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Microsoft August 2025 Patch Tuesday fixes one zero-day, 107 flaws

Today is Microsoft's August 2025 Patch Tuesday, which includes security updates for 107 flaws, including one publicly disclosed zero-day vulnerability in Windows Kerberos. This Patch Tuesday also fixes thirteen "Critical" vulnerabilities, nine of which are remote code execution vulnerabilities, three are information disclosure, and one is elevation of privileges. The number of bugs in each vulnerability category is listed below: 44 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities 35 Remote Code Execut

Microsoft's new update makes your taskbar a productivity hub - here's how

Microsoft / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways Microsoft has released new "lightweight" companion taskbar apps. Companion apps launch when you start your computer. The apps include People, File Search, and Calendar. Microsoft will be pushing an update to your work computer soon, and it might actually be fairly useful. A series of new lightweight Microsoft apps is on the way, but you'll be able to launch them straight from your taskbar. Also: 5 free Windows PC apps I always

Apple's rumored live translation feature for AirPods could be coming with iOS 26

Apple's AirPods could be getting a live translation feature in the near future as part of iOS 26, according to a report by 9to5Mac . A new beta version of the operating system dropped today and users have spotted a system asset that strongly points to the earbuds getting a language translation tool. The asset appears to depict a gesture that's triggered by pressing both earbud stems at once. The image shows a pair of AirPods surrounded by words in various languages, like English, French, German

Microsoft releases lightweight Office taskbar apps for Windows 11

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is starting to roll out lightweight taskbar apps for Microsoft 365 users on Windows 11. These taskbar apps will automatically launch at startup and provide quick access to contacts, file search, and calendar straight from the Windows taskbar. The Microsoft 365 companion apps, as

The History of Windows XP

Microsoft is an interesting company. It is a company whose omnipresence shapes the perception of its products. By the end of the 1990s, Microsoft’s products had become part of the landscape of life. Any change to any product would stir overreaction whether it be positive or negative, and some time later, that same product would just be quotidian, and the next release would be the problem of the world or the cure to all ills. The previous release would then be the single most loved and cherished

GitHub will be folded into Microsoft proper as CEO steps down

Microsoft has owned GitHub since 2018, but the widely used developer platform has operated with at least a little independence from the rest of the company, with its own separate CEO and other executives. But it looks like GitHub will be more fully folded into Microsoft's org chart starting next year—GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced today that he would be leaving GitHub and Microsoft "to become a founder again." "GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s

How Boom uses software to accelerate hardware development

First in a series on lessons learned at Boom on how to develop hardware quickly and efficiently XB-1 is the world’s first independently-developed supersonic jet, breaking the sound barrier for the first time in January, 2025. It was designed, built, and flown successfully by a team of just 50 people—compared to the hundreds or even thousands that would have been employed by a traditional big aerospace company. And we did this with roughly a tenth of the budget that would traditionally be requir

GitHub just got less independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is moving GitHub even more closely into its CoreAI team, following the resignation of GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke today. After nearly four years as CEO, Dohmke is leaving GitHub to “become a startup founder again,” and pursue opportunities outside of Microsoft and GitHub. GitHub has

Microsoft tests cloud-based Windows 365 disaster recovery PCs

Microsoft has announced the limited public preview of Windows 365 Reserve, a service that provides temporary desktop access to pre-configured cloud PCs for employees whose computers have become unavailable due to cyberattacks, hardware issues, or software problems. Windows 365 Reserve provides up to 10 days of access per user annually to these cloud-based Windows 365 disaster recovery PCs, enabling organizations to mitigate productivity issues during outages without requiring physical replaceme

GitHub is no longer independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is moving GitHub into its CoreAI team, following the resignation of GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke today. After nearly four years as CEO, Dohmke is leaving GitHub to “become a startup founder again,” and pursue opportunities outside of Microsoft and GitHub. GitHub has operated as a sep

GitHub CEO to step down

In Brief GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced on Monday that he’s stepping down from his role. Dohmke will remain at the Microsoft-owned company until the end of the year, after which he will depart to become “a founder again,” he wrote in a blog post. Axios reports that Microsoft will not directly replace the position, and that GitHub leadership will now report to several Microsoft executives. “With more than 1B repos and forks, and over 150 million developers, GitHub has never been stronger t

