After Paint 3D, you won’t be able to install 3D Viewer on Windows 11, as Microsoft wraps up the last bits of the “Windows 10 Creators Update.”

In an update to its support document, Microsoft confirmed that it’s removing 3D Viewer from the Windows Store. This means you won’t be able to download or install 3D Viewer anymore, but it’ll continue to work if it’s already installed, at least for a little while.

“3D Viewer is deprecated and will be removed from the Microsoft Store on July 1, 2026,” Microsoft confirmed.

The company recommends using third-party 3D software for viewing 3D art created on Windows. But can you keep using 3D Viewer?

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that 3D Viewer still works on Windows 11, but it’s likely that a future server-side update will soon break the app for everyone. For example, after Microsoft announced that it’s retiring Windows Maps, an update later broke the app, and pushed users to Bing.com

Not the first time Microsoft killed products it once hyped

Before Copilot, there were a bunch of “obsession eras” for Windows, and one of those eras was the “3D era,” where Microsoft pitched Windows 10 as an OS for creators or artists. In fact, Windows 10 received two big updates called “Creators” and “Fall Creators” Update, but as always, Microsoft suddenly decided to give up on its two-year-long efforts.

As part of the Windows Creators Update, Windows shipped with Paint 3D, 3D Viewer, Remix3D, and a bunch of “3D” features. Microsoft also added 3D objects to File Explorer and bet big on Windows Mixed Reality efforts. Unlike Copilot, Paint 3D was well-made, and it actually had a purpose.

However, the approach backfired after Microsoft tried to force people to adapt to the change, which is also exactly what Microsoft is doing with Copilot. Not everybody is a creator, especially a 3D creator, but Microsoft still felt it was the right decision to replace MS Paint with Paint 3D. The plans were later dropped after social media outcry.

Fast forward to 2024, Microsoft confirmed that it’s deleting Paint 3D, which was once supposed to replace MS Paint.

I am not a 3D artist, and I’m not advocating for bloat in Windows 11, but this approach once again shows that Microsoft has a pattern where it picks its favourite product, tries to bake it into everything, then either dials it back or quits after some years or even months.

Microsoft is also deprecating legacy printer drivers

In addition to 3D Viewer, Microsoft confirmed that it’s deprecating legacy printer drivers, which won’t affect most consumers, but it’s still worth noting.

In an updated roadmap, Microsoft says Windows 11 no longer supports V3 and V4 printer drivers if you installed the January 2026 optional (KB5074105). This means older printers that still use the V3 or V4 driver won’t connect or work after the update. In that case, you’ll need to upgrade your printer (buy new hardware) or ask the OEM for help.

Over the past few years, Microsoft dropped support for several Windows apps or features, including WordPad, Legacy DRM services, Suggested Actions, and Cortana, among others.

The post Windows 11: After Paint 3D, Microsoft is removing 3D Viewer, as the “Creators Update” era fades away appeared first on Windows Latest

An anonymous reader shares a report: Republicans' tax cuts shaved billions off Amazon's tax bill, new government filings show. The company says it ran a $1.2 billion tax bill last year, down from $9 billion the previous year, and even as its profits jumped by 45% to nearly $90 billion. That's largely because of the generous new depreciation breaks GOP lawmakers included in their One Big Beautiful Bill, something that's particularly important to Amazon which -- in addition to maintaining a vast infrastructure for its ubiquitous delivery business -- has been spending billions to build out artificial intelligence data centers. Also helping, though less important: The law's expanded breaks for businesses research and development expenses. The company has long been criticized by Democrats for paying little in tax, and it appeared to be bracing for criticism in the wake of the report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google shares an update on its work and suggestions for how policymakers can help everyone be more secure in the Quantum Era.

OpenAI is placing a bigger bet on the Seattle region, signing a massive new lease in Bellevue as the ChatGPT-maker expands near the headquarters of two key corporate cloud partners.

The company is taking an additional ten floors at City Center Plaza in downtown Bellevue, boosting its footprint to 296,000 square feet, according to sources familiar with the matter. OpenAI previously occupied two floors in the building. It’s one of the largest AI company leases in the region.

The San Francisco-based company now has room for more than 1,000 employees at the office, based on typical commercial real estate standards. OpenAI, which arrived in Bellevue in 2024, currently employs more than 300 people in the Seattle area, according to LinkedIn data — up from around 169 in September.

The office gives OpenAI a large hub just a short drive from Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters campus and within a few blocks of Amazon’s expanding Bellevue towers, tightening its ties with both cloud giants.

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and serves as its primary strategic partner, providing the Azure cloud infrastructure that underpins many of OpenAI’s models and products.

At the same time, OpenAI has deepened its relationship with Amazon, inking a $38 billion cloud deal in November. Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI as part of a new investment round.

Microsoft previously occupied a majority of the 26-floor City Center Plaza building but said in 2023 that it would not renew its lease. The building is adjacent to a light rail station that will offer transit connection to Seattle starting in March.

CoStar reported on OpenAI’s expansion earlier this week.

OpenAI recently acquired Seattle startup Statsig for $1 billion. The company is also reportedly gearing up for an IPO.

The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI is paying employees “more than any tech startup in recent history,” with the average stock-based compensation set around $1.5 million per person at the company, which has around 4,000 employees.

OpenAI now has one of the largest offices among out-of-town tech companies with satellite engineering centers across the Seattle region. Meta, Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley giants have substantial footprints in the area, which boasts one of the world’s top technical talent pools. OpenAI rival Anthropic opened an office in Seattle two years ago and is hiring.

Seattle has the most AI engineers in the U.S. behind Silicon Valley, according to a 2024 report from venture capital firm SignalFire.

OpenAI’s new lease also reflects a growing role for the Eastside in the AI boom. Many technology companies have signed new or expanded leases in and around Bellevue recently, including Snap, Anduril, Shopify, Snowflake, Walmart, and Chewy. Uber and Databricks are filling the city’s newest office tower, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Vacancy rates still remain high in downtown Bellevue, reaching 25.4% at the end of last year, according to Broderick Group.

That’s still not as high as downtown Seattle, where vacancy rates hit a record high in Q4, up to 34.7%, according to CBRE.

“Notably, a growing number of new-to-market entrants … are choosing the Eastside over Seattle, drawn by Bellevue’s modern office inventory, business friendly climate and skilled technology workforce,” Broderick noted in its Q4 report.

Memory prices across DRAM, NAND and HBM have surged 80 to 90% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, according to Counterpoint Research's latest Memory Price Tracker. The price of a 64GB RDIMM has jumped from a Q4 2025 contract price of $450 to over $900, and Counterpoint expects it to cross $1,000 in Q2. NAND, relatively stable last quarter, is tracking a parallel increase. Device makers are cutting DRAM content per device, swapping TLC SSDs for cheaper QLC alternatives, and shifting orders from the now-scarce LPDDR4 to LPDDR5 as new entry-level chipsets support the newer standard. DRAM operating margins hit the 60% range in Q4 2025 -- the first time conventional DRAM margins surpassed HBM -- and Q1 2026 is on track to set all-time highs.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CarPlay users could soon be able to use their chatbot of choice instead of Siri. As Bloomberg reports, Apple is working to add support for CarPlay voice control apps from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others. Previously, users who wanted to access third-party chatbots in the car would need to go through their iPhone, but soon they may be able to talk with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini directly in CarPlay.

However, Apple reportedly "won't let users replace the Siri button on CarPlay or the wake word that summons the service." So, users will need to manually open their preferred chatbot's app. Developers will be able to set their apps to autom …

Read the full story at The Verge.