Category: Science And Technology

What is leprosy and why is it resurfacing in the US?

Leprosy is caused by two different but similar bacteria – Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis – the latter having just been identified in 2008. Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is avoidable. Transmission among the most vulnerable in society, including migrant and impoverished populations, remains a pressing issue.

This age-old neglected tropical disease, which is still present in more than 120 countries, is now a growing challenge in parts of North America.

Leprosy is beginning to occur regularly within parts of the southeastern United States. Most recently, Florida has seen a heightened incidence of leprosy, accounting for many of the newly diagnosed cases in the US.

The surge in new cases in central Florida highlights the urgent need for health care providers to report them immediately. Contact tracing is critical to identifying sources and reducing transmission.

Traditional risk factors include zoonotic exposure and having recently lived in leprosy-endemic countries. Brazil, India and Indonesia have each noted more than 10,000 new cases since 2019, according to the World Health Organization data, and more than a dozen countries have reported between 1,000 to 10,000 new cases over the same time period.

Why was leprosy stigmatized in biblical times?

Evidence suggests that leprosy has plagued civilization since at least the second millennium BCE.

From that time until the mid-20th century, limited treatments were available, so the bacteria could infiltrate the body and cause prominent physical deformities such as disfigured hands and feet. Advanced cases of leprosy cause facial features resembling that of a lion in humans.

Many mutilating and distressing skin disorders such as skin cancers and deep fungal infections were also confused with leprosy by the general public.

Fear of contagion has led to tremendous stigmatization and social exclusion. It was such a serious concern that the Kingdom of Jerusalem had a specialized hospital to care for those suffering from leprosy.

How infectious is leprosy?

Research shows that prolonged in-person contact via respiratory droplets is the primary mode of transmission, rather than through normal, everyday contact such as embracing, shaking hands or sitting near a person with leprosy. People with leprosy generally do not transmit the disease once they begin treatment.

Armadillos represent the only known zoonotic reservoir of leprosy-causing bacteria that threaten humans. These small mammals are common in Central and South America and in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and other states, where they are sometimes kept as pets or farmed as meat.

Eating armadillo meat is not a clear cause of leprosy, but capturing and raising armadillos, along with preparing its meat, are risk factors.

The transmission mechanism between zoonotic reservoirs and susceptible individuals is unknown, but it is strongly suspected that direct contact with an infected armadillo poses a significant risk of developing leprosy.

However, many cases reported in the US have demonstrated an absence of either zoonotic exposure or person-to-person transmission outside of North America, suggesting that transmission may be happening where the infected person lives. But in many cases, the source remains an enigma.

Some people’s genetics might make them more susceptible to leprosy infections, or their immune systems are less capable of resisting the disease.

Stigma and discrimination have prevented people from seeking treatment, and as a result, “concealed” cases contribute to transmission.

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How do you recognize it?

Leprosy primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system, causing physical deformity and desensitizing one’s ability to feel pain on affected skin.

It may begin with loss of sensation on whitish patches of skin or reddened skin. As the bacteria spread in the skin, they can cause the skin to thicken with or without nodules. If this occurs on a person’s face, it may rarely produce a smooth, attractive-appearing facial contour known as lepra bonita, or “pretty leprosy.”

The disease can progress to causing eyebrow loss, enlarged nerves in the neck, nasal deformities and nerve damage.

The onset of symptoms can sometimes take as long as 20 years because the infectious bacteria have a lengthy incubation period and proliferate slowly in the human body. So presumably many people are infected long before they know that they are.

Fortunately, worldwide efforts to screen for leprosy are being enhanced thanks to organizations like the Order of Saint Lazarus, which was originally founded in the 11th century to combat leprosy, and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, which conducts immunologic, epidemiological and translational research in Ethiopia. The nongovernmental organization Bombay Leprosy Project in India does the same.

How treatable is it?

Leprosy is not only preventable but treatable. Defying stigma and advancing early diagnosis via proactive measures are critical to the mission of controlling and eradicating it worldwide.

Notably, the World Health Organization and other agencies provide multi-drug therapy at no cost to patients.

In addition, vaccine technology to combat leprosy is in the clinical trials stage and could become available in coming years. In studies involving nine-banded armadillos, this protein-based vaccine delayed or diminished leprous nerve damage and kept bacteria at bay.

Researchers believe that the vaccine can be produced in a low-cost, highly efficient manner, with the long-term prospect of eradicating leprosy.

If health care professionals, biomedical researchers and lawmakers do not markedly enhance their efforts to eliminate leprosy worldwide, the disease will continue to spread and could become a far more serious problem in areas that have been largely free of leprosy for decades.

The World Health Organization launched a plan in 2021 for achieving zero leprosy.

Robert A. Schwartz, Professor and Head of Dermatology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Optical fibre cables in the UK are under attack. Meta sues a Vice President for stealing information when he moved to a competitor. ChatGPT uses in a day enough electricity to power 17,000 households and is your connected car ratting you out to your insurance company?

All this and more on the “what else does my car know about me” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and TechNewsDay in the US.

Network providers in the UK are urging the government to help protect against an increasing number of physical attacks on fiber infrastructure.

These attacks, ranging from cutting through fiber-optic cables to setting fires in access chambers, have caused significant disruptions, leaving entire streets or communities offline until repairs can be made.

The group is looking for greater police engagement and tougher sentences for perpetrators.

The attacks, thought to be acts of vandalism or carried out by individuals with grievances against specific providers, have raised concerns about the security of the UK’s digital infrastructure.

Some incidents have been attributed to 5G protesters, who used to attack cell towers who might now be targeting any form of digital infrastructure.

There have been reports of significant damage to networks requiring extensive repairs.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has responded, stating that the UK has one of the toughest telecoms security regimes globally and is working closely with providers and authorities to ensure the security and resilience of telecoms network infrastructure.

And in case you don’t think it can happen here, we did a series showing attacks by 5G protesters on Canadian and US cell towers and our fibre infrastructure is fairly exposed to anyone who knows where to look.

Sources include: The Register

Meta is suing its former Vice President of Infrastructure, Dipinder Singh Khurana, accusing him of stealing proprietary and confidential information. The lawsuit, filed in late February in a California State Court, alleges that Khurana misappropriated data related to Meta’s data centers, supply chain, and employee compensation details, and took this information to a new employer at a Stealth AI startup, where he now holds a similar position.

The suit claims Khurana had access to highly sensitive documents and information at Meta, which was restricted to a limited number of employees. The unauthorized disclosure of such information, Meta argues, could significantly harm the company’s competitive advantage in critical areas such as AI, data center technology, supply chain operations, and talent retention.

Meta accuses Khurana of several legal violations, including Breach of Contract, Breach of Duty of Loyalty, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Unjust Enrichment, and violation of California’s Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.

Specifically, during his final days at Meta, Khurana allegedly requested confidential agreements with suppliers from subordinates, obtaining sensitive pricing information and preliminary pricing for specific computing hardware.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims Khurana took a “Top Talent” dossier containing detailed information about Meta’s top performers, including performance reviews and compensation data. This information, according to Meta, offers an insider view of the company’s compensation decisions and key insights into the employees’ levels, performance, and skills.

Meta’s complaint also mentions that Khurana prepared a slide deck for his new employer, emphasizing a proactive approach rather than a learning-as-you-go mentality, which Meta suggests may have contributed to his alleged wrongful behavior.

We’ve mentioned this in the past, but this caught my eye.

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular chatbot, reportedly consumes over half a million kilowatt-hours of electricity daily to respond to approximately 200 million requests, according to The New Yorker. This level of consumption is significantly higher than the average U.S. household, which uses around 29 kilowatt-hours daily. When comparing ChatGPT’s daily electricity usage to that of an average household, ChatGPT uses more than 17,000 times the amount of electricity.

The potential for increased electricity consumption by the AI industry raises concerns, especially as generative AI technologies become more widely adopted. For instance, if Google were to integrate generative AI technology into every search, it could lead to an annual consumption of about 29 billion kilowatt-hours. This amount surpasses the yearly electricity consumption of countries like Kenya, Guatemala, and Croatia.

The rapid growth of the AI sector and its considerable variability in operation make it challenging to precisely estimate its overall electricity consumption. However, research by a data scientist at the Dutch National Bank suggests that by 2027, the AI sector could consume between 85 to 134 terawatt-hours annually, potentially accounting for half a percent of global electricity consumption.

This comparison puts into perspective the high electricity usage of some of the world’s most energy-intensive businesses, with Samsung using close to 23 terawatt-hours, Google a little more than 12 terawatt-hours, and Microsoft slightly over 10 terawatt-hours for their data centers, networks, and user devices.

Sources include: Business Insider

Connected cars are sharing more data with insurance companies than customers might realize, according to a report by the New York Times.

This sharing of data, particularly about customer driving habits, is not just an invasion of privacy, it could potentially impact insurance rates and privacy.

While some automakers, like Tesla, openly monitor driving behavior for their insurance services, the transparency and consent around data sharing vary across manufacturers.

General Motors, has been specifically mentioned for sharing data with third parties with little or ambiguous documentation. GM’s OnStar Smart Driver service, which tracks customer driving habits, does not clearly disclose that the collected statistics may be shared with databases accessible to insurance companies.

This has allegedly led to instances where owners of high-performance GM vehicles faced insurance rate hikes after taking their cars to tracks, possibly without realizing they were enrolled in the service at the dealership as part of a larger OnStar bundle.

Other automakers, such as Subaru, Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi, also engage in data collection and sharing with insurance databases, but they require explicit customer consent for insurance tracking or limit the shared data to odometer readings unless used for generating insurance quotes.

As our cars become another device that collects a lot of data on us,  we many need to be particularly aware of the data our connected car may be collecting and sharing, especially if you own a vehicle from manufacturers like GM.

Customers may need to read the terms of any connected services they opt into, to protect their privacy and maybe avoid unexpected consequences with their insurance rates.

Sources include: Autoblog.com

That’s our show for today. Hashtag Trending goes to air five days a week with a daily news show and on the weekends we have an interview show we creatively named the Weekend Edition.

We love your comments.

Thanks for listening and have a Wonderful Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After years of negotiations, the AI Act is finally here to rein in this popular technology, but it still faces some criticisms.

The EU’s long-awaited rules to regulate the growing AI sector are finally here, as the AI Act was officially adopted in a vote today (13 March).

MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting the Act, with 523 supporting it while only 46 voted against it – and 49 abstaining. The vote marks an end to negotiations and hurdles since the legislation was first discussed in 2021.

The result means the EU will soon have arguably the most robust and detailed form of AI regulation in the world, in a bid to rein in the high-risk aspects of this evolving technology.

Irish MEP Deirdre Clune and lead lawmaker for the drafting of the Act, said it might be the most significant piece of legislation to come from the European Parliament “in the past 5 years”, as AI will “fundamentally alter how we all live our lives”.

“We cannot allow AI to grow in an unrestricted and unfettered manner,” Clune said. “This is why the EU is actively implementing safeguards and establishing boundaries.

“The objective of the AI Act is simple – to protect users from possible risks, promote innovation and encourage the uptake of safe, trustworthy AI in the EU.”

Companies still have time to prepare as the AI Act will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal and will be fully applicable after two years, though with some prohibitions taking effect after six months and some governance rules and obligations taking effect after 12 months.

What will the AI Act do?

