The southern lights, also known as the aurora australis, were captured by the NASA astronaut Jessica Meir from the International Space Station on Saturday.
Compare NotebookLM with Notion, Obsidian, Recall, Atlas, and Open Notebook to find the best AI research and knowledge management tool for your workflow.
The four astronauts named to the Artemis 3 crew are all male, but NASA officials emphasized they were selected based on their qualifications and experience.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the world’s largest infrastructure development program, is generating enormous greenhouse gas emissions that threaten global climate goals. Two comprehensive new studies reveal that more than half of the program’s carbon footprint comes from a single source: steel production, with the vast majority manufactured within China itself.
The Belt and Road Initiative spans over 130 countries and involves massive construction projects including highways, railways, ports, and power plants across Asia, Africa, and Europe. While these infrastructure developments promise economic growth and connectivity, the environmental cost is staggering. The steel required for bridges, buildings, and transportation networks carries an enormous carbon burden, as steel production is one of the most energy-intensive and polluting industrial processes.
The research highlights a critical challenge in global climate action: even as countries commit to reducing emissions, mega-infrastructure projects continue pumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Steel manufacturing typically relies on coal-fired furnaces and generates substantial emissions both from energy consumption and chemical processes that release CO2 directly from raw materials.
Addressing this climate impact will require fundamental changes in how infrastructure projects approach materials and manufacturing. The studies emphasize that stronger environmental regulations and major investments in cleaner steel production technologies are essential. Without these shifts toward low-carbon manufacturing methods, large-scale construction projects will continue undermining global efforts to limit temperature rise and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
NASA's Artemis 3 mission in 2027 looks to be one of agency's most complicated missions ever, with three giant rocket launches and two private moon lander prototypes that haven't been built yet.
In the literature related to the powerful entheogen dimethyltriptamine (DMT), it is often reported that individuals claim to have had encounters with what they perceived as non-human entities during their DMT experiences. Descriptions related to these powerful visionary experiences range from what some describe as insect-like forms and machine-like intelligences, to what some describe as conscious entities associated with intricate geometries.
For years, many researchers have regarded these reports purely as hallucinations generated by the human brain while under the influence of the psychedelic compound. However, past studies have never directly tested whether these reported entities could represent something other than internally generated hallucinations.
Now, a recent preprint paper outlines a path toward testing this assumption experimentally.
The research was led by Professor Emeritus Donald Hoffman, founder of the Trace Institute, and Dr. Andrew Gallimore, a neurobiologist and pharmacologist at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and head of Noonautics. The preprint is currently awaiting peer review.
A Problem With a Default Answer
According to some figures, as many as 45% of the individuals who take a sufficient dose of DMT report experiences involving non-human beings. People describe these entities as intelligent and autonomous, and report similar experiences across different cultures and backgrounds.
Typical hallucinations tend to draw on material from memory, such as familiar faces, animals, or places. By contrast, encounters with other humans appear in less than 5% of DMT encounters.
The authors of the new preprint study argue that these reports are difficult to reconcile with conventional accounts of pure hallucination and that the consistency of reports regardless of culture, location, belief systems, and other factors warrants deeper investigation.
A Framework Built on Conscious Realism
The project draws on Hoffman’s theory of conscious realism, which proposes that interacting conscious agents fundamentally constitute reality. In this framework, the physical world as humans perceive it functions more like a user interface than a direct view of objective reality. According to this theory, conscious agents of varying levels of complexity may exist beyond what humans normally perceive and go unnoticed in everyday life.
The researchers propose that DMT changes the perceptual interface, allowing consciousness to access regions where normal perceptual constraints are absent. In these regions, it may be possible to detect traces of other conscious agents. Hoffman says the project “will provide a new framework for exploring the effects of psychoactive substances such as DMT on the structure and function of spacetime.”
The Protocol That Makes Testing Possible
Testing these ideas has become possible due to past work involving technical development by Gallimore and researcher Rick Strassman. Typically, a DMT experience lasts only three to five minutes, which is not long enough for structured experiments. The extended-state DMT protocol, called DMTx, uses a controlled intravenous infusion to maintain a stable experience for up to an hour, allowing researchers to adjust the dosage as required.
That controllable window makes experimentation possible. “With a theoretical foundation for the highly unusual state of consciousness induced by DMT, we can test these theories experimentally,” Gallimore says.
