Microsoft is tightening security around ActiveX controls in Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio.
Starting this month, ActiveX elements will be blocked by default, with no easy way to re-enable them, in a move to stop malware and unsafe code from spreading through Office files.
Previously, Office apps showed a simple prompt letting you enable ActiveX with minimal friction. Now, you’ll see a "Blocked Content" warning, and the only way to allow ActiveX again is through the Trust Center settings.
The new rule is rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders (Beta Channel) and Current Channel version 2504 (build 18730.20030 or newer).
Microsoft is facing another issue with its Classic Outlook app. This time, users are reporting high CPU usage spikes between 30% to 50%, while simply typing emails.
The bug appeared after updating to Version 2406 Build 17726.20126+ on the Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, and Insider channels.
Microsoft says it's investigating the problem and has offered a temporary workaround: switch to the Semi-Annual Channel, where the bug hasn’t been spotted. You can make the switch using the Office Deployment Tool or via registry edits, depending on your setup.
This comes right after recent issues with Teams file sharing and broken downloads in Classic Outlook, making it a rough week for Microsoft 365 support.
Microsoft has admitted that some Windows 10 PCs were wrongly offered an upgrade to Windows 11, even though they were blocked by IT policies. This affects Intune customers only.
The company blames a "latent code issue" that bypassed Intune update restrictions, causing more confusion as if the inetpub folder chaos wasn't enough.
The issue began on April 12, 2025, and Microsoft is now rolling out a fix. In the meantime, it recommends pausing Windows feature updates to prevent unwanted upgrades. Devices that already made the jump will need to manually roll back to Windows 10.
With Windows 10 support ending in October 2025, expect Microsoft to keep nudging more users toward Windows 11, hopefully the right way next time.
What’s new for Xbox in April? A lot. You can now buy games, join Game Pass, and redeem Perks directly from the Xbox app on iOS and Android. If you’ve already saved a payment method, purchases are just two clicks away.
It’s available for beta users now and coming to everyone soon.
Also, the “Stream Your Own Game” feature has expanded to Xbox consoles. Game Pass Ultimate users can now stream supported titles they own directly from the cloud.
Remote Play has also moved to the web via xbox.com/remoteplay, and it's coming soon to Samsung TVs, Fire TV, and Meta Quest headsets. Nothing about the Windows 11 counterpart getting any new features.
OpenAI’s new reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini, are now available on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot. These models offer big improvements over the older o1 and o3-mini, including vision support, tool calling, and better reasoning capabilities.
On Azure, o3 costs $10 per million input tokens and $40 per million output tokens, while o4-mini is more affordable at $1.10 input and $4.40 output. You can now use them in both Responses API and Chat Completions API.
GitHub Copilot users on paid plans are getting o4-mini, while Enterprise and Pro+ users get access to o3.
These models can now be selected in VS Code or GitHub Copilot Chat. Microsoft Copilot is still using o3-mini model, and we're not when new models will be rolled out to the consumers using Microsoft services, including 365.
Microsoft is dropping support for VBS enclaves on older Windows 11 versions, including 23H2 and 22H2, as well as Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022. Going forward, the feature will only be supported on Windows 11 24H2 and Server 2025 or newer.
VBS enclaves, introduced in 2023, are designed to boost app memory safety by creating secure zones using Virtualization-based Security (VBS). These enclaves act like mini secure environments for sensitive app processes.
While Microsoft didn’t explain the reason for this change, it’s likely tied to shifting focus toward more secure and modern platforms.
Interestingly, the move comes after Microsoft had to patch a VBS enclave vulnerability (CVE-2025-21370) earlier this year.
Word for iOS just got a handy new feature powered by Copilot: you can now turn voice notes into fully formatted documents.
Instead of typing everything out or struggling with formatting on a small screen, you can simply speak, and let Copilot handle the rest.
To try it, open a new doc, tap “Use Copilot,” pick a language and template, then record your voice note. Copilot will transcribe and structure it into a document, note, or even an email. You can also create your own templates if needed.
This feature is available in version 2.96 (build 25041112) for users with a Copilot Pro license or AI credits. It supports several major languages, with more coming soon.
Microsoft has released a minor update for Edge 135 in the Stable Channel for Windows 11.
This includes two bug fixes and two important security patches. One fix addresses an issue where the first-run welcome page failed to load correctly.
Another resolves a bug where the Copilot icon would disappear when the HubsSidebarEnabled policy was active.
Security-wise, the update patches two Chromium vulnerabilities—one critical (CVE-2025-3619, a heap buffer overflow) and one high-severity (CVE-2025-3620, a use-after-free flaw). These could be exploited via malicious web pages.
You can get the update by going to edge://settings/help or wait for the browser to auto-update.
Starting today, you can use ChatGPT 4.1 in addition to 4o, o1 and o3-mini on Windows Latest! GPT 4.1 is the latest and greatest model from OpenAI, and it is said to be faster plus has greater contextual understanding.
WindowsLatest.com's GPT-4.1 integration is free of cost and does not collect data because we do not have any motive to do. Since we're using OpenAI API, the conversations are not used to train models by OpenAI. This makes it better than the ChatGPT web version, especially the free version.
The AI has been prompt-engineered to behave as an assistant on Windows Latest. Some of you might ask me: why is it free? WindowsLatest is a not-for-profit website. I'm giving it back to those who keep reading my work. If you want me to make the GPTChat even better, email me your suggestions: [email protected]
Microsoft has rolled out Windows 11 Build 26120.3863 to Beta Channel with several upgrades, mostly for Copilot+ PCs. The taskbar search now supports natural language queries for settings, so you can type things like "change my theme" instead of hunting down exact menu names.
This new semantic search even works offline on devices with a powerful NPU.
Another big feature is richer image descriptions in Narrator. Using AI, Narrator can now describe photos, charts, and graphs in more detail, helping users with visual impairments.
All good, right? Worse, Microsoft is testing the ability to read full articles, slideshows, and videos directly in the MSN feed within the widgets board. This update is for Beta Channel, but coming soon to all of you.
Mayank Parmar
Abhishek Mishra
