Locking the taskbar position and size

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This week is all about the taskbar in Windows. That taskbar on itself is not something new, but it does get a pretty nice update with Windows 11 version 26H2. The user can now position the taskbar at the bottom, top, left, or right side of the screen, and there is also an option for a smaller taskbar that reduces the size of the icons and the height of the taskbar. Especially that first option has been on the wish list of many users for a very long time. Those new options fit perfectly in the storyline of making the Windows experience more personal, and in the storyline of managing the taskbar, as discussed in this post and in this post of a while ago. From an organizational perspective, …

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Configuring Windows Ready Print driver ranking

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This week is all about Windows Ready Print driver ranking. Driver ranking on itself is not something new, but it is getting more attention with Windows 11 version 26H2. Especially because the configuration of driver ranking is now also part of the latest security baseline for Windows. The Windows Ready Print driver ranking fits perfectly in the storyline of the end of servicing of third-party printer drivers. That storyline goes from no longer publishing new printer drivers to Windows Update, which started in January 2026, to always preferring the Microsoft IPP Class Driver in the driver ranking order, which started in July 2026, to only allowing security-related fixes for third-party printer drivers, which will start in July 2027. The Microsoft IPP Class Driver supports printers …

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Getting started with AI agent runtime protection

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This week is all about AI agent runtime protection in Defender for Endpoint. As more AI agents become available on Windows devices, they are also becoming more capable of interacting with local resources, such as files, applications, and system commands. While those capabilities can provide powerful productivity benefits, they also introduce new security considerations. One of those considerations is prompt injection, where hidden or malicious instructions within content can influence the behavior of an AI agent. To help organizations protect against those threats, Microsoft recently introduced AI agent runtime protection in Defender for Endpoint. This capability provides organizations with the ability to detect potential prompt injection attempts on managed devices and to either audit or block suspicious actions before they can be performed. This post …

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Disabling the Get Started app

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This week is all about the Get Started app in Windows. That app on itself is not something new, but does get a pretty substantial update with Windows 11 version 26H2. It will get some additional pages related to adding popular apps to the device, pin sites to the taskbar, and change the look of the device. All focused on getting the user started on their new device. From an organizational perspective, however, there is just not that much added value in the Get Started app. Especially because the ability to make it organization specific is no longer available since Organizational Messages moved to the Microsoft 365 admin center. So, what often happens is that IT administrators are looking into removing that app, as it …

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Easily enabling Sysmon in Windows 11

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This week is all about Sysmon and about enabling Sysmon on the latest version of Windows 11. Sysmon itself is not new, but the direct integration within Windows 11 is. Starting in February 2026, Sysmon is available as a built-in optional Windows feature in supported versions of Windows 11. When the feature is enabled and Sysmon is installed, Sysmon remains active after system restarts and continuously monitors system activity, logging detailed events to the event log. Those events include information about process creation, network connections, and changes to file timestamps. That provides an additional layer of visibility into what is happening on Windows devices and supports detecting malicious or unusual behaviour. Sysmon generates the events, but it does notanalysee them. It simply adds deep insights …

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Easily managing Windows App on Windows devices

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This week is all about easily managing the Windows App on Windows devices. In the early days, the Windows App was pretty straightforward. There were some configuration settings available within the Windows App, and the user could configure those settings. Nowadays, more and more configuration settings have become available, and some now also become available for the IT administrators for central management. That enables IT administrators to manage the update behavior, the first run experience, the log off behavior, and the ability to create shortcuts. Especially, managing the update behavior can provide the IT administrators with a little bit more control over the updates for the Windows App, as it enables the them to configure an admin release ring and to turn off automatic updates. …

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Getting started with deployments and deployment plans for an automated staged rollout

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This week is all about deployments and deployment plans. Deployments and deployment plans have been introduced recently to provide IT administrators with the ability to create an automated staged rollout. An experience that is actually pretty similar to using deployment rings for deploying software updates. Deployments enable IT administrators to create a staged rollout for applications and policies. That staged rollout contains deployment rings (group assignments) that automatically progress based on specific date and time criteria. Those deployment rings create that similar automated deployment experience as already provided by the software updates rings. Just like that experience, the IT administrators also gets the controls to pause, resume, cancel, and delete the deployment. On top of that, deployment plans provide the IT administrators with the ability …

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Making sure the multi-app kiosk configuration is applied after the installation of the applications

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This week is all about making sure that the multi-app kiosk configuration is actually applied after the required applications are installed. The ordering is important because the multi-app kiosk configuration will not be correctly configured when the required applications where not installed when the configuration was applied. That was also an important subject during the session on the Workplace Ninja Summit about Mastering shared Windows devices in your environment. The basics around creating the multi-app kiosk configuration, using assigned access, has been described on this blog. Often, however, it refers to using a custom device configuration file. And, even though it technically works, it does not provide full control over the end-result. Given the fact that this was also subject of many questions during the …

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Using multiple managed accounts with app protection policies

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This week is all about a recently introduced feature for multiple managed accounts (MMA) with app protection policies. For a long time a big challenge with app protection policies (APP), or mobile application management (MAM) in general, was that it would only support a single managed account. Especially with the consultant-type scenarios, that could be really challenging. That would mean that as soon as the user already had a managed account from their own employer, that could not be combined with a managed account from the customer. Really challenging to address, almost impossible to be done right, and often resolved into not the best decisions. The good news is that this all changed! Starting recently, or almost starting, depending on the roll out, it is …

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Configuring Point-in-time restore in Windows

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This week is a follow-up on this post of earlier this year about getting started with point-in-time restore in Windows. At that moment, the early release of Point-in-time-restore became available and showed the concept in the Windows. Now that functionality is further developed in to a general available feature that also includes management capabilities via Microsoft Intune. Point-in-time-restore fits perfectly in the storyline of the many new (and still coming) features related to the backup, restore, and recovery of Windows. That storyline goes from Quick Machine Recovery, which is focused on recovering Windows devices when encountering critical errors that prevent the device from booting, to Windows settings backup and restore (previously known as Windows Backup for Organizations), which is focused on making it easier to switch …

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