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Google has built a new model for Bard which it is calling the most capable iteration of the AI yet.

Google provided an update on the new version of Bard which it calls “more intuitive, imaginative and responsive than ever before,” offering greater levels of quality and accuracy in the chatbot’s responses.

A whole bunch of new features have been brought into the mix for Bard, and that starts with support for 40+ languages, and some tight integration with existing Google products elsewhere.

That includes giving Bard the ability to get its hooks into your emails in Gmail, and data in Google Drive and Docs, meaning you can get the AI to find info across your various files, or indeed summarize a piece of content if needed.

Bard will also be able to pull data in real-time as needed from Google Maps, Google’s travel features (hotels and flights), and YouTube, all of which will be extensions that are enabled by default (you can disable them if you wish, but they’re switched on by default in the new Bard).

Another big move here is the ability to check Bard’s answers. Not too sure about any given response from the AI? A ‘Google It’ button can be clicked to bring up additional info around any query, which is drawn from Google search (where supported), so you can check for yourself to see if there’s any doubt, or difference of opinion, elsewhere online compared to what Bard is telling you.

A further fresh introduction gives Bard users the ability to share a conversation via a public link, allowing others to continue that conversation with Google’s AI themselves, should they wish.

Analysis: The distant but distinct sound of alarm bells

This is indeed a major update for Bard, and there are some useful elements in here for sure. Better quality and accuracy, and the ability to check Bard’s responses, are obviously welcome features.

Some other stuff will set some alarm bells ringing for folks, particularly the more privacy-conscious out there. Do you really want Bard’s tendrils snaking into every corner of your Google Drive, Docs, and Gmail? Doesn’t that sound like the beginning of a scenario of a nightmarish overreach from the AI?

Well, Google is pretty careful here to clarify that your personal data absolutely isn’t being hoovered up to train Bard in any way. As the company puts it: “Your Google Workspace data won’t be used to train Bard’s public model and you can disable access to it at any time.”

So, the only use of the data will be to furnish you with convenient replies to queries, and that could be pretty handy. Know you’ve got a document somewhere on a certain topic, but can’t remember where it is in your Google account, or what it’s called? You should be able to prompt Bard to find it for you.

Don’t like the idea of Bard accessing your stuff in any way, shape, or form? Then you don’t have to use these abilities, they can be switched off (and the mentioned extensions don’t have to be enabled). Indeed, whatever assurances Google makes about Bard not snuffling around in your data for its own purposes, there will be folks immediately reaching for the ‘off’ switch in these cases, you can absolutely bank on it.

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Windows 11’s Paint app is set for some major upgrades which have been seen coming through in testing right now.

And when we say major changes, we really mean big new avenues of exploration for Microsoft, the most tantalizing of which is the introduction of a layers feature for Paint compositions.

This new addition was revealed in a blog post that notes the Paint app in the Canary and Dev testing channels now has the feature (version 11.2308.18.0 or higher).

Layers mean you can use multiple layers in one image, with different elements placed in different layers. Those layers can be shown or hidden, worked on separately, and indeed merged together if needed, for a more flexible and advanced way of editing any given image.

There’s a Layer button in the Paint app’s toolbar, and you can work with the feature by clicking it (whereby a side panel pops up showing the different layers that you add).

(Image credit: Microsoft)

A new transparency effect has been brought in, too, with a checkboard pattern representing parts of an image that are transparent. Paint will also let you open (and save out) transparent PNG image files.

Here’s another big introduction for Paint, too: as spotted by PhantomOfEarth on X (formerly Twitter), that same new version of the app has hidden strings pertaining to an AI-powered image generation feature.

The latest Paint app update in Dev/Canary (11.2308.18.0) includes strings for a new image generation feature:CocreatorDescribe what you'd like to createTry "a cat walking in a wood" or "A house made out of leaves"Choose a styleSeptember 18, 2023

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In short, the idea is that Paint will be bolstered with Dall-E image creation chops in a feature apparently called ‘Cocreator’ which allows you to describe an image and have it composed for you (including specifying art styles).

