Microsoft will let you pause Windows Updates indefinitely, 35 days at a time
… Microsoft is also “unifying the update experience” to bunch together updates so users don’t have to reboot as frequently. …
Search
Microsoft is finally ditching the junk MSN feed in Windows widgets
… Hopefully it will make widgets in Windows a more useful part of the operating system, instead of something that many users have avoided. The changes are part of Microsoft’s ongoing effort to improve Windows 11. …
TikTok is letting UK users pay to remove ads
… TikTok says that users who don’t sign up for the new subscription will still receive personalized ads, and the core platform experience otherwise “won’t change” for paid or free users. …
Venmo finally takes privacy seriously
… The changes are in service of getting users “more visibility and control over what they share because for us it’s critical that they actually have trust in the Venmo experience,” Alexis Sowa, the SVP and GM of Venmo, tells The Verge. …
Microsoft tests redesigned Windows 11 Run menu with dark mode and more
… In a blog post explaining the changes, Microsoft says it decided to drop the Run menu’s “Browse” button — a shortcut to user files — after finding “very low usage.” Instead, Microsoft added support for a new “~\” command, which leads to your user directory. …
OpenAI’s big Codex update is a direct shot at Claude Code
… For developers, OpenAI says, “this is helpful for testing and iterating on frontend changes, testing apps, or working in apps that don’t expose an API.” The feature will start rolling out to Codex desktop app users signed in with ChatGPT today and will initially be limited to macOS. …
Microsoft’s new Xbox shake-up is all about platform changes
… Kevin Gammill, corporate vice president of Xbox user experience, is also stepping down after nearly 20 years at Microsoft. “He has dedicated more than 15 years to Xbox and will support the transition,” says Sharma. “I’m grateful for his leadership and everything he has built here.” Jason Ronald, vi… …
Some of Xteink’s credit card-sized e-readers are losing their best feature
… The support statement claims some users experienced crashes and other issues after installing third-party firmware, even after reverting to the stock firmware: Previously, we noticed that some users who tried using third-party firmware encountered problems such as poor optimization, frequent crashe… …
Google’s AI search summaries will now quote Reddit
… These are intended to be related to the user’s query, but not necessarily the answer they’re looking for, such as linking users to blogs about touring guides and training suggestions when searching for information about cycling routes. …
Meta’s historic loss in court could cost a lot more than $375 million
… Those changes include adding age verification for New Mexico users, prohibiting end-to-end encryption for users under 18 and capping their use to 90 hours per month, limiting engagement-boosting features like infinite scroll and autoplay, and requiring Meta to detect 99 percent of new child sexual … …