at the cost of control and when it comes to the core OS, that's a big cost. It's a shame.

FastCopy 5.7.10 is out.

United Launch Alliance set to send NASA crew to space station - TWIRL #163 by Paul Hill We have plenty of missions coming up this week but the most notable will be United Launch Alliance’s crewed mission to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s commercial crew program. Be sure to check the recap section too for the launch of China’s latest lunar mission. Monday, 6 May Who: SpaceX What: Falcon 9 When: 3:34 p.m. - 8:05 p.m. UTC Where: Florida, US Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites to orbit. This batch is known as Starlink Group 6-56, this identifier can be used on apps like ISS Detector to try and spot them flying through the night sky. For anyone that doesn’t know, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites beam internet down to the Earth and even provide internet in remote areas not served by traditional broadband. Tuesday, 7 May Who: United Launch Alliance What: Atlas V When: 2:34 a.m. UTC Where: Florida, US Why: United Launch Alliance will launch an Atlas V rocket carrying the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft carrying a crew to the International Space Station as part of a test flight. The astronauts will include Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams from NASA. This mission is being carried out as part of NASA’s commercial crew program. Who: China What: Long March 6C When: 3:20 a.m. UTC Where: Taiyuan, China Why: China will launch a Long March 6C for the first time carrying the Neptune 1 Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite for Ningbo Zhihui Space Technology Co., Ltd. This satellite is just the first satellite in a constellation that will eventually be 36 satellites strong. Who: SpaceX What: Falcon 9 When: 10:09 a.m. UTC Where: Florida, US Why: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites. This group is Starlink Group 6-57. They will join the huge Starlink constellation to beam the internet down to Earth. Like most other Starlink missions, we should see the first stage of the Falcon 9 perform a landing. Wednesday, 8 May Who: SpaceX What: Falcon 9 When: 2:48 a.m. - 7:18 a.m. UTC Where: California, US Why: This batch of Starlink satellites is Group 8-2, they will be placed in a low Earth orbit before being switched on. Interestingly, this group of about 22 satellites could feature six direct-to-cell Starlink satellites - these are relatively new with the first satellites of this type being sent up just several months ago. Thursday, 9 May Who: China What: Long March 3B/E When: 1:50 a.m. UTC Where: Xichang, China Why: China will use a Long March 3B or 3E to launch two BeiDou navigation satellites for the government. The BeiDou satellites operate in a medium Earth orbit (MEO) which is further out than a low Earth orbit which Starlink operates in. Most modern smartphones support BeiDou satellites to help improve location accuracy on Google Maps. Recap The first launch we got last week was the SpaceX Starlink 159 mission. 23 Starlink satellites were launched, known as Starlink Group 6-54, and then the first stage of the rocket performed a landing. The second launch was also a Falcon 9 but this time it was carrying two WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar. These satellites are the first two of six planned WorldView Legion satellites. Next up, SpaceX has 23 more Starlink satellites to launch, known as Starlink 6-55. The first stage of the Falcon 9 also performed a landing. Finally, China launched its Chang’e-6 mission to the moon atop a Long March 5 Y8. The aim of this lunar mission is to collect samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth for examination. That’s it for this week, check in next time.

Kinda surprised they didn't launch this yesterday...

You can buy Windows 11 home for $139. But it still comes with advertisements.

Everything you said is true. But... So Microsoft sees it's Operating System as a way to make money from ads. Whereas they once charged for Windows, now you can have it. But we'll nag you to use Edge instead of Firefox. And we will make it seem like we are suggesting a better option, when we REALLY want you to use our products. No one wants that, right? I also don't want to write my own drivers so I could run Unix. And I rely on Word and Outlook. I think the question here that no one has asked yet is how long until Microsoft blocks this software. They will. Then the Justice Department will notice that. It smells like antitrust stuff. Wouldn't it be easier if Microsoft just charged like $120 for a new version of ad-free Windows like they used to? I know there is a market for that.

MS cannot push an EOL on Windows 10 with more than 65% of the market on W10. They will be forced to support W10. On top of that 24H2 is a real piece of trash of an update. I've tried it a week ago and despised it very much, it's even worse than 23H2 with no real improvement in overall latency and UI reponsiveness. It still feels like crap, with more crap on top. They technically are not pushing EOL since either business upgrade under Software assurance or they pay an additional fee. EOL, to me, is flat out refusing to support customers willing to pay for extended support is EOL.

You must not be working in IT that much. IT does break stuff and a lot of computers won't be compatible with it. You cannot force an update that requires new hardware (as per their limitation) and we are talking about millions of computers that don't have the TPM chip, let alone the newest W11 requirement for special instructions. You cannot in all honesty say that it is fine to send millions of perfectly working computers to the incinerator just because MS wants to force this. But the person we are replying to said that the client upgraded (meaning they either have the tpm chip or they bypassed the system requirements to upgrade their machines, either way windows 11 was there). and we are simply asking what the switch from 10 to 11 broke since nothing breaks. Windows 11 is like 99% compatible with workflows and software that works under Windows 10.

I certainly don't disagree, but i think many businesses are going to try to stick it out for Windows 12 and hope Microsoft calms down on the "progress" and or does a Windows 7 turnaround and extends the 10 22H2 support a little longer into 2026 to allow Windows 12 to mature. A lot of smaller organisations don't have the budget to move to new hardware either, so are delaying procurement for better times. ah so you couldnt answer any of the previous replies about what windows 11 is breaking, because it is not breaking anything. I see.