Windows Latest spotted this change on the official Roadmap page for Microsoft 365. It lists a new developmental feature called the “None” color category for Mail and Calendar in the New Outlook for Windows and Web.

This option will help you create and use a category without color. We like this idea, as having tens of color categories can get confusing to view and use. The rollout will start in December 2024, and we won’t see it in the stable version of the app until 2025.

The above image is the screenshot of the existing “Categorize” feature in the new Outlook. The “None” option, which would force Outlook to use one colour, is currently missing. It was available in the retired Mail & Calendar app.

Thankfully, it’s making a return in the next update.

Email as an attachment in Outlook for mobile

Windows Latest spotted another feature listed on the Roadmap page for Outlook.

Until now, you could add an email as an attachment in Outlook and Outlook web app while sending a new mail. The same functionality will now arrive on the iOS and Android app for Outlook in the coming months.

This feature’s rollout also begins in December 2024, which will help you share complete email as an attachment to a contact.

If you don’t know how to send an email as an attachment on the Outlook web app, simply open a mail and click the ellipses icon next to the Forward button.

Select Other reply actions > Forward as attachment option. After that, enter the receiver’s email and other details and hit Send.

If you aren’t using the new Outlook app on Windows, Microsoft has a detailed document describing its “great” features and how it is better than the old Mail and calendar app. Also, the end of the Mail & calendar is near.

Mail & calendar will retire in 2024

December 31, 2024, marks the end of the Mail and Calendar app we had become accustomed to.

Microsoft implemented forced migration and complicated the use of the old app. The new Outlook has several shortcomings but Microsoft assures it will fix them soon and add new features.

Like us, many users hate Microsoft’s idea of shoveling a new web wrapper into Windows 11. If you use Mail and Calendar, migrate your data to the new app as soon as possible. It will switch to read-only mode starting January 1, 2025.

The post Windows 11’s new Outlook to get “None” color category design update appeared first on Windows Latest

Microsoft has now confirmed it plans to move the address bar to the bottom of Edge for Android, but it’s likely to be an optional feature.

Our friends at 9to5Google have previously reported that Google Chrome has been exploring support for a “bottom bar” layout for a while now. Google tested the idea in Chrome in 2020 but discontinued it, and it is now planning to bring it back for those who like it. You’ll be able to switch between the top and bottom bars from Chrome’s settings.

It’s already possible to get the bottom address bar to work in Chrome Canary builds on Android. All you need to do is enable the bottom toolbar flag in Chrome Canary, restart the browser, go to Settings > Address bar, toggle the Bottom bar, and restart again. After feedback, Microsoft is planning to bring the same feature to Edge.

In response to a Reddit comment, Microsoft’s Haibo Yu confirmed that the company was working on the feature when someone asked the representative when “Microsoft will add the ability to move address bar to the bottom of the screen? It’s only thing that prevent me to switch to the Edge on Android.”

Microsoft also independently confirmed to Windows Latest that the feature is indeed coming to Edge for Android.

A bottom bar in Edge and other browsers on mobile is important because phones have gotten much larger than they were in 2020. It makes sense for people to prefer having the address bar at the bottom when it’s difficult to reach the top bar without moving their hand.

Extensions support and more features coming to Edge for Android

We’ve been reporting about extensions support in Edge Android for a while now. We also wrote a guide on how to install pretty much any extension in Edge for Android, and shared an updated list of extensions officially available.

In our tests, Windows Latest noticed that Edge for Android has as many as nine new extensions. These extensions include NordVPN, TouchVPN, Browsec VPN, Sponsor Block for YouTube, AIXDownloader, ADGuard VPN, ViolentMonkey, and ScriptCat. It’s a small but growing list of extensions for Android.

Microsoft has also been working on a feature that would allow you to install multiple extensions at the same time.

At the moment, it’s unclear when extension support will officially become available in Microsoft Edge Android. Still, for now, you can head to the edge://flags menu, and search for “extensions” in Stable or Canary to try some of the available extensions.

The post After Chrome, Microsoft Edge plans to move address bar to bottom on Android appeared first on Windows Latest

The search results produced by ChatGPT’s search (previously called SearchGPT) are identical to those of Bing. We noticed this pattern in several queries. While the order of websites in ChatGPT’s search is different, it includes the same sites indexed on the first or second page of Bing.

