📢 Microsoft's PowerToys v0.74.0: Stability Takes the Center Stage

Noteworthy General Updates

• PowerToys settings are now in harmony with Windows. Turning off animations in Windows will replicate the same for PowerToys.
• Running as an administrator? Now, this will be indicated in the thumbnail label and application titles, courtesy of @davidegiacometti.
• Thanks to @niels9001, the Win UI Community Toolkit dependency has ascended to version 8.0.

Spotlight on Utility Enhancements

• Awake: This utility now features down-sampled variants for its application icon, thanks to @morriscurtis.
• Color Picker: Post adding a new color, the history will now automatically scroll to bring the latest color into view – a subtle but helpful change by @peerpalo.
• File Explorer Add-Ons: Optimizations galore! From CPU usage reduction for SVG thumbnail generation to enhanced handling of Gcode thumbnails (including JPG and QOI formats), there's a lot under the hood. A shoutout to @pedrolamas for the Gcode Thumbnail improvement.
• PowerRename: Big counter values in the new enumeration method causing a crash? That's a thing of the past now.
• PowerToys Run: This utility is rapidly becoming a favorite for many, and the new features add more feathers to its cap. Users can now select the shell used by the Shell plugin and employ Pinyin for querying specific plugins, thanks to @ChaseKnowlden.

Documentation & Development

Microsoft is paying attention to the community, and it's evident in the documentation updates. SECURITY.md saw an upgrade from 0.0.2 to 0.0.9 (props to @Aaron-Junker), and both README and the primary development document underwent clarity and completeness revisions courtesy of @codeofdusk and @aprilbbrockhoeft.

On the development side, fixes were applied to PowerToys Run plugin tests ensuring consistent performance across all developer machines. A special shoutout to @snickler and @DHowett for their contributions.

How to download the latest version of Microsoft PowerToys

You can download the newest version of Microsoft PowerToys from the Microsoft Store or from the official repository on GitHub. If you already have Microsoft PowerToys installed on your computer, you can manually update it by navigating to the Settings page.

You can also download Microsoft PowerToys version 0.74.0 by clicking either of the following official links:

• PowerToysSetup-0.74.0-arm64.exe
• PowerToysSetup-0.74.0-x64.exe

Please note that the links shared above to download the latest version of Microsoft PowerToys are official links hosted by Microsoft on the GitHub servers. It is still advisable to always scan with your antivirus software once you download something from the internet. Neither the author of this post nor the site will be responsible if something goes wrong.

Closing Thoughts

PowerToys v0.74.0 demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to refining user experience, with a clear emphasis on stability and functional improvements. With a robust community and consistent feedback loop, future iterations promise even more enhancements, making PowerToys an indispensable tool for Windows users.