Analysis: Hacks become a reality...

If that AI-powered image creation functionality sounds familiar, it’s because this is already in the armory of Bing AI, so it’s nothing new as such – and it isn’t really a big surprise to see Microsoft pull it over to Paint.

Well, okay, maybe it’s a little bit of a surprise in terms of Paint getting fleshed out considerably more than we ever thought it would, with the introduction of layers certainly coming out of left field.

In fairness, the ability to work with layers is something that has been hacked into Paint in the past, and that did prompt a whole lot of badgering of Microsoft about why it wouldn’t officially introduce the capability.

So, fair play to Microsoft, the software giant has listened and is doing just that – assuming that the layers and transparency elements make it through testing to the release version of Paint (which seems very likely).

Maybe we’ll see other hacks become official Paint features – you may recall that simple animations were also unofficially introduced to Microsoft’s creative app in the past.

Paint has certainly come a long way in the past half a decade or so, given that there was chatter about Microsoft considering canning the software back in 2017, if you remember. How things have changed for the better…

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Windows Photos is getting a significant update that will introduce a selection of new features designed to improve user experience. 

According to Microsoft’s official blog post about the Photos improvements, users can expect features like in-depth search, background blur, location search, and ‘Motion Photos’ - think live photos on iPhones - which will bring a little life to the currently rather drab photo software. 

Background blur will surely be welcomed by Photos users who want to remove backgrounds from their photos, highlight certain subjects, or modify the area being blurred. To be honest, it may be cruel to say it, but like the majority of these updates, it’s about time. Many of the new features have already existed for a while on other platforms, most notably within Apple’s software ecosystem.

Get with the times, man

You’ll also be able to search for specific photos by the type of content within the photo. This means you can now type in things like ‘cat, car, beach, holiday’ and more, with the app attempting to identify and collate relevant images. You’ll have to log into your Microsoft account to be able to use the feature, and the blog post does warn that the enhanced search bar may not work right away. 

Other features to expect include live photos and location searches, which will help you find the right picture when you’re ready to reminisce (or plan your next vacation Instagram post). If you went to the beach, you can type in either ‘beach’ or the name of the specific beach, the city you visited, or just home and school. 

Microsoft seems to be on a roll recently, dishing out updates and new features across its product range, and it’s really good to see. With updates to Microsoft Edge, the continuing popularity of Bing AI, and now a Windows Photo refresh, we’re really eager to see what the company has to offer in the near future. 

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Windows 11’s latest cumulative update has been triggering a whole heap of problems going by a bunch of online reports, including causing havoc for PC gamers in some cases.

This is KB5030219, the compulsory update for September that was released last week and piped to Windows 11 22H2 systems.

Windows Latest spotted a catalog of reported gremlins in the works with KB5030219, and that includes the update causing Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) crashes.

On top of that, readers have reported instances of system slowdown to Windows Latest following the installation of KB5030219, and network connection problems, with internet access apparently failing for some post-installation.

There are also reports of PCs failing to start entirely after the update, which is very worrying of course – there’s nothing worse than your system failing to boot after applying an ‘upgrade.’

Another report on Reddit, on the official thread introducing KB5030219, complains about a problem where the Start menu (and search functionality) fails to work for some folks.

That Reddit thread contains quite a number of other issues, including various performance problems (like a very slow right-click menu) and tabs in File Explorer disappearing due to KB5030219, as well as some weird audio glitches. Oh, and installation failures, with the update failing to complete in some cases (a continued problem with Windows 11 cumulative updates for some folks).

And on top of that, as mentioned, PC gamers have been hit here. Windows Latest highlights some apparent performance glitches with Starfield, and a post on Microsoft’s own Feedback Hub claims the Game Pass version of Starfield is experiencing TDR (timeout detection and recovery) errors and crashes.