For example, when we asked ChatGPT’s search about wallpapers for Windows 11, it also shared some images, which were in low quality, but directly linked to Microsoft’s Bing resources. One of the linked Bing resources used the domain se4.mm.bing.net, clearly confirming that ChatGPT’s search relies heavily on Bing.

OpenAI says that the search model uses a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o. It has also trained data using synthetic data generation techniques, which try to mimic real-world data using algorithms. However, OpenAI acknowledged that it works with third-party search providers like Bing to power some search results.

It won’t tell us how much of that comes from Bing.

“ChatGPT search leverages third-party search providers, as well as content provided directly by our partners, to provide the information users are looking for,” OpenAI noted in a blog post.

Contrary to what OpenAI implies, our tests show that ChatGPT search relies heavily on the Bing search index.

Is it time to replace Google Search with ChatGPT?

While testing the ChatGPT search, we also noticed a pop-up that encouraged us to download the ChatGPT search extension from the Chrome web store.

As shown in the above screenshot, ChatGPT’s website has a suggestion to use ChatGPT search extension, which can replace your search engine. In this case, OpenAI is clearly taking a dig at Google, which owns about 90% of the search market space.

When you click on the Download button, you’ll be redirected to the Chrome Web Store, where the extension is available. You can click the “Add to Chrome” to add it to Chrome, and then a pop-up window will appear, asking if you really want to change the search settings to use ChatGPT’s search engine.

Google tries to stop the ChatGPT search takeover using another pop-up that shows up in the browser, which asks if you want to keep the change in search settings.

This gives the option to “Change it back” to the previous search provider (Google) or “Keep it” with ChatGPT’s new setting.

Previously, Microsoft also tried convincing people to use Bing search by installing an extension through Windows 11 pop-ups, but that did not help it gain a lot of market share.

The post ChatGPT search engine uses Bing, builds extension to replace Google in Chrome appeared first on Windows Latest

The removal of “Compose Box” in the Microsoft Edge Copilot window could be an intentional change, as we have little reason to believe it’s temporary. That’s because, in a forum post on September 5, Microsoft confirmed that it was removing Compose Box from Microsoft’s Business edition.

While the change was limited to the “Business” edition, it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft thought it would be better to remove it from the consumer edition as well.

Either way, even if it’s a temporary change, it’s still no longer possible to use Compose Box in Microsoft Edge Copilot.

With the Compose box, you could write about anything and then switch between the tones, such as Professional, Casual, Enthusiastic, Informational, Funny, or something custom-created by you.

It also helped prompt engineer the format of the response, including paragraphs, emails, bullet points, LinkedIn Post, summaries, or reports. Finally, you could have tweaked it by selecting the length (Short, Medium, Long).

Compose Box was pretty advanced, and it made prompt engineering very easy for someone new to generative AI.

The sidebar in Edge now simply opens copilot.microsoft.com, but it can read what’s on the new tab, summarize page, and even explain a YouTube video. The best part is that the integration is significantly faster, so you’re going to like it if you never used the Compose Box.

It’s possible Compose Box will be added back in the future in a new way, or Microsoft may have bigger plans for Edge and AI. Edge is also under Microsoft AI, which is headed by CEO Mustafa Suleyman.

Copilot Vision signs, is it coming?

Copilot Vision is super-cool, and it could radically change how you interact with web pages in Microsoft Edge.

Some early references and signs suggest it’s coming to Edge sooner than we expected, and it’s possible to toggle the Copilot Vision interface where the Copilot flyout appears at the bottom of the page.

But it’s not fully functional yet.

Microsoft has acknowledged that Copilot, in its current form, isn’t able to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. With Copilot Vision, Copilot can see what you see in Microsoft Edge. It can understand the page and its context, answer questions about it, and talk to you like a human.

This isn’t supposed to work on sensitive or paywalled pages as Microsoft plans to limit the use of Copilot Vision’s voice message to some pre-approved list of websites only.

For now, it doesn’t work in our Edge installation, but it’s definitely coming in a few weeks.

The post Microsoft Edge gets new Copilot UI, hints at Copilot Vision, loses Compose box appeared first on Windows Latest

The upcoming Surface Pro refresh, with Intel’s new Lunar Lake processors, looks like a solid update. In one of the listings, it’s being referred to as “Surface Pro 12 for Business,” so it remains super unclear what the name of the Intel Lunar Lake variant could be, but it seems to be geared towards commercial customers.

