Microsoft Weekly: Windows 11 25H2 release is close and Microsoft denies SSD issues

This week's news recap is here with new details about broken SSDs, Windows 11 version 25H2 arriving for more testers, new preview builds with fresh features, new keyboard shortcuts for Windows 11, some game reviews, 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.

Microsoft released this month's non-security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows 10 received KB5063842, while Windows 11 version 23H2 received KB5064080. As for Windows 11 version 24H2, it received KB5064081 with a redesigned Windows Hello, improved Task Manager, more modern Settings UI elements, and a lot of other changes. Additionally, Microsoft finally released an out-of-band update for a Windows Server issue that has been open since 2022. All these updates also patched an annoying Event Viewer bug that Microsoft previously told you to ignore.

Speaking of quality updates, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 can now automatically install quality updates for certain users during the initial setup or OOBE. The change applies to systems running Windows 11, version 22H2 or later on an Enterprise, Pro, Education, or SE SKU. It should be Entra-joined or Entra hybrid-joined, configured with Microsoft Intune, and have a Windows Autopilot Enrollment Status Page (ESP) profile.

Do you remember that Windows 11 bug corrupting users' SSDs? Phison issued a statement, claiming that a 4,500-hour-long test showed no issues. The company could not reproduce the problem, and no partners or customers have reported that the issue affected their driver. Microsoft claimed the same in its statement, saying that the August 2025 update has nothing to do with SSD issues.

If you feel like Windows 11 is not doing a good job of playing audio over Bluetooth, Microsoft has some good news for you. The company promised to make Bluetooth audio much better in future updates. Additionally, Microsoft wants OEMs to build proper USB Type-C notifications in Windows 11 so that users better understand their hardware and its capabilities.

Microsoft is working on open-sourcing Windows 11's user interface framework, which is known as WinUI. While the company is quiet there, it shared details about the first phase of the process, which involves posting more information on WinUI's GitHub repository.

If you have a PC that is not compatible with Windows 11 and you feel like bypassing the requirements, the latest update for the Flyoobe app offers a smarter way to remove bloat and an updated user interface.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

The latest preview builds introduced a couple of neat keyboard shortcuts that should make life easier for those who type a lot. Microsoft now lets you type the em dash and en dash using the Win + Minus shortcut.

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.

An odd thing happened to uBlock Origin in the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store. Users discovered that the original extension was replaced with the one based on Manifest V3. However, it turned out that that was an accident, and the original uBlock Origin was restored in no time.

The next PowerToys update will bring an important feature with the next update. The app is finally getting a proper search bar, allowing you to find features, modules, and various settings in the sea of available tools. According to GitHub, PowerToys search will arrive as part of the upcoming update version 0.94.

Microsoft is changing how document saving works in Word. The company announced that its word processor will start saving documents to the cloud by default. Microsoft says this approach offers a few benefits, including better security and compliance in enterprise environments, no fear of lost progress, flexible storage options like SharePoint and OneDrive, which also enable sync capabilities across other devices, and more online collaboration options.

August 2025 is over, which means Microsoft published recaps of everything it added to its Office apps, such as Excel, Teams, Microsoft 365, and more, so check out those recaps to stay in touch with all the changes coming to your favorite productivity apps.

Later this year, Microsoft will end Windows 10 support, and with it, Office 2016 and 2019 will go six feet under, forcing users to upgrade to newer versions. However, if you are not ready to leave those apps behind, you can opt for a third-party patching solution, 0patch. The company behind this product revealed its plans to provide paid security updates beyond what Microsoft offers.

If you have a Mac and you want to run Windows 11 on it, Parallels has a new solution for you. This week, the company launched Parallels Desktop 26, which introduced official Windows 11 version 25H2 support (macOS 26 Tahoe is now supported as well) and a few new features, such as improved disk space reporting.

