The Hot Take: So we going to have a price fixing storage class action coming up that they'll make this off by default?
Bad past incidents can lead to good outcomes, and one of the best examples is the new recovery tools in Windows 11. After major issues in 2025 and earlier, Microsoft pledged to make it easier to recover a broken PC, creating features like Point-in-Time Restore, which will now be enabled by default for everyone in Windows 11 26H2.
In an updated support document, Microsoft said itâll turn on âPoint-in-Time Restoreâ by default for PCs running Windows 11 26H2 or newer.
âStarting with Windows 11, version 26H2, it will be enabled by default,ââŚ
Microsoft has been on a drive to clean up Windows 11 by removing legacy features and components for some time now. The latest example of this is the companyâs decision to remove Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) from the operating system. To the casual observer, this is something that has already been consigned to the history books as it was not included in a standard installation of Windows 11. However, the latest move sees Microsoft killing off the ability to add it as an optional Feature on Demand. The loss of WindowsâŚ
The Hot Take: Nice to see MS wanting stability over features.
I expect Windows 11 26H2 to ship in October 2026 as an enablement package. Based on past trends, itâll roll out sometime between the last week of September and the last week of October. Windows 11 25H2 shipped in the last week of September, but versions 24H2 and 23H2 were released in October of their respective years.
But is there anything new in this yearâs annual update? Iâd say nothing major in particular.
Windows 11 26H2 is the annual feature update for the operating system, but it doesnât come with anything exciting. If youâve readâŚ
Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0 to manufacturing partners on July 31, 1996. Codename Cairo marked an important milestone in the history of Microsoftâs original server OS and would far outlive Microsoftâs original plans as enthusiasts and administrators clung to it, as older readers will be aware. Headlining features of NT 4.0, which made it a winner, include the melding of the intuitive new Windows 95 UI into the fully 32-bit enterprise OS. It was also notable for being the last version of NT to support Alpha, MIPS, or PowerPC CPUâŚ
The Hot Take: M$ is the only one to give us Ads on Windows 11....
LG is removing a McAfee pop-up ad from its LG Monitor App Installer after criticism that some LG monitors were silently installing the app through Windows Update and showing ads on every boot. Microsoft says LG agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up, but the broader issue remains: Windows allows certain peripheral companion apps to install automatically without notifying users. Ars Technica reports: Following Gamers Nexus' video, a Microsoft representative stated that the LG Monitor App Installer will no longer show pop-up ads for McAfee. InâŚ
Microsoft is acting further on its promise to fix some of Windows 11's worst annoyances. The company is rolling out changes in the Windows Insider Experimental channel that promise a less cluttered search box that largely eliminates ads, although you'll need to tweak settings to get the best results.
The Hot Take: Linux seems to be hovering and Windows is apparently listening to it's end users Finally. We'll see where this goes.
StatCounter's June 2026 data shows Windows made up 56.55% of global desktop OS usage, dropping Microsoft's share below 60% for the first time in years. Linux, meanwhile, reached 4.39%, "one of its strongest recent showings in the company's desktop OS statistics," reports Linuxiac. From the report: Apple's desktop platforms also remain a major part of the picture. StatCounter lists OS X at 11.89% and macOS at 4.48% for June 2026, meaning Apple's combined desktop presence remains comfortably ahead of Linux in the global chart. Chrome OS followsâŚ
The Hot Take: Nice, but all to push cloud storage I'm assuming.
Microsoft has announced another new recovery method for Windows 11 PCs that will allow users to reinstall the OS using the cloud. The new recovery tool is called Cloud Rebuild which will restore a PC to a "clean, known-good state by performing an entire OS reinstall."The new Cloud Rebuild feature will download the Windows OS along with your devices drivers, and seamlessly install them during the recovery process so that your device is fully functional once the OS reinstalled, all without needing an external USB install drive."Unlike Reset thisâŚ
The Hot Take: Nore more docker on Windows? Interesting.
Windows 11 can now build, run, and manage Linux containers on its own, without Docker Desktop in the background. Microsoft calls this WSL Containers, and after installing the preview and running a few real workloads through it, here is what works, what still needs Docker, and how to get it running on your own PC.
WSL Container should not be confused with the next version of WSL 2, as we already covered how Microsoft shut down the WSL 3 rumors. It has now shipped as a public preview, so we installed it, built a custom container image fromâŚ
The Hot Take: Slowly Windows becoming more and more Linux.
Microsoft has shot down the idea that WSL 3 is on the way. The articles that have been calling it WSL 3 mixed up a different feature, WSL Containers, which the company showed at Build 2026 and is now days away from shipping. The correction came straight from the team that builds Windows Subsystem for Linux.
TL; DR: WSL 3 does not exist. WSL Containers does, and it shows up in less than a week.
Microsoft has officially denied that WSL 3 exists.
Craig Loewen, the Product Manager at Microsoft responsible for the Windows Subsystem forâŚ