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Google has released version 142 of its Chrome web browser for all supported operating systems and platforms. The official release announcement on the Chrome Releases blog makes no mention of security fixes, which could be a first.

No word yet about the recently announced change to Chrome's notification system.

Chrome Sync changes

The jump from version 141 to 142 introduces a few changes, including a simplified sign-in and sync experience on Chrome desktop according to Google.

What this means is that Chrome Sync won't be shown as a separate feature anymore on desktop systems. Instead, the feature is now tied more closely to the Google Account.

Users who sign-in to their account in Chrome can sync data, such as passwords or bookmarks, to their Google account.

A click on the profile icon displays the option to turn on syncing, if it is not enabled already. Chrome users may manage what they sync on this page in Chrome: chrome://settings/syncSetup/advanced

Just load the page in the address bar and pick the "Customize Sync" option to select what you want to sync and what not.

Google notes that the change does not affect the ability to sign in to Google websites and services on the Internet. This continues to be possible without signing in to Chrome. The feature is rolling out gradually.

Local Network Access permission

The second big change adds a permission for local network access. Google defines a local network request as

• Any request from a public website to a local IP address or loopback.
• Any request from a local website to loopback.

Permission needs to be granted by the user to allow the connection, otherwise, it is blocked.

Google says that the change improves security and privacy: "Gating the ability for websites to perform these requests behind a permission mitigates the risk of cross-site request forgery attacks against local network devices such as routers, and reduces the ability of sites to use these requests to fingerprint the user's local network.".

The permission is restricted to secure contexts, but it will relax "mixed content blocking for local network requests" when granted.

Now You: Have you tried the new Chrome release already? What is your take on the new local network access permission or the change in syncing behavior? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Fedora Linux 43 has been released. Let's take a look at the new features in it.

Anaconda WebUI, which was introduced as the new default installer in Fedora Workstation 42, is now the default in Fedora 43 spins. Here's what it looks like. It replaces the old GTK installer.

Fedora 43 brings RPM 6.0 package manager with various security improvements such as support for multiple signatures per package, and OpenPGP v6 keys. The /boot partition has been doubled in size from 1 GiB to 2 GiB. Fedora 43 comes with Python 3.14, Golang 1.25, LLVM 21, PostgreSQL 18, etc.

The Nautilus file manager, aka Files, has been improved, and its search interface has been redesigned. Even the Settings app has been given a makeover.

You can toggle Focus Mode from the quick settings panel, which is basically Do Not Disturb, to silence notifications.

There are a couple of new default apps in the distro. Showtime is the new default video player in Fedora 43, replacing Totem. The distro’s new default document viewer is Papers.

 

One of the notable changes in the update is that GNOME is now Wayland-only in Fedora Linux 43. That's because X11 support has been deprecated in GNOME 49, and will be removed fully in GNOME 50. X11 users will be automatically migrated to Wayland.

As you can see in my screenshot, Gnome 49 uses the Wayland session (Mutter). This has some pros and cons, Wayland does improve support for Fractional scaling, HDR, etc. Fedora 43 ships with the Linux Kernel 6.17.

Fedora's announcement mentions that the release includes significant enhancements for multiple display setups, an improved and streamlined workflow for capturing screenshots and recording the screen. The update brings enhanced drivers for Intel Xe graphics and improvements for systems using NVIDIA Optimus and Hybrid Mode. KDE Plasma desktop includes KDE Plasma 6.4.5, which was released last month. Atomic Fedora Kinoite 43 comes with automatic updates enabled, which are delivered on a weekly basis.

Interested in reading the full list of changes? You'll find them here.

Download Fedora 43 from the official website, or from one of the official torrents.

Note: I tested the Live ISO of Fedora 43 Workstation briefly. This shouldn't be considered a full review of the distro.

In case you missed it, Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 was released earlier this month.

Have you tried Fedora 43?

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Mozilla released a new point update for its open source Firefox web browser today. Firefox 144.0.2 comes exactly two weeks after the last main release, Firefox 144.

What about Firefox 144.0.1? This was released in the meantime, but only for the Android version of Firefox. In other words, desktop users upgrade Firefox from Firefox 144.0 directly to Firefox 144.0.2.

The update is available already and it should be pushed out automatically in the coming hours and days. Desktop users may select Menu > Help > About Firefox to install the new Firefox update immediately.

Firefox 144.0.2: release notes Firefox 144.0.2 fixes a crash, a security issue, and several non-security issues.

The official release notes for the release confirm that Mozilla addressed security and non-security issues in the release. The update patches a single security issue that is rated high by Mozilla.

It fixes a user-after-free in WebGPU. Mozilla reveals that the issue existed was introduced in Firefox 142, which threat actors could use to escape the sandbox.

The non-security fixes in Firefox 144.0.2

The point update addresses a crash in Firefox on Windows, if certain security software was installed on the devices. Mozilla mentions Avast security software specifically, but others may also have caused the crash.

