Catch up with this week’s Microsoft stories, which include a major Start menu redesign for Windows 11, a celebration of Microsoft’s 50th anniversary, new preview builds, and more.
This week’s news recap is here with big Start menu updates (really big), Microsoft’s 50th birthday, Copilot news, app updates, new consoles, gaming news and reviews, and a lot more.
Quick links:
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.
Let us start with some stats. Although we are about six months away from the end of Windows 10 support (Microsoft says you should dump your old Windows 10 PC and buy a new one), Windows 11 is catching up to its predecessor rather quickly. In March 2025, the operating system climbed to 42.66%, which is a new all-time high. Windows 10, on the other hand, dropped to 54.23%.
Windows 11 is doing even better among the gaming audience. Valve reports that in March 2025, Windows 11 reached a new all-time high of 55.34%. As for Windows 10, it is now at 40.58%.
Microsoft is finally rolling out more AI-powered features to Copilot+ PC users with Intel and AMD-based computers. The latest additions include Live Captions (your PC generates system-wide captions for any audio), Paint Cocreator (you draw something, and Paint completes the picture for you), Restyle Image (reimagine your image in a different style), and Image Creator (generate a picture based on your prompt).
Microsoft had some big announcements for business users. For one, Windows Hotpatch is now available in Windows 11 version 24H2. This feature allows deploying critical security patches with no need to reboot client systems as it patches in-memory processes. However, Windows Hotpatch is only available in the Enterprise edition.
Also, the Windows 365 Link is now available for purchase in various countries. In the United States, this mini-PC-like device costs $349.99, and it provides access to Windows 365 (a Windows installation in the cloud) with a few additional features and conveniences. Like Windows Hotpatch, the Windows 365 Link is only available for commercial customers.
The Windows 365 Link is not the only device that can access Windows 365. This feature is also available in the new Windows App, which now available on Android as well (say goodbye to the old Remote Desktop app).
You may probably remember last week’s story about Microsoft pulling the plug on a certain command that allowed setting up Windows 11 without an active internet connection and a Microsoft account. Although the « killed » command can still work with some trickery, users discovered that there is another official way to skip Microsoft’s Internet and MSA requirements.
Finally, Microsoft released new recovery updates for Windows 11 and confirmed a new Windows 11 24H2 block on some new computers due to compatibility issues with the sprotect.sys driver.
Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:
Besides taskbar improvements, the latest Dev and Beta builds contain a massive Start menu redesign, which addresses popular feedback from users. The updated version is finally ditching a two-section design in favor of a single scrollable view. Your pins and recommendations sit on top, while the All Apps list is right below them—simply start scrolling, and you are good to go browse all installed apps, no more clicking the « All » button.