Experiments Built to Fail
The proposed experiments are designed so that if the external-agent hypothesis is incorrect, the results will be negative. In one protocol, a computer in a sealed room randomly displays either blue or yellow, and a subject under DMTx attempts to learn the hidden color by interacting with an entity. Another experiment involves two isolated subjects under DMTx who try to transmit a random word to each other through a shared entity, a process that would be difficult to explain solely in terms of internal brain mechanisms.
The researchers acknowledge several limitations. Cooperation from entities cannot be guaranteed, results depend on subjective reports, and expectation bias is difficult to rule out. The preprint continues to treat the hallucination model as the default explanation for these entities. What distinguishes this work is that the hypothesis is now formulated in a way that allows for experimental testing.
“This collaboration is a first step to a mathematics of altered states of consciousness and, ultimately, for engineering our perceptual interface to expand our view of reality,” Gallimore says.
Hoffman and Gallimore will discuss the research publicly on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at the Lighthouse Campus at the historic Venice Beach Post Office in Los Angeles, with video to follow on YouTube.
Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.
Across the stories today, a common thread emerges: the growing gap between urgent environmental realities and the systems—political, economic, and social—struggling to keep pace with change.
This tension plays out most starkly in the realm of climate health impacts. New research warns that heat-related hospitalizations could double by 2040, while a super El Niño threatens to deepen global economic inequality through cascading climate disruptions. Behind the numbers are real communities adapting in real time. In Pacoima, a working-class Los Angeles neighborhood sandwiched between highways and heavy industry, residents like Jose Luis Salas are mounting their own defense against air pollution, installing shoebox-sized monitoring devices that track what they breathe daily.
Yet the day’s coverage also points to growing momentum around practical solutions gaining real traction. Solar energy quietly surpassed coal in U.S. electricity generation for the first time this May—a milestone that arrived not through grand announcements but through the steady accumulation of rooftop panels and utility-scale installations. Britain cleared a major bottleneck by offering grid connections to over 700 clean energy projects, while new data reveals the country’s green economy now employs over one million workers across a £100 billion sector.
The stories reveal how environmental challenges are increasingly driving innovation at the community level. In Guatemala’s Western Highlands, approximately 60 communities are reviving ancient Maya agricultural wisdom, creating homemade biopesticides from aromatic plants to replace expensive chemical alternatives. Similarly, 120 women farmers in Malawi’s Chiradzulu district have transformed traditional maize cultivation by adding organic fruits and vegetables now in high demand from urban buyers—though their success is shadowed by a troubling reality: their bees, crucial pollinators for food security, are mysteriously disappearing.
It’s a reminder that progress and pressure often arrive together. Colombia enacted groundbreaking legislation requiring detailed cattle tracking to prevent deforestation-linked beef from reaching markets, while Indonesia’s magnificent hornbills face accelerating threats from both habitat loss and an illegal online pet trade. The contrast illustrates how conservation gains in one area can be undermined by emerging threats in another.
Perhaps most telling is how wealth continues to complicate climate action. New research from Greenpeace reveals that the ultra-rich drive a quarter of global emissions not through private jets—their visible symbols of excess—but through their investment portfolios and asset ownership. Meanwhile, chemical companies are quietly pushing “immunity laws” across 15 states to shield themselves from health-related lawsuits, even as communities bear the costs of environmental damage.
The space program offers its own metaphor for these broader tensions. NASA’s latest astronaut selections for Artemis missions reflect both ambition and limitation—crews training for missions that won’t reach the Moon, while hundreds of women gathered at the AeroWomen conference to prepare for space careers in an industry still taking shape.
As the week unfolds, all eyes will be on whether these parallel tracks—accelerating environmental pressures and emerging solutions—can converge into the systemic changes scientists say are necessary. Today’s stories suggest we’re living through a period when local innovation and global challenges are both intensifying, creating opportunities for breakthrough and breakdown in equal measure.
Why did the Metropolitan Police attend a UCL bar to kick out our group of conservative-minded students over our views on transgenderism, asks Samiksha Bhattacharjee.
A quantum metasurface breakthrough boosts terahertz detection by 20 times, bringing practical THz technology a step closer. Detecting light and radiation is essential across the electromagnetic spectrum, but some regions remain difficult to work with. One of the biggest challenges involves terahertz (THz) radiation, which sits between microwaves and infrared light. Existing detectors for these [...]