Firefox 144.0.2 does fix a hang on macOS 14.6 as well. This could occur in previous version of Firefox when "bookmark folders contained loops or repeated references to themselves" according to Mozilla. The update addresses a second macOS 14.6 issue that affected performance and video playback issues on systems that were under heavy load.

Another fix addressed an issue with the emoji picker shortcut and menu on macOS devices, which could stop working after switching apps.

Last but not least, it fixes an image-dragging-issue on macOS devices that could occur when users dragged images from Firefox ito third-party apps. This operation could fail or "behave unexpectedly" according to the release notes.

Mozilla fixed an issue that affected the Unified Search dropdown, which made it inconsistent. Mozilla says that the dropdown should appear properly now to allow users to select a search engine using the keyboard.

Firefox 144.0.2 furthermore fixes a loading issue on Microsoft's OneDrive Photos "For You" website, and a locales listing issue on the internal about:settings page of the browser.

Closing Words

The next Firefox release, Firefox 145, is scheduled for November 11. It is unclear if there will be another point update in the meantime.

Now You: did you notice any of the issues described in the release notes? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Google is rolling out the Material 3 Expressive redesign for Chrome on Android. It changes the shape of many buttons into rounded shapes, and makes menus easier to read.

Google announced the Material 3 Expressive redesign in May 2025, with a focus on glanceable elements, dynamic colors, animations, and consistency across the UI (as pictured above).

Tap on the three-dot menu in Chrome on your Android device, and you should see the new design. The update, which was spotted by 9to5Google, changes the shapes of the containers to rounded buttons. This applies to the forward, bookmark, downloads, site info, and the refresh button, that are all housed at the top of the overflow menu.

Previously, these options didn't stand out, they felt like they were part of the vertical list, sort of blending in. The redesign makes them a tad easier to see. If you bookmark a page, the star button shapeshifts into a rounded-square. It's a subtle, yet very noticeable tweak.

Chrome's progress bar has also been changed, when you load a web page, you may notice that the bar has rounded corners too. The tab switcher's Tab Grid also reflects the new design. The plus symbol, aka the new tab button, has a rounded square container. It has a dynamic color background, which depends on your theme. Similarly, the other buttons on the page including Tab, Incognito mode, and Groups all have their own containers now, each with a squircle design (rounded square).

Tab Groups now use the color that you assigned for the group, which helps identify them quickly.

Despite these changes in the shapes, design, nothing has been changed in terms of functions in Chrome for Android. That's probably a good thing, otherwise it could end up confusing users.

Tip: Chrome on Android can now read web pages like a podcast.

The Material 3 Expressive design for Chrome on Android is rolling out to version 141 of the app, as a server-side update. Well, it looks a lot better than Material You, that's for sure.

Do you like it?

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Mozilla is improving the search suggestions in Firefox. It wants to display search results in the address bar, aka inline results.

Traditional search suggestions in web browsers display relevant queries when you start typing something. Selecting the suggestion takes you to the results page of your preferred search engine. Firefox already does this, using Firefox Suggest. Mozilla wants to streamline this experience.

Instead of taking the user to the results page, Firefox will display the top result directly in the address bar as you type your query. Mozilla's blog highlights some examples, such as checking for flight details. It displays the time of departure, arrival, destination, the current status (on time or not), etc., without loading the search engine's page.

These aren't trending searches, the result is based on the user's query. It will work when you look for specific websites. Or in case, if it's not a specific search, Mozilla says that Firefox will display recommendations for highly relevant results.

What about privacy?

Mozilla says that the idea is to prevent search engines from identifying users based on their queries. In order to do this, Firefox will encrypt the search query using Oblivious HTTP, where the encrypted request is sent to a relay that is operated by Fastly. The server cannot see your query, but will be able to see your IP. On the other hand, Mozilla can see the text, but does not see the user. The browser then displays a result directly or fetch one from a search engine.

Traditional search suggestions aren't going away, Firefox will continue to display them. Mozilla admits that some relevant results may be sponsored to support Firefox. The new experience isn't final, it is currently in development. The improved search suggestions in Firefox are currently available for users in the U.S., and will roll out to more regions in the coming year.

Users can disable the feature by unchecking the "Retrieve suggestions as you type" option in Firefox's Settings. You may preemptively disable it by going to about:config and set the value of browser.urlbar.quicksuggest.online.enabled to false.

What do you think about inline search results?

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Browser extensions extend the functionality of a web browser or the displayed websites and apps. They can be very useful, for instance to block advertisement, prevent tracking, enable bulk downloading, change something on a website, or help improve your browsing in other ways.

However, the popularity has also led to the rise of extensions that do not have the best of users at heart or at all. From malicious extensions to browser add-ons that collect and sell user data.

Mozilla announced an upcoming change to the Firefox extension ecosystem that has far-reaching consequences. Extensions "will be required to specify if they collect or transmit personal data" starting November 3, 2025, writes Mozilla in a new blog post on the official add-ons blog.

The important details:

• The change applies to new extensions only at first, not new versions of existing extensions.
• All extensions will have to disclose the information in the first half of 2026.
• Extensions that do not collect or transmit anything still have to specify this.
• The information is displayed to users during installation of an extension.