“After removing the update, the Starfield game ran normally,” the affected gamer observes.

However, Windows Latest further notes that it’s not sure if these Starfield performance issues could be related to Nvidia’s most recent GeForce driver, or to this Windows 11 cumulative update.

One Redditor certainly lays the blame at Microsoft’s door, saying: “It’s definitely a Windows update issue for me because I didn’t update my GeForce driver (I use the studio driver that is still at v536.99) but stupid me did the Windows update and now my PC is exhibiting all kinds of intermittent internet connection problems, lags, slow application startups, etc.”

Another Redditor claims: “Yes! I thought it was the new Nvidia driver I had installed at first, but then rolled it back and [the] issue [performance problem in Starfield] was still present. I then uninstalled update KB5030219 and issue was completely gone. Reinstalled the latest Nvidia driver again and it was fine. Not sure what they broke with that Windows update, but I won’t be reinstalling it until it has been addressed.”

Other reports from PC gamers include Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart misfiring with crashes and freezes.

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) Analysis: Return of the timeouts (sadly)

This is a surprisingly lengthy laundry list of serious issues across the board, really. We expect some rockiness to be experienced with any new patch, true, but this kind of level of apparent chaos is a poor show from Microsoft. The range of the glitches, and the performance hits in many cases – for gaming, and operation within the Windows 11 environment in general – make for a truly worrying state of affairs.

What doesn’t help is there’s no admission from Microsoft that there’s anything amiss here, at least not yet. In the supporting bumph for KB5030219, Microsoft simply states that it is “not currently aware of any issues with this update” and leaves it at that.

What’s extra disappointing for us here is that TDR errors were resolved in July, with the cumulative update for that month – so to see them apparently making a return already is a bit of a blow, to say the least.

Hopefully, Microsoft will be investigating the many outlined issues here, because clearly, something has gone awry with KB5030219 – to see this much disgruntled chatter around an update, and such a wide-ranging set of apparent problems, is definitely concerning.

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If you were wondering when Windows 11’s big upgrade for this year will turn up, the answer is soon, with Microsoft now making the final preparations to deploy the 23H2 update – with a revelation apparently imminent.

As Windows Latest tells us, Microsoft just shipped a ‘Windows Configuration Update’ which is readying the toggle to allow users to select ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ and be first in line to receive the 23H2 update.

Note that nothing is actually happening yet, just that this is a piece of necessary groundwork (confirmed via an internal document from Microsoft, we’re told) ahead of the rollout of the Windows 11 23H2 update.

Okay, so when is the 23H2 update actually going to turn up? Well, Windows Latest has heard further chatter from sources that indicates Microsoft is going to announce the upgrade at an event later this week.

That would be the ‘special event’ Microsoft revealed a while back, taking place in New York on September 21 (Thursday). As well as the expected Surface hardware launches, we will also evidently get our first tease of the 23H2 update, at least in theory.

Analysis: Copilot on the horizon

An announcement this week makes sense to us, ahead of a broader rollout that’ll be coming soon enough.

As Windows Latest further points out, the 23H2 update will likely become available next month – at least in limited form. This means those who have ticked that toggle to get updates as soon as possible may receive it in October – at least some of those folks, in the usual phased deployment – before that wider rollout kicks off in November, and everyone gets the new features contained within the upgrade.

In theory, that means Windows Copilot, though we suspect the initial incarnation of the AI assistant is still going to be pretty limited. (And we do wonder why Microsoft isn’t going to keep on baking it until next year, but that’s a whole other argument – it seems like with AI, everything has to be done in quite the rush).

It’s also worth bearing in mind that if you’re still on the original version of Windows 11, 21H2, you’ll need to upgrade anyway – as support for that runs out on October 10, 2023. PCs on 21H2 are being force-upgraded to 22H2 right now, although you’ll pretty much be able to skip straight to 23H2 after that, should you wish.

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