In simple terms, the AI Act will attempt to rein in AI technology while letting the EU benefit from its potential by creating a risk-based approach. If the type of AI technology is deemed to be high-risk, then the developers must follow stricter rules to prevent its abuse.

The Act will also prohibit certain uses of AI entirely such as the use of social scoring systems – which has become associated with the controversial social credit system in China. Other “forbidden” use cases are techniques that use AI to manipulate people in a way that “impairs their autonomy, decision-making and free choices”.

The AI Act will also call on deployers of AI systems to clearly disclose if any content has been artificially created or manipulated by AI – to deal with the threat of deepfakes.

Specific details of the AI Act were under contention since the end of 2023, as certain EU countries called for more relaxed regulations on the developers of foundation models – due to concerns that stricter regulation could hamper innovation. These issues were resolved last month after a series of negotiations.

‘Smart AI legislation’

The AI Act is being praised by various experts and companies within the AI sector. Bruna de Castro e Silva, AI governance specialist at Saidot, said the Act is the culmination of “extensive research, consultations and expert and legislative work” and said it is founded on a “solid risk-based approach”.

“The Act will ensure that AI development prioritises the protection of fundamental rights, health and safety, while maximising the enormous potential of AI,” Silva said. “This legislation is an opportunity to set a global standard for AI governance, addressing concerns while fostering innovation within a clear responsible framework.

“While some seek to present any AI regulation in a negative light, the final text of the EU AI Act is an example of responsible and innovative legislation that prioritises technology’s impact on people.”

Christina Montgomery, IBM VP and chief privacy and trust officer, commended the EU and said it passed “comprehensive, smart AI legislation”.

“The risk-based approach aligns with IBM’s commitment to ethical AI practices and will contribute to building open and trustworthy AI ecosystems,” Montgomery said.

The passing of the AI Act is also expected to have an impact on the global stage. Forrester principal analyst Enza Iannopollo said most companies in the UK will need to comply with the AI Act if they wish to do business internationally, “just like their counterparts in the US and Asia”.

“Despite the aspiration of becoming the ‘centre of AI regulation’, the UK has produced little so far when it comes to mitigating AI risks effectively,” Iannopollo said. “Hence, companies in the UK will have to face two very different regulatory environments to start with.

“Over time, at least some of the work UK firms undertake to be compliant with the EU AI Act will become part of their overall AI governance strategy, regardless of UK specific requirements – or lack thereof.”

Criticisms of the AI Act

The Act is facing some criticisms, however, particularly from the EU’s Pirate Party which has been vocal for months about the Act allowing member states to use biometric surveillance – such as facial recognition technology.

The Act states that using AI for real-time biometric surveillance in publicly accessible spaces should be prohibited – “except in exhaustively listed and narrowly defined situations, where the use is strictly necessary to achieve a substantial public interest”. The examples of such situations include finding missing people and specific threats such as terrorist attacks

MEP Patrick Breyer claims that the AI Act means the European Parliament is “legitimising” biometric mass surveillance.

“Rather than protecting us from these authoritarian instruments, the AI Act provides an instruction manual for governments to roll out biometric mass surveillance in Europe,” Breyer said. “As important as it is to regulate AI technology, defending our democracy against being turned into a high-tech surveillance state is not negotiable.”

Dr Kris Shrishak, a technology fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, told SiliconRepublic.com last month that the AI Act had been improved but “does not set a high bar for protection of people’s rights”. He also claimed that the Act relies too much on “self-assessments” when it comes to risk.

“Companies get to decide whether their systems are high risk or not,” Shrishak said. “If high risk, they only have to perform self-assessment. This means that strong enforcement by the regulators will be the key to whether this regulation is worth its paper or not.

“The regulation of general-purpose AI is mostly limited to transparency and is likely to be inadequate to address the risks that these AI systems pose.”

Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this new series, leading up to YIM 2024, researchers who have attended YIMs from the past tell us about what it was like for them back then, what they took away from the experience, how things have changed, their ideas for future YIMs, and tips for the newest generation of life scientists gearing up for their first meeting. Dhiraj Bhatia is a DNA nanotechnologist at Indian Institute of Technology in Gandhinagar. In this interview, he shares his YIM experience with Nandita Jayaraj.

Which YIMs have you been part of?

My first YIM was as a young faculty in 2019 at Guwahati. Then COVID hit, and I participated in the online YIM 2021 and YIM 2022 as the representative of IIT Gandhinagar. Further, I was one of the co-organisers of YIM 2023 at Gandhinagar. 

Tell us about where you were in your career & research back in 2023. 

I had finished four years at my institute and thankfully, I was tenured. I was in a stage of transition between Assistant and Associate Professor, moving on from the early-career to mid-career phase. By then, the scientist in me was craving exposure to the broader community. So when the opportunity came to organise a YIM in our campus, I took it. 

I was actually still setting up a new stem cell lab. Though I started in 2018, it took me two years to do this and then COVID hit, which delayed grants. Things had just started resuming and I was in the process of setting up my BSL 2 lab when YIM was happening. IIT Gandhinagar really supported me. They offered me flexibility, and since the event was on our campus, and it was teamwork between the four of us organisers, it didn’t take me away from my lab or teaching too much.

Tell us about where you are in your career & research today — how have things changed? 

First of all, I got promoted to Associate Professor. YIM helped this happen because when we are evaluated, they also look at your experience hosting social networking events. The IITs consider not just what you contribute to research or your institute but also to society, or at least the scientific community. My students are graduating, my publications are coming out. 

Another impact of the YIM has been the collaborations and the networks it has built with my peers. 

Can you recall for us how you came to be involved with YIM? 

I did my PhD from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) from 2007 to 2013 with Yamuna Krishnan. That was the time when the seeds of IndiaBioscience and the YIMs were sprouting. Yamuna took part in some of the initial YIMs and she used to narrate her experiences to us. I used to wonder when I would get to be at a YIM. At the time there used to be these DST-supported YIM-like meetings in Cambridge and other European countries. I took part in one such, as a postdoc, in Barcelona in 2017. That gave me a good boost, and I understood what the bottlenecks in India were. It enabled me to move back to India the next year. When the YIM at Guwahati was announced shortly after, I applied and got to attend my first YIM. 

Tell us about one meaningful connection you made at a YIM 

As a postdoc, I was a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) fellow. Funding agencies like HFSP give awards at different levels. If you are a postdoc, you can go abroad with this fellowship, and then when you return, you can apply for the HFSP career development award. If you’re a mid-career fellow or experienced faculty, you can also apply for international HPSP grants. I was not so aware of the requirements of those kinds of fellowships. So to have people like Tamal Das from TIFR Hyderabad and Thomas Pucadyil from IISER Pune as mentors at the YIM was really helpful. This gave people like me crystal clear ideas of what these funding agencies are looking for, how we should present our stories and stories to these different organisations like HFSP or European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

Can you tell us one memorable behind-the-scenes story from your time organising YIM 2023?

YIM 2023 was a huge experiment-cum-adventure. Until then, YIMs happened in places that were a bit isolated from the city, to enable more in-depth discussions, but this was the first time it was happening at an academic campus. 

IIT Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad University were chosen to host it. The main motivation for this was to give the participants (young investigators and postdocs) a first-hand experience of what academic institutes look like, how labs are arranged, and address many questions they may have while transitioning into academia. 

It was an adventure, but eventually, YIM 2023 was successful. I must give credit to people in my own department and institute. Though it was our faces on the website, we were just the monitors and there were many others who helped make it happen. Many of the faculty members had been to YIMs before and were super excited. 

IIT Gandhinagar, being close to the airport, has a very robust system for booking the guesthouse, food, airport transits, etc. So it was not a very big struggle for us. Rather, it was a good learning exercise for students who came in as volunteers.

Describe for us one YIM 2023 session that made a strong impression on you?

I was on a panel discussing work-life balance with Rashna Bhandari and some others. This was extremely important, especially coming after COVID when we were returning from work-from-home to the labs and the real world. As scientists, we are passionate about our jobs and we tend to put so much effort into setting up our labs. These are, of course, important, as are getting grants and publications, but it’s equally important to look after our families and health. We discussed how we need to take breaks whenever possible. The world will not end if the proposal is submitted after two days, or a manuscript takes another week. The key is to start early and not wait to do tasks until the last moment. 

If you could pick the brain of any scientist from the past, who would it be and what would you ask them?

My academic journey began at one of the best schools in India, NCBS. This is where many people like Obaid Siddiqui, Veronica Rodrigues and KS Krishnan worked. I got to spend some time with Veronica Rodrigues and she really left a mark on me. She always stood like a mother, a guide to us, whenever we needed help. There was so much to learn from her, not just the science but also managing laboratories and sensitive issues at the institution. I found her to be a very, very mature person. Sometimes, we get anxious over small problems in the lab, or a manuscript rejection, but Veronica would stay very calm even in the most turbulent situations. I wish I could have had more time to learn from her but unfortunately, she passed away soon after I started my PhD. . 

If you could add one programme to the next YIM schedule, what would it be?

I’ve realised something over the last five years of my journey. As academics in elite institutes, we tend to complain about small things such as delayed flights. However, there are regions for example, in Jammu Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the northeast, Jharkhand, where academics face more fundamental problems. They may have ideas, they may even be much better scientists than us, but they don’t even have offices, electricity, clean water… I think IndiaBioscience should reach out to these remote places and bring in people from there. Perhaps we can empower them, support them and get them connected with the rest of the country. 

What message would you like to pass to someone who is attending their first YIM in 2024?

I would advise young investigators and postdocs to ask questions, no matter how trivial, and no matter how senior the mentors are. 

Even if it is a matter of how to order a reagent, I am sure people like K VijayRaghavan will answer. At YIM 2019, I admired how Karishma Kaushik was so open-minded and asked so many questions, regardless of who it was in front of her — whether it was the director of an institute, a minister or secretary of a funding agency. 

There is one more thing: Now that YIMs are happening in institutes, I would caution young postdocs from applying to the host institute after they get selected for the event. This is not a good practice and is not the way the system works. 

If you’ve been in the creative space long enough, you’ve probably come across month-long international challenges before. 

For writers, there’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where you’re challenged to write creatively throughout November. For musicians, there’s FAWM (February Album Writing Month) where you have to write a new song every other day. 

Artists, however, had a few to choose from like Inktober and Peachtober that are hosted annually in October.

How it works is you’re given thematic prompts for each day to create something artistic. The choice of medium is up to you, but the goal is to foster creativity. 

This was exactly what Eunice Chiong needed after an 8.5-year career in marketing. And little did she know, it would be the catalyst to her namesake business that focuses on LEGO art prints.

If not now then when?

Growing up, Eunice had always been drawn to creative pursuits. She’s dabbled in scrapbooking, illustrating, paper crafting, and hand lettering. 

She learnt these through attending online workshops or from YouTube. She would also frequent the library and devour art books, gleaning insights and techniques from established artists.

By deconstructing their techniques and experimenting with their styles, she learnt to put her own spin on things. Hence, helping her develop her own artistic voice.

But naturally, reality beckoned and her career occupied most of her day. This meant she had less time to properly pursue her passion for art.

Unhappy with this, the then-30-year-old made a leap of faith and quit her job. 

“I figured it was the opportune moment to do so before life starts throwing more responsibilities my way,” she shared. “I wanted to give my artistic dreams a shot while I still had the flexibility to do it.”

