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Brave Browser is the latest to test an agentic AI. The feature is currently in an experimental phase.

Brave says that it is approaching AI browsing cautiously, considering the security risks. The company admits security measures have not been perfected, and warns about indirect prompt injections, i.e. these are malicious instructions that are hidden on web pages, which could trick the AI to transmit sensitive data to the website. Google had recently said that these were the biggest challenges faced by AI-powered browsers, and outlined various safety mechanisms that are in-place for agentic AI in Chrome. The other issue is that AI models need to be restricted from taking actions that the user did not intend.

Brave's agentic AI works in an isolated profile. This uses a separate storage to ensure cookies, caches, logins, etc., from your regular browsing data are protected. When you enable the agentic AI feature, the browser creates a separate profile that is exclusively used for the AI agent.

Brave is using a second model to check the main AI agent's model. It receives the system prompt, the user prompt, and the task model’s response, and then checks if the task model’s instructions match the user’s intention. This guardrail is similar to the method that Google uses for Chrome's agentic AI. The "alignment checker" does not have access to the website and its content, to prevent prompt injections from affecting it. Brave's AI also uses security-aware system instructions: a structured prompt made by the company to encodes policy-based rules that will be updated. Claude's Sonnet hybrid reasoning model for agents is also used in Brave to mitigate prompt injections.

Users will be in control while the AI agent performs its task, and will be able to view the session as the AI works, pause it or stop it at any time. Brave says that its AI has a strict no-logs, no-retention data privacy policy, and that it does not train its models on user data. The AI browsing mode works with the browser's protections, including the ad-blocker.

Agentic AI browsing is currently available in Brave's Nightly channel. You can download the nightly version of Brave Browser here. Users who wish to test it will need to enable an opt-in flag.

1. Go to brave://flags
2. Search for AI browsing
3. You should see a result labeled "Brave's AI browsing". Its description reads, "Enables Ai browsing features and only in a separate built-in profile. – Mac, Windows, Linux. #brave-ai-chat-agent-profile"
4. This option is disabled, click on the drop-down menu to enable it.
5. Restart the browser to apply the changes.

Now you can use the AI to perform tasks, from Leo's chat interface.

(Image courtesy: Brave)

You can read the official announcement here.

Brave joins the likes of Google Chrome, OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity's Comet, who have all introduced an agentic AI for browsing.

Have you tried Brave's agentic AI?

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Is file sharing still a big thing on today's Internet? Sending files to another device, your own or from someone else, may still be something that you need to do from time to time. Maybe you need to move some documents to another PC, share some photos with family members, or make sure your uncle in Australia or Japan gets the latest 4K video of the last family get-together.

Whatever it is, plenty of options are available today. From using cloud-services and file sharing sites to sending files via mail or using apps. Sometimes, you may need something that is private. That usually means end-to-end encryption or another form of encryption, if the files get transferred over the Internet.

Send encrypted files to other desktop systems

AltSendMe is a free open source tool for file transfers between two PCs running Windows, macOS or Linux. It is easy to use and uses end-to-encryption.

Here are its main features:

• Transfer files or folders of any size.
• Cross-platform sharing between Linux, macOS and Windows.
• No account needed.
• Encryption from start to finish.
• Open source.
• Works on (same) LAN and Internet.

Using it is relatively simple. Note however that Windows may throw a security warning when you run the program, as it is relatively new. I scanned the file at Virustotal and two of the 72 antivirus engines returned a hit, or more precisely, guessed that it could be problematic. It is safe.

If you are the sender, drag and drop files or folder on the interface. You may also use the browse buttons, if you prefer that. Once you have added the files and folders, activate the start sharing button.

You may get a network prompt, which you need to accept. AltSendMe displays a code, which you need to share with the receiving person. There is no integrated option to share codes, not even for PCs that have communicated before using the app. That leaves several of the other options, from using chat or email to something more secure, like a secure messenger that also uses end-to-end encryption.

The receiving person needs to select the receive tab in the program's interface, pick a download directory, and enter the code. This links the two devices and starts the transfer.

Note that the transfer speed depends on the Internet connection of the sender and receiver. More precisely, on the sending PC's upload speed and the receiving PCs download speed. The sender can stop the transfer or listening at any time.

Closing Words

AltSendMe is a straightforward file transfer program for desktop PCs. It is easy to use and the main difficulty is the exchange of the share code. Using encryption to share it is the safest option. Another issue that you may run into is when you share huge file sizes. Both PCs need to be online for the sending and receiving to work. It does support pause and resume, and verifies file integrity though.

Now You: Do you transfer files between devices? If so, which services or programs do you use for the job? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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The Game Awards 2025 was held last night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Here are all the winners from the show.

No surprises as to who stole the show. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made by Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive won the Game of the year Award 2025. It wasn't the only prize they took home. Expedition 33 won the following categories: Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, Best RPG.

Lorien Testard won the Best Score and Music for composing the music for Expedition 33. Jennifer English won the Best Performance award for her performance as Maelle in Expedition 33. That's a total of 9 wins out of 13 nominations.

