Microsoft is known for maintaining a mix of UI frameworks across its Windows 11 operating system, carrying over elements from as far back as the Windows 7 era. These include WebView2, React, WinUI, and Win32 UI, each with its own distinct look and behavior. Recently, the company added dark mode support to one of its older frameworks and applications, specifically Hyper-V Manager, which runs on the Win32 API for system graphics. This legacy software layer has been updated to include a dark mode, where most interactions now occur in a darker theme.

However, testing by Windows Latest reveals that the dark mode support is still incomplete, as Microsoft implemented Hyper-V Manager in a somewhat unfinished manner. While Hyper-V Manager generally features dark UI elements, some parts remain in light mode, such as the main management view and virtual machine listing. Additionally, Hyper-V Quick Create Gallery and Virtual Machine Connection are still exclusive to light mode. Switching between creating checkpoints and opening VMs in VM Connection is also problematic, as light screens persist. This makes the implementation less than seamless, raising questions about why Microsoft chose to release it before achieving a fully functional dark mode.

Microsoft is replacing the certificates that Windows PCs use to confirm they are talking to genuine Windows Update servers, and machines that miss the changeover will stop receiving updates. The company announced the rotation on October 8, and the current certificates expire on May 17 and June 19, 2027. Most users apparently won't have to do anything, since the replacements ship inside the regular monthly security updates. Windows 11 25H2 and later, including the recently launched 26H2, need no action. Windows 11 24H2 needs the September 2025 security update or newer, while other supported Windows 11 and Windows 10 versions need the July 2026 update or later before June 19. Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016 face the earlier May 17 deadline.

Microsoft says devices on unsupported versions "will lose access to Windows Update services and won't receive any updates as a result," and its only advice is to upgrade. For home users, that mostly points at Windows 10 PCs that were never enrolled in Extended Security Updates (ESU) after the OS reached end of life in October 2025. Those machines probably never got the July 2026 patch. Microsoft extended ESU coverage to October 12, 2027, so it looks like enrolling and installing the offered updates before June should bring the new certificates along. The warning also comes months after Microsoft began refreshing Secure Boot certificates that were due to expire in late June 2026. Readers are advised to check their update history for a cumulative update from July 2026 or later.

CD Projekt RED has published the full and updated PC requirements for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, which launches tomorrow, September 29, as a free upgrade for existing owners. Only the minimum and recommended specs were public until now, but the new detailed requirements are broken down by categories and even include separate Ray Tracing and Path Tracing requirements. The updated table covers six tiers: Minimum, Recommended, Ultra, RT Minimum, RT Recommended, and Path Tracing.

The Minimum tier targets 1080p at 30 FPS with the Low preset, and requires a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 CPU, 12 GB of RAM, and a GTX 1660, RX 5500 XT, or Arc A580 graphics card. CDPR says the GTX 1660 can reach 60 FPS or higher there. Recommended (1080p, 60 FPS, High) asks for a Core i7-8700K or Ryzen 5 3600X CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and an RTX 2060 Super, RX 6600 XT, or Arc B580 GPU. If you want to play at Ultra (1440p, 60 FPS), it calls for a Core i7-13700K or Ryzen 7 7700X CPU, 24 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3070 Ti, RX 6800 XT, or Arc B580 graphics card with XeSS.

Optimization and low system requirements have been something of a trend in PC gaming of late, with even games like the upcoming Fable slated to be playable on entry-level gaming hardware from 2020. Despite its updated graphics and gameplay, Ubisoft's Rayman Legends Retold seems to be going down the same path. According to the recently announced system requirements for the game, Rayman Legends Retold will be playable at 1080p and 60 FPS on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, or Intel Arc A580 and Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3100, as long as graphics are set to the low preset and the upscaler is set to Quality. On GPUs capable of using it, the game will rely on NVIDIA DLSS, but it will also feature FSR and XeSS, although exact upscaler versions were not specified. The original Rayman Legends is still available on Steam, and it is significantly less demanding on hardware, with recommended specs calling for only an Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 or AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+, 2 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT or AMD Radeon HD3850, and a mere 2 GB of RAM.