GitHub is no longer independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is moving GitHub into its CoreAI team, following the resignation of GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke today. After nearly four years as CEO, Dohmke is leaving GitHub to “become a startup founder again,” and pursue opportunities outside of Microsoft and GitHub. GitHub has operated as a sep

Microsoft to shut down Lens and push users to Copilot - but you have other options

Microsoft / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways Microsoft Lens retires in stages, ending scans by Dec. 15, 2025. 365 Copilot app offers scanning but with fewer features. Adobe Scan, PhotoScan, TurboScan are solid Lens alternatives. I often use Microsoft Lens on my iPhone to scan photos, business cards, and documents. It's a handy and helpful app for scanning physical items. But come December, I'll have to rely on a different program for my scanning needs. That's because Micro

Designing Software in the Large

Designing Software in the Large Software75 Jul 22, 2025 – Filed as: A Philosophy of Software Design is my favorite book I’ve read to date about designing large long-lived maintainable software programs. Here’s what I learned: Complexity Complexity is anything related to the structure of a software system that makes it hard to understand & modify the system. Symptoms of complexity: Change Amplification - A seemingly simple change requires code modifications in many different places. High Cog

Over 29,000 Exchange servers unpatched against high-severity flaw

Over 29,000 Exchange servers exposed online remain unpatched against a high-severity vulnerability that can let attackers move laterally in Microsoft cloud environments, potentially leading to complete domain compromise. The security flaw (tracked as CVE-2025-53786) helps threat actors who gain administrative access to on-premises Exchange servers to escalate privileges within the organization's connected cloud environment by forging or manipulating trusted tokens or API calls, without leaving

What Does Palantir Actually Do?

Palantir is arguably one of the most notorious corporations in contemporary America. Cofounded by libertarian tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the software firm's work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the US Department of Defense, and the Israeli military has sparked numerous protests in multiple countries. Palantir has been so infamous for so long that, for some people, its name has become a cultural shorthand for dystopian surveillance. But a number of former Palantir employees tell WIR

SoftBank founder Son makes his biggest bet by staking the Japanese giant's future on AI

Masayoshi Son is making his biggest bet yet: that his brainchild SoftBank will be the center of a revolution driven by artificial intelligence. Son says artificial superintelligence (ASI) — AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans — will be here in 10 years. It's a bold call — but perhaps not surprising. He's made a career out of big plays; notably, one was a $20 million investment into Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba in 2000 that has made billions for SoftBank. Now, the billionaire is hop

How to Use Parallels to Run Windows on a Mac

While Apple is very keen that its macOS software is only ever run on Macs, there are numerous options for doing the opposite and running Windows on Apple computers. If you're a developer, or need access to both Windows and Mac apps, or simply want the flexibility of two operating systems, this isn't too difficult to set up with the right tools. The option we'll cover here is Parallels Desktop for Mac. This is certainly not the cheapest of your options, but it is fully authorized and legal, as w

Ubisoft may have prematurely revealed FX's TV adaptation of Far Cry

A post on Ubisoft's news page reportedly announced that FX is working on a TV show adaptation of the Far Cry franchise. The page has since been taken down and entering the website redirects to Ubisoft's landing page for company news. However, several Redditors have been circulating what they saw in the press release. According to the alleged Ubisoft post, the Far Cry franchise adaptation will be an "anthology drama" where "each season will be set in a new world with a different cast of characte

How To Use Parallels to Run Windows on a Mac

While Apple is very keen that its macOS software is only ever run on Macs, there are numerous options for doing the opposite and running Windows on Apple computers. If you're a developer, or need access to both Windows and Mac apps, or simply want the flexibility of two operating systems, this isn't too difficult to set up with the right tools. The option we'll cover here is Parallels Desktop for Mac. This is certainly not the cheapest of your options, but it is fully authorized and legal, as w

Microsoft's Clippy Crocs Might Be the World's Weirdest Pair of Shoes

Crocs are an infamously ugly shoe style that was once named to Time's list of the 50 worst inventions. Clippy is an annoying animated paperclip from Microsoft that once made that same list. So maybe it's fate that the two much-mocked products are teaming up for a pair of limited-edition Crocs the wearer can deck out with a smiling Clippy accessory. According to The Verge, the Crocs are part of Microsoft's celebration of its 50th anniversary, and are right now only available for preorder by Micr