When an extension collects data, Firefox displays the data that it collects as part of the installation prompt. Mozilla shared an image of an extension that collected the location information according to the data the developer provided.

A Firefox add-on prompt that reveals that the extension collects location information.

Extensions that do not collect any data still have a "data collection" section listed. Mozilla reveals here that the developer stated that the extension does not collect any data.

Mandatory for all extensions from 2026 onward

Initially, only new extensions are required to provide data collecting information. Existing extensions may add the information voluntary, but need to continue doing so once started.

Mozilla revealed that all Firefox extensions will be required to provide the information from 2026 onward. The organization has not set a specific date at the time, but mentioned that it would likely become mandatory in the first half of 2026.

Extensions that do not have the information in their manifests but are required to will be prevented from being submitted to the Firefox extensions repository. Mozilla says that developers will receive an error message during signing if that is the case, so that they know why an extension was not signed.

Closing Words

Clearly, Mozilla wants to improve transparency when it comes to the collection of user data by extensions. That is a good decision, even though the information the developer provides does not appear to be verified automatically. This is not different from how other extension stores or application stores handle the information though.

The change could be disruptive. Mozilla has not revealed how it plans to deal with extensions that are no longer updated. Will they stop working altogether because of the missing information by 2026?

Now You: what is your take on the change? Good move by Mozilla to improve transparency, or do you fear, that some Firefox extensions will no longer function in the browser once the new policy gets mandatory for existing extensions? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Microsoft has unveiled Halo: Campaign Evolved. It is a remake of the classic first-person shooter, Halo: Combat Evolved.

Halo: CE was released in 2001 for the Xbox, and a year later on Windows. It was the first game in which Master Chief appeared, as did Cortana (not the Windows Assistant).

Microsoft released a remake of the game called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which was released initially for the Xbox One in 2014, and later as part of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection for Windows in 2019, and for Xbox Series X/S in 2020. Halo: Campaign Evolved is releasing in 2026, to mark the original game's 25th anniversary.

The game's campaign has been rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, and remastered in 4K by Halo Studios.

Here is a shot of the old graphics.

And this is what the remastered visuals look like.

It is also getting three new bonus campaign missions, these are prequel missions set before the events of the Halo: CE. They will feature new environments, characters and enemies.

9 additional iconic weapons from the series such as the Energy Sword, Battle Rifle and Needle Rifle have been added to the game. Players can hijack enemy rides, and also pilot a drivable Covenant Wraith tank. You can sprint in the game if you want.

Microsoft says that it has remastered the music, and re-recorded the voice lines for Halo: Campaign Evolved.

It's worth noting that the game is singleplayer only, it does not support multiplayer. But there's co-op. Up to 4 players can take part in a co-op campaign online across Xbox, PS5 and PC. The local split-screen experience only supports 2 players, and is restricted to consoles.

Watch the official reveal on the Halo YouTube channel. Here's a video trailer for The Silent Cartographer. And if that's not enough, there's a 13-minute gameplay video of the level.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming to PC, Xbox Series X / S, Sony PlayStation 5 in 2026. It will also be available day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. The price of the game has not been revealed, nor have the system requirements.

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Apple Maps is getting ready to introduce ads in the app. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple could introduce promoted slots in search results.

Apple Maps on the web debuted last year and supports all major web browsers on desktop, and is even available for Android browsers. Just when you thought things were improving, this happens. But Apple has been working on this for a few years. A report from earlier this year also hinted this could happen, so this isn't completely out of the blue.

Gurman says that Apple Map will be similar to the Search Ads on the App Store. Advertisers can pay to be featured more prominently. These won't be displayed as banner ads. Rather, the app will show sponsored results, where restaurants, businesses are featured.

Google Maps does this too, it displays "Promoted Pins" that appear different to regular pins. There are also sponsored search results for businesses, as well as some suggested places like restaurants. The report claims that Apple Maps will have a "better interface" than Google and other map services. It's unclear what that means. Apple will also use AI to ensure the ads are "relevant and useful". Of course, when we are talking about ads, we should consider privacy too. Ads and privacy aren't a good mix, so this could result in users migrating from Apple Maps.

Apple has been promoting various subscriptions like AppleCare+, Apple TV, Apple Music, etc., across iOS, iPadOS, macOS. That's not unlike what Microsoft does with Office 365, OneDrive, on Windows. That's just Microsoft being Microsoft. Google is an ad-company, so it's not unusual for it to sell ads, that's its main source of income. Apple on the other hand focuses on premium devices, so it is a bit disappointing to see it navigating away in the opposite direction.

Apple may bring ads in Apple Maps next year. If you're looking for a privacy-friendly map and navigation app, I'd recommend Organic Maps or OsmAnd for iOS. Both apps use OpenStreetMap data, are open source, free, and work offline. They are also available for Android on the Google Play Store (Organic Maps / OsmAnd) and F-Droid (Organic Maps / OsmAnd).