General system requirements also include at least 8 GB of RAM, with recommended, 2K, and 4K configurations all asking for 16 GB, 33 GB of storage, and Windows 10. Windows 11 is required when using DLSS, though, and ReBar must be enabled in order to use Intel GPUs. The recommended spec is aimed at running the game at 1080p, 60 FPS, with high graphics settings enabled on an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, AMD Radeon RX 5700, or Intel Arc A750. There's no mention of native quality rendering, but tools like FSR 3 and XeSS generally use a 1.5× scale factor in Quality mode. The blanket use of Quality mode also means that gaming handhelds still stand a chance at decent frame rates when using Performance or Ultra Performance upscaling modes.

According to NVIDIA support documents, the company plans to provide new GeForce Game Ready drivers for the Windows 10 operating system until October of this year, after which support will be discontinued. Officially, Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Almost a year later, many gamers are still using the operating system. NVIDIA recognized that a large number of GeForce users are still on Windows 10, so the company decided to extend support for another year to allow more time for transition. As the support documentation notes, the last Game Ready Driver for Windows 10 will be released in October of this year, after which there will be no more game and feature updates for Windows 10 users. However, NVIDIA will continue to provide security updates for Windows 10 until October 2029, which is four years after Microsoft's end of life for the OS.A complete FAQ from NVIDIA's page follows.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security has reportedly ordered local governments and state-affiliated organizations to remove Windows 10 installations from their systems as the central government seeks to completely diversify away from Western technology. However, the irony is that this is not the standard Windows 10 OS we are all familiar with. The software was developed by C&M Information Technologies (CMIT), a joint venture between Microsoft and China Electronics Technology Group, and was specifically modified to meet Beijing's security requirements. Based on Windows 10 Enterprise, this government version removes or disables several consumer-facing features, keeps activation and updates within China, and supports the use of Chinese cryptographic standards.

According to Bloomberg, the central government has reportedly moved up the planned obsolescence date, and instead of lasting until February 2027, the retirement is happening now. Despite receiving a highly customized version of Windows 10, Beijing now seems increasingly uncomfortable with maintaining a foreign-origin operating system at the core of sensitive government infrastructure. However, China does have a replacement plan for the Windows operating system.

Valve released Windows drivers for its Steam Machine console, letting end-users replace the pre-installed SteamOS with 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11. The driver package from Valve covers graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and memory card reader. Since Steam Machine is based on a semi-custom SoC the company co-developed with AMD, and not a production AMD Ryzen SKU, the graphics driver isn't from the same AMD Software Adrenalin trunk. What's also interesting to note here, is that the machine doesn't support dual-booting between Windows and SteamOS. With Windows in place, you can simply install the Steam application, and use it in Big Picture mode for an experience resembling SteamOS.

AMD today released its rare fourth WHQL-signed driver release in a month, the Adrenalin 26.6.4 WHQL. The drivers fix an issue seen when installing recent versions of the driver on Windows 10 machines with Radeon RX 7000 series (or later) GPUs. The drivers also address an application crash observed in some games when AMD FSR 4.1 upscaling is enabled on Radeon RX 7000 series (RDNA 3) graphics cards. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 26.6.4 WHQL

On Monday, AMD released its Adrenalin Edition 26.6.2 WHQL Drivers to provide day-one game support for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations across all RDNA generations. An interesting feature of this driver is the introduction of FSR Upscaling 4.1 for the RDNA 3 GPU generation. However, users have reported several issues when running this driver on Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system. For users of Windows 10 under the ESU program, or those simply running the operating system that has reached end of life, Radeon RX 7000 series and Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs have not been working properly. This means that the drivers for these GPUs weren't installing at all on Windows 10, which is problematic for enthusiasts still using the older operating system.

In response, AMD has released a hotfix to address this issue. The Adrenalin Edition 26.6.3 Hotfix includes a fix for the "intermittent install issue seen when installing AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.6.2 on Windows 10 systems for Radeon RX 7000 series and above graphics products." For those running Windows 10 and experiencing issues, the Adrenalin Edition 26.6.3 Hotfix can be downloaded directly from AMD's website.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will offer Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for the Windows 10 operating system until late 2027. Specifically, ESUs will cover Windows 10 until October 12, 2027, after which Microsoft will stop providing security updates for this operating system. This extension gives those unwilling to upgrade a chance to extend the life of the legendary OS that has powered millions of desktops since 2015. On October 14, Microsoft officially ended general support for Windows 10, halting feature updates, routine quality-of-life improvements, and general technical support. Devices running this OS can still boot and run existing software, but the regular system-level enhancements and new capabilities that users have come to expect have stopped.

