PCWorld November 2024

Microsoft announced the beginning of the rollout of the Windows 11 2024 Update (version 24H2) October 1, but it may be a while before you get it. Microsoft is implementing what it’s calling a “phased rollout” of the Windows 11 2024 Update and the first phase will begin “over the coming weeks,” said John Cable, Microsoft’s vice president of program management, Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post. The Windows 11 2024 Update will be available to everyone and not just those who have bought a Copilot+ PC. But Copilot PC+ owners will be among the first to sample new Windows experiences that Microsoft will subsequently launch, with the goal of pushing them out to as many users as possible by the 2024 holiday season. HOW TO GET THE…

What’s next for Windows? Microsoft may have just shipped the Windows 11 2024 Update (24H2), but the company is already disclosing its plans for next-gen Windows apps—and there are some very interesting AI-powered features due by the holidays. Microsoft disclosed that it is working on several AI additions to Windows and Windows apps: improved Windows search using natural descriptive language, Super Resolution in Photos, Generative Fill and Erase in Paint, as well as the debut of Recall. All (save Recall) are appearing in October as part of the Windows Insider program, with an expected launch in November. All of these features will depend on the NPU inside Copilot+ PCs, which will now include PCs that feature Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors as well as AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 and Intel’s…

I’ve written a lot about ad blockers in the last few weeks, from Google’s Chrome updates making some popular options inoperable, to alternatives that will work, to my reason for blocking every ad on YouTube. So when I was contacted by representatives from Ghostery, a German company that operates an ad-blocker extension and other privacy products, I was eager to pick their brains. I’ve been a technology writer for over 10 years, and I can wax poetic on building PCs and keyboards all day. But I’m not a web developer or programmer of any kind, so I relished the opportunity to get an expert opinion on the changes in Chrome’s extension support, from Manifest V2 to V3. The V3 changeover, and its more restrictive access model to some of the…

Last week, the World Wide Web Foundation announced in an open letter (PDF) that it would be “winding down” and “closing [its] virtual doors” after 15 years of working to make the web safer and more accessible. The WWWF was founded in 2009 by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who’s widely credited as inventing the World Wide Web and making it possible for regular users like you and me to browse websites and download files over the internet. When the WWWF was first created, only 20 percent of the world’s population had access to the internet. Today, that figure has ballooned to an astonishing 70 percent with no signs of stopping—and alongside that growth come ever more threats of scams, malware, and hackers. In the open letter, Berners-Lee writes that while the…

Microsoft has now released the shipping version of the Windows 11 2024 Update (24H2), the year’s major feature update for Windows 11. But there’s a price to pay: When Microsoft begins installing Windows 11 24H2 on your PC, some older applications and features will be gone forever. Microsoft has signaled some of the changes previously. But well-known apps like Windows Mixed Reality, Tips, and WordPad will still be removed from your PC. Fortunately, there are alternatives for the applications Microsoft is removing. Microsoft will also take several weeks to roll out Windows 11 24H2, leaving you with time to make the transition. Microsoft has detailed the changes in a list of deprecated Windows features. While the decisions can take place over a period of months, they’re usually made with one…

The Meta Quest 2 remains the most popular VR headset in the world, at least if we assume that Steam’s hardware survey is an accurate indicator of the VR headset market. And it isn’t even a close contest: With 38 percent of the user base, it has more than double the market share of Valve’s own PC-focused Index HMD. So why is Meta’s newer and far more advanced Quest 3 headset so far behind its predecessor at just 17 percent in the same survey? The answer is obviously its price. The Quest 2 is still the cheapest standalone VR headset you can find at most retailers, including crucial brick-and-mortar stores where VR headset demos are at least possible, if not commonplace. And it can be connected to a gaming PC with…