The carmaker will follow Tesla in making components for large batteries used by electric utilities, data centers and other businesses to handle fluctuations in power supply and demand.
The carmaker will follow Tesla in making components for large batteries used by electric utilities, data centers and other businesses to handle fluctuations in power supply and demand.
The main active ingredient in the storage batteries that General Motors plans to produce is sodium, which is cheaper and easier to process than lithium.
Paramount Skydance is accusing Netflix of maintaining a campaign against its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
In a June 5 letter (PDF) addressed to Jared A. Hughes, acting section chief of the Media, Entertainment, and Communications Section of the US Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Antitrust Division, and A. Maya Kahn, a trial attorney for the Antitrust Division, and first reported on by Politico today, Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim accused Netflix of trying to influence stakeholders about the merger. The letter reads:
Indeed, Netflix’s panic-level response and scorched-earth campaign to try and poison regulators and other stakeholders against the Transaction shows just how seriously Netflix takes Paramount as a scaled competitor.
The letter from Delrahim, a former assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, is a response to a letter that The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent to the DOJ in March. The teamsters' letter argued that Paramount and WBD's merger would threaten film and TV workers. The union, which has 1.3 million members, asked the DOJ to block the merger "unless substantial and enforceable safeguards are put in place to increase domestic production and protect jobs," per an announcement from the group.
A Windows launch isn’t the end a process — it’s really just the beginning. Microsoft continually works on improving Windows 11 by fixing bugs, releasing security patches, and occasionally adding new features.
In this story we summarize what you need to know about each update released to the public for the most recent mainstream version of Windows 11 — currently version 25H2 — over the past year. (We also cover updates for Windows 11 26H1, a targeted release of Windows for devices with specific chips.) For each build, we’ve included the date of its release and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it. The most recent updates appear first.
The easiest way to install updates is via Windows Update. Not sure how? See “How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates” for full instructions. Note that Windows 11 version 25H2 is being released as a phased rollout and may not be available to you in Windows Update yet.
Windows 11 KB5094126 (OS Builds 26200.8655 and 26100.8655)
Release date: June 9, 2026
In this build, for devices running Windows 24H2 and 25H2, Windows quality updates now include additional high-confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.
The build also fixes one bug that could have resulted in Stop errors HYPERVISOR_ERROR (0x20001) and KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (0x1E) after installing KB5089573 on some devices during system restarts, virtual machine operations, or while running some gaming applications.
The build has one known issue, in which devices with an unrecommended BitLocker Group Policy configuration might be required to enter their BitLocker recovery key.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
This update, for devices on Windows 11 version 26H1, improves the reliability of BitLocker Drive Encryption testing by ensuring that all required files are available for the USB BIOS logo test.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5089573 (OS Builds 26200.8524 and 26100.8524) Preview
Release date: May 26, 2026
With this update, Windows quality updates include additional high-confidence device targeting data, making more devices eligible to receive new Secure Boot certificates. The old certificates expire at the end of June: see Computerworld’s FAQ for details. The build also adds Group Policy and MDM settings that IT admins can enable to limit the Secure Boot service data sent to Microsoft. (See Microsoft documentation.)
This update also includes a wide variety of new features being rolled out gradually, including Shared Audio, which enables two Bluetooth audio devices to connect to a single Windows 11 PC at the same time; Multi-App Camera, which allows multiple applications to access the camera stream simultaneously; improved visibility into NPU usage in Task Manager; and several performance and behavior improvements for Windows Hello.
There is one known issue in the update, in which after you install update KB5089549, some devices might fail to complete installation with error code 0x800f0922. This issue occurs on devices that have limited free space on the EFI System Partition (ESP), especially if it has 10MB or less available.
(Get more info about KB5089573 Preview, including workarounds for the issue described above.)
KB5089549 (OS Builds 26200.8457 and 26100.8457)
Release date: May 12, 2026
This build enables dynamic status reporting for Secure Boot states in the Windows Security app. It also fixes a bug in which the Remote Desktop Connection security warning dialog sometimes rendered incorrectly in multi-monitor configurations with different display scaling settings.