Originally, Microsoft designed its ESU program as a temporary remedy for the end-of-life status, allowing users to transition to the newer Windows 11 operating system, as migrations to a new platform can be complex. Organizations running Windows 10 can have tens of thousands of PCs, and managing an upgrade on this scale can be challenging. Therefore, organizations can often delay this transition by purchasing ESUs, which extend security features to keep their systems protected. In the European Economic Area, users receive the ESU package free for a year before Microsoft ends support, but they must sign in with a Microsoft Account. While ESUs can buy time for complex migrations, they are explicitly a temporary measure. Relying on ESUs long-term leaves systems exposed to unsupported components and growing incompatibilities with newer software.

Despite having launched in 2021, adoption of Windows 11 has been somewhat slow-going, with Microsoft's latest desktop OS only overtaking Windows 10 nearly four years after launch and only reaching 1 billion users in 2026. If Valve's Steam Hardware and Software survey is anything to go by, it looks as though Windows 11 adoption has continued to grow in recent months. The survey results for May 2026 point to a 2.02% increase in the number of PC gamers on Windows 11, with Windows 10 losing 1.64% and Linux losing 0.53%, despite Valve's ongoing work on SteamOS and the never-ending proclamations of "the year of the Linux desktop."

Overall, however, these changes have barely moved the needle, with Windows gaining 0.38% of Steam's user share, and macOS gaining 0.15%. It's worth noting that English-language users are somewhat overrepresented in this particular Steam Survey, with 2.71% more English users than in the previous survey. These sorts of biases have previously skewed results, as certain groups may have status quo biases that play into their choice of operating system and hardware. The rest of the Steam Hardware and Software Survey results are more or less business as usual, with 16 GB of RAM and 1080p monitor resolution continuing to be the standard, although the latter has lost a negligible amount of market share. The same is true for GPUs, where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 continues to be the most popular GPU on Steam. It appears as though the fix for Steam's recent faulty detection of Radeon GPUs has been released out of beta, though, as the survey reports that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has gained 1.24%.

Intel earlier this week released the latest version of the Arc GPU Graphics drivers. Version 101.8826 WHQL comes with optimization for "Gothic 1 Remake," "F1 25: 2026 Season," and "Fortnite Chapter 7: Season 3." The drivers fix glaring issues with XeSS frame generation causing visual tearing during gameplay, with its Core Ultra Series 3 (Xe3 Celestial) iGPU, Arc B-series "Battlemage" discrete GPUs, Arc A-series "Alchemist" discrete GPUs, and the iGPUs of Core Ultra Series 1 "Meteor Lake," and Series 2 "Arrow Lake" processors.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.8826 WHQL

If you were a user of the Windows 10 operating system with a customizable Taskbar location, you were familiar with Taskbar customization and different placements. However, Microsoft kept this feature restricted in Windows 11 for a long time. The company is now introducing full support for Taskbar and Start Menu customization, which will be available to Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel over the coming weeks. Specifically, the Taskbar will be movable to the top, bottom, left, or right side of the screen. From there, users will be able to customize icon alignment for each Taskbar position, whether top-aligned, center-aligned, left-aligned, or right-aligned. All it takes is a visit to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors, where all of the settings will be located. Interestingly, the Taskbar will also offer smaller icons and a reduced presence, which is a nice addition for anyone looking to maximize usable space.

Additionally, Windows Insiders are testing a preview of the revamped Start Menu customization effort, which gives users more meaningful control over Start Menu behavior. One of the changes includes an option to choose between smaller and larger Start sizes, independently hide or show sections like Pinned, Recent, and All, and even remove their name and profile photo for extra privacy during screen sharing or presentations. Previously, these customizations weren't possible, as Windows 11 shipped with a generic Start Menu look for every build. Just as important, Microsoft is separating Start's file recommendations from File Explorer's recent items and jump lists, so disabling recommendations in Start will no longer affect recent activity elsewhere in Windows. At the same time, the company is trying to make the recommendation area more useful by renaming it to Recent, keeping newly installed apps visible, and refining which files appear in that section.

