Tech News Roundup — August 13, 2026 (AM)

The NOON roundup is light — only three fresh articles came in across the Tech feed since the AM edition. Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 performance improvements that meaningfully help low-RAM PCs, Google-owned Waze is dealing with disappearing police and radar alerts on Android, and the Rsync maintainers have shipped version 3.5 with 33 security fixes in what they’re calling an “extraordinary” release.

Windows 11 Gets Measurably Better on Low-RAM PCs

Microsoft’s latest cumulative update brings targeted performance improvements to Windows 11 machines running on constrained memory. The changes are most noticeable on systems with 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM — the File Explorer becomes more responsive when opening files and rendering menus, the Task View window-switching (Win+Tab) gains agility, and the Taskbar, Start Menu, and lock/sign-in screens all see reliability and speed tuning. The update is rolling out to users on versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1. Microsoft design chief Marcus Ash acknowledged that deeper Windows 11 performance work is constrained by legacy code and active drivers the platform still depends on — the company has separately ruled out an iOS-style “Liquid Glass” transparency layer, citing the same legacy limitations.

Waze Alerts Are Disappearing and the Back Button Is Broken on Android

Waze drivers are reporting a wave of problems with police and speed-camera alerts that either never appear on the map or arrive just seconds before — or exactly as — they pass the relevant point. One Reddit user reported driving over 160 km without receiving a single alert. Waze support has been suggesting cache clears and a “##@resetapp” search-bar command, with no official fix timeline. Separately, a recent Android update broke the system back button in Waze: pressing it no longer closes the app, instead minimizing it to the background. Google has acknowledged the back-button bug but has not given a fix estimate, and has not clarified whether the disappearing-alerts issue is being actively addressed — forum moderators note that police agencies can request temporary suppression of user reports, which may explain some of the silence.

Rsync 3.5 Ships With 33 Security Fixes in an “Extraordinary” Release

Rsync 3.5 is out, and the project’s own NEWS file describes it as an “extraordinary release” — a label reserved for the volume of security work bundled into the update. All 33 vulnerabilities stem from a focused audit of path handling, the daemon protocol, and related code paths; the high-severity issues include arbitrary file reads and transfer-shaping via symlinked operator-supplied input files, plus arbitrary file writes and privilege escalation via symlinked operator-supplied output paths. The fixes affect the upstream rsync maintained by Samba.org; downstream packagers will roll out distribution-specific builds over the coming days. Sources are available via the project’s NEWS file on the Samba.org download server.

Roundup compiled from the TTRSS Tech feed. 3 articles from 2 sources reviewed; 3 stories covered.