Spotted by Windows Latest, in a now-deleted Reddit post, a source who claims to be close to Microsoft (partner, reseller or retailer) revealed that Microsoft is working on a Surface Pro 2025 refresh with Intel Lunar Lake. The post is about a month old at this point, but the poster has a credible track record.

Based on some references, a Surface Pro 2025 model with a 120Hz OLED display, a haptic touchpad, and Wi-Fi 7 has been tested internally. This model is being tested with an Intel Lunar Lake processor.

We’re also seeing similar reports on a Chinese forum. As per that post, Surface Pro “830_QUN”, otherwise known as Surface Pro 12 for Business, could be offered in multiple variants, including Core Ultra 5 226V, Core Ultra 7 266V and Core Ultra 7 268V processors.

You’ll be able to choose between 16GB and 32GB options, with the 8GB RAM option missing.

The lack of an 8GB RAM option should not surprise anyone because 16GB is the bare minimum requirement for Windows 11’s AI features like Recall, and it’s the new standard moving forward.

Surface Pro 12 with Intel Lunar Lake isn’t the only refresh we’re getting early next year.

Surface Pro 12 details

Microsoft prepares Surface Laptop Lunar Lake refresh

As Zac Bowden pointed out, there’s also a Surface Laptop refresh with Intel Lunar Lake, which was recently listed on Chinese marketplace Goofish.

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Surface Laptop 8 with Intel Lunar Lake could be priced close to $2,600, and it will look more or less like the existing Surface Laptop 7. The only difference is the processor, which seems to be the Ultra 7 268V in the leaked listing. There are also some images of the prototype with the Intel Lunar Lake chip.

The leaked device appears to be running Windows 11 24H2, but there are no signs of Recall and other AI stuff, suggesting that it’s an old build.

This is one of the high-end SKUs in the Lunar Lake lineup equipped with Arc 140V GPU and 32GB of LPDDR5X memory.

Microsoft and Intel are planning to roll out these Surface upgrades in early 2024.

The post Surface Pro 12: Microsoft prepares Intel Lunar Lake Copilot PC with Windows 11 appeared first on Windows Latest

If you are like me, you probably like changing your desktop background frequently, which is why I’ve configured Windows Spotlight for my desktop, but there are times when we want to try something more nostalgic, and what could be more nostalgic than a Bliss wallpaper?

Download Windows XP Bliss Wallpapers

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Windows XP Bliss wallpaper has been refreshed with improved colours. It still has a bright green hill under a clear, blue sky with a few white clouds. It’s also in 4K now. The grass looks soft, and the scene is calm and sunny, but the saturation is somewhat off, so we’re also attaching another version that looks more like the original XP wallpaper.

• Windows XP Bliss Wallpaper 4K – Official.
• Windows XP Bliss Wallpaper 4K – Edited with improved saturation.

The first version is the official edition republished by Microsoft Design, and the second is the unofficial modified version of the wallpaper with more accurate saturation.

The original Bliss wallpaper is still easily available on random websites (a Bing search will help you find it). The original “Bliss” wallpaper from Windows XP has a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels.

Microsoft also released a higher-quality version of the “Bliss” image with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, but that’s not enough for today’s modern screens, which is why we’re attaching the 4K edition.

Let me know which one you like the most in the comments below!

Happy Birthday, Windows XP!

Windows XP is 23 years old now.

It was released on October 25, 2001, and turned 23 on October 25, 2024.

Unlike Microsoft’s modern operating (8, 10 or 11), which initially met with negative reviews, Windows XP was mostly seen as a good operating system if we ignore some scepticism about the increased hardware requirements.

Once users upgraded to Windows XP, it quickly became everybody’s favourite, and people celebrated the operating system for its fast performance, user-friendly interface, and better compatibility. We still love and celebrate Windows XP, and the Bliss wallpaper could still be the most-seen digital image.

Out of curiosity, I also installed Windows XP in one of my virtual machines to see what still works and what doesn’t. MSN Messenger is offline, classic games like Solitaire just work fine, and

The Windows Media Player also works, but most of the websites in Internet Explorer have stopped working.

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In our tests, Windows Latest observed that only Google.com loads in Internet Explorer on Windows XP.