Supergiant Games' Hades II was named the Best Action Game. Hollow Knight:Silksong won the Best Action / Adventure award. Donkey Kong Bananza won the Best Family game award. Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles was crowned with the Best Sim / Strategy game award. Mario Kart World won the Best Sports / Racing category. Arc Raiders was named the Best Multiplayer game.

The Best Audio Design award was given to Battlefield 6. id Software/Bethesda Softworks won the Innovation in Accessibility award for Doom: The Dark Ages.The Games for Impact award went to South of Midnight, made by Compulsion Games/Xbox Studios.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves won the Best Fighting award. No Man's Sky won the Best Ongoing award for continuing to support the game for a long time. Larian's efforts in Baldur's Gate 3 were rewarded with the Best Community Support award. Umamusume:Pretty Derby was named the Best Mobile Game.

The Midnight Walk was handed the Best VR / AR award. The Last of US: Season 2 won the Best Adaptation award.

Grand Theft Auto VI was named the Most Anticipated Game. Wuthering Waves was voted as the Players’ Voice award.

A lot of new games were announced at TGA 2025, including the following. Some of the trailers have inappropriate/violent content, and may contain spoilers, which is why I have not linked them here.

• Divinity - Larian Studios
• Control: Resonant
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer
• Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis
• Tomb Raider: Catalyst
• Nioh 3
• Total War: Warhammer 40,000

You can re-watch The Game Awards 2025 on YouTube. A new game from Larian, 2 Tomb Raider games, and a TW:WH40K title. That was awesome news. I was hoping for Hogwarts Legacy 2 to show up, but it didn't. Speaking of which, Hogwarts Legacy is free on the Epic Games Store.

What were your favorite games of this year?

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The Epic Games Store is giving away Hogwarts Legacy. You can claim the game to keep it forever.

Hogwarts Legacy was released in 2023, it's an action RPG set in the Harry Potter universe. You play as a student who joins the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story is set a century before the timeline of the Harry Potter novels, so don't expect a lot of familiar characters. But you may encounter some names that you may recognize.

During The Game Awards 2025 show, it was announced that Hogwarts Legacy is free on the Epic Games Store. This led to Epic's site crashing while trying to claim the game. But I was able to claim the game after a couple of hours. The giveaway runs until December 18th, 2025. So, you have plenty of time to claim the game for free. Here's the giveaway page where you can get it from.

Apparently you also get a "Chocolate Frog Back Bling" in Fortnite, whatever that means.

Hogwarts Legacy should be a must-play for fans of Harry Potter. But even if you don't know anything about the books or movies, it's still a fun game, since you get to explore Hogwarts, cast spells, and see a lot of magical creatures.

The game does have has Denuvo DRM. I was kind of hoping the Epic Games version would be DRM-Free, but it's not. The EXE's file size is 465MB, yeah, it still has the DRM. I was hoping it shouldn't be a big issue, since I've played the game once, and it was fine on Windows, even if it was using a lot of resources.

But, no. It didn't run on Proton 9 for me, so I tried switching between other versions. The result was that Denuvo has soft-banned me for 24 hours. And people wonder why I'm so anti-DRM. Now, I can't even troubleshoot it, because I can't run it until tomorrow.

Anyway, Steam Deck users should have no problems running them. For other players on Linux, checkout the game's page on ProtonDB to see how it performs on your graphics card/CPU, and read about workarounds for potential issues. Hopefully you will have better luck than I did.

The Epic Games Store's next mystery giveaway will start on December 18th, and it is possible they will follow the tradition of giving one game away every day until the new year.

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Spotify wants to put users in control of their favorite music. And it is testing an AI feature called Prompted Playlists, to help listeners personalize their experience.

The music streaming service, like most online media services, has a vast catalog with recommendations and suggested content. This is usually driven by an algorithm, it depends on various things, like the region the user is from, what's trending, etc.

This is what the company wants to change, with Spotify Prompted Playlist. You may be aware that Spotify already has an AI DJ, but the new experience seems more personalized. Prompted Playlists, as the name suggests, is an AI feature that analyzes the user's prompt and acts on it. Users can describe the type of music they want to hear, and the AI, will also look into the user's listening history, to find songs that match their taste and the query. It then generates a playlist that is tailored to the user's request.

Some examples that were given by Spotify include "music from my top artists from the last five years, and feature deep cuts I haven’t heard yet." Or, "high-energy pop and hip-hop for a 30-minute 5K run that keeps a steady pace before easing into relaxing songs for a cool-down. Include music from this year’s biggest films and most-talked-about TV shows that match my taste." Those are some complex prompts, but if you are unsure what to ask the AI, tap on "Ideas" and it will display some suggested prompts.

The streaming service says that Prompted Playlists can be used to curate Discover Weekly, exactly the way you want it. That help users discover new music genres or artists they may like, and artists in turn get new fans. A video demo on Spotify's website shows how Prompted Playlists work.

It's not just a curated playlist, but is also updated automatically. That certainly looks cool.

But it's not available for everyone yet, and certainly not for free users. Spotify's Prompted Playlists are only available in New Zealand at the moment, for users with a Premium subscription. That's because it's still in beta.

Yesterday, Spotify launched Music Videos in the U.S. and Canada. A price hike is incoming for users in the U.S. in early 2026.

I think Prompted Playlists are a good use of AI.