Mozilla released a small Firefox update under version 142.0.1. It addressed several bugs with dragging multiple tabs, the text cursor appearing in the wrong locations, crashes when using a gamepad, and more.

Finally, this week's Copilot news includes Microsoft bringing Copilot for Azure to Visual Studio and Samsung TVs, for some reason, and a bunch of new tricks that are coming soon.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• A popular tool for skipping Windows 11 hardware requirements received a new update with a bunch of useful features.
• Microsoft announced the VM Conversion tool.

• Microsoft's DocumentDB is now part of the Linux Foundation.

• Microsoft: The future of work is Desktop as a Service.

• Microsoft rolls out Surveys Agent to handle survey creation from start to finish.

• Microsoft revealed two in-house AI models: MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-1-preview.

• Microsoft is retiring some Graph components.

• Microsoft is ending support for a registry key in Windows DCs next month.

• Microsoft is killing off the Mobile Plans app in Windows.

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Intel 32.0.101.7028 non-WHQL with support for Hell in Us and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.
• Nvidia 581.15 WHQL with optimizations for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants and Wuthering Waves.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

We had a bunch of gaming reviews this week. Pulasthi Ariyasinghe reviewed Gears of War: Reloaded on PC, discovering its eye candy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of headaches, which contributed to a rather low score of 6.5.

Also, Pulasthi published a hands-on preview of The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian's next RPG, which promises fantastic looks and gameplay.

On the gaming side

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

Microsoft announced some updates to its Xbox Cloud Gaming Service. It is no longer a perk that is exclusive to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscribers. Now, Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers can play games from the catalog in the cloud. For now, however, this perk is only available to Xbox Insiders, but it should not take too long to become publicly available.

Microsoft also released the Xbox August 2025 Update, which introduced improved controls for the Xbox app on PC, cross-device play history, and other useful changes.

If you live in the UK, Valve now has a new age verification system. Gamers in the UK now must verify their age first to access any game store page or a community hub with mature content.

Hello Games keeps on pumping new updates for No Man's Sky. The latest update, called Voyagers, introduces custom-made multicrew ships, spacewalking, the new Corvette-class starship, DLSS 4 multi-frame generation on Nvidia's latest RTX graphics card, and PSSR on the PlayStation 5.

Mojang announced the next Minecraft update. The Copper Age will be available soon with plenty of content focused on copper. Look forward to copper tools, copper armor, copper chest, and even copper golems.

Battlefield 6 is about a month away from its public release, and if you plan to buy this game, you better check your PC and its specs. EA published system requirements for its upcoming shooter game, and, as expected, they are pretty heavy.

Nvidia announced the next game drop for its GeForce NOW cloud gaming. You can now play Gears of War: Reloaded, Among Us 3D, Knightica, Gatekeeper, Make Way, and other games that you already own.

Finally, here is this week's Weekend PC Game Deals article covering discounts across various game stores, including two new freebies from the Epic Games Store.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• Skate Early Access is coming next month for free, 15 years after the original release.

• Helldivers 2 is taking the fight to Terminid caves in the next major update.

• Bethesda is planning a Starfield space gameplay revamp to make it more rewarding.

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.

• ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 AMP Extreme Infinity - $2,349 | 22% off with Prime

• ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 Solid OC - $2,249 | 17% off with Prime

• PNY NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16GB Overclocked Triple Fan - $999 | 9% off

• Intel Core Ultra 200 desktop processors + Battlefield 6 - up to 19% off
• 8TB Lexar NM790 PCIe Gen4 SSD - $629.99 | $100 off
• Apple 2024 iMac All-in-One Desktop Computer with M4 chip: $1,149 | 12% off
• Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16 GB (No ads, Black): $219.99 | 12% off
• 50-inch Hisense QD7 Series Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV - $319 | 9% off

• Samsung SSD 9100 PRO 4TB - $372 | 32% off

• GoPro HERO13 Black Ultra Wide Edition: $329.99 | 31% off

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