Other websites, such as Microsoft.com, Bing.com, Copilot.microsoft.com, etc, refuse to load in the Internet Explorer, which is not surprising.

It’s pretty interesting to see Google search still working in Internet Explorer because Google has retained the legacy/classic version of the search, which shows up when you access Google.com from an outdated browser.

Microsoft ended support for Windows XP in 2014, and it’s barely used by anyone in the world. However, a few thousand people and small businesses might still use the operating system.

The post Download Windows XP 4K wallpaper (Bliss updated) to celebrate 23rd birthday appeared first on Windows Latest

As noticed by Windows Latest reader, Leo on Reddit, Microsoft Edge extension change has been quietly updated in Canary for Android. There is a new flag titled “Extension V3” in the experimental section. Its description reveals that enabling the flag adds a few more extensions to the list.

Previously, Windows Latest covered the extension version “v2” when it debuted for Edge Canary. It added the functionality to install multiple extensions at once.

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that the vhe Version “V3” retains the parallel install feature. We enabled it by opening the edge://flags/ section, setting the Android V3 flag to Enabled, and restarting the browser.

Then, we installed ScriptCat and Violentmonkey simultaneously, and there were no issues.

Windows Latest observed that as many as nine new extensions have been added with the V3 version:

• NordVPN – The official NordVPN extensions to switch IP addresses.
• Touch VPN – A very popular free VPN software on the Chrome store.
• Browsec VPN – Another free VPN alternative for Edge mobile that we first tried in 2016.
• Sponsor block for YouTube – Escape the promotional stuff while watching YouTube videos in Edge.
• AIXDownloader – Downloads media files from websites.
• FetchV Video downloader for m3u8 – Works like AIXDownloader and can extract media from sites in multiple formats.
• AdGuard VPN – A freeware extension for Edge with an optional paid program.
• Violentmonkey – Run scripts on websites to improve their functionality.
• ScriptCat – An alternative to Violenmonkey to run user scripts.

So, among the nine new extensions, four are VPNs, two are script runners, two help you download files from webpages, and one’s useful to turn off YouTube ads and clutter.

More extensions, but when?

Microsoft is adding extensions for mobile users, but not at the pace we expected.

You can still forcefully install any extensions using our guide. You’ll have to enable the Developer options for Edge and then add the extensions.

But we advise against it because it’ll crash your Microsoft Edge, and unoptimized extensions don’t work well. It could be a while before you can grab any Edge web store extensions and run them in the mobile browser.

The post Microsoft Edge on Android tests new extensions, including VPN (Nord, Touch, etc) appeared first on Windows Latest

“I’m excited to announce that these features will be coming to every OneDrive experience, including your PC or Mac,” Microsoft said at the event. And it’s not just about personal memories. At work, Onedrive’s revamped user experience paired with features like Natural language search will help you quickly find what you need to stay productive.”

The company didn’t clarify whether they’ll introduce a OneDrive app (which doesn’t exist until now) for both operating systems, but it seems like a web app for now.

Before we get to the features in detail, Microsoft teased that OneDrive Copilot features will be available in the Windows File Explorer and macOS Finder, which is a part of their expansion plans. In Windows 11, integrating Copilot features in a native app doesn’t surprise us — many already exist. But it’ll be interesting to see how they implement Copilot inside the macOS Finder.

In the screenshots attached below, check how the Finder window is open while Copilot is open in another window with multiple file manipulation options like summarization.

Microsoft has already released a standalone app for macOS, so it could force launch the app and process the text action inside the app window.

Let’s discuss all the other features, including Copilot exclusives that will be available for OneDrive.

Copilot

Like other Microsoft 365 apps, OneDrive was destined to have Copilot integration. You can generate quick summaries of long documents, create presentations using the summary, and ask questions about it.

There’s also a new file comparison feature that lets you compare up to five files at once. The files don’t need to be in the same format (like docs). Copilot can compare data from multiple file formats at once.

Custom Copilot agent

We were surprised by this one. Microsoft showcased how you could create a custom Coilot agent that can work on a project. It’s easy to customize the agent, and you can share it with other teammates so they can use it.

The shareable aspect and its ability to work across multiple products (Team, SharePoint, and OneDrive) is a game changer for a micro AI assistant.

