Microsoft has a long track record of discouraging Chrome downloads via Edge or Bing, and we might see a repeat telecast for OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas, which is the overvalued startup’s first agentic browser. While ChatGPT Atlas is not yet available on Windows, OpenAI has promised it’s coming, and Microsoft wants to be prepared.
Right now, when you open Bing.com and search for Google Chrome or Google, you’ll be nudged to use Microsoft Edge.
For example, I searched for Chrome on Bing, and then Bing told me to keep using Microsoft Edge because it has a built-in VPN (Cloudflare), Microsoft Rewards integration, and, of course, nobody’s favorite – Copilot (AI personalization).
If you skip Bing’s warning and head straight to Google Chrome’s download page, you will come across another pop-up that reminds you how Edge is a better choice because it’s built on the same technology as Chrome, so why would you even ditch Edge, right? Well, that’s what Microsoft wants you to believe.
Windows Latest understands that Microsoft is mulling a similar strategy for the ChatGPT Atlas browser.
This is based on the experimental flags I spotted in Edge Canary (you need to scan the updates using a script to find the flags):
msEdgeAtlasDownloadBingReferrerHideIntercept
msEdgeAtlasDownloadIntercept
msEdgeAtlasDownloadInterceptTreatmentParam
These flags make it quite obvious that if ChatGPT Atlas lands on Windows, Edge already looks ready to “intercept” it. Edge has similar flags for Google Chrome, and I’ve already shown how they work in the above example.
For those unaware, ChatGPT Atlas is an agentic browser that browses the web on your behalf based on prompts.
For example, if you prompt ChatGPT to buy tickets for your family vacation, the Atlas browser will open several tabs, start visiting websites on its own, and then use your details to select the best trip plan.
Is Microsoft scared of ChatGPT Atlas?
Microsoft might not be scared, but it does not want to lose its customers due to the “agentic” features of ChatGPT Atlas, some of which are already offered in Edge.
OpenAI does not have its own operating system (yet). However, ChatGPT is used by millions every day, and when OpenAI starts pushing users to try the Atlas browser on ChatGPT.com, it could threaten Edge’s recent popularity.
More importantly, Microsoft likely does not want to lose out to ChatGPT Atlas for “missing agentic” features because Copilot in Edge already turns it into an agentic browser. However, Copilot in Edge is not as cool as ChatGPT Atlas or Perplexity Comet, and it’s also limited to certain regions.
An agentic browser like ChatGPT Atlas with a strong distribution channel can threaten Edge’s recent growth. At the same time, as all browsers embrace AI, we might need a browser that allows us to do the browsing, but nobody wants to build a “simple” browser anymore.
Microsoft will enable Teams messaging security by default in January 2026, blocking risky files and malicious links to protect against AI-driven threats.
A large-scale study tracking more than 27,500 middle-aged and elderly people over roughly nine years has found that poor sleep quality is associated with accelerated brain aging, and chronic inflammation appears to be one of the key mechanisms driving this effect.
Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute assessed participants' sleep across five dimensions -- chronotype, duration, insomnia, snoring and daytime sleepiness -- and later scanned their brains using MRI to estimate biological brain age through machine learning models. The results? For every point decrease in healthy sleep score, the gap between brain age and chronological age widened by approximately six months. Those in the poorest sleep category had brains that appeared roughly one year older than their actual age.
Night-owl tendencies, sleep duration outside the 7-8 hour sweet spot and snoring were particularly strongly linked to brain aging. The researchers measured low-grade inflammation using biomarkers including C-reactive protein levels and white blood cell counts. Inflammation accounted for more than 10% of the association between poor sleep patterns and brain aging. The glymphatic system, which clears waste from the brain primarily during sleep, may also play a role, the research added.
Microsoft is now showing a new alert in the Start menu titled “Action advised – back up your PC,” and the alert is yellow-themed, which makes it quite obvious that Windows 11 needs your attention. The warning states that you should back up all your files or app data to ensure you never lose access, and there’s a backup option.
It’s not the first time Microsoft has prompted users to try OneDrive, but each attempt is somehow worse than the previous one.
“We want to ensure that you always have access to your files, apps, settings, and passwords by backing them up in the cloud,” the warning reads in the Start menu, and then it alerts you to start backing up your PC using OneDrive.
If you click on ‘Continue,’ it opens the OneDrive-based Windows Backup app, but you might have other options in the EU. I do not see options for third-party clients, at least not when I am in the United States, or the device is set to use the United States as the default region.
You cannot turn off these alerts, as they’ll continue to show up across Windows 11, but you can dismiss them for now.
Not the only “nagging” on Windows 11
As I mentioned at the outset, Windows 11 ads for OneDrive or other services are not just limited to this specific example. For example, after I installed the Bing Wallpaper app from the Microsoft Store, after Microsoft.com nagged me to give it a try, I noticed that the Bing Wallpaper app consistently warned
If you use apps like Bing Wallpaper, you could be nagged to switch all browser settings to Bing, including the New Tab Page background. For example, the Bing Wallpaper app prompted me to adjust a few browser settings so that Bing gets more use.
If you click “Try new settings”, it will likely guide you through changing your default search engine to Bing in your installed browsers (Edge, Chrome, or Firefox). That means when you type something in the address bar, it will search with Bing instead of Google or something else.
It also wants to add a Bing extension, so your new tab page shows Bing features plus the daily wallpaper experience (and it can also help keep Bing set as the default).
If you hit “Maybe later” or close it, nothing changes right now.
Of course, as I recommended in my previous story, it’s about time we stop using apps like Bing Wallpaper and use built-in options like Windows Spotlight.
What do you think about Microsoft’s upsells in Windows 11? Let me know in the comments below.
