There’s no doubt that Dell offers a lot of laptops in its lineup. At the top is the all-expensive XPS, for businesses there is the Latitude series, and then there are gaming laptops from the Alienware lineup. But if you’re a student or parent or someone just wants a no-nonsense laptop that takes a little bit from all three lineups but without going too over the top, then the Inspiron series is what you want to look at.

Inspiron laptops are designed with budgets in mind, and the new Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is no different. With an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor under the hood and a slim-bezel screen, this laptop is perfect as a general day-to-day machine for web browsing, light photo editing, and your daily Teams or Zoom calls. We were provided one for review, and after using it, here’s why we think it’s a well-performing laptop for students, or anyone else.

Specs & Price

Our review unit comes configured with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It also has a 14-inch touch screen, coming in at the resolution of 1920 x 1080. Our specific configuration is one of the higher-end models. It retails for $1,059. Without our upgrades, you can get a base model with the Ryzen 5 5500U, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD for $860. When on sale, the difference in upgrading is just $100, making this an interesting buy.

All AMD Ryzen units also come in the “Mist Blue” color. Dell is using sustainable waterborne paint to get that color, and it helps make the device environmentally responsible.

Design

Any laptop intended for school and prolonged use needs to be tough, and the Inspiron doesn’t disappoint there. This device sports an aluminum and plastic design, which feels very premium. The lid barely flexes, and the keyboard deck is very strong. Combined with the “Mist Blue” color, it also looks very appealing to the eyes, setting it apart from the gray or black 2-in-1s that usually dominate the market. Note that there’s also an Intel version of this, too, but it comes in silver.

Since this is a 2-in1, I also will mention the hinges. In a cycle of opening, closing, and moving the Inspiron around into its four modes, it stayed strong with each one of my movements. The hinge supports the laptop at all the angles I tested it at. Like most other devices in this class, the base of the laptop will also lift up when the lid is opened up, to raise the keyboard up to a comfortable angle.

That base has some ventilation holes, and there are also some hidden vent grills in the rear of the keyboard portion (that’s the side facing the screen.) Dell also mentioned to me that it tested the hinges by opening up the device and closing it up to 20,000 times. This is a device that’s bound to last.

In terms of weight, the Inspiron is manageable. It comes in at close to 3 pounds, and measures just under half an inch thick. This is common for laptops in this price range, as is the “sloped” design, where the laptop is thick ad the rear and thin to the front. Dell though rounds off the corners on the laptop to make it look a bit more unique. It says this can help you move the device more easily.

Ports & Security

These days it seems like laptop makers take away ports rather than add them. But on the Inspiron line, Dell doesn’t. This Inspiron 14 2-in-1 has every port you might need as a student, parent, or worker. The ports include an HDMI port, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. There’s even a microSD card reader on board, too.

Since this is an AMD system. there is no Thunderbolt support. But the USB-C port can be used for juicing up the laptop with the stock charger. It’s nice to see this feature, as most other laptop makers might bundle in a barrelled charger instead of USB-C. Note that the USB-C port can also be used for external displays if you prefer it over HDMI.

As far as security, the Inspiron takes inspiration (pun intended) from Lenovo. You can slide a shutter over the webcam to cover it when not in use. It’s a nice little trick that should be useful for students who are always using sticky notes to cover that webcam. There’s also a fingerprint reader built into the power button, so you can secure your account and go passwordless in Windows 10.

Display & Webcam

Looking at the display, for general web browsing, and multimedia, the Inspiron makes the grade. The brightness can get up to 270 nits in our testing. It also comes in with 63% of the sRGB spectrum, and 44% Adobe RGB coverage. Compared to an XPS, these aren’t great numbers, but you’ll have to remember that this is a budget-oriented laptop. Yes, the screen could be brighter and more vivid, but for basic day-to-day use, it’s just fine. Again, the numbers are close to what you get in other budget laptops, like the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5.

In one situation, I used my Inspiron to watch walkthrough guides on YouTube for the game Night in the Woods. This is a dark-looking game, but at 70% brightness the Inspiron well represented the red in Mae’s eyes, and the black in her fur. For work, meanwhile, I stacked my browser windows side by side.

The Inspiron has some slim side bezels, which means you get a little more vertical space. This takes inspiration from the XPS lineup, but do note it’s not a true bezel-less experience as you’ll still get thick bezels on the bottom. But those bezels help you use the device in tablet mode, where you might want some space to grip onto something.