Would you mind if Apple introduced ads in Apple Maps?

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Microsoft is testing a new feature for Windows Search. It is called Copy & Search.

The idea is to make searching for text faster. Normally, when you want to find something in a document or a web page, you either click on the search box or hit Ctrl + F, and then type something in it, or paste the text. The same applies to Windows Search on the Taskbar, you click on it and paste something. Technically, you click on it, wait for it to show the search UI, and then start typing your query. It's a little annoying,

Microsoft wants to streamline this process. When you copy some text, the search box in Windows Taskbar will detect that the clipboard contains text, and display a suggestion that says "Search copied text". It also displays a paste icon in the search box to indicate that the clipboard's contents can be used to search. Microsoft calls this icon a "paste gleam". Clicking on it will paste the text, and run the search automatically. All it takes is a single-click. I suppose it's kind of similar to paste and go in browsers, it makes it a bit more efficient.

(Image courtesy: Microsoft)

Copy & Search is currently being tested in the Beta and Dev channels of Windows 11 in the Insider Program.

Microsoft is also introducing a new troubleshooting feature called Proactive Memory Diagnostics. When Windows runs into a bugcheck like an unexpected restart, it may display a notification when you reboot, suggesting a quick memory scan.

This option, when accepted, will schedule a Windows Memory Diagnostic scan to run when you reboot your PC. The tool will notify you if an issue was found and mitigated. This feature is currently not supported on ARM64 devices, and computers that have Administrator Protection, or BitLocker without Secure Boot.

What do you think about Copy & Search?

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Nothing, maker of Nothing phones and devices, has made available the next iteration of its operating system for Nothing Phone 3a series devices. It gives users a glimpse of things to come, including Android 16 on their devices.

While the core focus of the update is Android 16, some new features are also being tested. One of them is called Look Glimpse, and it has recently blown up on social media sites like X or Reddit.

Put simply, Look Glimpse is a feature that pushes wallpapers to the device's lockscreen. Nothing describes the feature in the following way: "Lock Glimpse brings fresh, high-quality wallpapers to your lock screen, curated to your taste across nine categories. It can also surface timely updates and useful content, designed to enhance your experience, not distract you."

Nothing avoids the term advertisement, but this appears to be a big part of the feature. Windows users, and many others, have experienced similar features in the past when companies like Microsoft started to display ads on the Windows lockscreen.

Nothing reacted to the brewing storm with a post on the community forum. There, the company explained its motivation behind the feature. More importantly, it stated that Look Glimpse was disabled by default on Nothing Phone 3a Series devices. Also, the company promised to release a future update that would allow users to display their photos on the lockscreen instead.

Why is Nothing introducing the feature then? According to the post, because of thin margins and the need to increase revenue.

It also announced a second change coming to non-flagship devices that might also alienate part of the customer base. Nothing plans to push "a carefully considered selection of third-party partner apps and services" on these devices. For a company that pushed the non-bloatware approach when it launched its devices, it is a major deviation from that.

Nothing promises that these apps and services "don't disrupt the Nothing OS experience" and that they are installed by most users anyway on the first day of usage. The only example that Nothing gives is the app Instagram, which is developed by Meta.

The company promises to "keep partner apps minimal and easy to remove", and that it will remain "upfront about what's pre-installed and why". Also, users will retain full control over Look Glimpse and comparable features.

Closing Words

It remains to be seen how this will evolve once the final version of the new operating system version launches. Opt-in is certainly the right approach to anything that involves advertisement or user privacy. Most phones and devices come with preinstalled apps from third-party companies as well, but it is clear why owners of a phone that did not are not exactly happy about the development.

Now You: Which mobile phone do you use currently and why? Do you mind the preinstallation of third-party apps on your devices? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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A couple of days ago, OpenAI announced its AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas. And it seems that it already has a big roadmap for the features it wants to add to Atlas.

Adam Fry, who heads ChatGPT Atlas, Search and Pulse, posted a list on X, highlighting the things that OpenAI is working on for improving Atlas. It appears that the browser will get some much needed quality-of-life improvements like an opt-in ad blocker, add support for tab groups, multiple profiles. In my overview of ChatGPT Atlas, I had pointed out many features were missing. It's good to see that some of them will be coming to the browser.

OpenAI says it will improve the bookmarks experience by introducing an overflow menu, and wants to add a menu that lists all keyboard shortcuts that are supported by the browser. The post-launch fixes will also upgrade the quality of personalized suggestions.

Agent mode is getting some fixes to make the pause state more reliable, improved animations for chain-of-thought for actions, better support for Google Drive, and Excel on the cloud. Atlas will also get ChatGPT-focused improvements such as accessing an AI model picker in the sidebar, use projects from the sidebar, option to include multiple tabs as context. These will be useful for users who have a ChatGPT subscription.

Fry also mentioned that OpenAI is working on some fix for the 1Password extension not working in the browser. I had a similar problem with Bitwarden's add-on on Atlas, maybe they are related. Some users have reported that extensions were not working, which is something I had noticed as well. I doubt they would allow you to change the new tab though, Perplexity's Comet browser has similar restrictions.

