Year: 2022

Video meetings proved vital in connecting workers during the pandemic, but video calls have drawbacks, too, with many workers complaining of hours spent in front of the camera for a seemingly endless stream of meetings.

As a result, aynchronous video has emerged as an alternative to real-time conversations that require both parties be present at the same time. And startup Loom has been one of the leaders in the market with its app, which lets users create short videos – or looms – that can be sent to colleagues and viewed whenever is convenient for them. (Think Instagram Stories or TikTok for workplace communications.)

The app has proved successful, with the company now claiming 14 million users, though it doesn’t provide details on daily or monthly active usage rates. It’s also attracted substantial funding, with $203 million to date and a reported valuation above $1.5 billion.

The company on Wednesday unveiled a substantial update to its platform aimed at creating a more collaborative environment and making it easier to discover and access content.

The biggest change is the addition of the Loom HQ, a personalized Home screen within the browser and desktop app that surfaces recommended content for users, such as “trending” videos that have been posted publicly within an organization. It’s also possible to “follow” colleagues to see when they post new content, while new search capabilities let users find videos using hashtags, as well as tagged keywords from automated video transcripts.

Loom

“The goal is to proactively get you the content you most need to be aware of, based upon your role, who you are following, and what you do at work,” said Anique Drumright, vice president of product at Loom. 

The Home screen not only offers a more efficient way to find information across a company, it also serves as a “digital watercooler” that can connect workers, said Drumright.

That could be particularly useful for those who work remotely and might miss the more casual interactions often taken for granted in an office. She cited a Loom employee who typically posts about work-related topics, but on one occasion recorded a short video offering a tour of her houseplants. Within 24 hours, 15 new looms appeared as others shared similar videos.

“Every company has an organic culture that’s actually really hard to recreate in a hybrid remote setting,” Drumright said. “I believe that asynchronous video and the Loom HQ can play a really big role in recreating those moments.”

The latest updates see Loom “maturing into a fully-fledged collaboration application for teams,” said Angela Ashenden, principal analyst at CCS Insight. “It’s a big upgrade for the tool, and one which signposts the company’s ambitions in the enterprise collaboration space, putting to use some of the $130 million in funding they raised last year.

“As we head into an era of hybrid work, the need for asynchronous collaboration becomes all the more important, balancing the real-time interaction of in-person and video meetings to allow employees to collaborate effectively without necessarily needing to be working on the same thing at the same time as their colleagues.”

While Loom wants users to spend more time in its app, it remains committed to integrating with customers’ existing tech stacks, said Drumright; users can continue to send and access videos in other platforms, such as in Slack channels for example. This has been a priority for Loom, which created an SDK last year that lets vendors such as work management app Trello embed the async video capability into their own software.

Among the other updates announced this week are an improved notifications page that makes it easier to see comments and responses to videos without needing to return to the individual video. Also in development is the ability to automatically upload content from videoconferencing app Zoom, with support for other platforms in the works, Drumright said.

Although Loom is one of the early movers, it’s far from the only asynchronous video tool on the market. In addition to other startups with a similar bent, the likes of Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, and Cisco have all developed async video capabilities in the past couple of years.

The latest Loom updates help bolster the company’s position as others move into the space, said Raúl Castañón, senior analyst at 451 Research, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“While there is an overlap, the product updates it recently announced show that Loom continues to be a tool that stands on its own,” he said. “The updates build on and expand on the use cases that differentiate Loom from other vendors offering async video capabilities.

“Specifically, video management and the new Home screen together provide a content management layer; these capabilities will become critical, as user-generated video content continues to grow,” Castañón said.

A Windows launch isn’t the end a process — it’s really just the beginning. As with Windows 10, Microsoft continually works on improving Windows 11 by fixing bugs, releasing security patches, and occasionally adding new features.

In this story we summarize what you need to know about each update released to the public for Windows 11. For each build, we’ve included the date of its release and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it. The most recent updates appear first.

Note: If you’re still using Windows 10, see “Windows 10: A guide to the updates.” And if you’re looking for information about Insider Program previews for upcoming feature releases of Windows 11, see “Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build?”

Updates to Windows 11 original release

KB5011563 (OS Build 22000.593) Preview

Release date: March 28, 2022

This build allows Windows to display up to three high-priority “toast” (popup) notifications simultaneously for apps that send notifications for calls, reminders, or alarms using Windows notifications. It also fixes more than two dozen bugs, including one that crashed SystemSettings.exe, and another that affected searchindexer.exe and prevented Microsoft Outlook’s offline search from returning recent emails. 

There is one known issue in this update, in which when after IT admins install the Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later, recovery discs (CDs or DVDs) created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app on devices which have installed Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should start as expected.

 (Get more info about KB5011563 Preview.)