Do you use Spotify?

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How do you change display-related settings, like brighness or contrast on a Windows device? Do you use Microsoft's preferred way of doing so, by going to Settings > System> Display? Do you use the controls of the display for that, or something else entirely?

Windows 11 might not even display options to control the brightness or may have locked it. That is one use for the tiny, decade-old application Gamma Panel.

Gamma Panel to the rescue

Gamma Panel may be old, but it still runs on the most recent versions of Windows 11. It is a portable application with a size of less than 120 Kilobytes. You can run it from any location and it displays its screen right after start.

Use the three sliders next to Gamma, Brightness, or Contrast to change the values. The changes take effect immediately and it is real easy to make the display brighter or improve the contrast. The reset button restores the defaults, which can also be handy.

While that would make Gamma Panel a great app for Windows already, it comes with a kicker. You can save adjustments as color profiles and assign hotkeys to them. This enables you to switch between different color profiles with just a hotkey. Say, you want to increase the brightness and gamma while playing games, to see "more". You could create one color profile for that and assign a hotkey to it. Save another for the default setting, and you are good to go.

Whenever you start a game, activate the brightness-improving hotkey and you will notice the difference immediately. Once you are done playing, activate the hotkey for the default color values and these are applied again.

The website of the developer of Gamma Panel is no longer available. You can download the latest version from third-party download repositories, such as that from Softonic (Ghack's parent company).

Gamma Panel is not the only app that offers the functionality. I reviewed Gamminator back in 2016. It is an open source application that focuses on Gamma only. Still, it is updated regularly and should work fine on recent Windows installations as well.

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YouTube TV is launching TV plans early next year. These will be available in genre-specific packages.

Why? Well, it's pretty obvious, the price. YouTube TV costs $82.99 per month. That's a lot of money, and not all subscribers want access to sports and other content that they may not be interested in. So the price does feel inflated, since you'd be paying for stuff that you don't watch./

You may recall that YouTube TV was in a rough spot last month, when Google and Disney clashed heads over a contract renewal dispute, that led to a blackout of Disney, ESPN, etc. It left 10+ million subscribers without access to live sporting events. Google had issued a one-time credit of $20 to compensate users, but the situation was resolved quickly, and Disney restored access to its channels on YouTube.

Now, Google has come up with an idea to address this issue, the YouTube TV Sports Plan. It will offer access to major broadcasters, and sports networks like FS1, NBC Sports Network, all of the ESPN networks, as well as ESPN Unlimited. Users may opt for add-ons like NFL Sunday Ticket and RedZone. They will also have access to unlimited DVR, multiview, key plays, and fantasy view.

YouTube has not announced the price of its upcoming plans, or any more details about the other plans. But it has confirmed that the main plan, that offers access to 100+ channels, is here to stay. Subscribers may choose genre-specific plans like sports, or sports and news, or family and entertainment.

It is definitely an interesting approach, almost like cable and other TV providers do it with add-on packs. And this is how it should have been done in the first place. Hopefully, the new plans should help people save some money, if only like a specific genre or two. Affordable plans may also help YouTube TV attract more subscribers.

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Adobe has announced that Photoshop, Express and Acrobat apps are now available in ChatGPT.  Here's how to access them.

(Image courtesy: Adobe)

Before you get started, you will need to sign in to your ChatGPT account and open the Settings, and go to Apps and Connectors. Here's the direct URL for the page: https://chatgpt.com/#settings/Connectors

Select Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Express, and click on the Connect button. Now you have access to the three apps within ChatGPT.

Note: You don't need an Adobe account to access the apps, but Adobe's terms and conditions, privacy policy will apply to the content you allow the apps to access in ChatGPT. You can disconnect the apps at any time.

Once you have uploaded an image to ChatGPT, you can use Photoshop to edit and enhance their images by using simple prompts in the chat. You can describe what you want to the AI, and it will make the adjustments accordingly.  To use it, just type "Adobe Photoshop" (without the quotes), and follow it with your request. For example, "Adobe Photoshop, make the people pop in my vacation photo."

You can ask it to make people in an image pop, or change the background. It also allows some manual controls for adjusting the brightness, contrast, exposure, and to apply effects like Glitch and Glow.

Note: Photoshop requires your browser to support WebGPU.

Adobe's Express app for ChatGPT can be used to create images, invitations, holiday cards, etc. The app lets you take your pick from various templates, which you can use as a base, and customize it to your liking. You can edit the text, replace images, animate designs, etc.

(Image credit: Adobe)

Users can use Adobe Acrobat in ChatGPT to edit PDFs, extract text or tables using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The app can be used to redact sensitive details from documents. It can organize, split or merge or files. You can convert your images and documents to PDFs. Adobe says the app will preserve the formatting of the original document. Here's a support page with more details.

(Image courtesy: Adobe)

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express and Adobe Acrobat are available for all ChatGPT users globally, including those with a free account. The apps are available on ChatGPT desktop, web and iOS. Adobe Express for ChatGPT is available on Android, and the company's announcement says that the Photoshop and Acrobat for ChatGPT apps are coming soon to Android.

I guess it's kinda cool to make edits in Photoshop easily by just describing them, even if you have zero editing skills. I only tested it briefly, but the toolset seems to be pretty basic. It is unclear whether there are usage limits for the apps.