And about this, my review unit does work with a pen! I used the Dell Active Pen from my XPS 13 2-in-1, and the display registered it just fine. Dell tells me that it does mention pen support on the Inspiron 14 product page, so if you need it, you can buy it as an extra.

I’ll end this section by touching on the webcam. The webcam is 720p, which is fine for most situations. However, considering that most laptop makers have moved to 1080p in 2021, I do hope that can change in next year’s model. 720p is fine for my web calls and my colleagues didn’t say I looked like a potato when I used the Inspiron’s webcam, but 1080p adds extra details that make a huge difference.

Performance

We’ve talked about the AMD vs Intel rivalry before, and since this is an AMD system, you should expect some amazing performance on the Inspiron 14 2-in-1. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700U is no joke. And the Ryzen 5 option isn’t either. With 8 cores and 16 threads, this Ryzen 7 can push the Inspiron quite far.

In our tests, the Inspiron came home with an 1139 Single-Core score, and a 5985 Multi-Core Score. I also used the Inspiron for light video editing and putting together my “tour of WIndows 11” video, and it finished encoding the 10-minute 1080p movie in Filmora in about 8 minutes, which isn’t all too bad considering the integrated graphics.

As for gaming, Fortnite played just fine on the system at low settings, netting around 30 frames, and closer to 20 on medium. GTA V, meanwhile, played close to 23 on high settings, and 30 on medium settings. You could get some light gaming down on this device, but I wouldn’t bet too much on it. Settings would need to be tuned down. This is more of a productivity laptop.

Outside of those demanding tasks, the Inspiron does well for web browsing and day-to-day work. My usual workflow of 10+ tabs in Edge didn’t cause the device to cough, and tabs never froze or reloaded. This really is a well-performing laptop for the fundamentals.

Keyboard & Trackpad

Since this laptop is going to be used by students or at home by parents, then a strong keyboard and trackpad are a must, and this is where the Inspiron excels. Dell says this new Inspiron offers a full-sized keyboard with 9% larger keys than the previous generation.

I like the bigger keys as they give my fingers more room to glide as I speed type. I also liked how quiet the keyboard is, as it’s one of the softest and quietest I’ve ever typed on. As for the trackpad, it feels pretty thin, but it is pretty smooth. It’s also well-sized and supports all the Windows 10 gestures. I wish it felt a bit more solid, but that’s just me.

Battery life

I love laptops where the battery can last the entire day, and this one can be added to that mix. From my 8 AM-4 PM workday, the Latitude went from 100% close to 30% battery with brightness set at medium, and the battery slide on recommended. In the video streaming test, where I lopped the same video, it went on for about 11 hours on the same settings. That said, you easily can expect to get around 8-11 hours of battery life on the Latitude.

Dell software

Dell’s Inspiron laptops come pre-installed with some extra Dell software. You’ll get Dell Mobile Connect, and Dell Cinema Color all pre-installed (just to name a few.) Dell Mobile Connect can help connect your phone to your PC so you can get text photos, and more on your PC. Cinema Color, meanwhile, tweaks the display for various multimedia. I like this extra software, as it adds value to your PC.

Worth it for the price

Priced at just under $1,000, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is a good all-rounder laptop. With AMD Ryzen chips under the hood, it works great as a general day-to-day machine for web browsing, light photo editing, and your daily Teams or Zoom calls.

Last week, Microsoft’s Skype team promised big things were coming to the platform as its newer more publicized cousin Teams continued to hog the company’s conferencing and chat services spotlight. According to a recent press release, Skype users can expect to see performance improvements, UI updates and new features come to both desktop and mobile applications for the service.

Today marks the first step in a long hike for the company as it begins to deliver on some of its promises. A new Skype Insider preview build rolls out today to users with minor tweaks to the platform.

Hi Skype Insiders.

The latest Insider build 8.77 is out, and we have some cool features for you like modernized UI improvements and more video rendering improvements.
8️⃣ . 7️⃣ 7️⃣ . 7️⃣ 6️⃣ . __ is it. Let us know what you think! ???? https://t.co/CDhOu39HGt #Skype

— Skype Insider (@SkypeInsider) October 5, 2021

Tempering expectations, Skype Insiders can grab the latest updates now that includes:

• Modernized UI improvements: new notifications/activity tab look, new look for the header and footer on Desktop and Mobile
• Video rendering improvements: on Android, iPhone and iPad
• Group Profile screen to support new avatar selection options from the MeetNow creation board: emoticon or sticker on colorful background + uploading photo (which already is there)
• Bug fixes and stability improvements

Anecdotally, when I tested this version out it was hard to spot the changes initially, but they are there.

