Engineers Archives

AppWizard

February 26, 2026

“Square Enix, hire us, I’m not joking,” says team of Final Fantasy modders who gave Final Fantasy 7 new voice acting and audio, because “we must fix” the JRPG’s busted new PC version

A new PC version of Final Fantasy 7 was released by Square Enix, replacing the 2013 version, which has been delisted. Existing owners can access the new version for free, while newcomers must purchase the 2026 edition. User reviews on Steam have been "very negative," citing performance issues, including a glitch that causes battles to run at double speed. The modding team Tsunamods has proposed to Square Enix to hire them to fix these issues, highlighting their experience with mods for Final Fantasy 7. The 2013 version is still available on the PlayStation Store, and players are advised to wait for updates on the new release before playing.

Winsage

February 24, 2026

Windows 11 27H2: Microsoft splits the Canary channel – Is the big overhaul finally coming?

The software department in Redmond is preparing for a significant update named 27H2, set for 2027, aimed at addressing legacy issues from older Windows versions. The Windows Insider Program is currently testing the 28000 series, with a notable shift to the 29500 build series indicating a "platform lift" that includes enhancements to the kernel and hardware abstraction layer (HAL). Microsoft plans to phase out VBScript and WordPad, eliminate support for outdated printer driver architectures and certain legacy file systems, and adopt a "core OS" approach to optimize performance for AI technologies. This update is seen as a strategic retreat from the idea of "Windows 12," focusing on stability and a comprehensive overhaul of the underlying architecture while avoiding market fragmentation. However, there are concerns that substantial changes could render older hardware or specialized software obsolete.

Winsage

February 22, 2026

Microsoft Is Testing Image Support in Notepad

Microsoft is introducing native image support in its Notepad application as part of its Windows Insider builds, indicated by a new image icon in the toolbar. This feature is expected to enhance Notepad's Markdown capabilities, allowing users to render images in Markdown documents and insert images directly into notes. The changes come after the removal of WordPad from Windows 11, prompting Microsoft to integrate essential features into Notepad to streamline the default app lineup. Notepad has already seen updates like tabs, spell check, and a modernized user interface while maintaining performance. Users can disable formatting and other features to retain the traditional Notepad experience. The updates aim to cater to diverse user needs, including developers and office workers, while simplifying maintenance for enterprises.

AppWizard

February 21, 2026

Avowed’s massive anniversary update adds new playable races, but they don’t get any unique dialogue because there were ‘no dedicated narrative people available’

Avowed's anniversary update introduces new features including stat bonuses, customizable difficulty modifiers, a New Game Plus mode, and a new staff weapon type. It adds three new playable races, expanding options beyond the previous choices of humans and elves. The update faced challenges in ensuring character customization worked seamlessly across the new races, but lacks unique dialogue choices for each race due to the writing team's focus on other aspects. Each new race provides different gameplay attribute bonuses, enhancing the gameplay experience. The update is available at no additional cost.

AppWizard

February 18, 2026

YouTube fixes major outage that knocked the platform offline for hours

YouTube experienced a significant outage affecting its services, including YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV, primarily due to issues with its recommendations system. Downdetector recorded 300,000 to 350,000 user reports in the U.S. and numerous complaints globally. By late evening, YouTube confirmed that full service was restored across all platforms, and no videos or accounts were deleted during the disruption. YouTube's engineers are expected to investigate the cause of the failure to prevent future occurrences.

AppWizard

February 13, 2026

Billionaire founder of Minecraft slams anyone advocating using AI to write code as ‘incompetent or evil’

Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, has expressed concerns about the rapid integration of generative AI in programming, describing it as an initiative being "forced down our throats" by "evil" entities. He fears losing creative autonomy and control over coding, comparing AI writing code to AI drafting laws. Persson advises aspiring developers to "Learn. Your. Craft," emphasizing the importance of foundational skills in programming. His views align with some industry leaders who advocate for coding literacy as a fundamental skill, while others, like GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, stress the necessity of mastering AI to remain competitive in the job market.