A challenge that opened new doors

It was during this career break that Eunice challenged herself to take on Peachtober. 

Wanting to push herself further, she sought out new art mediums to make it more exciting. That’s when she stumbled upon a viral Instagram reel by Eric Schwarz showcasing his LEGO printmaking artworks. 

One look and she knew it was the perfect avenue to pursue her month-long artistic journey.

Having primarily focused on digital art before this, she was drawn to the tactile nature of LEGO printmaking. It offered a welcomed break from staring at a screen and provided a refreshing hands-on experience.

Determining the medium was the easy part. By the time she had all the supplies, she only had three days left before Peachtober started. So you could say she was jumping in at the deep end.

But they say practice makes perfect, which was exactly what Eunice was banking on. 

Making use of good opportunities

For 31 days straight, she worked on her LEGO printmaking skills. 

Her process became refined, and her techniques significantly improved in a short period of time. And before she knew it, she had somewhat mastered the craft by the end of Peachtober.

At the same time, she noticed that this art form hadn’t been widely explored locally. 

Motivated and confident in her new crafts, Eunice began selling all the LEGO prints she made for the challenge. It helped to cover the cost of materials and allowed her to build a stronger bond with her community of followers.

Thus, marking the debut of her online art shop. Her artwork sells for SG$40 to SG$45, and customers can order them from her website.

Initially, the first batches were produced in limited pieces of up to six art prints per design. But she’s since shifted to making it upon order in 2024. 

For each month, she’s creating a new LEGO printmaking artwork to keep things fresh. Among the prints released so far, ‘You Are My Lobster’ that was introduced last month, has garnered significant attention. 

It’s all about putting your own spin

Having stalked her profile, I found that Eunice also shares Instagram reels of her LEGO printmaking process. Which led me to wonder if it impacted her sales.

It doesn’t look too hard to replicate and the materials can be found both online and offline. So what’s stopping someone from using the reels as DIY tutorials?

To this, she explained that it’s similar to other art forms. Some people like to try it for themselves, while others might just want to buy the end product as it’s less tedious.

“LEGO printmaking is just another avenue for creativity. Many artists have explored this medium before me, and it’s all about how you put your own spin on it,” Eunice shared.

“Rather than hindering me, sharing my process has proven to be beneficial. It fosters a stronger connection with my audience and reinforces their support for my work, plus I love that it helps people explore their creativity.”

Having learnt the craft through videos herself, though, she can attest that it’s not as easy as it seems at first glance.

Taking it one step at a time

Having only started less than a year ago, Eunice’s art shop is still in its infancy. 

And she doesn’t really view it as a formal business, but rather another opportunity to share her crafts while she’s on her creative journey. 

So, financially, it’s not on the same level as her previous corporate salary. But she shared that the art sales are enough to sustain this endeavour, with her earnings continually being reinvested in it.

It also helps that she has previously accumulated savings and has the support of her husband, she shared.

In the short term, Eunice is eager to teach more people about the craft of LEGO printmaking. Whether that be through online tutorials or in-person workshops, she’s keen on spreading the art form to a larger audience.

As for the future of her career, Eunice said, “I’m not ruling out a return to the corporate world, it’s always a possibility.”

“However, for now, I’m committed to exploring the potential of my art and seeing how far I can take it. I’m keeping an open mind to whatever opportunities come my way and will adapt my plans accordingly.”

• Learn more about Eunice Chiong here.
• Read other articles we’ve written about Singaporean startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Eunice Chiong

The launch of a major Windows 10 update isn’t the end of a process — it’s really just the beginning. As soon as one of Microsoft’s feature updates (such as Windows 10 version 22H2) is released, the company quickly gets to work on improving it by fixing bugs, releasing security patches, and occasionally adding new features.

In this story we summarize what you need to know about each update released to the public for the most recent versions of Windows 10 — versions 22H2 and 21H2. (Microsoft releases updates for those two versions together.) For each build, we’ve included the date of its initial release and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it. The most recent updates appear first.

For details about how to install and manage Windows updates, see “How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates.” If you’re looking for information about Insider Program previews for upcoming feature releases of Windows 10, see “Windows 10 Insider Previews: A guide to the builds.”

Updates to Windows 10 versions 21H2 and 22H2

KB5034843 (OS Build 19045.4123) Preview

Release date: February 29, 2024

In this update, using Windows share, you can now directly share URLs to apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sharing to X (formerly Twitter) is coming soon.

The update also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Azure Virtual Desktop virtual machines restarted randomly because of an access violation in lsass.exe, and another in Remote Desktop Web Authentication in which you might not have been able to connect to sovereign cloud endpoints.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which Windows devices using more than one monitor might experience issues with desktop icons moving unexpectedly between monitors or other icon alignment issues when attempting to use Copilot in Windows. In the second issue, Copilot in Windows is not supported when your taskbar is located vertically on the right or left of your screen.

(Get more info about KB5034843 Preview.)

KB5034763 (OS Builds 19044.4046 and 19045.4046)

Release date: February 13, 2023

This build fixes several bugs, including one in which explorer.exe stopped responding when you restarted or shut down a PC that had a controller accessory attached to it.

It also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and February 2024 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which Copilot in Windows (in preview) is not currently supported when your taskbar is located vertically on the right or left of your screen.

(Get more info about KB5034763.)

KB5034203 (OS Build 19045.3996) Preview

Release date: January 23, 2024

The update fixes a variety of bugs, including one that affected BitLocker data-only encryption. A mobile device management (MDM) service, such as Microsoft Intune, might not get the right data when you use the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node.

It also fixed a bug that affected Group Policy Folder Redirection in a multi-forest deployment. The issue stopped you from choosing a group account from the target domain. And it addresses an issue that caused some single-function printers to be installed as scanners.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which Windows devices using more than one monitor might experience issues with desktop icons moving unexpectedly between monitors or other icon alignment issues when attempting to use Copilot in Windows. In the second issue, Copilot in Windows is not supported when your taskbar is located vertically on the right or left of your screen.

(Get more info about KB5034203 Preview.)

KB5034122 (OS Builds 19044.3930 and 19045.3930)

Release date: January 9, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and January 2024 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this build, affecting ID admins, in which using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in mobile device management apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the “Require Device Encryption” setting for some devices in your environment. To mitigate the issue in Microsoft Intune, you can set the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or “Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives” policies to not configured.

(Get more info about KB5034122.)

KB5032189 (OS Builds 19044.3693 and 19045.3693)

Release date: December 12, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and December 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this build, which affects ID admins, in which using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in MDM apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the “Require Device Encryption” setting for some devices in your environment. To mitigate the issue in Intune, you can set the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or “Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives” policies to not configured.

(Get more info about KB5033372.)

Windows 10 22H2 KB5032278 (OS Build 19045.3758) Preview

Release date: November 30, 2023

The update adds the Copilot in Windows (in preview) button to the right side of the taskbar. This only applies to devices that run Home or Pro editions (non-managed business devices). When you select it, the AI-powered Copilot in Windows appears at the right on your screen. It will not overlap with desktop content or block open app windows. The update also adds Windows Update opt-in notifications to the screen when you sign in.

The update also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that affected non-admin processes. It also fixes a leak in volatile notifications, which might have stopped you from signing into your computer.

There is one known issue in this build that applies to IT admins, in which using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in mobile device management (MDM) apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the “Require Device Encryption” setting for some devices in your environment.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 KB5032278 Preview.)

KB5032189 (OS Builds 19044.3693 and 19045.3693)

Release date: November 14, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and November 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this build that affects ID admins, in which using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in MDM apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the “Require Device Encryption” setting for some devices in your environment. To mitigate the issue in Microsoft Intune, you can set the “Enforce drive encryption type on operating system drives” or “Enforce drive encryption on fixed drives” policies to not configured.

(Get more info about KB5032189.)

KB5031445 (OS Build 19045.3636) Preview

Release date: October 26, 2023

The update fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which touchscreens did not work properly when you used more than one display, and another in which there was a memory leak in ctfmon.exe.

There is one known issue in this build, which applies to IT admins, in which using the FixedDrivesEncryptionType or SystemDrivesEncryptionType policy settings in the BitLocker configuration service provider (CSP) node in mobile device management (MDM) apps might incorrectly show a 65000 error in the “Require Device Encryption” setting for some devices in your environment.

(Get more info about KB5031445 Preview.)

KB5031356 (OS Builds 19044.3570 and 19045.3570)

Release date: October 10, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and October 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5031356.)

KB5030300 (OS Build 19045.3516) Preview

Release date: September 26, 2023

This update brings back a search box design for accessing apps, files, settings, and more from Windows and the web. If you have a top, bottom, regular, or small icons taskbar, the search box appears.

The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Microsoft Defender stopped some USB printers from printing, and another in which in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) AppID Tagging policies could have greatly increased device startup time.

(Get more info about KB5030300 Preview.)

KB5030211 (OS Builds 19044.3448 and 19045.3448)

Release date: September 12, 2023

This build fixes a bug that affected authentication in which using a smart card to join or rejoin a computer to an Active Directory domain could have failed.

The build also has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and September 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5030211.)

KB5029331 (OS Build 19045.3393) Preview

Release date: August 22, 2023

This update improves how Windows detects your location to help give you better weather, news, and traffic information. It also expands the rollout of notification badging for Microsoft accounts on the Start menu, which gives you quick access to important account-related notifications. In addition, it adds Windows Backup to your device.

The update also fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one in which print jobs sent to a virtual print queue failed without an error, and another in which Remote Desktop (RD) sessions disconnected when multiple apps were in use.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5029331 Preview.)

KB5029244 (OS Builds 19044.3324 and 19045.3324)

Release date: August 8, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and August 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5029244.)

KB5028244 (OS Build 19045.3271) Preview

Release date: July 25, 2023

This update fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one in which Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) errors might have occurred when you played a game, another in which some display and audio devices were missing when your system resumed from sleep, and another in which some VPN clients could not establish connections.

There is one issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5028244 Preview.)

KB5028166 (OS Builds 19044.3208 and 19045.3208)

Release date: July 11, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and July 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5028166.)

KB5027293 (OS Build 19045.3155) Preview

Release date: June 27, 2023

This update adds new features and improvements to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. It also lets you authenticate across Microsoft clouds. This feature also satisfies Conditional Access checks if they are needed.

A variety of bugs have been fixed, including one in which scheduled monthly tasks might not have run on time if the next occurrence happened when daylight savings time occured, and another in which all the registry settings under the Policies paths could have been deleted when you did not rename the local temporary user policy file during Group Policy processing.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5027293 Preview.)

KB5027215 (OS Builds 19044.3086 and 19045.3086)

Release date: June 13, 2023

This build has a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and June 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5027215.)

KB5026435 (OS Build 19045.3031) Preview

Release date: May 23, 2023

This update revamps the search box; Microsoft claims it will let you “easily access apps, files, settings, and more from Windows and the web. You will also have access to the latest search updates, such as search highlights.” If you don’t like the design, you can revert to the existing search box via taskbar context menu or by responding to a dialog that appears when you use search.

A variety of bugs have been fixed, including one that did not let you access the Server Message Block (SMB) shared folder and another in which the Windows Firewall dropped all connections to the IP address of a captive portal when you chose the Captive Portal Addresses option.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5026435 Preview.)