Last week, the Skype team promised a fanciful number of changes to its aging platform, and while today’s update feels like breadcrumbs to its pie in the sky ambitions, it’s a least a start.

One of the biggest controversies with Windows 11 is the minimum hardware requirements. Officially, Windows 11 only installs on PCs that have a TPM 2.0 chip, an Intel 8th gen or Ryzen 2000 series or newer processor. Turns out, though, that you can, in fact, install Windows 11 on any hardware, but with the caveat of (possibly) not getting security updates. So, did Microsoft back off the hardware requirements for Windows 11? We did some digging to find out.

First off, we want to talk about some support pages. On the new “Ways to install Windows 11″ support page, Microsoft mentions installing Windows 11 on a device that does not meet the minimum system requirements. It highlights how you can use a registry hack (and actually provides the registry settings) to bypass the TPM and CPU checks in the Windows 11 Installation Assistant:

This makes it clear that it is, in fact, possible to run Windows 11 on any hardware. Yet, a second support page also explains what might happen if you do so. It explains that it is not recommended, and the device might malfunction. Microsoft also makes it clear that “devices that do not meet these system requirements will no longer be guaranteed to receive updates,” So there it is.

We tested this out for ourselves. We pulled out a 13-year-old ThinkPad X200 running Windows 7, downloaded the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool (NOT the Installation Assistant), and saved a Windows 11 ISO File to our system. After mounting it, we launched the setup.exe file, and Windows 7 upgraded to Windows 11 (but didn’t properly activate, since there’s no official upgrade path this way.) We also were able to find some driver updates, as well as definition updates for Microsoft Defender.

Previously, when we tried to update this very same laptop to Windows 11 using Microsoft’s own Windows Insider Windows 11 ISO files, it was blocked for the lack of TPM, as well as the CPU being too outdated. The new ISO file from the Media Creation Tool seems to have removed the block.

Wow. Well, Microsoft didn't lie. You can in fact install Windows 11 on any PC using the Media Creation Tool. Here I am updating Windows 7 on this ThinkPad X200 to Windows 11. Insane. Wonder how it'll work in the unsupported state. ???? pic.twitter.com/xGqM5UfpIm

— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) October 4, 2021

Using the Media Creation Tool, and the ISO file it downloads, Windows 11 installed fine. We didn’t We didn’t have to tweak the registry, etc, but we did get a warning about not meeting requirements. See our above thread for the full details. A fellow Twitter user also replied to us, indicating that he did the same on his newer “unsupported” ThinkPad running Windows 10, and everything worked fine after — so we’re not alone in our journey.

Based on our experience, and these support pages, it just as well seems as though Microsoft did back off the hardware requirements for Windows 11, with the listed caveat of not getting security updates. As far as what this means for running Windows on a Mac, we’re going to test that out at a later point and will update this post accordingly.

Have you tried updating unsupported devices to Windows 11? Tell us about how it went for you in the comments below.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is now live on Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Xbox One console families. This family-friendly multiplayer title brings together a variety of popular kids cartoons, ranging from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Wild Thornberrys to Hey Arnold! and Rugrats, to create a chaotic fighting game in the vein of Nintendo’s hit Smash Bros series.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl supports up to four players in both online and local multiplayer matches and features 4K Ultra HD visuals with over 60 frames per second when played on an Xbox Series X console. The game also supports cross-buy and cross-play between the Xbox One and Xbox Series X (and S) versions which means that buying it on one console generation will unlock it on the other and players on both can play with each other.

Here’s the official game description and trailer:

Brawl it out as your favorite Nickelodeon characters in bombastic platform battles! With a power-packed cast of heroes from the Nickelodeon universe, face-off with all-stars from SpongeBob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Loud House, Danny Phantom, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, and more to determine ultimate animation dominance. With unique move sets and attacks inspired by their personalities, each character has an individual style of play enabling endless action for Nickelodeon’s legion of fans. Select your favorite and then let the intense brawls begin with online and local multiplayer action.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is currently on sale with a 20% discount which brings its price down from $49.99 to $39.99.

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Following on from the recent arrival of Opera and Discord to the Windows 11 (and 10 if you’re old-school) Microsoft Store app store, the Epic Games Store is now available to download alongside all of the other native store apps.

