News

Google is moving Gemini's advanced models behind a paywall, which affects free accounts. Free users will be limited to Flash Lite, while Pro features are moving to subscription plans. If you use Gemini on a free account, expect the change to take effect there and check whether you need to upgrade to keep the features you use.

A tiny keyboard key is getting a practical new role in Windows 11. The change is meant to shorten deep folder journeys and speed up troubleshooting for Windows PC users who work with files and system tools. If you use Windows 11, you can expect this shortcut to make navigation faster when the feature arrives.

Windows 11 26H2 has quietly shipped with a performance boost. Microsoft rolled up months of performance work into the update, including a Low Latency Profile for app launches. The change affects Windows 11 users on 26H2, and the summary says apps such as WhatsApp, Teams, Outlook and 4K YouTube stayed under 90% RAM use in testing. No action is mentioned, but the update is the one to watch if you want better responsiveness.

Windows 11’s File Explorer is getting a new shortcut that sends the squiggly ~ key straight to the user folder. The update will let people open folders like their user profile, Documents, Downloads, and sometimes AppData more quickly. This affects Windows 11 users who work with file paths in File Explorer. If you use AppData often, the change should make it easier to reach without typing the full path.

Google Wallet tap-to-pay is not working for some Pixel users. Google has not provided a fix yet, but the summary says there are a few things that have helped other users. If you are affected, try the suggested workarounds in the article.

Windows 11 has broken a long-standing Shift+click scrollbar shortcut in WinUI apps, including Notepad. The issue affects users of Windows 11 and apps built on WinUI, while Electron, Win32 and WPF still support the shortcut. A GitHub bug is open, and Microsoft is still patching missing WinUI basics.

Turning off 802.11b on a router can make smart devices feel snappier. The change affects homes where older Wi‑Fi support is still enabled on the ISP router, and the post says the setting is still switched on in plenty of routers.

Microsoft says Windows 11 26H2 is crashing some games and apps. The issue affects some PCs running the update, and Microsoft says it will fix the problem in the next update.

Microsoft says Windows 11 will use less RAM as it responds to rising memory costs. The change affects Windows 11 users, especially on PCs with 8GB of RAM, and Microsoft has made 8GB PC optimization official. Microsoft also explained why Windows 11 uses so much memory and said it is working on fixes.

A Valorant player says they inherited a hardware ban through a secondhand CPU, while Riot’s anticheat boss disputes part of the story. The issue matters to Windows PC gamers who buy used parts, because hardware bans can affect access to the game. If you use secondhand components, check the full history of the PC before you set it up.

A Windows game compression tool can save a lot of space, but the article says compressing every game is a mistake. The writer says games that use DirectStorage can stutter or stream assets more slowly after LZX compression, while many titles save very little space anyway. Windows decompresses these files on the fly, so the impact is often small on faster CPUs, but older processors may struggle. The advice is to check potential savings first, avoid DirectStorage games, and consider cleaning temporary files with Storage Sense instead.

A MakeUseOf article says the familiar 3-2-1 backup rule is missing a key step: testing restores. The writer found that backup files copied for months were corrupted, showing that having three copies on two media types with one offsite is not enough if the files cannot be restored. The article says Windows users should regularly restore a random file or folder, open it, and confirm the backup tool can retrieve it without errors. It also recommends keeping one immutable or air-gapped copy and treating verification as part of the backup plan.

Microsoft is rolling out Excel Canvas through October, adding Copilot-generated reports to Excel. The feature turns workbook data into reports with visualizations, metrics and insights, and the reports refresh automatically when the data changes. It is for users who have access to Copilot in Excel, and they can adjust reports with natural language prompts. The article does not mention any Windows-specific issue or fix.