Even though the list didn't mention it, Fry confirmed to a question from a user, that ChatGPT Atlas for Windows and Android is coming. In case you aren't aware, ChatGPT Atlas is only available for macOS at the moment.

Have you tried ChatGPT Atlas?

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Take this with a grain of salt, but users have reported another privacy transgression by Microsoft. According to the report by users from the Resetera forum and elsewhere, Copilot Gaming, an AI specially for gaming-related AI tasks, is taking screen captures of your gameplay for training.

While that would be fine if the user knew about it and enabled it willingly, it appears to be turned on automatically and without informing users about the data collecting and use of the data.

According to the user who noticed it first by monitoring network traffic, the AI is using OCR technology to identify text in the screenshots. If that reminds you of Microsoft's Recall feature, which it had to pull over similar privacy concerns and redo, you are not mistaken.

Note: Gaming Copilot is a beta feature. It is unclear if the recording happens in all regions or only in some. I checked on a recent Windows 11, version 24H2 system and did not have a Privacy settings section. However, the colleagues over at WCCFTech checked and they had it and confirmed that it was enabled by default.

How to turn this off The privacy settings of Gaming Copilot. (screenshot by RedbullCola / Resetera)

If you are a gamer on Windows 11, you may want to check if Gaming Copilot is being trained by monitoring what and how you play.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type Game Bar and press the Enter-key. You may also use the shortcut Windows-G to get there directly.
3. Select the Settings gear.
4. Switch to Privacy settings.
5. Toggle "Model training on text" to off.
6. Go back.
7. Open Capture settings.
8. Toggle "Enable screenshots (experimental)".

It is probably a good idea to check if the setting exists, even if you do not play games on the Windows 11 system. Unless you really, really want to help Microsoft train its gaming AI, you might want to turn it off immediately.

Gaming Copilot Capture settings (Screenshot by RedbullCola / Resetera)

The original thread starter posted another screenshot of another setting. Found under Capture settings, the preference "enable screenshots (experimental)" was enabled as well.

Microsoft did not display any onboarding or consent prompts to the user either, reportedly.

We asked Microsoft for comment, but have not heard back yet. We will update the article, if we get feedback from the company.

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Do you remember Microsoft Clippy? Now, say hello to its AI version, the blob. Err, its name is Mico.

You may have seen blobby, Mico, before. The AI avatar, or virtual character, whatever you want to call it, has been a part of Copilot Voice mode for a while. It's even available on Samsung TVs and monitors. Why the name? Why Mico? It's short for Microsoft Copilot. That's a little on the nose, but fair enough.

Microsoft has tried this before, with Cortana. It was supposed to be the cool "voice-based assistant". Except, Cortana was a disaster, barely anyone used it, and a lot of people hated it. Microsoft believes Copilot Voice will change things around. It says Copilot is the AI that listens, learns, and earns your trust. Perhaps Mico will help users engage more with the AI. That seems to be the plan, at least. It's all part of "the computer you can talk to" marketing strategy.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO, Microsoft AI, describes Mico as an AI" companion that is personalized for users. It is expressive, customizable and warm. Well, it's not a teddy bear. Mico listens to you, animates, reacts, and changes colors to reflect your interactions. The Redmond company says this is meant to make voice conversations feel more natural.

Microsoft's VP of product and growth, Jacob Andreou, told The Verge, "Clippy walked so that we could run". If Copilot voice mode is on, Mico is turned on by default too. But you can turn it off if you don't like it. Since Mico is basically Copilot, it uses the memory feature of the AI, while interacting with you. It's also getting a Learn Live mode to explain things to the user, instead of just giving answers.

Here's a video demo of Mico.

It's cute, I'll give it that. Amusing, maybe? Is that enough reason to use an AI? Personally, I'd say no. But people have gotten attached to virtual characters like Tamagotchi, so who knows. Mico is only available in the U.S. currently.

What do you think about Mico? Is it going to be your AI buddy?

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Anthropic is upgrading Claude AI with a Memory feature for Pro and Max users. The feature was initially launched in August 2025.

It was available in Claude for Team, and Enterprise subscription tiers. Now, Anthropic says support for Memory is being expanded to Claude Pro and Max plans after making some refinements.

As its name indicates, Memory helps Claude recall your previous chats with the bot. You don't have to explain things to it again. The Memory feature is not enabled by default, users will need to opt in to it. You can enable it from the settings. It allows Claude to search and reference chats. Once enabled, you can generate a memory from your chats with Claude. There are toggles for these.

It has a project-scoped memory, as in each project has its own memory, just like in the Team and Enterprise plans. Users have full control over it, and can view and edit the memory. You can also opt for an incognito chat where the conversation is not saved to the memory.

Anthropic says it ran extensive safety testing across various topics to ensure that the memory is not used for harmful patterns in chats, or over-accommodation, or to bypass its safeguards. It says that the tests provided valuable results, which were used to tweak the chatbot's memory feature, to provide helpful and safe responses to users. Here's a video demo of the feature, you can learn more about it at the official support page.

