[German]I'm pulling together a few more topics that I've come across over the last few days. Microsoft wants to maintain a roadmap for Windows and is working on a new recovery function. On the other hand, another online account requirement is emerging in Insider Previews. Here is an overview of these and other topics.
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Microsoft is planning a Windows roadmap
Users of Windows 11 are actually already well informed about what Microsoft is planning, as new functions are presented months in advance in Insider Preview builds. And in the case of "major innovations", Microsoft also presents these plans months in advance.
Last week, Microsoft then introduced the "Windows Roadmap" in the tech community post Introducing the Windows 11 roadmap. There you can supposedly find information about things that are available for validation in the Windows Insider program (also available in the Insider Previews blog), that will be rolled out incrementally (indicated in the patch support posts), and features that are generally available (fully enabled in the monthly non-security update).
Question: How interested are readers in what new Windows features are coming and what is in the Windows roadmap? I'm happy here every day about a Windows 10 2019 IoT Enterprise LTSC, which doesn't give me any negative surprises and just works.
Quick Machine Recovery is coming
Windows 11 24H2 is to get a Quick Machine Recovery function that will make it easier for users to restore a system that no longer starts.
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Microsoft announced the new feature in the tech community article Get started with quick machine recovery in Windows. It is said to be a "powerful feature" that automatically detects, diagnoses and fixes critical problems on a device. The feature is available in the Windows Insider Preview Beta Channel for Windows 11, version 24H2. Details can be found in the linked article.
At this point, I'll put it this way: If Windows 11 worked and wasn't constantly patched by Microsoft, this function would actually be obsolete. Or how do you see it?
Windows 11 24H: More forcing Microsoft accounts
A few days ago it became known (I first came across it here) that Microsoft is tightening the requirement to set up with Microsoft accounts in Windows 11 24H2 and subsequent versions. In Windows 11 24H2, build 26120.3653 was released in the beta channel for Insiders. Microsoft has described the changes in the blog post Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 (Beta Channel).
It states that the bypassnro.cmd script has been removed from the build to improve the security and usability of Windows 11. This change is intended to ensure that all users complete the setup with an Internet connection and a Microsoft account.
Didn't take long for "workarounds" to be posted. The tweet above shows a command that can be executed in the console to complete the setup with a local account. Similar instructions using a JavaScript call can be found at neowin.net.
Stefan Kanthak contacted me by e-mail and also wrote that Microsoft's attempt was nonsense. Then both the registry entry set by this script and an [auto]unattend.xml would still be evaluated during setup.
An autounattend.xml could still be explicitly specified when calling setup.exe, and otherwise the root directories of all data carriers attached during the installation would be searched for such data. The registry entry in question can, for example, be created by the script that has been automatically executed before OOBE since Windows Vista (see):
C:\Windows\Setup\Scripts\SetupComplete.cmd
The script can be specified when calling setup.exe using the /M option. Otherwise it is executed from the directory:
\Sources\$OEM$\$$\Setup\Scripts\
of the installation medium (see). The question arises as to what the Microsoft developers are up to? A premature April Fool's joke?
Windows 11 24H2: Start menu issues
I also came across the following tweet a few days ago. A user complained that his Windows 11 start menu was not responding. The cure: deactivate Bing Search and everything worked again.
The affected person also immediately set the relevant registry entry using the following PowerShell command:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" -Name "BingSearchEnabled" -Value 0
Maybe it will help someone who is in the same predicament. I'll close the circle: Maybe we'll read in the Windows roadmap "we'll do without new features and brew a Windows 11 that just works". Ok, you can dream again. Although, I am grounded in reality. Under Windows 10 2019 IoT Enterprise LTSC, none of this has been necessary so far and I haven't needed anything like this under Linux either.
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