Enlarge / A PC running Windows 11. (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft started its Windows Insider program in 2014 to get public feedback on Windows 10 as it was being developed. Ever since then, the company has continued to provide regularly updated prerelease builds of Windows 10 and Windows 11 to preview and test new features.

Like many public beta programs, Microsoft has maintained different channels for different users, with periodic tweaks to each channel's name and stated purpose. Today, Microsoft is renaming one channel and introducing another one. The one formerly known as the "Dev" channel will now be called the "Canary" channel, and it will be where Microsoft tests its least-stable and most-experimental features (including "major changes to the Windows kernel, new APIs, etc.").

"The builds that will be flighted to the Canary Channel will be “hot off the presses,” flighting very soon after they are built, which means very little validation and documentation will be done before they are offered to Insiders," writes Windows Insider Program Lead Amanda Langowski.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

Researchers on Wednesday announced a major cybersecurity find—the world’s first-known instance of real-world malware that can hijack a computer’s boot process even when Secure Boot and other advanced protections are enabled and running on fully updated versions of Windows.

Dubbed BlackLotus, the malware is what’s known as a UEFI bootkit. These sophisticated pieces of malware hijack the UEFI—short for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface—the low-level and complex chain of firmware responsible for booting up virtually every modern computer. As the mechanism that bridges a PC’s device firmware with its operating system, the UEFI is an OS in its own right. It’s located in an SPI-connected flash storage chip soldered onto the computer motherboard, making it difficult to inspect or patch.

Because the UEFI is the first thing to run when a computer is turned on, it influences the OS, security apps, and all other software that follows. These traits make the UEFI the perfect place to launch malware. When successful, UEFI bootkits disable OS security mechanisms and ensure that a computer remains infected with stealthy malware that runs at the kernel mode or user mode, even after the operating system is reinstalled or a hard drive is replaced.

Enlarge / Windows 11 is mixing things up with an improved volume mixer, among other features. (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft released a batch of significant updates to Windows 11 earlier this week, adding tabs to the Notepad app, integrating the AI-powered "new Bing" into the taskbar's search box, and previewing iPhone pairing, complete with rudimentary iMessage support. And Microsoft continues to test other features in public via its Windows Insider Program, particularly in the more experimental Dev channel. These builds are likely to form the basis for the operating system's big 23H2 update later this year.

This week's Dev channel build demonstrates a new and improved volume mixer for Windows and its apps directly from the Quick Settings menu at the bottom-right of the taskbar. The new mixer allows you to switch between output devices and control the volume of your output, and it shows per-app volume and mute settings so you can quiet down or silence an individual app. It's an improvement over the current Quick Settings controls, which only offer system-wide volume adjustments and require multiple clicks to change output devices.

This build also expands a feature called "Auto Color Management" (ACM). ACM is hardware-accelerated, system-level color management that ensures colors in apps look the same on different displays with different capabilities, and it's designed as a replacement for older Windows color management technologies like Image Color Management (ICM) and the Windows Color System (WCS).

Enlarge / If your PC looks like this, you're probably used to bad software. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

RGB lighting isn't for everyone, but a quick glance at PC-builder Reddit or the legions of glass-sided PC cases suggests it is for some people. If that's you, you're probably used to dealing with sub-par RGB control apps from the company that made your motherboard, keyboard, mouse, and/or fans. Not all of this software is awful, but it usually includes all kinds of features you don't need or want, and it's often difficult to use.

Microsoft may be working on a fix for this in a test build of Windows 11, according to Twitter user @thebookisclosed. They discovered a hidden screen in the Settings app in Windows 11 build 25295 dedicated to basic RGB lighting controls for connected accessories, providing a consistent and unified interface for assigning colors and lighting patterns that doesn't require the installation of third-party software.

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  The current Windows 11 lighting UI is a simple list of all connected RGB-compatible accessories. [credit: @thebookisclosed/Twitter ]

We don't know if this feature will ship in Windows 11 or what form it will take if it does—Microsoft tests all kinds of features in its Windows Insider builds, and the company doesn't always end up shipping to regular consumers. If the feature ships in anything like its current form, it may have limitations. Third-party apps will probably still offer a wider array of lighting patterns and effects, plus other features like the ability to sync all the RGB accessories in a given room. It's also unclear whether the UI can control RGB accessories connected to a motherboard's 3- or 4-pin RGB header or RAM slots, in addition to things connected to external USB ports or your motherboard's internal USB headers. Those 3- and 4-pin headers are physically and electrically compatible, but programming the lights at a software level is handled slightly differently by each motherboard maker.

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

If your main problem with the Microsoft Store is that you get too many relevant results when you search for apps, good news: Microsoft is officially launching Microsoft Store Ads, a way for developers to pay to get their apps in front of your eyes when you go to the store to look for something else.

Microsoft's landing page for the feature says the apps will appear during searches and in the Apps and Gaming tabs within the app. Developers will be able to track whether and where users see the ads and whether they're downloading and opening the apps once they see the ads.

Microsoft also provided an update on the health of the Microsoft Store, pointing to 2022 as "a record year," with more than 900 million unique users worldwide and "a 122% year-over-year increase in developer submissions of new apps and games." Microsoft has steadily loosened its restrictions on Store apps in the last year or two, allowing in traditional Win32 apps and also leaning on Amazon's Android app store and the Windows Subsystem for Android to expand its selection.

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft will stop selling downloadable licenses for Windows 10 on its website on January 31, according to a message on the product pages for Windows 10 Home and Pro. Although Windows 10 will continue to be supported with new security updates until at least October 2025, Microsoft is pushing anyone buying or building a new PC to use the newer Windows 11 instead.

Other retail sites will presumably keep selling physical and digital copies of Windows 10 for at least a little while, but even if all Windows 10 sales went away at the end of the month, people who really wanted it should still be able to get it.

For owners of older Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs who want to upgrade—and you should, since both operating systems received their final regularly scheduled security updates earlier this month—Windows 10 should continue to install and run just fine on those computers at no additional cost. This is an artifact of the years-old Windows 10 upgrade offer. Microsoft officially stopped offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 in 2016, but the company never took any steps to stop the upgrades from working.