Memory in Claude is available across your chats on all platforms including web, desktop and mobile apps. It's still not available for free users. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini all have a similar feature.

Anthropic's decision to use user data to train its language models, by default, had raised concerns among users. This policy came into effect on September 28, 2025. Users have to opt out of the training from their account's settings to prevent their data from being used to train the AI models.

Do you use Claude AI?

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Microsoft Paint used to be the default, very limited, image editor of the Windows operating system. It faced near replacement some years ago, when Microsoft decided that creating was the next big thing for Windows 10. Microsoft Paint 3D was part of that plan, which did not work out in the end.

With Paint 3D gone, Paint was once again the image editor. The rise of AI has seen an infusion of AI-related features in traditional programs on Windows. Next to Notepad, Paint already got a whole new array of AI features, including Cocreator, which has Microsoft's Copilot AI create artwork based on what you draw on the canvas.

Other AI features include creating images from prompts, generative fill and erase, and more. Soon, Windows users may start using another AI feature in Paint, according to a new post on the Microsoft website.

Restyle lets you "transform the art style of images on the canvas". It supports various preset styles, such as pop art, sketch, cyberpunk, or impressionist. Pick one, and the artificial intelligence applies the style to the image. Think of it as Notepad's rewrite option, but for images and not text.

As usual, the feature is only available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs. Those need to run a test copy of Windows 11 and wait for the Paint version 11.2509.441.0 update to be offered as an update on the system. Restyle requires a Microsoft account, which you need to sign in before you can start testing the new Paint feature.

Closing Words

Microsoft continues to add AI features to traditional applications. While these are limited to Copilot+ PCs for the most part and passive, meaning you need to actively select them to use them, one has to wonder, if that is really development-time well spend.

Has Microsoft Paint use or the use of AI in the image editor gone up noticeably in recent time? It would be interesting to know if the infusion of AI has had a positive effect on usage or if it is more a case of, "look, more AI in our products" kind of development that has little impact on the average Windows users.

Now you: what is your take on AI features in Windows? Do you use them already or try to avoid them as best as you can? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Mozilla is introducing 2 new widgets in Firefox's new tabs. Two of them are currently available in Firefox Labs.

Mozilla has been testing widgets for a while now, it introduced a Weather widget (powered by AccuWeather) for the New Tab page as a hidden flag in Firefox 127 last year. Later, this was made available for users in the United States and Canada when Firefox 130 was released. It has expanded to more countries since then, check this support page for more details.

Let's get back to the new widgets: Lists and Focus Timer. The feature were tested since Firefox 143, in the beta and nightly channels of the browser. Now it is available in the stable version of Firefox, but not enabled by default. It is an optional feature, so you can turn it off if you don't like it.

Right, so how do you enable them? Open Firefox's Settings > Firefox Labs. Or just paste this in your tab about:preferences#experimental

Here, you will see some experimental features that you can test. The one we want is listed under the Productivity section, and is called Lists and Timer on Firefox Home. Check the box next to its name. That's it, open a new tab, and you should see the new widgets ready for use.

Mozilla says that users can create up to 10 lists using the Lists widget. To get started, hit the three-dot menu on the widget, select "Create a New List". Now you can add items to the list. Each list may have up to 100 items, so you can use it for to-do tasks, shopping, reminders, etc. Click on an item to mark it as completed.

It is worth noting that this is not a cloud-based feature, all data is stored locally. Unfortunately, the widgets do not sync between devices, and you can't back them up either. The widget menu has an option to "copy list to clipboard", you can use this to backup your list or share it with others.

The Timer widget is quite simple, there are 2 modes: a 25-minute timer, and a 5-minute break. Select one, hit play, and the countdown begins. You can set a custom timer by placing the cursor over the seconds and minutes markers, and type in a number of your choice.  Click on the Timer widget's menu, and select Turn On notifications, this will display an alert when the timer expires.

 

Here is the official support article for Widgets on Firefox New Tabs.

They may not have the features that add-ons may offer, but it's nice to have such options built-in. Don't like the widgets? Want to disable one or more of them? Click on the customize button (pencil icon) in the bottom right corner of the new tab. You should see toggles for each widget, just disable the ones that you don't like. You may also disable a widget directly from its own menu.

 

Do you like the new widgets?

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YouTube is rolling out an option that will allow users to set a limit on how long they watch Shorts every day. Is Google admitting that Shorts are affecting the mental health of viewers?

Social media has affect people's reading comprehension, and writing habits. IYKYK. They may be designed for entertainment, but they do more harm than good. When was the last time you read a book from start to finish? Smartphones have made people dumber. Even AI is making people lazier, as they have begun to rely on summaries instead of reading an article. TL;DR.