The build has one known issue: devices with an unrecommended BitLocker Group Policy configuration might be required to enter their BitLocker recovery key.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5083631 (OS Builds 26200.8328 and 26100.8328) Preview
Release date: April 30, 2026
This update includes a large number of new features being rolled out gradually, including File Explorer’s ability to handle new archive formats including uu, cpio, xar, and NuGet Packages (nupkg). Windows also gets a new way to monitor agents from the taskbar. It supports agents across first- and third-party apps, with Researcher in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app as the first adopter.
Also being rolled out gradually is a security improvement that changes how the Windows kernel trusts third‑party drivers. Default trust for cross‑signed drivers is removed, while drivers from the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) and an allow list of trusted legacy drivers remain allowed.
The update also includes several changes available immediately, including one that increases coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout. For more information, see Windows Secure Boot certificate expiration and CA updates.
A bug in the Remote Desktop Connection security warning dialog is being fixed immediately. Previously, the dialog could have rendered incorrectly in a multi-monitor scenario when the monitors had different scaling settings.
This update fixes several bugs, including one that caused device reset to fail when using the “Keep my files” or “Remove everything” options. It also improves protection against phishing attacks that use Remote Desktop (.rdp) files. For more information, see Understanding security warnings when opening Remote Desktop (RDP) files.
It also enables dynamic status reporting for Secure Boot states in Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security, with a green, yellow, or red badge indicating your current Secure Boot status. See Secure Boot certificate update status in the Windows Security app for more information.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
Update, April 15: Microsoft has confirmed an issue with this release: “Devices with an unrecommended BitLocker Group Policy configuration might be required to enter their BitLocker recovery key.” See Microsoft’s KB5083769 information page for details and workarounds.
KB5086672 (OS Builds 26200.8117 and 26100.8117) Out-of-band
Release date: March 31, 2026
This update fixes a bug in which some devices running Windows 11 version 25H2 or 24H2 encountered the following error while installing the Windows preview update KB5079391 (listed below): “Some update files are missing or have problems. We’ll try to download the update again later. Error code: (0x80073712).”
KB5079391 (OS Builds 26200.8116 and 26100.8116) Preview
Release date: March 26, 2026
This update includes a variety of new features being rolled out gradually, including one that allows you to turn Smart App Control (SAC) on or off without needing a clean install. To make changes, go to Settings > Windows Security > App & Browser Control > Smart App Control settings. When turned on, SAC helps block untrusted or potentially harmful apps. To learn more, see App & Browser Control in the Windows Security App.
The build also includes several improvements and bug fixes, including one that improves Application ID tagging in Application Control for Business policies. With this update, the system identifies which apps should receive tags more accurately and behaves more reliably, Microsoft says.
KB5085516 (OS Builds 26200.8039 and 26100.8039) Out-of-band
Release date: March 21, 2026
This update fixes a bug some users experienced when signing in to apps with a Microsoft account. Even when the device had a working internet connection, a “no Internet” error appeared during sign-in and prevented access to Microsoft services and apps such as Microsoft Teams Free and OneDrive.
This build improves how Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) handles COM objects allowlisting policies. COM objects were blocked when the endpoint security policy was set higher than the allowlisting policy. With this update, COM objects are allowed as expected. The build also introduces additional high confidence device targeting data to Windows quality updates, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5077241 (OS Builds 26200.7922 and 26100.7922) Preview
Release date: February 24, 2026
This update includes a variety of new features being rolled out gradually, including one in which Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) turns on automatically for Windows Professional devices that are not domain‑joined and not enrolled in enterprise endpoint management. For domain‑joined or enterprise managed devices, QMR stays off unless it is enabled by the organization.
It also includes several features available immediately, including one in which Windows quality updates include additional high-confidence device-targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.
This Patch Tuesday build fixes several bugs, including one that prevented some devices from connecting to certain WPA3‑Personal Wi‑Fi networks. It also includes a broad set of targeting data that identifies devices and their ability to receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices will receive the new certificates only after they show sufficient successful update signals, which helps ensure a safe and phased rollout.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5074105 (OS Builds 26200.7705 and 26100.7705) Preview
Release date: January 29, 2025
In this build, several new features are immediately available, including one for Data Protection Application Programming Interface (DPAPI) domain backup key management. Administrators can now set how often keys rotate automatically. This strengthens cryptographic security and reduces reliance on older encryption algorithms.