Updates to Windows 10 versions 20H2, 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2

KB5026361 (OS Builds 19042.2965, 19044.2965, and 19045.2965)

Release date: May 9, 2023

The update fixes a race condition in the Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) in which the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) stopped responding when the system processed multiple local account operations at the same time.

This build also includes the quality updates from the April 25 KB5025297 Preview (detailed below), along with a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and May 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5026361.)

KB5025297 (OS Build 19045.2913) Preview

Release date: April 25, 2023

This update adds the ability to sync language and region settings when you change your Microsoft account display language or regional format. Windows saves those settings to your account if you have turned on Language preferences sync in your Windows backup settings. It also lets you configure application group rules for firewall settings.

A variety of bugs have been fixed, including one that stopped mobile device management (MDM) customers from printing, and another in which the Tab Window Manager stopped responding in IE mode.

There is one known issue in this update: devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5025297 Preview.)

KB5025221 (OS Builds 19042.2846, 19044.2846, and 19045.2846)

Release date: April 11, 2023

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and April 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5025221.)

KB5023773 (OS Builds 19042.2788, 19044.2788, and 19045.2788) Preview

Release date: March 21, 2023

This build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Windows classifies USB printers as multimedia devices even though they are not, and another in which lsass.exe might stop responding when it sends a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) query to a domain controller that has a very large LDAP filter.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5023773 Preview.)

KB5023696 (OS Builds 19042.2728, 19044.2728, and 19045.2728)

Release date: March 14, 2023

This build implements phase three of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) hardening. After you install this update, you cannot turn off the changes using the registry key. See KB5004442 for details. It also fixes a bug in which joining an Active Directory domain failed when you reused an existing computer account. See KB5020276 for details.

It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and March 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5023696.)

KB5022906 (OS Builds 19042.2673, 19044.2673, and 19045.2673) Preview

Release date: February 21, 2023

In this build, informational links open faster when you use Windows Spotlight on the lock screen. Several bugs were also fixed, including one that that stopped hyperlinks from working in Microsoft Excel, and another in IE mode in which the text on the status bar was not always visible.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5022906 Preview.)

KB5022834 (OS Builds 19042.2604, 19044.2604, and 19045.2604)

Release date: February 14, 2023

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and February 2023 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5022834.)

KB5019275 (OS Builds 19042.2546, 19044.2546, and 19045.2546) Preview

Release date: January 19, 2023

This build displays storage alerts for Microsoft OneDrive subscribers on the Systems page in the Settings app. Alerts appear when you are close to your storage limit. You can also manage your storage and purchase additional storage.

The build also fixes a number of bugs, including one that affected searchindexer.exe and randomly stopped you from signing in or signing out.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5019275 Preview.)

KB5022282 (OS Builds 19042.2486, 19044.2486, and 19045.2486)

Release date: January 10, 2023

This build fixes Local Session Manager (LSM) bugs that allowed users who did not have admin rights to perform admin actions.

It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and January 2023 Security Updates. It also fixes a bug in the Camera app, which stopped responding when memory is low.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5022282.)

KB5021233 (OS Builds 19042.2364, 19043.2364, 19044.2364, and 19045.2364)

Release date: December 13, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the December 2022 Security Updates. It also fixes a bug in the Camera app, which stopped responding when memory was low.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5019959.)

KB5020030 (OS Builds 19042.2311, 19043.2311, 19044.2311, and 19045.2311) Preview

Release date: November 15, 2022

In this build, the search box now appears, by default, on the taskbar when the taskbar is at the top of your screen or when you turn on small taskbar button mode. In addition, Cortana is no longer pre-pinned to your taskbar by default.

The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which print outputs were misaligned on some printers and another in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in which automated investigation blocked live response investigations. The build also addresses some persistent update failures for the Microsoft Store.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. In another bug, after installing this update, the audio on some Windows devices might not work.

(Get more info about KB5020030 Preview.)

KB5019959 (OS Builds 19042.2251, 19043.2251, 19044.2251, and 19045.2251)

Release date: November 8, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5019959.)

KB5020953 (OS Builds 19042.2194, 19043.2194, 19044.2194, and 19045.2194)

Release date: October 28, 2022

This build fixes a single bug that caused Microsoft OneDrive to stop working. It happened after you unlinked your device, stopped syncing, or signed out of your account.

This build has one known issue, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5020953.)

Windows 10 2022 Update (version 22H2)

Release date: October 18, 2022

The Windows 10 2022 Update is, in Microsoft’s words, “a scoped release focused on quality improvements to the overall Windows experience in existing feature areas such as quality, productivity and security.” In other words, there’s not much new here, although Computerworld blogger Susan Bradley did uncover a handful of new group policies in the release.

Home and Pro editions of the 2022 Update will receive 18 months of servicing, and Enterprise and Education editions will have 30 months of servicing.

To install the update, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and select Check for updates. If the update appears, select Download to install it.

(Get more info about the Windows 10 2022 Update.)

Updates to Windows 10 versions 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2

KB5018482 (OS Builds 19042.2193, 19043.2193, and 19044.2193)

Release date: October 25, 2022

This build fixes a variety of bugs, including one that that caused an OS upgrade to stop responding, and then fail, and another in Microsoft Direct3D 9 games in which the graphics hardware stopped working if it didn’t have a native Direct3D 9 driver.

This build has one known issue, in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5018482.)

KB5020435 (OS Builds 19042.2132, 19043.2132, and 19044.2132)

Release date: October 17, 2022

This build fixes an issue that affected some types of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections, in which there were handshake failures. For developers, the affected connections are likely to receive one or more records followed by a partial record with a size of less than 5 bytes within a single input buffer. If the connection fails, your app will receive the error, “SEC_E_ILLEGAL_MESSAGE”.

This build has two known issues, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5020435 (OS Builds 19042.2132, 19043.2132, and 19044.2132)

KB5018410 (OS Builds 19042.2130, 19043.2130, and 19044.2130)

Release date: October 11, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and October 2022 Security Updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5018410.)

KB5017380 (OS Builds 19042.2075, 19043.2075, and 19044.2075) Preview

Release date: September 20, 2022

This build lets you search for the controls for news and interests on the taskbar and modify them using the Settings app. To change your settings, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > News and interests. You can also right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.

The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that required you to reinstall an app if you didn’t get the app from the Microsoft Store. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 10. It also fixes a bug that forced the IE mode tabs in a session to reload.

There are three known issues in this update, including one which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. In another bug, after installing this update, the audio on some Windows devices might not work.

(Get more info about KB5017380 Preview.)

KB5017308 (OS Builds 19042.2006, 19043.2006, and 19044.2006)

Release date: September 13, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5017308.)

KB5016688 (OS Builds 19042.1949, 19043.1949, and 19044.1949) Preview

Release date: August 26, 2022

This build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Microsoft Edge stopped responding when you use IE mode. This issue also prevented you from interacting with a dialog. It also fixes a bug that caused error 0x1E when a device was shut down or restarted.

There are three known issues in this update, including one which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. In another bug, after installing this update, the audio on some Windows devices might not work.

(Get more info about KB5016688 Preview.)

KB5016616 (OS Builds 19042.1889, 19043.1889, and 19044.1889)

Release date: August 9, 2022

This build fixes several bugs, including one that can prevent the Input Indicator and Language Bar from displaying in the notification area. This issue affects devices that have more than one language installed.

It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5016616.)

KB5015878 (OS Builds 19042.1865, 19043.1865, and 19044.1865) Preview 

Release date: July 26, 2022 

This build lets you receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on and restores functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that prevented troubleshooters from opening, one that caused certain docking stations to lose internet connectivity when waking from Sleep mode, and one that improves the reliability of a push-button reset after an OS upgrade. 

There are three known issues in this update, including one which IE mode tabs in Microsoft Edge might stop responding when a site displays a modal dialog box. In another issue, after installing this update, some devices might be unable to open the Start menu. On affected devices, clicking or selecting the Start button or using the Windows key on your keyboard might have no effect. In the final issue, devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. 

(Get more info about KB5015878 Preview.) 

KB5015807 (OS Builds 19042.1826, 19043.1826, and 19044.1826)

Date: July 12, 2022

This build addresses an issue that redirects the PowerShell command output so that transcript logs do not contain any output of the command. That means the decrypted password is lost. The build also includes improvements made in the KB5014666 update.

This build has three known issues, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5015807.)

KB5014666 (OS Builds 19042.1806, 19043.1806, and 19044.1806) Preview

Release Date: June 28, 2022

This build adds IP address auditing for incoming Windows Remote Management (WinRM) connections in security event 4262 and WinRM event 91. This addresses an issue that fails to log the source IP address and machine name for a remote PowerShell connection. The build also includes several new Print and Scan features.

The build also fixes a number of bugs, including one that prevented the Snip & Sketch app from capturing a screenshot or from opening using the keyboard shortcut (Windows logo key + Shift + S).

This build has three known issues, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5014666 Preview.)

KB5016139 (OS Builds 19042.1767, 19043.1767, and 19044.1767)

Release date: June 20, 2022

This out-of-band build, which is only available for Windows devices that use Arm processors, fixes a bug that prevented Windows Arm-based devices from signing in using Azure Active Directory (AAD). Apps and services that use AAD to sign in, such as VPN connections, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Outlook, might also be affected.

This build has four known issues, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge. In another, Windows devices might be unable use the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. When attempting to use the hotspot feature, the host device might lose the connection to the internet after a client device connects.

(Get more info about KB5016139.)

KB5014699 (OS Builds 19042.1766, 19043.1766, and 19044.1766)

Release date: June 14, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5014699.)

KB5014023 (OS Builds 19042.1741, 19043.1741, and 19044.1741) Preview

Release date: June 2, 2022

This build fixes several bugs, including one that prevented Excel or Outlook from opening, one that slowed down file copying, and one that prevented internet shortcuts from updating.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info KB5014023 Preview.)

KB5015020 (OS Build 19042.1708)

Release date: May 19, 2022

This out-of-band build fixes two bugs: one that could cause authentication failures for some services on a server or client after you install the May 10, 2022 update on domain controllers, and another that could prevent the installation of Microsoft Store apps when you enable Control-flow Enforcement.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5015020.)

KB5013942 (OS Builds 19042.1706, 19043.1706, and 19044.1706)

Release date: May 10, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the May 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5013942).

KB5011831 (OS Builds 19042.1682, 19043.1682, and 19044.1682) Preview

Release date: April 25, 2022

This build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused a remote desktop session to close or a reconnection to stop responding while waiting on the accessibility shortcut handler (sethc.exe), another that that displayed a black screen for some users when they sign in or sign out, and another that prevented you from changing a password that has expired when you sign in to a Windows device.

(Get more info about KB5011831 Preview.)

KB5012599 (OS Builds 19042.1645, 19043.1645, and 19044.1645)

Release date: April 12, 2022

This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the April 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5012599.)

KB5011543 (OS Builds 19042.1620, 19043.1620, and 19044.1620) Preview

Release date: March 22, 2022

This build introduces Search highlights, which display notable moments about each day, including holidays, anniversaries, and other events globally and in your region. To see more details at a glance, hover or click on the illustration in the search box.

There are also a variety of small new features, including a new policy that expands an app’s top three notifications by default in the Action Center for apps that send Windows notifications. It displays multiple notifications that you can interact with simultaneously.