An artist’s conception shows the Orion spacecraft’s main engine firing during a lunar flyby, surrounded by eight auxiliary engines built by L3Harris’ Aerojet Redmond facility. (NASA Illustration)
Lunar missions once felt like the domain of history books rather than current events, but an upcoming trip around the moon is poised to generate headlines at a level not seen since the Apollo era.
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, which is due to launch four astronauts on a round-the-moon journey as a warmup for a future lunar landing, is shaping up as the spaceflight highlight of 2026. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who took the agency’s helm this month after a tumultuous year, says it’s the top item on his must-see list.
“What’s not to be excited about?” he said last week on CNBC. “We’re sending American astronauts around the moon. It’s the first time we’ve done that in a half-century. … We’re weeks away, potentially a month or two away at most from sending American astronauts around the moon again.”
The Pacific Northwest plays a significant role in the back-to-moon campaign. For example, L3Harris Technologies’ team in Redmond, Wash., built thrusters for Artemis 2’s Orion crew vehicle. And Artemis 2 isn’t the only upcoming moon mission with Seattle-area connections: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, headquartered in Kent, plans to send an uncrewed Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to the lunar surface in 2026 to help NASA get set for future moon trips.
“We are taking our first steps to help open up the lunar frontier for all of humanity,” Paul Brower, Blue Origin’s director of lunar operations, said in a recent LinkedIn post.
2026 could also be the year when Seattle-based Interlune sends its first prospecting instrument to the lunar surface to hunt for signs of helium-3, a rare material the company aims to bring back to Earth for use in fusion reactors or quantum computers.
As we close out 2025, here’s a look back at five of the past year’s space milestones and five trends to watch in the year to come.
Looking back at 2025
Blue Origin goes orbital: After a decade of development, Blue Origin launched its orbital-class New Glenn rocket for the first time in January, on a mission that lofted test equipment for its Blue Ring space mobility platform into orbit. A second launch in November sent NASA’s Escapade probes toward Mars and marked the first successful at-sea recovery of a New Glenn booster. On the suborbital side, Blue Origin’s New Shepard program provided rides to space for seven crews. Notable passengers included Lauren Sanchez, who became Bezos’ wife two months after her flight; Justin Sun, the crypto entrepreneur who paid $28 million for his space ticket; and Michaela Benthaus, the first wheelchair user to fly to space.
Rubin Observatory delivers first images: A decade and a half ago, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Charles Simonyi donated $30 million to support the creation of a giant sky-survey telescope in Chile. in June, the Rubin Observatory finally made its star-studded debut, with Simonyi in attendance. Researchers at the University of Washington played key roles in shepherding the $800 million project to completion.
SpaceX’s Starship goes through ups and downs: Many of SpaceX’s ambitions, ranging from orbital data centers to moon landings to Mars migrations, depend on the successful development of its Starship super-rocket. Starship also plays a crucial role in the business models for lots of space startups, including Starcloud and a Seattle-based space travel venture called Orbite. Three Starship test flights ended badly in the first half of 2025, but SpaceX bounced back with two successful test flights in the second half of the year. Now SpaceX is working on an upgraded version of Starship — and dealing with the aftermath of a booster anomaly that occurred during a pressurization test in November.
Looking ahead to 2026
Artemis 2 to send humans around the moon: For the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, humans will leave Earth orbit. The current plan calls for the Artemis 2 mission to take place in the February-to-April time frame. A crew of four — three Americans and one Canadian astronaut — will climb into the Orion spacecraft and be sent into space atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The round-the-moon route will be similar to the trajectory used for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 flight in 2022. If Artemis 2 goes well, that could set the stage for an Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing as early as 2027 (but more likely later).
Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin employees pose for a picture in front of the Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander. (Blue Origin Photo)
Blue Moon’s lunar delivery: Blue Origin’s uncrewed lander is tasked with delivering a NASA experiment called SCALPSS to the moon’s south polar region. Stereo cameras will document how the landing burn interacts with the dusty lunar surface — and the results will be factored into plans for future landings. This Blue Moon Mark 1 mission will blaze a trail for Blue Origin’s Mark 2 lander, which is due to start taking astronauts to the lunar surface in 2030. Other robotic spacecraft scheduled for moon landings in 2026 include China’s Chang’e 7 rover, Firefly’s Blue Ghost 2 lander, Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 lander and Astrobotic’s Griffin lander (which will be carrying twomini-rovers and Interlune’s helium-hunting camera).
Golden Dome takes shape: A proposed $175 billion missile defense system known as the Golden Dome is already attracting interest from space ventures — particularly ventures that are focusing on in-space mobility (such as Portal Space and Starfish Space) or in-space data processing (such as Starcloud and Seattle-based Sophia Space). Marysville, Wash.-based Gravitics is building an orbital carrier that would serve as a “pre-positioned launch pad in space” for the U.S. Space Force, under the terms of a deal that could be worth as much as $60 million. Other big-ticket military projects are likely to come to light in 2026.
Whither NASA? Or will NASA wither? Isaacman is taking over at NASA following a year of layoffs and science program cuts. He has pledged to land astronauts on the moon during the current presidential term, but funding remains a hurdle. “I almost guarantee you he’s going to be walking up the street to the White House, saying ‘I really need more money,’” NASAWatch’s Keith Cowing said on Israel’s i24 TV.
Bonus: Coming to a sky (or a screen) near you: Keep an eye out for a total lunar eclipse on March 3 that will be visible over the U.S., weather permitting. There’s also a solar eclipse on Aug. 12 that will bring totality to narrow stretches of Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Although this eclipse can’t be seen in Seattle’s skies, you should be able to catch the highlights online.
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