One new feature is being gradually rolled out: The Settings Agent now supports more languages, with expanded support for German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Chinese (Simplified).
A variety of bugs have been fixed, including one that caused some systems to stop responding during startup when Windows Boot Manager debugging was enabled.
KB5078127 (OS Builds 26200.7628 and 26100.7628) Out-of-band
Release date: January 24, 2026
This update fixes a bug in which some applications were unresponsive or encountered unexpected errors when opening files from or saving files to cloud-based storage, such as OneDrive or Dropbox. In certain Outlook configurations that store PST files on OneDrive, Outlook sometimes hung and failed to reopen unless the process was terminated or the system was restarted. Users may have also experienced missing sent items or previously downloaded emails.
KB5077744 (OS Builds 26200.7627 and 26100.7627) Out-of-band
Release date: January 17, 2026
This update fixes a bug in which some users experienced sign-in failures during Remote Desktop connections. This issue affected authentication steps for different Remote Desktop applications on Windows such as the Windows App.
There is one known issue in this build, in which the password icon might be missing or invisible in the lock screen sign-in options.
This build fixes several bugs, including one in which you might experience RemoteApp connection failures in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environments. This might occur after installing KB5070311. It also updates the Windows core component, WinSqlite3.dll. Previously, some security software might have detected this component as vulnerable.
It has one known issue, in which you might notice that the password icon is not visible in the sign-in options on the lock screen. If you hover over the space where the icon should appear, you’ll see that the password button is still available. Select this placeholder to open the password text box and enter your password. After entering your password, you can sign in normally. People using Windows Home or Pro editions on personal devices are very unlikely to experience this issue. This issue primarily affects enterprise or managed IT environments.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
It has one known issue, in which the password icon might not be visible in the sign-in options on the lock screen. If you hover over the space where the icon should appear, you’ll see that the password button is still available. Select this placeholder to open the password text box and enter your password. After entering your password, you can sign in normally. People using Windows Home or Pro editions on personal devices are very unlikely to experience this issue — it primarily affects enterprise or managed IT environments.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5070311 (OS Builds 26200.7309 and 26100.7309) Preview
Release date: December 1, 2025
A variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including several for Copilot+ PCs. The Click to Do context menu in Copilot+ PCs now has a streamlined design that makes it easier to access frequently used actions such as Copy, Save, Share, and Open. In Copilot+ PCs you can now also use Windows Studio Effects, which provide AI-powered camera enhancements, on an additional camera such as a USB webcam or your laptop’s built-in rear camera.
New features being rolled out gradually to all Windows 11 PCs include a simplified File Explorer context menu for easier navigation. Common actions like Share, Copy, and Move now appear in a single organized menu.
A variety of bugs have been fixed for all PCs, including one in which the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) could become unstable due to an access violation.
There are two known issues in this build, one in which when opening File Explorer in dark mode, the window might briefly display a blank white screen before loading files and folders. In addition, the password icon is missing or invisible in the lockscreen sign-in options on some PCs. (Here’s a workaround for the latter bug.)
This Patch Tuesday build fixes several bugs, including one in which closing Task Manager with the Close button didn’t fully end the process, leaving background instances that could slow performance over time.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5067036 (OS Builds 26200.7019 and 26100.7019) Preview
Release date: October 28, 2025
A variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including several for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs — notably a streamlined interaction between Click to Do and Copilot. You can now type a custom prompt directly into the text box, which sends your prompt and selected on-screen content to Copilot. Suggested prompts appear below the text box and are available for text selections in English, Spanish, and French.
New features are being gradually rolled out for all Windows 11 PCs as well, including a redesigned Start menu, which includes scrollable “All” section and category and grid views. The menu now adapts to your screen size.
A variety of bugs have been fixed, including one in which text sometimes didn’t render correctly when editing content within a multiline text box in certain apps.
KB5070773 (OS Builds 26200.6901 and 26100.6901) Out-of-band
Release date: October 20, 2025
This build fixes one bug, in which USB devices, such as keyboards and mice, did not function in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This issue prevented navigation of any of the recovery options within WinRE.