In addition, there are a wide variety of bug fixes, including for a bug that stopped Microsoft Outlook’s offline search from returning recent emails, and another that prevented the User Account Control (UAC) dialog from correctly showing the application that is requesting elevated privileges.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5011543 Preview.)

KB5011487 (OS Builds 19042.1586, 19043.1586, and 19044.1586)

Release date: March 8, 2022

This build fixes a bug that occurs when you attempt to reset a Windows device and its apps have folders that contain reparse data, such as Microsoft OneDrive or OneDrive for Business. When you select Remove everything, files that have been downloaded or synced locally from Microsoft OneDrive might not be deleted.

It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the March 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5011487.)

KB5010415 (OS Builds 19042.1566, 19043.1566, and 19044.1566) Preview

Release date: February 15, 2022

The build lets you share cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge, and adds support for hot adding and the removal of non-volatile memory (NVMe) namespaces.

It also fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that affected the Windows search service and occurred when you queried using the proximity operator, and one that caused the Remote Desktop Service (RDS) server to become unstable when the number of signed in users exceeds 100. This prevented you from accessing published applications using RDS on Windows Server 2019.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5010415 Preview.)

KB5010342 (OS Builds 19042.1526, 19043.1526, and 19044.1526)

Release date: February 8, 2022

The build fixes a bug that causes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) modify operation to fail if the operation contains the SamAccountName and UserAccountControl attribute. It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the February 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5010342.)

KB5009596 (OS Builds 19042.1503, 19043.1503, and 19044.1503) Preview

Release date: January 25, 2022

The build fixes a variety of bugs, including one that stops printing or prints the wrong output when you print using USB on Windows 10 version 2004 or later, and another that causes functioning Bluetooth devices to stop working when you attempt to connect to a non-functioning Bluetooth device. It also adds a reminder to Internet Explorer 11 that notifies you about its upcoming retirement.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5009596.)

KB5010793 (OS Builds 19042.1469, 19043.1469, and 19044.1469)

Release date: January 17, 2022

This out-of-band build fixes several bugs, including one that caused IP Security (IPSEC) connections that contain a Vendor ID to fail. VPN connections using Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) or IP security Internet Key Exchange (IPSEC IKE) could have also been affected. It also fixed a bug that could cause Windows Servers to restart unexpectedly after installing the January 11, 2022 update on domain controllers (DCs).

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5010793.)

KB5009543 (OS Builds 19042.1466, 19043.1466, and 19044.1466)

Release date: January 11, 2022

The build fixes a bug in the Japanese Input Method Editors (IME) and includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the January 2022 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5009543.)

Updates to Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2

KB5008212 (OS Builds 19041.1415, 19042.1415, 19043.1415, and 19044.1415)

Release date: December 14, 2021

The build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the December 2021 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5008212.)

KB5007253 (OS Builds 19041.1387, 19042.1387, 19043.1387, and 19044.1387) Preview

Release date: November 22, 2021

This optional update can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog or by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Optional updates available.

The build fixes a variety of bugs, including one that caused the 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel to stop working on certain devices when you exported to PDF, and another that caused the Settings page to unexpectedly close after you uninstalled a font.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5007253 Preview.)

Windows 10 November 2021 Update (version 21H2)

Release date: November 16, 2021

Version 21H2, called the Windows 10 November 2021 Update, is the second feature update to Windows 10 released in 2021. Here’s a quick summary of what’s new:

• Wi-Fi security has been enhanced with WPA3 H2E standards support.
• GPU compute support has been added in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute-intensive workflows.

There are also a number of features designed for IT and business:

• Windows Hello for Business has a new deployment method called cloud trust that simplifies passwordless deployments.
• For increased security, there have been changes to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) VPN APIs, which includes the ability to implement common web-based authentication schemes and to reuse existing protocols.
• Apps can now be provisioned from Azure Virtual Desktop. This allows those apps to run just like local apps, including the ability to copy and paste between remote and local apps.
• The release closes the gap between Group Policy and mobile device management (MDM) settings. The device configuration settings catalog has been updated to list more than 1,400 settings previously not available for configuration via MDM. The new MDM policies include administrative template (ADMX) policies, such as App Compat, Event Forwarding, Servicing, and Task Scheduler.
• An upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise includes Universal Print, which now supports print jobs of up to 1GB or a series of print jobs from an individual user that add up to 1GB within any 15-minute period.
• Universal Print integrates with OneDrive for web and Excel for web. This allows users of any browser or device connected to the internet to print documents hosted in OneDrive for web to a printer in their organization without installing printer drivers on their devices.

Microsoft has also announced that starting with this release, Windows 10 will get feature updates only once a year.

Updates to Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2, and 21H1

KB5007186 (OS Builds 19041.1348, 19042.1348, and 19043.1348)

Release date: November 9, 2021

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. The build also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the November 2021 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5007186.)

KB5006738 (OS Builds 19041.1320, 19042.1320, and 19043.1320)

Release date: October 26, 2021

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. It also fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that prevented subtitles from displaying for some video apps and streaming video sites, and another that sometimes caused lock screen backgrounds to appear black if they were set up to have a slideshow of pictures as the lock screen background.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5006738.)

KB5006670 (OS Builds 19041.1288, 19042.1288, and 19043.1288)

Release date: October 12, 2021

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. It also fixes a bug that prevented some applications, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader, from opening or caused them to stop responding.

The build also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the October 2021 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5006670.)

KB5005611 (OS Builds 19041.1266, 19042.1266, and 19043.1266) Preview

Release date: September 30, 2021

This build fixes a small number of bugs, including one in which applications such as Microsoft Outlook suddenly stopped working during normal use, and another that caused blurry News and Interests icons with certain screen resolutions.

(Get more info about KB5005611.)

KB5005565 (OS Builds 19041.1237, 19042.1237, and 19043.1237)

Release date: September 14, 2021

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. It also fixes a bug that caused PowerShell to create an infinite number of child directories. The issue occurred when you used the PowerShell Move-Item command to move a directory to one of its children. As a result, the volume filled up and the system stopped responding.

The build also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5005565.)

KB5005101 (OS Builds 19041.1202, 19042.1202, and 19043.1202)

Release date: September 1, 2021

This build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that reset syncing for Microsoft OneDrive to “Known folders only” after you installed a Windows update, and another in which flickering and residual line artifacts appeared when resizing images.

The build also includes more than 1,400 new mobile device management (MDM) policies. With them, you can configure policies that Group Policies also support. These new MDM policies include administrative template (ADMX) policies, such as App Compat, Event Forwarding, Servicing, and Task Scheduler. Starting in September 2021, you can use the Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) Settings Catalog to configure these new MDM policies.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5005101.)

KB5005033 (OS Builds 19041.1165, 19042.1165, and 19043.1165)

Release date: August 10, 2021

This build changes the default privilege requirement for installing drivers when using Point and Print. After installing this update, you must have administrative privileges to install drivers. See KB5005652, Point and Print Default Behavior Change, and CVE-2021-34481 for more information. The build also makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

The build also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5005033.)

KB5004296 (OS Builds 19041.1151, 19042.1151, and 19043.1151)

Release date: July 29, 2021

This build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused the File Explorer window to lose focus when mapping a network drive, another that failed to detect internet connectivity when connected to a VPN, and another that caused System Integrity to leak memory.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or a custom ISO image might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5004296.)

KB5004237 (OS Builds 19041.1110, 19042.1110, and 19043.1110)

Release date: July 13, 2021

This build fixes several bugs, including one that made it difficult to print to a variety of printers, primarily USB receipt or label printers. It also removes support for the PerformTicketSignature setting and permanently enables Enforcement mode for CVE-2020-17049.

It also has a variety of security updates for Windows Apps, Windows Management, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Authentication, Windows User Account Control (UAC), Operating System Security, Windows Virtualization, Windows Linux, the Windows Kernel, the Microsoft Scripting Engine, the Windows HTML Platforms, the Windows MSHTML Platform, and Windows Graphics.

For more details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have Microsoft Edge Legacy removed by this update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5004237.)

KB5004945 (OS Builds 19041.1083, 19042.1083, and 19043.1083)

Release date: July 6, 2021

This build closes a remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service, known as “PrintNightmare,” as documented in CVE-2021-34527.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

 (Get more info about KB5004945.)

KB5004760 (OS Builds 19041.1082, 19042.1082, and 19043.1082)

Release date: June 29, 2021

This out-of-band build fixes a bug that may prevent you from opening PDFs using Internet Explorer 11 or apps that use the 64-bit version of the WebBrowser control.

Among the build’s known issues are one in which when using the Microsoft Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) to enter Kanji characters in an app that automatically allows the input of Furigana characters, you might not get the correct Furigana characters. You might need to enter the characters manually.

(Get more info about KB5004760.)

KB5003690 (OS Builds 19041.1081, 19042.1081, and 19043.1081)

Release date: June 21, 2021

This build addresses about three dozen bugs, including one in which signing in using a PIN fails, and another that might cause a VPN to fail after renewing a user auto-enrolled certificate. It also removes Adobe Flash from your PC and makes improvements to the servicing stack, the component that installs Windows updates.

Among the build’s known issues are one in which when using the Microsoft Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) to enter Kanji characters in an app that automatically allows the input of Furigana characters, you might not get the correct Furigana characters. You might need to enter the characters manually.

(Get more info about KB5003690.)

KB5004476 (OS Builds 19041.1055, 19042.1055, and 19043.1055)

Release date: June 11, 2021

This out-of-band build fixes a bug that might redirect you to the Microsoft Store page for Gaming Services when you try to install or start an Xbox Game Pass game on your Windows 10 device. Additionally, you might receive error 0x80073D26 or 0x8007139F. For more information, see KB5004327.

In addition, the build makes improvements to the servicing stack, the component that installs Windows updates.

(Get more info about KB5004476.)

KB5003637 (OS Builds 19041.1052, 19042.1052, and 19043.1052)

Release date: June 8, 2021

This build includes improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. It also includes changes for verifying user names and passwords and for storing and managing files.

It also has a variety of security updates to the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Management, Windows Cloud Infrastructure, Windows Authentication, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Virtualization, Windows Kernel, Windows HTML Platform, and Windows Storage and Filesystems.

For more details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10. Devices using Windows Update for Business or that connect directly to Windows Update are not impacted.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5003637.)

KB5003214 (OS Builds 19041.1023, 19042.1023, and 19043.1023) Preview

Release date: May 25, 2021

This build adds the Open on hover option (which is checked by default) to the News and interests menu. To access it, right-click a blank space on the Windows taskbar and open the News and interests menu.

In addition, it makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. It also includes a wide variety of small bug fixes, including one that displayed items on the desktop after they have been deleted from the desktop, and another that caused configuration problems with devices that were configured using mobile device management (MDM) RestrictedGroups, LocalUsersAndGroups, or UserRights policies.

(Get more info about KB5003214 Preview.)

Windows 10 May 2021 Update (version 21H1)

Release date: May 18, 2021

Version 21H1, called the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, is the most recent update to Windows 10. This is a relatively minor update, but it does have a few new features.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s new in 21H1:

• Windows Hello multicamera support: If you have an external Windows Hello camera for your PC, you can set the external camera as your default camera. (Windows Hello is used for signing into PCs.) Why should this change matter to you? If you have an external camera, you probably bought it because it’s superior to the built-in, internal one on your computer. So with this change, you’ll be able to use the more accurate camera for logging into your PC.
• Improved Windows Defender Application Guard performance: Windows Defender Application Guard lets administrators configure applications to run in an isolated, virtualized container for improved security. With this change, documents will open more quickly. It can currently take up to a minute to open an Office document in it.
• Better Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service support: Microsoft has made it easier for administrators to change settings to support remote work.