Intel today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.8801 Beta comes with optimization for "Forza Horizon 6," "LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight," and "Subnautica 2." The drivers also fix a bug that causes "Battlefield 6" to exhibit intermittent corruption in certain maps during gameplay has been fixed for Arc-branded integrated graphics of Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" processors and Core Ultra Series 1 "Meteor Lake" processors. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.8801 Beta

The Windows 11 install base seems to be expanding, contradicting the overall sentiment surrounding Microsoft's highly controversial operating system. According to the latest Steam Hardware and Software Survey results from April, Windows 11 now accounts for 67.74% of the Steam gamer base, marking an increase of 0.89% from March. This growth comes at the expense of the remaining two operating systems noted in the Steam survey, primarily Linux and macOS. Interestingly, the April data suggests that Linux-based operating systems now stand at 4.52%, a significant 0.81% decrease from March. Most Linux distributions saw a decline in user share, with only Debian Linux, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Fedora Linux 43 recording a meaningful uptick. The rest experienced a decline in April, indicating some market-wide corrections among gamers worldwide.

For Windows, both Windows 11 and Windows 10, which reached end of life back in October 2025, recorded increases, and the overall share of Windows-based gaming PCs grew by 1.14% in April. Now, Windows accounts for 93.47% of all gaming PCs, meaning that Linux and macOS remain relatively small compared to the dominance of Microsoft's OS. Especially among gamers, switching to a different OS seems problematic, despite recent growth rates. Even as Windows 11 has its own issues, the majority of gamers remain on the platform because it offers the best game compatibility and the lowest learning curve of all the mentioned platforms.

As we enter a new month, Steam's Hardware and Software Survey data has been processed, providing us with a clearer view of the overall gaming market that uses Steam platform. Today, the most notable change in the Steam Survey is the increase in Linux gamers, who have moved from their historically low single-digit market share to mid-single digits. As of March, Linux-based operating systems were running Steam on 5.33% of all polled systems. This represents an impressive 3.10% increase over February's data, which showed a dip in Linux market share from January's 3.5%. Fortunately, the numbers have now been revised upwards, marking a significant improvement for the community that has been steadily implementing improvements and making Linux-based gaming more accessible to everyone.

What might not be surprising is that a large portion of those 5.33% Linux installations run on Valve's customized SteamOS operating system. With a 24.48% share, the use of SteamOS grew by 0.65% last month alone, while other Linux distributions also contributed significantly. Other Windows alternatives like macOS are gaining momentum as well, with Apple seeing a 1.19% month-over-month increase to 2.35%. Although Linux now holds more than twice the market share of macOS, its growth within the Steam install base is a significant change, nearly doubling in just a month. Perhaps these alternative operating systems are now attracting enough attention from big game studios to encourage them to release native ports instead of relying on translation tools like Wine/Proton.

Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system officially has a dark mode, but many UI elements, menus, and applications from Microsoft still lack proper dark mode support. Microsoft is working to address this issue in the world's most widespread operating system. Since the introduction of WinUI, many releases and versions have been shipped with the operating system. For example, Windows 10 retains many UI elements from the Windows 7 era and earlier versions. However, Microsoft plans to modernize the entire UI ecosystem with more WinUI 3 for a modern look and feel, which will also enhance dark mode support. According to Marcus Ash, who leads Microsoft's Windows Design and Research team, the overhaul is near. When a user on X asked when dark mode support would come to Regedit, Marcus Ash responded:

We are pushing to get our tools and techniques to the point where we can implement the dark theme in more areas across Windows. No timelines to commit to yet for Regedit. As we make progress in various legacy system panels and dialogs, we will keep improving consistency.

Samsung Electronics today announced the official launch of Samsung Browser for Windows, extending its popular mobile browser experience to PC with seamless cross-device continuity and new agentic AI capabilities designed to make the browsing experience easier and more intuitive.

