Microsoft turned Windows 11’s lock screen into MSN hell, now it’s undoing most of it

windowslatest.com Sep 17, 2026

Microsoft turned Windows 11’s lock screen into MSN hell, now it’s undoing most of it

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Sep 17, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Microsoft has quietly altered Windows 11’s lock screen, making Weather the sole default widget and removing other MSN‑powered cards such as Sports, Money, and Daily Discovery. The change, documented in the August 27 preview update and rolled out in the September 8 Patch Tuesday release, follows user complaints about clutter. Users can still add or remove widgets via Settings > Personalization > Lock screen, or disable widgets entirely. The update reflects Microsoft’s effort to streamline the lock screen after earlier issues with Remote Desktop and audio bugs.

💡 Why It Matters

· By trimming the lock screen to a single, useful widget, Microsoft reduces distraction and improves focus for daily use.
· This shift signals a broader move toward a cleaner, more user‑controlled interface.

Read full article on windowslatest.com

Web apps are freezing in Microsoft Edge, and the fix is a…

The article intended to report that web applications are experiencing freezing issues in Microsoft Edge and that the recommended remediation steps are cumbersome. However, the provided content consists solely of a biographical profile of Sean Endicott, a Windows Central news writer, detailing his professional background, areas of coverage, and extracurricular achievements. No information about the Edge freezing problem, its scope, technical cause, or the specific fix is included in the text.

💡 Without substantive details on the Edge issue, readers cannot assess the impact on their browsing experience or evaluate the proposed solution.

techcommunity.microsoft.com · Sep 17

Microsoft Discovery lowers barriers to chip design

Microsoft Discovery, the company’s new AI‑driven chip‑design platform, enabled a former aerospace engineer to take a RISC‑V core and a small AI accelerator from specification through logical C, high‑level synthesis, RTL and finally physical layout using the open‑source OpenROAD flow and SKY130 process node. The author documented the end‑to‑end workflow on GitHub and demonstrated the tool’s ability to lower the expertise barrier for non‑silicon specialists. The project, presented at DAC 2026, also showcased how AI assistance can streamline both design and optimization stages, allowing participants to focus on architecture rather than low‑level implementation details. Microsoft Discovery thus provides a guided, open‑source path for learning and prototyping chips without requiring access to advanced foundry resources.

💡 By democratizing the chip‑design workflow, Microsoft Discovery turns a traditionally niche skill into a teachable, reproducible process, accelerating talent development and fostering open‑hardware innovation.

ign.com · Sep 17

Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2026 — Everything Announced

Microsoft’s Xbox broadcast at the Tokyo Game Show 2026 unveiled a slate of new titles and updates. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 received a campaign trailer featuring Mads Mikkelsen. Sega’s Crazy Taxi World Tour, ArtPlay’s Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, and Atlus’ Persona 4 Revival were showcased with fresh trailers. Hideo Kojima announced two upcoming Xbox games—OD – KNOCK and Physint—revealing Bill Skarsgård as the lead in the latter. No release dates were set.

💡 The partnership between Kojima Productions and Microsoft signals a strategic push into exclusive, high‑profile titles for Xbox, potentially reshaping the console’s competitive edge in the next generation.

windowslatest.com · Sep 17

Microsoft confirms it accidentally broke copy and paste in Excel with a…

Microsoft released KB5002914, a security update for Excel, on September 8 that inadvertently disabled copy‑and‑paste across all supported versions, including 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2024. The bug causes silent paste failures, leaving source cells selected while destinations remain unchanged, and has been reported by users on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft acknowledged the issue, confirmed it is investigating, and advised against uninstalling the update due to critical security patches. No workaround is currently available.

💡 The glitch hampers daily productivity for millions of Excel users, exposing a rare but critical flaw in a widely relied‑upon office tool. It underscores the delicate balance between rapid security deployment and software stability.

windowscentral.com · Sep 17

“Data centres have become integral to our lives” — Microsoft plans to…

Microsoft announced it will continue construction of a new data center in a region where local activists have staged protests over environmental and land‑use concerns. The company says the facility is essential for expanding its cloud services and AI infrastructure, promising thousands of jobs and increased regional connectivity. Protesters argue the project threatens wetlands, wildlife habitats, and contributes to carbon emissions, urging the firm to adopt greener alternatives. Despite the opposition, Microsoft’s spokesperson affirmed that the site complies with all regulatory requirements and that the company will implement mitigation measures, including renewable‑energy sourcing and habitat restoration. The decision follows a series of similar disputes worldwide as tech firms scale up data‑center capacity to meet rising demand for digital services.

💡 The clash highlights the growing tension between rapid AI‑driven cloud expansion and community‑level environmental stewardship, forcing tech giants to reconcile growth with sustainability commitments.

techradar.com · Sep 17

Businesses are dropping Microsoft 365 in favor of Google, but if the…

Senior Gartner analyst Domenico Scriva reported that moving from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace does not generate meaningful cost savings, even though Google licences are cheaper than Microsoft’s E5 tier. Scriva said many firms switch out of dissatisfaction with Microsoft rather than a business case, overlooking that the E5 bundle includes telephony, security and OS licences absent from Google plans. He noted that, after accounting for add‑ons—Gemini included in Google, Copilot extra for Microsoft—Google can be about $2 per user per month more expensive. The analyst added that Google’s pricing may favor Mac and Chromebook deployments, potentially influencing refresh cycles. However, migration and retraining expenses can erase any perceived advantage, prompting Gartner to advise enterprises to base decisions on outcomes.

💡 The shift reveals that hardware choices and hidden transition costs, not just license fees, drive real ROI, forcing firms to reassess platform moves beyond surface‑level price tags.