Updates to Windows 10 versions 2004 and 20H2 prior to the 21H1 release

KB5003173 (OS Builds 19041.985 and 19042.985)

Release date: May 11, 2021

This build includes a variety of security updates for Windows App Platform and Frameworks, the Windows Kernel, Windows Media, the Microsoft Scripting Engine, and the Windows Silicon Platform. For more details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide. It also updates security for Bluetooth drivers and Windows OLE (compound documents).

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10. Devices using Windows Update for Business or that connect directly to Windows Update are not impacted.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5003173.)

KB5001391 (OS Builds 19041.964 and 19042.964) Preview

Release date: April 28, 2021

This update gives you quick access to an integrated feed of dynamic content, such as news, weather, sports, and more, that updates throughout the day, via the Windows taskbar. You can personalize the feed to match your interests. For more details, see Microsoft’s “Personalized content at a glance: Introducing news and interests on the Windows 10 taskbar.”

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10. In addition, devices with Windows installations created from custom offline media or custom ISO images might have the legacy version of Microsoft Edge removed by the update, but not automatically replaced by the new Microsoft Edge.

(Get more info about KB5001391 Preview.)

KB5001330 (OS Builds 19041.928 and 19042.928)

Release date: April 13, 2021

This update includes a wide variety of security updates, for Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Apps, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Office Media, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Cryptography, the Windows AI Platform, Windows Kernel, Windows Virtualization, and Windows Media. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide website.

There are several other security issues addressed, including fixing a potential elevation of privilege vulnerability in the way Azure Active Directory web sign-in allows arbitrary browsing from the third-party endpoints used for federated authentication.

In this build, Microsoft also removed the Microsoft Edge legacy browser and replaced it with the new Chromium-based Edge.

There are several known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10. Devices using Windows Update for Business or that connect directly to Windows Update are not impacted.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5001330.)

KB5000842 (OS Builds 19041.906 and 19042.906) Preview

Release date: March 29, 2021

This update fixes a variety of minor bugs, including one that made high dynamic range (HDR) screens appear much darker than expected, and another that caused video playback to be out of sync in duplicate mode with multiple monitors.

There are several known issues in this build, including one in which System and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10. Devices using Windows Update for Business or that connect directly to Windows Update are not impacted.

(Get more info about KB5000842 Preview.)

KB5001649 (OS Builds 19041.870 and 19042.870)

Release date: March 18, 2021

This out-of-band update fixes a single bug in which graphical content could not be printed.

There is one known issue in this update, in which system and user certificates may be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10.

(Get more info about KB5001649.)

KB5001567 (OS Builds 19041.868 and 19042.868)

Date: March 15, 2021

This out-of-band update fixes a single bug, which caused a blue screen when you attempted to print to certain printers using some apps.

There is one known issue in this update, in which system and user certificates may be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10.

(Get more info about KB5001567.)

KB5000802 (OS Builds 19041.867 and 19042.867)

Release date: March 9, 2021

This update includes a wide variety of security updates for the Windows Shell, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Management, Windows Apps, Windows User Account Control (UAC), Windows Virtualization, the Windows Kernel, the Microsoft Graphics Component, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge Legacy, and Windows Media. For details, see the Microsoft Security Update Guide.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5000802.)

KB4601382 (OS Builds 19041.844 and 19042.844) Preview

Release date: February 24, 2021

This update fixes a variety of minor bugs, including one that caused video playback to flicker when rendering on certain low-latency capable monitors, and another that sometimes prevented the input of strings into the Input Method Editor (IME).

(Get more info about KB4601382.)

KB4601319 (OS Builds 19041.804 and 19042.804)

Release date: February 9, 2021

This update fixes a bug and includes a variety of security updates. The bug fixed could damage the file system of some devices and prevent them from starting up after running chkdsk /f.

Security updates are provided for Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Apps, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Cloud Infrastructure, Windows Management, Windows Authentication, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Cryptography, Windows Virtualization, Windows Core Networking, and Windows Hybrid Cloud Networking. For details, see the Microsoft Security Update Guide.

There are three known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4601319.)

KB4598242 (OS Builds 19041.746 and 19042.746)

Release date: January 12, 2021

This build fixes a variety of security vulnerabilities, including one with HTTPS-based intranet servers, and a security bypass vulnerability in the way the Printer Remote Procedure Call (RPC) binding handles authentication for the remote Winspool interface.

There are also security updates to Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Media, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Kernel, Windows Cryptography, Windows Virtualization, Windows Peripherals, and Windows Hybrid Storage Services. For details see the Microsoft Security Update Guide.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10, version 1809.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4598242.)

KB4592438 (OS Builds 19041.685 and 19042.685)

Release date: December 8, 2020

This update fixes a security vulnerability by preventing applications that run as a SYSTEM account from printing to “FILE:” ports. It also has security updates for the legacy version of Microsoft Edge, the Microsoft Graphics Component, Windows Media, Windows Fundamentals, and Windows Virtualization. For details see the Microsoft Security Update Guide.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4592438.)

KB4586853 (OS Builds 19041.662 and 19042.662) Preview

Release date: November 30, 2020

This build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused Narrator to stop responding after you unlock a device if the app was in use before you locked the device, and another that made makes the touch keyboard unstable in the Mail app.

There are two known issues in this update, one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10, and another in which users of the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese or Chinese languages might experience issues when attempting various tasks.

(Get more info about KB4586853.)

KB4594440 (OS Builds 19041.631 and 19042.631)

Release date: November 19, 2020

This minor build fixes issues with Kerberos authentication related to the PerformTicketSignature registry subkey value in CVE-2020-17049, which was a part of the November 10, 2020 Windows update.

There are two known issues in this update, one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10, version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10, and another in which users of the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese or Chinese languages might experience issues when attempting various tasks.

(Get more info about KB4594440.)

KB4586781 (OS Builds 19041.630 and 19042.630)

Release date: November 10, 2020

This build updates the 2020 DST start date for the Fiji Islands to December 20, 2020 and includes security updates to the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Input and Composition, Microsoft Graphics Component, the Windows Wallet Service, Windows Fundamentals, and the Windows Kernel. For details see the release notes for November 2020 Security Updates.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10, and another in which users of the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese or Chinese languages might experience issues when attempting various tasks.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4586781.)

KB4580364 (OS Builds 19041.610 and 19042.610)

Release date: October 29, 2020

This update makes it easier to connect to others in Skype, using Meet Now from the taskbar. In addition, there are a wide variety of bug fixes, including for one that displayed the incorrect CPU frequency for certain processors, another that displayed nothing on the screen for five minutes or more during a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) session, and another that caused the Docker pull operation to fail due to a Code Integrity (CI) Policy that blocks the import of a Windows container image.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which system and user certificates might be lost when updating a device from Windows 10 version 1809 or later to a later version of Windows 10, and another in which users of the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese or Chinese languages might experience issues when attempting various tasks.

(Get more info about KB4580364.)

Windows 10 October 2020 Update (version 20H2)

Release date: October 20, 2020

Version 20H2, called the Windows 10 October 2020 Update, is the most recent update to Windows 10. This is a relatively minor update but does have a few new features.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s new in 20H2:

• The new Chromium-based version of the Microsoft Edge browser is now built directly into Windows 10.
• The System page of Control Panel has been removed. Those settings have been moved to the Settings app.
• The Start menu’s tiled background will match your choice of Windows themes. So the tiled background will be light if you’re using the Windows 10 light theme and dark if you’re using the Windows 10 dark theme.
• When you use Alt-Tab, Edge will now display each tab in your browser in a different Alt-Tab window. Previously, when you used Alt-Tab, Edge would get only a single window. You can change this new behavior by going to Settings > System > Multitasking.
• When you pin a site to the taskbar in Edge, you can click or mouse over its icon to see all your browser tabs that are open for that website.
• When you detach a keyboard on a 2-in-1 device, the device will automatically switch to the tablet-based interface. Previously, you were asked whether you wanted to switch. You can change that setting by going to Settings > System > Tablet.
• The Your Phone app gets a variety of new features for some Samsung devices. When using one of the devices, you can interact with the Android apps on your phone from the Your Phone app on Windows 10.

What IT needs to know: Windows 10 version 20H2 also has a variety of small changes of note for sysadmins and those in IT.

• IT professionals who administer multiple mobile devices get a new Modern Device Management (MDM) “Local Users and Groups” settings policy that mirrors options available for devices that are managed through Group Policy.
• Windows Autopilot, used to set up and configure devices in enterprises, has gained a variety of small enhancement, including better deployment of HoloLens devices, the addition of co-management policies, enhancements to Autopilot deployment reporting, and the ability to reuse Configuration Manager task sequences to configure devices.
• Microsoft Defender Application Guard now supports Office. This allows untrusted Office documents from outside an enterprise to launch in an isolated container to stop potentially malicious content from compromising computers or exploiting personal information found on them.
• Latest Cumulative Updates (LCUs) and Servicing Stack Updates (SSUs) have been combined into a single cumulative monthly update, available via Microsoft Catalog or Windows Server Update Services.
• Biometric sign-on has been made more secure. Windows Hello now has support for virtualization-based security for certain fingerprint and face sensors, which protects, isolates, and secures a user’s biometric authentication data.

For more details, see Microsoft’s “What’s new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 20H2.”

Four years after the release of the M1 MacBook Air, I wasn’t expecting the same impact from the M3 version, yet it’s exceeding my expectations at every turn.

Apple has rounded out its M-series of chips with a new graphics processing unit (GPU) that’s extremely impressive for a device without a fan. Other advancements like a fast Neural Engine and Wi-Fi 6E are also welcome, but it’s the GPU that makes such a substantial difference.

This year’s MacBook Air is exceptionally versatile, and it makes me wonder how Apple is going to stop it from pushing into MacBook Pro territory over the next few years. The M3 Air springs to life as soon as you open the lid.

Flying higher than ever before

While the MacBook Air has been incredibly competent since its upgrade to the M-series chips in 2020, the M1 and M2 can struggle with graphics-intensive tasks like video rendering, 3D modelling and gaming. The new M3 chip shakes free of those limitations. There’s no doubt the dedicated GPU in a MacBook Pro still outperforms the M3 MacBook Air, but tasks the Air used to struggle with can now be completed with ease.

It’s pretty incredible.

Editing graded 4K LOG footage in Premiere Pro is smooth and I was able to run Photoshop CC on the side without maxing out the memory on the 16GB RAM model I’m testing. I expected the laptop’s performance to dip here, but it just kept powering through.

My 14-inch M1 MacBook Pro laptop offers slightly better render times, but the fluidity on the timeline is impressive with the M3 MacBook Air. For the type of YouTube video editing I do, it’s more than enough. For context, a typical edit consists of a few layers of 4K/6K footage, music/vocals, some graphics, colour grading and sound effects.

My M1 Pro MacBook with 32GB of RAM struggles with green screen footage, but the M3 Air breezes through it. That’s not to say my laptop couldn’t handle it, but to play it back smoothly, I need to render the sequence every time I edit. On the M3 Air, it plays back smoother and requires less rendering overall.