Short videos, or as I like to call them, brain rot, are a real problem. Brain rot is an officially recognized word by Oxford. In fact, it was Oxford's word of the year in 2024. Short videos have influenced people negatively. It's a common sight on trains, buses, planes, to see people just doomscrolling away, with no end in sight. Some people stay up in bed staring at their mobile screens, aimlessly scrolling their feed. "YouTube Shorts are now averaging over 200 billion daily views", those were the words of Neal Mohan, YouTube's CEO. He said that in June 2025. That's not good.

What's good is that YouTube is addressing the problem, even if it won't say it outright. An announcement was made on YouTube's support community says that it is introducing an option to allow users to set a daily limit for how long they can scroll on the Shorts feed on mobile.

How about a setting to disable Shorts completely? Short form videos are likely YouTube's biggest moneymakers right now, so don't expect them to go away. A timer to limit the amount of videos that you watch, or more precisely, how long you watch. That's not a bad start. Well, anything that helps with the brain rot is good.

There are no screenshots or videos that highlight how the feature works. The announcement says that users can set and adjust the daily limit for scrolling on the Shorts feed from the Settings.

Lifehacker reports that a similar time-limit feature exists on Instagram and TikTok. Sadly, the option to control the time limit does not seem to be available for me yet on the YouTube app for iOS or Android. It's worth noting that YouTube says that the prompt is dismissable, it just pauses the feed after the user hits the limit, so it can be bypassed. This is where self-control matters, if you want to quit doomscrolling, you're going to need to be disciplined. YouTube does have a break reminder feature already, the new option is different. YouTube is also planning to bring this Shorts feed time limit to parental controls later this year. And this option will be a non-dismissable setting for kids and teens.

On a side note, it looks like YouTube's redesigned video player is rolling out to more users. It's now available for me on the web version, not that I asked for it, on an account that's not logged in. Firefox Extensions like BlockTube, Improve YouTube continue to work, so at least the redesign didn't break those.

Do you watch short videos?

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Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a price increase for HBO Max plans. This is the third time the streaming service has hiked its prices in 3 years.

The platform debuted in 2020, and got its first price hike in January 2023. HBO Max last increased its prices in June 2024, and again now in October 2025.

The cheapest plan, HBO Max Basic With Ads, used to cost $9.99 per month. But now the monthly subscription is available for $10.99 after a $1 increase in its price. HBO Max Standard has had a $1.50 price hike, and now costs $18.49 as opposed to its previous cost of $16.99. Both the Basic and Standard plans allow viewers to stream videos on two devices simultaneously, in 1080p Full HD resolution. The only differences between the two options are that the Basic plan has ads, while Standard offers an ad-free experience and also lets you download up to 30 videos to watch offline.

The streaming platform's highest offering, HBO Max Premium, which lets you stream 4K videos on up to 4 devices, supports Dolby Atmos, and allows 100 downloads, now costs $22.99 per month. It used to be available for $20.99 prior to this $2 price increase.

HBO Max's website shows that the price of the ad-supported HBO Max, Disney+ and Hulu bundle now costs $19.99. It has gone up from its previous price of $16.99, by $3.

According to Variety, the new prices come into effect immediately, however existing subscribers will see the prices change from their next billing cycle, on/or after November 20, 2025. Similarly, yearly subscribers will see the price changes in their next renewal cycle, 30 days before it expires.

Disney Plus and Hulu prices have also increased by $2 for ad-supported plans, they now cost $12. The prices of the ad-free subscriptions went up by $3, and now cost $19. Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV have all increased their prices this year.

HBO Max will start cracking down on password sharing this month.

Which streaming service do you use?

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Anyone here using the preview feature in File Explorer on Windows 11? File Explorer can display a preview of the content of a file in the preview pane, which you can show or hide with a click on the preview button, or with the keyboard shortcut Alt-P.

Microsoft announced a change that may affect Windows 11 users who download files from the Internet and use the preview pane in File Explorer.

The details:

• Starting with the October 14, 2025 update, File Explorer's preview pane won't show previews anymore for files downloaded from the Internet.
• This is implemented to address a vulnerability that is affecting the preview pane.

Windows 11 devices with the October 2025 or later security updates installed won't show previews for Internet files anymore. This is a deliberate change to protect devices against NTLM hash leakage that may occur if preview files contain HTML tags. Threat actors might exploit the vulnerability to steal sensitive credentials according to Microsoft.

Good to known: Files that come from the web are marked with "Mark of the Web" to indicate that. It is an identifier that marks these files as potentially unsafe. The main effect is that Windows may warn users who attempt to launch a file with the identifier.

How to enable previews for specific files

Windows 11 administrators may enable previews for specific files in the following way:

1. Right-click on the file.
2. Select Properties from the context menu. You can also press Alt-Enter to get there quickly.
3. Check the "unblock" field under General.
4. Click on OK to save the change.

The preview should appear again. This should only be done for trusted files according to Microsoft.

Closing Words

One has to wonder if Microsoft could have implemented a different fix for the vulnerability that would not break the entire preview functionality for files downloaded from the Internet. Considering that Microsoft says that the issue can only be exploited via certain HTML tags, Microsoft could also have implemented a check for these. Certainly the more complicated and time-consuming approach, but the result would be user friendlier.  (via Deskmodder)

Now You: do you use the preview pane in File Explorer in Windows at all? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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It's finally happened. OpenAI's ChatGPT-powered web browser has been officially announced, this is Atlas.