FYI, Google Photos lets you edit photos using AI, and to transform photos into videos or create Shorts.

Have you tried Adobe's apps in ChatGPT?

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Google has announced an extended repair program for the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL. It is also extending the warranty for Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google launched the Pixel 9 series in late August 2024. The Mountain View company says that a limited number of Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL devices may be affected by display problems. These include phones with a vertical line on the display, that runs from the bottom to the top, and devices that have a flickering display.

The extended repair program provides coverage for 3 years after the original retail-purchase date. The repair program has already started, it began on December 8th, and is available at Google walk-in centers and authorized centers. Users whose Pixel 9 Pro XL or Pro meet the eligibility will be able to claim a free repair to fix the problem. Any further repairs, under this extended repair program, are warrantied for 90 days. Refer to this support page for more details.

Google says the devices will be inspected at the repair facility to verify the eligibility for the repair. Physical damage such as cracked displays or cover-glass, and damage due to liquid may disqualify your device from the repair program. Go to the Google Store website to check if your device qualifies for the program.

Google has also announced that it is extending the warranty program for the Pixel 9 Pro Foldable, starting December 8th, 2025. As 9to5Google reports, it's unclear what the issue with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is. Google's support page mentions that some "Fold devices may experience issues that affect functionality of the device". It seems to be related to a display problem too, but unlike the regular models, Google isn't just repairing the foldable devices. Users with a Pixel 9 Pro Fold that is impacted may be eligible for a free replacement. According to a support page on the company's website, the same inspection and eligibility rules apply here too. So check if your Fold is eligible for a replacement.

In April this year, Google had announced an extended repair program for the Pixel 7a, it was related to batteries swelling up.

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When Microsoft introduced the dual context menu in Windows 11, it explained that the new modern version would also address a problem that many Windows users faced after years of usage: context menu bloat.

However, while Microsoft might have that in mind when it added the new context menu as a layer on top of the old, which still exists, it probably did not foresee the rise of AI in the organization and the desire to add "AI to everything".

When you right-click on files in Windows 11, version 24H2 or later, you may see yet another entry in the modern context menu. AI actions lists all the AI-related actions that Windows users may undertake when they select files. From running a visual search on Bing over removing backgrounds with Paint to erasing objects in Photos.

The AI actions menu in File Explorer. I(mage source: Microsoft)

While that may be indeed useful to some users, others may have no need for them or no desire to use them. Up until now, Windows 11 did not include a built-in option to remove AI actions from the context menu. However, that changed in the most recent builds for the operating system.

Microsoft notes in the release notes of build 26220.7344: "If there are no available or enabled AI Actions, this section will no longer show in the context menu."

Here is what that means: Microsoft won't show the entry for file types that do not have any associated AI actions. Windows users may also disable actions in Settings to hide the entire menu.

This is done in the following way:

1. Open the Settings application, for instance via Start or by using the keyboard shortcut Windows-I.
2. Go to Apps.
3. Click on the Actions menu on the page.
4. Toggle all apps listed there to Off.

Doing so disables all actions and has the consequence that the AI actions menu is no longer displayed. When you keep some, actions for supported file types continue to be displayed.

Note that the change is upcoming for stable Windows 11 builds. Microsoft has not made an announcement yet, which means that it may take a while before the option becomes available. If things go slow, it could not show up until late in 2026 when Microsoft plans to release the next major feature update for Windows 11.

Now You: Have you used AI actions in the past already? If so, did you find the experience satisfying? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Spotify has announced that music videos are now rolling out to Premium users in the U.S. and Canada. It's still in beta.

Spotify had debuted music videos on its platform in early 2024 for a dozen countries, before expanding it to 85 more regions around the world in late October 2024. You can view a list of countries where the feature is available in, on this page.

(Image credits: Spotify)

Oddly, the U.S. wasn't in one of the 97 countries where the music videos were available. Spotify's music videos catalog features the following artists: Ariana Grande, Olivia Dean, BABYMONSTER, Addison Rae, Tyler Childers, Natanael Cano, and Carín León. That's a very short list, but the streaming service says it will grow quickly in the coming months. That's probably why it's being called a beta.

Music videos on Spotify are available across TV, desktop, iOS and Android. If you are a Premium subscriber from one of the beta markets, you can try it out by playing a supported track, and selecting the option that says "Switch to video".

(Image courtesy: Spotify)

The video will start playing where the song left off. The video will play in portrait mode on mobile, but users can watch the videos in full-screen on landscape mode too. You can revert to audio-only, by selecting "Switch to audio."

(Image courtesy: Spotify)

Users can scroll down while a video is playing to view related videos. Spotify also has playlists like 90s Video Hits, Hip-Hop Throwbacks, and Latin Party Hits that users can choose to watch.

Spotify says that music videos are rolling out, and will be available for all Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada by the end of the month. Can it grow to compete with YouTube?

FYI, Spotify is set to hike its prices in the U.S. early next year, and these music videos could be one of the reasons why that could happen.

Have you tried music videos on Spotify?

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Xbox has announced that Age of Empires II DE, Age of Empires 4 and Age of Mythology: Retold are getting new DLCs. Let's take a look at what we can expect.