Tech Optimizer

February 12, 2026

Snowflake plugs PostgreSQL into its AI Data Cloud

Snowflake is launching a PostgreSQL database-as-a-service to enhance its AI Data Cloud, allowing organizations to integrate transactional workloads with analytics and AI under a unified governance framework. This service is fully compatible with open-source PostgreSQL, enabling easy migration of existing applications without code modifications. It utilizes pg_lake to read and write directly to Apache Iceberg tables, eliminating the need for data extraction and movement. Snowflake aims to reduce costly data movement between transactional and analytical systems, building on its previous transactional capability, Unistore. This strategic move positions Snowflake to offer a managed OLTP solution, facilitating the development of agentic AI and real-time streaming capabilities. The trend of combining operational databases with analytics is becoming common among vendors, with competitors like Databricks also launching similar services. By consolidating OLTP and OLAP capabilities, organizations can reduce ETL processes and data duplication while maintaining consistent governance across workloads.

Winsage

February 11, 2026

“Windows 11 26H1” is a special version of Windows exclusively for new Arm PCs

The recent developments in Windows versions present challenges for app developers and IT professionals, particularly with the introduction of a new Windows version designed exclusively for the latest Arm PCs. This shift highlights Microsoft's commitment to Arm processors, moving away from its historical focus on x86 versions. The 24H2 update for Windows 10 and 11 introduced significant enhancements for Arm PCs, including an optimized x86-to-Arm translation layer called Prism, improving compatibility and performance for applications not originally designed for Arm. This update coincided with the launch of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X-series processors, leading to more Arm-native Windows applications being released by third-party developers. Microsoft's hardware strategy has shifted, as the new Surface PCs launched in mid-2024 now exclusively use Qualcomm processors, moving away from Intel chips. Since the 24H2 update, development on Arm and x86 versions of Windows has progressed at different rates, with certain features available on Arm versions earlier than on x86 systems. Windows 11 24H2 was also available on Arm PCs in retail stores months before being released to the broader PC ecosystem. Microsoft has been contacted for details on the upcoming Windows 11 26H1 update and its potential enhancements.

Tech Optimizer

January 28, 2026

EDB Demonstrates Strong Global Momentum and Cross-Industry Adoption of EDB Postgres® AI

MNTN, Waystar, and NTT East have adopted EDB Postgres AI (EDB PG AI) to modernize their data platforms, enabling agentic AI, real-time analytics, and mission-critical operations while maintaining control over data and infrastructure. EDB's Sovereignty Matters research indicates that enterprises focusing on scalable agentic AI prioritize sovereign control of data, hybrid deployment flexibility, and a unified platform for transactions, analytics, and AI workloads. MNTN modernized its data warehouse for high-volume advertising data, Waystar consolidated its data infrastructure for healthcare transaction processing, and NTT East enhanced AI-driven network operations while ensuring data locality control. The adoption of EDB PG AI reflects a growing market demand for open-source database foundations, with 35% of enterprises considering PostgreSQL for complex workloads. EDB PG AI provides an open-source foundation, accelerated AI development, hybrid deployment flexibility, and enterprise-grade reliability.

Tech Optimizer

January 26, 2026

OpenAI Scales ChatGPT to 1M Queries/Second with PostgreSQL on Azure

OpenAI has optimized its database infrastructure using PostgreSQL to support 800 million monthly active users and process over a million queries per second without complex sharding. The architecture consists of a single primary instance with nearly 50 read replicas, achieving low double-digit millisecond response times at the 99th percentile. OpenAI employs best practices like connection pooling, query optimization, and strategic indexing, utilizing tools such as PgBouncer for efficient connection management. The company has achieved five-nines availability through failover mechanisms and has adapted to a tenfold increase in query volume within a year by tuning PostgreSQL parameters rather than creating custom solutions. OpenAI incorporates community-driven optimizations, such as custom indexing strategies and materialized views, and uses extensions like pgvector for managing vector data and embeddings. The organization continuously monitors for strain during traffic surges and adjusts by adding replicas or optimizing configurations. Their approach emphasizes simplicity, avoiding sharding to minimize operational overhead, and they plan to explore newer PostgreSQL features and AI-native capabilities in the future.