KB5011493 (OS Build 22000.556)

Release date: March 8, 2022

This build fixes a bug that occurs when you attempt to reset a Windows device and its apps have folders that contain reparse data, such as Microsoft OneDrive or OneDrive for Business. When you select Remove everything, files that have been downloaded or synced locally from OneDrive might not be deleted.

It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the March 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5011493.)

KB5010414 (OS Build 22000.527) Preview

Release date: February 15, 2022

This build lets you share cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge, and adds support for hot adding and the removal of non-volatile memory (NVMe) namespaces. It also adds a variety of other features, including the ability to instantly mute and unmute a Microsoft Teams call from the taskbar, and quickly share open application windows directly from your taskbar to a Microsoft Teams call.

It also fixes many bugs, including one that affected the Windows search service and occurred when you queried using the proximity operator, and one that prevented printing properly for some low integrity process apps.

(Get more info about KB5010414 Preview.)

KB5010386 (OS Build 22000.493)

Release date: February 8, 2022

The build fixes a bug that causes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) modify operation to fail if the operation contains the SamAccountName and UserAccountControl attribute. It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the February 2022 Security Updates notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5010386.)

KB5008353 (OS Build 22000.469) Preview

Release date: January 25, 2022

The build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one in which Windows’ audio service stopped responding on some devices that support hardware-accelerated Bluetooth audio, another that prevented icons from appearing on the taskbar of a secondary display, and another that prevented the touch keyboard from appearing on the lock screen when a device has a Microsoft account (MSA).

There is one known issue in this update, in which recent emails might not appear in the search results of the Microsoft Outlook desktop app. For a short-term fix, you can disable Windows Desktop Search, which will cause Microsoft Outlook to use its built-in search.

 (Get more info about KB5008353.)

KB5010795 (OS Build 22000.438)

Release date: January 17, 2022

The out-of-band build fixes two bugs, one of which caused IP Security (IPSEC) connections that contain a Vendor ID to fail. VPN connections using Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) or IP security Internet Key Exchange (IPSEC IKE) could have also been affected. The other fixed bug prevented removable media formatted using the Resilient File System (ReFS) from mounting or caused the removable media to mount in the RAW file format. This issue occured after installing the January 11, 2022 Windows update.

There is one known issue in this update, in which some image editing programs might not render colors correctly on certain high dynamic range (HDR) displays.

(Get more info about KB5010795.)

KB5009566 (OS Build 22000.434)

Release date: January 11, 2022

The build fixes a bug in the Japanese Input Method Editors (IME), and includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the January 2022 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There is one issue in this update, in which after installing Windows 11, some image editing programs might not render colors correctly on certain high dynamic range (HDR) displays. 

(Get more info about KB5009566.)

KB5008215 (OS Build 22000.376)

Release date: December 14, 2021

The build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the December 2021 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

There are no known issues in this update.

(Get more info about KB5008215.)

KB5007262 (OS Build 22000.348) Preview

Release date: November 22, 2021

This optional update can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog or by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Optional updates available.

This builds fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused File Explorer to stop working after you closed a File Explorer window, and another that caused flickering when you hovered over icons on the taskbar if you’ve applied a high contrast theme.

There are no known issues in this update.

(Get more info about KB5007262 Preview.)

KB5007215 (OS Build 22000.318)

Release date: November 9, 2021

The build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the November 2021 Security Update notes. It also fixes a bug that causes improper rendering of some user interface elements or when drawing within some apps. And it makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5007215.)

KB5006746 (OS Build 22000.282) Preview

Release date: October 21, 2021

This non-security build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused distortion in the audio captured by voice assistants, and another in Windows Defender Exploit Protection that prevented some Microsoft Office applications from working on machines that have certain processors.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which Windows print clients might encounter errors when connecting to a remote printer shared on a Windows print server after the build is installed.

(Get more info about KB5006746.)

KB5006674 (OS Build 22000.258)

Release date: October 12, 2021

This build fixes a bug related to compatibility issues between some Intel “Killer” and “SmartByte” networking software and Windows 11 (original release). It also makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

The build also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the October 2021 Security Update notes.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB5006674.)

Windows 11 original release

Release date: October 5, 2021

Windows 11 is the first new version of Windows that Microsoft has released since July 2015, when it launched Windows 10. Here’s a quick summary of what’s new in it. (For more details, see our in-depth review of Windows 11.)

• The Start menu has been redesigned and slimmed down, and Live Tiles have been eliminated. It’s now easier to find applications to launch and files on which you’ve recently worked.
• Snap Layouts lets you group your open windows into one of a half-dozen pre-built screen layouts. Snap Groups helps you quickly switch from one Snap Layout to another.
• The Windows look and feel has gotten an overhaul, with rounded windows, spiffier animations, and an overall softer feel. Some built-in apps, such as File Explorer, get a simpler, easier-to-use interface.
• You can chat and videoconference directly from the taskbar using Microsoft Teams. However, it isn’t the full Teams service, so the full suite of enterprise Teams features, such the use of channels and being able to search through message archives, isn’t available.
• Cortana is still available in Windows 11 but doesn’t appear in the taskbar and is not enabled by default.