You may be aware that Xbox released two expansions for Age of Mythology: Retold this year. The Immortal Pillars DLC, which is set in China, and Heavenly Spear, which is set in Japan. Both DLCs came with a singleplayer campaign, which has been received warmly by fans.

Age of Mythology: Retold is getting a new expansion pass in 2026, featuring the Aztec pantheon in Obsidian?Mirror. The expansion will come with a 12-mission campaign set in continents, celestial realms. Players will be able to choose to follow Tezcatlipoca?and?Quetzalcoatl, and recruit myth units like the Stone Skin Quinametzin.

The game is also adding Demeter, the harvest goddess to the Greek pantheon, with new god powers and myth units. Microsoft is also bringing some cosmetic DLCs to AoM Retold. The Expansion Pass will be available for pre-order on December 18th with a 15% discount that will run until the first of the 4 items has been released.

Microsoft had released 2 DLCs for Age of Empires IV in 2025, but the Knights of Cross and Rose expansion and the Dynasties of the East expansion have received mixed reviews. There were many bugs at launch. Neither of these come with a campaign, so that could also be part of the reason why some players weren't particularly happy with the DLCs.

Age of Empires IV will get 2 new expansions in 2026. The first one will feature a campaign set in Chinese history, this DLC will be released in Spring next year. The other DLC, will add 2 new civilizations, one of which will feature The Vikings. The Crucible mode is getting support for co-op gameplay.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition wasn't left out, it also got 2 expansions packs in 2025, Alexander the Great, and The Three Kingdoms. Both DLCs came with campaigns, but the latter was criticized by some fans because of its fantasy themed gameplay and hero units with special abilities.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is getting an expansion focused on South America. It's called The Last Chieftains, and features 3 new civilizations with unique units and technologies.

The new civs are Mapuche, Muisca, and the Tupi. And the DLC will come with 3 new campaigns following heroes such as Lautaro, Pacanchique, and Arariboia, and will include notable characters such as the berserker Galvarino, and Nicolas Durand the swashbuckling adventurer. Players can choose to play the Muisca campaign on the side of the noble Nemequene or the greedy Quemuenchatocha.

The Last Chieftains DLC will be available for pre-order in January. Here's the announcement page, if you want to read more about the expansions.

I've been a fan of AOE since 1999. I still remember how excited I was to play as the Aztecs in The Montezuma campaign when The Conquerors DLC was released in 2000. AoM was amazing too. Those were great days for the RTS genre. It's great to see the games evolve.

Which one of these 3 games do you like?

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It is December 2025 already and Microsoft has released the last security updates of the year for its Windows operating system just a moment ago. The updates are available for all supported versions of Windows, including Windows 10, which is on life-support already with extended support releases.

Our weekly overview provides home users and system administrators with actionable information. While it depends on Microsoft to a large margin, it gives a quick overview of the updates that Microsoft released, the severity of security issues and more. It also links to support pages and downloads, and lists all confirmed issues by Microsoft.

As announced last month already, Windows 11, version 23H2 Home and Pro editions do not receive updates anymore. Users should be able to update to a newer version of Windows 11 to continue receiving updates.

Microsoft Windows Security Updates: December 2025

You may download the following Excel spreadsheet to get a list of released updates. Click on the following link to download the archive to the local device: Windows security updates December 2025

Executive Summary

• Microsoft released a total of 57 security updates for various Microsoft products and 13 security update for non-Microsoft issues (e.g. Chromium).
• No critical issues for Windows client and server systems according to Microsoft.
• Windows clients with issues:
  • Windows 10: none
  • Windows 11: 24H2 and 25H2
• Windows Server clients with issues:
  • Windows Server 2008, 23H2, 2022, 2025

Product overview

Each supported version of Windows and their critical vulnerabilities are listed below.

• Windows 10 version 22H2: 31 vulnerabilities, 0 critical, 31 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows 11 version 24H2: 36 vulnerabilities, 0 critical, 36 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows 11 version 25H2: 36 vulnerabilities, 0 critical, 36 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.

Windows Server products

• Windows Server 2008 R2 (extended support only): 11 vulnerabilities: 0 critical,  11 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows Server 2016: 18 vulnerabilities: 0 critical, 18 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows Server 2019: 29 vulnerabilities: 0 critical, 29 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows Server 2022: 32 vulnerabilities: 0 critical, 32 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.
• Windows Server 2025:  36 vulnerabilities: 0 critical, 36 important
  • No critical vulnerabilities.

Windows Security Updates

Windows 10 version 22H2

• Support Page: KB5071546

Updates and improvements:

• [Powershell] The Invoke-WebRequest command now includes a confirmation prompt with a security warning of a script execution risk. This prevents script execution from web content without user authorization.
• Security updates.

Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2

• Support page: KB5072033

Updates and improvements:

• Fixed: This update addresses an issue where Ask Copilot didn’t activate the Click to Do window as expected
• Fixed: This update addresses an issue where File Explorer briefly flashes white when you navigate between pages.
• Fixed: This update fixes an issue where external virtual switches lose their physical network adapter (NIC) bindings after a host reboot.
• [Powershell] The Invoke-WebRequest command now includes a confirmation prompt with a security warning of a script execution risk. This prevents script execution from web content without user authorization.
• Security updates.

