Microsoft has begun warning about the imminent shutdown of another service – offline maps that can work offline, without an Internet connection, will no longer be available in the Windows operating system.

Generated by the Midjourney neural network

As users have noticed, when opening the Maps application in Windows 11, a message appears: “By the end of 2023, offline maps will no longer be available in the Maps application.” After this date, you will not be able to view offline maps in the application.

The decision to end support is most likely due to the expiration of the agreement between Nokia, its Here brand and Microsoft.

Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mapping and navigation business (Here) in 2015, and since then both companies have been working together to create offline maps for Windows.

Yesterday, Microsoft released the biggest update since the existence of the Windows 11 operating system. As users discovered, along with the Windows 11 23H2 (or Moment 4) update, one useful feature disappeared from the OS.

We are talking about the possibility of “drag and drop”. As Mayank Parmar, owner of the WindowsLatest topic resource, humorously complains, new Microsoft developers clearly don’t like the drag-and-drop feature or don’t understand its importance.

When Windows 11 first came out, users couldn’t drag and drop items onto the taskbar like they were used to. The option was returned a year later in the Windows 11 22H2 update. Microsoft “celebrated” the option as a completely new feature, although it was familiar to many different versions of Windows. And it looks like history will repeat itself.

Windows 11 23H2 introduces Explorer with a redesigned design, recommendations, and a new address bar that’s deeply integrated with OneDrive cloud storage. Microsoft support explains:

Explorer’s newly designed address bar recognizes local and cloud folders. It also shows the status of the file. For Microsoft OneDrive users, the address bar now includes OneDrive sync status and a storage limits pop-up window.

This is all well and good, but with the new address bar you can no longer drag and drop files or apps. For example, if you have two folders on your computer and you want to move a file from one to the other. Previously, when dragging, the “Move to…” mark appeared, but now it is gone, and the entire function does not work. Here is one typical complaint:

Removing this feature from the address bar has disrupted my workflow many times lately.

A Microsoft representative said that the company is aware of these changes, but that no decision has been made in this regard. The company reported:

This [перетаскивание] is not currently supported by the updated address bar… we will continue to monitor feedback.

Another app in the Google ecosystem has crossed the milestone of 5 billion downloads on the Google Play app store: Google Messages, the basic messaging app for Android smartphones.

Formerly called Android Messages, it has become one of the most used SMS, MMS and RCS messaging apps, offering a clean interface and useful features. For example, the app can be combined with a web desktop client, allowing you to read and reply to messages from your tablet, PC, Mac or Chromebook.

The last time Google Messages reached a major milestone was in the spring of 2020, when the app was downloaded one billion times. At that time, the app was not installed by default on most Android devices, with the exception of Google Pixel series smartphones.

Google Play stats include downloads and preinstalls, but do not include updates. The biggest change from 2020 is that Samsung has adopted Google Messages as the default messaging app for phones like the Galaxy S22 series. It’s possible that Samsung’s popularity has contributed significantly to the rapid growth of Google Messages.