The Epic Games Store app is basically the same one that can be downloaded from the official Epic Games website with its updates being managed by Epic instead of the Microsoft Store.

While the addition of an app store to an app store may seem a little strange at first, it makes a lot more sense when taking into account that the aim is to make app discover easier for casual Windows users. Now, instead of opening a browser and searching for the Epic Games Store installation web page, and potentially being tricked into downloading a fake version infected with malware, users can simply open the Microsoft Store app and download it from there.

It should be noted that downloading the Epic Games Store app from the Microsoft Store doesn’t offer any more benefits than grabbing it from the official website so there’s no need for those who already have it installed to download it again.

The Epic Games Store app is the online storefront for the Epic Games digital video game store where users can download a wide variety of PC video games from Fortnite to the latest Battlefield title. If you can’t find a PC video game you’re after in the Microsoft Store, it can likely be found in the Epic Games Store.

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The Twitter web experience and the official Twitter app for Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices have begun rolling out the new Twitter Communities feature and the ability to manage followers from either their profile or an account’s Followers page.

The new Follower functionality is actually rather useful as not only does it allow users to manage their followers from one location (the Followers page) but it also lets them force an account to unfollow them.

Previously, Twitter users would have to block and then unblock an account to stealthily force them to unfollow but now this can be done with one quick click on the new Remove this follower option which is available via the ellipsis menu next to a user’s name on the Followers list.

Twitter’s new Communities feature is curious as it lets admins invite other users to participate in conversations posted in a community but all of the posts by community members will still be viewable by the general public, like most posts on Twitter.

let’s talk about how Communities will work (for now!)

behold, a thread ???? (1/7)

— Twitter Communities (@HiCommunities) September 8, 2021

Right now, participation in Twitter Communities is invite only but the functionality does appear to be live on both the Windows app and the web.

Here’s the full release notes for all of the major changes made to the Twitter web and Windows app over the past month or so:

New

• Communities: We’re beginning to roll out Communities, a way to connect with others about an interest on Twitter. Communities are invite-only for now as we build and update based on your feedback. Learn more from @HiCommunities here!
• Followers Management: We’re experimenting with giving you more tools to manage your followers. In the Followers screen for your account, there’s a new context menu which allows you to mute, block, report, share a profile, or remove the follower.
• New Tweets Bar: You may notice a new Tweets bar at the top of your home timeline when new Tweets come in. We’ve also been tweaking how we insert new Tweets into the timeline to prevent the Tweets you’re viewing from shifting around.
• Search: When using search, you may be presented with a dialog to let us know whether you found what you’re looking for. This helps us further improve search results.
• Spaces: The end screen for a Space will now show additional information including hosts, co-hosts, and speakers from the Space, allowing you to follow their accounts.

Updated

• Accessibility: Improved color contrast of Spaces captions when the increased color contrast setting is enabled.
• Popovers: Most popover menus will now automatically dismiss when scrolling.
• Spaces: We’ve improved how we represent the number of other listeners currently within a Space.
• Settings: The SMS notifications preference has been removed.
• Tweets: You’ll no longer see the reply context on focal Tweets within the Tweet detail when viewing your own thread.

Fixed

• Accessibility: Updated color contrast for links when using the default blue display color with increased color contrast enabled.
• Accessibility: The social context for Tweets will now be properly read as part of the Tweet content by screen readers.
• Accessibility: Labels on the profile page are no longer classified as buttons instead of text elements.
• Carousels: Resolved an issue where clicking on video within carousels would open the Tweet media viewer.
• Login: You should no longer be occasionally shown an error dialog when selecting “Forgot Password” on the login menu.
• Modals: Corrected issues where refreshing the page from a modal screen would cause the incorrect background page to be loaded.
• Profile: We no longer render the pending state button if you’ve sent a follow request to someone previously, and their account is no longer protected.
• Settings: Attempting to use a suggested name when changing your username should no longer show you a duplicate name error.
• Settings: Newly muted accounts will properly show in the muted accounts settings screen without needing to refresh the current session.
• Sign Up: When cancelling the sign up flow after opening from the home screen, you’ll now be properly taken back to the home screen.
• Spaces: Clicking on an avatar with a Space presence ring will no longer open the profile page on certain devices.
• Spaces: The dock will no longer block the composer when attempting to Tweet a link to a Space on mobile devices.
• Spaces: Clicking the “Set reminder” button on the Space detail screen will now properly set a reminder.
• Video: Fixed issues with certain labels on videos rendering with black text on a dark background in dim or lights out mode.
• Video: We’ve improved video uploads on iOS Safari where videos could be uploaded in an improper format.
• Voice Tweets: The captions toggle will now only apply to the currently playing Tweet, and not other voice Tweets which may be visible.