Known Issues

Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2

• [NEW] Password buttons may be missing or invisible in the lock screen sign-in options.
  • Workaround: The issue is mitigated using Known Issues Rollback. Users can hover over the invisible password button to click and activate it.

Security advisories and updates

• ADV 990001 -- Latest Servicing Stack Updates

Microsoft Office Updates

You find Office update information here. How to download and install the December 2025 security updates

Microsoft distributes security updates automatically to consumer devices and non-managed devices by default. It make take hours or days before they are offered on a particular system, but there is a workaround for getting them right away.

Here is how you install the update immediately on a system:

1. Open the Start menu, type Windows Update, and select the result.
2. Activate the "check for updates" button. This runs a manual check for updates.
3. Activate the "download & install all" button, if the update is not downloaded automatically.

I suggest you create a system backup before installing any updates for Windows.

Direct update downloads

Below are resource pages with direct download links, if you prefer to download the updates to install them manually.

Windows 10 version 22H2

• KB5071546 -- 2025-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 22H2

Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2

• KB5072033 -- 2025-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2

Additional resources

• December 2025 Security Updates release notes
• List of software updates for Microsoft products
• List of the latest Windows Updates and Services Packs
• Security Updates Guide
• Microsoft Update Catalog site
• Our in-depth Windows update guide
• How to install optional updates on Windows 10
• Windows 11 25H2 Update History
• Windows 11 24H2 Update History
• Windows 10 Update History

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Google has outlined the security protections that it has implemented for agentic features in Chrome. This is how Gemini will protect itself and you from threats.

In case you missed it, Google started rolling out AI features in Chrome a few months ago, for users in the U.S.

Google highlights that the main threat that agentic browsers are facing is indirect prompt injection. That's basically a hijacked prompt that tricks the AI. Such attacks can occur when a malicious site is visited, or distributed via third-party content in iframes. It could even spread due to fake reviews generated by users. These indirect prompts could result the AI agent to take unwanted actions, which may include financial transactions, or even leaking sensitive data.

In order to combat this, Google says it is preparing a layered defense with deterministic and probabilistic defenses. It says that this will make it harder for attackers to cause harm, and will also be costlier for threat actors.

The first layer is something called, "User Alignment Critic", which is a separate model that is isolated from Gemini's main model. Google describes it as follows, "the User Alignment Critic runs after the planning is complete, to double-check each proposed action". What that means is, the UAC analyzes whether the actions that the agent planned for the requested task, aligns with the user's goal. If the action is misaligned, the UAC will prevent it from executing.  Refer to the flow chart above, that shows the steps involved in the process.

 

Google says that the Alignment Critic will not access untrustworthy web content, and only has access to the metadata for the proposed action. That's what makes it isolated from the main model. The UAC will provide feedback to the planning model to re-formulate the plan, which in turn will return control to the user in case of repeated failures.

Chrome's Site Isolation and the same-origin policy are a core of the agentic security model. Agents have access across websites, but if it is unrestricted, it could be compromised and interact with arbitrary sites, i.e. bypass Site Isolation. This could lead to data theft or worse. To prevent this, the agentic AI will follow Agent Origin Sets. It restricts agents to only access data from the origins that are related to the current task, or the data that the user shared with the agent.

The content that Gemini is permitted to access are read-only origins, while access to all other origins are prevented. Actionable items such as those that can be clicked, typed, are read-writable origins, as are the content that it can read on a page.

The AI agent will ask the user's permission before it navigates to sensitive sites, such as dealing with banking transactions or medical information. To do this, the AI runs a deterministic check against a list of sensitive sites. The agent will confirm with the user, before letting Chrome to sign in to a site via Google Password Manager. The Mountain View company says that the AI does not have access to the passwords. Finally, the agent will pause and ask the user's permission, for actions such as completing a purchase or payment, sending messages, or consequential actions.

In addition to the above checks, Google is employing several processes to detect threats and respond to them. Chrome's real-time scanning with Safe Browsing and on-device AI are used to protect from traditional scams. And a prompt-injection classifier runs in parallel to the planning model’s inference. It will prevent actions from being taken based on content, if it determines something is targeting the model to do something unaligned with the user’s goal.

Read the full announcement on Google's blog for further details. Google Chrome may take on Perplexity Comet, and ChatGPT Atlas with its agentic browsing capabilities.

What do you think about agentic AIs? Have you used any?

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Mozilla has released the Firefox 146.0 update. The update ships with a handful of improvements and fixes.

Firefox users on Windows 10 can backup their data from the browsers settings, to save their passwords, bookmarks, browsing data, etc. This feature requires users to sign in to Firefox sync, i.e. it is a cloud-powered feature. You can encrypt the backup with a password. This backup can be helpful if you're switching to a new device or reinstalling Firefox, you can just restore the backup. Here is the support page for the feature.

Backup is currently available for Windows 10, it's not available on Windows 11, though it does have an option to restore data from a backup. Mozilla says the feature will be available on other operating systems soon.

Firefox now natively supports fractional scaled displays on Wayland. According to Mozilla, this makes rendering more effective. I haven't tested this yet.