Colored Folder icons

Windows Latest explored this possibility in a previous post, and now the news is official. You can set custom colors to the OneDrive folder on your Windows 11 PC. We find the color feature useful because it’s easy to identify a folder in a file location with color coding.

That’s a break from the usual yellow folder icons, and we hope that Microsoft offers the same color-changing option for Windows 11 as well.

File Sharing

You can define an expiration date for the shared files. It is also easy to find out who has access to a file and is currently working on it.

Performance boost

The presentation assured a significant performance boost in file access and management. So, finding files and sorting them into categories will be more responsive.

There’s an interactive and dynamic dashboard with suggested actions for the previously viewed files. Small yet useful files and Copilot actions are available in the context menus and the top bar.

Apart from these announced features, OneDrive’s mobile app is also becoming smarter. You can find photos related to a specific event using simple text commands. The only disappointing thing about this event is that the revamped OneDrive is only for Enterprise and Education customers.

We expect trivial features like folder colors and performance improvements to arrive for the free tier.

The post Microsoft teases a new OneDrive UX for Windows 11 and macOS appeared first on Windows Latest

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that “Copilot for WhatsApp” is another chatbot that lets you interact with a large language model. It’s not powerful or deeply integrated into WhatsApp, but I’m told Microsoft has plans to improve the experience of Copilot on WhatsApp. It still appears to be in the early stage of development

WhatsApp already has Meta AI, which is deeply integrated into the app. It works really well, and you can launch it via a dedicated Meta AI button or the search bar. On the other hand, Copilot for WhatsApp is just yet another chatbot and is not as deeply integrated as Meta AI because Meta does not allow it.

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In a support document seen by Windows Latest, Microsoft has yanked the mention of Copilot for Telegram for some reason, and only WhatsApp chatbot is specified.

It’s unclear if Microsoft has plans to end support for Telegram bot, but as of writing this article, Copilot for Telegram still works.

Speaking of Copilot for WhatsApp, it’s possible to capture a photo and share it with the chatbot, and then ask it to describe the photo. It’s also able to use DALL-E 3 to generate AI images, and it works really well in our tests.

The post Hands on: Microsoft Copilot now works inside WhatsApp, supports DALL-E images and more appeared first on Windows Latest

First, let’s talk about Perplexity’s idea. Perplexity’s AI podcast feature is called Discover Daily, and it’s an AI-generated podcast that reads aloud news articles. These AI podcasts are published daily, and they have episodes with more than 8 minutes in length. The Perplexity Discover Daily has two AI hosts, and it’s powered by ElevenLabs’s AI.

Perplexity’s Discover Daily is based on its Discover feed, which has headlines on top stories from well-known news publications. A similar feature is coming to Copilot, but it’s somewhat different and surprisingly called “Copilot Daily.”

Windows Latest tested the feature as part of Copilot’s revamp. I’ve already discussed the Copilot revamp, but in case you missed it, Copilot’s new UI is similar to Pi AI (where Microsoft is an investor).

The new Copilot is on par with ChatGPT in terms of website and model performance, and it also ships with up to four voices.

You’ll be able to interact with Copilot using your voice, but the most interesting part of the integration is “Copilot Daily”.

Copilot Daily is a 100% AI-generated daily news podcast that highlights the best and most interesting news headlines from publications like Reuters. It appears to be a short 3-4 minutes of podcast, which starts at 30:00 and ends at 34:00.

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that the Copilot Daily podcast audio begins playback at a timestamp of 30:00 (or 30 minutes and 0 seconds). The total duration is displayed on the far right side of the progress bar.

The interface has bubble, which represent different news segments, and each of them gets spoken one after the other. For example, one bubble might start at 30:00, and collapse after the audio of that story ends. Then, the next news bubble might begin at 30:25, and it goes on for the four minutes.

You also have a play/pause button. The buttons on the left and right of the play button allow you to jump forward or backward through the audio, skipping to previous or next stories.

It looks like the AI podcast feature probably reads a set of news stories that are grouped into a longer audio segment.

Windows Latest understands that Copilot Daily could be personalized based on your interest, and summaries are drawn from publications.

It’s an interesting idea, and you can switch between the four voices – Meadow, Wave, Grove, and Canyon.

Copilot Daily is limited to English (US/UK) for now, but support for additional languages could be added in future.

The post Hands on: Microsoft Copilot is getting Perplexity AI-like news podcast feature appeared first on Windows Latest