Have you used any of Twitter’s new features yet? Let us know what you thought of them in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter for more Windows app news.

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Today is Windows 11 day and that means Microsoft is highlighting the new PCs shipping with the latest and greatest Windows operating system pre-installed. Obviously, Microsoft would like to tout its own Windows 11 integration efforts with its own Surface hardware, but there are other PCs available for purchase from its partners, too. We have a recap of some of these PCs if you’re hoping to buy one soon.

Surface devices

Two weeks ago, Microsoft unveiled a handful of new Surface devices that will come preinstalled with Windows 11 such as the Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Pro 8, Surface Go 3, and Surface Pro X.

For Surface devices, Windows 11 integration involves haptics both on the screens as well as synchronizing with the new Surface Slim Pen 2 to provide even more granular drawing, writing, and sketching experiences. Windows 11 also comes with support for variable refresh rates for up to 120Hz on screen.

Asus

Asus revealed its Windows 11 powered PC lineup a few weeks ago to include the ProArt Studiobook 16 and 16 Pro with OLED, Vivobook Pro 14 and 16X, and Zenbook 14X with OLED. Unlike Microsoft, Asus is experimenting with AMD as well as Intel for its lineup and has put an AMD Ryzen 5000 Series in its ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED as well as a 3rd Generation Intel Xeon workstation processor option. The ProArt Studio will also come with an NVIDIA RTX A5000 or A2000 graphics processor and 16:10 display. All five devices will come with Windows 11 out of the box.

HP

Meanwhile, HP is touting its HP Spectre x360 16 as well as HP ENVY 34 All-in-One PC and its multi-placement webcam feature as well as the HP 11-inch Tablet PC HP 14-inch, HP Pavilion All-in-One desktop PC, and the All-in-One Desktop PC with the last two packing AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors or Intel’s latest.

Lenovo

Lenovo brings its Yoga Slim Carbon weighing just 2.37 pounds, Yoga Slim Pro, and with a 16-inch QHD In-Plan Switching (IPS) touch 16:10 QHD display to the Windows 11 launch party.

Once again, Lenovo is giving users configuration options between AMD Ryzen 7 5800U and H-Series Mobile processors as well as NVIDIA GeForce RTX  3050 Laptop level GPUs and GeForce MX450.

While neither of the previous two companies have said their displays will support Windows 11 120 Hz refresh rates, Lenovo is offering 90Hz for Yoga Slim Carbon. Lenovo’s devices claim to have better cooling brighter screens, and 100% sRGB color gamut’s.

Acer

Acer is introducing its Aspire Vero which is a PC made from recycled plastics. The company describes this new WIndows laptop over on its website:

Thoughtfully designed to adapt to the planet’s needs, we use 30% PCR1 plastic in the chassis saving around 21% in CO2 emissions.2 Further your eco goals with easy disassembling, perfect for quick repairs, upgrades, and recycling to make your green mark.

In addition to VeroSense which helps to manage the energy efficiency of the laptop with options that range from Eco+, Eco, Balanced, and Performance Acer is also looking durability with its new 15.6 FHD IPS display design.

If you’re out of luck and can’t upgrade your existing PC or laptop to Windows 11, then these laptops, tablets, and All-in-Ones are a good choice. Pricing, availability vary based on the manufacturer, so best to check the laptop maker’s website for more. information.

The wait for the final version of Windows 11 ends today. Microsoft has taken the wraps off its latest operating system, and anyone interested in a softer UI design, animations, drop shadows, updated ribbons, improved security, new iconography, fonts, snap layouts, sounds, and more, can read below on how to get started.

Step 1: Ask yourself if you have the time for the upgrade?

To begin, you need to consider this: to upgrade to Windows 11 and receive official support from Microsoft, Microsoft is requiring that devices have TPM 2.0 enabled prior to upgrading.  You also need to check and see if your PC has a compatible processor, too. Windows 11 only works with PCs that have an Intel 8th generation or newer processor, or an AMD Ryzen 2000 series or newer processor. Of course, select PCs with Qualcomm processors are eligible too. That processor list is here.

To some fortunate degree, Microsoft does provide a tool at least to get the ball going on whether or not a Windows PC is capable of upgrading to Windows 11. We have more on that in the next section. Otherwise, continue below for some of the other minimum specs suggested by Microsoft. These are not very different from Windows 10’s.