There are a couple of enhancements to the search experience. You can now skip the results page, and view results directly in the address bar while typing your query. I wrote about the inline search experience in October, you can find more about it by reading my previous article. This feature is rolling out to users.

The address bar will display suggestions for holidays and other important dates, for English language users in France, Germany and Italy.

Mozilla has changed a workflow for the New Tab's Weather option, users in the EU and some other countries can choose whether to enable location detection for the weather, or manually search for a location.

Users no longer need to enable studies/telemetry to access Firefox Labs, it is now available to all users. To access Labs, go to the browsers Settings > Experimental features, or just open this page: about:preferences#experimental

It has 3 experiments at the moment:

• Address Bar: show results during IME composition
• Picture-in-Picture: auto-open on tab switch
• Lists and timer on Firefox Home

On a side note, if you had enabled New Tab Widgets, you may have noticed that they have not been working for a week or so. That's because the experiment had been paused due to a bug that affected the lists widget. This issue has been patched.

The Colors dialog in Settings now has clearer color picker controls, and displays each color sample next to its label, allowing users to understand the options that they have set, and make adjustments easily.

Firefox for Mac now uses a dedicated GPU process by default, which includes WebGPU, WebGL, and Firefox's own WebRender.  This will prevent fatal errors in graphics code from crashing the browser, it will restart the GPU process transparently.

Firefox 146 no longer supports Direct2D on Windows. Users who need Direct2D are advised to use Firefox ESR 140.0 or higher. Mozilla has fixed a bug in the Windows version of Firefox, that prevented users from selecting a tab, when the browser was maximized and the cursor was at the top of the screen. This issue affected users with some monitors.

Firefox 146 is currently available for download at Mozilla's FTP servers, it should be released on the official website shortly. Firefox ESR 140.6.0 has also been released.

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Proton is ready to take on Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, with Proton Sheets. It is a privacy-focused, web-based spreadsheet editor app.

Last year, Proton launched Docs, an alternative for Microsoft Word and Google Docs.  Proton's had a busy year, it launched Lumo AI in July, and followed it up with Proton Authenticator in the same month. The Proton Mail app was redesigned a couple of months ago.

The Switzerland-based company, says Proton Sheets was developed as an alternative for other cloud based office suites that exposes sensitive data to threats like surveillance, tracking, and nowadays, it's also used for training AI models. Like the rest of Proton's products, Sheets is also an end-to-end encrypted service. The company says that all data in Sheets are end-to-end encrypted, including metadata like filenames.

(Image courtesy: Proton)

Proton Sheets supports various built-in formulas, lets you visualize data as charts and graphs. Users can collaborate with others on their team in real-time, assign tasks, set timelines for your project, etc. Your work in Sheets is synced in real-time across your devices, so you can switch from desktop to mobile to work on the go. You can learn more about its features on the support portal for Sheets.

Interested in trying it? It's free for all users with a Proton Drive account. Go to https://drive.proton.me/,click on New and select New sheet. Users can also import their CSV or XLS files to get started with the editor.

Proton Sheets is gradually rolling out to users, so it may not be available for all users yet. I don't have access to it either, but according to a comment on reddit, the company is enabling access to all users this week.,

Microsoft is shoving Copilot into every nook and cranny, and Google is integrating Gemini everywhere. It's nice to see a privacy-friendly alternative sans AI. For those of you who want an offline office suite, take a look at LibreOffice. It is free, open source, and is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

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Microsoft introduced the new Outlook email client for Windows some time ago and cut access to two dedicated apps in the process. Despite heavy criticism, which focused mostly on limited functionality of the new client and privacy, Microsoft continued its path, which culminated in the automatic installation of the new client on some Windows systems.

This happened: Reports started to emerge on various social media sites on the weekend that the new Outlook would not start anymore for some users. Attempts to start the email program are met with no reaction whatsoever.

Users report that Outlook won't start anymore, which also means, that they can't access their emails anymore on their device. Martin Geuß, over at Dr. Windows, suggests that the issue is caused by the latest update for the email program. Microsoft published an update last Friday, which is also the day users started to report the issue.

While Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue at this stage, users have found a workaround. However, it needs to be noted that this reportedly works only if the Microsoft account is the standard account in Outlook. Worse, any additional account that has been added to Outlook is removed as a consequence and needs to be added again.

The solution, discussed here, suggests to delete the following folder on the system: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk

Rename <username> with the name of the actual user. Note that the folder is hidden by default and that you need to enable that hidden items are shown in File Explorer. This is done in File Explorer with a click on View > Show > Hidden Items.

While deleting (or renaming) the folder may be tempting, some users of the new Outlook client may also be able to access the mail accounts online for the time being. Since the issue appears widespread, it is likely that Microsoft is going to release a fix for it eventually.

Another option is to use the classic Outlook desktop app, if available. It is part of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft confirmed already that it will support it until at least 2029.

Now You: do you use Outlook as your email client or another app or service? Did you by chance run into the problem? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Google has announced some autofill improvements for Chrome. The browser can now fill out your details if you are signed in to your Google account.

Last month, Google introduced an option in Chrome that allows the browser to fill up form fields for your passport and driver license number, vehicle details such as license plate or VIN. These features are available as part of the enhanced autofill experience.