One of Microsoft’s best-rated mobile apps is bowing out soon

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Microsoft Lens PDF scanner will be retired on Android and iOS later this year. The phase-out begins in September, with scanning disabled after December 15, 2025. Microsoft is pushing users toward its 365 Copilot app, which lacks some Lens features. One of Microsoft’s most popular mobile utilities is heading for the chopping block. The Lens PDF scanner has long been a go-to for quickly turning documents and whiteboards into shareable files. Neverthele

Microsoft will soon discontinue its excellent PDF Scanner app

Bad news if you rely on Microsoft’s Lens: PDF Scanner app for your PDF scanning needs. The company has announced that the app will be discontinued in the coming months, and is recommending users switch to its Copilot app instead. The app will stop working mid-December Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it will be “retiring the Microsoft Lens mobile app for iOS and Android in a phased approach starting September 15, 2025”. According to the company, it will disable new installs of the app in m

RIP, Microsoft Lens, a simple little app that’s getting replaced by AI

Sometimes, it’s nice to have a simple app that does one thing well without a lot of fuss. Microsoft Lens was that type of app: a mobile document scanner that turned paper documents, business cards, receipts, and anything else into easily readable digital files. Now, that app is being discontinued, Microsoft says, as it directs its users to its Copilot AI chat app instead. According to a new support document, Lens will be retired from iOS and Android devices starting on September 15, 2025, then

A decade later, Windows is still bringing Control Panel features to the Settings app

Microsoft has tried to dumb down its Control Panel with a simple UI over the years, rather than a list of options, but there’s still a number of settings that don’t exist in the new PC Settings app. “Why do I have to go the PC settings to forget a network and Control panel to change IP settings? Can’t this all be done from a single place?” It’s a fair criticism, and one that Microsoft should look to address with Windows 10.

Sam Altman says he doesn’t think about Elon Musk that much

Sam Altman has dismissed longtime rival Elon Musk's warnings that OpenAI is set to dominate Microsoft, after the companies announced that OpenAI's latest AI model will be incorporated into Microsoft products. On Thursday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that OpenAI's GPT-5 service would be launching across platforms including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Azure AI Foundry — prompting a response from Musk that "OpenAI is going to eat Microsoft alive." Nadella sought

Ask Engadget: What are my options when Windows 10 support ends on October 14?

Q: I'm hearing that Microsoft is pulling the plug on Windows 10 later this year. What does that mean for my current Windows 10 PC, and what are my options? A: Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, a little over 10 years after the operating system was released. While you can continue to use Windows 10 PCs after that date — and it's understandable why, I gave it a glowing review at launch — you'll no longer receive any customer support, security updates or any

SoftBank reportedly bought Foxconn’s Ohio factory for the Stargate AI project

The mystery buyer of the former General Motors factory owned by Foxconn in Lordstown, Ohio is apparently SoftBank, according to Bloomberg News. SoftBank wants to use the factory to build AI servers as part of the Stargate data center project being spearheaded by the Japanese conglomerate, OpenAI, and Oracle. The report comes just a few days after Foxconn announced it had sold the factory, along with electric vehicle manufacturing equipment that was inside of it, to a buyer it only referred to a

The Windows 10 emoji picker has been broken for a month

The Windows 10 emoji picker has been broken for a month August 8, 2025 On July 8th, Microsoft released update KB5062554 to the world. It contains no documented changes or features. This update broke the emoji panel’s search functionality for all Windows 10 users. The broken grammar isn't the bug, that's just... how it is The emoji panel (accessed with Win + .) is the official way of typing emojis on Windows. I’m sure many users don’t know it exists. It’s hardly discoverable, and most desktop

The First Xbox Handheld Could Be Coming Sooner Than You Think

Microsoft may be ready to announce an official release date for its long-awaited Xbox handheld (or at least, the one that’s not actually being made by Xbox). The most recent reliable leaks suggest the Asus ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X will hit the scene in October, with Microsoft planning to share pricing and preorder info later this month. The end of the year is shaping up to be open season for handheld PCs, though I’m still biting my bottom lip to get used to the sting of what may be very expensiv