• CPU: a 1 GHz or faster dual-core or higher processor on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Storage: 64 GB
• TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
• Graphics card: DirectX 12 compatible graphics / WDDM 2.x
• Display: A display 9 inches or larger, with a resolution of 720p or higher

Once you confirm that you can move on to the second step. This is where the action truly begins and when you can start downloading the new operating system.

Note that if you’re on an unsupported system that don’t meet these requirements, skip to the end of this piece. We have an important note for you on how you might be able to run Windows 11 anyway using the Media Creation Tool.

Step 2: Download PC Health Check App

Now that you’ve committed to the upgrade process and the time it might take to get your PC updated with all of the new goodies of Windows 11, head over here to download the app for more device compatibility.

There was a separate link for Insiders established when Windows 11 was in testing, but the above link has now become the official way to test PCs both as Insiders and non-Insiders alike.

Once downloaded, run the .exe file to get started and follow the Install prompt. There will be two options to choose from to diagnosis your PC, I recommend Show All because it will also incorporate device-specific qualifications. The process (scan) should take less than 3 minutes to complete.

For those who need a straightforward answer, using the Device Specifications option will bounce you out to a web page with a clearly marked Will Run, Will Not Run prompt as well as some further FAQs about the process. Now you know if your PC truly will run Windows 11.

Step 3: Upgrade to Windows 11 via Windows Update

Assuming the fork in the road guides you to a device that will run Windows 11, you can then head to Windows Update to check if your PC has the new operating system ready for download. Go Settings, then click Update & Security, and then Windows Update. Choose Check for updates, and you’ll see a window show up with Download & install. Click this.

Note that Microsoft is taking a “phased approach” to rolling out Windows 11. It wants to ensure that the operating system only shows up for you when it’s ready. Depending on the age of your PC, you might not see Windows 11 in Windows Update right away. Microsoft says new devices will be offered the upgrade first. Then upgrade will then roll out over time to in-market devices based on intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, age of the device, and other factors that impact the upgrade experience.

When all is said and done, if you have Windows 11 for you in Windows Update, follow the on-screen prompts. The download and installation portion of Windows 11 could take anywhere from 20 to 40 mins, dependent on OTA downloading speeds in your area. I’ve upgraded four devices from Windows 10 to Windows 11 via the Insider program and each device took roughly 35 mins to complete the download, install and restart the process for Windows 11.

Alternatives: Use the Installation Assistant, or Media Creation Tool or Windows Insider Program

Windows Update is the best way to get Windows 11, but there are some alternatives if it’s not available for you. As an alternative, you can check out the Windows Meda Creation Tool or Windows 11 Installation Assistant. The Installation Assistant will let you upgrade to Windows 11 without going through Windows Update. However, installing with this tool might lead to a lot of bugs on your PC as it won’t undergo verification through Windows Update. It’s best to wait it out and download the right way through Windows Update.

Note that the Media Creation tool will also work to upgrade or install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, according to Microsoft. However, going this route will leave your PC in an unsupported state, and you won’t get critical security updates or driver updates.

If all else fails, users can join the Windows Insider Program to get the operating system right away to start testing, playing, and living with Windows 11.

You can begin by going to the Windows Insiders webpage here to register, or simply visit your PC’s Windows Update Settings page. Make your way over to the Windows logo in the taskbar and use it to open up the Settings page. Navigate to the bottom and select Windows Update & Security.

Next, select the Windows Insiders tab to approve or disapprove of Microsoft collecting diagnostic data and hit the Get Started Prompt. Pair a Microsoft account with the Insider program for notifications, prompts, and account sync.

Once a Microsoft account has been linked, you will be able to choose your channel of upgrades and updates with the options including a Dev Channel for “highly technical users,” a Beta Channel for “early adopters,” and a Release Preview, for those who only prefer minor “fixes for certain key features.” I recommend the Beta Channel to the most up-to-date features of Windows 11 as it is the most stable with fewer bugs. The Dev Channel, however, will be the most unstable with the most chances of messing up your PC.

The Xbox team has announced today a new partnership with Rockstar Energy Drink to promote the upcoming release of Halo Infinite. For a limited time, Halo fans can purchase five limited-edition Halo Infinite Rockstar Energy cans and win exclusive in-game content and prizes thanks to the digital codes included with every can.