For IT, these features are notable:

• Windows 11 requires hardware with a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 built into it for security. TPM uses hardware-based encryption to encrypt disks using Windows capabilities like BitLocker, and can stop dictionary attacks against passwords, among other capabilities.
• Windows 11 has a once-a-year feature update schedule rather than the two-a-year cycle under Windows 10. That will reduce update time, effort, and headaches.
• To help make sure enterprise applications and other software can run on Windows 11, Microsoft has released Test Base for Microsoft 365, an automated testing tool to check application compatibility.

UnitedHealth Group, which runs the nation’s largest health insurer, today announced it will buy LCH Group, a provider of home healthcare services, for $5.4 billion. UnitedHealth will combine LHC Group with its Optum Health division, which provides primary and urgent care services and surgical care 100 million consumers.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to LHC Group shareholder approvals, regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

The acquisition comes amid a major evolution in how healthcare is now delivered; the COVID-19 pandemic’s affects on hospital bed availability — and the virus’s easy transmission — spurred quick acceptance of getting care from any location, and wireless technology made it possible to monitor patients remotely, said Lynne Dunbrack, a group vice president at research firm IDC.

Consumers have become more receptive to home care for chronic conditions, whether that’s ongoing care or temporary monitoring and rehabilitation for patients recently released from the hospital and recuperating at home.

“One of the areas a lot of organizations are talking about — both payer and provider organizations — is the concept of care anywhere — really being able to provide care across the continuum of care,” Dunbrack said. “So it could even be digital first [telemedicine or virtual care], remote health monitoring, or mobile apps, or digital assistants/chatbots for symptom triage.”

Lafayette, LA-based LHC Group, Inc. is a national provider of in-home healthcare services for the elderly and infirm and has 964 locations in 37 states.

“LHC Group’s sophisticated care coordination capabilities and its warm, human touch is so important for home care, and will greatly enhance the reach of Optum’s value-based capabilities along the full continuum of care, including primary care, home and community care, virtual care, behavioral health and ambulatory surgery,” Optum Health CEO Wyatt Decker said in a statement.

An IDC report released this month on the “care anywhere” concept involves:

• Care that’s provided across the continuum of care, including traditional care settings plus online virtual visits, retail clinics, in the patient’s home or place of business, or wherever the patient may be.
• Care that’s ordered, delivered, and coordinated by a licensed clinician, whether provided in a licensed facility or wherever the patient may be.
• Secure access to data that’s readily available across ecosystem members to facilitate care coordination and management across the continuum and location of care delivery.

“Optum is a very diversified organization. It has all manner of healthcare delivery organizations that provide care, as well as it has made acquisitions of various tech companies,” Dunbrack said. “So really it’s an expansion of a strategy they’ve been on for quite some time now.”

The acquisition by UnitedHealth follows a larger trend in the healthcare insurance industry. Insurance providers are working to become more relevant to their customers by buying healthcare assets, according to Kate McCarthy, a healthcare and life sciences industry strategy analyst at Gartner.

For example, in 2018, CVS Health shelled out $70 billion and closed a deal to buy Aetna healthcare insurance, creating a new healthcare giant. The acquisition merged CVS’ pharmacy and pharmacy-benefit manager (PBM) business and Aetna’s health insurance.

And last year, UnitedHealth rival and Medicare Advantage provider Humana spent $5.7 billion to expand its home health business.

With an aging population, the need for post-acute care services such as hospice and home nursing is booming, McCarthy said. “There’s a lot of activity in both personal care and behavioral health right now because there’s demand in this space.

“In the post-acute care and home health care, you have the aging Baby Boomer generation, and many people are needing services, whether that’s home health, hospice, or skilled nursing,” McCarthy continued. “That’s becoming a mainstream area of interest for not just insurers but [healthcare] providers. Even when we look at investors and start-ups, it’s becoming a much bigger area.”

IDC

In 2021, UnitedHealth ranked eighth in the Forbes’ Fortune 500, with a market cap of $400 billion and about 70 million members. The next largest health insurer, Anthem, has about 39.9 million members, according to Statista.

LHC Group has 30,000 employees, including frontline care providers and administrative and support personnel, and provides care to 12 million annual in-home patients, according to its website.

“Health insurance companies can’t survive just servicing claims,” McCarthy said. “In order to maintain relevance, they have to redefine the boundaries of what they do and how they engage with customers and provide value in new ways.”