The browser has been rumored for a long time, there were hints from the company too.

ChatGPT agent mode can interact with sites, do your tasks, but this is only available for users with a ChatGPT Plus, Pro or a Business account.

Note: I don't have access to Agent mode, so I couldn't test the automation capabilities of the browser. This is just a basic overview of its features.

Atlas is not available for Windows or Linux yet, it is only supported on Mac for now. The first thing that pops up when you launch Atlas is a login screen, you cannot skip it. You will need to sign in to your ChatGPT account to proceed.

Atlas can import data from Safari, such as your bookmarks and browsing history. You can choose to skip this step. It doesn't support importing data from other browsers at the moment.

The next screen asks you whether you would like to Turn On Browser Memories, which allows Atlas to remember details as you browse, and use your browser history to provide relevant information for your queries. OpenAI says that users have control over the sites that ChatGPT can see, you can adjust a page's visibility from the address bar.

You can manage your web history and browser memories from the Settings. OpenAI says that Memories are private to the ChatGPT account. This is optional, so you can skip Memories if you don't want to use it. Since I want to test it, I've enabled it.

The next onboarding screen says that ChatGPT is available from the sidebar, and can summarize web pages, explain things, and handle tasks that you want it to. The final step of the set-up offers 7 days of extended limits on messaging, file uploads, data analysis, image generation, but only if you set ChatGPT Atlas as the default browser.

Atlas is built on Chromium. Its home page and new tab page are the same, with a text field to interact with ChatGPT, which also acts as an address bar, search bar. Just enter your query and let ChatGPT do the rest. This applies to questions that you may have, or tasks that you want it to do. Yes, you can speak to it using voice mode.

Atlas' interface looks very similar to Chrome, you have the tab bar, address bar, etc. There is also an "Ask ChatGPT" button on the right edge of the screen, to open the sidebar.

When you interact with ChatGPT via Atlas, it displays various tabs including Home (Chat), Search, Images, Videos, News.

ChatGPT Atlas does not have a built-in ad blocker, but it does support extensions. One thing that did confuse me was the place to manage extensions, I expected it to be under the main menu, or in the settings. But, it can be found under the View menu.

This is where you can manage your downloads, addresses, payment methods, passwords, etc.  Speaking of which, you can import passwords from a CSV file. You can also find these options under your profile in the top right-corner.  It looks rather odd, given it is the only button on the toolbar, aside from Ask ChatGPT of course.

You cannot change the search engine in Atlas, nor can you change the new tab page, even with extensions. Group Speed Dial didn't work. Curiously, Bitwarden doesn't work in Atlas either. It's just like with Perplexity Comet, they have locked you out of most options, even your password manager. Well, at least, uBlock Origin Lite works, so at least ad blocking is sorted out. One more thing, the extension's button doesn't work so you will need to go to atlas://extensions and click on the Details option under an extension to manage it. This might explain why Bitwarden didn't work.

Click on the site settings button to manage various options, including Page Visibility for ChatGPT. OpenAI says that ChatGPT's cursor "can turn into a collaborator", it can recognize emails, calendar invites, docs in text, and you can ask it about these elements.

By default, it is set to allowed. Switch to it, not allowed to restrict access.

Let's get back to the browser's basics. The right-click menu is bare bones, and does not support options provided by extensions.

It's ridiculously bad compared to any browser, even a mobile browser has a better menu than this. There are no options to bookmark, save page, etc.

In stark contrast to this, the address bar's right-click menu has a ton of options. There are some options to manage tabs, but nothing groundbreaking.

The browser has some customization Settings that you can tweak, but the options are limited.

Atlas offers you to personalize your experience with the browser, and this is where you can manage the memories.

Go to Settings > Data Controls, and disable "Help improve browsing and search". This option was enabled by default. The browser has an option to "Improve the model for everyone", but this one is disabled by default.

Remember that OpenAI wanted to buy Chrome, if Google were forced to sell it? The company's intentions are clear, it wants ChatGPT to be the best search engine/chatbot, so it should come as no surprise that ChatGPT Atlas will serve as a direct competitor to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Perplexity Comet, and other browsers with an AI. It's all about capturing the market for the money.

ChatGPT Atlas is impressive in terms of AI features, just like Perplexity's Comet. But, unless you're a die-hard user of ChatGPT, you're not going to like Atlas due to its many restrictions such as no options to customize the home page, new tab, search engine, limited support for extensions, no tab groups, or vertical tabs, no syncing, etc. Then there is the matter of privacy, if that's a priority, you shouldn't be using ChatGPT in the first place.

Download the ChatGPT Atlas browser for macOS from the official website. It supports Macs with Apple Silicon (M-series chips) running macOS 12 Monterey or later. Here's the support page for the browser. Refer to the official announcement for further details.

Have you tried ChatGPT Atlas browser?

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