This build has one known issue: some digital TV and Blu-ray/DVD apps might not play protected content as expected after installing the August 29, 2025, Windows non-security preview update (KB5064081) or later updates. Apps that use Enhanced Video Renderer with HDCP enforcement or Digital Rights Management (DRM) for digital audio might show copyright protection errors, frequent playback interruptions, unexpected stops, or black screens. Streaming services are not affected.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
KB5065789 (OS Builds 26200.6725 and 26100.6725) Preview
Release date: September 29, 2025
This build gradually rolls out a wide variety of new features, including one in which you can use AI actions in File Explorer to edit images or summarize documents. To do it, right-click (or press Shift + F10 on the keyboard) on the file and select AI actions.
Several bugs have also been fixed, including one in which you might not have been able to connect to shared files and folders if you were using the Server Message Block (SMB) v1 protocol on NetBIOS over TCP/IP NetBIOS (NetBT).
At the end of September, Microsoft upgraded Windows 11 from version 24H2 to 25H2, in a slow rollout that could take months to complete. Typically in the past, Microsoft would introduce new features in a once-a-year update like this. That’s not the case with 25H2, though.
Microsoft has been introducing new features in smaller updates all year round, so 25H2 doesn’t include any major new features. Rather, it includes all the new features that have accumulated in all those smaller updates.
As the company explains, “While this update doesn’t introduce major new features, it activates enhancements that have been gradually rolled out over the past year ensuring your device is up to date with the latest refinements.”
Here are some of the most important features in 25H2 that have been introduced for end users and IT pros since 24H2 was released last fall:
New features for users:
File Explorer has several useful new features, notably AI actions, which can edit images or summarize documents. AI options such as Blur background, Erase objects, and Remove background are all now displayed in the context menu.
Task Manager gets a number of minor tweaks, including performance improvements when changing the sort order of processes.
You can now display the apps that have recently used on-device generative AI models provided by Windows. You can also choose which apps are permitted to use the generative AI technologies. To do that and more, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Text and Image Generation.
New features for IT:
IT admins can use policy-based tools to easily remove preinstalled Microsoft Store apps from Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 11, version 25H2 and later. This can streamline device provisioning and prevent removed apps such as Microsoft Clipchamp, Media Player, and Microsoft Teams from being reinstalled. For more information, see Policy-based removal of preinstalled Microsoft Store apps and RemoveDefaultMicrosoftStorePackages in the ApplicationManagement Policy CSP.
Enterprise access points now support Wi-Fi 7, which enables increased speeds, greater throughput, improved reliability, and enhanced security. For details, see https://aka.ms/WiFi7forEnterprise.
A new feature called Quick Machine Recovery can recover Windows devices when they encounter critical errors that prevent them from booting. Quick machine recovery searches for remediations in the cloud and recovers from widespread boot failures, reducing the burden on IT admins on cases when multiple devices are affected. For more information, see Computerworld’s Quick Machine Recovery explainer.
Updates for Windows 11 24H2
KB5068221 (OS Build 26100.6588) Out-of-band
Release date: September 22, 2025
This update fixes a bug that affected Microsoft Office applications running in Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) environments. The failure occurred due to a double handle closure in the AppVEntSubsystems32 or AppVEntSubsystems64 system component.
There is one issue in this build: you might fail to connect to shared files and folders using the Server Message Block (SMB) v1 protocol on NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT). This issue can occur if either the SMB client or the SMB server has the September 2025 security update installed.
This build fixes several bugs, including one that caused non-admin users to receive unexpected User Account Control (UAC) prompts when MSI installers performed certain custom actions, such as configuration or repair operations in the foreground or background during the initial installation of an application.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
A wide variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including a new personalized homepage in Windows Recall that displays your recent activity and top-used apps and websites (available only in Copilot+ PCs). Among the changes rolling out to all users is a new grid view for Search from the Windows taskbar that helps you more quickly and accurately identify the desired image within your search.
Several bugs have also been fixed, including one in which some system recovery features did not work properly due to a temporary file sharing conflict. This affected certain device management tools and disrupted key functions on some devices.
This build fixes a bug that caused delays during sign-in on new devices. The delay was due to certain preinstalled packages. It also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and August 2025 Security Updates.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
A wide variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including a new agent in Copilot+ PCs that is designed to help you find and change settings on your PC. You can describe what you need help with, such as “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small,” and the agent will suggest steps to resolve the issue. The agent uses AI on your PC to understand your request and, with your permission, can automate and complete tasks for you. It is rolling out to Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs now, with support for AMD and Intel PCs coming soon.
