Tech News Weekly: Issue 144
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Article(s)
Brace yourself, Windows 11 may be getting dynamic backgrounds powered by AI
AI technology requires huge investments that go into research, development, infrastructure, and maintenance of AI services. It is only natural that companies that invest Billions of Dollars want a return on that investment. It does not necessarily have to be directly monetary, but some form of return is expected by most.
That is one reason why companies like Microsoft or Google plaster AI all over their services. It feels a bit like playing around with ideas to see which stick and which do not.
Windows 11 users, for example, get AI baked into plenty of native tools that were previously simple and straightforward. Think Notepad or Paint as two good examples.
Dynamic backgrounds could soon be another area of testing. Windows enthusiast Phantom of Earth discovered the feature, noting that it would be powered by artificial intelligence (what else..).
According to Phantom of Earth’s post on X, the feature will change the background automatically based on the user’s selection. Little is know about it at this stage and it is not really clear why AI is needed to change the backgrounds dynamically.
Dynamic backgrounds are not anything new. Some platforms or apps support changing the background based on the time of day or the weather condition, among other parameters.
It is too early to tell if Microsoft did add AI just for the sake of having another feature with AI that it can advertise, or if the artificial intelligence is adding functionality that could not be implemented without it.
Should you accept Microsoft’s offer to join Windows 10 ESU for free?
Windows 10 is running out of support in a few months. Home users get an option to extend support by a year. Up until now, that meant paying Microsoft around $40 to join ESU on a Windows 10 PC.
Microsoft revealed two new options recently. The first lets Windows 10 users buy the extension with Rewards points. These can be earned when you use Edge, search on Bing, or complete some basic tasks that Microsoft displays regularly.
The second option has users use the Windows Backup tool to push files to the cloud.
Are these good options? It depends. If you have the Rewards points, then you may very well use them to get the extra year of support without having to pay for that privilege.
Using the Windows Backup tool is another story. It pushes files and settings to the OneDrive cloud. It is unclear if you need a full backup to get the extra year of support or if a custom backup is sufficient as well.
If you get a say, the option is fine as you could simple pick data that has little or no meaning to you. A full backup, on the other hand, pushes quite a bit of data into Microsoft’s cloud. While you could delete it once it is there and you got the support extension, you might want to avoid pushing files to the cloud that are important or sensitive in nature.
You may want to wait until users test the option and report back on how it went for them.
News
Operating Systems
Windows 11 has taken over the coveted number one desktop operating systems spot, just month before the official end of support for Windows 10 (at least to one company that releases the stats) Link
Which version of the Windows operating system is your favorite version? Mine is Windows 7, with the latest service pack of course. A new concept video showcases a mix of classic Windows versions. Would you use such a system?
Microsoft released the security updates for Windows and other company systems for July 2025. Several critical issues are fixed. Make sure you create a backup before you upgrade though. Link
Windows 11, version 25H2 is getting a new policy that enables admins to remove native apps from user systems. Link
Microsoft changed the System Restore limit from 90 days to just 60 days in the latest Windows 11 version.
Mobile
Samsung announced several new or improved security features of One UI 8 today. Here is a quick overview:
Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection, creates encrypted app-specific storage environments to limit access to sensitive information.
Personal Data Engine, secures a user’s “deeply personal insights” for Galaxy AI.
Knox Matrix adds a new security feature that will block access to the Samsung cloud on devices that are flagged for security risks.
Post-Quantum Enhanced Dat Protection for Secure Wi-Fi. Link
Browser
Microsoft claims that it has improved its Edge browser significantly in the past 12 months. Loading times are reduced “by an average of 40%” and 13 browser Features are more responsive than before. Link
Microsoft Edge is also getting a new warning feature for compromised passwords. Useful, if you use the built-in password manager as it will warn you if one of your usernames or passwords were found in known data breaches. Link
Mozilla published a new version of Firefox Stable this week. Firefox 140.0.4 Stable is a non-security update that fixes two issues (incorrect font selection, search results not updating in Developer Tool’s debugger). Link
Security researchers have uncovered dozens of malicious Firefox extensions in the Mozilla Firefox add-ons store that were designed to steal cryptocurrency wallet credentials. Link
The same researchers uncovered a malicious malware campaign using 18 Chrome extensions and over 2.3 million installs as well. Link
Vivaldi 7.5 has been released this week. Brings new customization options and an improved ad blocker, among other new features. Link
Privacy and Security
Google Gemini will soon have more access on Android devices, including to WhatsApp. You can prevent the AI app from having that access, but need to become active to do so. Link
Software and Services
7-Zip 25.00 is now available. Highlights are performance improvements for certain operations, and that vulnerabilities are fixed (not specified further). Link
Notepad on Windows is getting formatting options. Yay.. Link
OneDrive users who get blank search results are asked to turn it off and on again to fix the issue temporarily. Link
Thunderbird 140.0 ESR is now also available. The extended support release has reached feature parity with Thunderbird 140 Stable, but this will change in the coming months, as new features do not get integrated into ESR releases other than when they make the big version jump. You can check out the full release notes here. Link
Gaming and Entertainment
Amazon is killing the Freevee app. Main reason is that Prime Video contains ads now as well, and that there is little need for a separate app that offers the same. Link
EA announced the shutting down of Anthem servers. So, if you bought the game and still play it, you have until January 12, 2026 to do so. Afterwards, Anthem is gone. Link
Is Microsoft turning Xbox into a PC console? Microsoft sure seems heading this way, with all the recent layoffs and changes. Link
AI
Intel plans to refresh its Arrow Lake Desktop series of processors to include an improved NPU, one of the requirements for getting the coveted Copilot+ PCs label. This would unlock support for desktop PCs and pave the way for bringing the AI features that are available only to laptop users currently to the desktop. Link
Open Source browser extension OpenDIA tries to bring what The Browser Company’s new browser DIA offers to existing browsers. Link
Hardware
Other
Google is facing antitrust complaints from publishers in the EU over its AI Overviews feature. Link
Did I miss something of importance this week? Let me and everyone else know in the comments!