Browse Seamlessly From Mobile to PC
Samsung Browser for Windows bridges the gap between devices, allowing users to seamlessly continue browsing as they move between mobile and PC. Beyond simple synchronization of bookmarks and browsing history, users can pick up exactly where they left off. For instance, users can continue exploring the same webpage when moving between mobile and PC, creating a more seamless cross-device experience. With Samsung Pass integration, users can securely store personal information and sign in to websites or autofill profiles with ease.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is slated to launch on March 19 for PC after almost nine months as a PS5 exclusive, and Nixxes and Kojima Productions just revealed the minimum PC hardware requirements, as well as the supported upscaling and graphical enhancement options, in a PlayStation Blog post. According to the blog post, the absolute minimum spec, which gets you 30 FPS as 1080p with low settings, requires an AMD Ryzen 3 3100 or Intel Core i3-10100, 16 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB. Medium, or 1080p with medium settings, requires an RTX 3060 12 GB or Radeon RX 6600, and an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-11400. Stepping it up to High (or recommended specs), which gets you 1440p at 60 FPS with high settings, requires an AMD Radeon RX 6800 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or Intel Core i7-11700. Very High, or 4K resolution at 60 FPS with very high settings, calls for an upgrade to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 or Radeon RX 9070 XT, while the CPU and memory specs remain the same as for the High tier. All spec tiers require 16 GB of memory, Windows 11 or Windows 10 1909 or up, and at least a 150 GB SSD.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will also offer PC players support for both 21:9 and 32:9 ultrawide aspect ratios, and players with 16:9 displays can simulate a cinematic experience by opting for a 21:9 aspect ratio with black bars on the top and bottom of the display—this option will also be introduced for PS5 at the same time as the PC release. PC players will also get support for upscaling tech from all three GPU manufacturers: NVIDIA DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2, with both frame generation and upscaling options available. These upscaling options can be used in conjunction with Dynamic Resolution Scaling, and players will be able to adjust upscaling quality. The game will also see the debut of Pico—Progressive Image Compositor—on PC. This is the upscaling technology used by Death Stranding 2 on PS5 and developed by Guerrilla Games for the Decima engine, and it can also be used alongside all available frame generation options and on all available graphics card manufacturers. The game will also offer native AA options for those not interested in upscaling.

Microsoft is actively working to repair the broken trust it has created within the Windows community. Sources close to The Verge report that the Redmond giant is focusing on enhancing the core functionality of the Windows 11 operating system and its underlying services. These have become so problematic that each new update introduces a slew of issues, disrupting many systems and undermining the confidence of PC enthusiasts. Through a process known as "swarming," Microsoft is deploying its massive engineering resources to address these problems swiftly, aiming to make Windows 11 a benchmark for performance and stability. However, this is a challenging task, as trust has significantly eroded in recent months due to the consistent issues with Windows 11. Pavan Davuluri, president of Windows and devices, has commented for The Verge:

The feedback we're receiving from our community of passionate customers and Windows Insiders has been clear. We need to improve Windows in ways that are meaningful for people. This year you will see us focus on addressing pain points we hear consistently from customers: improving system performance, reliability, and the overall experience of Windows.

Microsoft reported its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025, ending December 31. During the earnings call, Microsoft highlighted that its Windows 11 operating system is achieving goals faster than its predecessor, Windows 10. As of today, Windows 11 has officially reached one billion global users. It took the new Windows OS just 1,576 days to reach this milestone, compared to the 1,706 days it took Windows 10. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that this is a significant milestone for the Windows operating system, which is now expanding more rapidly than during the days of Windows 10. With the recent end-of-life for Windows 10, many users and enterprises are looking to upgrade from their aging systems, and the logical choice for the next build is Windows 11.

Windows 11 has been on the market since October 5, 2021. In the tech space, that is a long time for any software product. Over time, it evolved from a slight reskin of the Windows 10 OS into a completely different user experience with more modern layouts and a modernized UI, but it also came with a slew of issues. As Microsoft has tried to integrate everything into a singular OS, issues became common with updates, causing random bugs and system crashes. Nowadays, it is popular to criticize Windows 11, but despite its buggy nature, the success and market penetration speak for themselves. Microsoft plans to keep Windows 11 as a long-running version, so it might be a while before we see a Windows 12 or anything similar.

