Apple Music, Apple TV apps are coming to Windows 11
Previews of the Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Devices apps are available in the Microsoft Store on Windows 11, Microsoft has said as it published its latest Windows 11 preview.
Apple's iTunes for macOS went away a few years ago, but not for Windows. In October last year, Microsoft announced that iCloud Photos, Apple TV, and Apple Music were coming to Windows 11 in 2023. That's happening now with the new previews of the Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Devices app. They're available in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11, but are limited to the US.
iCloud Photos is already available and has an integration with the Windows 11 Photos app that makes it easier to get photos from an iPhone directly into the Photos app.
Windows 11
Apple Music and Apple TV serve the same purpose on Windows 11 as macOS.
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Windows users who rely on iTunes for podcasts might want to avoid the preview. Apple notes that after installing the Apple Music Preview, iTunes won't open anymore and that means "audiobooks or podcasts on this device will be inaccessible until a compatible version of iTunes is released". However, users can go back to iTunes by uninstalling the preview Apple Music app.
Apple TV on Windows offers Apple TV+, movie rentals, and premium channel subscriptions. Apple notes that not all features might work as expected in the preview.
The Apple Devices app is for syncing content from a Windows PC to iOS devices, as well as to update, restore, and backup iOS devices.
The Apple app previews for Windows 11 are available outside of the latest Windows 11 insider preview.
Microsoft also just released Windows 11 Insider preview build 25276 for Dev Channel testers with one change that could annoy users. It's changing the approach to Microsoft 365 and cloud storage by now including Outlook.com attachments in OneDrive storage quotas -- a change that is reflected in a new storage bar in the Settings app that shows the size of total Outlook attachments.
Windows 11 users can manager Microsoft 365 subscripts and cloud storage from the updated Settings app.
In November, Microsoft added to the Settings app in the form of a storage bar that shows how much cloud storage is being used by each Microsoft 365 product. It also warned that it was changing exactly which Microsoft 365 apps and services data are included and that this might impact users' cloud storage amount starting on February 1, 2023.
Microsoft has now revealed the change is that Outlook attachment data is include in a user's OneDrive storage, which is displayed as a separate yellow bar beneath the OneDrive bar and also reflected in the total storage bar as the yellow portion of the bar.
Users have until February 1 to start worrying about the "your cloud storage is full alert" if they're affected by the addition of Outlook attachments to the quota.
"You may see an alert regarding your storage usage; however, it does not impact your storage amount as early as February 1st, 2023," Microsoft reassures Windows 11 testers.
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In a support document, Microsoft explains the change does not impact an Outlook.com mailbox storage amount, but once users hit their limit on OneDrive, the ability to send or receive emails in Outlook.com will be disrupted -- presumably until the user buys more storage.
"However, this may reduce how much cloud storage you have available to use with your OneDrive. If you reach your cloud storage quota, your ability to send and receive emails in Outlook.com will be disrupted," Microsoft says.
"To ensure we offer the best experience, the cloud storage changes and new quota bar will gradually roll out on or after February 1, 2023, across your app settings, Windows settings, and Microsoft account. If you do not see the new storage experience in your settings or Microsoft account, be sure to check back in the coming weeks."
The other update in this build allows Task Manager users to create live kernel memory dumps, which provide a snapshot of kernel memory and saves it to a dump file that can be used for troubleshooting a glitch. The advantage over a classic bug check is that it allows Windows to continue running while resolving it.
"This reduces downtime when compared to a bug check for 'non-fatal' but high-impact failures and hangs," Microsoft's Windows Insider team explains.
"A kernel live dump is effective for a category of problems where something is taking a long time, and yet nothing is technically failing," Microsoft says in a document about the feature.
Users can get a live kernel memory dump by going to the Details page in Task manager and then right-clicking the System process. Then the context menu should show, "Create live kernel memory dump file". The files are written to the location %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\TaskManager\LiveKernelDumps.
The feature is rolling out to some insiders as Microsoft gathers feedback.