The different prizes include Challenge Swaps and 2XP bonus for Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer modes, as well as free cosmetics for the game’s vehicles and weapons, which you can see below. Each can purchase will also provide Halo fans the opportunity to win a free copy of Halo Infinite and an Xbox Series X prize bundle including a console, a digital copy of the game, a Razer Raptor 27” monitor, and a Razer Kairo Pro Halo Infinite headset.

In the US, Xbox and Rockstar Energy Drink will also be offering the ultimate Grand Prize, which is a custom Jeep Gladiator that would make Xzibit and his colleagues from the Pimp my Ride TV show drop their jaws. “Inspired by the power of Master Chief, the custom vehicle will feature Master Chief-colored protective coating, massive 43” extreme traction tires, stylized body armor, performance upgrades and pro-level suspension ready for any level of terrain from rock crawling to cruising the pavement,” the blog post reads.

Last year, the Xbox team announced a similar partnership with Monster Energy to promote the upcoming release of Halo Infinite, though this was before the game was delayed to 2021. This time, Xbox and Rockstar Energy Drink have also partnered with five acclaimed artists to create the five limited-edition cans inspired by Halo’s Master Chief.

The promotion will be available until the launch of Halo Infinite on Xbox and PC on December 8. To redeem under-the-tab codes, consumers will need to visit Halo.RockstarEnergy.com, where you can also learn more information about the partnership.

It used to be that you needed to set up Disney+ as a PWA on Windows to get the best experience, but that’s no longer the case. An official app is now available for download on both Windows 10 & Windows 11, letting you get into the best of Disney’s action natively on your PC without having to use a web browser.

Overall, this new app is pretty visually similar to the web-based experience but it is an exciting arrival for Windows fans at a time when Microsoft is heavily advertising the revamped Microsoft Store. Disney+ was a missing piece on the store, and it’s now the latest heavy-hitting streaming service to arrive on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Apps were already available for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, though an Apple TV has yet to appear on the Store.

Anyway, once you install the app and sign in, You’ll see the various Disney+ media categories in a bar up top, as well as the same listings page for movies and other shows.  We tested the app on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and everything works fine. It weighs in at around 80 MB, and you can download it via the link below. Check it out now and let us know if you’re enjoying it by dropping us a comment.

Download
QR-Code

Disney+

Developer:
Disney

Price:
Free⁺

Microsoft news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!

Google is “by far” the most popular search term on Microsoft’s Bing, Google says

In an attempt to appeal a $5 billion antitrust fine issued by the EU, Google has claimed that “Google” is the most searched term on Microsoft’s Bing, arguing that people use Google because they choose to do so.

Xbox Cloud Gaming officially launches in Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Japan

Microsoft’s game streaming ambitions continue to pick up pace, as the company has officially expanded its Xbox Cloud Gaming service to Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Japan, opening up game streaming to a much larger audience.

From tomorrow you'll be able to add a Game Pass Ultimate subscription featuring Cloud Gaming on your @Telstra bill. https://t.co/Dsv2g5jFkQ

— Jeremy Hinton (@AusXbox) September 30, 2021

Microsoft starts testing Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox consoles

In other Xbox Cloud Gaming news, game streaming is now being tested on Xbox consoles. The feature allows Xbox Game Pass games to be played without downloading them, and will eventually allow Xbox One console owners to play next-gen games. Testing is available to some Xbox Insiders.

I'm incredibly pleased to share that we're rolling out cloud gaming on console to a random subset of our Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead Xbox Insider audiences later today. It's still got rough edges, so please check out the known issues, file bugs, and enjoy! pic.twitter.com/NRLh7SVkmo

— Eden Marie (@neonepiphany) September 28, 2021

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looks back on TikTok acquisition talks, “the strangest thing I’ve ever worked on”

Looking back on talks that took place to acquire TikTok, CEO Satya Nadella has said that they were “the strangest thing” that he’s ever worked on, though the talks never led to an actual acquisition. Read more about what Satya Nadella had to say here.

That’s it for this week. We will be back next week with more Microsoft news.

Head of Microsoft’s Xbox division Phil Spencer spoke candidly to reporters this week about the chip shortage situation and its effects on next-gen console availability, this time with publication The Wrap.

Throughout the Fall of 2020 and ten months into 2021, fans of both leading next gen consoles in the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 have had to do a bit of scouring to find devices to purchase. In large part, the global pandemic put an early stranglehold on production, manufacturing and distribution across the globe, and video game consoles were not excluded from the crisis.

