Windows

Believe it or not, there’s another blue screen that’s popping up on some Windows machines. Microsoft says some Windows 11 devices will see a blue BitLocker recovery screen at boot after installing the July 2024 Windows security update. The issue isn’t widespread, but those impacted will have to enter a recovery key to get a PC to boot properly. A fix is on the way.

Microsoft made Secure Boot a requirement for Windows 11, and has been pushing to use the technology to secure against BIOS rootkits for years. Now, researchers have found that Secure Boot has been compromised on more than 200 device models from Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and more. Ars Technica reports that an important cryptographic key was published on GitHub in 2022, by “someone working for multiple US-based device manufacturers.”

“However, we understand our work is not yet complete, and we remain committed to restoring every impacted system.,” CEO George Kurtz continued in his post on LinkedIn.

Yesterday, CrowdStrike released a detailed report on the software update that crashed 8.5 million Windows machines, along with some of the changes it plans to avoid similar issues in the future.

Look, I know unsightly stickers on Windows laptops have been with us since long ago when “Intel Inside” was something people actually wanted boast about. But come on, HP.

I recently wrote about using Windows XP on my iPad Pro and Verge commenter cindrBear helpfully pointed out that in 2001, Microsoft announced Tablet PC.

Like with Copilot Plus PCs, the Tablet PC initiative encouraged manufacturers to make hardware for specific features — in this case, a Windows XP edition for touchscreen tablets. Seeing it in action in this video, I’m clearly using the wrong version of XP.

In a tweet and blog post, George Kurtz says:

As this incident is resolved, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and the steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again.

We are working on a technical update and root cause analysis that we will share with everyone as well.

Other updates from CrowdStrike about Friday’s global IT misadventure warn about threat actors impersonating it in phishing attempts and other attacks or advise automated methods (PDF) to track down systems that have been affected.

The Verge senior editor Tom Warren can explain. Follow our story stream for all of the latest updates about this situation causing Blue Screen of Death errors on computers worldwide.

At least, according to the FCC.

I love a scheduled social media post right in the middle of a major PC outage. IT admins certainly aren’t enjoying the CrowdStrike 2024 PC era.

A change included in a new Windows beta would sort apps by labels like “Music” and “Entertainment,” according to posts on X spotted by XDA Developers. (Windows 8.1 had a similar option.)

The change is apparently tucked away in Windows Insider Preview build 22635.3930, but requires some finagling to enable.

In the old days, running Disk Defragmenter in Windows took forever but was a welcome, meditative reminder that you can’t control everything.

I’m kidding, it was awful. Here’s a website that simulates it, hard drive sounds and all, from developer Dennis Morello. It’s nicer when it’s not keeping you from playing Starcraft.

Opera has asked the EU General Court to annul the European Commission’s decision not to designate Microsoft Edge as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act. Opera argues that Microsoft still makes it difficult to use an alternative browser and keeps treating its own browser “in a preferential way.” Microsoft is certainly using every trick in the book to keep Windows users on Edge.

Brad Silverberg, former senior VP of Windows, kept hold of the first copy of Windows 95 that came off the production line. Microsoft employees then held a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) party with bottles of Dom Pérignon for drinking and “cheap champagne for spraying.” Microsoft’s RTM parties were infamous throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s, especially the iPhone funeral one for the Windows Phone 7 RTM.

The first wave of Copilot Plus PCs has landed, and iFixit has already posted a Surface Pro and Surface Laptop teardown.

There’s no magic AI dust to fix the Recall mess, but they are notably repairable, with icons and QR codes to ease the process if that affects your buying decision. Expect more from us soon about how these match up with Microsoft’s promises.

Microsoft has started testing a new way to import photos on Windows 11 PCs. It should make it easier to grab photos from your devices, and it’s part of several new features coming to the photos app — including a dynamic zoom slider, easier access to slideshows, and improved load times.

Microsoft is launching its Copilot Plus PCs today, with Qualcomm-powered chips inside. If you’re wondering where our reviews are, Microsoft and most of its OEM partners haven’t seeded devices ahead of today’s launch because of Microsoft’s Recall... recall. I have started testing a Surface Laptop today, and we’ll have a full review of this new Windows on Arm hardware as soon as possible.

Phone Link already lets you share files from PC to certain Android phones — a new Windows Insider Preview now adds your phone directly to the Windows Share menu, too. Also, you can quickly summon jump lists by right-clicking an app pinned to the Start Menu. More here.

Next, can I get phone mirroring without needing to unlock my Samsung, pretty please?

Slack is getting ready for Windows on Arm, just days before Microsoft launches its Copilot Plus PCs on June 18th with Arm-powered chips from Qualcomm. A new beta version of the ARM64 version of Slack is available today, and Slack says it will appear in the Microsoft Store soon, too. It’s another important app compatibility addition for Windows on Arm.