Articles from August 2025
Browse all Windows news articles published in August 2025
August Windows 11 24H2 Update Brings AI Productivity Tools, Enterprise Backup, and Secure Boot Certificate Deadline
Microsoft’s August non‑security preview for Windows 11, version 24H2—KB5064081 (OS Build 26100.5074)—arrived Friday packing a suite of staged AI features, the general availability of Windows...
Microsoft Flags ‘Restore-Capable’ Windows 11 Devices with Sneaky +1 App Version in MDM Enrollments
A subtle but pivotal change in the way older Windows 11 devices report their software version during mobile device management (MDM) enrollment could determine whether a device glides through...
Windows 11 24H2 NTLMv1 SSO Block Enforces in 2026—Audit Now
Microsoft will flip a default switch in October 2026 that blocks single sign-on requests relying on NTLMv1-derived cryptography in Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025. The change is gated by a...
Microsoft's MAI-Voice-1 Generates 60 Seconds of Audio in Under a Second, Alongside New Text Model
Sixty seconds of natural-sounding speech, generated in less time than it takes to blink. That’s the headline claim Microsoft is making with MAI-Voice-1, a new speech synthesis model unveiled this...
Pentagon Axes China-Based Microsoft Engineers from DoD Cloud, Orders Audit
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered an immediate halt to Microsoft’s use of China-based engineers for all Department of Defense cloud support, marking a dramatic escalation in the U.S....
No Mass SSD Bricking in August Patch, Says Microsoft, but Rare Edge Cases Endure
Microsoft and SSD controller vendor Phison have both concluded that the August 2025 cumulative update for Windows 11 did not trigger a platform-wide epidemic of dead drives, but the storm of...
6 PowerToys Utilities That Make Windows' File Explorer Finally Work Like a Pro Tool
Windows File Explorer remains the most-used desktop utility on the planet, yet its gaps – limited file previews, clumsy bulk renaming, and cryptic “file in use” errors – have driven legions...
RefreshOS 2.5 Mixes Desktop Toolkits on Debian 12.11 — But Ditches Snap and Flatpak
RefreshOS 2.5, a Debian-based distribution from eXybit Technologies, is making waves by deliberately pairing KDE Plasma 5.27 with a grab bag of apps from Cinnamon, MATE, LXDE, Xfce and Deepin — and...
Windows 11 24H2 Cursor Vanishing? Reset to 'beam_r' and Other Proven Fixes
When the mouse pointer vanishes in Windows 11 24H2, especially inside text fields in Chrome or Edge, the culprit is often a bug that shipped with Microsoft’s latest feature update. The cursor...
Linuxfx NOBLE ships August 29 with Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS and kernel 6.14 for aging PCs
Released on August 29, 2025, Linuxfx’s latest “NOBLE” version aims squarely at the millions of Windows 10 PCs facing end-of-life by dressing Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS in a Windows‑like coat and...
Adobe Telemetry Service LogTransport2 Causes Windows 11 Shutdown Hangs—Here’s the Fix
A small but infuriating error window that stalls Windows 11 shutdowns has been traced to Adobe’s LogTransport2.exe, a telemetry component bundled with Creative Cloud and Acrobat. PCWorld’s Alaina...
Microsoft's MAI-Voice-1 Brings Freakishly Expressive Multi-Speaker AI to Copilot Labs
Microsoft has dropped an audacious experiment into the Copilot Labs playground, and early testers are reporting that its synthetic speech doesn't just read words—it performs them. The model behind...