Windows

The KB5127936 update includes a cloud rebuild feature that restores the OS and your device drivers from Windows Update when your PC is unable to boot. It requires an internet connection, but spares you from needing to keep a recovery USB drive handy, and doesn’t relying on the integrity of the current installation.

A Windows 11 Insider Preview build rolling out to the Beta and Experimental channels will allow you to right-click the network icon in your system tray and hit “Perform speed test” to run it right in your Quick Settings menu. The feature previously opened a speed test in your browser.

A new accelerated scrolling feature coming to Windows PCs with touchpads will allow you to scroll through long documents and webpages faster, Windows design head Marcus Ash announced on X. Microsoft is also adding the ability to continuously scroll through a page by swiping the edge of your touchpad, along with support for single-finger scrolling.

The collection celebrating Xbox’s 25th anniversary includes games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, and Gears of War: Reloaded. Microsoft says you can also play some of the free games on Xbox Series X/S with Xbox Play Anywhere.

When Asus briefed me on the ExpertBook A7, reps told me the $899 entry-level config will launch in January with 8GB of RAM. Turns out, Asus decided to switch that to 12GB for the same $899 price — but failed to clarify that with us.

The app already lets you lock your Windows computer, but a beta version has a new Power menu with options to lock, sleep, shut down, or restart your PC, Android Authority reports. Could be handy if you need to power your computer down while you’re away from it.

I’m testing Microsoft’s new RTX Spark-powered laptop at the moment, and I’ll have some impressions on it later this week. I’d like to hear what you’d like to know about this particular laptop, so please drop a comment below and I’ll try and include answers in my initial impressions.

Tough typo spotted in today’s Surface Laptop Ultra event.

The new preview feature in Microsoft’s Experimental Preview Build 26340.9616 shows battery levels for wireless headphones, keyboards, mice, and other accessories in one spot. That would make checking to see if my mouse is about to die way less of a hassle, compared to digging through different settings or accessory apps.

Meta’s new AI agent will be getting a native app on Windows, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri announced at today’s event. No timeline on when, though. Meta launched a Mac Muse app in September.

Microsoft is holding a Windows and Surface event later today, but it looks like HP has spoiled some of the pricing surprise for Nvidia’s RTX Spark laptops. Notebookcheck reports that HP briefly posted a $2,999.99 price for its OmniBook X, with an 18-core CPU and 32GB of RAM. An OmniBook 16 was also priced at $4,999.99, with 64GB of memory, before HP removed both listings from its website. We’ll be covering all the announcements from Microsoft’s Windows and Surface event live this morning from 10AM PT / 1PM ET.

Asus first announced its colorful Zenbook 14 laptop back in June, and it’s now available. The new Zenbook starts at $799.99 with a Snapdragon X1-26-100 chip, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and a 14-inch OLED display. An Intel Panther Lake version is due out before the end of the year, but that’s sure to cost way more.

Microsoft is holding a Windows and Surface event in San Francisco next week. With Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in attendance, it was already clear that RTX Spark PCs would be the main focus of the event. Now Microsoft says the October 7th event will include “RTX Spark and new experiences designed to unlock more possibilities for developers and builders.” Mysterious. Stay tuned for full coverage from The Verge next week.

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 version 26H2, aka the Windows 11 2026 Update today. It’s what Microsoft calls a “small enablement package,” allowing Windows 11 users to download and install the latest release quickly with a single restart. So what’s new? Well, due to the way Microsoft releases new Windows features these days, many of the same features that have been rolling out to version 25H2 will be part of 26H2.

Microsoft is launching a new digital sketchpad app for Windows next month. Microsoft Ink Canvas will be available first on the new Surface Pro 12-inch, and other supported devices on October 13th. It supports sketching with pen or touch, and includes AI image generation and summaries. It’s essentially an AI-powered version of the various digital whiteboard apps Microsoft has created over the years.

After Microsoft removed the Copilot buttons from some Windows 11 apps, the latest Insider Release Preview builds (26100.9539 and 26200.9539) add an option for easily changing that dedicated AI key back to a control or Context Menu button, without using workarounds.

Most Windows 11 widgets haven’t been all that useful so far, but a new battery option is reportedly coming soon that looks like something I’d use daily. Much like Apple and Google’s batteries widgets, it tracks battery levels for any devices connected to a PC. Once it’s officially rolled out, you should be able to use it on the lock screen or widgets board.