Tag: #windows11

Microsoft to bring Voice Clarity to all Windows desktops

We are expanding Voice Clarity which has been available on Surface devices and making it available to more people. Voice Clarity is a feature that enhances your audio experience on Windows with state-of-the-art AI technology. Powered by low complexity AI models, Voice Clarity cancels echo, suppresses background noise, and reduces reverberation in real-time. This feature is enabled by default and can be utilized by applications using Communications Signal Processing Mode, such as Phone Link and WhatsApp. No additional hardware is required, as Voice Clarity is supported on x64 and Arm64 CPUs. Apps which use Communications Signal Processing Mode do not need any additional modifications and Voice Clarity will work for them automatically when the OEM device does not offer Communications Mode processing. Similarly, PC games that use Communications Signal Processing Mode for their online communications will also benefit from Voice Clarity. Applications can provide a toggle for the Deep Noise Suppression stream effect to switch between AI models for voice only communications (Deep Noise Suppression enabled, the default setting) and generic audio content (Deep Noise Suppression disabled). With Voice Clarity, you can have confidence that your voice will be clearly heard during online meetings and enjoy smoother and more effective online communications.

This is currently available as an Insider Preview in the Canary Channel.


How to not make things worse

Dear Microsoft. Here is a list of things I want the Start Menu to do:

* Show my installed programs
* Search my local files
* Provide access to system settings

Here is a list of things I do *not* want the Start Menu to do:

* Show the weather for a randomly-selected town near my network’s public IP infrastructure
* Show tabloid headlines
* Show programs I *don’t* have installed
* Search the web via Bing
* Show adverts(!)
* Attempt to engage me in conversation with a hallucinating LLM

Thanks.

Garath Halfacree on Mastodon

Windows 11 maintains itself well. If you just put the machine to sleep it takes care of everything.

The only work I have to do now is to roll back all the junk that Microsoft adds to Windows. Bing was the first victim, then Edge, now Windows itself.

Copilot in Windows 11 nutzen

Microsoft sagt, ich muss nur Windows-C drücken, um Copilot zu nutzen. Das funktioniert aber nicht, weil es in der EU anscheinend noch nicht aktiviert ist.

Aber es ist nicht schwierig, das selbst nachzurüsten. Voraussetzung: Windows 11 22H2 mit aktuellem Update. Dann einfach einen Shortcut anlegen mit diesem Inhalt:

microsoft-edge://?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar

Shortcut irgendwo hinlegen und fertig ist der Copilot.

MSN feed to be gone

Microsoft has announced that an update later this year will enable the ability to disable the MSN feed in the widgets board on Windows 11, offering different layouts including one that’s “widgets only”.

Ever since Microsoft introduced the widgets in Windows 11, they have shot themselves in the foot with their horrible, curated newsfeed from MSN. The only way to get rid of it is to disable widgets completely.

My feeling is that Microsoft should axe MSN completely and forever. Just shut the whole thing down. It’s not only polluting Windows but Edge as well.

Phone Link for iOS soon on Windows 11

Today, we are excited to announce that Microsoft Phone Link for iOS on Windows 11 is beginning to rollout to our global audience in 39 languages across 85 markets.  We recently announced that Windows 11 was expanding our Phone Link feature to enable the connection between a Windows 11 PC and an iOS mobile device with the goal of removing barriers between your phone and PC and making it easier to connect to the people you care about most.

The iOS app is already available, and Microsoft is collecting negative reviews in the App Store because the Windows app has not yet been updated. Currently it only support Android and I am using it with the vivo 90 Pro.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll begin to see this feature become available on your PC. 

More >

Wenn Microsoft Edge lästig wird

So sieht die New Page von Edge aus, wie Microsoft sich das bei Windows Home vorstellt. Man kann diese Seite nicht abstellen, sondern man kann sie nur “konfigurieren”. Es gibt einen Registry-Eintrag und eine Group Policy, um eine leere Seite zu erzwingen. 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"NewTabPageLocation"="about:blank"

Aber das funktioniert nicht. Warum nicht?

This policy is available only on Windows instances that are joined to a Microsoft Active Directory domain, Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise instances that enrolled for device management, or macOS instances that are that are managed via MDM or joined to a domain via MCX.

Windows Home Nutzer sind also in jedem Fall gelackmeiert. Aber auch ein Rechner mit Windows Pro erlaubt diese Verbesserung nicht. Was man gerade noch so schafft, steckt in diesem Registry Key:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"NewTabPageContentEnabled"=dword:00000000
"NewTabPageLocation"="about:blank"

Das Hintergrundbild gefällt mir. Deshalb bleibt es drin. Was mir nicht gefällt, ist das Bing-Eingabefeld (Ich nutze DuckDuckGo) und die naseweisen Notifications, von denen man aktuell keine sieht.

Windows Pro kann man jedoch vormachen, dass es in einem Device Management steckt. Das geht mit diesen Registry Keys:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF] 
"EnrollmentState"=dword:00000001 
"EnrollmentType"=dword:00000000 
"IsFederated"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Provisioning\OMADM\Accounts\FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF]
"Flags"=dword:00d6fb7f
"AcctUId"="0x000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
"RoamingCount"=dword:00000000
"SslClientCertReference"="MY;User;0000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
"ProtoVer"="1.2"

Und schon haben wir in Microsoft Edge auf Microsoft Windows 11 Pro eine leere Seite. Der Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 kam mit Windows 11 Pro und da kann ich das jetzt so genießen:

Warum der Handstand? Wenn ich den Browser öffne, habe ich meistens bereits irgendwas im Kopf und will das nicht durch das ersetzen, was Microsoft mir aufdrängt. Focus is everything.

Ole hat eine andere Lösung vorgeschlagen. Wenn schon Inhalt, dann wenigstens ein schöner: New Tab with MoMA.

Windows Subsystem for Linux released

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment — including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications — directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual boot setup.

Installing WSL through the store will allow you to get the latest WSL updates and features faster, and without needing to modify your Windows version. To learn more please visit https://aka.ms/wsldocs

Windows Dictation

Diese Funktion habe ich viel zu lange ignoriert. Man drückt einfach die Tastenkombination Windows-H. Und schon kann man einfach in das Mikrofon sprechen und Windows übersetzt die Sprache in Text. Zwischen verschiedenen Sprachen kann man umschalten, wenn man für jede Sprache ein Keyboard definiert hat. Die Tastenkombination Windows-Leertaste wechselt bei mir zwischen Deutsch und Englisch. Dieser gesamte Text ist durch Diktieren entstanden.