When I did need to render the process took longer than on my MacBook Pro by about 45 seconds. The time gap is much larger when rendering a whole video and not just a small sequence. Still, it’s an interesting give and take, and at the end of the day, it means anyone with a modern Mac can competently edit video. Pro users who edit every day will find value in saving time with each render, but when it comes to actually editing on the timeline, the M3 is a powerhouse.

“New games like Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) run on the machine, but at barely 30fps and the graphics need to be on low settings with FSR upscaling enabled.”

I’ll also mention that using the laptop to edit for extended periods didn’t affect my timeline performance. I expected that after about 25-35 minutes of taxing work, I would start to see considerable dips in power as the computer needed to thermal throttle, but it kept on powering through it. This shows how much raw power the M3 CPU has behind it, and after running some Geekbench benchmarks, it’s easy to see why since its multi-core score is much higher than comparable machines.

Gaming on the M3 impressed me the most. I remember getting my first MacBook Air in 2013 and struggling to run Minecraft on it, and now I can play 3D games at 1440p in some cases. In my hands-on with the laptop, I speculated that the chip might be close to the gaming potential of the Xbox Series S, but in reality, I think it’s closer to the Xbox One, maybe the Xbox One X in some cases, which is still no small feat.

New games like Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) run on the machine, but at barely 30fps and the graphics need to be on low settings with FSR upscaling enabled. This is playable for BG3 since the game is turn-based with a slow pace, but I worry action games will outpace the M3 MacBook Air quite quickly. That being said, when I try to run BG3 on my M2 Air, the M3 really proves how much more capable the GPU enhancements are with more consistent frame rates in areas with lots of NPCs.

Gaming gets even better when it comes to older games like Death Stranding. I played the first few hours on medium settings with 1440p resolution, and it ran flawlessly plugged into a 4K TV. This game recently launched on Mac, so it’s been optimized for the modern ARM system architecture.

Games like Metro Exodus are a little less smooth but still extremely playable with frame rates between 30-50fps at 1080p low settings. I was able to play for a bit at medium, but during fights, the frames would dip to the low 20s. Strangely though, even at low settings the game slowed down randomly. The FPS monitor stated I was above 30fps, but it still felt slower. This is likely because this game runs through Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation layer since it was originally made for Intel Macs. This is a problem with many Mac-supported games on Steam. They run, and it’s exciting that the MacBook Air can handle them at all, but they don’t play as well as games that have been optimized for M-series architecture.

Trying to push things to the next level, I attempted to run Spider Man: Miles Morales through an app called Whisky. The app uses Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit to run Windows games on macOS. While the experience was fraught with troubleshooting, at the end of it, I was able to run the game smoothly enough on low settings that I could have played it if I trusted it to work in the long run. This goes to show how powerful the M3 chip is to be capable of running a modern game with zero optimization.

I wouldn’t really recommend anyone buy a Mac to try and run Windows games since it’s an unreliable method that works inconsistently and often requires you to buy other apps like Parallels to make it work. Even during my brief testing, I was unable to get Windows games to work with my Xbox controller. That said, there’s no denying that Apple is on the right track when it comes to gaming, and if more developers could be swayed to bring their older games to Apple’s ecosystem, I think the company could have a fantastic gaming platform, ranging from iPhone and iPad, all the way through the entire modern Mac lineup.

The other notable improvement is the ‘Neural Engine,’ which should help future-proof this laptop as more apps take advantage of local AI. For now, it means that tasks like on-device dictation, subject detection in photos and other processes that use machine learning work faster. In the “pro” realm, this means that some video and photo editing tools are faster as long as they take advantage of the Neural Engine. That said, the extra GPU power in the Pro/Max chips does help them perform a lot better than the base-level chip in the M3 MacBook Air.

In the end, this likely isn’t the laptop you want to train AI models. Instead, it has enough power to take advantage of the modern artificial intelligence features implemented into apps and macOS over the next few years. As a photographer, I see a lot of AI tools in the market right now, so if you’re a creative looking to keep on the cutting edge of your craft, all this extra AI horsepower is at least reassuring.

Wedge who?

The M3 MacBook Air looks exactly like its predecessor and even comes in the same colours: ‘Silver,’ ‘Space Grey,’ ‘Midnight’ and ‘Starlight.’ The blue Midnight model carries over the same anodization process as the ‘Space Black’ MacBook Pro from late 2023, which should help reduce visible fingerprints.

I was lucky enough to test the Starlight model (my favourite colour), so you can read more about Patrick O’Rourke’s feelings on the new coating below. He tested the M3 and M2 15-inch MacBook Air in Midnight, plus the M3 MacBook Pro in ‘Space Black,’ so he has ample experience with Apple’s crusade against fingerprints.

Beyond the look of the machine, I really like how low-profile the keyboard is. I’m used to chiclet keyboards and use the Logitech MX Keys at my desk, so the low profile setup of the Air is easy on my wrists. I find the key travel is slightly reduced compared to the MacBook Pro I’m used to working with, but the more I get used to the Air, the more I enjoy how quickly it allows me to jam on the keys. Combine that with how light and thin the notebook is, and it just makes typing on it anywhere a joy compared to my 14-inch Pro. It’s not to say that the larger machine isn’t portable, but the incredibly small size of the MacBook Air just feels more comfortable nestled on the couch or in a cafe, not to mention it’s easier to carry around all day in a bag.

At the beginning of my review period, I missed the larger 14-inch MacBook display, but only for its size, and I very quickly got used to the smaller setup on the Air. To remedy this, I shifted the display resolution to the ‘More space’ option, which makes things slightly smaller to give you more usable space. When it comes to colour and contrast, I have no complaints. The MacBook Pro is ever so slightly better, but under most circumstances, it’s not noticeable, and even for creative work, the M3 MacBook Air is easily enough.

Unfortunately, Apple didn’t add more USB-C ports to its latest laptop, so both sizes of the MacBook Air are still locked down to two USB 4.0 ports on the left side. Therefore, if you plan to buy a MacBook Air, it’s likely worth budgeting for an adapter or dongle, depending on your needs.

As a minor plus this year, Apple allows you to plug in two displays when the laptop’s lid is closed. However, this doesn’t work as seamlessly as you might expect. I needed to go into my settings and stop the laptop from sleeping while power is connected. Once I enabled this, I was able to close my laptop and two HDMI displays (with adapters) worked, but only when I had the charger plugged in. Newer monitors can do power/display over USB-C, which works more seamlessly, but for HDMI you need the charger plugged in. And after all of that, you need to close the lid to use multiple displays so you can’t use the trackpad, keyboard or Touch ID. Thankfully, the speaker in the laptop continues working.

It’s also worth noting that you can get adapters that can force multiple displays on older M-series MacBooks, but they typically split the screen’s feed’s quality so you can’t have several 4K monitors. With Apple’s new lid-closed solution, the company says you can power one 6K display at 60HZ and another 5K display at 60Hz.

The final design element I love is how subtle the difference is between the Starlight and the Silver MagSafe cables. They’re so similar Apple could have gotten away with a white cord on each device, but the subtle cream infusion in the Starlight version shows Apple’s classic attention to detail, and it just makes me happy.

I also appreciate that you can charge this computer while using it with a basic 18-watt iPhone charger. It’s not fast, but it works and it really shows how little power the M-series Macs actually need. On that note, I recommend buyers spec their Air with the Dual Port 35-watt charger instead of the 75-watt fast charger. Personally, I rarely find myself needing to fast charge my MacBooks, but I use the dual port charger all the time when traveling to charge all kinds of stuff.

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In late July, dozens of brown bears congregate at Brooks Falls, in Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, to gorge on sockeye salmon catapulting their bright red bodies upstream to reach their spawning waters.

Enchanted, I stand with a crowd of tourists on a wooden viewing platform, observing as dominant bears score spots at the top of the falls, and leggy subadults patrol the banks for leftover carcasses. A 350-kilogram male submerges in the frothy pool of water beneath the falls, surfacing with a salmon 10 seconds later. He clutches the fish between his two front paws, as if praying, then skins it whole.

I’ve always dreamed of traveling to see the bears of Brooks Falls, a destination for up to 37,000 visitors each year. But I’ve come now for a much smaller, lesser-known mammal—one that will take the stage when the sun sets and the dusky, dying light calls forth a groundswell of mosquitoes.

Meet Myotis lucifugus, commonly referred to as the little brown bat. Or, as chiropterologist (bat researcher) Jesika Reimer fondly calls it, “the flying brown bear.” Little brown bats share many similar physiological and behavioral traits with Ursus arctos. Both are slow-reproducing mammals that can live for many decades in the wild. Both feed in a frenzy through the summer and autumn months to prepare for a winter in torpor, a state of metabolic rest. Yet the little brown bat weighs less than 10 grams.

“They’re so small and we’re so oblivious to them,” muses Reimer. “That’s why I love bats so much.”

Several hours after observing the bears, I meet Reimer a short distance from the falls at a log cabin that houses US National Park Service staff in Brooks Camp. She flicks on her headlamp and scans a mist net she’s erected outside—black mesh so fine it’s nearly invisible, strung between metal poles that stand six meters tall. Somewhere above us, as many as 300 female little brown bats jostle in the cabin’s warm, safe attic where they have gathered for the summer to birth and rear pups—an arrangement called a maternity colony. Tonight, at the 58th parallel, with just four to five hours of true darkness, Reimer aims to capture a few in hopes of solving a long-standing mystery.

Perhaps because bats so easily evade human awareness, scientists know little about where those that live at this far northern margin of the species’ range spend their time through the winter months. To find some answers, Reimer is leading the first-ever gene-flow study of maternity colonies in Alaska outside of the state’s more temperate southeastern arm. How interconnected are these Myotis lucifugus populations, she wonders? And where, exactly, are they hibernating?

We hear a fluttering from the cabin’s awning, and Reimer’s handheld acoustic monitoring device picks up a rapid-fire pulse of echolocation—high-frequency sounds that bats produce to navigate and find food. Not long after, one snags in the net. With expert precision, Reimer gently disentangles the creature. It squints up at us, its snout squished-looking and its black ears nearly as big as its head. It’s smaller than I had imagined, just nine centimeters long. Reimer turns the bat over in her palm and gently blows on its pale brown fur. I glimpse a pink nipple. “Lactating female,” Reimer says, then stretches the bat’s black wings wide on a table. “Their wings are basically their hands,” she explains, noting that there are almost exactly the same number of joints in a bat’s wing (25) as in a human hand (27). Then, she gently secures a silver ID band to the bat’s forearm and uses a small tool to extract a pinprick of tissue—genetic material for her study—from each wing.

As she works, she invites several bystanders to take a closer look. “They’re actually so cute,” one exclaims. Another takes a slow-motion video as Reimer releases the bat into the night sky. She says that engaging citizens in research is a vital part of her work to change the dominant narrative about bats, a mammal that many people fear unnecessarily—and one that faces serious conservation threats.

A fungal disease called white-nose syndrome is decimating bats across North America, killing an estimated 6.7 million since it was first detected in upstate New York in 2006. The fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been documented in bats in 40 US states, and its known northern spread includes eight Canadian provinces. It thrives in the cool, damp conditions of hibernacula, caves and hollows where hundreds to thousands of bats huddle together for the winter, creeping onto their ears and noses and across their wings, causing lesions and dehydration. Infected bats stir out of torpor to groom themselves, spending precious fat reserves, and often starve to death once they’re depleted.

