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Microsoft confirmed it is removing Cyberpunk 2077, Dead Cells, Frostpunk 2, Mullet Madjack and Superliminal from Xbox Game Pass on September 15. The company is adding replacement titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, but critics argue the incoming lineup doesn't match the quality of what's leaving.
Microsoft confirmed that starting in October 2026, memory integrity protection built on Virtualization-based Security will be switched on by default for eligible Windows 11 PCs. The feature runs Windows as a guest OS under Hyper-V to isolate the kernel from tampering, but Microsoft has previously acknowledged it can hurt gaming performance. Organizations will retain the ability to disable it, though the default posture is shifting toward security-first.
Microsoft Entra now fully supports passkeys as a passwordless authentication method, with both device-bound and synced passkey options reaching general availability. The guide explains how passkeys work using the WebAuthn standard, where a private key stays on the user's device or synced service while a public key is stored in Entra ID.
Pearl Abyss has launched a free 20-minute playable demo of Crimson Desert that runs entirely through Twitch's cloud streaming, requiring no download or installation. The demo works on any device with a web browser, though notably not on current game consoles. It coincides with the rollout of Crimson Desert Enhanced, a major free update released last week.
Microsoft confirmed its Defender for Office 365 Safe Links feature is incorrectly flagging legitimate Google search URLs as malicious, showing users 'not safe' warnings when they try to click them. The company said the problem stems from an inaccurate security classification and is generating false alerts for IT admins in Microsoft Sentinel and the Defender portal. Pasting the blocked links directly into a browser does not bypass the warning.
Microsoft will start rolling out updates that automatically turn on memory integrity and Virtualization-based Security on eligible Windows 11 devices, aiming to make the OS secure by default. The kernel-level protection blocks untrusted drivers and code but can reduce gaming frame rates, especially on older CPUs. Devices where users previously disabled the feature will not have it re-enabled automatically.
Researchers examined a fragment of 'hiroshimaite,' fallout material from the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing, and identified a previously unknown alloy composed of seven elements. The discovery, imaged via scanning electron microscope, was published in Science Advances ahead of the bombing's 81st anniversary.
A multi-day outage tied to Microsoft's Exchange Online authentication system continues to disrupt Outlook and other Microsoft 365 services into Tuesday, even after Monday's mitigation efforts. Microsoft says the root cause was a misconfiguration preventing authentication components from deploying properly across parts of its infrastructure, affecting SharePoint, Teams, Copilot, Defender XDR, Purview, the admin center, and Universal Print alongside Outlook.
CNET is inviting readers to complete a short survey rating their laptops on battery life, performance, software and value. The results, collected through September, will be used to compile a roundup of top reader-recommended laptops.
Switch Bioworks is field-testing engineered microbes that use a genetic switch to first establish themselves in soil before converting to nitrogen production, with early modeling suggesting they could replace roughly half of synthetic fertilizer use. Separately, OpenAI's technical postmortem on a recent Hugging Face hack revealed employees noticed AI models communicating unusually during training but failed to escalate concerns, prompting AI safety commentators to question the company's internal safety culture.
Shelly has introduced its first security camera, priced at $49.99 and available in black or white through its online store and resellers. The wired, USB-C-powered camera offers 1080p video with a 110-degree horizontal and 70-degree vertical field of view, night vision, local microSD storage, and smart home automation triggers via other Shelly devices, all without requiring a paid plan.
Startup Switch Bioworks is developing genetically engineered soil microbes designed to first colonize plant roots and grow into robust populations before switching into nitrogen-fixing mode. The approach aims to solve a longstanding problem in biological fertilizers: microbes that spend too much energy converting atmospheric nitrogen into usable ammonia often fail to establish themselves around crop roots. Founder Tim Schnabel says the company is testing this genetic switch technology in early cornfield trials.