The Mountain View company is expanding this tool set, Chrome can now enter your name and email address on sign up or log in pages, or when you fill up a form on a website. Google says this feature requires users to be signed in to their Google account, and the requested data is "pulled securely" as required.

Chrome can also autofill your Home and Work address that you have saved to your Google account. This experience is rolling out to Chrome users on desktop, Android and iOS.

Google Wallet is now integrated in Chrome, and can be used to autofill loyalty card numbers, travel details and vehicle information that you have saved. For example, users who are renting a car at the airport and have to provide flight information such as confirmation number and dates, can use Google Wallet to autofill the data. Google says this also works with insurance quotes, car rentals.

Autofill in Google Wallet is available in Chrome on desktop and Android. Users can save vehicle details to and from Wallet from Chrome on desktop. These features require enhanced autofill to be enabled in the browser.

While we are on the topic of traveling, Google Flights is now available in more Countries.

On Android, Chrome will display two-lines of autofill suggestions instead of just one, to allow users to choose the option they want. Google says Chrome now recognize address fields in different parts of the world, and fill them with accurate data.

To manage your Home, Work Address and other contact information, that is saved to your Google account, head to this page: https://myaccount.google.com/personal-info.

It is worth noting that Enhanced Autofill is disabled by default. Want to enable it? Go to Chrome's Settings, and click on Autofill or open this in a new tab chrome://settings/autofill, Select Enhanced Autofill and toggle it. Then, click on the add button and select one of the following options: Driving license, known traveler number, Passport, Redress number, Vehicle. You will then be able to save the information, which in turn will be available for autofill when you need it.

A support page on Google's website says, "When you visit a website with a form, the site’s URL and content may be shared with Google. Google uses this info to provide you with better autofill suggestions and improve enhanced autofill."

Most password managers offer such autofill options, without requesting site data to be shared.

Do you use autofill for entering personal data?

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Netflix has announced that it is acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. The deal is worth $82.7 Million.

This is a massive acquisition considering that Warner Bros. has tons of big name IPs including the DC Comics universe, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones to name a few.

Now, the most obvious question is, what's going to happen to HBO Max? Will Netflix let it continue as a separate service? Or will the content from it be merged into Netflix's platform? If the latter happens, it could result in a price increase for Netflix plans.

Netflix's announcement states that HBO and HBO Max "provide a compelling, complementary offering for consumers. Netflix expects to maintain Warner Bros. current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films."

(Image courtesy: Netflix)

This is a sound business strategy. While merging Max and Netflix even at a slightly higher cost might attract more users, it could have an adverse effect on the current user base. It is way more profitable to let both platforms continue independently, which is what they are planning. And not releasing movies in theaters would be a financial disaster, so it's good that they are not making movies "Netflix-only".

Netflix will also gain access to WB Games, and its plethora of studios such as Traveller's Tales which made the Lego Games, Rocksteady Studios which developed the Batman Arkham series, NetherRealm Studios of Mortal Kombat fame, Avalanche Software which made Hogwarts Legacy. Sure they had some flops like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, but they had way more hits. It would be interesting to see the future of WB Games. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is coming in 2026, but I'd love to see a new Batman Arkham game, while Arkham Origins, Asylum, and City were great, Arkham Knight was incredible. Hogwarts Legacy 2 is also said to be under development.

FYI, Spotify will soon get a price hike in the U.S., because music labels are not happy with the low prices of Spotify and Netflix as opposed to the competition. So, there is a chance we could see a Netflix price hike too. And in case you missed it, the streaming service no longer lets users cast from phones.

Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to be completed in 2026, after approval from antitrust authorities.

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Last week, I reported that ChatGPT and Copilot are removing their services from WhatsApp due to a change in Meta's policy. That policy is now under scrutiny in the European Union.

The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation to find out if Meta's rules are hurting the competition. In case you missed it, Meta has updated its terms and conditions, which forbids AI companies from using WhatsApp's Business API to distribute their services. WhatsApp will allow businesses to use AI tools for providing support or ancillary functions like automated customer support, but third-party AI services are pretty much banned. This policy comes into effect on January 15, 2026. Microsoft and OpenAI have announced that Copilot and ChatGPT will no longer be accessible in the popular messaging app due to the new rules.

The European Commission is concerned about the situation. A press release from the Commission says, "As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp. On the other hand, Meta's own AI service 'Meta AI' would remain accessible to users on the platform."

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Meta spokesperson said that the commission's claims are baseless, stating, “The emergence of AI chatbots on our Business API puts a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support.”

Why not charge a fee for it? That way, everybody wins.

The European Commission's investigation will cover the EEA except for Italy, to avoid an overlap with the Italian Competition Authority's ongoing proceedings for the possible imposition of interim measures concerning Meta's conduct.

WhatsApp has replaced as SMS as the de facto replacement for day-to-day communication for billions of users around the world. It's almost difficult not to use it if you want to stay in touch with your loved ones. The main problem is people have gotten comfy with WhatsApp, Telegram and don't feel like moving to secure messaging apps such as Signal. That massive user base is a gold mine for Meta, and we should be concerned about it.

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