When discussing the chip shortage and its effects on Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles in specific, Spencer attributes the lack of devices to more than a single vector.

I think it’s probably too isolated to talk about it as just a chip problem. When I think about, what does it mean to get the parts necessary to build a console today, and then get it to the markets where the demand is, there are multiple kind of pinch points in that process. And I think regretfully it’s going to be with us for months and months, definitely through the end of this calendar year and into the next calendar year.

While expressing his frustration with the situation, Spencer notes the effects a lack of available consoles is having on fans leaving many disappointed and despondent about this generation of gaming.

As Spencer explains, fans left dispirited about their inability to catch a flash sale or afford absorbent online pricing, will remain a reality for some time to come. Spencer’s candid outlook on the chip shortage, while dower, is still rather optimistic when compared to chip maker Toshiba. Director in charge of semiconductors at Toshiba predicts that, “some customers will not be fully served by their products until 2023.

Microsoft has announced some important updates that are coming to Forms this month. Indeed, the software giant has started rolling out a new feature to help users organize their surveys, quizzes, and polls into customized collections.

The firm says the ability to categorize their forms into collections has been among the much-anticipated features, and it was first spotted on the Microsoft 365 roadmap last month. “You can create as many Collections as you want to store quizzes and forms and access them anytime online. Edit your files in a Collection, copy a Collection, share a Collection out (coming soon), or delete them when you’re done. You can also switch to a list view if you’d like to have vertical view of all your Collections,” the company explained in the blog post.

In addition to the desktop experience, the Forms Collection feature is also supported on mobile devices. This means that users can now easily group all forms/quizzes/polls as desired on the go. This capability is also available for forms instances generated through other Microsoft 365 apps, including Microsoft Teams, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

The new Collections experience is gradually rolling out to targeted release customers, and it will become generally available later this month. The feature aims to increase productivity and give users greater control over their personal content. However, Microsoft Forms currently doesn’t provide an option to download or export collections. Collections are currently restricted to personal forms, and group forms are not supported yet.

Microsoft has pushed out a monthly recap of all the new features and capabilities added to Microsoft 365 in September. This time around, the company has outlined updates rolled out to each of the Microsoft 365 apps and services, including Teams, Yammer, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Visio. Here’s a look at what you need to know.

First of all, Microsoft has launched AI-powered Live captions and transcription capabilities in Teams meetings in 27 new languages. The list includes French, German, Brazilian, Portuguese, Hindi, Japanese, and more. Users will be able to access this feature in the Teams desktop app by selecting the menu (. . .) icon and clicking the “Change spoken language” option. It will help to increase participant engagement and make it easier to take post-meeting notes.

Next up are improvements to Microsoft Yammer. The enterprise social networking service is getting a new integration with Viva Topics to help employees discover information from Yammer communities and manage knowledge-sharing within an organization. This release will let licensed customers access all the Viva Topics features, such as Viva Topic cards. You can find more details on the Yammer Topic API changes blog to understand the changes.

Next up are improvements to the Office suite of apps. Last month, Microsoft announced that Word, Excel, and PowerPoint now support real-time co-authoring on encrypted and sensitive documents. This capability has previously been available on the web since 2019, and it is finally making its way to the Windows and macOS desktop apps. Visio on the web has introduced a new feature that brings support for fully custom colors in diagrams. This means that users can now access recently used or custom colors to highlight objects in the diagrams.

Lastly, Microsoft has also detailed a few new capabilities for IT professionals that aim to help them deploy and manage new versions of operating systems. Microsoft Endpoint Manager’s analytics service has picked up day-one support for macOS 12 and iOS 15. The Redmond giant also added Windows metrics to analyze the number of machines running older Windows versions and determine which devices are ready for Windows 11.

The folks at Stardock have announced another big update for Start11. Coming on October 7, the next update will bring additions like the ability to adjust the taskbar size, re-order quick access shortcut lists, and more. The update should let you customize Windows 11 to make it more personal, in ways that Microsoft won’t let you do it natively.

One of the big features coming in this update lets you move the taskbar to the top of the desktop in Windows 11, a feature that’s not available in the settings app. In addition, some of the other features include some new Start Menu layouts to choose from, restored context menus, and integration with Stardock’s Fences program. You can see a preview of what it looks like below.

The Start11 update will release on October 7th. The beta is currently available for $4.99, with an upgrade option for users of Start8 and Start10. We previously had a chat with Stardock about Start11 and the future of the app.