Several bugs have also been fixed, including one in which If you have an app pinned to your desktop and it updates, the app icon might not display correctly and instead show a white page.
This update fixes a bug that prevented some virtual machines (VMs) from starting when Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) was enabled. It affected VMs using version 8.0 (a non-default version) where VBS was offered by the host. In Azure, this applies to standard (non–Trusted Launch) General Enterprise (GE) VMs running on older VM SKUs. The problem was caused by a secure kernel initialization issue.
The build fixes several bugs, including one in which notification sounds didn’t play. Affected sounds included those for on-screen alerts, volume adjustments, and sign-in. It also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and July 2025 Security Updates.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
A wide variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including a new Settings home page that includes enterprise-specific device info cards for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The taskbar also now resizes icons to fit more apps when space runs low.
Users in the European Economic Area will see several small changes related to default browsers, such as mapping additional file and link types to the default browser and pinning it to the taskbar and Start menu.
A variety of bugs have also been fixed, including one that prevented the automatic renewal of expiring certificates in Windows Hello for Business.
There is one known issue in this build, in which blurry or unclear CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) text appears when displayed at 96 DPI (100% scaling) in Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
This out-of-band update replaces the KB5060842 Patch Tuesday release, fixing a bug in which Windows sometimes restarted unexpectedly when users opened games that use the Easy Anti-Cheat service. Easy Anti-Cheat automatically installs with certain games to enhance security and prevent cheating in multiplayer online PC games.
Note: In this build there are reports of blurry or unclear CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) text when displayed at 96 DPI (100% scaling) in Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. The issue is due to limited pixel density at 96 DPI, which can reduce the clarity and alignment of CJK characters. Increasing the display scaling improves clarity by enhancing text rendering.
After installing this update, Windows will retain system restore points for 60 days only. Restore points older than 60 days are not available. This 60-day limit will also apply to future versions of Windows 11, version 24H2.
The build fixes a bug that prevented users from signing in with self-signed certificates when using Windows Hello for Business with the Key Trust model. It also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and June 2025 Security Updates.
Note: In this build there are reports of blurry or unclear CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) text when displayed at 96 DPI (100% scaling) in Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. The issue is due to limited pixel density at 96 DPI, which can reduce the clarity and alignment of CJK characters. Increasing the display scaling improves clarity by enhancing text rendering.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
A wide variety of new features are being gradually rolled out in this build, including one in which Click to Do gets the new Ask Copilot action. When you highlight text or an image, Click to Do offers the Ask Copilot option. Selecting it opens Microsoft Copilot with your content in the prompt box. You can send the selected text or image directly to the Copilot app to complete your prompt.
A variety of bugs have also been fixed, including one in which devices with BitLocker on removable drives could encounter a blue screen error after resuming from sleep or hybrid-booting.
This out-of-band update fixes a bug in the direct send path for a guest physical address (GPA). This issue caused confidential virtual machines running on Hyper-V with Windows Server 2022 to intermittently stop responding or restart unexpectedly. As a result, service availability was affected, and manual intervention was required. This problem primarily impacted Azure confidential VMs.
This update fixes two bugs, one in which your microphone might have muted unexpectedly, and the other in which the eye controller app didn’t launch. It also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and May 2025 Security Updates.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
This build gradually rolls out several new features for Copilot+ PCs, including a preview of Windows Recall. When you opt in, Recall takes snapshots of your activity so you can quickly find and go back to what you have seen before on your PC. With it, you can use a timeline to find the content you remember seeing.
Copilot+ PCs also get a new natural-language Windows search in which you can search for anything on your PC without having to remember specific file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. Just describe what you’re looking for. On Copilot+ PCs, you can also more easily find photos stored and saved in the cloud by typing your own words (like “summer picnics”) in the search box at the upper-right corner of File Explorer.
All PCs get a number of new features, including speech recap, in which you can keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said using keyboard shortcuts.
A variety of bugs are being fixed, including one in which some devices experienced intermittent internet connections when resuming from sleep mode. Several AI components have also been updated.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which players on Arm devices are unable to download and play Roblox from the Microsoft Store on Windows.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which players on Arm devices are unable to download and play Roblox via the Microsoft Store on Windows.
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