Recently, in places where the fungus was first detected, subpopulations with genetic resilience are starting to bounce back, but the situation is still dire. The mortality rate of bats with white-nose syndrome can reach as high as 90 to 100 percent, depending on the colony. Canada listed little brown bats as endangered in 2014 due to drastic declines in eastern provinces. The United States is considering listing the species as well.

It’s not a question of if, but when white-nose syndrome will arrive in Alaska, potentially threatening little brown bats here, too. Reimer hopes that the gene-flow study will put biologists one step closer to locating the bats’ winter hibernacula. That way, when white-nose arrives, they will be better able to monitor—and manage—the impacts.

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Reimer has spent over a decade specializing in chiropterology, the study of the species with “winged hands.” She was drawn to study bats, in part, because of the way they’ve evolved to fill ecological niches, pollinating specific flowers, distributing fruit and tree seeds that help sustain and regenerate forests, and regulating insect populations.

Bats are incredibly diverse in their adaptations. They’re the only mammal capable of true flight, living on every continent except Antarctica. Next to rodents, bats are the second-largest mammal group in the world, with over 1,400 documented species and counting. These range from massive fruits bats—the size of a small human child—to the tiny bumblebee bat, which weighs in at just two grams. The fish-eating bat, meanwhile, has elongated feet for raking the surface of the water to catch fish and crustaceans. And the Mexican long-tongued bat uses its long, tubular tongue—nearly half the length of its body—to feed on nectar. Bats are the major pollinators of over 500 different plant species, boosting both natural habitats and human agriculture.

Despite these wonders, the bat has an unfair reputation as a “bloodthirsty, rabies-carrying rodent,” Reimer says. “In North America, less than two percent of wild bats test positive for rabies, a number significantly lower than, say, foxes,” she points out. In 2021, only three people in the United States died from rabies contracted from bats.

And even when bats aren’t feared, they’re often overlooked. Many scientists and conservation organizations favor more charismatic megafauna: wolves, humpback whales, and, no doubt, brown bears. But Reimer likes an underdog. “I’d much rather go hike in the woods and look at things no one else has cared about,” she says. “I want to ask the questions that haven’t yet been asked.”

Reimer grew up in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories (NWT), worked as a tree planter in northern Alberta, and tromped along caribou trails as a research technician in Greenland. She fell in love with bats as an ecology major at the University of Calgary in southern Alberta, studying the diets of bats killed by wind turbines. But she always longed to return to the North.

Then, in 2010, cavers stumbled upon an enormous bat hibernaculum in a cave system nestled in the boreal forest outside Fort Smith, NWT, where thousands of little browns were overwintering. Reimer had found her ticket home. She spent several seasons there studying bats at their maternity colonies, conducting acoustic monitoring and capture surveys. Her research showed that, at the 60th parallel, little brown bats exit torpor at cooler temperatures and give birth later than their counterparts in the US lower 48—likely a physical response to the northern environment. Eventually, Reimer migrated west to take a research position with the Alaska Center for Conservation Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and she began locating and collecting data from maternity colonies in Alaska.

The little brown is one of the most widely distributed bat species in North America, found in all states, provinces, and territories except Nunavut, where the forests that the bats favor shrink into tundra. Though five other resident bat species are found in southeast Alaska, the little brown bat is the only documented species north of this region, with a known range extending all the way to the 64th parallel.

When Reimer moved to Alaska, she and her colleagues had only scant knowledge of the behaviors of little brown bats there. Some scientists weren’t even sure if mist netting would be possible. But Reimer received regular calls from homeowners about bats roosting in their attics, and the first night she set up a net in Anchorage, she captured dozens. It was clear they were making a home. But how exactly does a nocturnal, hibernating species thrive in a place where true darkness can last less than two hours on summer solstice, and more frigid winters demand heftier fat stores?

Brown bears can gorge all day and night through the summer and fall. But bats rely on darkness to protect them from predators while they forage, and so must pack on fat in short, intense feeding spurts, says Reimer. They also can’t get too fat, or they won’t be able to fly to their hibernaculum when the time comes. Using acoustic monitoring devices to record and analyze feeding frequencies, Reimer has begun to sort out how the bats make it work. For example, in the Far North, they fly at dusk—what Reimer calls “extra-solar flights”—despite greater vulnerability to owls and other raptors.

The cold also poses serious challenges for Myotis lucifugus in Alaska. Not only can little browns get frostbite on the tips of their ears, but food is often more scarce. The species is insectivorous, and individual bats can eat their weight in mosquitoes, moths, midges, and mayflies in a single night. They’re adept at “aerial hawking”—scooping insects into their mouths with their tails or wing membranes. When the temperature plummets, so do available insects, and little browns have adapted to go into torpor as easily as flicking a switch. “If there’s a bad weather event, or no food, bats can save energy rather than go find energy which doesn’t exist,” explains Reimer.

Little brown bats in Alaska have also developed a more diverse diet than southern populations. In 2017, researchers discovered that, in addition to catching arthropods on the wing, they “glean” them from webs and foliage, adding orb-weaver spiders and others to their menu. In the face of climate change and shifting habitats—including the northerly expansion of the treeline—this versatility could be advantageous.

But there’s one thing Reimer hasn’t been able to sort yet. Since 2016, she’s located more than 25 summer maternity colonies. She has yet to find any winter hibernacula.

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Twenty kilometers southeast of Brooks Camp, I follow Reimer down a trail that plunges into the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The slopes are densely forested, a stark contrast to the valley floor, which is covered in pink pyroclastic rock. That’s a result of the 1912 eruption of Novarupta, a magma vent at the base of nearby Mount Katmai—the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century.

We pass into an airy grove of birch where there’s plenty of space to move between the trees or, if you’re a bat, to fly. “Little browns love open forest canopies like this one for foraging,” Reimer says. “Once you know bat behavior, you start to see their habitat everywhere. You’ve got to think like a bat.”

The chiropterologist is deeply curious about where bats’ minds are leading them on the landscape to hibernate, and whether they’re spending the winter in large or small groups. Some migratory bats travel quite far, Reimer notes. For example, the European Nathusius’ pipistrelle flies over 2,000 kilometers to hibernation areas. After all the samples she’s collecting have been analyzed, she hopes to publish the results next winter. Reimer wonders: Will they indicate some level of genetic isolation among northern Alaskan bats? Or will they show that populations are connected? If connected, that would mean the bats congregate in larger winter colonies, perhaps in a cave somewhere. That would lead to rapid transmission of deadly white-nose syndrome, when it arrives, and add urgency to management efforts.

But Reimer’s hypothesis—and her hope—is that bats here behave differently than their southern counterparts. There’s good reason to think so, based on recent findings in southeast Alaska by biologist Karen Blejwas. Starting in 2011, Blejwas glued radio tags, weighing 0.3 grams, onto dozens of bats from summer roosts near Juneau, Alaska, in hopes of finding their hibernacula. In the late fall, she boarded a fixed-wing plane outfitted with radio telemetry. She flew at sunset, circling where the bats swarmed, waiting for one of them to make a move so she could follow. Sometimes she’d get a signal only to have it disappear. “It was like looking for a needle in a haystack,” recalls Blejwas.

Then, three years after Blejwas began her search, her research team struck gold. The first-known Alaska hibernaculum wasn’t a cave with 1,000 bats; it was a small hollow, tucked beneath rocky scree on the side of a steep ridge, with just a handful of occupants.

Since then, Blejwas has found 10 hibernacula in unassuming places: under tree stumps and mossy rubble, in a jumble of rocks, tucked into upended root balls on toppled trees. She set up trail cameras at some of the sites and observed bats swarming outside and entering their hibernacula. They were all small colonies, ranging in size from one to 12 bats.

Could the same thing be happening around Katmai National Park and in other parts of Alaska, over 1,000 kilometers away? The unique hibernating strategy could make little brown bats here more resilient against disease, Reimer says. “If they’re disconnected populations and using these small cracks and crevices like biologists are seeing in southeastern Alaska, it could potentially slow or halt the spread of white-nose syndrome,” simply by limiting the number of bats it can infect at once. Physiologically, however, little browns in the North are just as vulnerable as populations in the South. They’re a small species without enough fat reserves to outlast the fungus, though one recent study indicates that other factors, such as genetic differences in metabolic rates during hibernation, play a role in determining which individuals survive.

We emerge from the forest and follow the steeply cut bank of the churning and tumbling Ukak River. Reimer stops and points at something across the surging water. I’m not entirely sure what she’s looking at. Then, I see it: a series of cracks and crevices running through the volcanic rock wall, slight enough for a bat to take refuge in.

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The sun sets at 10 p.m. in King Salmon, a small fishing community of 300 residents on Alaska’s Bristol Bay. This is the launch point for visiting Katmai National Park, about an hour-long boat ride from Brooks Falls, and Reimer and I are back for one last survey before I leave, driving through the dusk in a Park Service truck to look for promising sites.

We pull in next to a clutch of run-down outbuildings piled with fishing buoys. Reimer hops out to inspect an old storage shed that has “all the ingredients” of a place that bats would love to roost in: it has a high ceiling, an attic, and sun-bleached wooden shakes that bats could easily slide under to take refuge. But she finds only a few dried guano pellets. Despite everything she knows about bat preferences, she confesses that the most reliable way to locate a bat roost is when a homeowner calls to complain about one.

In most cases, homeowners want colonies removed. Living with bats isn’t easy. Hungry juveniles are noisy, and bat urine stinks. Over time, structural damage can occur. And living close to any wildlife can pose some real risks, including the spread of disease, though with bats this is extremely rare. Meanwhile, the benefits of having bats around, such as their being the main predator of disease-spreading, night-flying insects like mosquitoes, are significant and measurable.

Yet, Reimer has heard stories of homeowners firing bear spray into their roofs or pouring bleach into their walls; often, they kill entire colonies. Bats aren’t like mice, which can replenish their numbers quickly by having five to 10 litters per year. And more than 50 percent of bat species, including the little browns, face the risk of steep population decline or extinction over the next 15 years. “Once you exterminate a bat colony, that colony isn’t coming back,” says Reimer. “It would be like killing all the bears at Brooks Falls. The following year, there won’t be any bears.”

So as Reimer works on her surveys, she also works on the public, hoping to help more people learn to appreciate bats. She tells homeowners who report colonies that bats aren’t likely to chew insulation and wires like mice. She also makes sure they know that the bats will depart by late August. She recruits homeowners to participate in efforts to count bats as they emerge for the night—one of the ways researchers get an idea of populations—or to help with one of her capture surveys. Seeing little browns up close and learning about their unique adaptive biology and behaviors often changes people’s minds about them, she says: “They start to care about ‘their’ bats.” And once the bats have left for the winter, homeowners can seal off their homes so that the bats find a more appropriate place the following year.

Before full dark, Reimer gets a gut feeling about the three-story Park Service apartment building where we’ll bunk for the night. We head back and erect mist nets, then set up her field equipment on the tailgate of the truck in the parking lot. It isn’t long before we hear the familiar flutter of wings from the building’s awning. A shadowy form swoops down, arcs back up, dives again, and lands softly in the net. It’s among the last for this particular study—one more unwitting helper in the effort to secure its species’ future in the Far North.