Microsoft just reported its Q4 2025 results, providing some interesting insights into its gaming ventures. The company's overall quarterly revenue increased by an impressive 17% compared to the same period last year, reaching $81.3 billion. This growth is primarily driven by the strong performance of the cloud sector. However, Microsoft's gaming divisions are experiencing challenges with declining revenue. In its Xbox unit, hardware revenue decreased by 32% year-over-year, significantly impacting the business. The overall Xbox division saw a 9% decline, while Xbox content and services dropped by 5%. The services section, which includes the Game Pass subscription, is the only area not experiencing a steep decline. By recently rising Game Pass subscription prices, Microsoft aims to offset some of the hardware losses.

An interesting detail from the earnings report is the Windows OEM and Devices sector, which reported a modest growth of 1%. This is minor considering the Windows 10 end-of-life, which was expected to boost this sector significantly. Windows itself reported a 5% growth, but this is only a slight increase compared to what Microsoft anticipated from OEMs purchasing Windows license keys for Windows 11, as well as a major consumer upgrade spree to Windows 11 devices. With Xbox revenue declining significantly year-over-year for several years, it is becoming less of a priority for the company, which now derives substantial revenue from Microsoft Azure and 365 Commercial subscriptions.

Intel has released its latest 32.0.101.8425 and 32.0.101.8362 WHQL drivers as launch drivers for the new Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" processors, featuring Arc B390 and Arc B370 integrated graphics. Alongside day-one support for these iGPUs, the latest GPU drivers introduce Intel's XeSS 3 multi-frame generation technology, which can insert up to three generated frames between two rendered frames to boost FPS by a 3:1 ratio of generated to rendered frames. Intel promises a significant performance boost for its Arc B390 and Arc B370 iGPUs on "Panther Lake," making these SoCs ideal for handheld gaming devices. In addition to new features, these drivers fix issues such as game crashes found in the demo version of Capcom's PRAGMATA SKETCHBOOK running DirectX 12. Some issues persist, which you can find in the logs below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.8362 WHQL

In Q4 2025, we asked our readers if in the light of Microsoft discontinuing Windows 10 and rising dissatisfaction with Windows 11, they would consider moving away from Windows altogether to alternative operating systems. The results are fascinating. Over the quarter, our frontpage poll gathered over 34,000 responses. A significant majority of 55.4% (18,981 readers) voted that they would consider moving away from Windows to Linux. What's more interesting is that only 4.5% (1,538 readers) say that they're willing to move to macOS (replace their PC with a Mac of some shape or form). A marginal 1.9% say they are willing to give up the PC as their main client computing device, and switch to a game console, such as the latest Xbox Series S/X or PlayStation 5; and probably stick to endpoints handed out by their work/school.

These three responses add up to 61.8%, or nearly two-thirds of our readers being disillusioned with Windows. 38.2%, or 13,105 readers answered that they will not consider moving away from Windows. The poll suggests a general sense of dissatisfaction with being restricted to Windows 11. Comments suggest that this stems from its interface being seen by some as a downgrade from Windows 10, besides its latest slew of other Microsoft products, such as 365, Copilot, Teams, and Bing, being seen as invasive or bloatware.

In a December 19 Steam client update, Valve has finally ended support for the 32-bit Steam application on Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. According to the official release notes, updates for the 32-bit Steam client will continue to be provided for systems with 32-bit Windows versions until January 1, 2026. This marks the end of one of the last official 32-bit applications that actively supported the 32-bit versions of Windows. As the software industry continues to phase out 32-bit support, this decision is a natural progression, encouraging consumers to transition to 64-bit operating systems and compatible software.

Valve has been planning this change for some time to simplify software maintenance. However, only a very small number of users will be affected by this decision, as almost no one is still using the outdated 32-bit operating system. Those still on a 32-bit OS will need to upgrade their hardware or reinstall 64-bit OS versions, if their hardware permits, to continue using the official Steam Client. For those planning to stick with 32-bit builds, there is still hope. Enthusiasts frequently create unofficial backports of modern clients. For example, an earlier version of the Steam Client was unofficially backported to Windows 7 SP1 x64 and Windows 8.x x64.