In this edition of Microsoft Weekly, we recap this week’s Microsoft stories about a new Start menu layout in Windows 11, deprecated features, the end of Paint 3D, some new updates, and more.
In this episode of Microsoft Weekly, we look at a new and now-working layout for the Start menu in Windows 11, Paint 3D going six feet under, a new deprecated feature in Windows 11, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, some gaming news, important changes in Nvidia drivers for users with old hardware, app updates, and more.
Table of contents:
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 versions.
The August 2024 Patch Tuesday updates are not out yet (expect them next week), but Microsoft released a new Windows 11 24H2 recovery update under KB5041979 and KB5041178 setup update.
Speaking of updates, a new discovery was made over this weekend. Security researchers demonstrated a way to undo security updates to exploit already-patched vulnerabilities. Microsoft is already aware of the problem, and it is working on a way to resolve it.
Microsoft has deprecated PostScript Type 1 fonts in Windows. The company plans to remove them in future updates following the end of support from Adobe. In the updated list of deprecated features in Windows client versions, Microsoft recommends developers test how the removal of those fonts will affect their applications.
Another thing that is coming to an end is Windows 11 versions 21H2 and 22H2. Microsoft issued another reminder that those two operating systems will soon be out of support. Now, you have less than 60 days to upgrade to something more recent.
We are not done with soon-to-be-dead Microsoft products. As it turned out, Paint 3D is also about to go six feet under. Users noticed that the app is now showing a notification about the upcoming end of life on November 4. But the real question is, do you even remember Paint 3D?
Just like Windows 11 reached its all-time high in July 2024, Microsoft Edge is also breaking its previous records. Statcounter’s latest data revealed that Microsoft’s browser now has 13.74% of the desktop browser market. It is still a far cry from Google Chrome, which had a share of 64.72% in July, but progress is progress, no matter how slow it is.
Finally, here is an interesting project that lets you transform Windows 11 into Windows 10 with one click. Why would someone want to do that instead of just installing Windows 10 is an open question, but there you go:
Windows Insider Program
Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:
In addition to new builds, Microsoft released a big update for the Microsoft Store. The August 2024 update brings proper changelogs for app updates, a new section, search improvements, reworked badges, in-app event widgets, and more.
Also, the latest Windows 11 Beta build features a working version of the recently spotted „Categories“ view. However, the feature is not public yet, so getting it to work requires some tinkering with a third-party modding tool.
