Already the third "Moment" for Windows 11, the new update format adopted by Microsoft.
Last Wednesday, Microsoft launched the deployment of "Moment 3", also known as KB5026446. For Microsoft, the aim is to improve its operating system on two fronts. Firstly, the publisher is integrating a number of more or less important features, such as the presence of seconds in the "date and time" area of the taskbar. The developers of Windows 11 have also redesigned the Voice Access command help page and integrated a new settings page dedicated to USB4 peripherals and hubs to, of course, make things more functional: accessible from "Settings > Bluetooth and other devices > USB4", the page is there to provide detailed information to users as well as new settings for their peripherals.
The second part of the "Moment 3" improvements focuses more on system performance. For example, Windows 11 is now better able to use mice with highpolling rates: the aim here is of course to improve responsiveness, especially in games. The most frequent shell interactions (taskbar, notification area...) also benefit from small improvements that can translate into performance increases of up to 15%. Pêle-mêle, Microsoft also mentions an improvement in energy management that can lead to 6% savings for users using the recommended settings. The Edge browser is not "spared", and we're talking here about preserving RAM on "sleeping" tabs: a feature that reduces the memory usage of said tabs by 83% in the best case scenario.
Given the number of improvements here, why not jump straight into Moment 3? Unfortunately, as is often the case, the update also seems to be marred by a number of bugs. First and foremost, it's the installation process itself that causes problems. While some users simply wanted to "check for updates", Windows 11 immediately launched the installation of "Moment 3". This wouldn't necessarily have had a detrimental effect if users hadn't reported problems - once KB5026446 had been installed - with the management of Xbox Game Pass games: in a word, these games were simply no longer playable. Others have reported problems opening certain applications, switching the system to and from hibernation mode, inoperative fan management, declining overall performance and even instability.
Of course, there's no need to panic. System updates for Windows have always brought their share of unhappy users, and with so little hindsight, it's hard to know whether the problems are directly attributable to "Moment 3". However, as the update is not mandatory at the moment, the wisest thing to do is to wait and see, and let Microsoft check/resolve the problems. Finally, for users of AMD graphics solutions, it seems that another problem has crept in alongside update KB5026446: Windows 11 would find nothing better than to replace the system's graphics drivers with an older version. Fortunately, even if this is a pain in the ass, it's easy to get around: just download the correct drivers from the AMD website and install them... in the hope that the same mistake won't happen again.
