It's an extremely welcome addition, which had been left up to laptop makers to step in and provide (or not) in recent years. Unfortunately, for now it's part of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000 (KB5050103), via the Dev Channel — which means that Microsoft may rescind it, and it probably won't arrive on "stable" mainstream PCs for several months.
The new iconography is pretty self-explanatory: Green signals a laptop with plenty of battery life left. A red icon means that you better plug in soon. Yellow means that you're running low on power, and that (in this build) your laptop is running in its low-power, battery-saver mode.
(Microsoft seems to have been a bit confused in its example, however, since the "yellow" icon here is associated with a laptop battery at 80 percent. Microsoft said that the yellow icon will generally trigger only at 20 percent or below.)
Microsoft is making available "classic" versions of its Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family plans, that remove the Copilot surcharge. But, as Microsoft said when it announced the changes, these new Classic plans are available for a limited time. This article will show you how to switch back.
Right now, here's what you'll see when you sign up for Microsoft 365, with the option to pay $12.99/mo and $9.99/mo, too. Those reflect the higher rates with the Copilot surcharge included.
Today's tech can help make life so much easier — if you know how to use it. Here are a few tips on the quickest and best ways to make your phone, laptop and other devices work for you.
