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Azure HorizonDB Enters Public Preview: Web IQ Already Powers Copilot and ChatGPT
Tech Optimizer
June 6, 2026

Azure HorizonDB Enters Public Preview: Web IQ Already Powers Copilot and ChatGPT

Microsoft announced the public preview of Azure HorizonDB, a fully managed PostgreSQL-compatible database designed for agentic AI workloads, during Microsoft Build 2026 in San Francisco. HorizonDB features a "database-as-logs" architecture, allowing for sub-millisecond multi-zone commit latency and independent scaling of compute and storage. It incorporates a Rust-based storage engine, native DiskANN vector search, and in-database AI model invocation. Additionally, Microsoft launched Web IQ, a web-grounding API layer integrated into Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI's ChatGPT, which provides passage-level structured evidence objects rather than full documents. Web IQ is model-agnostic and aims to enhance information density and reduce costs. Both services are currently in limited availability, with HorizonDB open for preview signups across five Azure regions.
Constructive Open Sources Agentic DB, the Postgres Memory Layer for AI Agents
Tech Optimizer
April 28, 2026

Constructive Open Sources Agentic DB, the Postgres Memory Layer for AI Agents

Constructive has released agentic-db, an open-source Postgres database aimed at improving AI agents with features like persistent memory, structured knowledge, and hybrid retrieval. This database allows for efficient searching, filtering, and ranking of information, addressing inefficiencies associated with traditional markdown file storage. Key features of agentic-db include long-term memory, conversation tracking, a versioned registry for skills and tools, rules and policies for governance, task orchestration, and runtime observability. It is delivered as a single installable Postgres schema, indexed for multiple retrieval modes, and supports integration with various AI assistants through generated Agent Skills and CLIs. agentic-db is available under the MIT license for local use, with a cloud offering in development for secure, scalable solutions. Developers can access it on npm and GitHub.
Microsoft Promises Long-Overdue Changes To Windows 11 That You're Going To Love
Winsage
April 9, 2026

Microsoft Promises Long-Overdue Changes To Windows 11 That You’re Going To Love

Windows 11 has faced criticism from users due to controversial Copilot AI features and changes that have compromised functionality, including a redesigned Start menu, a fragmented settings application, and a slower file explorer. Microsoft is responding to user feedback, with Design Director Diego Baca acknowledging issues with the Start menu's performance and stating that "search performance + predictability" is a focus. Partner Director of Design March Rogers confirmed that they are working on migrating legacy Control Panel features to the modern Settings app while ensuring compatibility with various devices and drivers. Users have mixed reactions, particularly concerned about the potential removal of the Control Panel before the new settings are fully functional. Despite the discontent, Windows remains a reliable experience for many users compared to alternatives like Linux.
Microsoft rolls out fix for broken Windows Start Menu search
Winsage
April 8, 2026

Microsoft rolls out fix for broken Windows Start Menu search

Microsoft has implemented a server-side remedy for an issue affecting the Windows Start Menu search functionality on select Windows 11 23H2 devices, which began impacting users on April 6. The problem was linked to a server-side Bing update aimed at improving search performance. Microsoft has rolled back the problematic Bing update and expects search issues to decrease as the fix is deployed. Users have reported blank search results in the Start Menu, but options remain clickable. Microsoft confirmed that the issue will resolve automatically with the rollout of the fix, provided devices are connected to the internet and Web Search is enabled. Additionally, there have been previous Start Menu-related issues, including crashes and error messages, with Microsoft working on permanent solutions for these problems.
Ex-Microsoft executive says he fought against the removal of the vertical taskbar in Windows 11
Winsage
February 18, 2026

Ex-Microsoft executive says he fought against the removal of the vertical taskbar in Windows 11

Microsoft is reportedly planning to reintroduce the ability to relocate and resize the Windows 11 taskbar, a feature that was removed and led to user dissatisfaction. Former Microsoft executive Mikhail Parakhin criticized the removal of the vertical taskbar, stating it enhances productivity. Other former employees, including Andy Young, have also expressed dissatisfaction with Windows 11's design, particularly the Start Menu's performance issues. Microsoft is acknowledging the need to address user concerns and "pain points" within Windows 11 as it considers restoring customization options.
Microsoft says Windows 11 File Explorer will soon use less RAM when you search files
Winsage
December 26, 2025

Microsoft says Windows 11 File Explorer will soon use less RAM when you search files

Windows 11 is updating its File Explorer to improve search efficiency and reduce memory usage during file searches, currently being tested in Windows 11 Build 26220.7523 for Windows Insider participants. The new search functionality eliminates duplicate file indexing operations, resulting in faster searches and lower system resource usage. The File Explorer Search relies on the Windows Search Indexer, which will now avoid redundant indexing, leading to reduced disk I/O, lower CPU cycles, and decreased RAM usage. Additionally, Microsoft is decluttering the context menu by relocating features like “Compress to” and “Copy as path” into a new sub-menu called “Manage file,” or “Other actions” on different machines. These updates are expected to be rolled out by the end of January or in February.
PostgreSQL 12 progress update
Tech Optimizer
December 6, 2025

PostgreSQL 12 progress update

The PostgreSQL development team provided a progress update on PostgreSQL 12, highlighting several enhancements: - Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation will be enabled by default, reducing memory consumption during COPY operations and function calls, and improving search performance for multi-byte characters. - Server configuration improvements will allow enabling/disabling cluster checksums via pg_checksums, reduce the default value for autovacuum_vacuum_cost_delay to 2ms, and support micro-seconds for time-based server variables. - Speed improvements for btree index insertions will enhance space efficiency of page splits, reducing locking overhead and optimizing performance for UPDATEs and DELETEs with many duplicates. - Recovery parameters can be modified during reloads, including archive_cleanup_command, promote_trigger_file, recovery_end_command, and recovery_min_apply_delay, along with a new streaming replication timeout feature. - The peculiar behavior of OID columns will likely be phased out, but they will still be defined as type OID, requiring adjustments for operations on tables with OID-named columns. - Data types such as abstime, reltime, and tinterval are expected to be removed. - Enhancements to geometric functions and operators will improve results, and geometric types will be restructured to manage NaN, underflow, overflow, and division by zero scenarios.
Optimizing Postgres Pro for 1C: what's new
Tech Optimizer
December 4, 2025

Optimizing Postgres Pro for 1C: what’s new

Postgres Professional has released Postgres Pro Enterprise 17.6, which includes enhancements for 1C users. Key features include: - Official documentation for configuring Postgres Pro with 1C solutions, consolidating best practices for performance tuning and cluster operation. - Suppression of excessive catalog cache invalidation messages during index creation or dropping on temporary tables and statistics gathering. - Introduction of the skip_temp_rel_lock parameter to bypass lock acquisition for temporary relations and their indexes, improving performance during frequent DDL operations. - Reengineered TRUNCATE operations for temporary tables, allowing for a single scan of the buffer pool, enhancing efficiency. - Improved substring search performance in 1C applications by enabling accurate cost estimation for LIKE operators on mvarchar fields. - Memoization support for parameterized ANTI JOIN nodes, reducing unnecessary data processing cycles in complex queries. - Reduced lock requests during query planning involving multiple relations, improving operation when new sessions connect. - Optimized VACUUM ANALYZE on catalog tables, ensuring the pg_internal.init file remains intact during analysis, allowing for swift new session connections.
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